Lee
Working in Bangkok
Monthly Earnings 64,000
Q1. How much do you earn from teaching per month?
I work at a private school in Bangkok and my full-time salary is 64,000 baht
Q2. How much of that can you realistically save per month?
20,000
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
My condo is 8,500 baht a month
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
2,000 baht
Utility bills
Electric, water and internet come to just over 2,000 baht
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
About 10,000 baht a month.
Nightlife and drinking
I like a beer and a night out so this can come anywhere between 5-10,000 baht.
Books, computers
Lee did not answer this question.
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
Solid. I can afford to save some of my money but as soon as I want to go home for Christmas or something, most of that money goes.
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
Food can be if you know where to look.
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
50-70,000 baht to live a good life if you are single. I'd certainly want more than that if I had a family.
Phil's analysis and comment
A solid set of figures in this straight-to-the-point survey from Lee. I would agree that you probably need 50-70,000 to live a good life in Bangkok. And a good life means living somewhere comfortable, being able to eat where you want, go out a couple of nights a week - and still have money left over for an annual trip home and the odd weekend away in Thailand perhaps. 50-70K is probably just enough to achieve all that.
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