Bear
Working in Bangkok
Monthly Earnings 36,000 - 46,000 baht a month
Q1. How much do you earn from teaching per month?
I have been working for a private charity school for the last six years. Prior to that I worked in government schools and language centres. I earn 36,000 nett from my school and between 8-10,000 from private or extra classes on weekends or at school.
Q2. How much of that can you realistically save per month?
My wife has a part time catering business/venture which brings in anything from 5,000 to 25,000 a month. We have an eight year daughter who goes to a private school. We 'usually' save the money from my private classes and her cooking. I guess about 15,000 a month.
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
We live in a two-bedroom town house near Minburi and Fashion island. Rent is 3,500 per month. We have been here for six years and the rent has not changed. The house was part furnished, but now it is more than fully furnished. Anybody with children will understand what I mean!
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
For transportation I spend about 60-80 baht a day. I get an air-con bus and then a van for 27 baht. Coming home the same. But sometimes the free bus comes!! If it's raining, I'll get a taxi from Minburi which is about 70 baht.
Utility bills
Our electric is about 2,400 a month. I like to have the air-conditioning on at night. Water is 300 baht.
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
My wife has lots of herbs and vegetables in our back yard. As my wife is a chef, we don't eat out much. I get to eat five star food at home! We have a brilliant market five minutes walk away where you can buy fillet steak for 180 baht! Having a family, supermarket shopping is probably the most expensive thing for us. I would say about 8.000 baht in total but we do eat well!
Nightlife and drinking
As regards nightlife I have a family now - so been there, done that! But we have a great relationship with the people in our 'moo baan' and many times we all cook and sit outside. I usually have a couple of beers then go home and have dinner.
Books, computers
I pay 600 baht a month for True wi-fi and cable and I get everything on-line.
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
Excellent. I can afford everything I want. But I don't have any family overseas, so I am not worrying about flights and holidays etc. If you have a kitchen and you are not scared of cooking, then you can save a lot of money. Thai street food is fantastic for lunch, but there is nothing better than sitting down with friends and family having a great BBQ and cheap beer!
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
Market food - fresh fish and seafood especially. Also taxis and house rent. If you spend the time looking it is easy to get a house or town house for a great price.
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
Everybody has different ways of 'surviving'. Some people need 20,000 to go and party every night. Having been here 16 years and not seen any salary increases, I would say about 37-40k to have a comfortable life. Maybe less outside of Bangkok. And that does not mean you have to live like a Thai!!
Phil's analysis and comment
Bear sounds like a real foodie. It must be great to have a Thai wife who's so good in the kitchen and knows where to shop for all those wonderful fresh salads and vegetables at bargain prices.
Rent is 3,500 per month. We have been here for six years and the rent has not changed.
This is interesting because I lived in a house on a moobarn for five years and my rent never increased in that time either. In fact, I can go one better than that. I once worked with a teacher who had lived in Thailand for 20 years - in the same house! And he was still paying the same 5,000 baht a month that he paid when he first arrived in the country. At that time it felt expensive but it was a beautiful house the teacher used to tell me. Twenty years later and 5,000 baht a month had become one of the biggest bargains in Bangkok. The house was worth millions but the owner seemed to have no desire to sell it.
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