Alan
Working in Lamphun
Monthly Earnings 230,000
Q1. How much do you earn from teaching per month?
I earn 35K a month from my government school job in Lamphun. I also teach on-line for the same Japanese university I worked at in the past. That gets me another 130,000. In addition I get other university bonuses for attracting new students, etc and that makes up the package to around 230K.
Q2. How much of that can you realistically save per month?
live a rather simple life, spending only about 15,000 on myself. Through a Christian network, I support some young Thai people to finish school, go to junior college or learn a trade. And I outright sponsor a very poor family of elderly parents with a handicapped son. I spend about 56,000/month on these sponsorship efforts. I save the rest, about 160,000 Baht/month. I don't travel back home or take trips any longer (did all that when I was younger), so the money is in fact saved, not accumulated for later
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
I spend 4,000 / month rent for a pretty large corner, tree-shaded apartment in an older building, with one bedroom, small kitchenette, large bathroom, large open area, security guard; decent enough wi-fi internet included.
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
100 Baht. I live less than a kilometer from the school. Still, I go back and forth on a motorcycle I bought new three years ago, mostly so I don't arrive at school already sweaty in the morning. I spend about 100 baht / month on petrol for it. I live within walking distance of two large supermarkets, two morning wet markets, one evening wet market, so I never really use the bike for much else
Utility bills
Average 650/month for water / electricity. Water is set at 80 baht/month, the rest is electricity. I don't use air-con; don't like it. I use several fans, though. I run a load in the washing machine about once a week. I keep the small fridge on a rather low setting. Never watch TV. Probably my laptop is the biggest user of electricity, as I do my Japanese university work on it for about four hours weekdays and eight to ten hours Sat / Sun
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
About 6,000 / month; I buy and prepare basic things like chicken, pork, eggs, rice, oatmeal, fruits and vegetables. I almost never eat packaged foods or import products; just don't have a taste for them. Preparing these gives me a good break from the computer.
Nightlife and drinking
Uh, I use some Melatonin to help fall asleep sometimes! Really, I live in a small town; I get a kick from my work. I may go walk the "walking street" occasionally, but only for the exercise.
Books, computers
About 300 Baht / month on used textbooks that I pick up from a local bookshop. I love reading old high school textbooks in history and sciences. Computer: I use a laptop provided by my Japanese university. I have my own laptop; it's over five years old now. So, really no expense for computers.
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
For a guy like me, who likes it simple and quiet, really quite good. My health is good, I eat the kind of foods I like, I do the work I enjoy, I walk a lot and do some basic exercising, I sleep well, I like my students and my colleagues at the school. Things are a lot slower for me here than they were in Japan, which at this time in my life is just what I want it to be.
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
Housing, food, services.
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
In a small town like mine, you can easily get by on 20,000 baht/month as long as you don't spend the rest on getting out of town on trips and such. I get by on about 15,000/month and I know a guy who spends less, only 12,000/month. If you need to have things and/or adventures, though, these levels are realistic for you.
Phil's analysis and comment
230K a month. Not bad is it? I guess the main question a lot of people will be asking Alan is 'why do you bother with a full-time government school position when your income from the Japanese university is so high?' Alan was good enough to reply.
"Because I truly enjoy being in the classroom and teaching young minds. I teach M1 to M4 Reading. It gets me out of the house. I don't have kids of my own, so it's also rewarding in a latent paternal instinct way"
You are very welcome to submit your own cost of living survey for this section of the ajarn website and I have created an online survey to hopefully make it a little easier.
However, I am getting a number of surveys where the teacher hasn't really taken much time and effort over it - and it shows. Sorry I can't think of another way to put that. As a result, the survey just becomes a list of figures. I think if you look back at the last half a dozen surveys or so, you get an idea of what we're looking for. Cheers.
Submit your own Cost of Living survey
