I live in Pattaya and my monthly expenses (June 2023) including Rent/ Utils/Water/ Phone/ Internet/Health Ins/ Visas/ Transportation/Food & Entertainment run approx $950 USD. I go out 2-3 nights a week and buy most of my food from the local night market. The real question isn't the exact dollar amount, rather could you have a similar quality of life in your home country for less money.
Been Pattaya 2 years now on £800 a month. Rent condo £135 month. Utilites £30 month. Mobile £7 month. Health insurance £60 month. Eat out three times a day £250 month. Motorbike owned costs £40 month. Whats left on activites month. Just stay away from the distractions or keep it as a treat and its douable.
@@method341 keep fit with swimming walking . If your over 60 there are many free entry to some places like a water park. Theres so much to see and do without spending money as the weather is on your side.
@@method341 train 3-4 times a day,walk 4-8km whenever you don't train,go to a café,sit down there,enjoy a conversation or read something,invest money etc etc...
$1k/mo is actually very doable, especially for a person like me who doesn't drink, smoke, or party. In fact the longer you're in Thailand, the more you learn and the wider your network expands, and cheaper it becomes. This difference can be sizable too.
I am a single retired. Going visit a friend near Thaton. She has been there for years. I am so ready to leave the US. How hard is it to learn their language? Is it safe for little old ladies! Hahaha I am a little Cajun/Rican…lol how are single women received? How long have you been there?
Nice video, Brett. Agree 100%. It CAN be done. Surviving vs Living is subjective to each individual. I don't drink but I'm living comfortably in a newer condo in Jomtien, mostly thai food (preferred), new motorbike, occasional coffee shops and massages, etc., and spent just over 20K baht in November. It'll be slightly more this month as I'm doing a few hotels/resorts over the New Year. Golfing, alcohol, "entertainment", etc., can easily double that amount or more. It can be done. It's all up to you🙂
I’m from the UK and I’m in Thailand right now and I can tell you it isn’t 35% cheaper… it’s almost 75% cheaper! Rent alone is amazing here! London is sooo expensive!
Hey Brett, always like the cost of living videos, I can remember the old videos of digital nomads living on 5-600 dollars a month, those were the days! It all comes down to how you live……..
@@randomworld4662 nope! I was just commenting on some old “cost of living in Thailand” videos, no doubt the cost of living has gone up, and people being people want to live like Kings and not like paupers!
Expenses; I got into the habit of writing down every expenditure in a notebook I carry around with me. I was tired of trying to figure out where all my $ went. The major expenses are easy to keep track of. The little ditties are much easier to forget, but add up to a substantial number. I always anticipate basic expenses & add $50. For miscellaneous items, then $200. more, of (WAM) walking around money.
Ive seen several of your videos from Thailand. I have my Thailand guys & Vietnam guys & quite often find i find them both elsewhere. Good video. I did the arithmetic on 2 ppl per month w medical insurance. I come in around $1,200-1,500. Comfortable, no skimping, but conservative. Good food, first & foremost! Today they say, "foody". The term in my youth was, "chow hound". Rent as low as possible for a clean, well lit place. Upstairs, ok w me. Drink at home. Wander; my favorite pastime. Keep 'em comin' buddy! 👍🇻🇳
Your reaction to that firework 🎉😂! True pro, just adlibbed and kept going! Yes, this topic is a very popular one these days, and I think your approach is incredibly responsible advice, with some flexibility built in, but also where we should be shooting for comfortable AND thriving as well, so as to not be stressed out and hating your life there, besides, many of us have already lived that life in our former countries that nessecitated the change in the first place! Great video as usual Brett, thanks! Merry Christmas to you and your Mrs!
Thanks for breaking this down and this detailed overview. This is in general very helpful. I appreciate your decent information, that you present very calm and positively. For you being young - and me a bit older - there's a point you might miss: The cost of health-care. What happens if something happens? Like accident (not serious) on motorbike, dentist or something more serious. - I mean: If I was young as you, I didn't pay attention to these points, but getting older, the more someone has seen, and the more aware you become.
I lived in Chiang Mai in 2019. I am a widow, mid 50's, on a retirement visa at the time. There wasn't the requirement for health insurance on the OA visa (I arrived prior to that), but my final day prior to my flight, I had an accident and needed to be transported by ambulance to get it checked out. Cost for that adventure was 2886 baht for ambulance ride, x-rays, emergency room consult, and medication. I kept the receipt, and look at it often as a motivation. The hospital wasn't fancy (Klaimor Hospital), but as an American...I couldn't get an aspirin and a bandage over here for that!
p.s my dentist at VP Dental in Santitham area charged me just 26 USD for my cleaning...and she was raised in Los Angeles and spoke with a distinct Valley Girl accent!
