Cost of living in Thailand only 550 USD a month?

[Winston]

mall movie theatre add $8,

Well, again more misrepresentation.

Movie tickets are 225 to 255 pesos. Per person. So if you take your girl, or her friends, start adding it up. Candy, soda.

$8 for a ticket? In a third world country? Again, PRChina is the same price, but it is a much richer nation per capita.

That's only in Manila. In Angeles City, a movie is 110p. It used to be 80p. In Davao, it's even cheaper. You wanna see a scanned image of my movie ticket receipt?

I'll bet if I showed it to you, you'd filter it out due to cognitive dissonance, like you did with all those other menu prices I showed you.

[wardkingg]

Elements in Thailand are just different from the Belgium. From my comprehension most of the area in the PI is run by the abundant village top level and industrialists who difficult make use of the inadequate. They also generate investment costs way up with financial brinksmanship against their own individuals.

[newlife]

Hi guys. I just relocated from Pattaya, Thailand to Chiang Mai, Thailand. I think you can live on $550, but that is just for one person and it is still tight. Despite that, look what I get for $110 a month! Internet comes free.









It's my first day up here and the cost of living is even lower than Pattaya. Had a big dinner at a restaurant here with my Thai wife and it came to just 200 baht(~$6.50).

[Falcon]

Alcohol at 7-11 is 46-60 baht each for a big 40 oz style bottle. Liquor varies from 250 baht for 750ml (Sangsom whiskey) to 600 baht bottles of Johnny red. The locally produced Thai beers and liquor are pretty cheap. If you're a drunk Thailand will kill you.

[Winston]

Here is a video by AmericaninBangkok (my nemesis here lol) about living in Thailand on $500 a month, and whether it's for you or not. As you might expect, it depends on your lifestyle, habits and standards.

[anamericaninbangkok]

I'm not your nemesis Winston. We are allowed to disagree as long as it doesn't get personal.

[Halwick]

How do the costs compare relative to the market salary you are paid in those countries, assuming you are working there?

To a westerner, that $550USD cost may be cheap by US standards, but as a percentage my job market salary rate in that country, it may be prohibitively expensive.

You gotta keep things in perspective.

[Banano]

550 USD is pretty tight for westerner.

I lived on $1100 and it wasn't much fun, occasional date or p4p blows your budget.

[mguy]

In Manila, Philippines $550 is pushing it; saw some apartments at $350. But you live next to the train tracks for a single room. lol.

[mandy_3]

Its good to know only 550 bucks are enough to live Thailand. I have been organizing a trip to Koh Samui Thailand and estimating the expenses for two people. Will http://edenproperty-samui.com/ help to get cheap villas?

[Everdred]

I certainly wouldn't want to live in Bangkok on only $550 USD (about 17,500 THB). Outside of Bangkok it could be doable, but it still wouldn't be very fun. I posted my month-to-month Bangkok living expenses a few months ago in this thread:

Cost of living in the Philippines and Southeast Asia

I went into much more detail concerning each expense on that thread, so please check it out before reading what I wrote below. I'll repost those same numbers here, but I'll also include percentages this time. Bear in mind that the below expenses are split between me and my girlfriend. I'm currently working as an English teacher at a prestigious government high school in central Bangkok. I'm usually at my school 25-30 hours per week, Monday through Friday only. I teach only 17 hours per week. I get three to four months fully paid vacation time each year. I occasionally do tutoring on the side to supplement my income, but I won't include that below, because the amount I make from it each month changes frequently.


Net salary (after taxes): 34,250 THB per month

Apartment: 9,500 THB per month (28%)

Electricity: about 2,000 - 3,000 THB per month (paid by my girlfriend)

Water: 150 - 200 THB per month (paid by my girlfriend)

Internet: 700 THB per month (paid by my girlfriend)

Phone line: 107 THB per month (paid by my girlfriend)

Cable TV: 1,000 THB per month (paid by my girlfriend)

Mobile phone service (with a 3G package): about 300 THB per month (1%)

Food: about 6,000 - 9,000 THB per month (18 - 26%)

Drinking and nightlife: about 500 - 1,000 THB per month (1 - 3%)

Transportation: about 1,000 - 1,500 THB per month (3 - 4%)

Clothes: about 1,000 - 1,500 THB per month (3 - 4%)

Toiletries: about 500 - 750 THB per month (1 - 2%)


Total expenses: 22,757 - 28,557 THB per month

Total expenses paid by me only: 18,800 - 23,550 THB per month (55 - 69%)

Total expenses paid my girlfriend: 3,960 - 5,010 THB per month

My total salary remaining after paying expenses: 10,700 - 15,450 THB per month (31 - 45%)


Exchange rate as of September 18th, 2013: $1 USD = 31.68 THB.

