How Much Will I Spend A Month In Bkk?

[Thaidit]

Getting a job transfer to BKK and wondering how much can I expect to spend a month. My company will be paying my rent, International school and health care. I love eating at local food stalls but do not intend to make it a full time habit. Would like to eat out in nice restaurants about once-twice a week and do enjoy a good drink or too. So what are my expenses for food and entertainment and ???? Thanks.

[Nam Kao]

What about the girl dept, own or renting?

[Thaidit]

Unfortunately, I do own. But might like to rent from time to time.

[Nam Kao]

ok, depending on rental frequency and frequent flier miles, i'd say 40-50K baht and up

good luck

nam

[Chang_paarp]

This comes under the classification of "How long is a piece of string?" question.

It is possible to live on a lot less than 30K baht/ month, but if you earning it you will spend it. So your milage will vary. Depending if you are talking you budget, your wife's budget or both. Nam Kao has given you a starting point but as they say in BKK "it's up to you".

[britmaveric]

2000bht or less a day. All bloody well depends on what you will be doing..... date, drinking, dinner, nightclubs ect.

[bkkjosh]

2000bht or less a day. All bloody well depends on what you will be doing..... date, drinking, dinner, nightclubs ect.

I think it also depends on where you'll be doing these things... it tends to make a big difference.

If you plan on eating at certain restaurants inside hotels, premium restaurants, you can save money by becoming a member for a set fee. I know in bangkok the Marriott, Banyan Tree, Hyatt and Sofitel cards are all worth looking at if you enjoy eating in their restaurants on a regular basis and plan to be here for at least 12 months.

I guess it also depends on where your local colleagues like to go out... the places you get introduced to etc. There is a huge range of entertainment venues (drinking/dinner/clubs/pubs) in bangkok to suit every budget.

Enjoy your stay. PM me if you need any assistance.

[Thaidit]

thanks a lot to all for the responses. I don't plan on going to premium restaurants or fancy clubs regularly but do like a nice night out once in a while. I really do love authentic thai food and enjoy eating at the food stalls, just not all the time. My "tour" in this position in BKK will only be a few years and wanted to see how much I might spend to calculate how much I can save for when I return to the states. Thanks again.

[jdinasia]

the topic has been done over and over ... sometimes with hysterical results ... we have one dropout that just cannot imagine budgeting 20k a month for food ... and folks that have 20k dinners with friends :-)

Basically if your rent/utilities and such are paid for ... you CAN live on 100 baht a day ... but you wouln't ever want to .... and you COULD spend 4000 baht a day pretty readily ...

in BKK I spend about 40k a month after my rent/utils etc .. on an average month

[thankuverybig]

hello

3000 baht per month for renting a room (basic room with bathroom) maybe dont tell your company.

20 baht for a bowl of noodle soup,or fried noodles at a no frills plastic chair restaurant/food place.

70-100 baht for food dishes at a pretty nice,but not flash restarant.

40 baht for a small beer at a no frills place.

60 baht for a small singha beer in a decent bar.90 baht for big

30 baht small singha beer from 7/11.

100 baht to see a movie at siam square.worth doing if you want to get out of the smoke & keep off the beer.

buses around central bangkok 8-15 baht (fan/air con).

music cd copies 100 baht.

tuk-tuks-as much as they can get out of you.get a taxi with meter on & say youve been in thailand awile if asked.

[Simmo]

Basically if your rent/utilities and such are paid for ... you CAN live on 100 baht a day ... but you wouln't ever want to ....

I've have an agreement with my gf since the start of the year. If I'm a "good boy" and live on 100 baht per day Monday - Friday that she gives me, she gives me back my ATM card and lets me go out on Friday & Saturday nights without any hissy fits / interrogation sessions . *no joke*

It's not that hard to do , 2 street meals a day , packet noodles, and a small soft drink. Lost some weight in the process as well. Wouldn't want do do it 7 days per week though

Edited June 6, 2006 by Simmo

[spawner]

Getting a job transfer to BKK and wondering how much can I expect to spend a month. My company will be paying my rent, International school and health care. I love eating at local food stalls but do not intend to make it a full time habit. Would like to eat out in nice restaurants about once-twice a week and do enjoy a good drink or too. So what are my expenses for food and entertainment and ???? Thanks.

I agree with most folks here in saying that it all depends on where you spend the dough. When I first got here I was blowing about 60,000 a month. Mostly on booze, but if you don't have a car and you have to commute a lot it'll be between 5,000~10,000 a month. (Taxis, bikes, etc.etc.) As for food I think most people without a wife(that cooks) you would most likely eat fastfood or something like that and that can run up to about 10,000 a month. If you want to go out to a nice place once in a while then it's 1,000~3,000 a meal for two people. For the boozing and the renting of the girl part well you can calculate it by 2,500 (rental) a pop minus the beers. If you like hanging out at cocktail lounges (where you sit next to em and get cock teased all night without scoring, but drunk) like some folks I know they have membership fees from 10,000~60,000 (depends on how many whiskeys you want..ranging from 5 to about 50 I believe) at those places. Also you have to pay these girls to cock tease you which is about 1,500~3,000 baht a night.

