Affordable rental housing in Pattaya Beach Thailand

Here are a few factors that will affect what you will pay. We have all heard the saying location, location, well it is no different here. If being in the inner city near the beach is what you desire then you are going to pay a premium. In contrast living back away from the beach and the inner city can net you some big savings. The area say east of town across the main highway can net you a savings of up to 50 percent. Living in the area east of town can have some major draw backs such as transportation to shopping, the beach and entertainment areas. Some of the important advantages is that it is less transient, than the tourist areas of Pattaya. Most of the friends you make on the east side will be around next year and on. Also it is a slower pace but when you want a fast lifestyle you are only a few minutes from all that Pattaya has on offer.

Some of the hidden cost you may want to watch for is electricity, water, and internet.

Electric Rates Apartments

Almost all apartment buildings mark up your electrical cost, over what the electric company charges. Electricity is charged by unit or better known as kilo-watt-hour. Rates will vary widely from one building to another, it is entirely the building owners discretion what their rate will be. While the electric company charges about 4 Baht to the owner of the building, you will pay more than what they pay. A rate of 5 Baht per unit is very low, it is not a very common rate, more common would be between 6 and 9 Baht per unit. Some units in the lower cost apartments of about 2,500 to 3,000 per month will have air-conditioning but the electrical cost may be up to 12 to 15 Baht per unit to help pay the cost of the A/C units.

Electric Rates Condos

Most condo buildings and almost all houses will have separate metering for each living space and each of those will subscribe directly to the electric company. Many times the owner of the condo unit or house, you are renting from will leave it to you to pay the electric company directly. The advantage of that is that there is no mark up your electrical cost. This can save you as much as 50 percent off your electric bill, so this would be something to consider when looking to rent a place to live.

Water

Water is not very often much of an issue, you can pretty much figure on a 100 to 200 Baht a month cost per person. Water is measured by cubic meter and an average rate may be 25 to 50 Baht per cubic meter. For everyday normal use per person runs about 4 meters a month.

Internet

In Most buildings this is supplied by the building owner and is very commonly included with the rent you pay. Not all buildings will have free internet some will want you to pay extra, paying extra for internet is not very common these days. Others may leave it up to you to get your own service. Which starts at around a 100 Baht per month if there is a WIFI hot spot nearby. Regular service where they install a router in your apartment starts at 600 Baht a month but you usually need a year contract, the advantage is that it is much faster than the WIFI option. See my Internet in Thailand page for more.

This house is in a nice guarded estate, I believe this was going for 20,000 Baht.

Studios 2,000 very low end to 15,000 plus for luxury sea view studios

2,000 to 4,000 range

Very basic studios can be had at 2,000 to 4,000 these are from 25 to 30 meter square with a very small bathroom and no kitchen but almost all have a small balcony that you can do your cooking and washing on. At the higher end 4,000 will usually include hot water, air conditioning, and many times free WIFI.

Remember if you are looking at a place for say 3,000 and it has air-con then be sure to ask what the electric rate will be.

4,000 to 8,000 range

 Small studios with sea views will run you from 8,00 to 15,00 depending on the location and quality of the building. In this price range you will almost always have some sort of cooking area. The furniture will also be much better quality.

One or two bedroom apartment 5,000 to 60,000 plus for luxury digs

One or two bedroom apartments start at 5.000 for say a 50 meters square and can go up to 20,000 to 60,000+ for a luxury flat with a sea view. Almost all will have air con, hot water, and some sort of cooking area. The higher end will have more quality throughout like better bathroom fixtures and quality kitchen appliances and a better kept building.

Small houses can actually be found for 5,000 depending on how hard you look and luck. I know of a British couple that landed a beautiful two bedroom house in one of the upper class villages of Pattaya. The only catch is they have to vacate two weeks a during December as that is when the owners come to Thailand and stay there. This type of an arrangement isn't just a one off as many owners live abroad and it is nice to have someone keep an eye on things. Deals like this aren't easy to find but they are out there.

Small two bedroom row houses start off at 5,000 very basic and sometimes without hot water or Air-con and sometimes you may have to put up with allot of noisy neighbors. Price goes up in the better managed villages. On average a three bedroom house in a well kept village will run 15,000 to 40,000 depending on size and quality. Then there the luxury houses in the best villages with no expense spared on quality these will generally start of at 60,000 and go up from there.

Houses 2 or 3 bedroom and larger

Quick reference table

Rental size and prices you are likely to find.      Tourist areas          West Pattaya

Small studio from 25 to 35 sq meter very basic living no Air-conditioning or hot water

2,500 to 4,500

1,500 to 4,000

Small studio from 25 to 35 sq meter with air-conditioning and hot water

4,500 to 10,000

3,500 to 8,000

Small one bedroom apartment 30 to 50 sq meter

10,000 to 18,000

7,000 to 12,000

Small one or two bedroom town house apartment 50 to 90 sq meter

15,000 to 25,000

7,000 to 15,000

Small detached or semi detached one or two bedroom 50 to 100 sq meter

20,000 to 30,000

8,000 to 18,000

Average size house 2 or 3 bedroom detached average quality 80 to 140 sq meter

25,000 to 40,000

15,000 to 25,000

Luxury house in well kept village 100 to 300 meter

35,000 to 75,000

20,000 to 75,000

Extreme luxury house 150 to 300 plus meter top quality everything+++

60,000 to 200,000+

60,000 to 200,000+

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