Every new arrival wants to know "can I survive or live well in Bangkok or rural Thailand on 30,000 baht a month"? Or perhaps 40,000 baht or even 50,000? Let's compare the lifestyles and spending habits of different teachers currently living and working in Thailand. We are concerned with what they earn, but more to the point - what do they spend money on? How much do they manage to save? Do they earn enough from teaching in Thailand to enjoy a comfortable lifestyle? 
Conversion rate as of February 2009 is approximately 35 baht to one US Dollar or 51 baht to one pound sterling.
 

The Questions
How much do you earn from teaching per month?
How much of that can you realistically save per month?
How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
What do you spend a month on the following things?
a) Transportation
b) Utility bills
c) Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
d) Nightlife and drinking
e) Books, computers
How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
In your opinion, how much money does a foreign teacher need to earn here in order to survive?

Name: Darren                                            

Phil's Comments
I think Darren would probably fall into the category of 'typical western teacher' in terms of lifestyle (apart from the fact he doesn't spend money on nightlife and the demon drink) He earns 40-50K a month, which is enough to get him a decent apartment and he seems to be doing OK. Saving 5,000 baht a month is better than nothing, but stuffing 60,000 baht a year under the mattress is never going to give you a golden retirement. One trip home every year and that little nest egg is wiped out in an instant. I don't know of Darren's plans but perhaps teaching in Thailand is something he only wants to do for a few years and that's perfectly OK.
 
 

Name: Jon                                            

Phil's Comments
Interesting one. I'm presuming that Jon is a single guy. If that's the case, then 70-85K a month is a good amount of money. A single man can live very, very comfortably on that income in Bangkok. That said, Jon certainly works hard for it. 30-33 contact teaching hours a week and probably a fair bit of travelling is no picnic. Scuba, golf and boys toys don't come cheap and I'm not surprised Jon only manages to stash away 25% of his salary. I would be looking to save more than that but it's different strokes for different folks I guess. I don't think there's any need to pay 21K a month for rent and what on earth do you do with the two bathrooms you're not in? The Emporium by the way is one of Bangkok's premier shopping malls and certainly one of the swankier areas of town.
 

Name: Bob and Lom                                            

Phil's Comments
Nice to hear from a teacher living in Chiang Rai because it's quite possibly my favorite place in the whole of Thailand. I certainly have an idea in the back of my mind to move there one day, in fact I sat down with my wife not long ago and we worked out how much it would cost to maintain a decent lifestyle, living in Chiang Rai, not working, and still enjoying a holiday or two abroad every year. We got the figure to about 85,000 baht a month but I can certainly see how Bob and Lom manage on about 60K - without the holidays abroad. Take care on those roads though Bob.

 

Name: Eddy                                             

Phil's Comments
Interesting stuff. What you have to infer from the above - and what Eddy doesn't state directly - is that he obviously has some sort of private school / freelance teaching sideline going on as well as his regular teaching gig. I'm looking at the reference to the utility bills of course. All in all, I'm not sure how the 100,000 baht income is broken down exactly but it's probably none of my business anyway.
So what have we got? 100,000 baht a month coming in. 70,000 baht of that getting stashed away for a rainy day. He's got a four-bedroom mickey overlooking the ocean with spectacular views of the sunset from his balcony. All this he rents for a steal. He runs a motor. He's walking distance from beachside restaurants. Folks, I think we've met Thailand's happiest foreign teacher!
 

Name: Christopher                                             

Phil's Comments
70-75,000 baht a month means a very comfortable standard of living in Bangkok but Chris did contact me to tell me that he was married with one stepson. I'm glad he said that because I would be surprised if a single guy earning 70,000+ was only putting 15,000 a month in the bottom drawer. Chris' other job by the way, is a proofreading and editing position that pays 25K a month on top of the 50K he gets from teaching. Sounds like there might be a lot of hours to work there but when you're married with children, those are the sacrifices you make I guess.

Name: Kirby                                              

Phil's Comments
Bloody hell Kerb! Your wages go straight into your wife's bank account (I thought that practice died out when the second world war ended) You don't get let out for a night out with the lads and a couple of light ales. You're bringing in the dollar equivalent of 30,000 baht a month from your savings. And twice a year you have to go to Pattaya! I'm wringing my handkerchief out here boss.

