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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James
Working in Bangkok
Monthly Earnings 100,000
Q1. How much do you earn from teaching per month?
I earn 92,000 pre-tax and 8,000 from private teaching. After tax it’s 88,000 a month.
Q2. How much of that can you realistically save per month?
50,000 baht a month
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
21,000. I live in a one-bedroom, 50 sqm condo near the BTS
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
80 baht per day on taxis and approximately 120 baht per week on skytrain trips to the gym plus a few more skytrain trips at the weekend.
Utility bills
Water 50 baht, electricity 1000 and internet 650.
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
Both restaurants and supermarket shopping 5500 baht a month. The meals are good in school with a choice of Thai or western meals. For dinner I enjoy Thai restaurants and at the weekend western food.
Nightlife and drinking
I usually go out on a Friday night and spend around 2000 baht a week on drinking. I tend to go to the cinema once a week so I guess socialising / drinking etc is about 10,000 a month.
Books, computers
I’d say I buy about one book a month perhaps. I signed up to the gym and paid a year up front which was 20,000bht and I’ve been spending a bit recently on things for my condo but I’m not really a big spender
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
I’ve worked in a Thai government school before on far lower wages and I considered myself to be lucky. I love living in Thailand and this new job has allowed me to enjoy it even more. After the initial set up costs I am living a life where I can afford most things that I want. I’ve been here around 2 years now and I enjoy a trip back to England yearly to see family and friends but I look at my life in England and my life now and it’s incomparable, I love my life here and am certainly far happier.
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
Where do you start? If you enjoy Thai food there are numerous restaurants where a meal will cost you less than 100 baht (This isn’t me being cheap, some of the best Thai food is from the small Thai restaurants). Taxis are incredibly cheap. Consider taking a trip to the airport, 500bht would be considered an expensive fare here but try seeing how far you can go for £10 in England.
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
Where I lived before I was on around 32,000 but that was in the South where living costs were much cheaper. In Bangkok if we’re talking about just surviving then I’d say about 35,000. You’d have to pick your accommodation carefully and watch your spending habit but it would be very doable. To be comfortable and save a little I’d say 40k+
Phil's analysis and comment
Nice survey. And although James is pulling in a very nice teacher salary indeed, he also told me that he feels like someone who lives a 50,000 baht a month lifestyle. I think that's a fair comment and conclusion - there's certainly nothing excessive about James' spending habits. On more than one occasion I've read some wealthy celebrity say that the nicest thing about having money is not going out and buying things - but having the option to buy things if you so wish. Money gives you choices. I see a bit of that logic in James' figures above. He knows what it's like to survive as a teacher on the 30K salaries - he's been there and done that - but even though he's now earning three times as much, he hasn't let things go to his head. He's got a sensible attitude towards his money. He has a nice condo in a good location, he goes out a couple of times a week and he eats well enough - but it's all within his means. His main priority is stashing away that 50K a month. It's 600,000 baht a year. There's plenty you can do with that sort of dough.
Anthony
Working in Bangkok
Monthly Earnings 70,000 baht
Q1. How much do you earn from teaching per month?
I earn 70,000 pre-tax, plus health insurance which is a big help.
Q2. How much of that can you realistically save per month?
15,000 a month. Most of which gets spent on flights back to the UK to visit family.
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
I live in a one-bedroom apartment next to a BTS line, 30 minutes from my work, costing 15k a month.
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
1500 on skytrain passes.
Utility bills
Water 50 baht, electricity 1500, and internet 1000.
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
18,000 a month. That is really a lot for one person - but I don't like Thai food, I prefer to cook at home each night and try to eat healthy.
Nightlife and drinking
I go out once a week but i'm not a big drinker, so 2,000 a month.
Books, computers
None but i do have other additional monthly costs: Gym membership 2000 baht, contact lenses 2500 baht, a monthly massage/haircut 1000 baht.
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
I consider myself to be very, very lucky. Bangkok is very noisy and crowded and for quality of living, it is not the best of cities by a long shot. But even so, with the money I earn for so little work (21 hours teaching a week), my standard of living is very good here.
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
Taxis are incredibly cheap. Even when they try to rip you off with "no meter" scams, they're still way cheaper than in England! Honestly coming from London, everything is cheap for me here.
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
40,000. Most people probably spend less on food than me, but more on nightlife. Costs in Bangkok do add up quickly and at 40/k a month people would have to watch their spending. 40k is still way more than most locals earn and if they can do it, so could anyone else who really desires to be here.
