Ed
Working in Bangkok (probably)
Monthly Earnings Hopefully 35,000 baht at least
Q1. How much do you earn from teaching per month?
At the moment I'm not teaching, I just finished a contract in Cambodia and I am settling into Bangkok life with my girlfriend. I need to go home in a few weeks so realistically I can't find and start a job before then.
Q2. How much of that can you realistically save per month?
Not applicable
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
I pay 4,000 baht a month for for apartment with gym. It's very comfortable. Admittedly it's not very big but it has everything I need.
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
Probably between 600 baht and a thousand baht a month for the BTS.
Utility bills
Bills are included in the 4.000 baht a month rent.
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
I would say about 200 baht per day, I love Thai food and the street food is amazing and so accessible, so mostly I eat on the street. Western food is too expensive and not great quality so I tend to avoid it.
Nightlife and drinking
I go out maybe once or twice a month at the moment and spend about 3000 baht in total.
Books, computers
I spend 599 baht on my mobile phone.
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
It's relaxed. Not hugely eventful at the minute but enjoyable. I spend a lot of time just walking around, researching online and relaxing at home. I'm quite content really and while I don't have a job yet I estimate I can earn 35k+ when I come back. I find it strange when many people say you can't live comfortably on that salary here. Currently I'm spending less than half that even with a couple of nights out. How are people struggling on 35K?
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
Food and accommodation are just amazing, 150 baht massages ain't too bad either. As I said above, how can a 35K salary not be enough. You don't have to be paying a big rent and if you can enjoy Thai street food and smaller restaurants (95% of which are awesome) then living here is very inexpensive.
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
I think people can easily survive in Bangkok on 20K if they eat and live in local Thai areas, entertain themselves with all the sights, sounds and differences of life here and avoid impulse purchases. This you can easily live on and find ways to be happy. When you add visas, travel, partying into the equation you need a bit more but again not a huge amount if you're smart.
Phil's analysis and comment
Ed's is an unusual survey inasmuch as he's not actually working at the moment but he's looking for a teaching job. Or rather he will be once he returns from wherever 'home' is.
I rather suspect that Ed is going through what I call 'the honeymoon period' at the moment. Everything in Bangkok is wonderful. What an amazing city! We've all been there. The big question is how long can you make it last?
Plenty of foreigners arrive here with notions of being able to 'live like a Thai'. The 4,000 baht studio apartment is perfectly adequate as is the constant diet of Thai street food. But for most of us it wears off.
Before too long, we're looking for nicer and more spacious accommodation and we want some of those 'Western treats' that we see other foreigners enjoying. There is always that human desire to 'move up the ladder' and better your lifestyle.
If or rather when Ed gets a teaching job and manages to earn a 35K salary (and that certainly isn't setting your sights too high) it would be interesting to chat to him a year down the line and see if his opinions have changed. I suspect they might.
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