Every new arrival wants to know if they can survive or live well in Thailand on X thousand baht a month?

It's a difficult question because each person has different needs. However, the following surveys and figures are from teachers actually working here! How much do they earn and what do they spend their money on?. And after each case study, I've added comments of my own.

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Bear

14th August 2016

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.

Joseph

9th August 2016

Working in Pattaya

Monthly Earnings 33,000

Q1. How much do you earn from teaching per month?

I work at a private language school in Pattaya and the hourly rate is 470 baht and a minimum of 33,000 baht a month. If you are a good teacher, you can earn 40K, even 50K during peak months when there are more students.

Q2. How much of that can you realistically save per month?

Saving more than 5,000 baht on a 33K salary is tough.

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

I pay 7,500 (+1,000) a month for a nice studio apartment with room service and security. It is situated in Pattaya Klang so ideal for someone without a motorbike/car. For a more spacious apartment in Pattaya you would be looking to pay a minimum of 10,000. Anyone that tells you can get a nice room in Pattaya for 5,000 mark is probably lying.

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

Transportation

About 1,000 baht a month as I like to occasionally take trips to Bangkok / Rayong

Utility bills

Haven't exceeded 1,000 baht a month yet but I tend to use the air-con for just 3 hours a day

Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping

I spend roughly 350 baht a day on food, however I have gotten sick of Thai food lately so I treat myself to Western food a few times a week and now some days I will spend 500.

Nightlife and drinking

I am really not a huge fan of Pattaya's nightife, so I really only head out once or twice a week for a few drinks with friends. I'd say in total nightlife doesn't cost me more then 4,000 baht a month

Books, computers

Nothing really but other costs would be getting my hair cut, the phone bill and gym membership which usually total around 3,000 a month.

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

My standard of living here is comfortable; I can eat out three times a day, live independently and still socialise. This would not be possible in London. I can say however that the myth of "30,000 baht, you'll live like a king in Thailand" is just not true at all, I know expats in other fields of work earning a much higher salary.

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

Without a doubt bills are the biggest bargain here and of course food.

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

In Pattaya, Bangkok, Phuket etc you can survive on 30,000 but to really live comfortably 40,000 is a much more reasonable expectation.

Phil's analysis and comment

There is a big difference between 30K and 40K a month in terms of how it affects your standard of living. Just ask any teacher who has earned both salaries. On 40K a month you can do and afford so much more!

I'm reading between the lines a little but I guess that Joseph is on one of those 'guaranteed salary deals' which are often used by private language centres. You work for an hourly rate of X amount but the employer will guarantee you a minimum salary even if you don't do enough hours. So at least you always know you'll have enough to pay the rent at the end of each month.

As Joseph says, during peak months when there are more students, it's the popular teachers who will get the cream. That's generally how things work at a private language school. Teachers who are seen as good or entertaining or 'have a kind face' will always get more student requests. Unfair system? It's very often the teachers who aren't willing to up their game or change their mindset that get fewer student requests. They're often the guys you hear bitching.

If anyone fancies doing a cost of living survey, I've now put the questions on-line to make it easier and quicker for you. Please spare half an hour if you can.

A number of teachers complete the surveys with just a list of figures. I don't wish to sound ungrateful but that's not really what we're looking for. There needs to be some sort of 'story' behind the figures as it were (it certainly makes the surveys more interesting to read) Many thanks!

Nomad

2nd August 2016

Working in Koh Samui

Monthly Earnings Around 50,000 baht

Q1. How much do you earn from teaching per month?

I teach at an international school and my salary is 40K. I also earn 2,500-5,000 teaching private students and my website work brings in another 5,000-10,000. So I can make 55K in a very good month.

Q2. How much of that can you realistically save per month?

About 10,000 baht

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

I live in a 15,000 baht a month condo with a swimming pool, sea views, a proper oven, a free cleaning service, fibre optic broadband and cable TV.

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

Transportation

I own my own motorcycle and gas costs 500 baht a month

Utility bills

Electricity and water come to about a thousand baht a month, sometimes a bit less.

Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping

I get a free meal at work every day and try to cook at home in the evenings because I rarely go out after a school day. I'll go out two or three times a month to what you might call a 'nice' restaurant.

Nightlife and drinking

I don't drink all that much so this wouldn't amount to more than 500 baht a month. I'm also trying to quit smoking so I spend 400 baht a month on vaping.

Books, computers

Nothing really

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

I have a great condo that is cheaper than a bedsit back home, with amazing sea views and want for nothing

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

Fresh vegetables and fuel compared to back home

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

You could survive on 25 - 30k a month but an extra 10k means that you can save a bit.

Phil's analysis and comment

I used to live in a rented house on a quiet moobarn in Bangkok. It was a lovely place and I was extremely happy for all of the five years I lived there. However, rent and bills came to a hefty 11,000 baht a month (we're talking 15 years ago here) In a month when I only picked up my regular school salary of about 36,000, that rent always felt like a big chunk of change. It was almost a third of my salary! But in a month where I taught a few private students as well, my monthly income was about 46K - and suddenly the rent and bills drop to less than 25%.

I always remember an old boss in England saying to me - "look to spend about 25% of your salary on putting a roof over your head. No more than that"

That advice has always stuck with me.

Nomad spends 15,000 baht a month on what I'm sure is an amazing place to live - but in a month where he / she earns less than 50K, it becomes almost a third of the salary. I just think it's a little too much. But looking at Nomad's figures above, apart from the apartment rental, there's not much being spent elsewhere and I'm left wondering how Nomad doesn't manage to save a bit more than 10K a month.

William

24th July 2016

Working in Bangkok

Monthly Earnings 96,000 baht

Q1. How much do you earn from teaching per month?

I earned 110,000 from teaching, so after taxes it came out to about 96,000 baht per month. I also had a few good perks such as health insurance and a flight home every year.

Q2. How much of that can you realistically save per month?

I used to save about 50-60,000 baht per month, but I was pretty frugal on things like rent. Big adventures and travel plans were sometimes costly though.

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

I paid 6,500 baht per month for a studio apartment plus another 600 for some furniture I rented from my landlady. People tend to go out in Bangkok rather than have house parties so it was not a real issue to have a small place. It was in a safe neighborhood and close to the BTS.

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

Transportation

40 baht per day on motorcycles to the BTS. In addition, I paid 1250 baht for 50 trips on the BTS line (maybe paid for this twice per month). I took taxis occasionally, but spent under 1500 baht per month on them.

Utility bills

Water was around 120-140 baht per month, and electricity was usually around 1600 baht (luckily, my place had air-conditioning).

Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping

I ate a lot of Thai street food, especially for breakfast (40 baht per day). Lunch was provided by the school I worked at, and when I had a day off I usually ate street food unless I was meeting friends somewhere new. I went out to dinner with friends about twice a week, and that came out to about 500-700 baht per dinner (or occasional brunch). I drank coffee every day (35 baht each morning for an Americano) and occasionally bought from Starbucks or somewhere fancy near work. Total around 10K.

Nightlife and drinking

I occasionally had beer when going out (~150 baht per beer near Sukhumvit). I would say it came out to around 1500 baht per month. Sometimes, I would buy a bottle of Black Label or good beer.

Books, computers

I tended to use library books from school, but I occasionally bought a new one. Let's say 1,000 baht per month. I didn't spend anything on computers since I had AppleCare, but I made a big one time purchase of 60,000 baht on my current Macbook last year.

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

It was pretty good. If I stayed longer, then I could have seen myself moving into a nicer place, but overall things were comfortable and allowed me to save up a nice nest egg to travel on for a while.

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

Thai food. Even fancy Thai food is cheap. You can go to a fancy riverside restaurant and gorge for under 1200 baht per person. A similar restaurant serving Western food would probably cost around 4000 baht per person. Taxis are also really cheap. In fact, I think taxis are cheaper in Bangkok than in the rest of Thailand, which is odd because everything else, including the still cheap Thai street food costs double what it costs in the provinces.

