Mark
Working in Bangkok
Monthly Earnings 90,000
Q1. How much do you earn from teaching per month?
I work at an international school and my salary is 90k baht. I don't take any private students because the extra time just isn't worth it for me.
Q2. How much of that can you realistically save per month?
I save about 50,000 a month, which may sound like a lot but I also have my fiancee's income. She is a Thai doctor and earns a very good salary (far more than I do) so together we put away a nice figure in the bank.
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
We pay 40,000 a month for a condo in Asok.
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
I catch a motorbike taxi everywhere, not because I'm cheap but because it gets me everywhere fast, and my condo is right near my work place so I would say 1,500 a month on transport
Utility bills
Bills are quite a lot, mostly because I have subscriptions to a lot of streaming sport services, so I would say about 5,000 a month
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
This is the big one. My fiance loves to fine dine, so sometimes she will spend 3,000 baht just on one meal, but she usually grabs the cheque :) She knows I could eat noodles on the street. So personally I would say 40,000 a month.
Nightlife and drinking
Even thought I'm a locked down man now, I was a massive party guy up until last year, and I still feel the need to let loose at RCA, sometimes I could wax 5,000 a night. But these days I will usually only spend that once a month
Books, computers
I'm an avid reader but not really sure what I spend a month on books.
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
Awesome. I eat well (too well), I travel 2.5 months out of the year, and my students are a dream to teach, plus I only teach 15 periods a week. Just turned 30 this year and things are really looking up.
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
Food. Food. Food.
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
You could survive on 40,000 but what's the point? For me, I'd need at least 60,000 to make it worthwhile.
Phil's analysis and comment
We've finally unlocked the secret to it all - marry a doctor!
In the survey that Mark did, he said he spent 4,000 baht a month on food, but considering his missis can blow 3k on one meal just didn't stake up. I'm guessing he meant to write 40,000. That's a lot of money on food each month.
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