Living in Pattaya Costs Only Pennies a Day

A Cost of Living Guide to Thailand’s Top Beach Resort

Pattaya's "Dine 99" is proof the living is cheap in Thailand with the buffet at 99 baht. (Click to enlarge.)

One of the best things about living in Thailand is how inexpensive it is. Living in Pattaya is even better because the cost of living here is markedly lower than popular cities such a Bangkok, Koh Tao or Phuket.

And when you do a Aquanauts Instructor Training Internship, you’re daily expenses will be even lower still, because we’ve already taken care of your accommodations and even feed you when you’re on the dive boat! Basically, while doing your internship, you only need to worry about breakfast, dinner, utilities, personal sundries and entertainment. You’ll be able to live comfortably on about 15,000 baht per month! Try doing that where you’re living now!

To help you get a sense for just how cheap the living is in Pattaya, we’ve compiled this guide to common daily expenses.

Transportation

Since you’ll be staying right downtown as part of your internship, many of the places you’ll want to go are within walking distance. But when you do need a ride, you’ll find the public transportation is cheap and convenient.

Love them or hate 'em, Pattaya's "baht buses" are cheap and convenient.

• Baht Bus (Taxis) – The most common way around town is by songthaew or “pickup truck” taxi. The blue “baht buses,” as some call them, are pickup trucks to which padded rail seats, roofs and steps have been added to the beds. They run all over town, but have a standard route doing the north-south loop up Second Road to North Road, down Beach Road to South Road and back. The fare anywhere on this loop is 10 baht, sometimes less for short rides. Even the extended route between Jomtien Beach to the south and Naklua to the north is just a maximum 30 baht.
• Motorbike Taxi — If you need to get somewhere in a hurry, you can take a motorbike. You’ll zip by the songthaews and be dropped off anywhere in the Second Road/Beach Road loop for 50 baht or less.
• Air Travel – Want to get away and see other parts of Thailand or Southeast Asia? The “budget airline” boom has come to Thailand in a big way. Fares that once cost hundreds of dollars now cost less than a night on the town. You can fly to most parts of Thailand from Bangkok for less than 2,000 baht or even to Singapore or Malaysia for less than 3,000 baht.

Food

Street vendor food of fast, fresh & where most Pattaya Thais eat.

We’ve all got to eat and fortunately the eating is good and cheap in Pattaya. In fact, it’s cheaper to eat out than to buy all the ingredients and cook it yourself. You have Thai dishes from the North, Central and Southern regions, plus every non-Thai cuisine you could want, including British pub fare, Indian, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Russian and American fast food.

Thai food will be your cheapest choice, with the lowest-price, most authentic fare coming from street vendors. But even the “farang” or foreign, food is a magnitude cheaper than it is at home. Here’s a sample menu:

Thai Food

• Pad Thai noodles with shrimp in egg – 30 baht
• Pork fried rice with egg, onions and tomato – 30 baht
• Whole fried chicken leg quarter with side of rice – 55 baht
• Tom Yum soup with shrimp for two and rice — 90 baht
• Fresh quarter pineapple – 10 baht

Western Food

• Full English breakfast with 2 eggs, sausage, bacon, fried potatoes, beans, tomato, two slices toast and coffee — 135 baht
• Meal-sized Caesar salad with marinated chicken breast — 160 baht
• All-you-can-eat British-style Indian curry bar with all the bits and pieces — 320 baht
• Spaghetti w/meat sauce and garlic bread — 140 baht
• 13 piece sushi set w/miso soup, salad and fixings — 200 baht
• McDonald’s Big Mac — 99 baht
• Medium pan-style pizza with 5 toppings, garlic bread, 8 chicken wings and Pepsi — 299 baht
• Four-course dinner for two with two mixed drinks at four-star restaurant — 3,500 baht

Clothing

An artistic view from the top of the six-floor Central Festival Pattaya Beach, Asia's largest beachfront shopping mall, through the lens of the talented Spike at Pattaya Days. (Click to enlarge.)

