What Can You Eat for $10 in Bangkok?

By Mark Wiens 39 Comments


bangkok-food-costs

This is just a flavor of Bangkok, the city has so much more to discover!

39 comments. I'd love to hear from you!

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  • REGGIE A ANDREWS

    7 years ago

    I am bit worried about who is diabetic and pacemaker well so hope wish have unfurnished 0 or 2 bedroom apartments in near Bangkok if possible have middle swimming pool if lucky wait see, I hope will have new deaf partner if lucky hope touch soon he must have over 70 to 80 for last partner so I hope so befriend with Thailand people one day to be soon hope keep ouch thanks

  • sabrina munchards

    8 years ago

    Great selection there Mark 🙂 I am addicted to the summer rolls , I actually cut a deal with 3 of the street food places and its saved me over 1/3 in monthly food prices , deal is I eat one meal a day from each I can pick which ever way round I want it and believe me I mix it up a lot , as for the rent I pay in £ STERLING and it works out as £188 a month including internet and electric , its small but it does the job , iv also adjusted to the heat finally and never touched the AC , sure there has been times I was tempted and my fingers are nearly always glued together from all the sticky rice 🙂 great informative post Mark many thanks

    • Mark Wiens

      8 years ago

      Hey Sabrina, awesome to hear from you, thank you for sharing. Great ideas!

  • Bill Viljoen

    8 years ago

    I am toying with the idea of retiring in Thailand Bangkok if possible. How can one find out about apartments and for how long is one required to sign. And you do not get 24 hours notice if one behaves oneself. I am not looking for an expensive system as I have retired and am alone. Please I would appreciate your assistance and advice Thanking you in anticipation Bill Viljoen

  • JP

    9 years ago

    Dear Writer,

    How are the prices today?
    Would this still be possble 5 years later?

    • Mark Wiens

      9 years ago

      Hey JP, yes it’s possible, but you have to go a little further outside of Bangkok central.

  • janet darbey

    11 years ago

    Hi, thank you so much for all this great information. It has really helped me. I am in the process of applying for various teaching jobs in Thailand and it is great to get first hand information from someone who has ‘walked the walk’ . Hopefully I will be trying some of the fabulous food later this summer. I am celiac and cannot have gluten but there is so much choice in Thai food that I should not have a problem.

    • Mark Wiens

      11 years ago

      Hey Janet, thanks a lot for checking this out, and great to hear you’ll be coming to Thailand. You’ll surely enjoy the food!

  • Evangelion Chai

    11 years ago

    Hi mark, is there any how to find a place to stay and work there at same time? I from Malaysia and like to travel like you do. Best of all, I try to find a good place where I can settle down for while like you did.
    Please let me know how to live at Thailand, where to stay and to do. I not very social person and I do not drink or smoke. Most of my time is on internet and play PS3 .

    And oh ya.. how do you adapt with spicy food over there? That making me curious cause I can’t take spicy food even I live in malaysia. =D

    • Mark Wiens

      11 years ago

      Hey Evangelion, good to hear from you. I just love spicy food, for my entire life! Hmmm, that’s a difficult question. Schools in Thailand normally require English teachers to be from a native English speaking country, but have you thought about teaching a different subject at a school in Thailand? The best case would be to do something on the internet. Do you have any expertise in an area that you could start an online business / blog for?

  • Zaneta

    11 years ago

    this is amazing Mark! I’m Thai and I feel as if you have eaten way more versatile Thai dishes than I have in my entire life lol but everything looks delicious. I really enjoy watching your videos and keeping tabs on your website. Keep up the good work! I’m hoping to visit Thailand soon

    • Mark Wiens

      11 years ago

      Hey Zaneta, thank you so much for your support! How long have you lived outside of Thailand? Hope you can visit again soon too!

    • Zaneta

      11 years ago

      Hey Mark, I’ve actually never been outside of the US. I was born here but my parents are from Thailand. I do plan on making a trip there in the near future when I’m financially ready. I was wondering have you ever gotten sick from any of the food from the food vendors or from the water there? or any serious bites from bugs?

    • Mark Wiens

      11 years ago

      Hey Zaneta, hope you can come to visit Thailand in the future. As for myself, I’ve never really gotten sick from eating street food in Thailand. Other than a few mosquito bites, I haven’t had any bites either.

  • Amanda in Hawaii

    11 years ago

    I hope I get there soon because it all looks AMAZING . I found your blog through Daves. Can’t wait to read some more food posts.

