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You’re curious about how much it costs to move to Thailand? You’ll get your answer in this article, along with valuable insight into the daily cost of living here.

I’m in my tiny house in Thailand right now, and in this article, we’re going to talk about exactly what it cost me to move to Thailand and what you can expect if you’re looking to move here, too.

The first thing you have to worry about when you’re considering moving to Thailand is getting a visa to move there.

Visas to Thailand

Most of the time you can get a tourist visa for 90 days tops.

There are other ways, say by taking Thai language lessons or taking Muay Thai lessons (receive an ED Visa), that you can stay longer for a year or even longer, but most of the time a lot of digital nomads are going to live there for three months on a tourist visa.

If they want to stay longer without the ED Visa, they’ll just have to exit the country and come back in with a new visa.

So how much do these tourist visas costs?

The first time you apply for one it’s going to be $40, and that’ll get you into the country for up to 60 days.

And then while you’re inside Thailand, you’re going to need to go to the immigration office to extend that visa another 30 days to get the full three months, and that will cost you an additional $60.

So in total, visas in Thailand for three months are going to cost you $100.

Flights to Thailand

Very important. You got to get a flight to Thailand.

Now, how much is a flight to Thailand going to cost you?

It really depends on where you’re from. I was coming from Hong Kong, so my flight cost me less than $100, but I’ve flown to Thailand from the United States, and it cost less than $500 to fly one way to Thailand.

Cell Phone Connection in Thailand

When you finally land in Thailand, you’re going to want to connect your phone, so you need to get a SIM card.

You can do this inside of the airport, there are multiple places to do it.

If you’re going to connect, just connect right away.

Get a SIM card, get a month set up.

how much does it cost to move to thailand — Anywhere with a sign that says ‘telecom’ or ‘mobile repair’ will have a SIM card for you, no reason to shop around, it’s all same-same, as the Thai people say.

It should cost you no more than $15 for unlimited data.

Leaving the Airport, Going to the City

You’ve got to get to the city center. How are you going to get there?

You can take mopeds, buses, trains, et cetera. I usually take a taxi.

It’s just the most convenient way to get there, and it usually doesn’t cost any more than about $15 to get to the middle of the city.

If you’re not planning on living in Bangkok, and you’re going to be headed somewhere else, maybe just take a day to rest there at least.

I recommend just finding a hotel.

There’s a really nice one that I enjoy down Khao San Road.

It’s called Rambuttri Village Inn and Plaza. It’s a really nice place.

Booking.com

It costs anywhere between 20, 30 dollars for a night.

It’s got a couple pools on the roof and it comes with breakfast included, so check it out for under $30.

Exiting Bangkok, Moving to Your New Home in Thailand

The next day, if you’re like me, you’re headed down to the islands.

Now you don’t have to go to the islands.

You could head north; there’s plenty of countryside to see.

I’m just going to give you an example of headed down to the islands because that’s where I’m living.

So getting from Bangkok down to the islands, you got to get on either an overnight train which can cost you $50 to get down to the islands.

Or you can get on a bus that will take you to a boat, and the boat will take you to the islands as well.

how much would it cost to move to thailand — Cloudy day, but the island is still nice to look at from the boat.

A bus/boat combination ticket to the island will cost you $30.

Transportation in Thailand

Once you’re finally on the islands, you’re going to need to be able to get around because you have to find your accommodation.

How are you going to do that?

what are the costs of moving to thailand — Too expensive for my tastes, I prefer having my own transport.

You don’t want to take the taxis here; the taxis are going to cost you five, six dollars each way, no matter where you go.

So the first thing you can do is try to find yourself a motorcycle.

You can rent them pretty easily anywhere in Thailand for less than, say, $75 a month, sometimes $60 a month.

Usually people pay about $100 a month to rent a moped or a scooter or a motorbike.

I straight up recommend buying one once you get here, and then sell it on Facebook a day before you leave to make your money back.

cost of moving to thailand — Bike rental shops are everywhere, but so are bikes for sale, just look at local Facebook groups to find heaps of them.

Just buy a bike for anywhere between $300 to $350 for a decent set of wheels.

Fuel for Your Motorbike

If you’re going to be driving around that bike, it’s going to cost you no more than $10-20 tops, if you’re living on the islands, per month for the petrol you’re going to be using.

It cost nothing. It’s so cheap.

Once you got your bike and you got it filled up with gas, then you got to find a place to live.

Finding a Place to Live in Thailand

For the accommodations on the island in Thailand, they range anywhere from private little bungalows on the beach to huge villas with private pools of their own up in the mountain tops.

So no matter what your budget, you can find a place.

cost of living in thailand 2018 — Some houses look like this in Thailand. JK, this is a temple.

The cheapest I’ve seen on the islands is about $150 a month, and that can go all the way up to the thousands.

The International Education System in Thailand

If you’re like me and you got kids, I’m sending mine to a school here.

That school is a full time, five days a week. Goes about 8:30 to 4:00 in the afternoon.

They’ve got a great international curriculum. They teach Thai lessons to the children as well.

It’s a fantastic school. It costs about $300 per month.

Eating in Thailand

If you’re a single person, eating in Thailand can be so, so cheap.

