Working in Hanoi, Vietnam

Monthly Earnings 150,000 Baht (before tax)

Q1. How is that income broken down? (full-time salary, private students, on-line teaching, extra work, etc)

It is roughly 120,000 from my full time job (20 contact hours per week) and the rest I make doing IELTS examining (1,500 baht an hour). This may fluctuate depending on my motivation to do extra work but this is the average.

Q2. How much money can you save each month?

I usually save about 70-80,000 baht a month. Again this can go up or down depending on holidays etc. I try to get away once a month and have 9 weeks paid holidays so this can add up if I leave Vietnam. My annual flight home now costs 1300 USD roughly thanks to the recent increases.

Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?

I rent a really nice 85sqm, one-bedroom, top floor condo with stunning lake views in the main expat area of Hanoi. It costs 22,000 a month and that includes internet, Netflix, water and maid service once a week. I pay more than some others but for me I spend a lot of time at home and the area is very peaceful and with a good community of people with many great bars and restaurants all overlooking the lake.

Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?

Transportation

I have a motorbike, so maybe 300 - 400 baht a month on fuel.

Utility bills

1,500 baht for electricity, I also pay an ironing lady to do all my clothes, that's about 350 baht a month.

Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping

This can vary greatly, I have a cook who prepares home cooked meals for me to take to the office, I also use a meal plan service and order out a lot. I go to a restaurant once or twice a month I (I don't eat much local food as it isn't a touch on Thai food, so my expenses are more than if you went local or cooked for yourself). I would guesstimate about 350 baht a day so 10,000 a month?

Nightlife and drinking

I don't go out that much but a Saigon beer in my local bar is about 20 baht and a double vodka with coke is 60 baht. That's quite standard in the smaller local places but can double in more 'high end places'.

I also order crates of German IPA at a dollar a can and have them delivered. I buy some Jim Beam which is about 350 a bottle. Occasionally I'll go drink some craft beer somewhere in the old quarter, take the lady for some wine and some food or enjoy the stupidly cheap Beer Hoi outlets where you get a glass for about 15 baht I guess. The drinking culture here is amazing but can get expensive if you go into the old quarter and drink at the craft beer bars. Stay local and its very, very affordable. 6-8,000 a month depending where I go to drink and what I drink.

Books, computers

Books, maybe one a month. Computers, zilch, company laptop and an old chromebook I've had a few years now take care of all my computing needs. 300 baht?

Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?

Extremely comfortable with no financial worries and 9 weeks holiday a year,

Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?

Beer. mobile internet, fruit, travel. hotels and guesthouses. You can get a very nice 35sqm room with AC, pool, and marble floors with huge bathrooms for 10 USD a night in beautiful surroundings in main tourism beach resorts. Those prices disappeared from Thailand about 20 years ago. Go into the mountains and Vietnam is unrivalled for doing your own exploring by motorbike. Thats the best bargain in the country because the countryside is free! It's the best in Asia in my opinion and I've been all over it in the last 24 years.

Also, the friendliness and hospitality of the Vietnamese people is priceless. Thai people, while I love Thailand and lived there for 8 years, have become jaded with foreigners in my opinion. It just isn't the same vibe and often you are dealing with migrant workers from Burma or the Philippines, which is fine, but just not the same feeling as what it used to be when I lived there in the 2000's.

I last visited Thailand a year ago and found it to be really quite expensive. I was on 65k a month in Bangkok in 2007 and wouldn't want to have to try to live off that now if I wanted a comfortable lifestyle and to be able to save for the future.

Another thing that you don't have to worry about in Vietnam is visas and work permits. The process is relatively straightforward if you have a good HR dept in your company/school and then its a 2-year visa and no visits to immigration or any of the BS that comes with Thailand. And teachers are well respected and there isn't the 'farang' attitude towards them. Vietnam is open for business and progressive rather than the somewhat antiquated system and style that Thailand seems unwilling and unable to relinquish.

Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?

In Hanoi you see many people paying 10,000 a month for small studio flats or doing house shares. If you eat local, drink local, do your own ironing :) and avoid flights outside of local Asian countries, I guess you can live off as little as 20-30,000 baht a month, though your average teaching gig will pay about 60-70k before tax, so it all comes out in the wash. It can be fun and an adventure but it isn't long term sustainable in my opinion. Find the right teaching gig and you can live the life you want and save well.

