Private Chef in Bangkok: What It Costs and How It Actually Works

Most families who ask about a private chef in Bangkok are not planning a dinner party. They are tired of ordering delivery four nights a week, have a child who eats three things and a partner who eats none of them, and would like someone to plan, shop and cook. That is a home cook, it costs about the same as a nanny, and it is one of the most-booked roles on our books. Here is how the formats and the money work.

The four formats

Dinner party. A chef arrives two to three hours before, cooks a menu agreed in advance, plates or serves, and leaves the kitchen clean. ฿5,000–8,000 for six guests plus ingredients; add ฿800–1,000 per extra guest. CareRova's guide rate is ฿5,900 for six.

Weekly meal prep. One visit of four to six hours that fills the fridge and freezer with labelled meals for the week. ฿4,000–6,000 a visit, billed at the daily or hourly rate, whichever is lower. The most cost-effective format for a couple or a small family.

Part-time cook. Three or four evenings a week, the chef arrives late afternoon, cooks dinner, packs lunches for tomorrow and leaves. ฿15,000–22,000 a month; CareRova's part-time guide rate is ฿19,900. This is the format most Bangkok families end up with.

Full-time cook or private chef. Five to six days, all meals, shopping and kitchen management. ฿18,000–35,000 a month for a daily home cook cooking Thai and simple Western; ฿30,000–60,000 for a trained chef with several international cuisines and restaurant experience. CareRova's full-time guide rate is ฿34,900, live-in ฿31,900.

Groceries and the menu

Ingredients are never included in the rate, and should never be marked up. The two clean ways to handle them are a family bank card or PromptPay account the chef shops from, with receipts photographed to LINE, or the chef paying and being reimbursed weekly against receipts. Agree a weekly grocery budget — for a family of four eating well, ฿5,000–9,000 a week is typical in Bangkok — and the chef plans inside it.

The menu is the part families underestimate. A good chef proposes a week's menu every Sunday, you edit it, and that becomes the shopping list. It is how allergies, the toddler's phase, the partner's diet and the guest on Thursday all get handled without a conversation at 6pm.

What "vetted" means for a chef

Three things, none of which a Facebook post gives you:

1. Food-hygiene certification — the Thai Department of Health food-handler course or an equivalent. It is a day's training and it is the difference between someone who cooks and someone who knows why the chicken stays on the bottom shelf.
2. References that were called. Previous families or restaurants, spoken to, about reliability, cleanliness and whether the food was actually good.
3. A trial meal. For any long-term role, one dinner cooked in your kitchen, at the daily rate, before a contract. Everyone can describe their cooking; not everyone can do it in your kitchen with your pans.

Police background checks and ID verification apply to chefs exactly as they do to nannies at CareRova — they are in your home and around your children.

Thai, Western, Japanese — and what to expect

Most Bangkok home cooks cook Thai family food beautifully and simple Western competently: roast chicken, pasta, salads, a decent breakfast. Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Middle Eastern and serious Western technique are chef-level skills and priced as such. Say what your family actually eats in a normal week and the match will be honest. A family that wants pad kra pao on Monday and coq au vin on Friday needs a chef, not a cook, and should budget for one.

Chef and nanny, one household

Families with young children often book both, and it works best when the roles are clear: the nanny does snacks and the children's lunch, the chef does dinner and the freezer. Where a family is arriving on a relocation package, the corporate desk packages nanny, chef and housekeeper together on one invoice. And if you are hosting guests at a villa, StayCare puts an in-villa chef at the table the same day.