I think the best thing to do is get situated try to hold your urge to splurge for the first couple of months and I'm pretty sure you'll be able to pick it up pretty quickly.

[bkkjosh]

the topic has been done over and over ... sometimes with hysterical results ... we have one dropout that just cannot imagine budgeting 20k a month for food ... and folks that have 20k dinners with friends :-)

Basically if your rent/utilities and such are paid for ... you CAN live on 100 baht a day ... but you wouln't ever want to .... and you COULD spend 4000 baht a day pretty readily ...

in BKK I spend about 40k a month after my rent/utils etc .. on an average month

Very, very true. The variances are huge.

[Khun Yak]

Basicly:

25000+ / month - you can survive without any extras (like weekend trip around Thailand/ girls rental etc)

40000+ / month - pretty convenient life (you can through in a (small) round for your friends once in a while

60000+ / month - not to worry

Enjoy BKK

KY

[RAZZELL]

Depends if you want to buy every (wo)man and her/his dog a drink...

Soon goes through the roof if your paying for 5...

It's different being in "living and working" mode... to "long trip" or "holiday" mode...

In the UK I go out maybe once a week...when I stay in LOS for long periods... I'm out nearly every night...

Edited June 6, 2006 by RAZZELL

[Thaidit]

You guys have been most helpful with all of the replies. I anticipate eating out with my coworkers during the week, most of whom are probably cheapskates anyway so I probably won't spend too much. I'll most likely take the family out once or twice a week to a decent, not necessarily expensive, restaurant. Of course the occasional drink or two at the local bar will finish the week. Rentals fees might be high when I first get there, but I am sure that will taper off as the novelty wears off, or will it? Of course I have not accounted for my Golf addiction. Golf is probably what will cost me the most there, I think.

[bkkjosh]

You guys have been most helpful with all of the replies. I anticipate eating out with my coworkers during the week, most of whom are probably cheapskates anyway so I probably won't spend too much. I'll most likely take the family out once or twice a week to a decent, not necessarily expensive, restaurant. Of course the occasional drink or two at the local bar will finish the week. Rentals fees might be high when I first get there, but I am sure that will taper off as the novelty wears off, or will it? Of course I have not accounted for my Golf addiction. Golf is probably what will cost me the most there, I think.

Compared to the west... golf is cheap here...

have fun!!

[Gary A]

The sooner you can get out of holiday mode the cheaper it will get. Once you settle in and know your way around you will find that you don't spend nearly as much as when you first got here.

[marktomaras]

a sample of my average expenditures:

cheap meal 30b

medium meal 100~200b

higer end meal (italian, sushi, etc) 300~500b

espresso beverages 50~80b

motorbike taxi 30~60b

regular taxi 40~100b

skytrain or subway ride 20~30b

average sized load of laundry washed and pressed 150b

movie 100b

vip movie 250~500b (these are a treat!)

sauna 180b

thai massage 300b

beer at bar 50~150b

drinks at bar 100~200b

ADSL & home phone line combined bill 1100b

mobile phone bill 800b

electric bill in small apartment with aircon 1500b

water bill in small apartment, 1 person 450b

6 liter jug of drinking water 35b

box of cerial 150b

6-pack of individual serve soy milk 40b

6-pack of beer 180b

bottle of cheap, but pleasant wine 600b (sadly this is a tough segment in these parts)

bottle of johnny walker black label (750mL) 1050b

bottle of grey goose vodka (750mL) 1350b

blue jeans 300~800b

cool shirt 200~400b

new book at a book store 450b

news magazine (economist) 170b

hope this helps.

good luck!

[sexypurny]

Basically if your rent/utilities and such are paid for ... you CAN live on 100 baht a day ... but you wouln't ever want to ....

I've have an agreement with my gf since the start of the year. If I'm a "good boy" and live on 100 baht per day Monday - Friday that she gives me, she gives me back my ATM card and lets me go out on Friday & Saturday nights without any hissy fits / interrogation sessions . *no joke*

It's not that hard to do , 2 street meals a day , packet noodles, and a small soft drink. Lost some weight in the process as well. Wouldn't want do do it 7 days per week though

hehe what a cool gf u got...

[anais]

a sample of my average expenditures:

I don't know about the OP, but this list helps me quite a bit. I'm moving to BKK for at least a few months in the fall, and was worrying about how to plan a budget.

Cheers,

Cyn

[The Coder]

I don't know about the OP, but this list helps me quite a bit. I'm moving to BKK for at least a few months in the fall, and was worrying about how to plan a budget.

I think marktomaras's info is good, but I will caution you that a lot of these are prices are indicative of someone who knows their way around. It will take time and experience to stay within even the upper end of a lot of them.

-Running A/C for a month for 1500 baht would be a job well done. One can easily net a 10K bill (hot season, landlord double pricing, keeping it too cold, keeping too much space cooled). This is a big expense, don't under estimate it.

