Some good comments there Aitch. If you remember back to our Berlitz days, I don’t think we moaned so much about the actual figure of 30,000 baht a month, but more the number of hours we had to work in order to get it. I think nowadays, teachers generally work a lot less harder in terms of hours to make 30,000, That said - 30,000 baht is still 30,000 baht. It’s not enough to live on ANYWHERE in Thailand. It’s merely an existence.
I haven’t taught English for a long now, but I do have some experience on living and working in Thailand, both as a struggling English tutor residing in a shoebox, and as an expat living the high life.
I was pretty crap at the teaching malarkey to be honest, so whatever they paid me was probably too much anyway! I also got sick and tired of putting on the invisible clown’s outfit that I felt had to be worn as part of the expected ‘Farang’ entertainment package. I was quite good at entertaining a giggling group of Thais though, which is perhaps why I managed to BS my way into so many classrooms.
COST OF LIVING?
There have been a plethora of 100% price increases over the years, and although mostly on smallish items, it is the accumulation of them all that gives these tiny changes a big bearing on the overall cost of living. For example:
The 5 Baht bag of fruit is now 10 Baht
The 5 Baht motorbike taxies are also now 10 Baht
Not sure about the buses as I’ve not used them for years, but the non-air jobs used to be 3.5 Baht and the big blue air con ones started at 7 Baht or less if memory serves me right. The Micro busses were 20 Baht fixed rate, but have no idea what they are now, or whether they’re even still in service.
There are many more such price hikes on small items, but you get the picture.
I think the average 5,000 Baht studios along middle Sukhumvit are perhaps 6,500 to 7,000 Baht/Mo nowadays. Electricity controlled by apartment buildings used to be 4 to 5 baht a unit, and the standard rip-off rate is now 8 Baht/unit. So there’s another 60-100% increase on your revenue depending on where you live.
Taxies fares have changed little though, if at all, and Bangkok is still one of the, if not ‘the’ cheapest taxi capital in the world.
Eating out has gone up and so has supermarket shopping. That 500 Baht basket of life’s essentials will probably look more like 800 Baht today, nationwide.
Accommodation up-country can be a huge saving, but then again if your salary is reduced by 40% compared to the Big Bangers, then it’s all relative.
The comments and comparisons could go on and on, but if English teachers were bitching about their 30,000 Baht salaries 15 years ago when everything was so much cheaper, then god only knows how they can possibly enjoy a comfortable and sustainable standard of living today, if indeed the average wage is really around the 30,000 THB/Mo mark.
Aitch
How ironic. Phil’s experience with the stupid female Thai student, who made the comment “teaching is all foreigners can do” actually happened to me a while ago. In my case it was a real smart-arse male Thai student who said pretty much the same as Phil’s did.
I just reeled off a whole long list of jobs that foreigners are allowed to do here (which is more than you would think). They are:
IT coders, programmers, web designers etc.
Writing and editing for newspapers and magazines
Radio DJs
Nightclub DJs
Musicians
Chefs and cooks
Lawyers
Pilots
Investment experts
Also of course, running your own business is possible for foreigners. I rubbed a little more salt in the wound by mentioning that it’s the low-paid, lo-so jobs that foreigners are not permitted to do (does he really think we want to earn 200 Baht a day drving a bus?) You should have seen this guy losing face in front of the rest of the class, it was a classic moment. I don’t often see Thais blush, but his face went the colour of a beetroot.
Thanks for your comments PJ but there are several points I would challenge.
“Moving to Bangkok I was spending 20,000 on a 2 bed 76sqm condo - I did question my sanity”
I don’t think there’s a need to spend that kind of money on rent in Bangkok. There’s plenty of decent stuff in the 10-15,000 bracket if you do a bit of legwork.
“Nothing beats chugging to the local market on your honda dream and feeling the sting of chilli pinch your eyes as you drive past street vendors”
Yes, but as I hinted at in the article, not everyone wants to risk their life on a motorcycle. I certainly wouldn’t. It matters not one jot how careful a rider you are because Thailand has a staggering number of idiots on the roads.
“taking taxis is such a nightmare in the Bkk”
People keep telling me this. They must live in different cities. OK, you get the occasional nightmare journey if there has been a heavy rain and flooding or perhaps a bad road accident causing gridlock, but by and large I find taking taxis in Bangkok a breeze.
“I certainly found that drinking and eating out in Bkk was hugely more expensive than in Nakhon pathom”
Well, if you’re going to hit the clubs, then yes, you could easily do 2-3,000 baht but for most people a night out is a few beers and a meal. Enjoy those things in COMPARABLE surroundings (both in Bangkok and up-country) and there is little difference in the price.
“In Bkk I earned more and saved more as a consequence. Maybe up to 20,000 a month but I blew it on big nights and expensive holidays”
You can’t blame expensive holidays as a reason for Bangkok costing more. I would still take the same holidays abroad regardless of where I lived. And I think for many people, having a swanky 20,000 baht apaprtment would decrease the need to go out in the evening surely.
The author has clearly spent a lot more time in the capital than he has outside of it.
A reasonably large furnished house with a serviced swimming pool can be had for around 10,000 baht a month where I am and the cost of living is also noticeably lower. A trip to Bangkok is always expensive for me and I’ve never been overly impressed with friends apartments there and certainly not what they have to pay for them. Some of the best English speakers in the country are also up here. And the air is always nice and fresh!
By Bob Mackenzie, Isaan on 2010-06-10