The cost for SETTING UP your housing and lifestyle also should be taken into account. You probably won't need furniture, specifically...but little things during your first week or two of set up are unexpected. Clothes hangers (cheaper at the local markets vs. big stores), cutlery, towels and sheets, cleaning supplies, your drinking water supply (smaller bottles or larger with a weekly service?), etc. Again, everything is available easily but your expenses fluctuate depending on how familiar you are with the local markets. Your deposits for your rent come out straight away as you move in so be sure to bring enough extra so you don't stress out in your first month.
Hi Brett I have been watching your videos and I subscribed to your channel and I totally agree with the way you think and what you say about Thailand. I live in Hawaii and I am planning on moving to Thailand next year. I think I will go to live in Chiang Mai because of how you described the area. I am 68 and retired and I think that city would be best for me.thanks for your helpful videos and I hope that I can meet you and thank you for doing such a great job with your videos.
I live in Kalasin live in a house with 4 bedrooms we have agriculture on 45 rai. we live on 15000B a month, so we pay the health insurance, it will be about 5-6000B. we use more money when we travel to Bangkok.
My home is in Khon Kaen but I've been living in Bangkok since 2000. I spend about $300 (≈ ฿10,000) on my monthly bills (for 2 bedrooms 1 living and 1 kitchen house rent, Netflix, Spotify, RU-vid premium, 1Gbps internet, phone bill, power, and water bill) Thanks to the work-from-home era I don't need to spend much on petrol for my 2 cars. I will not mention parties or traveling that depend on you.
You can easily live in Thailand on 30k BHT a month ive done this myself for 6 months u just have to cut out the bars and live within u means and eat local foods and live on a budget there all kinds of accom avil from Backpackers to Condos for every budget you just have to look around.....heres a tip the futher u away from the main bars and walking street areas and go the outer areas the cheaper it is.....and helps to know some Thais to they will help u find accom whatever u budget is
@@Mike11219USA The woman I meet in Vietnam are completely different from American women I can get a much better house in Japan for 200 to 300k than I can get in Seattle fof 600k. The food is better and cheaper So is the medical care, transportation and clothing.
Just joined the Skool. I like this video breakdown. I have a side hustle, but also additionally a steady $1,600 a month income for life. Looks like with just that $1,600 a month I can live a decent life in Chiang Mai. Got a friend out there in Chiang Mai doing it on a bit less, around $1,200. I don't really party nor drink. This is great.
@@RawDogTV Yeah. He's 58. He's not out partying and boozing. Occasional beer, and mainly vegetarian diet. He says he typically has $75 to $150 left most months.
@@TraderMigs wow that's amazing. I live in Canada and I'm planning to move to Pattaya or Chiang Mai permanently and I've been trying to learn as much as I can. It might be possible for me to live there only making $1,800-$2,000 CAD per month. I'm not sure
I have a steady $1,700 for life too, but I'm living with folks since rent in Florida has sky rocketed exponentially. Looking forward to living abroad some day soon, just hoping that the petro dollar doesn't crash like everyone is predicting due to all of these countries joining BRICS.
Also I have a female friend that's a widow there in Thailand and anytime I visit I'm welcome to come stay at her house I just help with the electric the water in the food her house is paid for. Her entire electric and water bill for the month was like $20. I spent $50 on groceries and it fit three to four people for two weeks as well
I can definitely survive on $900 a month or 30 dollars a day. I dont struggle Living in a million dollar house Used to have 4 cars in 3 countries. I know many multi millionaires living well on 1000 and living very very well More than surviving.
I absolutely appreciate your breakdown of the cost of living. I have been researching to move to Bangkok, and I had my budget at $1500 a month for all the expenses. But now, Chiang Mai might be the location. I was enjoying the thought was being able to use the mass transit system in Bangkok (BTS/MRT) as my main mode of transportation, but a motorbike in Chiang Mai sounds good too! Is the traffic in Chiang Mai like the traffic in Bangkok ? Thank you for providing this information! This was great !
I could live easily with 1000$ Canadian and living 5 minutes walk from the BTS (Sky Train) in a nice condo. Unfortunately I had to eat a lot at 7/11 and buy food from the grocery. "Normal" food is more expensive than in Canada. But Malls restaurants are full all the time and they are expensive. Thais are a lot richer than I thought.