-Select your nice shirt at a good shopping center and it will be 1000-2000 baht, not 400. Go to a cheaper mall and the shirts will be too small and you'll be limited to shirts with big iron ons.

-Walk into Oishi at Siam for your sushi meal and you'll pay >1000 baht, not 500

-Walk into a EGV gold class theatre and you can easily spend 1000 baht a head, not 500

-a traditional thai massage can run upwards of 1000 baht, select carefully and you can find 300

-laundry in nicer places is over 1000 baht for a small load. Some of the cheaper pricing comes with 3 day delays

[jdinasia]

I don't know about the OP, but this list helps me quite a bit. I'm moving to BKK for at least a few months in the fall, and was worrying about how to plan a budget.

I think marktomaras's info is good, but I will caution you that a lot of these are prices are indicative of someone who knows their way around. It will take time and experience to stay within even the upper end of a lot of them.

-Running A/C for a month for 1500 baht would be a job well done. One can easily net a 10K bill (hot season, landlord double pricing, keeping it too cold, keeping too much space cooled). This is a big expense, don't under estimate it.

-Select your nice shirt at a good shopping center and it will be 1000-2000 baht, not 400. Go to a cheaper mall and the shirts will be too small and you'll be limited to shirts with big iron ons.

-Walk into Oishi at Siam for your sushi meal and you'll pay >1000 baht, not 500

-Walk into a EGV gold class theatre and you can easily spend 1000 baht a head, not 500

-a traditional thai massage can run upwards of 1000 baht, select carefully and you can find 300

-laundry in nicer places is over 1000 baht for a small load. Some of the cheaper pricing comes with 3 day delays

Hmmm actually other than his Aircon #'s ... the rest are good

The Export shop or XL shop you can get decent shirts cheaper than 400 ....

Oishi Express is 299 .... Oishi Gold is 699 (shabu is 199)

Thai massage on Onnut 100/hr <plus tip> at Healthland it is still pretty cheap ... don't forget to tip!

I had all my dress shirts done at the laundry next door for less than 200/week and did the rest of mine for 20-30-40 baht a load depending on the size of the machine at my building

My aircon ALWAYS ran more than 2300

Gold class tix at EGV Gols ... 500/ticket on weekdays 600 on weekends .... (At Seacon it is 250/300)

Much does depend on finding places .... but it is quite doable on a tight budget ... I'd never want to do it on less than 40k a month though!

[jimmy5L]

a sample of my average expenditures:

vip movie 250~500b (these are a treat!)

can anyone tell me what a vip movie 250 - 500b is??

[Lacoste]

As i replied in a similar thread.

Last year we sold our condominium in CBD district of BKK, we are currently renting a large house for B90,000 per month whilst looking for a house to buy.

School fees for two children are around B75,000 per month plus the occasional donation.

Mortgage on an appartment in London and a cottage in the lake district in England is a further B190,000.

Car payments (2 cars) B82,000

Electricity/water around B7,000

Maid B10,000

Food and fuel around 40,000

Entertainment around 35,000

Total outgoings per month around B529,000 per month or 7,500 GBP, 14,000 USD

Good luck. Bringing up a family is hard to do.

Edited July 21, 2006 by Lacoste

[The Coder]

can anyone tell me what a vip movie 250 - 500b is??

Watch a movie from Luxury seats in a fancy theatre... At Siam Discovery for instance tickets are 700 baht each last time I went. You get full recline leather chairs with massaging programs, pillow, blanket, and can order from a full bar, wines, and hors d'oeuvres. A movie for two could easily end up costing 2000 baht.

[alexth]

can anyone tell me what a vip movie 250 - 500b is??

Watch a movie from Luxury seats in a fancy theatre... At Siam Discovery for instance tickets are 700 baht each last time I went. You get full recline leather chairs with massaging programs, pillow, blanket, and can order from a full bar, wines, and hors d'oeuvres. A movie for two could easily end up costing 2000 baht.

I love that thater, worths every satang

[naturalpoints]

Getting a job transfer to BKK and wondering how much can I expect to spend a month. My company will be paying my rent, International school and health care. I love eating at local food stalls but do not intend to make it a full time habit. Would like to eat out in nice restaurants about once-twice a week and do enjoy a good drink or too. So what are my expenses for food and entertainment and ???? Thanks.

Probably 100,000 Baht.................

[Kimera]

Depends if you want to buy every (wo)man and her/his dog a drink...

Soon goes through the roof if your paying for 5...

It's different being in "living and working" mode... to "long trip" or "holiday" mode...

In the UK I go out maybe once a week...when I stay in LOS for long periods... I'm out nearly every night...

On the trips before I spent (long time here) I always allowed £1000 per week hotels and entertainment, I mostly came back in pocket but not by much pick your place my friend,, maybe go North its cheaper and the people are nicer!!!!

[nephron]

It really depends on how you want to live.

I've lived on about 30,000 baht/month equivalent in Australia for the last few years, so I imagine for me, 30,000 baht/mo in Thailand would be plentiful. If you're used to living on a professional's salary, though, your numbers will be different.