Over the past several decades, Thai society has primarily questioned Bangkok's real estate market through an economic lens. We have discussed soaring housing prices beyond the reach of younger generations, debated the historically high loan rejection rates by banks, and become accustomed to millions of workers being pushed to the outskirts simply because they cannot afford to live in the city.
However, recent natural disasters—from earthquakes causing cracks in high-rise buildings to low-income public housing flats flooding simultaneously—have revealed a new dimension of hardship: Bangkok is not only a city that is "too expensive" for housing but is increasingly becoming "too risky" to live in.
Data from Kasikorn Research Center reveals a shocking divergence between “housing prices” and “Thai incomes” compared to other cities in the region.
Housing costs in Bangkok exceed the average household income by 21 times. In simple terms, city residents must work for 21 years to afford a home or condominium unit in the capital. This is due to rising development costs pushing new housing prices up by an average of 9.1% annually between 2018 and 2024, while incomes have only grown by 1.2% per year on average.
For example, starting salaries for Gen Z range from 18,000 to 25,000 baht per month, but condominiums near workplaces start at 2.5 to 3 million baht. Monthly mortgage payments exceed 15,000 baht, nearly 70% of their income.
Bangkok's real estate market is driven by soaring land costs and bargaining power concentrated with sellers. In 2025, land prices increased by about 10%. Just 100 square wah of vacant land can require a down payment exceeding 5 million baht. Thus, middle- to low-income buyers and developers face the forced equation: “the farther away, the cheaper.”
For those wanting to own a home, options are limited to low-rise condominiums on the outskirts priced around 1 to 1.2 million baht or second-hand projects starting at 699,000 to 850,000 baht. Townhomes on the outskirts start at about 1.39 million baht, while small detached houses begin at no less than 3 million baht.
However, "cheap homes" outside the city are not truly affordable. The lower price comes at the cost of distance, resulting in multiple hidden expenses such as fuel, tolls, and multi-segment electric train fares that consume the monthly mortgage savings. Additionally, time poverty due to traffic congestion in rush hours causes urban residents to lose an average of 96 to 115 hours per year stuck on the road without benefit.
The image of city dwellers waking early and returning late means lost leisure time, mental health, family care, and self-development become opportunity costs paid just to afford housing priced in line with their income.
The barrier to homeownership is reinforced by Thailand’s household debt crisis, which has soared to 16.41 trillion baht or 85.9% of GDP. This structural factor directly impairs the ability to obtain housing loans.
Data from the first half of 2026 from Sunthorn Sathaporn, president of the Housing Business Association (HBA), reveals the home loan rejection rate has risen to an average of 44.9%, up 5.1% from the previous year. Some developers reported rejection rates as high as 70-90% at times, meaning nearly half of loan applicants face disappointment due to excessive existing debt burdens—highlighting the challenges of a city with soaring living costs.
"In the past, bank interest rates were low at 4-5%, and monthly payments on a 1 million baht home were about 4,500 baht. Today, with higher interest rates, a 1 million baht home requires payments of 6,000 baht per month, meaning buyers need a monthly income of about 18,000 baht. Previously, a 12,000 baht salary sufficed to buy a home."
This was an interview excerpt from a real estate developer.
The risks for city residents extend beyond insufficient income to buy homes—they include increasing threats from disasters. Chanandita Kongthong, a working-age resident of Klong Chan public housing flats for over 25 years, vividly reflects the middle-class experience in aging state buildings.
She explains that over two decades, the real estate market around Klong Chan flats has drastically changed. Prices for units rose from 700,000-800,000 baht to 1.2-1.3 million baht immediately after a new electric train line was introduced. However, disaster prevention systems did not improve alongside rising land prices.
"In my 25 years here, floods used to reach only knee height in the evening and dry by morning. Everyone became complacent, thinking no special preparation was needed. But this time, it was different..."
She recounts that on the night of the event (25 Sep), car alarms blared across the flats as residents tried to move motorcycles to higher ground. Many families chose to leave their cars parked, relying on past experience that "the water wouldn't reach that far."
The result was dozens of cars submerged. Neighbors had to bear cleaning and basic repair costs starting at nearly 20,000 baht per vehicle. Some cars are now abandoned. Government compensation for tenants was only a few thousand baht—far below actual damages.
Asked why she continues to live there, Chanandita’s response reflects the stark urban inequality equation.
"If we moved to rent a condo outside, rent would be over 6,000 baht, sometimes up to 10,000 baht per month, with high utilities like dormitories. Here, though the building is old, utilities are charged at normal rates for a two-bedroom home, only around 700-800 baht. It’s near my children’s school. Even with floods, I still want to stay here."
As a taxpayer and tenant paying rent to the state monthly, Chanandita does not demand the government prevent flooding—which she understands as a difficult natural phenomenon to control—but criticizes the "failure in crisis management."
"We can't control the weather, but the government must have better coordinated aid plans. During the five-day outage of water and electricity, boxed meals arrived only in the evening, though children were hungry since noon. Mothers had to wade through water to queue for boats, waiting over two hours for food. What we want most is an emergency response plan, coordination, and timely help."
This worrying reality is reinforced by economic perspectives from Dr. Nanarit Pisalyabut, senior researcher at the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI), who told Thairath Money that if land and real estate prices continue rising against incomes, within 5-10 years, younger generations and the middle- to lower-income working class in Bangkok will be completely cut off from homeownership rights.
"Unless you have parents or relatives who already own land, your income will no longer be able to buy a home in this city. Thai society will be forced into a fully rental market."
Dr. Nanarit points out that as the city expands without direction, distortion occurs on two fronts: developers and low-income buyers are forced to build and live in "disaster-prone areas" such as former flood zones or encroached canal banks because these lands are cheapest. Conversely, those who relocate to suburbs face hidden costs from an unconnected, overpriced public transport system.
"In countries like Japan, suburban residents take express trains into the city. In Indonesia, the initial train fare is only 6 baht. But here, initial fares are expensive, and daily travel costs hundreds of baht. When the government raised fares, ridership dropped immediately by 10%, showing that the transport system isn’t designed to ease people's burdens."
When asked about government measures like easing LTV (loan-to-value) ratios, reducing transfer fees, or the "One House Plus" housing project, Dr. Nanarit candidly criticized these as ineffective, stopgap solutions. Tax money is wasted subsidizing developers who could already implement some measures, instead of directly helping low-income people. Such policies seem to support capital groups rather than solve the underlying issues.
He proposes that to sustainably resolve housing and disaster crises, the government must stop expecting everyone to buy homes and instead focus on two key actions.
"The major challenge for Bangkok is how the government manages urban planning and taxation so that ordinary workers can have safe, affordable housing."
Reviewing financial statistics and the middle class’s impacts together, we find that the "cost of housing in Bangkok" is an unending payment—lost leisure time stuck in traffic daily, emergency expenses and mental health tolls from disasters, and life risks endured in flood-prone areas simply because moving is not easy for everyone.
Meanwhile, the new Bangkok urban plan is criticized for favoring big capital by expanding construction, resulting in the loss of floodways. All the risk burdens fall on low-income workers and the middle class, who are already financially excluded from homeownership and become the first to suffer and lose the most during disasters.
A final question, possibly directed at policymakers and city administrators: If Bangkok remains too expensive for workers and too risky for low-income residents, who are we truly building this city for?
Sources: Kasikorn Research Center, Real Estate Information Center, Bank of Thailand, Treasury Department, SCB Economic Intelligence Center, TDRI.
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