I rent two apartments here for less than the cost of an apartment anywhere in the United States (without elec. and water fees (which ussually are around 10 - 50 dollars total) they are less than 300 together. I only rent two because I travel between Hua Hin and Bangkok so much that it is cheaper to rent than stay in a hotel (although you can ussually rent those at low monthly costs too. Serviced apartments with a bedroom and kitchen normall start around 300-500 dollars. Two bedrooms might be around 500+. You can get a condo for less than 100,000 if you are looking in the right place. You could get a house for less, but foreigners can’t own land, so you would have to have a Thai buy it for you, which could make problems if they aren’t trustworthy.

I spend 3-5 dollars a day on food. On a cheapp day I can do less. You can certainly go more if you want to eat burger king and crap like that all day. Thai food is better.

Average income for a thai is less thai I think was somewhere around 2000 dollars a year… but that includes everyone from the very poor to the very rich.

I think middle class will make around 60 dollars for an 8 hour work day. Thats what my host parents were making outside of bangkok as managers of a bank. Starting wage is about 60 cents an hour.

Bangkok is more expensive than anywhere else. Then come the other tourist towns. I hate them… Hua Hin is one of them. Love BKK though, and the others are nice for traveling and getting away. I’m a city slicker.

Justin