Phil's analysis and comment
You're always going to live well in Bangkok on 70,000 baht a month but that shouldn't take away from the fact that Anthony sounds like a very sensible, level-headed guy who lives well within his means. He also hails from London - one of the most expensive cities in the world - so many things in Thailand must seem like a real bargain, especially with 70K a month to fall back on.
18,000 baht a month is an awful lot to spend on food for a single guy (as Anthony admits) but reading between the lines, I'm guessing he's a fitness fanatic, perhaps even a bodybuilder. So whatever makes him happy. He's also stashing away 180,000 baht a year for his annual trip home to see the family and I'm sure it's more than enough. I go home once a year for a couple of weeks and flights and spending money cost about 100,000 baht. It helps no end if you're staying with family and friends though and you're not forking out for accommodation.
Everything taken into consideration, a very nice lifestyle - the one-bedroom condo near the skytrain, the healthy diet of good quality food, the trips home, the not excessive workload, the gym, the massages, etc. OK, Anthony earns well above the average teacher salary but if you can hit those numbers, this is the lifestyle you can lead. Simple as.
Daniel
Working in Bangkok
Monthly Earnings About 37,000 baht
Q1. How much do you earn from teaching per month?
I earn exactly 34,250 baht (after tax) from my full-time job at a prestigious Thai government high school in Bangkok, Thailand. I earn around 3,000 baht average per month from part-time tutoring (usually only 1-2 hours per week).
Q2. How much of that can you realistically save per month?
I put back 7,500 to 10,000 baht per month. That number mostly depends on how many “extras” I buy during said month. “Extras” are basically anything besides the essentials (food, shelter, and clothing). I should note that all of my housing expenses are shared by both me and my girlfriend. I pay 100% of the rent, and she pays 100% of the utilities. We’re both foreigners working as teachers.
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
Our rent is exactly 9,500 baht a month (excluding utilities). Our home is a rather spacious, clean studio apartment in a Thai-style apartment building geared towards local Thais. The building is essentially a five-story house where each of the rooms are rented out to different individuals. It feels more like an apartment building than a house, though. It’s just a stone’s throw from Convent Road and Silom Road. It takes approximately five to ten minutes to walk to the nearest skytrain and MRT stations.
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
I walk to and from work. I take the BTS, BRT, MRT and/or the riverboat a few times per week. The average price per trip is thirty baht each way. I also take public buses occasionally, averaging about ten baht per trip each way. I’m going to say this adds up to about 750 baht per month. I rarely take taxis, but sometimes they’re the only transportation available . I might take a taxi three to five times a month. Total transportation cost per month = 1,000 baht.
Utility bills
As mentioned before, my girlfriend covers all of the utilities and I cover all of the rent. So I don’t personally pay for any of the below utilities. My electricity is five baht per unit and comes to about 2,000 baht per month. The AC runs constantly any time we’re home. Water is almost always 200 baht per month. We have a 10 Mbps DSL internet connection via True, (690 baht per month) We also have the True Gold HD cable TV package (1,000 baht per month)
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
This is possibly my biggest expense each month. I eat a mostly healthy diet and each visit to the supermarket will give me a week’s worth of groceries. I generally eat a light breakfast on the go, eat lunch at my school (50 baht), cook dinner at home 3 nights a week, and eat outside maybe 5 times a week or so. It’s really hard to calculate, but all in all, I suppose I pay from 7,500 to 10,000 baht per month on food. Yes, I eat like a king, but it’s mostly healthy food that helps me stay in shape.
Nightlife and drinking
I’m not a heavy drinker. However, I do like to have a few nights out each month with my buds. Said nights usually include a nice dinner, a few beers and a taxi home. I rarely drink more than 5 beers per night out. My buds and I generally go to somewhere like Khao San Road . One night out usually costs me about 500 baht. I’d say those nights out average to about 1,500 baht a month total.
Books, computers
I pretty much never buy books, maybe only two or three per year maximum. I might buy a new computer every two to three years. Let’s just suppose a new laptop costs 15,000 baht. 15,000 baht divided by 36 months equals 417 baht per month. Let’s just say 450 per month after the few book purchases each year.
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
One sentence: I live in a comfortable home, eat extremely well, put back some money each month, have a low-stress job with months of vacation time each year, I travel domestically within Thailand and also internationally at least a few times each year, my apartment is decent, though not awesome, and my life is generally quite worry-free.
