Chris
Working in Bangkok
Monthly Earnings 41,000 baht
Q1. How much do you earn from teaching per month?
I teach at a private bilingual school on the outskirts of Bangkok. I earn 33,000 baht a month as a full-time salary and I earn another 8,000 baht a month at a private language school on Saturdays.
Q2. How much of that can you realistically save per month?
A maximum of 10,000 baht.
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
Accommodation is a tiny apartment close to the school. It costs about 3,500 baht a month.
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
Transportation is roughly 1,000 baht a month as I can walk to school. It's my daily exercise. The transportation is purely for any buses and taxis that I take.
Utility bills
Chris did not answer this question so we'll assume it's covered in the 3,500 baht a month rent.
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
I eat out every chance I get, so at least once a week. Western food is expensive here. Eating out and groceries probably come to 8,000 baht a month
Nightlife and drinking
I did the nightlife thing in my twenties. I'm now so over it.
Books, computers
I pay about 1,000 baht a month on data for when I'm not at home or at school. I buy at least one or two books a month but under 1,000 baht.
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
My standard of living is pretty decent but I don't need to stay in a luxury apartment. I do stay in the outskirts of Bangkok though so I don't end up buying or spending money on needless things on a daily basis and I don't eat out every day either. School provides a decent lunch for free during weekdays. They also pay for holidays once you've completed a full year's service, so that helps. I do work through half of my holidays at the school doing Summer School for new students.
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
Taxis (when they run the meter) and rent. Also electronic products are cheaper than South Africa (not sure compared to USA / UK), flights, street food.
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
At least 35,000 baht a month. I struggled a bit before I started the extra work at the language school, as you sometimes have unexpected expenses like doctor's visits, replacing your old laptop for a new one once it starts giving you problems, buying black shirts for everyday use during mourning periods, etc.
Phil's analysis and comment
I felt a tinge of sadness reading Chris's survey because it reminded me of me. A life where you are working all the hours Godsend so you can make ends meet. The dreaded six days a week! I've been there Chris. I did it for ten years or more. And what you end up doing is cramming all the shopping and those weekly chores into your one solitary day off and before you know it, you're back on the six-day treadmill.
I am yet to meet a Thai person or a farang who says that one day off a week gives them enough time to organize their life properly. It doesn't.
My wife works for a Japanese company and it is written in their contract that they have to work 13 Saturdays a year. So on the Saturdays she has to work, she gets up, gets changed into her company uniform, let's out a deep and audible sigh and says "six days a week is bullshit!" - and I couldn't agree more. In fact, show me a petition calling for a four-day working week and I'll sign it. We'll probably all get just as much done as well.
Chris, what I did was start teaching privately in the evenings two or three nights a week. OK it made for some very long and tiring days but when you get to Friday night and you're looking forward to a whole weekend off, it becomes well worth it.
As I've said before in these surveys, if you truly enjoy teaching and you're young and energetic, you can cope. But that six days a week is not for me.
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