    • Mark Wiens

      11 years ago

      Hey Amanda, thank you very much, and hope you can visit Bangkok soon!

  • Tony

    12 years ago

    Hey Mark,
    Great information thanks. I am looking to go on holiday to Thailand to see if it would be great to live, I have been in the fitness industry for 30 years as personal trainer as well as working high volume security. What part of Thailand would be good to retire? I’m a city personal but love the beach.
    Thanks Tony

    • Mark Wiens

      12 years ago

      Hi Tony, thanks for the comment and great to hear you’re coming to Thailand. Chiang Mai is a great place, but far from the beach. If you do enjoy the beach maybe somewhere on Phuket (not the touristy) area would be a good option? Here’s a friend’s site all about Phuket: http://jamie-monk.blogspot.com/ Hope this helps!

  • Regan

    12 years ago

    You can obviously eat very well for alot less in Thailand it seems! I’ve never been there, but i do want to go someday. I have been to Taiwan many times tho, and although more expensive…like Thailand, you can also save alot of $ by eating the local street food. Which, is always the best way to eat when traveling anyway! In Taiwan, there were many Buddhist temples that one could sleep at that were cheaper than hostels. They even gave you a free breakfast, lunch & dinner! You just had to let the monks serve themselves first, and also wash your own bowl. No problem! And the food was de-lish-ous!

    • Mark Wiens

      12 years ago

      Thanks for sharing Regan! I’ve never been Taiwan, that’s a place that I would love to visit someday, and I’ll be sure to try and stay at a temple – also can’t beat the price of free food! Hope you have a chance to visit Thailand someday as well!

    • View

      10 years ago

      Sure you can eat free food in temple and there are much more temple in Thailand trust me, I’m thai and I always do

  • Mick Rheault

    13 years ago

    This is so true !! But this is too much ahah ! You can keep only the pork ribs + rice and replace the rest by a couple of Chang Beer 😀

    • Mark Wiens

      13 years ago

      You are right Mick! Exchanging a couple of dishes for a few beers is another great route to take!

  • Zandro

    13 years ago

    Wow, looks soo good! I never thought that the prices of food here in Bangkok are not that expensive, and they look good too! Aren’t these kind of food not hard to find in Bangkok?

  • brian

    13 years ago

    Love Thailand! Food is so inexpensive and tasty. I’d advise everyone to take a cooking class while you are there. One of the best parts of my time while I was there.

    • Mark Wiens

      13 years ago

      Awesome, I have yet to take an official cooking class, which company did you take your class with?

  • Zablon Mukuba

    13 years ago

    aparently you can eat alot for $ 10 and have seconds

  • Don

    13 years ago

    The photos are great Mark. I’m looking forward to getting back to Thailand in about a month. The first meal I want is Pad Thai!

  • Corinne @ Gourmantic

    13 years ago

    That’s impressive when you present it in this fashion with pictures. Makes me think of how much we spend/waste on food here…

  • Eating Thai Food

    13 years ago

    I’s so much more rewarding to spend $10 on food in Thailand than many other places, and way more tasty!

  • Ryan

    13 years ago

    This is awesome Mark, most definitely one of the reasons I’m heading to Bangkok in January!

    • Mark Wiens

      13 years ago

      @Ryan, Indeed, you are going to love the cuisine in Bangkok, it drew me in and I still look forward to waking up in the morning and planning out my day of food!

    • justin west

      12 years ago

      Good Day, My name is justin, Im a 25yr old aspiring photographer living in new york, I am one going thru alot of stress living the life I do and Im longing for change, thailand seems like the perfect place for me to find myself, except I dont have the balls to make a major change, some might say I dont want it badly enough but I do, I just dont have a clue as to going about any of this, do I save all I can and just hope on a plane and take my chances?? please help me thats all i ask, it can save my life…thank you for reading..

    • Mark Wiens

      12 years ago

      Hey Justin, thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. Glad you are thinking about a change and moving to Thailand. While it’s good to have a little bit of money saved up before making a move, you really don’t need too much. The cost of living in SE Asia is quite low compared to the US. Here are some more articles to check out: http://migrationology.com/2011/07/migrationology-the-sustainable-way-to-travel-long-term/ and http://migrationology.com/2011/07/7-simple-but-effective-strategies-to-save-money-to-travel/

      Also check out my friend http://wanderingearl.com/ who has some other great tips about getting started traveling and continuing to travel. Working on a cruise ship is a good option too!

      Hope this helps, feel free to leave ask me anything else that’s on your mind!
      Mark