Cost of living in Thailand
I received a message on facebook recently asking me to do a post on the cost of living in Thailand. I currently live and work in Bangkok as a teacher and this is my third time living here, my first being in 2006. Since then costs have obviously changed. The main one being the strength of the baht. Back in 2006 £1 bought you approximately 70 THB, today that figure is around 43 THB. Other than that I don’t think costs have increased much. The condo I rented in 2006 for 10,000 baht a month still costs 10,000 baht a month 11 years later (Thais don’t like used condos) and taxi fares still start at 35 baht.
I spent 2015-2016 in the UK so I can compare my living costs in the two places, which sometimes gives a more accurate picture than simply checking out living costs on expatistan for instance.
Accommodation
This was definitely my main cost in the UK and accounts for just under 25% of my net income here in Thailand. Here in Thailand I rent a 31sqm condo with pool and gym. It might sound small but the designs are generally very good so it feels spacious. It’s very close to the sky train (30 meters in fact) and about 20 mins to the city centre (Siam Square). High floor, modern, nice view, etc. Pools and gyms come as standard here. I pay 15,000-a-month (£345) for this which is again is fairly standard.
In the UK I was living in a 52sqm apartment in Glasgow which cost £700-a-month. No pool or gym, which is standard in UK. A fairly nice place, spacious and modern. No views to speak of, but fairly close to the city centre and the river. On top of the rent was council tax which was another £125-a-month.
Thailand: £345
UK: £825
Utilities
Here in Thailand my electric bill comes to less than 800 baht a month (my condo has 2 air-con units) which is about £18. I have a broadband, TV and mobile phone package that costs about 850 baht a month (£20). Water is cheap at around £3 a month.
In the UK my apartment was electric heating and hot water which is more expensive than gas central heating. My energy bills averaged out at £70-a-month over the year. I had broadband for £22-a-month and lived without a TV (don’t need to buy a TV license). My mobile contract was £7.50 a month which included the phone (a cheap Samsung smart phone). Water rates in the UK are included in the council tax.
Thailand: £41
UK: £100
Living costs
I budget to spend about 20,000 baht a month on living costs (food, going out, socializing, etc), which is easily possible. It’s also easily possible to spend 2, 3 or 5 times that amount. In May I spent about 21,000. So far for June (3 weeks) I’ve only spent 8,000. I eat out at least 4 times a week, take taxis to work and go to coffee shops every other day so I’m not being overly frugal in my lifestyle here.
In the UK I would try to live off £500 a month so I had a fairly frugal lifestyle. Eating out maybe once or twice a week at most and walking to work. I still had my coffee though just to keep me going. Drinking out was quite rare as pubs in the UK are quite expensive, I would tend to splurge on wine though.
Thailand: £460
UK: £500
So there you have it. To sum up total monthly costs in Thailand come to about £846 (or just under 37,000 baht) and in the UK £1,425. According to expatistan Bangkok is 30% cheaper than Glasgow. My actual costs here are about 41% less and I would say I have a higher standard of living than I had back in the UK.
To live in Bangkok I would suggest at least £10,000 a year plus another £2,500 or so for additional expenses such as travel. That works out at about 540,000 baht a year or 45,000 baht a month. This can be reduced significantly if you live further out of town (condos with pools and gyms can be found for around 7,000 baht a month which could save you 100,000 baht a year). There is also other provinces in Thailand. Chiang Mai in the north is popular and according to expatistan is 26% cheaper. Personally I think that’s a bit optimistic. Accommodation can be cheaper but everything else costs about the same (public transport tends to be expensive outside Bangkok).
So in the UK (outside London) you are looking at about £17,000 a year plus another £2,500 for additional expenses gives £19,500 net or £24,000 gross. The real killer in the UK being the amount of tax paid. As you can see the difference between the gross and net salaries £4,500 is paid in income tax and national insurance. Another £1,500 a year in council tax and if we assume the £500 a month spending includes VAT at 20% then that’s a further £1,000 a year. £7,000 in annual taxes on a modest income of £24,000 works out at 29%. Here in Bangkok I pay about 7% on my income from working here. If we assume all my spending includes VAT at the Thai rate of 7% then my total tax is just 9% of my annual income.
