One Month’s Spend for Travelers, Retirees and Nomads
Planning an extended stay in Bangkok? Wondering what the cost of living in Bangkok might be? One of Thailand’s many captivating cities and one of my favorite countries in the world has a lot to offer in the way of outstanding cultural experiences, great food and affordable living. Also, it’s a common destination for travelers, digital nomads and retirees. .
When I decided to travel the world full-time, I set a monthly budget for myself of $1600 Canadian dollars (about $1,200 USD) per month. I know that it will vary depending on where I am in the world, but I plan to stick to it as best I can and hope it all evens out in the end. This Blog Post is only to give you a general idea of what to expect for a long term stay in Bangkok. Your expenses could be much lower or higher than mine depending on your style of living.
All figures below will be in US dollars.
Let’s see how my cost of living compares to my budget:
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Cost of Living in Bangkok
It’s been two years since I was last in Bangkok, and a lot has changed since then. But for me this city never changes. I love stepping foot in this city every single time. Fantastic food, amazing sights and the Thai people are some of the sweetest people you will ever meet. Maybe I should back up though, because things have changed. The food is still amazing and the people are better than ever, but prices have changed. Even from just two years ago and certainly significantly more than when I came here for the first time many years ago.
I can’t say with certainty, but it feels like this city is at least 10x more expensive than when it was when I came to Thailand the first time. In many regards I am grateful that the people and government have put a stranglehold on their economy to ensure some sustained success. In my selfish mindset, I am still a little upset that I can’t get giant bottles of Chiang beer for 20 Bhat anymore. I’ll get over it though and we should be probably be grateful that with this price increase, Thailand has eliminated many of the riff-raff foreigners that used to flood this country. Unfortunately, with this rise in the cost of living the majority effected are the Thai people that are just trying to survive.
Bangkok has definitely changed over the years. While some things have gotten pricier, like that giant bottle of Chiang beer, it’s still a relatively affordable city compared to many others. Let’s break down the current cost of living in Bangkok to see if it fits my (and yours) budget.
Accommodations
Last time I was in Bangkok I stayed in On Nut. Unfortunately my unit I had last time was booked for when I would be here this time. I still managed to find a place in On Nut because I love this area though.
On Nut is located about half way between BKK airport and Bangkok proper. A bit out of the way of the touristy areas, but phenomenal all the same. This unit was located about a 15 minute walk from where I was last time, so still in the same general area. The name of the building is Regent Homes and honestly, it is nothing to write home about.
I’ve Had Better!
This was a one bedroom unit, with full kitchen and bath, work station, small balcony with washing machine, wifi, AC etc. It worked and the price was good, so no major complaints. There was some trepidation on check in though. I was informed at that time the building would not let the owner of the unit check the electrical metre. Why would I care? Because this unit didn’t include electricity and I knew I would have to pay it when checking out. So I thought for sure I was getting screwed upon checkout. The good news is the host was very fair on the electrical consumption.
Not a whole lot else to say about this unit. The host was fine but nothing to make you go wow. The unit was meh at best. A place to lay my head and a place to work is all I can say. Not disappointed and not impressed. The pics look a lot better than the unit actually is. For clarity, the breakdown of the unit cost and additional electricity are $503 for the unit for 28 days and additional electricity of $25 so still very affordable
Check out the unit here. Pretty room near BTS Onnut ((Update: this property has been turned off by the host)
Total cost for accommodation for the month: $528
Looking for short term accommodations? Check these great deals:
- Luxury Accommodations: – Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok – For more than 148 years, travellers have followed the Chao Phraya River to stay at the legendary Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok. A luxury five-star hotel in one of the world’s most exciting cities
- Mid-Range Accommodations: – Marriott Executive Apartments Bangkok, Sukhumvit 101 – Located in Phra Khanong in the Bangkok province ,Marriott Executive Apartments Sukhumvit 101 offers fully furnished apartments and facilities to ensure a comfortable stay away from home. The 20-story building comes with a 25-yard pool, a fitness center. Free WiFi is available in all guestrooms.
- Budget Accommodations: – SSIP Boutique Dhevej Bangkok – SSIP Boutique Dhevej Bangkok is a colonial style boutique hotel with heirloom furniture and antiques handed down from owner’s ancestor over a century.
Or check here for the latest deals on Booking.com
Read Cost of Living : Chiang, Mai
Cost of Living in Bangkok – Activities
This month Em and I visited the Royal Palace where we saw the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the Museum of Contemporary Arts, And Siam, the Ancient city, the largest outdoor Museum in the World. The property is in the shape of Thailand and all of the exhibits are life size or scaled down replicas of ancient historical monuments in Thailands history. Kind of goofy I thought but some of it is quite beautiful. Em paid for all of these activities so I can not add them to my Cost of Living in Bangkok. But for general knowledge, this is what she paid to get into the attractions.
