Cost of Living Guide in Bangkok, Thailand 💸💸 (2023 Update)

Today we are giving you a complete guide to the cost of living in Bangkok, Thailand. We know there are a lot of questions out there such as, "can you live in Thailand for less than $1000 a month?" or "what is the cost of living in Thailand as a couple in 2023?". If these are questions you have had, you have come to the right video!!
We know cost of living has increased around the globe in the last couple years and we think it is important to be completely transparent with you all. We really hope this video gives you an insight into what Thailand is like and the current cost of living as of 2023. This video may bring up some questions or comments and we invite you all to chat with us down in the comments below. We absolutely love to hear from you and hear what you all think. What do you think of our budget? Is there anything we missed? Don't be shy, we reply to everyone!!
Thank you so much for being here and see you next Sunday :)
Videos mentioned:
Here is what we typically spend at Makro: • $150 Grocery Haul for ...
Our First Apartment together:
• $400 Luxury Apartment ...
5 Super Fun Activities in Bangkok (wakeboarding/go karting included):
• BANGKOK- 5 REALLY Fun ...
Thai Food that we absolutely LOVE:
• SKIP Phad Thai...Try t...
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:33 Transportation
5:42 Makro
7:18 Water Situation
7:52 Apartment Tour/ Cost
12:22 Apartment Gym/ Swimming Pool
13:48 Hobbies and Fun :)
16:32 Salaries for Foreign Teachers
17:00 Our Rough Monthly Expense Report
17:21 Bloopers
If you're new here, welcome to our channel! We are so glad you're here. We are a married couple from AMERICA🇺🇸(K8) & SOUTH AFRICA🇿🇦(Gustav). We met here in Bangkok, Thailand🇹🇭, fell in love, and finally eloped in March 2023. 💍💍(eeek!) Since 2021, we've been planning adventures, exploring South East Asia on motorbike, trying crazy fruits, and jungle trekking/hiking through some of the craziest places we've ever been. We want to bring you along on our journeys as we do our favorite things in South East Asia, which is HIKING and RIDING OUR MOTORBIKE in beautiful areas. (amongst many other activities haha)
We hope our channel brings you inspiration in your travels and maybe a few laughs as well. We have a passion for being in the outdoors, capturing the special moments, and of course, sharing it with you.
If you are interested in this sort of content don't be shy. Hit that subscribe button so you don't miss out ☺️ Thank you for stopping by and see you in the next one :)

[@jadeandjason.]

Love all the information you guys provide. Loved watching every moment of it❤ you guys are naturals!!!

[@K8andGustav]

Thank you guys for always supporting us and for all the great adventures together 😃

[@Emilysrichala.]

Nice to meet you guys! A fellow expat in Bangkok too! I look forward to following along your journey! ❤❤

[@K8andGustav]

Nice to meet you too, enjoy your time in Bangkok, we have some more Thailand videos coming up😃

[@kamolhengkiatisak1527]

Thailand started bus service in Bangkok nearly 100 years ago, it was run by private bus operators at a reasonable price but still making a decent profit. However, about 45 years ago, a certain political party campaigned to make bus in Bangkok free and when this party came to power as a coalition govt, it nationalized bus services, buying the private operators and created Bangkok Mass Transport Authority (BMTA) to run a free bus service for a few years. When the govt could no longer afford the huge annual subsidy, it allowed the BMTA to charge a cheap ticket price for non-aircon buses and then introduced air-con buses at 2-3 times the price of non-aircon buses. The non-aircon buses have been running at a loss since then up to today while the air-con buses run at break-even. The BMTA then granted private bus operators to run non-aircon and air-con buses again about 30 years ago to reduce the BMTA's mounting debts as private operators seem to know how to run buses at a decent profit even though they charge the same ticket fares as BMTA's own buses. To this day, BMTA non-aircon red/orange buses are still relatively cheap at 8 baht, one of the cheapest fare in the world. Every year, the national govt allocates a supplementary budget to shore up BMTA's inefficient operation. It is apparent that the first populist policy of Thai govt does not work as is the case worldwide such as the bankrupted Venezuela and the father of populist policy Argentina which seeks IMF help at least 6 times since WWII. Note: Since early this year, there is an aircon electric bus service (Thai Smile Bus) running dozens of routes in Bangkok under BMTA's concession. Bus fare depends on distance. You can pay by fill-in Hopper card bought from bus conductor or cash. Right now there is a 40-baht all day promotion if you pay by Hopper card. Even if the fare exceeds 40 baht, you pay only 40 baht. It's great if you plan to tour Bangkok using this promotion. You can also download TSB app to know when a particular bus is coming at your bus stop. The Hopper card can also be used at Thai Smile Boat service at a flat rate of 20 baht for all distance. The promotion also includes 50-baht for bus/boat combined service right now.

