In this report, I explain why you need $3200 USD per month to retire in Thailand.
It happens over and over again. One of my guests will share how they are living on $1000 or $1200 per month to live in Thailand. Then, someone else will say that it is impossible, you need no less than $3200 per month to live in Thailand.
Both numbers are true. Some people will need $3200 USD, but that doesn’t mean you will. Others will need less than half of that. Let me explain.
They are both right. Two things will determine your budget in Thailand. Your retirement pay and how your mind works.
After years of meeting Western Expats in Thailand, around 80% of them throw monthly numbers at me in the range of $1200 to $4000 per month. Everyone else is above or below those numbers.
The Real Cost of Living in Thailand
Do you know who really knows the minimum cost of living in any given country? Is it more likely to be a foreigner importing dollars, Euros, or Pounds? Or is it more likely to be a local who knows how to stretch the Thai Baht as far as it goes? I think you know the answer to that.
If we Google the minimum wage in Thailand, that is more likely to be the rock bottom living costs in Thailand. Today, Google says the minimum wage in Bangkok is around 400 Thai Baht per day.
That is about $11 USD per day or $330 dollars per month. But nobody is expecting you to move overseas and live on the local minimum wage. Most people want to live a better life when they move overseas.
If the minimum wage is $330 per month, then expats living on $1000 per month are living on 3 times the minimum wage. Expats living on $3200 per month are living on 10 times the minimum wage.
But Thailand doesn’t want you to be living on only 3 times the minimum wage. How do I know that? Because the minimum monthly income Thailand will accept before issuing a retirement visa to age 50+ expats who can prove $2000 USD per month income. That is about 6 times the Thai minimum wage.
Luckily, Thailand will also issue a retirement visa to expats age 50+ without any proof of retirement income, so long as they can deposit about $22,000 USD in a Thai bank.
Either way, you can get a retirement visa. But how do you know if you are the kind of person who needs $3200 per month or only $1200 per month in Thailand?
First of all, I don’t need that much. My cost of living last month in Bangkok last month for 2 people was $1464 USD. I will put a link below in case you want to see the line items.
But that was for Bangkok. If we moved to a smaller town, we could do with less.
So, it is indeed at least possible that a single frugal foreign ex-pat could live on less than $1000 or $1200 per month. But that doesn’t mean everyone can or would even want to live on so little especially if their check was bigger.
And that makes sense. When we think about our family and friends back home, aren’t they all living on a huge variance in monthly budgets? So why wouldn’t that also be true in Thailand?
Are you one of the people that needs $3200 per month in Thailand?
So, why am I bothering to debunk the myth that $3200 is the minimum possible you need to live in Thailand? Because there are millions of people around the world that are trying to retire on less than $3200 per month.
If they truly believe that $3200 a month is an actual minimum in Thailand, would they give up hope of living their dream to live or retire overseas? I hope not.
Because not everyone has $3200 per month. Plus, many of you will have a better life in Thailand at $1500 per month than you could have in the USA or Europe at $3200 per month. And, if I only had $1500 per month I rather live in Thailand than the US, and I am not alone.
I have been living outside the USA for over 18 years now in 73 different countries. And I know how many ex-pats think about life. There is $1000 per month thinking, $1500 per month thinking, and $3200 per month thinking.
Now I will give you examples of how people think when living in Thailand, so you know how much money I suspect you will need in Thailand.
Your Residence Thinking
$3200 Month Thinking: I would need western-style amenities like modern tile floors and countertops with fully screened windows in a secure and safe area of the city. I need a gated community with 24-hour security and guard at the entrance to the community with similar homes and other expats (or wealthy locals) in the community. I need at least three bedrooms and two baths with a fully equipped kitchen and a large living area and laundry. I prefer a secure and shaded place to park my car (or truck) at night.
$1500 Month Thinking: We will be fine with a one or two-bedroom apartment or condo with one bathroom. We would also like it to be clean and bright with a Western style and feel to it even if not everything is perfectly updated. We will want to have at least some other expats near us so we have someone to talk to about where to get things in the neighborhood.
$1000 Month Thinking: We will be fine with a one-bedroom apartment with one bathroom. It should be clean and bright inside but not everything needs to be updated. It should be in a part of town with nice local neighbors and that feels safe to us.
Your Transportation Thinking
$3200 Month Thinking: My family needs at least one newer reliable car or truck for daily life in Thailand, maybe a scooter too for short trips. I rarely used public transportation in my home country, so why would I start now?
$1500 Month Thinking: We will be fine with a clean 3 to 5-year-old scooter with a couple of helmets. We will ride that thing everywhere and be careful. We will go slow because we know how dangerous it can be.
$1000 Month Thinking: We walk or ride bikes mostly as a form of exercise anywhere within 20 minutes away. If it takes longer than 20 minutes to walk somewhere, we will ride public transportation, such as buses, high-speed rails, and Songthaew in smaller cities.
Your Groceries Thinking
$3200 Month Thinking: We will shop for our groceries only in modern airconditioned one-stop grocery stores with title floors and shopping carts. It should have fully stocked shelves full of the imported brands we miss from home. We are mostly interested in finding brands from home rather than trying to figure out what locals eat. I am too old to start eating rice now. I rather barbeque beef, chicken, burgers, or hot dogs, and you can’t eat those without all the fixings like french fries, baked potatoes, and American mustard and ketchup. We just don’t feel comfortable in the open-air public markets where all the locals shop, because it is too hot. I want a shopping cart, air conditioning, and brands I know from home.