@travelfiend Yes in Bangkok. If in other cities or even a bit further away in Bangkok you can take buses and ride back of pickup truck but good luck understanding where they are going. Best bet outside of mass transit is taxi. I would personally never drive a motor bike in Thailand, unless you don't care about your life.
@@dfilion3 Normal food is more expensive than in Canada? I heard street food is so cheap... Can you elaborate and also explain what's included in that $1000 CAD. I live in Montreal Canada and I'm planning a solo trip to Pattaya Thailand in 2023 for 31 days. I'm trying to get as much information as I can especially from fellow Canadians
i'm doing it right now and have done for months i'm coming in around $700 not though choice,i'm going out once a week for a few beers i have a girlfriend but she understands that its temp while i get back on my feet, the one thing that saves me the most is only paying government rates for my bills and owning my own scooter.its also cheaper to eat out once a day for me and cook the rest.Ive got a very big savings account , what you say brett about having a min of 12k is a must in the year i've been here ive had some heavy expenses mac died and i had to get a new p.c.
@travel3454 the condos tend to charge a lot more my water is very cheap around 85b some places will charge up 300b its crazy and electricity can be 8/10b+ a unit so you need to find this out before you sign anything
Yes as you say EVERYONE should have an Emergency fund, as well as a startup fund for Deposits, furniture, motor bike of what ever else anytime you move to another City, state, country or ???
It all depends how we spend our life style in Thailand. If someone who want good life style anywhere in Thailand. 1000 dollars or pounds isn't going to be enough..rent cheap eats with local..less of going out drinking ..1000 or less is very possible,
Thanks for the video & sharing, if I am going to retire in Thailand which in my early 50's now, I need to have at least $3K in monthly pension & at least $100K extra savings for emergency, going out only 3x a week with a regular Thai lady with no LDs & barfines. Only eat Thai food & no farang food like burgers and steak. That won't happen until late 2025 or early 2026.
Interesting compared to Vietnam where i live. Rent is a bit cheaper in Thailand for sure, but motorbike hire/costs much cheaper here in Vietnam at about $45 a month for a good motorbike. Do the landlords there "load" the electric like they do here as well?
I live in a very rural area here in the states so i know the pro's and con's of rural life, but in these rural areas, can you still find plenty of "fun" girls? are there still local bars to go to to have a few beers and unwind/dance a little bit? I will have 1600+ monthly to play with plus i'll have a sizeable savings ($300k+). So I know I can swing things there and be comfortable but I am curious if i live in a rural area (my preference) will I still be able to have my "fun" with the ladies easily? or will I have to make a trip to the city every time I want to have some fun time?
Yo idk what’s up with those grab prices but that is not how my experience this November was. I spent 4 days in chiang mai and used grab multiple times. It was never less than $10-12 per ride and I didn’t even go half way across the city.
I've been in Chiang Mai since early November, and Grab rides have been between $3 and $8. Those closer to $8 were from near the airport to Central Chianmai Mall.
Just to follow up with updated info, I took a Grab from the airport to Central Chiangmai (basically the outskirts of Chiang Mai on the northeast) today. At 11:30 AM, it was 267 baht, or about $7.68 and took 20 minutes. If there weren't so many people here right now, you would hire a Honda Click for less than this amount per day. It should be 250 baht or so. Long-term, they are much cheaper.
I will be living on my boat. I will need 1 or 2 nights a month at a marina. Will $1500 a month cover it. I have a nest egg that would allow 10+ years without other income.
I've lived in CNX for 6 months now and spent liberally, not budgeting or saving in anything. From my bank statements I can see total realised expenses of about 1000 USD a month.
@@TempestTossedWaters A nice condo, a nice car and Western food four times per week and your budget goes to the roof! Only accommodation and utility bills are still cheaper in Thailand. Good quality food, fancy cars, trustable life insurance, trips abroad, quality clothing etc are as expensive as in West, sometimes way more (cars).
@@turbosandtalks Lol fancy car, what foreigner in Thailand is getting a car? Western food is still cheaper especially than Canada. Trips abroad? go to google flights and show me what a flight from toronto to mexico is vs thailand to singapore or vietnam? Let alone anywhere further than mexico if you want variety. Goofy comment to say the least.
Great vid. Honest. If you want to drink lots of beer and party with fellow expats, then come to Cambodia. Draft beer is 50 cents in many beer bars. And the female entertainment won't break the bank.