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
The fact that you can buy food in small portions for a low price. The Export Shop, which can be found in many Thai shopping malls, is also a great bargain. Rent can also be cheap if you know where to look. I pay roughly the same here in Bangkok for rent as I did in a second-tier, far less international northeastern Chinese city.
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
In order to afford only the bare essentials I would say 20,000 baht. This person would have to have practically no social life and a lot of skill in resisting temptation. However, this number could be lower if they split their expenses with another person. However, even if rent and utilities were split with another person, their lifestyle still wouldn’t be very glamorous. In order to live “acceptably,” I would say 30,000 baht is the bare minimum for Bangkok.
Phil's analysis and comment
Thanks Daniel for a very detailed cost of living survey. In fact so detailed, I had to cut some of it out because unfortunately we have limited character space for the answers. OK, what we have here is clearly a guy living well within his means and living very happily on less than 40K a month in Bangkok (which I am always saying is the bare minimum I would want to earn)
I notice Daniel only 'tops up' his salary with 1-2 hours of private teaching each week, so there's little doubt he could push himself harder in that area and earn more money - but I'm guessing he simply doesn't want to - he's happy with his lot. He goes out a few nights a month, lives in a decent place close to all the transportation links and eats very well indeed. Life is happy and simple so why rock the boat and have the stress of taking on extra work?
He's also stashing away about 100-120,000 baht a year. It's not a fortune - and I hope he's got health insurance covered - but it's probably enough for a trip home once a year.
Christopher
Working in Thung Song (Nakhon Si Thammarat Province)
Monthly Earnings 34,000 baht
Q1. How much do you earn from teaching per month?
I earn 34.000 baht per month teaching at a private school in Thung Song
Q2. How much of that can you realistically save per month?
Realistically I could save 10k baht per month, but cancel out partying and expensive accommodation and I could save up to 20k per month.
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
I share a house with one friend, each of us pays about 7k baht per month and this is including bills. It’s a real fancy house, but one could easily find accommodation for 2-3k per month
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
My motorcycle rent costs me 2500 baht per month, and I spend another 1k on petrol. Thung Song is a small town so I never really drive very far to get around.
Utility bills
Our water bill is 150 baht a month and our electric bill is usually around 2000-2500 baht a month.
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
We tend to eat out nearly every night of the week, as it is more expensive to cook your own meals, and as one can get decent meals for 50 baht, it’s just so much more convenient to go eat out and be social. I am fortunate enough to get lunch at school, so that saves a few bucks at the end of the day. For breakfast I usually have eggs and toast at home. I do buy fruit from the market every week, and sometimes a few things from the supermarket. At the end of the day I spend about 5500 baht on eating per month
Nightlife and drinking
I do spent a lot of money on going out and partying, it is quite expensive to drink in a bar or pub here, as you have the choice to take your own booze into the club, but you still have to pay corkage - and the price of mixers are absurd. If we go out every weekend I probably spend between 8000 and 10 000 baht a month.
Books, computers
I’m fortunate to have a computer and don’t spend too much cash on reading, as I brought books along if I feel the need to read. So no, I don’t spend anything on books and PCs.
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
Yeah we as foreigners are in a real fortunate position, as we earn much more than the local Thai people and they manage to live rather comfortably with the “little” cash they earn. That just proves that we have it real easy here, if you are not sending cash back home or paying off some kind of dept you can basically live as you wish. I never have any trouble or stress about cash, and that is quite a satisfying feeling.
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
I feel that this will differ from person to person, as people that come from countries where the currency is so much stronger than the Thai baht might find everything a huge bargain. I think food is pretty cheap, and one can get good accommodation for a fair price. Any service where labour is involved is pretty cheap. Medical care in town is a bargain, as one can go see the doctor and get treated for 400 baht. Transportation is a real bargain, especially travel by minivan to nearby towns.
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
Realistically one can survive on 15,000 baht per month, you will have a reasonably comfortable lifestyle, but without any luxuries.
Phil's analysis and comment
I don't agree with Chris that you could survive on 15,000 baht a month but Chris isn't the one doing the 'surviving' here anyway. He's earning an OK salary for rural Thailand and it seems to afford him a good lifestyle. "I never have any trouble or stress about cash, and that's a very satisfying feeling" You bet it is Chris and I bet there would be millions of people around the world who would be happy to change places with you. Not just because you're in Thailand but also free from money worry.
