Cost of Living in Bangkok, Thailand
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In an unexpected twist of events, we ended up spending a month in Bangkok. We’ve spent quite a bit of time in Thailand since we left New Zealand, but we've only ever visited the capital as a quick stopover. So we were very excited at the chance to spend a whole month here.
This is a breakdown of costs for the two of us. If you’re a solo traveller, some of these costs can be halved (e.g., dining out, groceries), but others will need to be kept as is (e.g., rent). You can see the rest of our Cost of Living series here. Let us know in the comments if this aligns with your estimate of the cost.
Dining Out
Bangkok has everything you could possibly want in terms of food. Gorgeous Thai restaurants, overlooking ancient temples, street food that’s the tastiest you’ve ever eaten and everything single kind of non-Thai food you could dream of.
Plus, they do great coffee. There always seems to be an abundance of locally owned, ridiculously cool coffee shops wherever we go.
So yeah, we spend a lot of money on this. Sometimes, that’s unavoidable. You’re tourist-ing and you get hungry. It’s mid-morning and you need a coffee. But that’s okay, as this is part of the experience of being somewhere new.
Spending Money
I feel like we did a lot during our month in Bangkok. We visited temples, we did a day trip to Ayuttaha, we explored markets. But we actually didn’t spend that much money.
We hardly drank, which I think really helped keep our expenses down. Beers aren’t that pricey, but if you’re having a few, a few nights a week, it does add up.
We also bought some beautiful souvenirs for our house. The markets around Chatuchuk were such a great place to wander around. If you’re looking for beautiful objects for your home, this is definitely the place to go.
Rent
When we first started our digital nomad journey, our rent was our biggest expense, comparable to food. But lately, we’ve been travelling with Trusted Housesitters and it has been such a game changer for us.
For starters, although we love animals, we travel too often to have pets of our own. The best part of being a pet sitter is the value exchange. Instead of staying in a small hotel room in a touristy part of town, we get to stay in beautiful homes where the locals live. That is so valuable to us. And in return, we’re able to give pets all the love and attention we’d give our own if we could have them.
Want to get started house-sitting? Sign up with our link and get two months for free!
Instead, we had to pay for a couple of hotel nights because of our flight departure times. If you compare this to what we were spending when we first started travelling full-time, you’ll see it’s come down significantly.
Groceries
You’d think that for a couple that only cooks breakfast, this cost would be low. But have you been inside a 7-Eleven in Thailand? 7-Eleven is our go-to for lazy lunches, drinks, coffee on the go and snacks (boiled egg, anyone?).
We also visited actual grocery stores to purchase our breakfast ingredients. As we were in town for such a short stay, we didn’t bother shopping around to find the cheapest deals.
Visa
Luckily for us, we were only in Bangkok for three weeks, which was well under the 60 days our New Zealand passports allow us as tourists. So the visa category is zero for us this month.
Medical
Unfortunately, this was a significant expense for us this month. We ended up needing to visit the emergency room at a hospital here in Bangkok. Everything turned out totally fine.
It gave us the opportunity to experience the Thai healthcare system. Because of where we’re staying, we ended up at a gorgeous hospital. I sat in the reception for a while, which felt like a hotel lobby. There were bellhops, a Starbucks, and outlets to charge your phone. If we ever need medical care in the future, Thailand would be an excellent place to receive it.
Transport
One of the joys of living in a big city is the abundance of transportation options. Grab bikes for a fun nearby excursion, Grab cars for across-town adventures, then buses, trains and subways, where we could too. And all of this is cheap somewhere life Bangkok.
Utilities
Again, since we’re using Trusted Housesitters this month, we didn’t have any utility charges to pay.
Subscriptions, Cell Service, Insurance
In the last bucket, I’ve grouped a few unavoidable costs that are part of life (digital storage, life insurance).
We arrived at the airport super late and did not want to have to deal with signing up for a new SIM card. It’s also such a hassle not to have service on your Grab from the airport or when you first wake up in a new city and are desperately searching for coffee. That’s why we’ve started getting an eSIM when we first get somewhere new.
Final Note
We absolutely loved our time in Bangkok and it was a reasonbly priced place to visit. It’s one of those destinations that has everything - from free things to do, cheap eats and budget-friendly accommodation to high-end tours, rooftop dining and luxury digs. Whatever you’re looking for and whatever your budget, you can make it happen in Bangkok.
