Every new arrival wants to know if they can survive or live well in Thailand on X thousand baht a month?
It's a difficult question because each person has different needs. However, the following surveys and figures are from teachers actually working here! How much do they earn and what do they spend their money on?. And after each case study, I've added comments of my own.
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Approximate Thai Baht (฿) conversion rates as of 23rd December 2024
฿34 to one US Dollar฿43 to one Pound Sterling
฿36 to one Euro
฿21 to one Australian Dollar
฿0.59 THB to one Philippine Peso
Sal
Working in Phitsanulok
Monthly Earnings 40,000
Q1. How much do you earn from teaching per month?
I earn 40,000 baht a month working for a private language center.
Q2. How much of that can you realistically save per month?
20,000 baht. This usually goes to paying for my travels to other countries so there really isn't much left in the kitty. I will aim to save more in the new year so that I can return to university at the end of my contract.
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
2,250 baht - my housemate also pays 2,250 which makes it 4,500 in total for a 2-bedroom 2-bathroom house with a small Thai kitchen, outside washing up area and a garden. We live in what is intended to be student housing quite far out in a village outside the town.
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
1,750 baht each per month on scooter rental and about 200B each per month on gas as we live about 15 minutes from the school and city
Utility bills
A maximum of 600 baht each for water and electricity (we use the AC often) and we pay government rates for the electricity. We also spend about 600 baht a month on miscellaneous for the house (cleaning supplies etc).
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
About 5,000 baht each per month. I buy most meals from the street vendors or small Thai restaurants (ranges from 30 - 70 baht per meal). We also do a monthly shop for basic groceries and we buy a lot of fresh fruit which can be pricey in our area. We go to a Western restaurant about once or twice on weekends. Sometimes I cook but admittedly I'm rather lazy when it comes to that
Nightlife and drinking
Nothing as we really don't have much here except the odd bar with overpriced craft beer, and neither of us are beer drinkers.
Books, computers
Very little as I have an e-reader and laptop from which I stream movies and series. I'm not really into technology and gadgets either. I do sometimes buy interesting stationery and bits and bobs from the 20B store but that's about it,
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
I would say very comfortable and could probably be more luxurious if I lived in one of the more expensive condos or ate at the Western restaurants often but it doesn't really appeal to me and I'd rather use my money to travel. Having a housemate to share costs with certainly helps a lot too. One can easily live off 15 - 20,000 baht here whilst maintaining a cosy lifestyle but the payoff is that there isn't much to do or see here. I'm not a big shopper so most of my money goes to savings and paying off loans
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
The food and housing if you move away from the city centre.
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
In my area 30,000 baht would be more than enough to live comfortably with a few indulgences here and there and 20,000 baht a month to live simply.
Phil's analysis and comment
You don't see many job ads advertised for Phitsanulok but 40,000 for a language centre position sounds OK. Certainly when you're only paying a couple of thousand baht to rent your share of a decent-sized house. It's a shame that Sal still has loans to pay off because I bet that extra pocket money would make a big difference.
If anyone fancies doing a cost of living survey, I've now put the questions on-line to make it easier and quicker for you. Please spare half an hour if you can.
A number of teachers complete the surveys with just a list of figures. I don't wish to sound ungrateful but that's not really what we're looking for. There needs to be some sort of 'story' behind the figures as it were (it certainly makes the surveys more interesting to read) Many thanks!
Chelsea
Working in Bangkok
Monthly Earnings 23,000 (before insurance)
Q1. How much do you earn from teaching per month?
My full-time salary is 23k from a vocational college in Bangkok
Q2. How much of that can you realistically save per month?
Hahahahaha
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
My apartment (with bills) comes to about 8,000 - 9,000 baht per month.
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
Transportation is my lowest expense as I live within walking distance to my school. Screw Bangkok traffic.
Utility bills
Utilities are expensive because my apartment owners are terrible people
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
Food is my biggest expense because teaching is very stressful and I eat a lot (I'm only partially joking)
Nightlife and drinking
I spend nothing, because I'm too busy to go out.
Books, computers
Nothing.
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
Could be better. Could be worse.
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
Food, I suppose.
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
To survive, 25,000. To actually enjoy life, 35,000 up.
Phil's analysis and comment
Oh Chelsea, Chelsea, Chelsea (and that's not a football chant by the way) I'm not sure how you do it.