Do not even consider bringing a large wardrobe of clothing. The standard “uniform” of the Pattaya diver is shorts, sandals and a t-shirt. And all three items are so affordably priced, you can buy a whole new set of clothes for what most airlines charge for overweight baggage. T-shirts and collared shirts are about 100 baht. Jeans or shorts about 350 baht to 500 baht. Good quality sandals are 200 baht to 400 baht Even custom made wetsuits are cheap here, should you want more than the shorty we supply with your internship. (Thanks to Spike at PattayaDays.com for the photo.)

Personal Items

Personal hygiene products — toothpaste, soap, deodorant, etc – are about half the cost of that in the Western world with most famous brands there available here. A big double pack of Colgate toothpaste is approximately 60 baht. Soap is even cheaper. For men, the one thing you might consider buying at home is shaving cream, as Gillette and Nivea seem to be the only brands available widely here. For women, bring perfume from home – or buy it at Duty Free on the way here – as it is not cheap in Thailand.

Entertainment

Our Nightlife & Entertainment section thoroughly documents the literally hundreds of entertainment choices you have in Pattaya, but here’s a smattering of prices for common distractions:

• Movie Ticket — 100 baht
• One game of 10-pin bowling with shoe rental – 80 baht
• One-hour traditional Thai massage – 250 baht
• Day-long pass at Pattaya Water & Amusement Park — 500 baht
• High-speed Internet cafe — 60 baht per hour
• 45-minute jet ski rental – 450 baht

Beer & Alcoholic Beverages

Thailand's guitar legend, Lam Morrisson, still performs five nights a week at Walking Street's The Blues Factory. (Photo: Bob James) Click to enlarge.

As described in our Nightlife & Entertainment section, Pattaya has a boisterous nightlife scene and, naturally, beer and alcohol play a large role in it. Our estimate of 15,000 baht per month living expenses assume you will do some entertaining, but not every night. Obviously, if you do, your expenses will be higher.

Oddly, Pattaya economics make it more expense to not drink than to do so. Draft beer or a Happy Hour cocktail on Walking Street can be had for 49 baht or less, while a Coke or bottle of water will set you back 110 baht. Prices are even higher in the city’s discos. Basically, if you want to go out and party, then your cheapest bet is the city’s beer bars, where a bottle of Heineken runs 50 baht to 70 baht or an outdoor cafe, where they are slightly cheaper. Supermarkets, of course, have the lowest prices, with the same bottle of beer costing about 35 baht.

Staying in Touch

Keeping in touch with friends or family is cheaper than you might think, whether by telephone or e-mail.

• Internet & E-mail — High-speed Internet access is very common now in Pattaya and Internet cafes charge as little as 60 baht an hour to rent a machine. If you rent your own accommodations, you can get high-speed ADSL service in your home for 550 baht or less per month. Of course, our accommodations and dive center off you free Wi-Fi Internet.
• Telephone – Most U.K. and European mobile telephone (and some U.S. companies) companies have roaming agreements with Thai companies, so you phone will likely work over here, but it will be very expensive. The better choice is to buy a Thai telephone number (SIM card) for your GSM phone. The phone number is only 300 baht and comes with 50 baht in airtime. Pre-paid phone cards now offer 300 minutes for 300 baht. With these services, you can call the U.K for as little as 7 baht per minute.

A view of Pattaya's Near Islands, Koh Larn, Koh Sak & Koh Krok. (Photo: Bob James) Click to enlarge.

Getting Away From It All

The local island paradise island is Koh Larn and even though it’s very close it never gets busy. The ferries leave every 20 minutes from Pattaya Pier and the journey takes 45 minutes. The cost is 20 baht. Once on the island you can catch a motorbike or car over the big hill to Laem Thong Bay (or Golden Bay) for about 40 baht each way. It’s a truly wonderful day out. Pack a lunch or buy a meal for 20 baht or so and have a complete day out for about 160 baht.

Also, see our Nightlife & Entertainment section for a long list of the many tourist and cultural attractions in the area. Admission to most are $5 or less, with many being free.

As you see, Pattaya is a bargain. While you’ll undoubtedly spend lots of time diving and studying, it’s good to know you won’t get taken to the cleaners after you hang your wetsuit out to dry for