I don't understand why people keep saying they cannot live like a Thai in Bangkok. I live in Seoul but I've been to Bangkok a few times and I had noticed that the cost of living there is very cheap compared to where I live now.

I'm not a teacher or even a native English speaker but I have friends who teach English here and they generally get paid about 2,000 US dollars a month plus free accommodations. An officetel (it's a tiny studio) rent is around 800 dollars so if you include that in the salary then a monthly income of an English teacher would amount to 2,800 dollars.

That's actually even less than the average graduate salary in Korea but expats here still enjoy a reasonable life in Seoul. On the other hand, despite the huge difference in the cost of living between Seoul and Bangkok, expats' living expenses in these two cities seem somewhat similar as I see people claiming that you could struggle even with 80,000 baht (which is approximately 2,200 US dollars. )

Obviously that's because expats in Bangkok are trying to live a much better life than average Thai people. Here in Seoul, people don't do that. We just go to the same restaurants Korean people go to and we shop at where Korean people shop at. That's why even though expats here are not generally well off, we don't struggle with money.

So probably it's about time for people to adapt and live like average Thai people since you are in Thailand.

David