Chelsea hasn't supplied any concrete figures but we don't really need them. Let me do some maths. 23,000 baht a month minus 9,000 for her apartment and she's left with 14,000 baht. That's 466 baht a day. As we say in England - it's a tenner! And from that 466 baht you have to feed and clothe yourself, etc. In Bangkok!
Surely living like this can't be better than the life and possibilities you left behind. It can't be. Surely those 35k jobs are out there if you look hard enough (as I'm sure you are already)
Tammy
Working in Bangkok
Monthly Earnings 48,000
Q1. How much do you earn from teaching per month?
I work in a private school in Bangkok. My salary is 38,500 baht and I make another 10,000 from teaching private students,
Q2. How much of that can you realistically save per month?
Nothing! But I've only just come out of two years of a financial slump. I've finally bought a scooter so I should be able to save at the very least 2,500 per month. My first two years here were semester contracts, so I wasn't paid for three school holidays. There's also tuition fees that I have to pay for my part time studies and the visa fees every 3 months.
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
I live in an apartment in a blue collar neighbourhood just behind Silom. I pay 7,500 baht rent for a large (54m) studio.
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
I have a scooter so fuel works out to about 400 bht per month. But I also like going out so averaging taxi fares and bikes under 500 bht per month
Utility bills
Utilities average 1100 bht, which is high but I have a fridge running all the time and I like to cook - it's amazing the amount of power that is consumed by a toaster oven and an induction plate
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
Food is hard to judge because I keep pantry items as well as a stocked fridge. I budget about 6,000 bht per month. I enjoy the occasional Sunday roast and take advantage of the drinks deals around the city
Nightlife and drinking
Nightlife is about 4,000 bht per month for a big month out but usually I just chill at home and drink
Books, computers
I don't buy books, but I did have to buy a second hand laptop a few months ago - it cost me 11,000 bht. Amazon has tons of free books.
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
Comfortable without being outlandish.
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
The yellow stickered mark down items at Tops after 5pm.
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
A minimum of 60,000 baht will make life easier. Especially when I need to pay for my tertiary education.
Phil's analysis and comment
Even though 38,000 might probably be enough for a teacher to survive on in Bangkok, I bet Tammy's quality of life increases dramatically with that extra money she makes from teaching private students. It may only be 10,000 baht a month but 10K can make a big, big difference. Which brings me to a question that a number of teachers have asked me recently after reading these cost of living surveys - how do I find private students? I'm not going to attempt to answer that question here because there are probably dozens of different methods but all you need to do is find a handful of privates (literally two or three) and if you are a decent teacher and students enjoy learning with you, then word of mouth will carry you the rest of the way. Almost every teacher who teaches private students says this.
Chris
Working in Bangkok
Monthly Earnings 35,000 baht
Q1. How much do you earn from teaching per month?
My government school salary is just under 35K a month. I very occasionally do private lessons as well but that wouldn't amount to more than 2,000 - 3,000 even in a good month. My full-time job tires me out enough.
Q2. How much of that can you realistically save per month?
Virtually nothing. If I have a month where I manage to save 5,000 baht, I'll spend it the following month on a weekend away or something.
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
I live in a 5,000 baht a month studio apartment with lots of nosey neighbors around me. I bet everyone in the building knows that I bought a plant on Saturday morning. I've been to friends' apartments that cost double what mine costs. You don't get a place to live that's twice as good, you get somewhere that's TEN times better! Renting accommodation at the very low end of the scale in Bangkok is not something I would ever recommend but I do it because I don't budget for more than 5K.
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
Very little. Less than a thousand a month. I live a short bus ride away from the school but sometimes I walk if the temperature is comfortable. I have to start work at 7.30 am so I'm often leaving the house well before 7.00 and it's still fairly cool at that time.
Utility bills
The building owner makes it up as he goes along, then he gives the figures to the reception staff, who double it and add the date in. Joking apart, probably about 2,000 baht a month. It seems a lot to me because I don't turn on the air-con that much. Perhaps the a/c unit needs a good service.
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
I came out to teach in Thailand for a year and I did a lot of research on costs of living. The cost of eating well in Bangkok has really shocked me. Breakfast (a coffee and a snack) will cost me 60 baht a day. For lunch and dinner, I will seek out what I call tier 2 Thai restaurants, where the food is far better than street food, but still costs about 80 baht a dish. With a fruit smoothie that gets bumped up to about 130 baht. There's 10,000 baht a month on food right there and we're not even at the w/end.
