Cost of living in Hua Hin Thailand

1. Food/Grocery
2. Entertainment
3. Utilities
4. Transportation
5. Accommodation
6. Total cost of living in Hua Hin

$500 USD per month – I first arrived in Hua Hin in September and if you have been living in Thailand long enough, you’ll know that’s the rainy season or the monsoon season, and they don’t call it the raining season for no reason. Within 24 hours, it had rained four times.
I ended up staying inside. I didn’t rent a scooter. I just worked on my laptop, and didn’t do anything interesting. I ate mainly around my neighborhood.

$1,500 USD per month – On my last month of Hua Hin, it was December and the rainy season was over. I rented a scooter, had paid for gas, and ate anywhere I wanted. Had some people over and took them to a local water park, which I paid. I also bought a new GoPro because the old one was broken.

I don’t drink alcohol, it’s a choice I made. Once you pass 30 years old, you will know that the hangover is a lot worse. I also I don’t smoke, therefore I save some money on that.

I sometimes eat one big meal per day, other times I might eat two small meals per day. I don’t eat three times per day like a regular human. I used to eat three times per day but ever since I came to Thailand, I have been eating once or twice per day and for some weird reason, I lost at least 10 lbs. without trying. It could have nothing to do with my diet and more to do with the heat. Some days, I would eat street food, other times I’d go to a restaurant, or eat in the mall, even at 7/11 when it’s too dark to go anywhere far.

There are many western restaurants and groceries in Hua Hin. For the restaurants, most, if not all of them, provide both Thai as well as western dishes in the same restaurant because there are many westerners here with a Thai spouse and their Thai spouse likes to order Thai dishes. I don’t think you have to worry about having to only eat Thai food all the time in Hua Hin. There are many options available here.

I try to stay with budget but in December when I had the scooter, I needed to film all sorts of restaurants and dishes. There was a place where I had to pay 420 baht for a meal. This was not too bad until I saw the invoice. Never order anything without knowing the price up front. There were many places in Hua Hin where I can’t eat because they cost 500, 800 baht or more per meal. That was way over my budget, but if you want some high quality 4 or 5 star restaurants, they have it here too. So, in December, the cost of food and groceries sky rocketed for my budget, although it was lower than what I’d normally spend in Bangkok at about 13,000 baht per month.

How much for food & groceries?

Cheapest month in Hua Hin
In September I spent 8,102 baht

Most expensive month in Hua Hin
In December I spent 10,124 baht

Movies 300 – 400 baht, about 100 baht per ticket on Wednesday?

A foot massage here was at least 50 to 100 baht higher than Chiang Mai. I’m talking about foot massage, I’m not sure about other types of massages but overall, it is a bit higher than Chiang Mai. Plus, some might be looking for tips, maybe around 20-50 baht. I gave a 20-baht tip to one lady and she didn’t look impressed, so I never went back to that one place again.

Attractions – waterparks 2,500 baht, cave entrance fees, dinner, breakfast. 3,500 baht

How much for entertainment?

Cheapest month in Hua Hin
In September I spent 500 baht

Most expensive month in Hua Hin
In December I spent 4,500 baht

Electricity, 7 baht per unit (7 watt per kwh), average 600 baht per month.

Water, average 150 baht per month.

WiFi was included with the rent. Not the greatest download or upload speed but it was reliable.

Phone, 1 GB data 200 baht for 30 days. Not on any contract and I didn’t use my phone in September at all.

How much for utilities?

I spent on average of 750 baht

I hardly saw any meter taxi in Hua Hin, they have meter taxi but they’re hard to find. However, there are many pickup taxis (Songthaew) and they cost about 10 baht per person, more if you’re going somewhere very far or off the main roads. After that, you have the motorbike taxi. *show old man.

You can rent a scooter and there are lots of rental shops for that, since Hua Hin is a tourist hot spot.

The scooter rental shop was just across the street from me. It cost 3,000 baht per month. There was one other scooter that was 2,500, but I didn’t get that one because I didn’t want to wait another day.

I picked the smallest scooter in the shop, since this was my real first scooter ride in Thailand and it’s easier to control something small.

A full tank of gas from empty is about 100 baht. This scooter can run about 4-5 hours straight with a full tank of gas. If you only ride your scooter 10-20 minutes per day, you might only fill your gas once or twice per month. I rented the scooter to go to different attractions throughout Hua Hin, so I could film and write about it. I spent about 100 baht per week on gas.

They also have bicycle rental, but I’m not sure how much that costs although I wouldn’t pay more than 500 baht per month.

How much for transportation?

Cheapest month in Hua Hin
In September I spent 0 baht

Most expensive month in Hua Hin
In December I spent 3,400 baht

The apartment was about 500 meters from the beach (10-minute scooter ride). It’s a studio apartment with no kitchen because I eat out 100%.

I only turn on the AC when I sleep and during the day, I mainly use a fan unless it’s too hot.

This apartment was a non-serviced apartment. Meaning I don’t get any room service, no one comes and clean for me, I have to do everything on my own. I can pay extra, about 200 baht and have someone to clean for me, but I didn’t do that. The bed did not come with any pillows, blankets, or bed sheets. I was supposed to buy them, but the owner was nice enough to lend all of that free of charge.

There was no swimming pool, no gym, there was a guard sitting outside at night, security cameras on all the floors. The laundry was in the parking lot and cost about 20 -30 baht to use the laundry machine and you would hang dry them on the balcony. There was a laundromat just across the street with a drier. I went there to use the drier so I didn’t have to set up my balcony to dry my clothes. That drier cost about 40 baht for 40 minutes.

If you want to know where I found my apartment, check out the links in the description.

How much for accommodation?

I spent about 6,000 baht per month.

Cheapest month in Hua Hin (September):
15,352 THB ($440 USD)

Most expensive month in Hua Hin (December):
37,374 THB ($1,067 USD)

With my monthly budget of $700-$800 USD, there were many things I had to be mindful about. I couldn’t just spend randomly. For example, I couldn’t turn on my AC 24/7, or the electricity cost would be over 2,000 baht each month. I couldn’t get two hours of massage like I normally would when I was vacationing here.