$1500 Month Thinking: We are comfortable shopping in the open air public markets where the locals shop. I kind of like buying from individual families who know what I like because I buy from them at least twice a week. We will go into those expensive large grocery stores a few times per month to buy imported brands we love from home that we just can’t seem to find in the public markets. But mostly we buy fresh fruits, vegetables, grains, rice, and other foods that we need to prepare at home from scratch rather than the processed foods that come in sealed boxes and bags at expensive grocery stores.
$1000 Month Thinking: We shop in the open-air public markets and try to stay away from the expat grocery store whenever possible. The fruits and vegetables seem fresher and the prices are lower in the public market. Plus, we like saying hello to the people we have gotten to know in the individually owned-food stalls in the public market. We feel like we are supporting local businesses when we buy from them. We only go to the expensive grocery stores once a month if that, to buy shampoo or other brands we like that we can’t find in the local public markets.
Your Restaurants Thinking
$3200 Month Thinking: Sure, we cook one or two meals at home per week. But mostly we prefer going out to eat or having food delivered to us at home from our favorite restaurants in town. When we go out to eat, we eat mostly in restaurants where all the other expats hang out. That is where the food is mostly like home. We can get a nice steak in those places, or some fancy Italian food, or some barbequed meats. Plus, those kinds of places have imported Whiskey and meats, cheeses, and wines. I just don’t feel right sitting down in those local places. I eat in places that look just like the restaurants in my home country, like Chilies, the Sizzler, or High-End Steak House. The places I eat mostly have to be super clean, and airconditioned, and the chefs are often foreigners from the US, Europe, or Australia. They know how to cook the foods we love. We stay away from the local style restaurants because we just don’t know what to eat when we go there. I just look at those local menus with a blank stare.
$1500 Month Thinking: We cook about half of our meals at home per week. We love reading about and trying to cook the local foods. There are videos on YouTube that teach you how to buy locally and cook locally. Local products are way cheaper than imported stuff, so by learning how to cook Thail dishes, we cut our grocery bill in half. But we also go out to eat the rest of the time local style Thai Restaurants. No the fancy Thai restaurants where all the foreigners eat. When we look around, we are often the only expats in our favorite local Thai Restaurants. Once we find a dish we love, we try to cook it at home sometimes. No more than once per week, we will go eat Italian, burgers, or pizza, but mostly we eat in mom-and-pop style restaurants run by families that know how to make great local food.
$1000 Month Thinking: We have found a few small restaurants in our neighborhood. They only have 3 or 4 tables, so most people just come in and get food to go. Sometimes we eat there if a table is open. But we usually get about 4 dishes and bring them home for about $1.25 per dish. We cook black, brown, or red rice at home, and then we share two dishes for lunch and two for dinner. Whole unprocessed rice is better for us than bleached white rice. Sure, we go out to eat once or twice per month for Pizza or Italian food in the expat-style restaurants. We also cook a few meals at home per week. When we cook, we get the ingredients from the public markets. We also like trying out the food carts in the local style night markets. We find the best ones by seeing which ones the locals are all lined up to try. We love the people-watching in the local-style night markets. We stay away from night markets in the tourist areas because the meals easily cost twice as much.
Your Entertainment Thinking
$3200 Month Thinking: My ex-pat friends and I like to do fun stuff at least a few times per week. We like to meet at ex-pat bars where many of the local women show up to look for older ex-pats like us. We almost always go to one of the bars that stocks imported whisky and scotch and imported craft beers from Europe or the USA. A whisky that would cost you $12 or $15 dollars at home you can get for $6 or $7 dollars here. We often drink the night away listening to great music from our youth we can’t seem to find anywhere else in town. If we drink too much, we often eat some Western-style food, like steak and eggs or Nachos before we head home. Once and a while one of us will buy a round of drinks for our ex-pat friends or a table of beautiful young Thai women. It is not unusual for us to meet up at each other’s houses for an after-party. Once and a while, one of us will hook up with a new woman whether professional or amateur. That can get expensive, so we don’t do that every night.
$1500 Month Thinking: The alcohol prices in Thailand seem rather high for imported liquor. So if we go out to a bar, restaurant, karaoke venue, live music venue, or other venues that serve alcohol, we generally order local beers which range from about $1.50 to $2.50 in local bars and restaurants. We often have a beer or two at home before we head out since local beer is only about $1.00 at home.
$1000 Month Thinking: We love to walk around in the evenings in Thailand. There is a part of town that is the perfect place to people-watch. The Thai people seem generally interested in foreigners they see in their town. Often just a smile will get people talking if they know a little English. If we feel like having a beer, we just ask local Thai persoon where local go to have a beer near here. We do this once or twice per month. There is usually a venue where you will find locals drinking a few local beers. Locals beers are rather cheap. We also like to invite friends over for dinner and a few drinks to talk the night away. We mix it up so it doesn’t feel like we are doing the same thing every night.
I am not judging anyone. But what you may notice about how people living on more money think in Thailand … they are spending most of their energy, time, and money trying to recreate their old life in a new country.
But the truth is. You will almost never be able to recreate your old life in a new country. Things are just not ever exactly like they are at home. So, psychologically, you are telling yourself, every day, that where you are now, is not as good as where you were before. Which isn’t even true. If it were true, you would just go home wouldn’t you?
What is the Real Secret to Enjoying Your New Life in a New Country
The main idea is to live like a Roman when you are in Rome. Don’t try to recreate your old life when you land in a new country. Instead, become a student of the new world instead of a teacher of your old world.
Think of yourself as a culture explorer. It doesn’t mean that you won’t still love some things more about your old world. It just means you will learn and try new things along the way before you try to get the world around you to conform to your old expectations.
Thanks for reviewing my report, Why you need $3200 USD per month to retire in Thailand?