[Jester]

I certainly wouldn't want to live in Bangkok on only $550 USD (about 17,500 THB). Outside of Bangkok it could be doable, but it still wouldn't be very fun. I posted my month-to-month Bangkok living expenses a few months ago in this thread:

Cost of living in the Philippines and Southeast Asia

I went into much more detail concerning each expense on that thread, so please check it out before reading what I wrote below. I'll repost those same numbers here, but I'll also include percentages this time. Bear in mind that the below expenses are split between me and my girlfriend. I'm currently working as an English teacher at a prestigious government high school in central Bangkok. I'm usually at my school 25-30 hours per week, Monday through Friday only. I teach only 17 hours per week. I get three to four months fully paid vacation time each year. I occasionally do tutoring on the side to supplement my income, but I won't include that below, because the amount I make from it each month changes frequently.


Net salary (after taxes): 34,250 THB per month

Apartment: 9,500 THB per month (28%)

Electricity: about 2,000 - 3,000 THB per month (paid by my girlfriend)

Water: 150 - 200 THB per month (paid by my girlfriend)

Internet: 700 THB per month (paid by my girlfriend)

Phone line: 107 THB per month (paid by my girlfriend)

Cable TV: 1,000 THB per month (paid by my girlfriend)

Mobile phone service (with a 3G package): about 300 THB per month (1%)

Food: about 6,000 - 9,000 THB per month (18 - 26%)

Drinking and nightlife: about 500 - 1,000 THB per month (1 - 3%)

Transportation: about 1,000 - 1,500 THB per month (3 - 4%)

Clothes: about 1,000 - 1,500 THB per month (3 - 4%)

Toiletries: about 500 - 750 THB per month (1 - 2%)


Total expenses: 22,757 - 28,557 THB per month

Total expenses paid by me only: 18,800 - 23,550 THB per month (55 - 69%)

Total expenses paid my girlfriend: 3,960 - 5,010 THB per month

My total salary remaining after paying expenses: 10,700 - 15,450 THB per month (31 - 45%)


Exchange rate as of September 18th, 2013: $1 USD = 31.68 THB.

Great info on the expense side and also the TEFL income side. Thanks.

[Banano]

Drinking and nightlife: about 500 - 1,000 THB per month (1 - 3%)?


500 THB a month for drinking and nightlife?
That's 11 cans of local beer in 7-11 or Familymart

[xiongmao]

My income's about the same as Everdreds. It's enough for a pretty good life in Asia. I went out on the town 3 nights in a row which I probably never would have done back in the UK.

I guess I spend about $1100 a month in Bkk. I'm paying 10,000 for my hotel room, plus ~600 baht for water and electricity. I also got free wifi in the hotel.

I don't use the aircon much.

I don't really do any tourist things - that stuff costs big money in Bangkok.

I hang round bars a lot but don't drink too much. Beer is expensive here. Also I've really cut down on alcohol since moving abroad and my alcohol tolerance is way lower than what it was when I was drinking wine all the time.

Since I started using the bus my transport bill has also gone way down.

I'd say I'm spending just about the same as I was in China.

There are jobs a plenty in Bangkok if you're a specialist in something. It must be kind of hard to find experts here.

You can spend 25% of what I do on rent if you live in a cheaper area. Unlike in China you aren't so restricted in where you can live.

[anamericaninbangkok]

These figures are good however...

500-1000 for entertainment is peanuts, even for one guy. A magazine like GQ or Traveler in Asia books is about 450 baht. Four drinks at a club can run you 600-800 baht. It's pretty easy to blow $15-$30 in a month on entertainment. Fortunately, it's cheap to go out and eat here and this is a form of entertainment.

Everdred, I think one thing you're doing that's awesome is you have money left over to save. Regardless of whether you're whoring, going out partying, whatever, if you're saving money that's a huge plus.

Two things I don't see in these budgets are the visa expense and medical insurance. If you're doing a visa run every three months, then multiply times 4, add in the travel and extension fees and divide by 12. Depending on the type of visa, this can get costly or add a couple thousand a month to the budget.

I'm older so medical insurance can get pricey. But even in your 20's, and especially here, you should have medical insurance.

Using the bus or boat taxi can dramatically cut your expenses. I never used to take them and my taxi fares ran around 15,000 baht a month. I'm no longer commuting as in the past so this has cut my bill but now, instead of taking a taxi 20 blocks down the street and paying 70 baht, I'll take an air conditioned bus for 12 baht. This has definitely curbed my transportation costs.