You go out to the restaurants, you can get a meal for a dollar or two, and that’s every single meal.

You can go more expensive than that if you want to, but you don’t have to.

how much does it cost to move to thailand 2019 — One of my favorite Thai restaurants on Koh Tao. The owners are really nice and the food is so good!

Say you go out and you spend $2 every meal, three meals a day should fill you up.

You’re going to spend no more than $180 per month on food.

Cleaning Your Clothes in Thailand

Your laundry’s going to be super cheap.

You drop it off at the laundry shop, you give them a dollar or two.

They’ll have it clean for you the very next day.

cost of moving to thailand in 2018 — Cheap laundry! And it’s done for you, which is nice.

Laundry for myself and my daughter each month costs no more than $8 per month.

Staying Hydrated in Thailand

You’re going to need fresh water, and you don’t want to be buying those tiny little bottles over and over and over again that are polluting our oceans.

Get one big bottle, get it for about $4, and you can head in and refill it whenever you need to for about $0.66.

Travel Insurance for Thailand

If you’re living in Thailand, you want to make sure you have good travel insurance.

There’s risk of food poisoning if you eat street food, there’s also risk of getting into a motorbike accident.

Those things aren’t exactly safe all the time, so you want to have good insurance here.

The healthcare system is quite solid, but having good insurance to back that up will keep you safe.

That costs a single person about $85 per month.

Total: How Much Does it Cost to Move to Thailand?

With all that added up, what is the final tally of the cost to move to Thailand?

Now, I’m going to include the first months costs just because I believe that’s part of moving somewhere, is that that first month you’re going to have a little bit higher budget.

Your visas, $100.
Flights, $500 or less.
SIM card, 15 bucks.
Taxi to the city center, about 20.
One night in Bangkok, 25, 30 bucks.
Getting yourself to the island, 30 to 50 bucks.
Buy your first motorbike, $300.
Fill it up with gas for the month, 20 bucks.
Get your bungalow or room rented, about $240.
Your food’s going to be about 180 bucks.
Laundry, $8.
Water jug, $4.
Insurance, $85.

So all that added together, it’s not going to be any more than about $1,500 to move to Thailand, to pay for that first month and all accommodation, transportation, food, et cetera.

That’s how much it costs to move to Thailand!

It’s not that expensive, and once you’re here, the cost of living is so much lower than where it is, say, in the United States, that any hurdle it takes to get here is going to be offset within the first month or two.

You’re going to make that money back just on your cost of living alone.

So if you’re looking for an awesome place to move to with some great food, super nice people, and fantastic weather and places to live, then Thailand should be on the top of your list.

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When we got to Asia one year ago, I was committed to spending at least a year here so Auburn could learn her grandparent’s language. This wasn’t an easy choice; growing up in the countryside of Michigan, I learned to love the fresh air, the space, and the sounds of nature. Hong Kong has nothing of the sort (in most parts, at least).

Affiliate link disclosure: You may find affiliate links in this blog post. As an Amazon Associate, I earn on qualifying purchases. You can read my full disclosure here.

Moving to Asia with Children

As an asthmatic, I’m not a big fan of living in cities anyway, but one year was enough time for me.

move to asia with children — Hong Kong in the distance.

Now, I need to live in the fresh air again for a while.

My lungs and throat got sick 4 or 5 times over the past year and usually, I don’t get really sick like that more than once, maybe twice in a year.

So, off to Thailand, to a place we’ve lived twice before!

To be honest, we weren’t planning on coming to Thailand this time.

single parent blog — A previous visit to this island.

We were planning on moving to Cambodia for the school year to try something new.

However, I overlooked a significant detail: Auburn’s passport expires before the end of the visa I would get in Cambodia, so they wouldn’t grant her a visa if we were to try.

Thankfully, I noticed this before we made concrete plans to move to Cambodia to get the fresh air we needed.

single dad blog

My child and I decided we would return to a place we know and could practice something she’s been learning to love recently: swimming.

For these Few Months in Thailand with my Child

After a few breakthroughs in the pool in Hong Kong, the island we live on now is a good step up from that.

There are plenty of pools to use, but the immediate access to the sea and coral reefs is going to be a good way to teach her to snorkel.

We’ve practiced a few times this week already, and hopefully we can find some good weather to give it a go this weekend in the open blue!

I’ll catch some video for you if we do so you can see her first snorkeling experience in the ocean!

After Our Thai Visas Expire, Where Will We Go?

I’ll be getting a few documents in the mail soon that will allow me to apply for my daughter’s new passport.

We are going back to Hong Kong to do this because we can visit her family again, and I like the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong, it’s very efficient.

That shouldn’t take more than a month to get the new passport in hand.

Once we have it, we will be moving to Cambodia at that time–our original plan!

Now that the final piece will be in place–the passport–we can then get to Cambodia and spend a year in the countryside where we can kayak, play basketball, swim, fish, and breathe fresh air.

We’re both looking forward to it, but that will be later this year, of course.

single dad travel blog — We can get here in 30 minutes pretty easy. Top-notch snorkeling.

For now, we’re in Thailand and I’m excited to teach Auburn how to snorkel and freedive!

How Much Does it Cost to Move to Thailand?