Could I retire early on $805 USD per Month in Pattaya Thailand?
My name is Dan and I left the USA over 15 years ago, living in 67 different countries looking for the best place to retire overseas. The beautiful woman in the video with me is Qiang Hui from Malaysia. She joined my travels 5 years ago. I have over 200 reports on VagabondBuddha.com that share the best places to retire inexpensively overseas.
In this report, I ask, what would it cost us to retire in Pattaya Thailand? Would it be possible to live here on a tight budget such as monthly social security from the USA? My research indicates that I may be able to retire early on $805 USD per Month in Pattaya. Next week we will compare Pattaya to Jomtien, a quieter city just 10 minutes away from here.
Now I will tell you more about Pattaya while I share our favorite images of markets, restaurants, and things to do in and around Pattaya. But you do not need to take notes as I share all of this with you. I will provide a link to a written version of this at the end of this video.
Our Favorite Markets and Restaurants in Pattaya
Pattaya Markets
Pattaya Small Public Market: This link is to Food Court 1. Just keep walking past the food court to find this small market. This is where we buy fruits, vegetables, and rice. They also have limited clothing and other home products in and around this market.
Ratanakorn market: This is the largest public market in Pattaya. This is where you will find te best prices on fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, etc. Much cheaper than markets and food courts around Pattaya and significantly cheaper than ex-pat grocery stores like Lotus and Big C as well as the grocery stores in large malls which are often the most expensive of all.
Villa market: Expensive Ex-Pat style grocery store centrally located in Pattaya.
Expensive Malls Around Pattaya: Central Festival Mall (expensive grocery and food court in basement), Terminal 21 Mall (cheaper food court on top floor), Royal Garden Plaza.
Pattaya Restaurants
Food Court 1 (Buakhao market food court): Pork and noodles, 60 Baht ($1.60), Vegetarian Pad Thai 60 Baht.
Food Court 2 (Central Festival Mall) (Basement Food Court and Grocery Store): Western Style Salad Bar 40 Baht ($1.08 USD) per KG, Pork rice dish 129 Baht ($3.48).
Food Court 3 (Terminal 21 Mall) (Top Level Food Court): Vegetarian Tofu Rice dish 32 Baht ($0.95 USD), Pork Noodle 45 Baht ($1.21 USD), Coconut Ice Cream 32 Baht ($0.95 USD)
Excellent Pure Vegetarian (Jai Jinendra Pure Vegetarian Indian Restaurant): Expensive but delicious. 300 for a thali which is a plate of various dishes you can taste.
Beer Garden with Bay and Food: Don’t expect a German beer garden here but they do have some decent beet choices.
Pattaya Nightlife Walking Areas
The below Google Map is not a recommendation of specific places you must see. The music and scenery we individually enjoy vary widely from person to person. So, the spots on this map are merely a way to walk you past some of the most fun areas of Pattaya to make sure you get an overall feel for Pattaya Nightlife. Just click the map and walk it once and stop whenever you feel like it.
Personally, I am not interested in commercial sex, but I am not judging anyone. For me, the nightlife in places like Pattaya is just for people-watching. I look but I don’t touch. But if you do decide to get physical, make sure to be careful. There are sexually transmitted diseases all over the world, especially in places like this where sex is a commercial enterprise.
Sanctuary of Truth Temple
This was one of the most beautiful temples I have seen anywhere in the world. It reminds me of the most impressive temple in the world called the Ranakpur Temple in India. The Ranakpur Temple is carved marble pillars, whereas, the Sanctuary of Truth Temple is carved hardwood.
We saved about 20% by booking online our tickets online at Klook.com Truth Sanctuary Temple. We took a Bolt taxi over there for about 110 Baht because we find that Bolt taxi is about 20% cheaper in Pattaya than Grab Taxi.
Alcazar Cabarete Pattaya
On their website, they describe themselves as: “Nowadays, “Alcazar” is globally famous with the reputation of the best transvestite cabaret show in Thailand.” Google defines transvestite as “a person who dresses in clothes primarily associated with the opposite sex.” We certainly enjoyed their show and would recommend it.
Cost of Living in Pattaya
Here is our estimated cost of living converted into US dollars if the two of us moved to Pattaya on a tight budget. But we are all different, so you will have to put your feet on the ground in Pattaya to determine your cost of living based on how you would live, shop, eat, and entertain yourself.