Life is about choices. You can live cheap in most cities if you really, really want to. If not, move to the sticks and your money will go further. It all depends what you want and how you want to live your life.

I shared a 4-bedroom house in Nonthaburi in 2000, paying 7K a month in rent between us in a lovely gated moobaan. I couldn't share a house now and that rent has probably gone up to 25K+ already. So things change.

Vietnam has its charms but it isn't for everyone. It's polluted and Vietnamese is an extremely difficult language (I speak Thai at A2.1 level and its helped me a little but the syntax here with the tones makes it so hard to learn)

However, all students who want to go to university, which is most of them, take the IELTS exam to get credits/points to add to their application. This means if you need help, just look for someone under 25 and they will normally be about band 6-6.5 / B2,1 ish.... failing that the locals love to get the old google translate out and do things that way. Are our days numbered as teachers? I hope AI will be like a calculator: we all use them but we still need to be able to do mental arithmetic. Let's hope so. Until then, I'll be in Hanoi....

Phil's analysis and comment

Nowadays, you often hear teachers say that Vietnam is the land of milk and honey compared to Thailand. Sam's survey certainly supports that opinion - an apartment with stunning lake views, a lady to come in and do the ironing, and of course a great salary to boot. Sounds amazing!  

Christopher

29th January 2024

Working in Bangkok

Monthly Earnings 80,000

Q1. How is that income broken down? (full-time salary, private students, on-line teaching, extra work, etc)

80K is my salary as the head teacher at a private school. With various investments and a property rental back in the UK, my total monthly income is actually around 150K but that's averaged out over a year because of course investments fluctuate. I should also add that I am coming up to retirement and this will be my last year in work.

Q2. How much money can you save each month?

I certainly don't spend all of my 80K salary and probably end up saving around 70-80K a month. My wife also earns around 80K as a manager at a large cosmetics company. That 'extra' income is handy, but she too is planning to retire so that we can value our free time and do more things together.

Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?

We bought our own one-bedroom condo around ten years ago and managed to pay for it cash at the time, so we have no monthly rent to worry about. It's not the most luxurious of apartments and it isn't even the nicest area of the city, but we've been happy here. It does sometimes cross our minds to move up to something better but to be honest, we don't plan on being around that much in our retirement years. A property can sometimes be a bit of a millstone round your neck, always having to worry about someone to clean and keep an eye on the place if you're away for long periods.

Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?

Transportation

I run my own car, which I change for a brand new one every 5 years. It's difficult to put a price on this but I suppose car repayments, petrol and repairs come to around 13,000 a month.

Utility bills

Electricity, water and various phone / internet packages come to just under 5,000 a month.

Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping

We do a big supermarket shop once a fortnight so that's 3,000 x 2 = 6,000 baht. We are very much a cook-at-home couple and organise our own meals. Although I probably cook 80% of my meals at home, my wife orders most of hers from a local company (around 50 baht a portion) I also order a lot of my stuff like shaving products and toiletries online and I'll often pop into 7-11 to spend 100-200 baht on bits and pieces. This must all come to 10,000 - 12,000 baht a month at least. It mounts up.

We don't eat out very often at all. We simply can't be bothered most of the time. Perhaps retirement will change that?

Nightlife and drinking

We don't go out to pubs anymore but I've always got some nice bottles of wine and a few craft beers in the fridge, so 5,000 a month.

Books, computers

I'm more of a TV watcher than a reader and I'm certainly not that much into technology so this is virtually nothing.

Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?

Excellent, but as you can see from above, I live well within my means. Then again, my wife and I have both worked jobs that require long hours and it's as if we haven't had time to spend it. That is all about to change!

Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?

Thailand is a far more expensive place than when I arrived 25 years ago. I'm not sure anything is a bargain anymore. Oh, let's say the cost of repairing things like a faulty air-conditioner or a torn mosquito net. That's always ludicrously cheap to what you would pay in the west.

Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?

If your partner is bringing in their own wage, you could live the kind of lifestyle I have on 60K easily, but you're not putting anything away for your retirement years, and for me that's the key because it's amazing how quickly it comes around. No expat wants to have to scrimp and save in their 'golden years' surely.

Anyway, our plan for 60 years and beyond is to spend, spend, spend!. We have no children, no one to leave the money to and my three siblings back in the old country are all far wealthier than I am. We plan to spend at least two months abroad each year and at least two months in another part of Thailand like Chiang Mai or Hua Hin. It's time to start enjoying the kind of life my wife and I have worked hard for. We're looking forward to it.

