Hey, everyone! I’m in Chiang Mai to help out my parents for 3 months. I’m living quite well, but I’m not spending much money at all. That’s mainly because I’m staying with my parents for now. I go out to eat every day and it isn’t too expensive. However, the cost of living in Chiang Mia has increased over the last few years. In particular, the price of pork and other meats has increased recently. I read that there is an African swine fever outbreak going on. They had to cull a lot of pigs hence the higher price. Anyway, I’ll share the Big 3 expenses so you can get a taste of how much it costs to live in Chiang Mai.
*The exchange rate is about $1 to 33 baht.
Housing (10,000-15,000 baht, $300-600/month)
I’m looking for a condo to rent for 2 months. This is a bit difficult because most places want you to sign a lease for 12 months. So I’m looking on Airbnb and a couple of local short term apartments. I think Chiang Mai was overbuilt a few years ago. There seems to be a good discount because there are very few tourists. The price might increase when things are back to normal, but who knows when that will happen.
Long-term rental: I found a few nice condos in the Nimman area for around 10,000 baht/month, about $300. These are relatively nice units in a nice area. You could go cheaper and find a spartan studio for around 5,000 baht or go for a nicer unit for around 15,000 baht. But I think 10,000 baht is a good budget for a comfortable unit in a good area.
Short-term rental: I found a couple of short-term rentals for around 10,000 baht as well. These are not as nice as the long-term rentals at the same price. But they are good enough for me. I’ll spend a lot of time at my parents’ place anyway. You could spend way more if you want nicer short-term rentals. On Airbnb, the usual seems to be around $600/month.
Hotels: There are a ton of hotels in Chiang Mai. I paid $23/night for a really nice boutique hotel. I got lucky, though. I think the usual rate for this level of amenities is usually around $35/night.
In summary, you can spend $300/month for a modest unit or around $600/month for a much nicer unit.
Check out my rental condo in Chiang Mai.
Transportation
Actually, I’m pretty weak with this one. I’ll just add what I know.
Songtaew – shuttle trucks that carry people around town. If you’re going around the old town, then this is the easiest way to get around. It cost 30 baht per ride, about $1. You can just flag one down in the direction you’re going. However, they won’t take you if you’re going out of town. Oh, the price was 20 baht last year. So 50% increase since the last time I was here.
Grab – similar to Uber. My dad said this starts at 200 baht. It depends where you’re going. If you’re going a bit out of town, this might be a good option.
Tuk tuks – These are the old motorized tricycles that we all know and love. I think they charge per person, around 40 to 200 baht. It depends on how far you’re going.
Motorbike rental – You can rent a moped for about 2,000 baht per month, around $60. However, you should have the right license or else insurance won’t cover any accident.
Bus – I haven’t taken the buses. They cost 20 baht per ride. You can read more about the Chiang Mai bus routes here if you’d like.
Walk – Free! Mostly, I walk everywhere. I need to walk off all the food I ate anyway. Chiang Mai is a small city. You can walk from the east wall to the west wall in about 20 minutes. It’s fun to wander around. With Google Maps, you’ll never truly get lost.
Anyway, I didn’t spend much on transportation.
Food
Now, we get to the fun part. Food is so affordable and accessible in Thailand. You can eat out every day and still spend less than in the United States. I’ll share some pictures here. The price range from 30 to 800 baht per meal. It really depends on how much you want to spend. I’ll just put the price in USD.
This beef khoa soi was the best I’ve ever had. It was super cheap at 50 baht, $1.50.
All in all, you can spend anywhere from $1 to a lot more per meal. I think $10-15/day is a reasonable budget for food. But we all eat differently. It really depends on whether you like local food or not.
Entertainment
I haven’t done much here in Chiang Mai. I just went to work in some cafe and got a massage.
Massage: Thai massages cost around 300 baht/hour in the touristy area. You can find cheaper places that cater to locals for around 150 baht/hour.
Cost of living in Chiang Mai
The cost of living in Chiang Mai is pretty affordable right now. The rent is discounted due to Covid and the food is still cheap. For me, I can live comfortably on about $1,000/month. But I’m a simple man. If my family was here, I’d find a nicer condo, eat more expensive food, and buy more random stuff. For a family of 3, I think $2,000/month would be a pretty comfortable budget.
