The Cost of Living
Every new arrival wants to know “can I survive or live well in Bangkok or rural Thailand on 30,000 baht a month”? or perhaps 40,000 or even 50,000? It’s always a difficult question to answer because each person has different needs, but I thought it would be interesting to compare the lifestyles and spending habits of some teachers currently living and working in Thailand. We are concerned with what they earn, but more so about what they spend money on and what it costs each of them to enjoy a certain kind of lifestyle. After each case study, I’ve added comments of my own.
Approximate conversion rates as of January 2010
33 baht to one US Dollar
53 baht to one Pound Sterling.
John
posted on 4th September 2009
Working in: Chiang MaiMonthly Earnings: 29,000
Q. How much do you earn from teaching per month?
A. 29,000 (most schools in Chiang Mai offer B25,000 as the norm!)
Q. How much of that can you realistically save per month?
A. Zero
Q. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
A. 6,000
Q. What do you spend a month on the following things?
| a) Transportation | 3,000 |
| b) Utility bills | 2,500 |
| c) Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping | 12,000 |
| d) Nightlife and drinking | 4,000 |
| e) Books, computers | 500 |
Q. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
A. I exist.
Q. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
A. Crap food.
Q. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
A. For a single person who doesn't have a life B20,000. To have a life then B30,000. For a family with a good lifestyle at least B40,000.
Phil's analysis and comment
John sounds a little bit jaded and I don't blame him. I would hate to live in Chiang Mai on 29,000 baht a month. Numerous people have tried to convince me down the years that Chiang Mai is substantially cheaper to live in than Bangkok but I've never bought into it. And any teacher with the experience of looking for work in Chiang Mai will tell you how low the salaries seem to be (generally)
Chiang Mai would be a fantastic place to retire to for someone who's made their money but surviving up there as a common or garden TEFLer can't be easy.
Dave
posted on 1st September 2009
Working in: ChacheongsawMonthly Earnings: 34,000
Q. How much do you earn from teaching per month?
A. 34,000
Q. How much of that can you realistically save per month?
A. 10,000
Q. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
A. 4,500 – a big old two-bedroom house with huge gardens, a circular driveway gates garage outside rooms, covered area basement (too scared to go down as the trapdoor is very small) – no BS its nice.
Q. What do you spend a month on the following things?
| a) Transportation | 3,000 |
| b) Utility bills | 1,300 |
| c) Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping | 3,000 |
| d) Nightlife and drinking | 3,000 |
| e) Books, computers | 120 on games |
Q. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
A. I know I have no future but for the time being life is not to bad.
Q. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
A. Food
Q. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
A. Honestly I don’t know – If you make 50k you spend 50k you make 30k you spend 30k. My mate who was out here on an expat salary was making 2500 quid a month with no rent or bills and he spent it all every month
Phil's analysis and comment
For those who don't know it, Chacheungsaw (where Dave lives) is about an hour's commute from Bangkok. I'm sure Dave will forgive me when I say that it's hardly the Las Vegas of Eastern Thailand. In fact I sometimes think its only claim to fame is that you can spell the name fifty different ways! A teacher's salary of 34,000 will go a long way in Chachoengsaw (there's another one)
It's worth pointing out that Dave runs a motorcycle (probably an essential) and sounds a bit like a health food freak. Most of his food spending seems to go on milk and muesli. Have I got that right Dave?
Patrick
posted on 22nd August 2009
Working in: BangkokMonthly Earnings: 65-70,000
Q. How much do you earn from teaching per month?
A. Between 65,000 and 70,000 a month, at a good university
Q. How much of that can you realistically save per month?
A. Up until recently, about 35,000 a month. I just bought a car, so my savings is down to 20-25k a month
Q. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
A. Nothing, my wife (who is Thai) and I bought a small row house out in the suburbs which we stay in. (but see my transportation bills….)
Q. What do you spend a month on the following things?
| a) Transportation | 22,000 (12,000 for a car, and 10,000 for taxis |
| b) Utility bills | 4,000 |
| c) Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping | 10,000 |
| d) Nightlife and drinking | 4,000 |
| e) Books, computers | 5,000 |
Q. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
A. I love my job, I only have to go in four days a week (Tuesday to Friday), and teach about 15 hours a week. Outside the class work is high, but when and where I do it is flexible. The only thing I want is a nice, big house with a yard. I will buy it in about 3 years. When kids come along though……
Q. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
A. Taxis (the “magic car” as I call it, since it is a car that drives, parks, fuels, navigates and maintains itself). Also food is great and cheap, and anything that involves labor (maids, laundry, gardeners, electricians).
