James

Q. How much do you earn from teaching per month?

A. About 75,000 – 80,000 baht a month (before tax)

Q. How much of that can you realistically save per month?

A. If I actually try I can save about 20-25,000. Though I spend most of my savings on big holidays and recently furnishing my house.

Q. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?

A. I pay 20,000 for a 2 bedroom duplex (condo) , comes with all the mod cons and facilities.

Q. What do you spend a month on the following things?

a) Transportation	About 2,000
b) Utility bills	6,000 including UBC but the girlfriend pays all the utility bills anyway
c) Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping	6,000 on supermarket – maybe 6 - 8,000 elsewhere
d) Nightlife and drinking	Don’t go out that much but enjoy a beer in the English pubs – 4-6000
e) Books, computers	500

Q. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?

A. Excellent, I buy what I want when I want and go on holiday when I have time, always have pennies to treat myself and the g/f whenever we go out.

Q. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?

A. Good Thai food, beer, cigarettes, taxis, train fares and beach life on my little getaways.

Q. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?

A. I can’t understand how you can live on anything under 40,000. I would say you need 45,000 in reality.