Cha
Working in Trang
Monthly Earnings 30,000
Q1. How much do you earn from teaching per month?
I work in a government school English program in Trang and my basic salary is 30,000 baht. I don't do any extra teaching on top of that.
Q2. How much of that can you realistically save per month?
I have saved 23,000 baht in the two months I've been here. My target is to save at least 12,000 a month.
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
I pay 5,000 a month for a studio-type apartment.
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
I generally walk everywhere or hitch a ride with a colleague so almost nothing.
Utility bills
I'm cutting down on using the a/c so 1,460 baht last month should go down to about 1,000 this month.
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
Now that one of my colleagues has moved to work in Bangkok, I'm back to eating healthier, which means less eating out. My food bill plus household stuff for the first two months came in at just over 10,000 baht.
Nightlife and drinking
Nightlife for me is mostly about eating out with friends so about 1,000 baht a month.this
Books, computers
Virtually nothing.
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
t's comfortable since I live in a good place where you don't need all that much money. I need to cut down on eating out, which I'm doing starting this month.
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
Food and rent. I can live in a cheaper place but this one is near the stadium and walking distance to the school. Also, I don't cook so I eat outside or do my groceries and eat salad at night. I'm pescetarian so you can eat seafood here and it's not expensive.
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
30,000 is comfy for a single person. You can find a cheaper rent but this is a sort of serviced apartment. They have facilities and they understand English. Every problem I've had has been solved- where to get my ball pumped, electric fan blade replacement, laundry with iron, doctor, etc.
Phil's analysis and comment
A fairly no-nonsense, no-frills survey but probably what you would expect from a 30,000 baht a month salary. It allows for an OK living outside of Bangkok provided that you don't spend much on accommodation and nightlife, etc. And Cha stays well within his budget on all the basics.
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