Im italian no easy im came 25 time in cm jast holidays bat if do you like the beer and club spend not like Bangkok or samuy sorry i dont write english very well
Thank you for the video. What would a comfortable budget be for 2 people where you can take a trip every few months. Would you suggest adding 25% or 50% to the $2,000 number? Thanks again 😊
A frugal old man like me-self (70+) can easily get by most months on that $1000 with relative ease. No drinking no smoking and quite comfortable in a 'studio' with my AC WIFI & TV ! -- Not much of a cook but varied street food would be fine mostly. Splurge occasionally. -- Good health insurance is a must & I could do up to $200 / month to be safe there. -- Low cost living has been my normal for decades. = My almost $1500 should be enough with almost $10,000 extra ?
I’ve been in CM for the past month or so and honestly I find CM not a lot cheaper than BkK. At least not as much as in the past. BKK might be more expensive in certain things but it’s a lot more interesting and exciting as a city than CM which is a sleepy boring little town. Not my first time in CM, it used to be a lot more fun. Not sure why CM is quieter now ZZ could it be the time of the year?
What's your solution for burning season? I am in Thailand and looking to move to Chiang Mai now, but the burning season seems awful. So actually living on 1000 a month is realistic only in north.
nah u can live on 1k usd in pattaya or bkk or even phuket, getting 300usd condo, 50 for bills, 250 for food, 100 for motorbike and gas, 50 for gym, 50 for hygiene, 50 for insurance, 250usd for fun which is 300 baht a day so thats 2 x coffee and a thai massage each and every day if u want to = total 1100usd per month
@@DarkoFitCoach 300 usd condos are non existent in Samui, and even in Phuket my friend is paying 25k for simple condo. It's not Chiang Mai.For 250$ i t will be also hard to eat if you eat out. I mostly eat thai food, and it comes to around 600 usd per month.
@@bitiharif then ur doing it wrong buddy. Also depending what condo u want. U can get 15k a month 100m2 condo in pattaya in pratumnak and for 10k 50m2. Food: eat in terminal 21 and meal is 30 baht. Take 3 of those and 1 water and ur on 100baht per meal (3 meals in 1). 3x a day and ur on 300baht a day for food
Hi! Can you please post travel insurance companies? I am from Canada and have been looking for some that are a monthly basis. I will be coming to Thailand next month Thanks :)
Great video some good advice I live in Surin City. I am married have our own house or should I say before anybody else does she has her house LOL we grow most of our own food vegetables buy chicken from the lads in the village I make my own sausages and cure my own bacon, as I find it difficult to find a supplier that does gold sausage and bacon and without sausage and bacon in your life. What can I say you don’t have a life😮 I have a few beers every night run a car, no swimming pool and I can live comfortably on 30,000 baht a month. If I stop drinking that would go down to 20,000 Bart her month, but where is the fun in that?
Live like a Thai, you can do it. Live with a western set of life priorities and there is no way!! If a single man wants to be alone, can do it on that budget, no problem. If a man wants a partner there is no way you can do that. A motorbike is a seriously dangerous risk for older folks and the other methods of travel are much more expensive in relation to the low budget. Anybody that is older than 40 must always consider medical costs and/or health insurance. So I think the analysis in the video, while worthwhile only applies to a thin slice of the foreigner population in Thailand
Hello sir I watched all your videos on RU-vid You're doing a really good job I have a small query can you please give me a good suggestion I got offer from my family friend who is living in Thailand from last 2 years he is saying to open a lounge bar or restaurant in pattaya Thailand What do you think is it profitable to open business there and move to Thailand Please give your honest review about restaurant or lounge bar business review there
hey, why don't you compare the same standard of living in Thailand and in the UK? :) for me it's like... I live in a shitty place in Europe. I rent a room. it's kind of a problem that when I go to Thailand I don't want the same... I would not be happy. not saying I am happy here but I accept it, tolerate it. so... just an idea for vlog... 1 to 1 comparison. that would be very interesting for me. and maybe some other people.
My returns will give me $3-5000 USD/month. All I wanna do is eat, lift weights, play DND. I will need something else to do because I'm not a party man.
Hey, so I'm going to relocate to Chiang Mai by July 2023. Would it be possible to get a One-Bedroom condo in Niman area for about 10k Bhat? Or somewhere close by to Niman for about that price?
Let's keep it SIMPLE! Location...location...location!!! Like an ATOMIC EXPLOSION! The closer you are to ground ZERO (Soi Cowboy, Nana Plaza, most of Pattaya/Phuket/Koh Samui entertainment areas), the more MONEY you will spend...you WON'T be able to control yourself! If you are in the semi-rural or rural areas...it's survivable because it's CHEAP!!!
