Where to live in Thailand
We track 6 cities in Thailand: Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chon Buri, Hat Yai, Pattaya and Phuket. Average temperatures run from 26°C to 28°C. We estimate a couple needs €2,261 to €2,636 a month to live centrally. Thailand sits in our low to medium tax tier. For foreigners, long-term residency is comparatively open.
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- Tax tier
- Low to medium
- Moderate personal income tax
- Languages
- Thai
- Limited English
- Safety
- 60/100
- country-level
- Healthcare
- 70/100
- country-level
- Internet
- ~210 Mbps
- median fixed broadband
The 6 cities we track
Source: City size from GeoNames, temperature from the Open-Meteo archive (2019 to 2023 averages), rainfall from TerraClimate (1991 to 2020 normals), coast distance from Natural Earth. Cost is our model estimate for a couple living centrally.
Taxes
Thailand sits in our low to medium tax tier: moderate personal income tax. The tier applies to every city here, and couples who cap tax below it will not see these cities in their results.
Source: OurNextCity tax tiers, assigned by hand from each country's top marginal personal income tax rate and overall tax reputation, with no fixed rate cut-offs. Coarse by design; not tax advice.
Residency and visas
Comparatively open. Thailand offers several realistic long-term routes: the renewable 10-year LTR visa for wealthy individuals, high-earning professionals and remote workers, the pay-to-stay Thailand Privilege membership open to any age, and a sufficient-means retirement visa for applicants over 50; baht figures converted at ~32.73 THB/USD (Wise mid-market, confirmed 2026-06).
The cheapest self-funded routes we track for Thailand:
- Income: about $1,986 a month (Thailand retirement Non-Immigrant O visa, THB 65,000/mo pension income (age 50+; alt. THB 800,000 deposit), ~32.73 THB/USD; as of June 2026)
- Investment: about $20k (Thailand Privilege Bronze membership, THB 650,000 one-time fee for a renewable 5-year long-stay, ~32.73 THB/USD; as of June 2026)
For short visits, 97 of 198 passports can enter visa-free, 44 can get an e-visa or visa on arrival and 57 need a visa in advance.
Source: OurNextCity residency dataset, hand-reviewed approximations researched against published immigration rules, figures as of June 2026. Not legal advice: check the official source before you apply. Short-stay entry from the passport-index dataset (ilyankou, MIT).