Richard
Working in Bangkok
Monthly Earnings 142,823
Q1. How is that income broken down? (full-time salary, private students, on-line teaching, extra work, etc)
This is my salary from a mid-tier international school.
Q2. How much money can you save each month?
60-80K per month depending on large purchases (phone, holidays etc)
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
I live in a high-floor modern condo and got a good deal during the pandemic but the landlord based in HK keeps trying to nudge it up. Rent is 37,000 baht a month but the school gives me a 27k allowance.
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
I rent a car for 8K a month and another 4K goes on gas. Before I had a car I was paying 8-10K on taxis just for commuting.
Utility bills
Internet 550
Electricity 3,000
Water 250
Maid 4,500
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
This varies significantly. A rough estimate would probably be around 16K a month. Eating out again just depends on the frequency and where I go, I would say roughly 6K for that.
Nightlife and drinking
I prefer the Thai style places and generally drink Singha so not usually too expensive. I could save money by drinking Leo but it's minging and dont get me started on Chang! Roughly 6.000 a month on average maybe
Books, computers
My school provides anything I need for the job so this is just my own items. So the usual big purchases every three years or so. Phones here are not cheap but TVs seem to be.
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
Outstanding. I don't know why (or how) anyone could go back to Europe / US after being here from a financial point of view. If you are hired by one of the good Tier 1/2 international schools, then it's very lucrative. Even more so if you have a partner and they work in the same standard of school too.
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
Alcohol, taxis, some foodstuffs, domestic flights (but not flights to Koh Samui)
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
I guess you cut your cloth accordingly depending on your salary but I do see lots of TEFL/TESOL jobs that pay 25-35K and I think that would be a struggle, certainly not enjoyable but survivable. 50K plus would be the tipping point for living reasonably well and 100K plus for living very comfortable with savings potential. Bangkok is a great place for the low cost of living
Phil's analysis and comment
Reading between the lines Richard, it sounds like your partner might well bring in the same sort of salary. A couple are certainly going to live well in Thailand with a joint income in excess of 250K. That's a nice benefit with the housing allowance as well. You must be living in a heck of a nice place for 37K a month!
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