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SAF37
Joined: 01 Sep 2013
Posts: 11
Location: Woodstock, GA
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 Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 5:01 am Post subject: Saving money as a teacher in Thailand |
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| I'm thinking of teaching in Thailand and I'm wondering if it is possible to save any money? |
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EFL Educator
Joined: 17 Jul 2013
Posts: 988
Location: Cape Town
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| Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 10:22 am Post subject: |
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Saving money is possible in the LOS but depends on a lot of factors. Salaries in Thailand for ESL teachers vary considerably. In general EFL salaries in Thailand allow for a comfortable lifesytle. Enjoy Thailand while you can!  |
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plumpy nut
Joined: 12 Mar 2011
Posts: 1652
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| Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 12:02 pm Post subject: |
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| If you're frugal you can live on $500 US, although some jobs provide an apartment so you can subtract that cost if that is the case. With that a 30,000 Baht job will net you maybe $450 US a month. A 40,000 Baht job netting you $ 700 US monthly. 40,000 Baht jobs are not too prevalent especially people that are new to Thailand. Another thing to consider if the school is closed for some reason i.e. the floods in 2011, you might not get paid for months. You should come to Thailand with money reserves. |
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TomAndHuck
Joined: 16 Sep 2013
Posts: 16
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| Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 1:41 pm Post subject: |
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Work upcountry or downcountry outside Bangkok. These days at 30k per month you should be able to save a little money. Inflation is here so that might not be true forever. If you are in BKK forget it. You'll be lucky to save much of anything.
Good luck and be careful out there. |
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BlueStater
Joined: 24 Oct 2012
Posts: 20
Location: Bangkok
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| Posted: Mon Sep 30, 2013 3:35 am Post subject: |
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| In BKK (where I live) it's definitely possible to save $$ - IF you work for an International School or similar. I have found that many jobs pay 30,000-40,000 thb/month. That would be tough to save much at all. I found a rare "medium" pay job, and then there are the much higher paying Int'l Schools, where of course the requirements are a bit higher. They generally pay about 100,000-130,000/ mth- then you would have little trouble saving. |
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sam862010
Joined: 15 Dec 2013
Posts: 18
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| Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2013 2:37 am Post subject: |
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It's very easy to save money here in Thailand if you live outside the major cities.
At present I live in a small town in Nakhon sawan province.
I'm currently getting 35.000thb per month.
Rent 2200thb
Scooter rental 1000thb
Money home to wife and kid 10.000thb
Food, around 3000 - 4000thb
saving roughly around 18.000 per month.
If you drink.. maybe another 2000thb on beer money
Hope this helps |
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EFL Educator
Joined: 17 Jul 2013
Posts: 988
Location: Cape Town
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| Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2013 5:45 am Post subject: |
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Hello there,
Yes I agree it is possible to save money outside of Bangkok...but one must be very frugal. Good luck! |
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Nuolan
Joined: 08 Nov 2008
Posts: 36
Location: Thailand
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| Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 10:26 am Post subject: |
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| Is everyone here on or previously on a 12 month contract? Most agencies I know give 9.5 month contracts with some kind of bonus at the end of each term. |
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EFL Educator
Joined: 17 Jul 2013
Posts: 988
Location: Cape Town
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| Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 12:18 pm Post subject: |
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Hello there,
Yes most agencies supply EFL teacher manpower to government schools who usually offer work to prospective teachers for less than a year. This is due primarily to budget constraints. If you are seeking a 12 month contract you should directly contact universities and/ colleges and bypass agencies all together. The bulk of teaching work in Thailand is with Thai government schools and sometimes private schools although private schools generally pay much better and offer some benefits including extra overtime work. Good luck! |
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bkkgriz
Joined: 08 Jan 2014
Posts: 22
Location: Bangkok
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| Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 9:58 am Post subject: |
