David
Working in Bangkok
Monthly Earnings 35,000
Q1. How much do you earn from teaching per month?
I live in Bangkok and work through an agency. Right now, I teach English in a pretty good government high school. My net income is 33,000 and I get around 2,700 (300b an hour) from teaching private students on weekends.
Q2. How much of that can you realistically save per month?
I spend a lot of money on food. I like to buy new clothes and gadgets as well. I have a scooter (bought with an installment plan, 7,000 baht down and 3,000 monthly for a year since last December) which I always use to get to my school. I can save up around 5,000b a month
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
I live near Victory Monument (heart of the city) and I’m renting an apartment for 5,500 a month. I have a room, a bathroom and everything I need: A/C, TV, fridge, hot shower, own internet connection (590b a month).
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
As I mentioned, I ride my scooter and I have to fill the tank 2-3 times a week (100 baht per tank).
Utility bills
About 800 baht a month for both water and electricity. I use the A/C as much as I want and the 3BB Internet connection costs 590b a month (got my own router).
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
I spend a lot of money on food. I like to go to The Pizza Company, Sukishi, Toast2U and so on. I used to have a meal from 7-11 everyday as well, but I also like to get something delicious from the street vendors. So around 10.000 baht a month. I don’t have a kitchen but would love to have one in the future to save money.
Nightlife and drinking
Nothing, but I sometimes go to the cinema.
Books, computers
I have a 4-month old notebook and a 6-month old phablet (bought them here), not so expensive stuff, but I can say that I think I’m able to buy new gadgets every year.
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
My standard of living is much better and more comfortable than it would be in my home country. My life is totally stress-free.
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
Food, gas, gadgets, accommodation. Those smoothies…
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
At least 20,000 baht a month but that would be a bit difficult. You would have to live a Thai lifestyle with no luxuries and little or nothing in the way of savings each month.
Phil's analysis and comment
Anyone who follows these cost of living surveys will probably predict what I'm going to say first - 35K in my opinion just isn't enough for a foreign teacher to live on in Bangkok. However, many teachers do and David above seems to be very happy with his lifestyle so who am I to argue? He eats well, treats himself to a few gadgets and has his own transportation. But at the end of the day, he's only stashing away 60K a year for a rainy day. A trip home to see the family or some unforeseen expense will account for those savings in the blink of an eye and the flap of a withdrawal slip.
If I were David, I would be looking to maximize my earning potential a bit more. 300 baht an hour for private students is mighty low for starters. If he's teaching those privates at his home or their home, he's seriously undercharging. He should be asking for at least 500 baht an hour and certainly more if it's a small group of 2-3 students let's say.
If he's happy earning 300 baht an hour, why not look to teach in the evenings during the week and leave his weekends free. Life is much more enjoyable - in any job - when you have two days off a week instead of one!
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