What are the current experiences of living and costs in Thailand for expats?

seriously theres no way you need a haircut.a hair implant yes.

cut my own hair with my clippers for free and cook myself also if these folks frustrate you why would you read and post about it.....i dont like coffee so i dont think or tak about it

If you don't like Thailand for any reason. Stay away. Simple.

If you live in the UK its very cheap.

Where is that room with a swimming-pool for 280$/month?

Anyway pork is shit!

dafaq you got no hair bro! you got ripped off!

There are always examples of cheap things massage for example but overall it's an expensive holiday at least for me.

You have to see who is talking. a holydaymaker pay every year more. people who live here not.

30.00 for haircut

You don’t have much hair to cut, so pretty cheap

It's relative, lifestyle etc.

Dave Williams it is all relevant. I live in Ubon, but recently spent 3 weeks in Ho Chi Minh City researching the cost of living there

On average Vietnam is 30% to 40% cheaper than in Ubon Ratchathani. I looked at apartment rental costs, hotel costs, eating out costs, and grocery costs.

My wife is Thai and would not consider moving to Vietnam, but it was a useful analysis to make.

The Vietnamese economy is also growing 2-3 times faster than Thailand's, which has basically stalled in the last few years.

Looks like you made sure you got value for money out of the haircut 💈

lunch would be $15 in TX. In NY or CO it would be $30. Prices and inflation have gone thru the roof.

i bougt an ice cream in a bun once,only 20 baht. After, I see him picking his nose !🤮

Yes but In Ameica wages are 10 times more than Thailand!🤨

Haircut, seriously you were robbed 😂

Man, that meal wouldn't feed a child.

If you eat Pizza, pasta and drink at Irish bars in Sukhumvit you are going to get poor quick but let’s face it that’s NOT Thailand. That’s you porting your world to another country. You should expect to pay more for that privilege not less.

I just bought pad kra pow in Seattle. 23 dollars. And no rice.

I guess people who seek cheap, are often simply bad in math and/or also completely misinformed about the price niveau.

For example, you are asking: "I am looking for a 2 room + kitchen Condo around BTS (insert what ever), budget 12,000 - 18,000."

What is the most common answer? Something like: "Oh cheap Charly, stay home!". The next common answer is: "below (insert price) you do not get anything in that area." Then followed by people who are proud that they got a cheap condo for 10x (yes no joke, I made the 12k to 18k example, because they pay 150k and consider that cheap, as it is bigger than their rabbit hole in New York City, and cheaper)

Why do they live so expensive? Oh because they have a foreigner as landlord and lies to them heaven and hell what a typical price is.

In other words: regardles what a foreigners considers cheap here in Thailand: it is only cheap in relation to his home country. It is still absurd expensive considering Thai markets.

If you do not bother to check what actually normal prices are, by going to a local shop where locals go, then obviously think half the price as at home is already cheap.

If you want to know how expensive a typical Thai lunch is, then go in rush hour lunch time to a place that is full with business women, bankers and business men. And then guess what: no one of them would ever ea a lunch for more than $3.

If you consider that "Cheap Charly", sorry: I do not go to Thailand to eat T-Bone steaks, badly made, for half the price than in Europe ... when I can get a better steak - just not imported from USA - for th of the price in a Thai run steak house.

Bottome line, what I want to say is this: people come here to live cheap. That works until they start to add up cheap things, like 3 kids in a "cheap private school", is suddenly not so cheap. Living not to close to the school, because the "significantly cheaper than London. Paris, or NYC apartment" was so inviting, adds to school money. And now they need a private driver, to bring the kids to school. Because 16 year olds can not be trusted to use the BTS/MRT - in a dangerous foreign land. That adds again. Then the car of the driver is "smelly", so you buy your own car and hire a driver nearly full day / full time

Do not forget that the littlest child is only 8 and needs a nanny, otherwise the housewife can not do their hairdresser visits - which are so cheap, that once a week is okay, or not? And the housewife knows nothing about anything, she rather runs a expat ladies club (yes I exaggerate :P) and now you need a cleaning woman and a house keeper, and all three, preferable speak perfect English (insert desired accent - British is of topics, they are to posh).

90% of the price foreigners pay is their foreign life style. They prefer to mingle amoung each other. Go to places where the others go ... find it cheap because in "insert home country" it would be more expensive.

On the other hand, you can live a perfect live with a normal singel job as two people with 3 kids, if you just actually rent a 40k HOUSE in a quiet housing zone, with a 300sqm garden around it, and a "normal private school" with an English program, where the tuitiion fee is 20k per semester, and the next 3 or 4 MRT/BTS stations are perhaps 2km away.

What I never get: why do people, who pay more than 100THB for a perfect made, perfect healthy wonderful tasty Thai food, and call people who point out, that this unusually is expensive and retaliate with: "Cheap Charly"!

Oh, I should have added internet and what ever :P Here are people who suggest "tourist SIM cards" beause they are so much cheaper than internet/mobile phone at home ... that actually makes me roffeling, when you can get a more or less flat rate in every or Lotus for 200THB - 250THB.

I paid thb 140 for a haircut, that’s terrible. I was scammed and will now fly to Vietnam for a haircut. 😂

Can’t wait to read the comments…

Yes yes.. and the salaries?

Big Leo at nice beach bar 80 Baht…

Haircut 100 THB / 35$+ in my home country

Pad Kapow Chicken 40 THB / 15$ in my home country and tasted like SHT, and on top they wanted 80 THB for prik nam pla 😂😂😂😖

You were robbed with that haircut.

