Is Bangkok Expensive in 2018?
If you’re planning a 6-12 stay in Bangkok or are thinking about moving here indefinitely, you might be wondering how expensive is Bangkok in 2018?
Depending on who you ask, people will tell you that Bangkok is either cheap or expensive.
In this article I am going to break down why people tell you Bangkok is both cheap and expensive.
Bangkok is expensive in 2018
There’s no doubt that Bangkok is more expensive in 2018 than ever before, this should not come as a surprise.
Cities like Bangkok are growing all the time. Tourism is up, expat population is rising and people are investing in the city. Thailand is on the top of every travel, nomad and beach list and Bangkok is the hub to them all- things are only going to get more expensive as the years go by.
The biggest price jump I’ve noticed is for NEW apartment rentals.
If you were part of my Thailand Nomad Community you’d know that in Thailand, older condos are bigger in size and cheaper in price, than newly built condos that are MUCH smaller in size and greater in cost.
This is because Thais believe that the newer the conder, the more desirable the apartment, even if the room is smaller in size. The age of the condo has a bigger impact on price than size.
To give one example of how bonkers rentals have become, a brand new 1-bedroom at Rhythm Condo in Sukhumvit 36 (built in 2018) will cost you around $758 per month (25,000b) for a 25sq meter room.
A 52sq meter 1-bedroom at Plus 38 condo (built 2005) will cost you $606 (20,000b) per month.
Both of these condos are located on the same street, less than 20 meters apart!
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I agree with Harvie. It is not about how much you spend; it is about return on investment. Few cities can match BKK on a dollar per quality of life ratio for single men trying to live it up. Whether or not that is sustainable for everyone is a question beyond the scope of this discussion.
As for shit getting more expensive, all I have to say is: “If you get better every day so will the world.” – BigNig
Rent is beginning to seem sort of expensive to me. I haven’t lived in Bangkok since 2015, but I follow listings on Facebook. I see a lot of blatant overcharges, but also a lot I find decent, but still fairly expensive. One thing to keep in mind of course is that they’re furnished. You could find better deals unfurnished if you plan on staying a long time.
The thing with Bangkok now is, you’re going to have some trouble explaining why staying at Thong Lor Soi 10 is “just great location” to an outsider. To anyone from outside Thailand, it is still just a polluted, noisy, filthy third world street. To a Bangkok vet it is “location, location, location”.
I maintain the real benefit of Thailand is the lack of a parasite middle class employed in the public sector in large number. This keeps taxes low, which keeps salaries low, which keeps basic amineties cheap.
Nicely put, I did not think too much about your last paragraph but I do agree that has something do with the low costs.
Cheers mate
Every article you write, is brilliant mate.
Keep up the good work.
I go to Phuket regularly
Why dont you write a blog from Singapore? I know why. If the entire city evolves to a sterile expensive nightmare of steel and cleared sidewalks, the attraction is gone. For tourists visiting or as a destination for expats to settle down.
However. There is a middle way. Keeping the local (oriental) flavour and provide experiences to affluent conscious people. A little bit like New York does.
As a tourist spot Bangkok is becoming less attractive for sure with the removal of many night markets for malls. You may be right that Bangkok will turn into Singapore in 50 years, but then I’m sure another city will take over the old Bangkok (I’m thinking HCM).
Bangkok is a 2nd world city (with some 1st world bubbles) in a 3rd world country, so of course it’s cheap. The fact that you’re in a 3rd world country still smacks you in the face. Like when you look out the window of the Airport Link and see a shack-house. Or when the police pull you over and ask for a bribe.
That’s the biggest difference between Bangkok and the Hong Kong and Singapore type cities.
You really took my Mailmunch pop up and the exact same text for your sign up didn’t you (not mad), just a little said you’ve not given me a do-follow back link yet :).
Very informative
I’ll personally never be back to Bangkok. Prices are Tokyo tier now for a third world city unless you look hard for deals which are all in shitty locations (deep in the sois surrounded by poor people) so you need to spend a ton more to cab it everywhere.
It might still be a good deal for someone making London / NY tier salaries from home who wants to live in the most developed SEA city and doesn’t care about the cost but for anyone who is just making 2-3k a month I don’t see the appeal dealing with all the visa bullshit and extortionate rents.
Might as well stay in Taiwan or Tokyo where you can actually walk a ton and the subway system is top notch so prime locations aren’t as much of a concern.
And lets not even talk about hooker prices. Hookers are older, more hardened and with barfines you pay as much or more as in safe first world saunas like FKK clubs in Germany. Non hooker girls with above average looks now also think they can hold out for Mr. Perfect just like in the west and incomes like mine don’t cut it anymore (I make about 3k a month) for being brand marked as a race traitor.
In short Bangkok is played out, a waste of time and locals will become increasingly discontent as well while foreigners pay crazy rents and hotel prices (Red Planet Asoke doubled their cost in the last four years) and most of them will live worse and worse.
Bangkok is Tokyo prices for what? Taxis, rental, food and entertainment are 5x cheaper in Bangkok than Tokyo. High rental contracts can easily be avoided with a little bit of research and I think $2-3k range is perfect for Bangkok.
Taiwan is great if you want a laid back more peaceful way of life, but if you want to be social and do things, date lots of girls, Bangkok is much better than Taipei for that.
I appreciate your comment but I don’t think Bangkok is played out at all, it’s by far one of the best cities value for money, and I don’t agree with your comparisons asides from the FKK clubs in Germany, which are arguably the best places in the world to pay for sex.
