Harry
Working in Bangkok
Monthly Earnings 150,000
Q1. How is that income broken down? (full-time salary, private students, on-line teaching, extra work, etc)
I am a 28-year old single teacher working at an international school and that is my salary after tax (including my the housing allowance)
Q2. How much money can you save each month?
If I make an effort to save I can easily put aside 100,000 baht but normally the amount is closer to 60,000.
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
I live in a 30 m square condo and pay 13,000 baht a month rent plus around 5,000 baht for bills and maid.
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
4000 baht per month on taxis to and from work
Utility bills
1,500 baht
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
10,000-20,000 per month. I eat out most evenings and regularly eat in nice (fairly expensive) restaurants.
Nightlife and drinking
15,000-25,000 baht. I have a very active social life and go out a lot. This can involve drinking beer in cheap Thai bars or cocktails at roof top bars. The amount will fluctuate but a substantial amount of the money I spend goes on my social life.
Books, computers
Zero.
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
I could not have a better standard of living as a teacher anywhere else in the world.
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
Massages, food, flights, hotels.
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
I make a lot of money but I save a large proportion of it. If I wasn’t saving I could live off 50,000 baht per month as a single person. Any less than that and I would have to really think about what I was spending.
Phil's analysis and comment
Harry says he couldn't have a better standard of living as a teacher anywhere in the world. 150,000 baht a month, a single guy sipping on rooftop cocktails - I don't doubt it for a second.
Slightly off topic but I'm hoping to get an article soon from someone who worked in a Thai government school, decided the salary just wasn't enough to live on, and so returned home to get better teaching qualifications.
Fast forward, the teacher returned to Bangkok, got a job at an international school for a very nice salary package - and hates every minute of it. He wants nothing more than to go back to his old job for probably a third of the salary. He just finds the stress, pressure and all the extra work too much to cope with. I would certainly love to hear more so keep your eyes open for that blog.
Not saying for a moment that this is the case with Harry and his 150,000 baht a month but I think it stands to reason that for the salaries these international schools offer, they would certainly want their pound of flesh.
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