Steve
Working in Cha'am
Monthly Earnings 35,000
Q1. How much do you earn from teaching per month?
My full-time salary from school is 35,000 baht a month
Q2. How much of that can you realistically save per month?
Less than zero. I am eating into my savings every month.
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
8,500 a month for a Thai-style house. It is very peaceful though!
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
Diesel for my truck comes to about 2,000 baht a month
Utility bills
Utility bills come to 5,000 a month.
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
We cook our own food at home. We might have the occasional Sizzler.
Nightlife and drinking
Very little. We have a night out at the cinema once a month.
Books, computers
Steve did not answer the question
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
Its tough. I have a decent B.A and am good at what I do. In Bangkok i earned 44,000, In Cha-Am I earn 35,000. How do these teachers earn 80-90K? I have lived here three years and only seen such salaries at international schools for teachers with QTS and a proper PGCE
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
Rentals and food if living the Thai life.
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
50,000 baht a month to have any sort of an existence.
Phil's analysis and comment
Not really a great deal to get my teeth into there. This is a teacher earning an average salary outside of Bangkok. It clearly isn't enough given the fact that Steve is dipping into his savings each month. Not a great situation to be in.
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