Rents: You will see furnished 1 bedroom apartments in the range of about 8000 to 40000 Baht ($216 to $1081 USD) per month if we were willing to sign a lease for a year or more. Here is a place we found online for 10000 Baht ($270 USD) per month.
So, for this estimate, I will use $270 per month for rent for a long-term rental for our estimate which does not include utilities. Make sure to also read my report how to find perfect apartments around the world.
Utilities: Pattaya is at sea level, so, we would need to run our air conditioner to sleep for most of the year. Our electricity will run about $80 USD per month and gas and water would be another $20 per month so about $100 USD per month for our estimated utilities which would vary by the season of course.
Groceries: Based on our time here and the money we spent on groceries, we estimate about $200 USD per month on groceries for the two of us. We would shop mostly in the public market where the vegetables, fruits, rice, and meats are cheaper, and only go to the more expensive ex-pat-style grocery stores for things we could not find in the public market.
Restaurants: If we went out to eat twice per week, once for date night and once for a lunch somewhere, plus some street food, we would spend around $30 per week or $120 per month in restaurants for the two of us. We would eat mostly in mom-and-pop-style restaurants in the night markets or food carts rather than the expensive expat-style restaurants.
Cell Phone Data: The cost to recharge our prepaid service is about $19 per month. My android phone will act as a hotspot so we can both be on the internet at the same time when we are out of the house together.
Laundry: Most condos here include washing machines so we would only pay about $6 month for detergent.
Water: We would spend about $20 per month on drinking water. They have bottled water for 70 Baht ($2 USD) for 20 liters (5 Gallons). We would drink about 10 per month which is $20 per month delivered.
Internet: Our Internet would be about $50 per month.
Transportation: The areas we would frequent around Pattaya are mostly walkable. And they have a 10 Baht bus that runs up and down the coast. So we would spend no more than $20 per month on transportation.
Alcohol (Optional): Large local beers (620 ml) are about 62 Baht in the 7-11. That works out to about $0.85 per beer in 7-11. Bars charge about twice as much. So for the two of us, we estimate about $120 USD per month since we would drink more at home.
Entertainment (Optional): We would budget about $130 per month for entertainment for the two of us.
Retire Early on $805 USD Month in Pattaya Thailand
|
Pattaya |
Expense (USD) |
|
Rent |
270 |
|
Groceries |
200 |
|
Utilities |
100 |
|
Restaurants |
120 |
|
Cell Data |
19 |
|
Laundry |
6 |
|
Water |
20 |
|
Internet |
50 |
|
Transportation |
20 |
|
Recurring Total |
$805 |
|
|
|
|
Alcohol (Optional) |
120 |
|
Optional Total |
$925 |
|
|
|
|
Entertainment (Optional) |
130 |
|
Optional Total |
$1055 |
This is our estimated cost of living if the two of us moved to Pattaya on a tight budget. To fully understand what it would cost you to live here, you must do an exploratory visit and put your feet on the ground. Also, visit Pattaya Numbeo and add anything you spend money on in your home country that is not mentioned in the table. Our costs of living are generally much lower than a new traveler’s because we are great bargain hunters but there are a few people that live cheaper than we do.
Never move anywhere until you have visited first personally to verify the living costs for your lifestyle and needs. I am not guaranteeing these prices. These are just my notes and estimates from the time of my visit and this post. Your costs will likely be drastically different depending on your lifestyle and the time since this post.
More typical ex-pat living costs in Pattayarange from about $1000 to $2200 per month. But people spending that much also have higher incomes or pensions. They often report spending more on entertainment, eating out, and alcohol. Many also have more expensive cars, houses, or apartments.
But many of you will likely be able to retire on so little here. I give example reasons why in this report.
You will never know your cost of living here until you do an exploratory visit with your feet-on-the-ground here. This next report explains how to avoid coming home early with your tail between your legs.
If you are going to try to retire cheap offshore, make sure to read my report, the Two Biggest Risks of Retiring Early for Cheap Offshore, which explains why you should have emergency funds available for unexpected large expenses.
Where We Stayed
We got a 7 nights discount on this Airbnb.com place so our nightly rate was $23 USD.
