Sam
Working in Bangkok
Monthly Earnings 85,000 baht
Q1. How much do you earn from teaching per month?
My base salary is 45,000 after taxes and I make another 40,000 from private tutoring six days a week.
Q2. How much of that can you realistically save per month?
45,000 - 50,000
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
I live in a condo on Rama 9 Road and the rent is 13,000 baht a month.
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
I spend about 1,200 baht a month. I try to keep all my private tutoring to within the same area to avoid any long commutes.
Utility bills
My girlfriend pays the utility bills and I pay the rent. That's the arrangement. On average 1,700 baht for electric, 150 for water, 1,100 for TV, internet and two phones with minutes and internet packages through True.
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
We will cook at home 4-5 days a week and eat out on the other 2-3 days. The monthly spend would be in the region of 10K for the two of us.
Nightlife and drinking
My girlfriend and I don't go out too much but if we do, we typically go and have a decent dinner, a couple of drinks and go play pool. A typical night out would be 1,500 - 2,000 baht for both of us
Books, computers
I don't buy many books but if I do, I go to Chatuchak Market and look through the second-hand collection. Other books are purchased for students for private tutoring which I purchase at DK.
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
My standard of living is excellent and I have been able to save quite a bit of money, but you need to be willing to work hard and treat teaching as a career and not a holiday.
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
Rent, Thai food, and entertainment like going to the movies is quite a bit cheaper than in the USA, but other expenses like traveling abroad and drinking are just as expensive, which can be difficult on a lower salary.
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
Different cities require different wages. To live in any level of comfort and to be able to afford meals other than noodles every day, 30,000 is about the lowest I would recommend with 35,000 being a bit more manageable. 5,000 baht makes a huge difference per month in Thailand, especially when a starting salary can be very low.
Phil's analysis and comment
This is a survey from one extremely hardworking teacher but when you're young and enthusiastic, you don't mind working all those hours if you're managing to stash 40K away each month. It comes at a price though because I'm guessing Sam does quite a bit of private tutoring on either Saturday or Sunday and probably only gives himself one day off a week. And one day off is never enough! Good to see someone making decent money from private teaching though.
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