A $2,560 house in Bang Na: what 85,000 baht buys a family of six

A family of six pays 85,000 baht a month (about US$2,560) for a furnished house in a gated estate in the Bang Na area, near the Yellow Line. It suits a household that needs room and has a car or a driver. It does not suit anyone who wants to walk to a train, a market and a coffee shop.

They had never set foot in Thailand before they signed. They decided to move in October, were talking to an agent by November and landed at the end of June.

Since they applied: DTV applications changed on 31 August 2026. You now apply through the Thai embassy for your country of nationality or permanent residence, with proof of that residence and a police clearance certificate. Which visa fits your stay has the current rules, and Bangkok rents from real tours shows how this house compares with the others we’ve toured.

The numbers

• Rent: 85,000 baht a month, about US$2,560. The agent negotiated it, and almost every house they viewed sat in that range.
• The house: furnished, four bedrooms, with a bathroom for each bedroom plus a shared one downstairs. After move-in the owners fitted a water heater in the ground-floor shower.
• The kitchen: small, with two hobs and no oven. The laundry room, with washer and dryer, is outside the back door.
• The estate: gated, with a gym and a basketball court. Many of the houses are still empty, which the family compares to a ghost town. Theirs is one of the smaller ones.
• How they found it: Cristina meant to do it all herself, then was swamped by replies to a Facebook post. A relocation agent arranged eight viewings in a day and introduced them to Bang Na.

Good to know: they decided on viewing day. A rental is not a purchase, and you can move on if it is wrong.

Why a house, not a condo

The original plan was a couple of condos. Two weeks in a Malaysian condo, riding the elevator and calling a Grab for everything, changed her mind. Her verdict was that condo life is nice, but not for a big family used to being together.

The house gives them a shared downstairs, a small second living room upstairs where everyone ends up, and a closet big enough for twelve suitcases.

Weigh the other side before you copy them. At this price you get space and a garden, not a location. Condo towers on the BTS put you near a train line and dozens of restaurants; an estate like this puts you in a car.

What to do: Comparing a house with a condo? Run your own numbers in the free Move Planner, and read how renting here works.

Getting around and daily life from Bang Na

Cristina had expected to rely on Grab. Then she worked out that she would have to walk 20 minutes or more to get anywhere, and that Grab fares would add up over time.

So they drive. Her one slip so far is heading for the right-hand side of the road out of habit.

• Motorcycles are the hazard. On one cross-city drive she found the traffic far more chaotic than near the estate, with bikes weaving around her car.
• Mall culture replaces the neighbourhood walk. Cristina says the malls are places to hang out, and “there’s always something going on.”

What they like and what they don’t

• Light. Big sliding doors open up the ground floor, and the windows sold Cristina on the house.
• Plants for privacy. The neighbouring houses face theirs head-on, so she bought plants to screen the windows.
• Plants for the walls. A bare interior wall felt “like you’re in prison or something”, so she covered it with plants for a tropical look instead.
• Spiders and snakes. One spider “the size of my hand”, outdoors, and no snakes yet.
• The wait. Their hardest stretch was the middle of the move, between selling the house and the visa coming through.

“It’s just a rental.”

Cristina, on not overthinking it

The visa route

They started on the long-term resident route for wealthy pensioners. Cristina priced it at about US$1,600 a person and decided it did not make sense, so they went for the DTV.

Approval took six weeks, not the two they expected, and it pushed their arrival from April to the end of June. They did the paperwork themselves, and it was a lot. Requirements differ by embassy, so check the current checklist of the one handling your application.

What it really costs

They did not move to spend less overall. In Florida the household ran four cars, plus the insurance that goes with them. That money now covers the rent and a few other things they value more.

A budget built on a smaller base will feel 85,000 baht a month more keenly than they do.

Her advice

The trade-offs are real: a car, a long walk to the train, a small kitchen and neighbours who are mostly absent. Cristina still says she has no negatives. Her advice is not to think too much. “If you feel like you want to get out of there, just do it.”

At the estate gate, the guards salute them every time they drive out.