The cost of living in Thailand for an average Thai household is about 22,400 baht a month, roughly $680, about 32,700 baht in Bangkok and 34,200 in Phuket. That is a Thai family's month, and Thais have state health cover. A foreign partner's month can add private health insurance, imported food, flights home and money for her parents.
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Thailand’s national household survey counts what tens of thousands of real households spend, province by province, and it is the starting point here. The guides we checked price one foreigner living alone from crowd-sourced price lists.
This page is for a man planning a life there with a Thai partner. It starts from what Thai households actually spend, shows which of your costs that average can’t tell you, and adds something the expat guides we checked don’t: what Thai women with foreign partners write, in Thai, about who pays at home and whose money goes to their parents. If you’re still weighing the move itself, living in Thailand covers the bigger decision.
How much does it cost to live in Thailand per month?
A Thai household spent 22,420 baht a month on average in 2025, not counting saving or buying a home, and it held about two and a half people. Food, drink and tobacco took the biggest share, 8,420 baht, then housing and household goods at 4,753 and vehicles and travel at 3,430 1. The same survey breaks spending down by province:
| Province | Household spend a month | In US dollars | People per household |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phuket | 34,215 baht | about $1,040 | 2.4 |
| Bangkok | 32,695 baht | about $990 | 2.2 |
| Chonburi, which includes Pattaya | 25,423 baht | about $770 | 2.1 |
| Whole country | 22,420 baht | about $680 | 2.5 |
| Prachuap Khiri Khan, which includes Hua Hin | 20,464 baht | about $620 | 2.7 |
| Chiang Mai | 19,508 baht | about $590 | 2.3 |
| Udon Thani | 18,297 baht | about $560 | 2.3 |
Baht figures are from the National Statistical Office’s 2025 household survey 1; dollars at the 2025 average rate of 32.9 baht to the dollar 2. Outside Bangkok these are averages for the whole province, villages included, so a home in Chiang Mai city, Pattaya or Hua Hin may run higher.
Read the table as context, not as a minimum and not as your budget. It is the survey’s measure of what a household spends to live, not a count of the cash a renting couple pays out each month. An average across all households mixes renters with families who own their home or live with relatives, so it barely tells a renting couple what rent will cost.
The useful way to use it: build your own month line by line, rent, utilities, food, transport, health cover, money for family, a reserve for emergencies and repairs, and yearly costs such as flights, visa and paperwork fees divided by twelve. Add any tax on your income; whether you owe it in Thailand, at home or both is a question for a licensed tax adviser. Then compare the total with the line for your province.
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Cost of living in Thailand vs the USA: why the Thai average isn’t your budget
The low average is real, and it describes