When Antoinette Yvonne arrived in Bangkok in 2023, it was supposed to be just a two-week trip.
It was her second visit to Thailand’s capital city, but this time, something clicked. Those two weeks stretched into three months, and by the end of that extended stay, the full-time YouTuber and boutique travel agency owner knew she’d found her new home.
“The skyline literally is what sold me on Bangkok. I knew that I wanted to live in the city, where it’s just so beautiful. And the cost of living here, I mean, it didn’t hurt. So I was like, ‘OK, let me do it,'” Yvonne, 37, told Business Insider.
She returned to the US for the summer and got ready to make the big move. By November 2023, she was back in Bangkok — for good.
The allure of living abroad
Yvonne is no stranger to living abroad.
Originally from Indiana, she moved to Spain in 2013 and lived there for about three years. Part of the reason she made that move was because she was burned out and looking for an escape from her corporate investment banking job.
“I saw the movie ‘Eat, Pray, Love,’ and I was like, ‘OK, I want to be Julia Roberts and go abroad.’ Six months after watching that movie, I was living in Barcelona,” Yvonne said.
That experience of living abroad gave her a taste for adventure. She became a Delta Air Lines flight attendant for three years. When the pandemic hit, she left her job and spent two years exploring the US and Mexico while living in a van she had converted.
Her parents weren’t shocked when she told them she was planning to move abroad again. “I always followed through with crazy ideas,” she said.
But it did surprise her parents, who still live in Indiana, when she told them where she was going.
“When I mentioned Bangkok to them, they were like, ‘What? Bangkok?’ A lot of people are shocked to hear that,” she said.
Bangkok has long been a hot spot for expats. Data from the Bureau of Registration Administration of Thailand indicates that there were 102,189 foreigners living in the city as of the end of 2024.
Compared to many Western cities, Bangkok offers a relatively low cost of living. With two well-connected international airports, it is also a hub for travel around Asia.
Several Americans who moved to the Thai capital previously told BI that they were drawn to the city’s vibrant lifestyle, good food options, and relative affordability.
In July last year, Thailand also introduced the Destination Thailand Visa, or DTV, in an effort to attract remote workers and digital nomads.
Building a life in Bangkok
Apartment-hunting was a breeze since Yvonne already knew what she was looking for: Unobstructed views of the city skyline, a balcony, and a convenient location.
“I wanted to be near a 7-11, within a 5-minute walking distance. I knew I wanted to be near a regular grocery store, and as far as the unit itself, I needed a washer and dryer,” she said.
Thanks to a real estate agent she connected with through a Facebook group, Yvonne found her one-bedroom apartment within a week of her move. Rent is 22,000 Thai baht, or about $660, each month.
She finds it hard to pick a favorite spot in her apartment.
“I love being in my bedroom because it has floor-to-ceiling windows, and the view is absolutely amazing,” Yvonne said. “But I also love my balcony too.”
Her building has a gym, a pool, and a large coworking space with private call booths.
Yvonne didn’t know anyone in Bangkok before she moved.
When she first arrived, she started using Bumble BFF — the friendship version of Bumble — as well as an expat Facebook group to connect with new people.
“You go to different meetups, and then one friend literally turns into two, and three, and four. You just build from there,” she said.
Yvonne has been working on learning Thai, as the language barrier has been the biggest challenge of living in Bangkok so far.
“When I speak their language, they just light up, and they’re more welcoming. I just feel like you connect more, and I think that’s important,” she said.
Finding peace in the Thai capital city
Yvonne says she feels more relaxed compared to when she was living in the US.
“In 2019, when I was still a flight attendant, I was on the go so much. It was always fast-paced. I was go, go, go, go, go. Even when I was off work, I was still trying to keep up with the Joneses,” Yvonne said. “Whereas now, although Bangkok is a city — and a busy city at that — I find peace in the city. It’s so weird.”
Part of it, she says, is due to the flexibility of her job. Being an entrepreneur gives her the freedom to arrange her schedule.
Apart from filming and uploading videos onto her channel weekly, Yvonne also travels often, both for leisure and as part of the group trips that she hosts under her travel agency.
Although things in Bangkok are relatively affordable compared to the US, it would be a generalization to assume that everything is cheap, she said.
“While it can be very cost-effective, and for us Americans, my dollar stretches further, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is cheaper,” she said. “Especially if you’re going out and spending so much money on dinners and things like that, it can add up.”
That ties into the biggest piece of advice she has for anyone who wants to move to Thailand.
“A lot of people come and think that $2,000 will get them by for several months at a time. No, I think that doing the proper research on condos and what it really costs to live here is the way to go,” she said.
Yvonne also encourages people who move here to get to know the locals.
“I think having local friends is a great way to get familiar with a country. They can help you when your expat friends are not able to,” she said.
Regarding her long-term plans, it’s hard to keep her wanderlust at bay.
“People ask me, ‘How long will you be in Bangkok?’ I don’t know. I’m here until I’m not,” Yvonne said. “So it is just until I feel like I’m called somewhere else, but for now, it’s Bangkok.”
Do you have a story to share about relocating to a new city? Contact this reporter at agoh@businessinsider.com.
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