Oh, this doesn’t include healthcare and other incidentals. If you go out more and spend more, then you’d probably need a bigger entertainment budget.
All right, I hope you enjoyed this field trip. Thailand is opening again so get your tickets if you want to visit!
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I just got back from Chiang Mai at the end of January. I rented a room for just under $200 a month. It would have been cheaper if I was staying longer and I could have got a nicer place for the money if I would have shopped around more. I rented my girlfriend an apartment before I left that cost just under $100 a month. I’ll be going back in April and we’ll get a nicer place. Spending $100 more a month can make a huge difference in quality in Chiang Mai.
Oh wow, that’s cheap! What area did you stay in? My parents are in the Nimman area so I need to be near there.
The cheapest place I found was $200 for a studio. I’m going to get a room in my parents’ building for about $250 for convenience’s sake.
I was near Kad Suan Kaew, not too far from Nimman. The second apartment was in the airport area. It was more of a local place. I don’t think there are many expats in that area.
I found an Airbnb place near Kad Suan Kaew for about $170/month. That’s very affordable and it’s still in a great area.
I want to be closer to my parents, though.
Wow, the food looks sooo good, and it’s so affordable too! It’s amazing how cheap Chiang Mai is!
Enjoy your trip Joe!
You can spend a lot more on international food. There is a really good burger place nearby that charges about $10 for a burger. Cheaper than the US, but still pricey for Chiang Mai.
W O W !
I would consider moving there just for the food.
The price would not be a factor even if it went up four times. Because I go out at least once a day for coffee ($5 Cdn), and at least once in the evening for another coffee, a salad, and a glass of wine (cost $50 Cdn per day) at a restaurant or pub, and spend another at least $25 per day on foods from the grocery store delis to eat at home, four times the cost would be a bargain.
No doubt the Thai food would be much more delicious.
I love the food here. You can also get Western and international food. They are more expensive, but still cheaper than the US mostly.
That’s really eye opening! Food looks better there than the US. Eating out here is so expensive and food is not that good. Wow. Great post. Haven’t visited your blog in a while. We are thinking of starting a truffle farm soon as Oregon is a great for truffle farming! Its like $300 a pound for native Oregon truffles and $3000 a pound for European truffles!
Wow, a truffle farm sounds like a big undertaking. Good luck!
The food in Thailand is great. It’s so affordable and there are so many places to eat here. I love it.
I’m glad for the food we have in the US. I’d never eat this everyday.
Yeah things are getting more and more expensive everywhere….poverty is skyrocketing all over the globe. This will not end well.
Lovely photos. I get hungry looking at that delicious food! Thanks for a great story!
Wow, this makes Boquete, Panama seem like a really expensive place to live! I love all the food pics – it looks delicious… and it’s so cheap!
Any chance you could move Thailand a little closer so the rest of us can check it out a little more easily? ?
Come visit!
Boquete? you know what that means in Spanish, don’t you?
Wow! I want to eat all those things!!
You’ll have to visit Thailand. Most of these, you can’t get in the US.
That food looks so delicious! I remember when we went in 2018 I was just amazed at how cheaply we could eat. I think my record low was $5 per day for the two of us (lunch/dinner/snacks only). We had an Airbnb for a week and aside from breakfast didn’t do any cooking since the food is so cheap. And yes, like you, we walked everywere – it was fun trying to dodge the traffic while crossing some of the bigger streets outside the old city!
I love the affordability and availability of food in Thailand. You can eat cheaply anytime. It’s awesome.
So an hour of massage for about $4-8 dollars? That sounds too good pass up. When I was in Phuket about 15 years the Marriott had $8 massages. I asked my wife to watch me so no funny business went on. I didn’t know if it was legit or not.
The rest of the prices were fairly normal, but we stayed on the resort most of the time. The rare times we did go off, that’s where the prices got a lot cheaper.
I would be torn on whether to live a king or try to minimize costs even further. It’s hard for me to find a middle-ground sometimes.
Yeap, massage is super cheap compares to the US. But, I only got one so far. I’m a bit afraid to catch Covid because my parents are old.
As far as funny business goes, you can tell by what they are wearing. If they are wearing shorts or tight shirts, then you probably can negotiate something extra.
Yes, most foreigners probably would want to spend more than I do. I spend more like a local, but still a lot more than most local people.