Cost of living in Bangkok as a digital nomad

Cost of living in Bangkok, Thailand as a digital nomad in April 2022

Are you wondering how much it would cost to live in Bangkok for a few weeks, or even months? 

I had the pleasure of living in Bangkok, Thailand for 24 days at the start of my digital nomad journey around Southeast Asia. And I kept track of all of my spending (literally ALL of it!). From credit card charges to cash spending, I made sure to document how much each meal, shopping, accommodation, taxi fare, and everything in between costs. Mostly as a way to keep track of my spending and budget while living abroad, but also to be able to share my experience and knowledge with you. 

Obviously, each person would probably spend different amounts based on their habits. But as a budget traveler, living off of my savings, and traveling slowly around the country, I tried to spend as little as possible but still be able to sightsee, eat delicious meals and enjoy my life abroad.

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I separated my spendings into 10 categories. Some of these categories are everyday spendings, and some are things I spent extra money on or aren’t really a cost of living. Below the table, I explain each category in more detail.

1. Necessary flights -$481 USD

This is the cost of my one-way flight from Los Angeles to Bangkok. Although technically this cost is not actually a cost of living, I added it as part of my costs of living in Bangkok to keep track of how much I’m spending on flight tickets from one place to another, which IS a necessary cost nonetheless. But this cost will depend A LOT on where you’re coming from and if you’re only buying a one-way ticket or a round-trip flight. 

2. Extra flights – $117 USD

This is one of those categories where I spent extra money because I wanted to, instead of needing to. While in Bangkok, I flew to Phuket for 24 hours, then to Chiang Mai for 30 hours, before returning to Bangkok. I did this to check out the cities I planned on living in later on before I actually stayed for a longer period of time. I was also traveling with my mom for the first 10 days of my trip and she wanted to visit them too. So if you plan on flying around Thailand, you could expect to spend a bit more than necessary but these places are so worth the visit. 

3. Transportation – $150 USD

My transportation costs are mostly taxi fares. These include taxis from my hotel to temples, markets, and other areas in the city, as well as taxis to and from the airport. I didn’t rent a motorbike or car, and didn’t use much of the public transportation since I didn’t live near a subway station. I also walked a lot to nearby places to eat and sightsee so I saved some money that way. 

4. Long-term accommodations – $314 USD

Long-term accommodations are the hotels or Airbnbs I stay at for most of the time I’m in a city. In this case, I stayed at the Grand China Hotel in Chinatown in Bangkok. The actual cost of 23 nights at the hotel was $628 USD, but my mom insisted on helping me pay half of the amount since she was gonna stay with me for the first 10 days (plus cuz she’s awesome and wanted to help cover some of my expenses). This cost will vary depending on which area of Bangkok you stay in and if you’re sharing the cost with someone else. 

5. Hotel getaways – $40 USD

As I mentioned before, while in Bangkok I traveled to Phuket and Chiang Mai and stayed 1 night in each city. The cost of both nights was around $80 USD total, but I split this cost with my mom, so it came out to $40 USD each. Again, this was one of those extra costs that I didn’t need to spend on but I wanted to. So this will vary depending on what you do while visiting Bangkok and if you can split the cost with someone else. 

6. Food – $330 USD

Food is definitely one of my biggest costs so far and definitely a necessary one. I honestly tried to eat as much local food as possible, and I sometimes tried to go for something “cheap” from the menu. But other times I would just get what I wanted regardless of the cost, and if I went somewhere touristy, the prices would be higher than in other parts of Bangkok.

With that being said, the average cost of my meals was around 200 THB [$6 USD], with most of them not surpassing 300 THB [$9 USD]. Part of this cost also includes beers or cocktails I would have with my meal, as well as non-alcoholic drinks like water, coffee, and smoothies. And since I didn’t have a kitchen, I had to eat out almost every meal (except the occasional cereal breakfast I would have in my hotel room, which is still included in that cost).

7. Alcohol – $40 USD

As I mentioned in the food category, some of the alcohol costs were just added to the full meal and not individually. But whenever I would go out for just a drink or actually documented the alcohol cost separately, I added it to this category. Alcohol is comparably cheaper than in the US, especially in Los Angeles. Most cocktails are around 100 – 200 THB [$3 – $6 USD] and local beers can go for around 60 – 120 THB [$1.80 – $3.50 USD]. I’m not much of a drinker so this cost wasn’t too high for me.

8. Shopping – $80 USD

My shopping expenses mostly came down to souvenirs, toiletries, a few local clothing items and accessories, and a few electronics I needed. Since I’m aware I have limited space in my suitcase I don’t go too crazy with my shopping. Everything I bought was mostly necessary things like a toilet paper, shampoo and conditioner, memory cards, and an HDMI cord that is perfect for connecting my laptop to my room’s TV so I have 2 screens to work from (jk, I mostly use it to watch Netflix since TVs here only have local channels). 

9. Activities – $100 USD

My activities category encompasses everything from temple entrance tickets, massages, guided tours, and even movie theater tickets. Basically anything sightseeing or for entertainment that costs money. My biggest spending in this category was the tour to the railway market and floating market which was $34 per person. Other than that the average spending in this category was under 200 THB [under $6 USD].

10. Other travel expenses – $200 USD

This category is for everything else I spent money on while in Bangkok, or travel-related recurring monthly payments I have to make regardless of where I am. These include things like my travel medical insurance, SIM card and phone data, laundry, and a VPN subscription.

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So, without adding my flight ticket from LA to Bangkok, or any extra flights and hotel getaways, my cost of living in Bangkok comes down to $1214 USD for 24 days, or around $50 USD each day. 

And my total spending while in Bangkok, Thailand came out to $1852.

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Found this post useful? Do you have any questions about the cost of living in Bangkok?

Let me know in the comments below!