Name: Timothy                                             

Phil's Comments
My father always had a saying - "running a car will keep you poor" and while that's not always the case of course, a whopping third of Tim's salary goes into keeping his four wheels on the road. On the other hand, he'll soon be in the position of not having to pay rent of any description. It's always nice when your accommodation overheads don't include a rent bill every month, despite the fact that property here doesn't have a great re-sale value unless your front door opens on to the beach or you're five minutes walk from an international school.

Name: Martin                                              

Phil's Comments
Martin enjoys his life out there in the rurals - but it certainly isn't for everyone. You surely wouldn't want to live in school digs forever and eventually the lack of things to do is going to wear you down ( I know plenty of teachers in that boat) But for now it sounds reasonable enough. He's saving a third of his salary and manages to get out on the golf course from time to time. It doesn't sound as though he goes hungry either. I'm sure 7,000 baht buys you plenty of grub in that part of the world. I bet Martin sinks his teeth into a nice Joe Blake whenever he feels like it

Name: John                                             

Phil's Comments
John sounds a little bit jaded and I don't blame him. I would hate to live in Chiang Mai on 29,000 baht a month. Numerous people have tried to convince me down the years that Chiang Mai is substantially cheaper to live in than Bangkok but I've never bought into it. And any teacher with the experience of looking for work in Chiang Mai will tell you how low the salaries seem to be (generally)
Chiang Mai would be a fantastic place to retire to for someone who's made their money but surviving up there as an common or garden TEFLer can't be easy.

Name: James                                              

Phil's Comments
75-80,000 baht a month is a very nice salary, especially when you've got someone else paying your utility bills! I also agree with James that 40,000 is the absolute minimum for Bangkok, and you'll certainly need more than that if you're looking to fund a nice annual holiday or two.

Name: Patrick                                             

Phil's Comments
Patrick sent this to me by way of introduction
"I and my (Thai) wife are both university professors at a good Thai University (I teach economics and government). We live in a small row house up in Don Muang, about 30 km from work, while we save money for a larger house. Our combined income is about 1.5 million a year, and we save a bit more than half of it -- most months. Our biggest expense by far is taxis, we both use them a lot.
Phil says - You can have a very nice lifestyle with a combined income of 1.5 million a year and you can see from the figures that Patrick doesn't skimp on food and utilities, he runs a car and also fills his shopping trolley with gay abandon. I like the point that Brian makes about labor. I'm always amazed how little it costs when you hire a Thai worker or 'handyman' to come and do a job for you. The most difficult part is finding one!

Name: Dan                                             

Phil's Comments
In my opinion 30-35,000 baht a month is the absolute minimum you can survive on in Bangkok so Dan is a nice case study to start off with. He works in the capital and earns 34,000 a month.
He's certainly got things sorted out in the housing department, paying only 5,500 for a house in a great location. I'm guessing that because his utility bill is so low the house either doesn't have air-conditioning or he very rarely switches it on. For me a house without air-con blasting away (at least in one room) is no fun at all. That said, Dan doesn't skimp on his grub, and he's obviously something of a 'taxi man'. With the average cost of a taxi journey being about 80 baht, he must take plenty of cabs. I'm with him all the way on the bus thing. While 500 baht a week spent on nightlife hardly puts him in the Peter Stringfellow category, 3,000 baht a month going into the savings account is a bit worrying. I'm sure Dan would like to build up more of a savings 'cushion' if he could.

Name: Zach                                             

Phil's Comments
Zach saves a commendable 10-13,000 baht a month from his salary (150,000 baht a year is no small money), so that must please him. I'm not entirely sure what 5,000 baht a month would get you apartment-wise down in Hat Yai though. It is Thailand's third biggest city and it is a major economic center. I'd be interested in how much space Zach has for that amount of rental money. 33,000 is not bad at all though for The Hat.

Name: Joe                                             

Phil's Comments
Joe is married with two children, so although he earns a relatively whopping 71,000 baht a month, his outgoings are high. I'm sure Joe would be the first to admit that if he were single, he'd be living the life of Riley on that sort of income. Although he didn't say in his e-mail to me, I bet holding down two jobs means teaching a lot of hours, but you do these things when you've a wife and kiddies to support.
Oh, the 13,000 baht for transportation includes Joe's car payments.

Name: Linda                                             

Phil's Comments
Linda shares my opinion about the difference between living and surviving - 5,000 baht a month can make all the difference. I haven't been to Khorat in a while but there never strikes me as being very much to spend your money on. I'm not surprised that the nightlife bill only comes to about 500 a month. Linda's transportation bill includes running her very own truck and when it comes to food, she certainly doesn't go hungry. She sounds as though all in all, she lives well. And manages to put a few quid in the bank each month. Nice one.

