Where do most foreigners live in Thailand?
Where do most foreigners live in Thailand? That question sounds simple, but it requires a clear definition. Including tourists, seasonal residents, and short-stay business travelers creates a distorted picture. This is precisely about people who actually live in Thailand, whether officially registered or not, and not just about visible presence.
Therefore, a comparison at the provincial level was chosen for this study, as the most verifiable figures are available there. Bangkok, Chon Buri, Phuket, Chiang Mai, and Prachuap Khiri Khan appear most frequently in population data, migration studies, and real estate figures. This combination ultimately enables a careful, factual, and verifiable conclusion for readers.
What exactly this research question means
For the purposes of this study, foreigners are all people without Thai nationality. That is the broadest category. It therefore includes groups that are not automatically considered expats or retirees, such as migrant workers, students, and other long-term residents. In official Thai statistics, non-Thai residents are included if they resided in Thailand for at least three months on the reference date. This makes it immediately clear that this question does not concern tourists.
Here, expats refers to foreign residents living in Thailand for work, entrepreneurship, higher education, or an international lifestyle. Pensioners are foreign nationals aged fifty and over who reside in Thailand long-term via a retirement route without working. Tourists, short-term business travelers, visa runners, and seasonal residents therefore fall outside the scope of the question.
Why province is the fairest comparison
The most logical unit of comparison is the province. That sounds less precise than a city, but in practice, it is more reliable. Many public Thai statistics are structured at the provincial level. As a result, population figures, data on unregistered residents, and real estate data can be better compared side by side. Moreover, well-known expat destinations like Pattaya and Hua Hin cannot be found in all public sources as independent and easily comparable units.
This means that Bangkok as a province has been compared to Chon Buri as the province of Pattaya, Phuket, Chiang Mai, and Prachuap Khiri Khan as the province of Hua Hin. At the city level, the comparison would seem more attractive, but would be much harder to substantiate. For a factual and verifiable answer, province is therefore the best choice.
Which data sources are truly usable
The strongest basis comes from official Thai population registers and publications by the National Statistical Office. These are important because they distinguish between people who are formally registered somewhere and people who actually live there but are registered elsewhere. This is crucial for this question, because foreign residents in particular often do not fall neatly within the traditional house registration system.
In addition, figures on condo transfers to foreign buyers are a useful indicator. These figures do not count residents, but they do show where long-term foreigners are strongly concentrated. Migration and labor data also help, especially for the expat segment of demand. None of these sources is perfect on its own, but together they provide the most verifiable overall picture currently publicly available.
What the numbers say about Bangkok, Pattaya, and Phuket
According to the civil registry, Thailand had a total of 988.620 non-Thai persons registered at the end of 2025. At that time, Bangkok was by far the largest province in the country with 5,42 million inhabitants. This does not directly prove that most expats and retirees live there, but it does indicate the scale against which other places must be compared.
Added to this is the hidden population. Bangkok had approximately 2,86 million unregistered or hidden residents, of which about 2,79 million were night-time residents. Chon Buri followed with approximately 831.000, Phuket with 178.000, Chiang Mai with 124.000, and Prachuap Khiri Khan with 63.000. The housing market also points in the same direction. In 2025, 7029 condos were transferred to foreign buyers in Bangkok, 4164 in Chon Buri, and 1190 in Phuket. That makes Bangkok the strongest candidate for first place in absolute numbers.
Chiang Mai and Hua Hin are important, but smaller.
Chiang Mai undoubtedly belongs in the leading group. The province appears in migration and labor data and has been known for years as a place of residence for lifestyle expats, foreign workers, and retirees. Chiang Mai also reappears in recent real estate figures as a place where foreign buyers are active. However, the hard, current public substantiation for a first place is less strong than for Bangkok and Chon Buri.
Hua Hin, in the province of Prachuap Khiri Khan, has long been considered a popular retirement destination. That province also features in recent figures on foreign home purchases. However, the scale remains smaller. As a result, Hua Hin is important as a specific place to live for retirees, but not the most likely number one in Thailand. For the top 5, the following picture emerges: Bangkok, Chon Buri with Pattaya, Phuket, Chiang Mai, and then Prachuap Khiri Khan with Hua Hin.
Where the data remain uncertain and what the outcome really means
The biggest limitation is that no publicly accessible, up-to-date national table was found stating exactly how many expats and pensioners live in each city or province. Therefore, one must work with a combination of official figures, well-substantiated estimates, and strong indicators. Furthermore, not every province has the same type of foreign resident. Some areas have many migrant workers, whereas the research question specifically calls for special attention to expats and pensioners.
Therefore, the difference between absolute numbers and relative concentration is also important. Bangkok stands out the most for the highest total number of foreign residents. For the highest visible concentration within the local population, Phuket is likely in the lead. Pattaya in Chon Buri is Bangkok's strongest challenger and likely the largest expat and retiree center outside the capital. Precisely because multiple indicators for Bangkok point in the same direction, it is the most plausible number one.
Bangkok is therefore likely the place in Thailand where the most foreigners live, even when specifically looking at expats and retirees. Pattaya in Chon Buri follows as the strongest challenger, while Phuket stands out primarily due to its high concentration. The conclusion remains cautious, but based on the best available data, Bangkok is the best substantiated answer.
Sources: National Statistical Office Thailand, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Thailand, Thailand Migration Report 2024, Khaosod English
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