As a footnote, I'm an avid reader of these cost of living surveys and feel I need to mention health insurance as one of those horrible annual expenses. I've always opted for private health insurance cover and that currently costs me 75,000 baht a year. And it's only going to go in one direction I'm afraid.

Phil's analysis and comment

Thank you for such an interesting survey, Christopher. I wish you all the best for a long and happy retirement. A friend of mine, who is now 63 I think, refers to your sixties as 'the last guaranteed decade' and I completely agree with him. So many times I've seen people hit 70 or thereabouts and lose the energy and motivation to travel. I saw it in my own two parents. Make the most of the upcoming years and more importantly, enjoy your money!

Please send us your cost of living surveys. We would love to hear from you! This is one of the most popular parts of the Ajarn website and these surveys help and inspire a lot of other teachers. We'd especially love to hear from more Filipino teachers being as there are so many here and so many looking for teaching jobs. Where are you all?  

Just click the link at the top of the page where it says 'Submit your own Cost of Living survey' or click here. 

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Patrick

13th January 2024

Working in Nakhon Ratchisima

Monthly Earnings 55,000

Q1. How is that income broken down? (full-time salary, private students, on-line teaching, extra work, etc)

I work at a private school and my salary after tax is around 40,000. I usually add another 15K a month from private tutoring and online stuff.

Q2. How much money can you save each month?

Usually in the region of 20-25K Baht but that figure can be lower if I go off travelling somewhere.

Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?

I rent a two-storey shophouse for 8,000 baht a month. I live mostly on the ground floor (that's where I've got my living room space, kitchen, etc) and on the second floor is my bedroom and a room I've converted to a small study where I can accommodate groups of two or three students. A third tiny utility room I use for storage space. I've been here about three years.

Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?

Transportation

I have a motorcycle which I bought a couple of years ago and costs me around a thousand baht a month in gas.

Utility bills

Electricity and water come to around 4,000 baht a month. The bill is high because I have three aircon units and usually, at least two of them are on.

Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping

I like to follow a fairly strict healthy diet so once every couple of weeks, I'll have a cooking day. I'll put together about a dozen or so portions of food (pasta dishes, casseroles, etc) and freeze it all in individual plastic containers. I sometimes grab something street-food on the way home if I'm running low on freezer stock but I almost never eat out. Cooking at home can save you a fortune and I bet even with supermarket shopping for non-food items, I can keep the total below 8,000 a month.

Nightlife and drinking

Don't really bother with that side of things. I will sometimes go out for a few beers with colleagues but it's never more than once or twice a month. This is probably 2,000 baht at most.

Books, computers

I quite like my technology and have a nice flat screen TV with Netflix, etc and the latest smartphone. Difficult to put a monthly price on this but probably around 4,000 if you average it out over a year.

Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?

I'm very happy with it. I don't go short of anything.

Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?

Fresh meat and vegetables are still a pretty good buy if you know where to go. Nakhon Ratchisima is a great place to live. It has all the attractions, temptations and big city feel of Bangkok (where I lived and worked for five years) but I don't spend anything like the money I used to there. It's just a shame that the traffic seems to get worse here with each passing year.

Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?

Outside of Bangkok, you will live reasonably well on 30-35K. Once you hit 50K+ out in the provinces, you're on easy street.

Phil's analysis and comment

Thanks Patrick. I've been to Nakhon Ratchisima a number of times in recent years and I've always been impressed. I agree that it always comes across as a very affordable place to live but with a big city feel. I like your food arrangement as well. I always say that I'm going to do something like this - have a day in the kitchen and freeze a load of meals - but can never quite get myself organised. 

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Clara

25th December 2023

Working in Bangkok

Monthly Earnings 200,000 +

Q1. How is that income broken down? (full-time salary, private students, on-line teaching, extra work, etc)

I work at a top international school in Bangkok and my base salary is 155K + 45K in monthly housing allowance. Although, I was making 37K a month before I left Bangkok to get qualified.

Q2. How much money can you save each month?

None. After working in TEFL for 2 years, I realized that there's no opportunity growth for me, especially as a Laotian-Brazilian, unless i get myself a decent degree and experience. So I incurred about $40k in student loans for my degree in the US and my goal is to pay it back in two years, so I'm not worried about savings at the moment.

Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?

I live with my Thai partner and he refuses to let me help with the rent so this expense is zero.

Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?