[@K8andGustav]

That was really informative, thanks so much for sharing. We will definitely try out the electric buses in the near future 😃

[@davechinwan]

Thanks for the nice and informative video.

[@K8andGustav]

Thanks for watching Dave😃 please be sure to subscribe if you like the style of videos😊

[@Salamander407]

Nice vid, great job.

[@K8andGustav]

Thanks😃 we put a lot of effort into this video.

[@user-fn9cs4dv8r]

great video guys!

[@K8andGustav]

Thank you so much😁

[@leejennings9833]

Certain times of the year it rains a lot in Thailand. I'd be interested in hearing about how you deal with going to and from work on a rainy day.

[@K8andGustav]

Gustav takes a School van. So he isn’t really affected by it. Kate gets drenched when it’s rainy season so she uses a Poncho. And drives slowly when the roads are flooded.

[@elezarsalazar3210]

Hi I'm new subscriber to your channel from Philippines ❤❤❤

[@K8andGustav]

Hi Elezarsalazar, thank you so much for subscribing and supporting our videos😁

[@yeffanyleanne5348]

Thankyou for this video. Definitely very helpful. I'll be moving to Bangkok next year because of my job. I however chose to live next to ARL around Makassan area cuz it goes straight to my workplace. Wish me luck. Living in another country, starting a new life with no friends and relatives around is quite scary for me 😬

[@K8andGustav]

Hey thanks for leaving a comment😃 Makassan area looks like a better place to be. More parks close by, and more expats to make friends with. We both moved to Bangkok alone in 2021 (before we met) and you will make friends fast and the people in Thailand are sooo welcoming and friendly. Good luck on the new journey, and enjoy every moment of it😁

[@denis.thailand]

Welcome in Thailand !

[@knackmarketplace2955]

Nice video! But just couldn't understand why the apartment was so dirty and it's a manageable size. Just distracting 😅

[@K8andGustav]

These small apartments do get cluttered easily. Thanks for watching 😄

[@chloebieraugel2476]

Kate looks gorgeous in this video😍😍

[@K8andGustav]

Kate looks gorgeous in all the videos😄

[@EvralTatum-Mcfield-ov2mi]

Less than 800 dollars a month for 2, not bad at all, that's mean that a single person can do it with $1000 a month without a problem!!

[@K8andGustav]

Yeah the cost of living is nice and low. You could get a big apartment for more, or a house and cost of living goes up. Also, all our traveling expenses aren’t included. But yeah you can live comfortably on a $1000 per month 😃

[@chev6901]

Great video. Wondering if we can pay for BTS tickets or bus tickets with North American credit cards? And for all expenses listed at the end of the video, including rent, can we pay with NA credit cards? Thank you.

[@K8andGustav]

You can use the website 12go to pay for long haul busses, vans, trains, and ferries with your cards. BTS we just do cash, not sure about using cards. Rent probably not, except if you can do long term rentals on Airbnb or hotels. There is a place called Qbox hotel that has short and long term rentals and I think you'll be able to pay with credit cards. Thanks for watching😃

[@user-ek2eu2kt7h]

God bless you guys

[@K8andGustav]

Thank you Sir. We do feel very blessed in our marriage and lives😃 thank you for support our videos😁

[@Anaiselp1]

Please make a video on how to get a teaching job. Thanks

[@K8andGustav]

Go on the websites: Ajarn and Kruteacher. There are a lot of job posts there. Also Facebook groups post jobs daily.

[@4x4fc]

น่ารัก❤เลย

[@K8andGustav]

Thank you so much 😊

[@DBomber_24]

Thanks for sharing this is informative. Do you have any idea how much a finance manager (with 14 years of experience) earns in Bangkok?

[@K8andGustav]

The average salary is 120k baht per month and goes up to 390k baht per month. More lucrative job than teaching 😅

[@chloebieraugel2476]

I am your biggest fan! Please notice me

[@K8andGustav]

You have been Noticed Chlocho😄

[@thanaang1455]

Avoid motorbike, you can live outskirt of Bangkok but must be close to mass transit. You earn less but spend less here. It would be best to have European salary and live in South East Asia.

[@K8andGustav]

Yeah driving a motorcycle in Bangkok is stressful 😅 public transport is nice and affordable. To be honest we sometimes wish we could be closer to downtown Bangkok so we could do more activities and sports.

