Jamie
Working in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
Monthly Earnings 35,000 baht
Q1. How much do you earn from teaching per month?
About 35 000 Baht or 23,000,000 Dong. This is divided between two adult classes at the language center, one weekend kids class, an adult class I do at another school, my regular primary classes at another school, and extra classes I pick up as a substitute teacher (at a higher rate). Although it sounds like a lot, I am actually considerably lazy and don't work as much as I should. All stated classes are just a few hours per week.
Q2. How much of that can you realistically save per month?
Absolutely none; in fact, I still withdraw up to $500 Canadian each month to enjoy a standard of living I like. Luckily I can do this because of my savings in my home country and working abroad.
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
I pay about 10 000 Baht. I live in a small room above a Vietnamese cafe by day and a farang-owned chicken restaurant at night. I have a balcony but the bathroom is outside the room; the shower is almost just a hole in the wall (very "hong nam" style, while the bathtub is effectively unusable). There is another room below me that my friend lives in. We have air-con and there are several cafes and restaurants in the area but none open during the day. The river is a popular area for exercise and local gossip.
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
I spend about 1,400 baht a month on my motorcycle rental, or half of what I would pay in Thailand. However the bike is extremely old and compared to a Thai bike has no spirit whatsoever ie. I could not imagine pulling onto Sukhumvit with this thing! Gas is negligibly cheap, but about 200 B per month
Utility bills
I have included utility bills of air-con and electricity in the cost for the room, but it's about 1,000 baht per month. My friend who owns the chicken restaurant gives me water at a discounted rate (about 200 baht per month) but I usually buy my own
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
See Phil's comment section below.
Nightlife and drinking
I like to have a social life and I like going out and dancing and checking out the crowd. A night out can accrue another 1500B or more tab, similar to farangy prices in Thailand at the popular Sukhumvit nightclub area. A bottle of champagne with my friends at a rooftop will go for 1,500 baht, while a standard beer or cocktail might be 230 baht
Books, computers
Books can easily be found through the network of expats here, and material is supplied. I did buy a phone however and it was 15,500 baht (which obviously I used my savings for). I should mention that I also have to update my visa every 3 months which costs 3,500 baht
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
See Phil's comments below.
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
Only motorbikes and beer; the motorbike rental being half what I pay in Thailand, and beer being 20 baht or less per bottle.
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
42 million Dong, or about 55 to 60,000 baht, which I believe is the same amount you would need in Bangkok to be comfortable also. My friends who work more than I do earn this much and do spend as much money on food as I do. They are able to save money, travel, and even go home with this kind of salary.
Phil's analysis and comment
No disrespect Jamie, but that sounds a bit miserable. Thank you though for being so honest.
I rather expected better things from Vietnam and a lot of what I read in Jamie's account gave me quite a shock. Reading between the lines, it sounds like you would be happier in Thailand and where you are now almost makes Thailand out to be a TEFLers paradise!
But before we diss Vietnam completely, we had another survey come in from Lee, another expat teacher in Vietnam. It follows on from this one and it's well worth a read.
Jamie gave very detailed answers to two of the questions above and because space is limited, I have put his answers here.
On the topic of his monthly food spend, Jamie said "Food is incredibly expensive - I am a small guy, but a bodybuilding athlete with a high metabolism - I need to eat a lot. I can easily spend 800 to 1000 baht per day on local food. For example, breakfast with my girlfriend being 2 eggs and bread for me, local soup for her, and one yogurt drink, will be about 200 baht. For lunch I will have two orders of chicken and rice, 150 baht. After my workout I will go for "bo ne dac biet" which is like "special steak plate" which is some eggs and beef parts on a grilled plate, the heartiest meal so far, also the cheapest at 80 baht. Then I will go out for a real dinner with my girlfriend and friends and have a variety of dishes and beers"
And in answer to the question - How would you summarize your standard of living? Jamie said "Very poor. Food is twice as much as in Thailand and not nearly as diverse or plentiful - sometimes I have to drive a very long time before finding something open that isn't Pizza Hut. As mentioned in the acommodation section, I pay 10,000 baht for basically an empty room without a bathroom - similar to a 2,000 baht apartment I had in Chiang Mai once (had a bathroom though). Likewise I know that for 10,000 baht I could have a high rise condo in On Nut with a swimming pool, kitchen and laundry included. Things are much more expensive but it is expected that the Vietnamese people pay the bills by cramming together in small rooms and eating on 60 baht per day"
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