Nightlife and drinking
I wish. Those wild nights out on Sukhumwit cost far too much for me. I'll have a couple of beers with teaching colleagues at a Thai bar instead. Even doing that a few nights a week adds up to 4,000 - 5,000 a month.
Books, computers
Not a lot. I have a smartphone like everyone else does but I tend to use the ancient computers at school.
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
It's a day to day existence. No more than that.
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
Bus fares are very reasonable as are taxi fares. So getting around the city never really costs you an arm and a leg.
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
Honestly? I wouldn't want to come and teach here again for less than 60,000 baht a month. That's enough for a better apartment and to have the money to travel and to see some of the country at a certain level (decent hotels, etc)
Phil's analysis and comment
Chris also had the following to say and they make some interesting footnotes.
"One thing that people forget to factor into these cost of living surveys Phil are all those horrible non-food supermarket items that you invariably need to buy on a regular basis. And they are often quite expensive. Last weekend for example I bought a can of shaving foam (250 baht) razors (125 baht) a can of air freshener (125 baht) hair conditioner and shampoo (300 baht) and cleaning stuff (200 baht) I find there's always one weekend in every month when all that kind of stuff seems to run out - and replenishing them is not cheap at all.
If I can add something else to the monthly food spend section as well. I'm amazed at how pricey Western food is here. I really don't know how teachers on a similar salary to mine can afford it. A meal at Burger King can easily set you back 300 baht. Places like Pizza Hut and Sizzler are even more expensive! When you're playing around with a budget of around 700 baht a day, to spunk more than half of that daily allowance on a pizza or burger (and an average pizza or burger at that) is just ridiculous"
Thanks Chris for a very honest survey. Someone commented on the ajarn facebook page today - "I don't know how people survive in Bangkok on 40K a month" (and that's 5,000 more than you earn Chris) In another comment, a teacher said "40,000 baht a month is becoming the new 30,000"
I don't think we're at the stage yet where we can label Bangkok as 'an expensive city' - but we are certainly getting there.
Last April I was in New Zealand - in an affluent little town called Nelson - and I got chatting to a very nice, middle-aged lady who ran a jewelery stall on the footpath (interestingly, Scottish comedian Billy Connolly was a regular customer she said) Being interested in the cost of living in New Zealand and how much people earned there, I was surprised to hear that this jewellry seller seemed almost to exist on the breadline. She used McDonalds as an example. "I go to McDonalds once a year on my birthday. I class McDonalds as a treat that I can't normally afford"
I felt genuinely sorry for her but here we have Chris - a teacher in Bangkok - in exactly the same boat wouldn't you say? Except one is struggling to survive in her native New Zealand and Chris is experiencing the Asian dream / adventure. If you believe the hype that is.
Ray
Working in Bangkok
Monthly Earnings 63,000
Q1. How much do you earn from teaching per month?
I work at a large government school in Bangkok and my salary is 43,000. I earn another 20,000 baht a month from private students.
Q2. How much of that can you realistically save per month?
Between 20,000 and 25,000
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
I pay 10,000 baht a month for a condo with a full kitchen.
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
No more than 500 baht. I live in walking distance to my school and to the places where I tutor.
Utility bills
1,100 baht.
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
6,000 baht.
Nightlife and drinking
Nothing really.
Books, computers
About 1,000 baht.
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
Quite comfortable.
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
Food and housing.
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
About 40,000.
Phil's analysis and comment
A quickie from Ray that reads a little bit like an Excel spreadsheet. It's the details that make these surveys interesting I feel. The 6,000 baht a month that Ray spends on food? Given the fact he has a 'full kitchen' does Ray mostly cook at home? Is Ray to be found wandering around local markets chatting with the vendors and squeezing their ripe tomatoes? Why does Ray spend nothing on nightlife? Is it something he's given up on?
If anyone fancies doing a cost of living survey, I've now put the questions on-line to make it easier and quicker for you. Please spare half an hour if you can.
A number of teachers complete the surveys with just a list of figures. I don't wish to sound ungrateful but that's not really what we're looking for. There needs to be some sort of 'story' behind the figures as it were (it certainly makes the surveys more interesting to read) Many thanks!
Showing 5 Cost of Living surveys out of 437 total
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