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.
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