Living in Bangkok on $770 a Month
I recently came across this blog post by Mark Wiens, who showed people how to live in Bangkok on $285 per month. I’m not hating on the guy (that’s exactly what I’m doing) but anybody who leaves their home country to live in Bangkok for under $300 can go fuck themselves (sorry Mark, nice site though).
I mean why would you do that? At home I have my own bedroom with an en-suite, a fully stocked fridge, fiber optic Internet and a Mercedes (balling) in the driveway that I can drive around and pick up Tinder dates in. Why would anybody leave a western country to live in Bangkok for under $300 per month? I get that Mark is just trying to make a point on how cheap you can live in Bangkok, but why would you want too?. The whole point I moved to Bangkok was to improve my standard of living, and I don’t think Mark addressed that in his blog post.
I know I am taking Mark’s blog post out of context, as I’m sure he wrote it to show how little you COULD live in Bangkok if you really wanted too. I’m also being a real douche in the first two paragraphs, so sorry Mark, I just write like this because I have ego issues.
But moving on, this article will show you what type of lifestyle you can have in Bangkok for under $770. I ran this experiment over the last 4 weeks and here are my results. This was done as an experiment and after completing the challenge, I would not want to live in Thailand again for 25,000 baht/$770.
Apartment costs = $380
I live approximately 4 minutes from BTS Thong Lo, which you could say is the expat hotspot of Bangkok. I live in a studio apartment that has two built-in stove plates and a gym. After bills I pay $380
You can find similar rooms a few stations out in On-Nut for around $120 such as PP mansion, but I enjoy living in Thong Lo because I can walk to my gym and decent restaurants without getting a cab or BTS. If you’re looking to shave money off the $770, your best bet would be to stay in a cheaper apartment.
As you can see from the picture, my room is fairly nice, modern, clean, has air-con and looks like a room you would want to live in. As opposed to Mark’s apartment.
Food = $277
Sure street food is cheap, but it’s very unhealthy and it’s actually cheaper and healthier to cook yourself, and that’s exactly what I do. On food I spend around $277 each month, and I eat 80% of meals in my room, cooked myself. Around three times a week I will go out and eat some street food and another two days I will meet my friends and eat at middle/high-end restaurant.
Great write up. I am thinking about moving to Thailand and my budget is around $1,200 a month. Glad to see that’s easily doable after reading this.
nice breakdown but who was visa cost?
thats easily 20k a year and should always be factored in the equation. not even to mention health insurance…
also lol at that Mark Wiens dude for sleeping on the floor and sharing his room with some digital bums. honestly from the guys who call themselves that in thailand Ive met so far they just seem to be a new reincarnation of backpackers, not impressed by their hustle so far…
Yeah visa is at least 20k min. The cheapest in and out are the minibuses that go to Cambodia and back from Bangkok, they are 2.2k. I may get an education visa next they seem good value and I don’t need to leave, but I do enjoy flying to somewhere I have not been yet very cheaply and having a good time. However, other times I do get very lazy.
Not that I suggest it but I can see why so many people just overstay for 2-3 years and pay 20k at the airport and leave.
Flight to udon ~1.2k, transport over border into Laos ~500, Laos entry visa ~1.5k, double entry tourist visa 2k, 2 nights hotel ~1.5k, few bananas ~100b, bus and flight back again ~1.7k. Visa run total 9.5k. Gets you 90 days stay with a ~1.9k extension, so 11.4k. Or 45.6k / year. Call it 60k to factor in going to Bali for a triple entry if Vientiane turns you down after 4 double entries in a row, or replacing your passport for a fresh one.
60k/year so 5k/month, or $150.
Ed visa is fooked now, they made it last up only 6 months instead of 12, in 2 month chunks instead of 3. So it’s not worth it unless you really want to be taught Thai by a teacher (rather than learning yourself).
lol $700 bucks a month, u busto phuck
no hatin though
Thanks brah
Well if that’s his choice, fine but it sure don’t sound like much fun. How about treats like eating out at a decent place once a week?
What about those days you wish you could get a taxi straight home instead of taking public transport (which we all know isn’t much fun in Bangkok)
If that’s not even in the budget then God help you
Yeah, it’s pretty crazy aye. You always want some wiggle room in the budget to do other things in your budget. And you needn’t think twice about catching a taxi if you’re a westerner living in Bangkok.
Are there any vacancies in your apt. Building? I am looking
Sorry Dave, fulled booked for months.
Can I just shoot out to Bangkok and spend a week looking for an apartment or should I find it in advance?
You can just come here. I would research on a few areas you would like and perhaps have 1-2 condos in mind. You may need a Thai girl with you to help you talk to people.
Dont you also have to pay for health insurance?
I buy that before I leave England. I usually pay £120-£200 for the year.
Out of curiosity are you living in bangkok full time (not going back to England)? and im assuming your working is bkk, is it good place to get a well paid job for a foreigner (obviously depending on what your trained on)
I live here full time although I do go home once a year to see friends and family.
Do you have a Thai health insurance ? I guess so because 120-200 pound is not much for one year .
Can you tell how you get the Thai health insurance staying in England ?
Hey Jack,
I paid about £240 for the year for mine and it lasts 12 months.
Is it maybe BUPA, Allianz or AXA ?
Im 45 years old and i pay more than 240 Pound in a month !
Can you tell a bit more about your insurance ?
So that i could check what they have to offer for me .
Hey Jack,
I use https://www.worldwideinsure.com/ but you should check out the banner link on my website, they do insurance too.
Hello Harvie ,
Thank you , i will check that out .
Hey Harvey ,
I hadn´t seen that banner before , thanks again mate .
That would defeat the purpose of living in BKK or any where in Thailand if you want to live that cheap. Pretty much you will be paying rent and buying food. You couldn’t afford to take out a girl on a date, let alone seeing multiple girls for dates in a month. If i was going to live like that I would be better off staying in the States. In my opinion a good budget is around 2000 to 3000 dollars a month. This allows for a lot of wiggle room in the budget, so some months you may spend more and some months less and you can save the difference. It will even afford you the ability to take trips outside of bkk occasionally, as for me I get tired of the city. And I like to go down to phuket or Koh samui or many of the other islands for a weekend or a week. If I had to live on 300 to 700 dollars a month only just to be able to sustain in BKK that would suck.
Only a buffoon would move from a first world country to a second world country to live as a peasant, staying in a tiny room and eating rice and noodles every day.
The whole point of moving to a cheaper country in Asia is to improve your standard of living, since a barely average wage in the West will allow you to live quite comfortably in South East Asia.
Wow – USD 770 in Bangkok 2016? I am actually amazed this is still possible. Used to live in Bangkok 2000-2003 as a student on an approx 900USD budget and it was tight. Nowadays housing options are a lot better than they used to be back then though we used to have a much better exchange rate. I find that in order to enjoy a similar life style to what I am used to now, Bangkok wouldn’t be that much cheaper – maybe 60-70% of what I am spending now. As a student in Bangkok nowadays with the same budget from back then and living the same lifestyle would not be possible for me I think.
I think the way to do BKK is on the 27th floor, balcony, infinity pool, and gym in building.