Name: Brian                                             

Phil's Comments
Everyone has their own priorities and I take my hat off to Brian for managing to save well over 50% of his salary, but there are very few teachers in the 35-50,000 earning bracket who follow his example.
If my maths is correct, then Brian is living on 15,000 baht a month and the cost of his house is coming out of that relatively small amount. There's no doubt that Brian does 'go without' on occasion. He has no internet access, his food bill is the lowest so far, and his utility bill of just 500 baht would suggest he survives without air-conditioning. His standard of living seems to be a lot lower than what I would settle for but sacrifices do have to be made if you're looking to save 25,000 baht a month.

Name: Jason                                             

Phil's Comments
Jason is an interesting case study. He earns 50-70,000 baht a month, which is a decent income for a Bangkok teacher, but lives (or tries to live) the life of someone on double that amount. 19,000 baht a month for an apartment! a part-time maid to rinse out his smalls! 18,000 baht a month on food and entertainment! Leave me out. You have to live within your means as a teacher. If Jason has a nice nest egg behind him then who can blame him for lording it up til the wee small hours. If he doesn't have a bit of floorboard money stashed away, then I'd sure hate to be his bank manager. I think I'd hate to be his liver as well.

Name: Graeme                                             

Phil's CommentsPhil's analysis and comment
I like the look of Graeme's numbers - I really do. It sounds like he lives in a really nice place, he spends quite a bit on the pleasures in life and he still sticks 10-15,000 in the bank every month. Like many teachers, Graeme worries about financial security in the future but if he's living for the now, then he's sure enjoying himself. I disagree with his inferring that 40,000 baht salaries will see you living in a shoebox. Again, it depends on your priorities.

Name: Dave                                             

Phil's Comments
For those who don't know it, Chacheungsaw (where Dave lives) is about an hour's commute from Bangkok. I'm sure Dave will forgive me when I say that it's hardly the Las Vegas of Eastern Thailand. In fact I sometimes think its only claim to fame is that you can spell the name fifty different ways! A teacher's salary of 34,000 will go a long way in Chachoengsaw (there's another one)
It's worth pointing out that Dave runs a motorcycle (probably an essential) and sounds a bit like a health food freak. Most of his food spending seems to go on milk and muesli. Have I got that right Dave?

Name: Jack                                             

Phil's Comments
What can I say? Jack's a spender - no doubt about that. Food, booze and nightlife run him 14,000 a month and a further 10,000 for rent and utilities. Keep out of those go-go bars Jack!
What's pleasing me about this survey is that many teachers seem to have found good houses in good locations. And there's me thinking that most teachers lived in 3-4,000 baht shoeboxes.

Name: Richard                                             

Phil's Comments
Richard has earning and saving potential that 99% of teachers in Thailand can only dream about. Thailand's your oyster on 150,000 baht a month and there should be plenty left over for a rainy day as well. What more can you say?

Name: Doug                                              

Phil's Comments
Doug earns a very nice salary - make no mistake. I just feel that he could be saving (or hiding) more than 5,000 baht a month (even with a kiddy on the way) Perhaps he needs to eat more Thai food and take public transport a bit more often. That said, I never begrudge a man sinking his teeth into a hearty rump steak or jumping into an air-conditioned taxi while the Bangkok massive stand sweltering at their bus shelters.

Name: Allan                                             

Phil's Comments
Allan manages his budget well and lives the kind of life he wants to lead....all on about 30,000 baht a month. He doesn't squander large amounts of money on beer, food and entertainment but he seems happy with his lot. He uses the words 'comfortable and relaxed' to describe his lifestyle. Who is going to argue with that? Nice to see that he's managing to stick 6,000 baht a month in the tommy tank as well. Probably to fund those trips to Bangkok every couple of months.

Name: Joshua                                             

Phil's Comments
"I can't keep staying like this but it can be fun at times". I think that sentence sums it up to be honest. I presume Joshua is quite young and he can afford to do this for a couple of years at most, but one day reality will come a-knocking. At the moment it looks like a fragile existence. Not wishing to tempt fate in any way, but in Josh's position, you're just one motorbike accident away from financial trauma. He sounds like he has everything he needs - for now.

Name:                                              

Phil's Comments