Transportation

My Thai partner drives me around almost everywhere. so probably 200 baht/month

Utility bills

My partner pays for this.

Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping

I tend to splurge on eating out and shopping so that comes to about 25,000/month

Nightlife and drinking

I only go out for a few drinks with my co-workers a couple or three times a month, so probably around 5,000.

Books, computers

My school provides a laptop to take home for teachers.

Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?

Amazing! It's day and night compared to my standard of living in the US. I worked in the US for two years at one the worst school districts in the country so my standard of living in Bangkok is awesome, although my salary in Bangkok isn't as high as the school I worked for in Singapore

Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?

Everything except for imported goods!

Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?

l would say anyone can survive with anything over 30,000/month but keep in mind that a decent condo in a good location will take up at least half of that, not to mention retirement which is a big issue because on 30-50K a month, you won't be able to save up for retirement.

Phil's analysis and comment

I bet when you've experienced life as a teacher on 37K, to hit the heights of 200K a month must feel incredible. Nothing else really to add other than if anyone would like to do a cost of living survey, we would love to hear from you.

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Marcus

7th December 2023

Working in Bangkok

Monthly Earnings 90,000

Q1. How is that income broken down? (full-time salary, private students, on-line teaching, extra work, etc)

I work at a reputable international school (a proper international school) and although my full-time salary is a decent 90K, I'm classed as a 'local hire' rather than an overseas one, so I don't receive the higher salary and benefits package that they do.

Q2. How much money can you save each month?

I try to save between 40-50,000 a month, which leaves me around 40-50K to live on. I've never been one of life's great savers so I'm frantically trying to put away as much as possible for the future. My parents recently passed away (less than a year apart) so I received a share of around £200,000 from the sale of a property and some savings they had. I appreciate this is a massive financial leg up but I won't let it affect my saving strategy.

Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?

I've always been very frugal when it comes to accommodation and I live in a small studio apartment in a no-frills building for 5,000 baht a month. I've never had any interest in socializing with other tenants around swimming pools or in lobbies and gyms. I like to get home from work, go straight to my room, lock the door, and escape into my own quiet little world.

Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?

Transportation

I live relatively close to work so depending on my mood, I either take a 10 baht songthaew or ride several stops on the MRT. Throw in a few Grab taxis every month and I bet this expense still barely breaks a thousand baht.

Utility bills

I pay around 2,000 baht for my electricity and 300 for water. Internet and Netflix, etc probably push this category to around 4K a month.

Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping

A bowl of Cornflakes and a couple of slices of toast is my morning ritual. I get a free lunch (and it's a very decent lunch) at school, which just leaves me with an evening meal to find. I never splash out more than a 100 baht on this. At weekends, I never fall for the lure of western food either. You could say I'm not a great eater so I keep this bill down to around 6K I guess. What's that? 200 baht a day on average. Yes, that sounds about right.

Nightlife and drinking

I'll go out once a week with several of my teaching colleagues and we'll do a nice pub and maybe end up with a Thai meal and more beers at somewhere cheap and cheerful to end the night. I'll happily sip a beer by the side of the railway tracks. It's the good company that matters. Let's say 6,000 baht a month.

Books, computers

I do enjoy my computer gaming so this could come in at around 2,000 a month.

Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?

I'm a bit of a loner, by choice. I've got a string of failed relationships with Thai women behind me. I just find trying to forge relationships exhausting and too demanding of my time. I've lived in Thailand for six years and still find that western-Thai culture gap way too wide to negotiate on a daily basis. Living a very quiet, solitary lifestyle makes me happy. I enjoy being with colleagues at work but my time alone is far more important. Sorry, that's a rather indirect answer to the question isn't it?

Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?

You can still eat out and eat well for under a hundred baht if you're not too fussy about laminated menus that are slightly sticky to the touch and you don't risk poking your head into the kitchen or food prep area.

Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?

I could be the wrong person to ask because my material needs are so few. I could easily 'survive' in Bangkok on 40K a month but a lot of people might analyze my lifestyle and say that I go without or miss out on a lot of things.

Phil's analysis and comment

Thank you Marcus for a very honest survey and a glimpse into your lifestyle. There's nothing wrong with a being a loner. I look back on some of those mammoth bedsit Playstation sessions I had back in the mid-90s (before I met my wife) and they were most enjoyable. You do whatever works for you. Saving over half of a 90K salary and I'm sure resisting many temptations is pretty impressive though. 

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