But if you decide to live or retire in Thailand for a year or more, and you will be attempting to live within the budget we are estimating in this report. you are going to have to put your feet on the ground and look for more local less expensive long-term accommodations. Here is our process for finding places as we slow travel: How to find great apartments around the world.
Bus from Bangkok to Pattaya
We locate ground transportation using Rometorio.com. Here is a map of the bus pick-up and drop-off locations. The bus was about $4 USD per person. Click here or the below map to get started.
PattayaLivability Factors and Retirement Desirability Score
Here are the factors I think about when I consider a place for early retirement potential. After I discuss each factor, I will assign an overall retirement desirability score.
Walkability: High Desirability. I love living in walkable areas of the world where you can walk to restaurants, grocery stores, nightlife, and other interesting things to do. If I decided to retire in Pattaya, I would probably live close in so I could walk everywhere. If I needed to go to Bangkok they have a bus that costs about $4 per person. If I needed to go to Jomtien, there is a 10 Baht bus ($0.27) per person.
Internet: High. The internet was great while we were in town. 97 MBPS down and 139 MBPS upload speeds. The ATT-Test Internet Speed Test is shown below.
.
Food: High. The food choices in Pattaya are amazing for carnivores. And Thailand is particularly known for its amazing food all over the world. But there just aren’t as many food choices here for vegetarians other than Indian (which was amazing). Luckily, they have amazing markets and I love to cook, plus, most Thai cooks know how to prepare vegetarian if you ask since they are Buddhists. So, I will assign high for food.
Transportation: High. If we decided to retire in Pattaya we would be able to walk almost everywhere. Plus, they have buses running to Bangkok for $4 USD and local 10 Baht buses running up and down the coast. So I will call this high.
Weather: Medium. Here is the weather in Pattaya. The average daily temperatures range very little from average highs of 87F, 31C, in December to the average highs of 91F, 33C, in June. The average nightly lows also range very little from 75F, 24C, in December to 81F, 27C, in May. May through October is the rainy season, with the wettest months being July through October.
Things to Do: High. Partying, shooting pool, golfing, night markets, cooking, yoga, scuba, snorkeling, bike riding, martial arts, gyms, restaurants, bar hopping, island hopping, live music, running, coffee shops, street food, night markets, malls, dancing, picnics, standup boarding, windsurfing, volleyball, basketball, jet skiing, sailing, and relaxing on the beach. You are about 2.5 hours from Bangkok by bus.
Healthcare: High. Thailand is one of the top-rated medical tourism countries in the world and Bangkok Hospital in Bangkok is a well-respected hospital Pattaya has a branch of the Bangkok Hospital so you are in pretty good shape for medical in Thailand. If you need anything weird or unusual, you can head up to Bangkok for specialization once you are stabilized.
Expats: High. I have never been anywhere in the world where I saw more ex-pats walking around than in Pattaya Thailand. Additionally, there are many online resources to help you get settled in Pattaya if you want to live there. Facebook 1, Facebook 2. Make sure to make friends with both locals and ex-pats for a richer experience living here. I explain why in my report, The Top 10 Mistakes International Retirees Make.
Real Estate: High. Foreigners can buy condos in their own name in the Thailand. But I never recommend buying real estate overseas until you have lived somewhere for at least 2 years. I have a report explaining Why Retired Expats Should not Buy Real Estate Overseas for the first 2 to 3 years of living somewhere new overseas. Make sure to read that before deciding to buy real estate overseas. Almost everyone else is going to try to get you to buy (for the commission) so read at least one source explaining why I would wait a few years living there before I would even consider buying.
Visa: High. Over the last 5 years, many retired ex-pats in Thailand have been complaining about how it gets harder and harder. In this video, my friend Martin explains two of the most popular options for getting a retirement visa in Thailand.
Pattaya Overall Retirement Desirability Score: I am ranking Pattaya as having high desirability. It is also one of the easiest countries in the world for ex-pats to adjust to overseas living. Stay tuned for our annual worldwide ranking where we rank the top places in the world to retire cheap in Paradise. Pattaya may slide into one of the top spots. Here is our 2022 ranking for the top places in the world.
Thanks for reviewing my report, Retire Early on $805 USD per Month in Pattaya Thailand.
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This is Dan of Vagabond Awake, the YouTube channel for VagabondBuddha.com. Thank you for stopping by. The world is your home. What time will you be home for dinner?