Obviously there is inflation everywhere not only Thailand. Yes, price has gone up but it’s still cheap to me. Yeah, cheap depends on what people think cheap is. 3,000b dinner for two can be cheap to some and expensive to some. Also 800b dinner can be expensive to some too. All different income and different representation of cheap. For the most part if a persons income is coming from western countries I’d say it’s cheap for them.

I don’t see much change in sticker prices; it’s exchange rates that hurt people. If you come to Thailand for the long term, you can choose a very affordable lifestyle and yet still feeling thankful for everything you have. It’s easy to live well IMO.

I believe the price increase in Thailand is relative to the times, I used to get a noodle dish for 35 baht back in 2003 when the exchange rate was 45thb to the dollar, then it went up to 37 baht in 2010, and now in 2026 it is 45 to 50 baht. In the States, the same dish used to be 7 dollars bac in 2003, then it went up to 11 dollars now it is about 15 dollars.

I hope you tipped them both

They were probably eating in mcdonalds or jay fai

You pay for a haircut 😆 there is fk all there

What would you say the average utility bills are for a 2 bed house(rented, including water, broadband electricity etc) no pool and limited ac usage

Well...you don't have much hair...thats why so cheap.😇😜

Expensive haircut

I pay 80 baht for a good haircut

BLOODY HAIR CUT, LAST HAIR CUT WAS GETTING READY FOR VIETNAM, ALWAYS A SHARP RAZOR FOR 60 YEARS , JUST SHAVE YOUR HEAD YOU PRETTY BOYS !

That's what I always say: the purchase power of your Dollar or GB Pound is more than TWICE as much as it would be in your home country. Some stuff costs only 10% of the price in your home country. My haircut costs 18.-Euros, in Thailand I pay 120 Baht. If you stick to local food and avoid imported steaks, cheese and wine, you can live in Thailand like a king on $1500 USD a month

Haircut at NEVERSAYCUTZ 500฿. To find food plate 50 thb MUST avoid 99% of restaurants in Thailand by using only food court.

I came here 12 months back on DTV as digital nomad with my wife who is Thai and three cats. I bought my job with me and earn now exactly what I earned living in Sydney. We bought a house and car and in reality our lives have not changed that much, albeit we eat out a lot more often. I am saving a bucket load, I cannot believe how much money I have saved in 12 months. On day to day life I am literally spending a 5th of what I was living in Sydney. Thailand may not be as cheap as it was back in the day, whenever that was, but it is still cheaper than Australia. Sure Cars are not cheap, luxury goods are not cheap, anything imported including Farang groceries are not cheap but day to day living if your not a tourist if it is not cheaper then your doing something wrong.

Imported products are expensive, everything else is a bargain. Medical and dental are far less than the rest. $7 massages. Food is inexpensive unless at high end restaurants. Rent is dirt cheap…..stop whining.

It is more expensive than it used to be. FX rate was 85 baht - £1 was very cheap to live here.

Nothing ever stays the same and it depends where you stay and go. Pattaya can be expensive but also reasonable depending where you go. 40-60 baht beers on happy hour or 100b a pint. Food can be cheaper but portion size is also reduced. I buy food from Makro or market and cook at home, saves money but also i know what goes in and what im eating.

I shop and spend in baht not $ 🤷🏼‍♂️

In Isaan, haircut 60 baht 👨‍🦳👨‍🦳👨‍🦳

It depends where you want to live and the type of accommodation you want. Personally I will not settle for anything less than a two bedroom luxury condo and expect to pay a minimum of baht per month in Hau Hin for example. Yes food is cheap if you go for the cheap options. 60 baht meals in home run cafes and in shopping mall eating areas use cheaper cuts of meat and cheaper vegetables with a lot of added sugar, tapioca, starch and cornstarch.

Of course if you source and cook your own food you will get better healthier products.

So yes Thailand is cheaper than the UK Australia Germany etc providing you live away from Pattaya Patong in Phuket and Bangkok.

Excuse me. Why got to the barber when is nothing to cut?

THATS an expensive haircut😵‍💫🤔😉

What hair?

The portion looks pretty small. Just had this Khao kha moo for lunch, with roselle juice, total 80 baht. And this is in Phuket, which people often say is “soooo expensive” 🤣

Why do most foreigners always put Thai baht into dollars

120 baht for haircut is around 3 hours of work for a Thai .

Convert 3 hours of dollars then you get the price ,

Ninimum wage Britain £12 per hour so that haircut is £36 …expensive

Lunch 50 baht …around 1 hour work for a Thai

Minimum wage Britain £12 so that 50 baht meal is £12 .expensive

And so on and so on ..

He mentions 280 USD for a room ?.. that’s around half of a middle class Thai person wage and that’s only a room ?

Thailand is considerably more expensive for both locals and foreigners and what ever comparison to the American dollar won’t change that

The housing is not cheap in Thailand, or the cars. Yes you can get good cheap food in non tourist areas. The malls are not cheap nor the beach areas. Even the grocery stores are not cheap !

I think people refer to how cheap it used to be accommodation in hotels has definitely gone up and I just had my hair done here in Chiang Mai and it cost me 2500 baht which is over $100 aud a Mai tai was 300 baht $13 aud but anyway we all choose how to spend our dollar don’t let it fustrate you what people say