David
Working in Songkhla
Monthly Earnings 40,000
Q1. How is that income broken down? (full-time salary, private students, on-line teaching, extra work, etc)
I work at a large secondary school in Songkhla, South Thailand, and my full-time salary is 40,000 (less a little bit of tax) To make salary, I teach 16 contact hours a week and do a few hours of admin work. It's a pretty relaxed schedule if I'm honest. On Fridays, I only have to teach two hours. I like Fridays!
Q2. How much money can you save each month?
I try to aim for 10-15K but the problem I have with earning teacher salaries at the lower end of the scale (and I suppose 40K is low end) there are always unexpected expenses just around the corner that can put a serious dent in your savings and budgeting. This month I had to pay over 30,000 for some much-needed dental work that I had been putting off for far too long.
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
I share a house with two other foreign teachers so we split the 9,000 baht a month rent (plus bills) three ways. We all have a large bedroom each, a communal living room and kitchen, two bathrooms (but the shower only works in one of them) and there is a nice leafy garden and terrace where we can sit out and enjoy a beer. The landlord's wife is a teacher at the school so that's probably why we get such a decent deal on the rent. I'm sure he could get considerably more than 9K a month if he tried.
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
We all have our own motorcycle so if you factor in gas and repairs, etc it probably comes to around 1,500 a month. I keep saying I'll buy a cheap second-hand car one day, but it hasn't happened yet.
Utility bills
The electricity bill is around 4,000 a month because we sometimes have three air-conditioners burning juice in the evenings and on weekends, while water is around 200 baht. And of course there is the usual phone plan and streaming subscriptions that add another thousand baht a month.
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
I'm not much of a breakfast person, so I'll just grab a snack on the way to work (maybe some meat and sticky rice) The school has an excellent canteen with a great choice of Thai dishes and even stuff that foreigners like such as deep fried chicken fillets, french fries, etc. The school gives us an allowance to spend each week. It's a good system. For my main meal after school (I rarely eat after 5pm) I'll go to a local restaurant and have something with maybe a beer or soft drink for around hundred baht. If you add in shopping at the market for fresh fruit, my food bill is probably around 6,000 baht a month.
Nightlife and drinking
Songkhla is quite a vibrant city after dark if you know where to go. I tend to divide my nights out between student groups or a few teaching colleagues, but I do like a night out a couple of times a week. I don't drink an awful lot though and two or three small bottles of beer is enough (especially if I have work the following day) Shall we say another 6,000 baht a month.
Books, computers
Not much. My smartphone and laptop are both four years old and still doing the job. I've never been much of a gadget person.
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
Oh, I absolutely love it down here in South Thailand and I'm going into my fourth year here now. The people are the warmest and friendliest you could wish to meet and everybody just gets along. Yes, it would be nice to have a bigger salary and be putting more away for the future but for now, I'm just enjoying life and going with the flow. Hopefully the future will take care of itself.
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
Eating out at local hole-in-the-wall restaurants is terrific value and I would also say bus travel if you fancy having a day out in one of the neighboring provinces.
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
In Songkhla, 30-35K a month means you don't go without.
Phil's analysis and comment
Thanks Dave. I've recently returned from a road trip down south and I couldn't agree more about the southern folk being amongst the friendliest in Thailand. I wasn't in Songkhla but I've been down there a couple of times before and it's a lovely province. I also agree with what you say about 'unexpected expenses' and that's why you always need to keep some savings under the mattress. You never know what's around the corner. I've just had a bedroom air-conditioner pack up and it cost me around 20K to replace.
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