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

You could survive on 25,000 baht, but it wouldn't be very fun. To live a comfortable life (without saving much), I would say one needs 30-35,000 baht outside of Bangkok and around 45-50,000 baht in Bangkok. In order to save significantly, you would need more.

Phil's analysis and comment

96,000 baht a month and only 8,000 baht going on rent and utilities. Beat that! Less than 10% of your salary going on a place to live. William was clearly a saver while he worked in Thailand and I bet he continued his travels with a very healthy bank account indeed. It would be interesting to know what his future plans are - or at least for the next year or two.

Charles

22nd July 2016

Working in Bangkok

Monthly Earnings Approximately 40,000 baht

Q1. How much do you earn from teaching per month?

I work at a Thai government school in Bangkok and I make 37K after tax. I can also earn an extra 4,000 a month from private tutoring two hours a week.

Q2. How much of that can you realistically save per month?

About 5,000 baht or perhaps less. It depends how often I go out, travel or most importantly eat Western food. I normally don't save anything worth bragging about, this is Bangkok after all.

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

I live in an apartment. I upgraded it last year to a suite because I was tired of hanging out in my bedroom. I pay 6,500 baht a month for an additional living room and bigger bathroom that I wasn't getting before.

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

Transportation

Now that I have a motorbike, I can make it to and from work for less than 200 baht a month on gas. I don't live far from work. Other than that give or take another 500 baht on the skytrain if I want to travel further

Utility bills

My ex-girlfriend got me a fan so now my power and water bill is a combined 600 baht, down from the 1500 baht I used to pay.

Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping

I don't go to the supermarket since I don't have a big refrigerator and because of that I only store water in there and have to resort to eating out. Again back to the food; it would depend on my willingness to eat the local food or the expensive Western food I prefer to eat. I've tried to come up with a compromise. On workdays I eat local Thai food and on weekends I eat western food even if the bill makes me wanna cringe. It all comes to about 8,000 baht.

Nightlife and drinking

When I'm out with my western friends they like to go out drinking. I'm single but my job drains me so I pick and choose how often I go out. If I go out every weekend on a typical month I spend about 10,000 baht.

Books, computers

I don't buy books but I do often buy supplies that I may need for work which doesn't exceed 1,000 baht.

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

It's reasonable. You can't have your cake and eat it. I enjoy certain comforts but I sacrifice others at the expense of enjoying them.

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

Definitely the rent. A place like mine would cost at least 30K a month at home

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

It would depend on where you live and your spending habits in that order. I saved 20k a month in Isaan making even less than what I'm making in Bangkok right now. But living here comes at a price. I would say 30k is okay in the rural areas but not in Bangkok. You'd need a tad more.

Phil's analysis and comment

Always nice to hear from someone who earns what I would call 'an average or typical' teacher's salary in Thailand and to see how they get on.

Charles sounds sensible, level-headed and lives within his means. The big question of course is for how many years can someone do this? There isn't an awful lot of money getting stashed away for a rainy day. But he's making the most of things for now.

That's a very smart decision to upgrade your accommodation. Charles now has a place that he enjoys going home to after a hard day's teaching instead of a room where he's sitting around on the bed. As I've said many times before about these surveys - spending more on accommodation SAVES you money in the long run. You'll spend less time wandering the streets and ambling around air-conditioned shopping malls and all the temptations that go with them.

Might it be worth investing in a nicer refridgerator? They're not that expensive and if it belongs to you, you can take it with you if and when you move. You can pick up nice salad stuff very cheaply here and also ham and things to make sandwiches at home. That said, there's nothing wrong with Charles' approach to food (Thai food during the week and some Western food splurges at the weekend) You should be able to enjoy a bit of Western food on your day off.

If anyone fancies doing a cost of living survey, I've now put the questions on-line to make it easier and quicker for you. Please spare half an hour if you can.

Showing 5 Cost of Living surveys out of 433 total

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