[@nampanmobii6286]

🤞💙🤞

[@K8andGustav]

😁✌️

[@SteveWalterstheMoneyInfant]

I know you want to be close to your school, but there are many options and price ranges. For example we lived on Sukhumvit 31 in a 238sqm place for 28k baht. Also Yen Akat (Sathorn area) for 14k baht. So you can live in downtown fairly cheaply.

[@K8andGustav]

Yeah that’s true, we have met people that live in downtown Bangkok and got affordable accommodation, but for us it would be really far to commute to our Schools. Sometimes we wish we were closer to Sukhumvit for all the fun activities you can do😃

[@guymandudely324]

Do you have a lot of furniture and furnishings? I'm just curious why you'd need 238sqm.

[@SteveWalterstheMoneyInfant]

@guymandudely324 kids and all their toys, sister-in-law coming to stay with us, we wanted a full kitchen, and we simply like being able to spread out a bit.

[@suttisakangkapanich7809]

Hope you ride safe in Thai

[@K8andGustav]

Thank you so much 😊 we bought some Motorcycle jackets and gloves😄

[@davidgoodliff4486]

How much do visas and visa runs plus health insurance add to the budget?

[@K8andGustav]

Most countries get a free 30 day visa exemption at the airport. It's 1900baht to extend it another 30 days. The work visa is also 1900 or 2000 baht for a year. My school covers that and health insurance. But you can find good health insurance for around 20k per year. We have never done border runs because we got jobs before coming. But buses and flights to Cambodia and Loas are cheap.

[@thetrippinfamily]

How many hours a week do you work as a teacher? What options are available. We are coming in April.

[@K8andGustav]

Gustav works 7:45-16:20 Monday to Friday. Kate works 7:00-4:00. But there are also english teaching centers where the hours are different. Go look on the websites Ajarn and Kruteacher for job listings 😃 April is a great time to come because the next Academic year starts in May/June.

[@denis.thailand]

I live here for past 5 years. My mtotal onthly expenses are around 28k

[@K8andGustav]

Hey Dennis, where is Bangkok do you stay? Thats a good cost of living tbh😃

[@AL_4083]

For clarity you need a degree (any degree) for a work permit/visa and if you have a “teaching” degree you can make more monthly??

[@K8andGustav]

Yes any Bachelors degree. If you have a teaching degree/license or PGCE some schools pay you more and you can apply for postions at International Schools and make an even higher salary.

[@AL_4083]

@@K8andGustav Thank you 🙏🏽

[@CGInvestment]

Nice video, why did you left the luxury apartment, price was not that different

[@K8andGustav]

We moved to an apartment where a lot of my colleagues stay because our School Van pick is up here. So I don't have to drive myself😄 but we miss the old apartment, it was amazing. And the pool and gym was great there.

[@CGInvestment]

@@K8andGustav Thanks for the response, and for the videos

[@K8andGustav]

Thanks a lot for watching😁

[@InverseMyInvestmentAdvice]

Any troubles that comes with scooter? I see a lot of policemen stopping foreigners on them.

[@K8andGustav]

We have never been pulled over in Thailand by Police, and rarely ever see them. We got pulled over by Vietnamese Police yesterday in Ha giang😅

[@user-ek2eu2kt7h]

30,000 & I’m gone US

[@K8andGustav]

Come travel South East Asia. It really is affordable.

[@r-p6278]

Using motorcycle is very danger .

[@K8andGustav]

It really is, we try to drive as safe as possible. And always wear a helmet.

[@ShaheryarAlim]

What about teachers except ESL? how much first time teachers get?

[@K8andGustav]

You can teach Science and Math at some schools, or even Social Studies/History. Depending on where you are from the salaries start at the lowest around 35k and go up from there.

[@guymandudely324]

Salaries are awful for EFL. Even English Program teachers who normally earn more have been displaced by Filipino teachers who will gladly work for HALF the salary of a Western teacher. Many schools won't even process your nonB visa anymore, so teaching options are very limited and not expected to be 'full-time' for Westerners.

[@K8andGustav]

That is true is some schools, but if you have a bachelor's degree and can get some experience teaching you can get higher paying jobs if you are patient. Also my colleagues teach ESL and make a good salary. You just need to find a good school.

[@guymandudely324]

@@K8andGustav I'm sorry but 35K baht isn't a good salary or good enough for farang to live well in Bangkok. Since most schools aren't interested in providing nonB assistance anymore, it's irrelevant ... Thai schools want backpackers for a month or so who can be replaced, or Filipino teachers who will work for 15-20K baht/month.