Em’s cost for us visiting these attractions:
- Royal Palace and Temple of the Emerald Buddha: $14 each
- Museum of Contemporary Arts: $8 each
- Old Siam, the Ancient City: $9 each. Worth noting here. The official Website says it costs $19 per person for foreigners but we found this great deal on Klook for less than $10 per person. I don’t know how long these will last, so get them while you can. Old Siam, The Ancient City Entrance Tickets
I also did another food tour with A Chef’s Tour. In my last Cost of Living Article I mentioned I had already booked this tour. Once again they do not disappoint. Full disclosure, I do not pay for these tours if I am making a video but that is not the the reason that I love them. They are literally the best food tours I have been on anywhere. Do I enjoy the other companies I have worked with? Absolutely, but nothing compares to A Chef’s Tour. Both in quantity and quality of the food as well as the knowledge that comes with their guides.
So my activities for this month include a tip to my guide with A Chef’s Tour and his assitant.
Check out these two epic food tours from A Chef’s Tour in Bangkok:
Note, the one in the video below is the Bangkok Backstreets Tour but I have been on both of them.
- Bangkok Backstreets – This daily Bangkok food tour – ranked the best food and drink experience in the city on TripAdvisor – will see you wind the city’s maze of alleys in the cool of the evening feasting for four hours on hidden street eats you’d simply never find alone.
- Old Siam – Wander through this peaceful neighbourhood where you’re unlikely to see another traveller and tackle a century old food market that’s been feeding hot lunches to locals in the know since 1899.
Total Cost for Activities for the month: $16
Have a look my Bangkok food tour with A Chef’s Tour: Pepper Noodles and Shrimp Dumplings
Dining and Restaurants
With Thai food being my favourite food, it seems all I do when I am in Thailand is eat. And my very first stop was at my favourite Moo Pad Kra Pau spot right here in On Nut. You can find the location in the description of the video below.
Thai food is all about balance and bold flavors. Expect fresh ingredients, fragrant herbs like lemongrass and chilies, and a mix of sweet, salty, sour, spicy, and sometimes even bitter in every dish. And don’t forget, rice is a staple in tis country.
This category includes the food tours I filmed ($117), grab deliveries and night’s out with Em ($161). For perspective, my cheapest Grab delivery was $5 and the most expensive was $27 for western food. Dining out we can eat for as little as $4 per person. Our most expensive single meal dining out was a boat noodle restaurant in Emporium mall which came in at around $22. I don’t recall the name of the place, but they had excellent food.
Total Cost for Dining out for One Month: $332
Amazing BANGKOK 2024! Most Underrated Night Market?:
Cost of Living in Bangkok – Groceries
I buy very few groceries these days and this does not change this month. This consists of mostly small snacks and water
Total Cost for Groceries for the Month: $70
Cell Phones
This month was just topping up my AIS sim card I purchased when I returned to the country. As you will see, topping up is substantially cheaper than buy the 30 day unlimited package and sim card when you first arrive.
Total Cost for Phone and Data for one Month: $8
Transportation
Bangkok is a huge city and traffic can be awful. If you are up for the adventure I would highly suggest using both the MRT and BTS transit systems here as they are efficient, air conditioned and you can get almost anywhere on them. Although I like to take Grab or Bolt cars on days when I film Because I don’t like carrying the cameras through multiple stations and trains. It just seems easier
This category includes both Mass Transit and Grab/Bolt vehicles when needed. It’s hard to breakdown transit because it all really depends where you are going and what form of transit you will be using. But know that you can buy day passes as well a single fares for the transit systems. A day pass as of this writing on the BTS will cost you about $4 and that offers unlimited rides on the day of purchase. For perspective, to go on the BTS from On Nut to Ekkamai is about $.70 one way and that is only two stops away from each other.
My most expensive ride was $17 with Grab Car from On Nut to Don Mueang Airport when leaving the country
Total cost for Transportation for One Month: $116
Looking for fun things to do in Bangkok? Check out some of these tours from Viator
Visas
Thailand offers a 30 day visa exemption for many passports, including mine. I extended my Visa before leaving Chiang Mai for Bangkok and included that in last Months Cost of Living. As a refresher the extension cost me $52, but this month I have no expenses to report for Visas
Total Cost for Visa extension: $0
Miscellaneous Expenses
This category covers everything that’s not included above. I include alcohol in miscellaneous, because I do enjoy a beer from time to time while hanging around the Airbnb. You might not drink and if you are planning a budget you can easily omit this cost. This month also includes a haircut, disposable vapes and some much needed clothing.
For comparison, don’t think you are going to save money buying clothing in Thailand. Sure, you can find things at the market of knock offs but in my experience is they never fit properly and I have thrown more money away buying from places like this than just buying legit brands from reputable sources. Basic plain T-shirts from UniQlo or the like are going to cost around $20 each.
Total Miscellaneous Costs for one month: $150
One thing I can’t live without while on the road full time – Saves me lots of money too!
Cost of Living in Bangkok – Totals
Cost of Living in Bangkok, Thailand
Looking at the table above, you can see I am over budget this month. While not as cheap as it once was, Thailand is still very affordable, My $1220 works out to a little over $1,673 CAD. All in all not too bad, though money is quickly running out, so If you have a job that I can do remotely from anywhere in the world, send me a message😁. Everything considered, this confirms what I always knew, it is cheaper to live abroad than living back in North America. This Cost of Living in Bangkok is 1/3 of what my costs would have been in Canada
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Have you lived in Bangkok for any length of time? Were your numbers similar to my cost of living in Bangkok for one month? Do you have any other tips for potential travelers? Leave a comment and let me know. I would love to hear from you
