James
Working in Bangkok
Monthly Earnings 120,000
Q1. How much do you earn from teaching per month?
I work at a tier 2 international school and my salary is 120k after tax and including a housing allowance.
Q2. How much of that can you realistically save per month?
70,000
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
18k for a large one-bedroom condo near Rama 9 (of which my partner pays 8k)
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
Very little. I walk to work and run a small motorbike that runs on little more than fresh air.
Utility bills
Electricity, water and internet is about 2,000 a month.
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
Lunch is free at work so food only really consists of dinner, say 5k a month.
Nightlife and drinking
Nightlife probably accounts for 5-10k a month depending on how thirsty I get.
Books, computers
Very little goes on CPUs and books unless something needs replacing, so say 1k per month
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
Comfortable & with enough leftover at the end of the month to save for a half decent retirement. I have no pension or property to otherwise fall back on in the future.
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
Taxis are incredibly cheap, as is local food and the water bill.
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
30k over and above rent. But this can only be temporary unless you don't need to worry about retirement.
Phil's analysis and comment
You realise how cheap taxi fares are here every time you travel abroad. I caught a taxi from Birmingham Airport in England a few weeks ago to travel barely 10 kilometres and the fare cost over 1,500 baht. The same journey in Bangkok wouldn't have been 10% of that.
Nice survey this one. Even though James earns a very good salary from an international school and could live the life of Riley, he's keeping a good eye on the future. And let me tell you James, the older the get, the more important that becomes.
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