The results presented in this paper are part of the doctoral research that is being done at Delft University of Technology, Netherlands. One of the main objectives is to find the level of thermal comfort accepted by people from the low-income group in Surakarta, Indonesia. Personal aspects (gender and clothing index), characteristics of the dwelling (ventilation, orientation) and surrounding factors (effect of vegetation) were investigated to observe if they significantly influenced the people’s responses. Furthermore, these findings will be used to improve the dwellings in the community. A field-survey was conducted in this research involving 426 people from four kampongs in Surakarta. The neutral temperature in this group is found at 32.5°C and the comfort bandwidth ranges from 30 to 35°C, which is shown by four methods of deriving thermal comfort. Various factors were shown to influence the indoor air temperatures and the thermal response of the people.