Jay
Working in Pattaya
Monthly Earnings 37,000 baht
Q1. How much do you earn from teaching per month?
I earn 35,000 baht from my regular school job as well as an extra 2,000 per month from private tutoring
Q2. How much of that can you realistically save per month?
Virtually none. It's difficult to live in Pattaya on a teacher's salary unless you live like a monk
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
None, as I live with my girlfriend and her mother. It's a typical Thai-style townhouse with cold water and no air conditioning. It was difficult to adapt to but it would be harder to survive with rent to pay.
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
We have a car and spend approximately 3,000 per month on petrol
Utility bills
Nothing, as I live at my girlfriend's mother's place. Mother pays the bills.
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
Food is my biggest expenditure by far. I don't like Thai food so eat international food most days which eats up a considerable chunk of my salary. If I could eat Thai food without gagging, I know I would save a lot more
Nightlife and drinking
Once or twice a month I'll go down walking street but I don't drink alcohol so tend to sip on cokes instead of boozing and partying hard.
Books, computers
Nothing at all.
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
Pretty mediocre at the moment but with my plans to relocate myself and my wife away from Thailand, our only option is to live frugally
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
In Pattaya? Not a lot of things can be considered a "bargain"
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
Teachers could get by on as low as 30,000 but I wouldn't recommend it, especially with the lights and temptations of Pattaya. I recommend a minimum of 35-40 thousand
Phil's analysis and comment
The first of two cost of living surveys from the nation's favourite seaside resort - Pattaya. A place that has always struck me as one of the worst cities in Thailand to try and make it as an English teacher.
Jay. You're in Pattaya. You're living in your girlfriend's mom's shophouse with no air-con and no hot water. A night out is you sipping a Coke and watching everyone else having the time of their lives as you stumble from one overpriced farang meal to another.
Run! Jay run! Run as fast as your legs will carry you and don't look back. There has to be a better life out there for you than this. Oh Pattaya, you tormentor of men. You stealer of souls.
If anyone fancies doing a cost of living survey, I've now put the questions on-line to make it easier and quicker for you. Please spare half an hour if you can.
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