Chris says that he can save 10K a month (which is OK) but he could save 20K if he moved to cheaper accommodation and cut down on the partying. However, this is one 'cost of living' survey where I would say don't lower your living standards. I bet you've got a wonderful place there for 14,000 baht a month - plenty of rooms and a nice leafy compound. It must be a joy to come back to at the end of a hard day's teaching.
Good on you Chris. You clearly enjoy life down there in Thung Song.
Karl
Working in Bangkok
Monthly Earnings 80,000 baht
Q1. How much do you earn from teaching per month?
I earn 80,000 baht per month teaching at an international school in Bangkok
Q2. How much of that can you realistically save per month?
Realistically I could save 25-30k baht per month but I am yet to save anything. I have just paid back a 60,000 baht start up loan and have bought a computer and new phone.
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
I pay 17k excluding bills for a nice Condo in Silom. It is close to my school and comes with a pool and gym. It is also right next to the BTS.
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
I use the BTS and taxis frequently going around Bangkok. I spend around 3k baht in total each month.
Utility bills
My water bill is 150 baht a month and my electric usually is around 1000 baht a month.
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
I am not fond of eating out every day after work as I am usually tired and just want to watch some TV. Eating in tends to be more expensive and I usually spend around 4k a month on eating in. When out I normally get street food or western fast food which is fairly inexpensive and adds around 1,500 baht to the bill. Total spend around 5,500.
Nightlife and drinking
I spend quite a bit on the weekend and usually go out on Friday and Saturday night, plus I normally have a can in the evening after work. The bill will come to around 15,000 baht a month
Books, computers
Unfortunately I was pick pocketed a couple of weeks ago and lost my new phone that I had just spent 20k baht on. Generally I spend a few thousand baht on gadgets a month but it varies dependent on what I want.
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
I come from London and I get paid the same in Bangkok but with half the living costs. I love the city, its variety and the heat. I am five times happier here than I was in the UK.
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
Cigarettes, food and the rent. I pay more than most people for my rent but I love the convenience of the location. I just went on a great holiday, hiking through jungles, riding elephants and white water rafting and it only cost me 3,000 baht.
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
Well, if you don’t have my rent and you didn’t go out drinking every weekend I think that you would be able to live on 30K. After all, many Thai people live on a lot less than 30k a month.
Phil's analysis and comment
Karl says that he's 'five times happier than when he lived in London" and that says it all really. But as a single guy pulling in 80,000 baht a month, you're always going to live well in Bangkok. Although Karl's 17,000 baht a month rent will be deemed as 'excessive' by a good many teachers, it's still less than a quarter of his monthly salary. In addition, his utility bills are not too high and he doesn't overspend on food. He clearly enjoys a night out though - 15K on entertainment every month is a fair chunk of his salary. I'm sure Karl would like to save something from that 80K a month as well - and I'm sure he will in time. But there's little doubt about it - Karl's leading a very comfortable existence at the present time.
If I can be allowed to home in on a couple of details. An ex-colleague once said to me "you don't save that much money by cooking and eating at home compared to buying streetfood, but by God, you certainly eat better" - and I agree with that 100%. If you're fortunate enough to live somewhere with a decent cooking space, learn how to cook if you can't already. Last night I boiled some pasta with a few spoonfuls of pasta sauce. I added some spicy cooked meat that I get from a quality deli counter and get them to slice thickly so I can cut the meat into cubes. Sprinkle in some chopped dried chilli and voila! - a filling, tasty meal for probably about 60-70 baht.
Streetfood is not what it was. And if you go on the Thai discussion forums, even the Thais themselves are moaning about it. Streetfood favorites like "khaw Man Gai' and 'Khaw Na Ped' are all creeping up in price. And I'm convinced that the portions are getting smaller as well. No, streetfood is not the value it once was. Learn to cook and cook at home!
Interestingly, Karl puts cigarettes in his 'bargains' section. I'm not sure I agree with that anymore. The retail price of a packet of Marlboro is now 90 baht - and they seem to be creeping up in price every couple of months. Let's do the maths for the smokers out there. 90 baht is almost two pounds sterling. I consider the cost of living in Thailand to be a third of what it is in the UK. So therefore two pounds for a packet of fags in Thailand is equivalent to about six pounds in the UK. Well, a packet of cigarettes is currently about 7.50 in England so it's all becoming fairly 'relative' . A twenty-a-day-smoker is still going to puff their way through 2,000 baht a month in Thailand. If you're one of the many 30K-a-month teachers, that's a decent part of your salary going up in smoke.
Showing 5 Cost of Living surveys out of 426 total
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