8 Reasons Why 30,000 Baht a Month Isn't So Bad After All

Let's begin with a confession: for my first full-time teaching job in Thailand, I accepted 22,000 a month. Yes, that's right: a 22 Grand Job.

I'd been in the country for less than 6 months and was largely subsisting on a couple of hours a day that I could scrounge up from a couple of language schools. I had a roof over my head and all the Mama I could eat, but was soon pretty desparate for the security of a steady, monthly income.

This is not a long term future.

I applied to a school 5 minutes down the road from my single bedroom apartment, and less than a month into the new school year was called in for an interview. Satisfied with my threadbare resume, my interviewers asked me for a demonstration class. I was promptly ushered into a classroom upstairs with about 20 students casually lolling about their desks (heaven knows where their regular teacher was; perhaps it was the poor sod I was hired to replace).

After bouncing around enthusiastically for the remainder of the period and blathering some reasonably comprehensible stuff about the past simple tense, I was welcomed into the deputy headteacher's office to talk numbers. "What salary do you expect to receive?" This question admittedly stumped me. Too high, and I feared tanking my chances of securing the job, too low and I'd be little better off than I was working part-time. Doing some quick mental maths, I recalled that in my busiest month (still only an easy 3-4 hours a day) at the language schools I'd made about 17,000.

"I was thinking...about..." I said, stretching out my response to see if I'd get any facial cues. I was met with a firm poker face.

"Twenty..." Nothing.

"...two?" I plumped. It was 5 more than before, which seemed like a nice round number.

"Excellent!" The deputy director cooed, a Cheshire cat grin appearing on his face. Bugger. I'd obviously underbid myself. 

He then went for a dip in his extensive vaults, which felt a bit of a dig. 

Never mind, though- at the end of the academic year, I happily toddled off to another school. Here, I was to be paid he princely sum of 30,000 Baht/month. I felt like I'd moved up in the world and finally achieved a respectable, livable income. For what it's worth I still do think that it's a pretty reasonable starting salary, but it feels as though I'm increasingly in a minority on the subject.

Personally, I couldn't care if it's by a factor of 4, 2, or 1.5 - it's still more.

Just read the comments on this blog post and shed a tear for the poor, underpaid immigrant teachers. Bearing in mind these complaints, I decided to jot down a couple of reasons why 30,000 is a pretty respectable salary for foreign teachers in Thailand.

1) Low Cost of Living

First of all, Thailand is a much cheaper country to live in. Yes, approximately £640 a month is not a princely wage in the States, but in Thailand, it's more than enough to cover your basic expenses. It costs me around £1.50 to fill up my bike, and the same for a decent Thai-style lunch with an iced coffee. Perhaps the best example of the low cost of living was when we had to get a headlight fixed on our car; a minor job to be sure, but still requiring a mechanic and a new part. It cost the princely sum of 17 Baht- less than 40p. 

Sure, not everything is cheap, but you can live a good lifestyle in Thailand for not a great deal of cash.

2) Lifestyle Expectations

Does this fill you with dread?

This is often where the conflict comes: what exactly is a good lifestyle? Obviously, it means different things to different people. Some might be happy to ride a bike around town, others insist on a car. Some folks can happily stay in a single room apartment, others would be unhappy in anything less than a detached house. Here's a heads-up: if you're the second type of person, you'll probably be easily frustrated by life in Thailand.

Personally, I've noticed a lot of the difference in expectations often seems to coincide with age; younger people who move to Thailand have often just finished university or are leaving poorly paying graduate jobs. They're not used to luxury, and are more than happy to adapt their expectations to the wages they receive. This is obviously not the case for folks who are a little older, and are coming to teach in Thailand because they want a change of careers. These guys are usually accustomed to a certain level of luxury and convenience in their lives- perfectly fine, as I'm sure they've worked hard to get there. But the trouble is that they often come to Thailand (where wages are lower) and expect to replicate a Western middle-class lifestyle on a local salary. There's nothing wrong with splurging on luxuries, but be aware you'll have to adjust your tastes and habits accordingly whenever you move to a new country.

3) Supply & Demand

Spend more than 5 minutes reading about the issue of teacher salaries in Thailand, you'll inevitably run up against this old chestnut:  "New teachers were being paid 30,000 Baht 20 years ago! Inflation's gone up, but wages haven't! This is unsustainable!" 

Perhaps, but this fails to take into account the changing marketplace. Think back to 1996: the internet was a relatively new phenomenon, especially so in Thailand. You couldn't just pop on to Ajarn.com or any of the other job sites and have a browse. Chances are that if you were in Thailand and wanted to teach, you were probably a backpacker who made an impromptu decision to stay. If schools wanted foreign teachers, they couldn't exactly afford to be picky: salaries were relatively high and expectations relatively low. 

Compare that with nowadays, where it's incredibly easy to find information on living and working in Thailand, not to mention adverts for a whole host of teaching positions in an increasing number of schools and institutions. Arguably, it's never been easier for people to move to Thailand and find employment as an English teacher. With such a high level of supply, there's no demand in the market to raise salaries. If one teacher won't take 30,000 a month for a steady job, then there's plenty who would happily oblige.

4) Thailand isn't Rich

As mentioned earlier, Thailand isn't necessarily swimming in disposable cash. Most Thai people live comfortable, if not extravagant lifestyles. Understandably, they're not going to want to spend a large chunk of their disposable income on making sure that little Jonny gets to spend a few hours a week learning with a foreigner. Whether a foreign teacher works in a government or private school, someone is going to have to pick up the bill at the end of the day, and there's pressure to keep costs low.

5) There's a World Outside of Bangkok

There's an awful lot of country outside the red blob

Some point out that 30k is specifically not enough for Bangkok- and I'd actually have to agree with them. If you live in Bangkok, chances are you'll be paying a premium for rent and for transport to and from your job every day. Bangkok is obviously pricey; it's a capital city and there's an understandably huge demand to live there. However...

There is more to Thailand than Bangkok.

Move outside the Big Mango, and your 30,000 Baht goes much further. I'm not talking about a village school in the arse-end of nowhere. For example, Chiang Mai is a lovely city and is generally far more economical than Bangkok. Rent, transport, food: pretty much everything costs less.

6) Is Thailand Right for You?

If you want to make more money as a teacher, why not go elsewhere? South Korea is known for paying better salaries, as are certain (admittedly morally-dubious) nations in the middle-east. If you're after cold, hard cash, then Thailand is probably not the destination for you.

7) Qualifications

That said, there are many well-paid teaching jobs for foreigners in Thailand. You just have to be working at the right place, like an international school for example. Inevitably, better jobs require better qualifications. If you want a better salary, ask yourself the difficult question: "Do I deserve it"? Do you have an education degree? Training? A qualification from your own country? If you have all these things, you can get a job at one of Thailand's 139 international schools.

8) Extras?

There's no such thing as a free lunch...or is there?

A look at the comments on the aforementioned blog reveals a common complaint: that there aren't any benefits on top of a teacher's salary. Everywhere is different, but that's not my experience at all. Even in my 22 grand job, I still got free lunches, health checks, and a couple of other benefits. At my current place, we get given an abundance of perks and privileges (greatly appreciated). The point is, not all 30k jobs are the same. Some will be bare-bones, and some will be fairly lavish. It's all a matter of looking for the details.