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| It is possible to save money teaching in Bangkok. However there are a lot of variables. If you can get on with a private school, you should be able to get a salary of around 40,000 THB/month. These schools usually offer some kind of special classes after school and on Saturdays. Then there is private work. Either find individuals or language schools. If you want to save money, expect to work 6 to 7 days per week. I have been very lucky here. I think on average I have been able to make 70,000/month and spend around 40,000. If you want to come to Thailand to have a good time and party, don't expect to save much. |
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Yasuke
Joined: 10 Jan 2014
Posts: 178
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| Posted: Fri Jan 17, 2014 4:30 am Post subject: |
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| bkkgriz wrote: |
| It is possible to save money teaching in Bangkok. However there are a lot of variables. If you can get on with a private school, you should be able to get a salary of around 40,000 THB/month. These schools usually offer some kind of special classes after school and on Saturdays. Then there is private work. Either find individuals or language schools. If you want to save money, expect to work 6 to 7 days per week. I have been very lucky here. I think on average I have been able to make 70,000/month and spend around 40,000. If you want to come to Thailand to have a good time and party, don't expect to save much. |
70000 seems like an outstanding salary. Are you doing that as an employee or a mix of things? |
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plumpy nut
Joined: 12 Mar 2011
Posts: 1652
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| Posted: Fri Jan 17, 2014 9:31 am Post subject: |
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| TomAndHuck wrote: |
Work upcountry or downcountry outside Bangkok. These days at 30k per month you should be able to save a little money. Inflation is here so that might not be true forever. If you are in BKK forget it. You'll be lucky to save much of anything.
Good luck and be careful out there. |
After being very frugal, lucky would mean being able to stay on a teaching position through out an entire year, no disasters that would shut the school down, no unexpected medical or legal problems etc. Come to Thailand with your own personal stash of money, at least enough to see you through the unexpected. |
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MaiPenRai
Joined: 17 Jan 2006
Posts: 390
Location: BKK
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| Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2014 2:28 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Yes most agencies supply EFL teacher manpower to government schools who usually offer work to prospective teachers for less than a year. This is due primarily to budget constraints. |
Not really due to budget constraints, but more smart business practice. Its due to the fact that average EFL teachers are relatively easy to find. Most schools only pay agencies for the time that the school is open, so you cant expect a agency to pay their teachers for holiday time if they aren't getting any money from the school. It's easier and cheaper to just rehire every year, especially as most EFL teachers who use agencies are usually transient/short-term as well so could leave at any given time.
Teachers who are valued and longer term can often negotiate pay during holiday time, but will often be working for that as well doing summer classes/camps, seminars, prepping and curriculum work, just coming in and reading all day, etc. Often agencies will hire longer term valued teachers during holiday time to do work for the agency like curriculum, recruitment, marketing, etc.
| Quote: |
| Yes I agree it is possible to save money outside of Bangkok...but one must be very frugal. |
If you are not a big drinker and you dont take trips to Bangkok or the city every month, its quite easy to save in rural areas. Easy to live poor when most other people around you are living the same life. Just dont expect the comforts of home and be able to fill your down time with a cheap hobby (reading, movies, guitar, local travel, writing, exercising , etc). I know plenty of guys living off 15-20,000 /month and saving 10,000+/month.
| Quote: |
| 70000 seems like an outstanding salary. Are you doing that as an employee or a mix of things? |
If you live in Bangkok and are willing to work for it, there is work everywhere. As said by other posters, you could make 20-30,000/month doing evening/weekend private or language school work. Bu you wont have much free time and it wears on you. I know from experience. Just working Sat/Sun job doing 10 hours at 500 baht/hour would net you 20,000 a month (most likely tax free). The more you work, the more you make and the less time you have to spend it as well. |
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MrWright
Joined: 27 Feb 2008
Posts: 167
Location: Arizona
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| Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2014 12:47 am Post subject: |
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| How does Chiang Mai compare to Bangkok as far as saving potential and availability of work go? |
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suphanburi
Joined: 20 Mar 2014
Posts: 916
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| Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2014 2:06 am Post subject: |
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| MrWright wrote: |
| How does Chiang Mai compare to Bangkok as far as saving potential and availability of work go? |
High competition for jobs.
Lower overall wages.
Savings potential ... with any luck you won't need to call home for a bail-out.
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