On the page about the cost of living in Thailand, I wrote that you can get by with a budget 500 to 600 Euros per month in Thailand reasonably well. With about 1000 Euros even quite good. I would therefore like to give some tips and examples on how to do this.

However, the prerequisite for a cheap life is first of all a certain basic investment in a cheap home or house and its furnishings. In addition, you should have your own vehicle, so you do not depend on the ever-increasing prices and rip-offs of taxis, tuk-tuks, etc.

To live in Thailand as cheaply as possible you should pay for your house or apartment not more than about 6000 Baht / month, plus the additional costs for water and electricity.

Get a Cheap House for Rent

To get an overview about how much you have to pay for what kind of house, have a look at Houses for rent in Thailand.

On top of existing furniture in the house with bed, wardrobe and air conditioning, I bought a fridge, a dining table and a kitchen cabinet and a few kitchen appliances (e-wok, rice cooker & microwave) and dishes for two people. Also 2 sets of bed linen and a new painting for the walls were due. About 20,000 Baht all together.

You need to buy some Appliances

With this equipment you can at least take breakfast in your own home and if necessary even prepare a warm meal.

If you live near a tourist place, you can also buy the cheap ready made meals or sometimes freshly cooked meals from a 7eleven store, Family Market or Lotus Supermarket. You then have to put it into the microwave at home and au have a complete meal  for just 25 Baht (about 0.32 Euros!) per person.

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One of the Cheapest Places in Thailand

It turns out that you’ll find the cheapest houses to rent in the outer areas of Pattaya. That is probably due to the prevailing oversupply of houses and condos there. In other areas, such as Phuket, Krabi or Koh Samui, you have to look harder to find something really cheap.

Town houses in the Thai unit style are already available from approx. 3500 baht, small cottages from approx. 5000 and for a small villa you should expect approx. 15,000 baht monthly rent.

It would also be important to mention that you should arrange to pay the electricity bill by yourself to the appropriate provider.
Only then do you get the Kw / h for about 3-5 baht.

On the other hand, if you have to pay the electricity to the landlord, you’ll need to double the charge on top of that and also calculate the decimal number behind the comma on the meter as a full kilowatt hour.

In this way you can easily pay 20 times the electricity price… For a small house with 1 refrigerator and 1 A/C in the sleeping room your electricity bill should be not more than 1000 – 2000 Baht. Depending on how much you use the A/C.

Buy your own vehicle

Of course, having your own vehicle, preferably in the form of a scooter, requires a certain investment, but you should not forget the price advantage over public vehicles and your own mobility.

As the cheapest and most reliable motorcycle, I can recommend the Honda Wave i, with 110 cc. You can buy it new for about 40,000 Baht (about 950 Euros). If you are unsure about the semiautomatic of the Honda Wave you can also buy one of the fully automatic scooters like the Honda Click, or Yamaha Fino.

But for the latter you have to put about 10,000 Baht more  and they also consume a little more gasoline than the Honda Wave. The scooters are ideal for going to the beach during the day and visiting the cheaper restaurants in the outskirts of the tourist centers for dining. It is also a good pastime to simply drive around on a scooter and explore the area.

Back again about food and drink

Of course, the cheapest way to live in Thailand is to cook at home (see above). But you can also do without the German food and simply go back to the cheap, Thai cuisine and go to the relevant restaurants for food, which is usually found in the outskirts of the tourist centers.

If you really want to save money, you have to renounce the enjoyment of beer and other alcoholic beverages, as much as possible. They are, by Thai standards, relatively expensive.

Otherwise, a Thai lunch or dinner in the form of fried rice with chicken, a noodle soup, a Pad Thai or a simple curry with rice and a bottle of water should not exceed about 150, – Baht (about 3.5 euros) for 2 people!

With this method, you can be full for about 500 Baht a day for 2 people and end up with about 15,000 Baht (350 Euros) food costs a month.

Cheaper is it only with the above mentioned method: Cook by yourself or ready meals from the supermarket or a combination of both variants.