Monthly Cost of Living in Bangkok for a Couple

Before I get into how much we spend in Bangkok in a typical month, there are a few things you need to note. Firstly, everyone’s cost of living is different. We know couples that spend much less than us and couples that spend substantially more.

We live in the Phrom Phong area. This is very central, so most things will be more expensive. I’ll write a separate post comparing the main districts of Bangkok where the vast majority of foreigners live.

Our lifestyle is unique to us. Yours will probably be different.

Our current costs are based on us living here for a minimum of six months at a time. We usually spend six months in Bangkok and six months traveling. We didn’t go traveling last year due to a death in the family, so our current stay is 18 months. We’ll be traveling again from February next year.

Accommodation

This is a big expense for most people. Fortunately, Bangkok has a very wide range of condo prices. If you live far out of the center, you can still find condos for around 5,000 baht ($146) a month.

You can also find very high-end condos for 250,000 baht ($7,300) a month.

We pay 35,000 baht ($1,022) a month for a 54 sqm condo in the heart of Phrom Phong. Even in our building, it’s possible to get a slightly smaller condo for around 25,000 baht, but we wanted to be at the corner of the building, as the views are pretty awesome. We also prefer a slightly large condo.

We have had a series of 6-month leases. Most condos in our building are only available for 6 or 12-month leases.

If you’re only planning to stay a month or so, expect to pay more.

We usually use Airbnb to find places to stay when traveling, but in Bangkok, we usually try to find a place that we can rent directly from the owner.

Monthly Utility Bills

Our utility bills are pretty reasonable, and are as follows:

Electricity is usually around 2,500-3,000 baht ($73-78)

Water is usually 100-120 baht ($3-4)

Internet is 660 baht ($19) - the internet speed is around 150 Mbps via wifi and 300 Mbps if using an ethernet cable

Mobile phone charges are around 1,200 baht ($35) for both of us

Eating Out and In

This can vary a lot from day to day. Some days we’ll head to one of the local food courts for lunch and spend 90 baht each ($3 each). On other days we’ll head to a restaurant and pay around 600 baht ($18) between us.

We probably average around 400 baht a day for lunch, so that’s 12,000 baht ($350) in a month.

We usually have dinner at home but do sometimes get takeaway, like today. We just spent 500 baht for this evening’s dinner.

Over the month, we probably spend another 12,000 baht ($350) on dinner.

Coffee

This has a category of its own because we visit cafes every day. Phrom Phong is a more expensive area for cafes, and we usually spend 300-500 baht a day. Like lunch, this works out at around 12,000 baht ($350) a month.

Many think this is an insane amount to spend on coffee every month, and maybe it is. I didn’t spend most of my life working just to end up sitting at home drinking coffee just to save some money.

General Shopping

Some of this is included in the eating section above. Other than that, we probably spend an extra 3,500 baht ($100) on general shopping.

Travel

We don’t travel outside of Bangkok much while we’re here. We probably spend an average of 3,500 baht ($100) a month on this.

For public transport, we usually use the BTS or motorbike taxis. Our monthly spend is around 2,000 baht ($58) a month.

Entertainment

We’re not party people, so we don’t spend much at all on this. Usually, we’d meet up with friends at a café or restaurant, and those costs are included above.

Total Expenditure

The above gives a total expenditure of 84,980 baht ($2,500).

Wait, there’s more

When I look at the figure above, I wish our spending was this low. However, we have spent a lot more recently. There are usually plenty of extras that never get mentioned in cost of living reports. They’re not usually regular expenses, but you still need to plan for them.

Passport - I need to renew one of my passports this month and that will cost around 5,000 baht ($150).

Visa - I need to renew my permission to stay in the country this month as well. That costs 1,900 baht. I also need a re-entry permit (1,000 baht). Then there’s the cost of getting to and from the immigration office and having photos taken. This year, I also need to go back a second time to get the visa and re-entry permit transferred to my new passport. Total cost will be around 5,000 baht ($150).

Personal training and therapy - I have had a personal trainer and therapist for the last six months and that has cost around 10,000 baht ($300) a month.

Dentist - I needed dental treatment a few months ago, as did my wife.

Clothes & Luggage - we buy new clothes fairly regularly and also need some new luggage before we travel again in February.

Weddings - we have two weddings to attend in the next two months. The one outside Bangkok will mean staying at a hotel for a few nights. It will also involve buying some new clothes.

Electronics - I haven’t bought any in recent years, but my wife needs a new phone soon and I’m considering buying a new laptop. The one I’m interested in is 65,000 baht ($1,900). I’m not sure I can justify paying that much, so we'll have to see if I decide to buy it or not. My current laptop is around 7 years old. Maybe I’ll keep it for a bit longer.

There are plenty of other expenses that can crop up. They will be different for everyone. So, when someone tells you that you can live in Bangkok for $3,000 a month or whatever, don’t forget to factor in all the additional expenses that rarely get mentioned.

Make sure you have an emergency fund. I’ve seen so many people come unstuck over the years because of expenses they didn’t plan for.

I hope this is of some help to those planning to stay in Bangkok. If you’ve already stayed here, let me know what your monthly expenses were.