You’d be surprised that it’s not hard to find a shoebox apartment in Tokyo for $600 a month. A nicer one in a great area can be found for $1000 a month. In Osaka $500 is perfectly doable as well. You obviously can’t just show up there and rent without working there or a spousal visa but it shows you just how bad Bangkok is value wise these days for housing.
You’re in immaculate surroundings, can walk everywhere (even Thong Lo sois with high so restaurants don’t have sidewalks) and it’s just less stressful to get from place A to B.
Japanese women also have more reasonable expectations than the thais looking to gold dig in Thong Lo. Next thing you know you become Alexander Cazes (the guy behind the darknet market AlphaBay who got suicided in thai prison) because you want to play ball with the only thais you consider to be even remotely on your level.
A Japanese shoebox is actually a shoebox, a Bangkok shoebox is typically twice the size of one in Toyko. Tokyo is a great city and I could see myself living there when I’m 35+, but as an all rounder when it comes to nightlife/sex/food/cost of living/travel from my own experience I find it very hard to say they are similar in price. I last visited Tokyo in 2016 and Osaka in 2017, both cities got really expensive when you wanted to splurge out on a nice massage or restaurant compared to Bangkok. If you want to keep it very simple, then yes both cities are cheap (Japanese street food is cheap and tasty), but value for money neither beat Bangkok.
Japan has nothing third world and the side walks are great, so are buildings and everything else, but that’s also why it’s quite expensive. I only spent about 3 weeks in Japan on two trips but I found it hard to mingle with locals compared to Thailand, maybe I was not there long enough but I felt they keep away from us.
Osaka is much closer to Bangkok prices but the city isn’t that big and only has 2 million people. Would agree with your comment about women in Japan, first world countries are usually better to find a wife as their values will match closer to yours.
These are just my opinions. I plan on living in Japan for a few months this year, so hopefully I’ll have more info soon enough :).
In your opinion Is Rca area a good place to live in Bangkok?
It depends on what type of lifestyle you want in Bangkok? I have friends who live there and love it, me personally I would not live there because it’s too far from the things I do on a daily basis. So for me that location is not right, but for you, I don’t know without more info on what your lifestyle in Bangkok will be like, what you like, dislike etc.
Let me do some alternative thinking here.
The above are extreme examples of people obsessed with living close to everything every day, i could live like that in Manila (very similar judging from this article) and spend similar amounts, say $3000 a month in total. I could afford but i just cant live a life where all my money is going to cover my daily needs. By staying outside the city i dont get bored of it, i can go there when i want to and spend a lot of money, money i save by not living there 24-7. I have maybe $200 a month in car expenses and fuel, $300 total rent per month for a residential unit and a couple of commercial units, maybe $300 in electric and water, the total is STILL less than the profit from the commercial units so now my $3,000 a month is more than 3,000, and thats after the regular expenses are paid. I think now you can see how i can use some money to go on trips to Manila, Angeles, Hong Kong, wherever, for some serious fun that would be like a boring routine if i lived smack in the middle of a big city. In addition i would not have the extra income, i would be as relatively poor as some of you guys are, not a tempting scenario.
And the local girls, great, i know places nearby to meet pretty teens-twenteens for 10-15 dollars, in local bars $30 is the absolute maximum for a barfine. Not that i do it so often but i can if i want to and dont ask where i live. in addition theres no worn out semi-old HIV-risk hookers with high milage in all body orifices and more makeup than an average clown, for 5 times the price.
Of course this wouldnt work out so well if you need everything put into your hands and have an obsessive need to be constantly close to all attractions, its expensive to be helpless. I understand some people have special needs but at least be aware that you can have twice the fun for half the price just a couple of miles outside the city core and still have plenty money left for a trip to have some more fun.
People like convenience and time so they pay for it, that’s why people say location, location, location. To me location is the most important thing because I value my time. I am not a fan of traveling long distances to get things I want, well not in my 30s, that might change as I get older. I’m happy to pay extra in rent if it means I only have to walk to the gym instead of catching the BTS. I’m happy to be right next to a Villa market so I don’t have to get a taxi or bike.
I know others who don’t have an issue with traveling a few BTS stops or however long it takes, for me with the Bangkok heat and traffic, I want to spend as little time in that mess as possible.
You’re right, like I said if you live further out you can get much better value IF you don’t mind the lack of inconvenience, for people who love the oldness and charm of Bangkok, then it’s a no-brainer to live on the outskirts.
@Harvie – What is your opinion on the SiLom area of Bangkok? Condo prices there are 15-20% cheaper l Thong Lor or Ekkamai. Also there is a lot of street food and high end restaurants around there. Also Patpong nightlife area, night market, and Soi Thaniya (japanese soi with good restaurants) is in that area. It’s also near Bangkok downtown central district with all the high rises. BTS Si Lom stop is there and most everything within walking distance but still cheaper than Thong Lor and still considered a hip area by most people.
I’ve not lived there but it’s mostly for Japanese expats. If you make friends you’ll find most of them live on Sukhumvit or thereabouts, where Silom is mostly people who work with a business (it’s the CBD area), older mature working crowd usually.
Nice post, I’m pretty much on the same budget and 1500$ work pretty well in the city.
I’ve been in Bangkok for 2 years and the best thing is still the large range of options you have. You can eat in the street for 40THB or in fancy 5 Stars or Rooftop for 2000++
Same goes for activities, condos…
Things is you need to be good with a budget and refrain yourself from temptations otherwise you can easily double your expenses.