Q. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
A. I was quite happy back when I lived on 20,000, but I saved nothing. Now, I would have to say 35,000 – and that is only if you already have all the toys you need, and can stay away from sukhumvit.
Phil's analysis and comment
Patrick sent this to me by way of introduction
"I and my (Thai) wife are both university professors at a good Thai University (I teach economics and government). We live in a small row house up in Don Muang, about 30 km from work, while we save money for a larger house. Our combined income is about 1.5 million a year, and we save a bit more than half of it -- most months. Our biggest expense by far is taxis, we both use them a lot.
Phil says - You can have a very nice lifestyle with a combined income of 1.5 million a year and you can see from the figures that Patrick doesn't skimp on food and utilities, he runs a car and also fills his shopping trolley with gay abandon. I like the point that Brian makes about labor. I'm always amazed how little it costs when you hire a Thai worker or 'handyman' to come and do a job for you. The most difficult part is finding one!
Timothy
posted on 21st August 2009
Working in: ChonburiMonthly Earnings: 45,000
Q. How much do you earn from teaching per month?
A. About 45,000 baht. I teach and live just outside Amphur Muang, Chonburi.
Q. How much of that can you realistically save per month?
A. Not much. I have two daughters, a house loan, and a car payment that take my savings. Occasionally I'll manage to put 3000 baht in my savings account.
Q. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
A. We just finished building a three bedroom two bathroom house. It's paid for with the exception of a small loan that runs us 3000 baht a month.
Q. What do you spend a month on the following things?
| a) Transportation | 15,000 baht. Car payment and gasoline. |
| b) Utility bills | 5000 baht. Two phones, electricity, and water. |
| c) Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping | 10,000 |
| d) Nightlife and drinking | Do you mean going to the zoo and buying ice cream? 1000 baht. |
| e) Books, computers | 1000 baht (unless I go to Kinokuniya Bookshop in Bangkok then it might be a LOT) |
Q. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
A. We are middle class but we're not putting anything away for the future at this point.
Q. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
A. Food and taxes. If I didn't buy western food our bill would be a lot lower.
Q. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
A. A single teacher could get by on 20 grand here. I suppose I could get by on 30 with a family, but it would be tough.
Phil's analysis and comment
My father always had a saying - "running a car will keep you poor" and while that's not always the case of course, a whopping third of Tim's salary goes into keeping his four wheels on the road. On the other hand, he'll soon be in the position of not having to pay rent of any description. It's always nice when your accommodation overheads don't include a rent bill every month, despite the fact that property here doesn't have a great re-sale value unless your front door opens on to the beach or you're five minutes walk from an international school.
Jon
posted on 19th August 2009
Working in: BangkokMonthly Earnings: 75-80,000
Q. How much do you earn from teaching per month?
A. 70-85k a month from both university work plus extra jobs. I teach 15 hrs a week at the university and another 15 to 18 at outside gigs.
Q. How much of that can you realistically save per month?
A. I try to save 20k but mostly that goes towards traveling.
Q. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
A. 21,000 for a three-bedroom, three-bathroom house with maid's quarter' near The Emporium
Q. What do you spend a month on the following things?
| a) Transportation | not much since I don’t need transport to work. I guess around 1000 a month just getting around. |
| b) Utility bills | 4500 baht a month. I like air-con! There is also cable and ADSL plus 4500 for a maid |
| c) Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping | as little as 50bt a day with the weekly restaurant meal or two and monthly trips to Carrefour at around 2000bt. All in I’d say around 5000bt |
| d) Nightlife and drinking | around 2000-3000b |
| e) Books, computers | I like books and magazines, 1500 on books and computers |
Q. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
A. Middle class I guess. I buy toys constantly and take at least 2 serious trips a year. Favorite hobbies are golf and Scuba…both expensive.
Q. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
A. Food and hotel rooms if you don’t mind staying in cheaper digs
Q. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
A. In Bangkok I think 25,000 to scrape by and 40,000 to live comfortably.
Phil's analysis and comment
Interesting one. I'm presuming that Jon is a single guy. If that's the case, then 70-85K a month is a good amount of money. A single man can live very, very comfortably on that income in Bangkok. That said, Jon certainly works hard for it. 30-33 contact teaching hours a week and probably a fair bit of travelling is no picnic. Scuba, golf and boys toys don't come cheap and I'm not surprised Jon only manages to stash away 25% of his salary. I would be looking to save more than that but it's different strokes for different folks I guess. I don't think there's any need to pay 21K a month for rent and what on earth do you do with the two bathrooms you're not in? The Emporium by the way is one of Bangkok's premier shopping malls and certainly one of the swankier areas of town.
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