Living in Thailand Vs Holidaying in Thailand

I have met many people who struggle to adapt to life in Thailand. They come here on holiday and fall in love but after a few months of living here seem to lose their way. I decided to write this article, living in Thailand vs holidaying in Thailand, to show the differences between the two.

Money

I remember the first time I came here on vacation I was shocked that everything was so cheap. A bottle of beer for 70 Baht in a bar, food for 100 Baht in a local restaurant and everything I needed in a market for 200- 500 Baht. Coming here on holiday I had saved up money and was happy buying many items without thinking. I remember a few nights spending 3,000 Baht on food and drinks and thinking this was a bargain and it must be amazing to live here and do this every night.

I went to a different tourist attraction every day and traveled around in taxis. I felt like a King spending around 5,000 Baht a day. I stayed in decent hotels and ate at rooftop restaurants, nothing was out of my budget really. I saw elephants in the wild, turtles being born on a deserted beach and swam with sharks in the crystal clear waters. I wasn’t backpacking but even those backpackers I met had freedom to do these activities if they wanted to.

When I arrived here to begin my life teaching I spent a fair bit of money, probably 2,500 Baht a day. Having to do my CELTA course meant my free time was cut down considerably but I still found time for a few beers and a trip to Sukhumvit for western food most days. However, after a month of doing my CELTA and not getting an income from home I realised that firstly I needed a job and secondly I needed to reign in my spending.

Looking at resources such as the cost of living section on Ajarn.com I was able to see what I should be spending a month. I saw the average first job pays around 35,000 Baht so aimed to reduce my spending to that level.

It was difficult to do this – roughly 1,000 Baht a day including accommodation. I had been staying in a condo in Ladprao which was 15,000 a month so it was time to move out. I jumped into a job with an agency who placed me in a government school in Lam Lukka – about 25km out of central Bangkok. 33,000 Baht a month, free accommodation, a good school and very close to Bangkok I was told. After arriving there I looked at the box I would be living in and thought, shit, I’m not going to like this.

In short I ended up still spending all my salary every month as I went into Bangkok every weekend and partied a lot to make up for the depressing surroundings of Lam Lukka. I found the last week of the month I was left with about 200 Baht a day to spend. Lots of new arrivals here get into the same situation during their first few months, its hard to adapt to having to miss some opportunities because they are now too expensive for you.

You also then have all these unexpected extras that you need to buy. Clothes, books and things for your accommodation. Of course you need to factor in that your first pay check wont come until after your first month working so if you do a TEFL course you need to bring enough money to cover you for at least 2 or 3 months. I had about $5,000 to cover my CELTA and living expenses and this was just about enough.

After 4 months I left the agency during the winter break and moved to a new job which paid 47,500 Baht and this was the first time I managed to really save money and still have disposable income to spend.

Now after 2 and a half years I’m able to save money but I’m not living the life of a tourist. I guess I hit the reality that I’m living here now and not on vacation. Take a look at my monthly spend guides to see what I spend and save each month.

Accommodation

As I said before I stayed in decent hotels when I came to Thailand on vacation. I didn’t go to Khao San and I’ve never been into the whole hostel thing – sharing a sleeping area isn’t really something I would ever do. I would stay in places costing around 1,500 Baht a night. This normally meant AC a decent sized room and swimming pool to use. When I went to the beaches the same price got me AC but no pool – the sea was close so it wasn’t a worry.

The main difference when living here is going to be where you are staying. You really don’t want to battle Bangkok traffic and commute across the city everyday. You might like Khao San but living there and working in the other side of the city isn’t going to work.

When I first came here I did my CELTA at ECC Ladprao which meant finding somewhere to live nearby. I chose a 35sq metre condo which at 500 baht a day ( 15,000 BHT a month ) seemed a very good deal. Located on Ladprao 17 I had access to the MRT so could travel easily. As I have already said the average starting salary is around 35,000 Baht for government schools so that 15,000 Baht accommodation charge was going to be a problem.

My first job came with free accommodation. It was a dark, depressing 24sq metre studio room. I had a bed, wardrobe and Thai style wet room / bathroom. There was a small balcony with a sink and washing line. Living in a studio is like living in a prison as far as I’m concerned. You stare at the same 4 walls and end up pacing around like an animal in a cage.

If I had to pay for the room it would have been 3,500 Baht a month – 10% of my salary. Also it is worth noting that in a lot of these apartments you get screwed on water and electricity prices. I would normally get billed around 2,500 Baht a month for these which when I compare it to the price I pay direct to the utilities companies now is a scandal.

For most people working at government schools studio rooms and cheap apartments are going to be their only option. Even if they want a condo there may not be any near to their school. Another option is to rent a house but then you will need to buy all the furniture in many cases. Paying 10,000 THB for a condo on 30,000 Baht a month isn’t a sensible decision in my opinion.

My second job offered the chance to move back to Ladprao and look at living in a condo again. With around a 50,000 Baht salary I took a 44sq metre 1 bedroom condo for 13,000 Baht a month. Having a separate living area, kitchen and a western style bathroom made a huge difference. I also had a place I was happy to stay in and got cable TV, private internet and a swimming pool. I found myself spending less going out and started cooking at home more.

I lived there for a year until I decided to buy a condo in the outskirts of Bangkok which was closer to my office. I pay monthly for it after getting a loan from family in the UK to buy it. I now have 64sq metres to live in. I have a corner room which means windows all along 2 sides which makes a huge difference. My condo isn’t a Hi-So condo like those on early Sukhumvit but it is very nice and a hell of a lot cheaper.

Overall I would say that you need to be looking at a salary of around 45,000 Baht + to get decent accommodation and have a good amount of disposable income left.

Food and Drink

When you come here on holiday you don’t worry about spending 300 – 500 Baht on a plate of western food. 300 baht for a beer on a rooftop bar – it’s a lovely view so why not. But when you live here you soon realise that alcohol and food can be a major drain on your salary.

Many tourists come here and eat a mixture of Thai food and home favorites. Many expats adapt to eating mostly Thai food. I find Thai food to be amazing, delicious and very cheap. However, I do have to eat pasta, sandwiches and the occasional pizza sometimes to get the taste of home. Going to a western style restaurant can be expensive but if you learn to cook at home then you can make these dishes for a reasonable price. For example pasta with sauce and chicken costs me around 60 Baht.

I know some people that cant adapt to Thai food and end up buying fast food or going to western restaurants everyday. This means their food bill is really high. Buying cheese, wine and imported western goods at the supermarkets is still very expensive compared to local food.

On holiday you always relax and that normally means a few beers or cocktails. I certainly enjoy a few beers and they do taste much better in a warm environment than back in the UK. When you buy them in a shop for 60 Baht a bottle they are reasonably priced but when you hit the bars prices can get expensive. Buckets of whiskey or vodka for 400 Baht are great on vacation but 2 of those could be your daily spending money when you’re living here.

Trips

3,000 Baht for a 2 night stay in the jungle and sightseeing – that’s great. It really is and living here you can do a trip like this every month. When you’re on holiday you do 3 or 4 of these little trips and have a great time discovering all Thailand has to offer. When you live here two things stop this – your money and job.

My friends back home assume that I spend my weekends sitting on a beach with a few cold beers or trekking through the jungle looking for elephants. To be honest I haven’t been to the beach for 4 months and my last elephant sighting was last year.

I get to go on several short trips throughout the year. So far in 2015 I’ve been to Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Bang Saen and Auythayya. I don’t go 5* and I try to plan to keep the costs down if I can. The main factor affecting my travel time is that I do have to work. Most people forget about this factor that being here you will be working not travelling. You can’t jet off to a remote island every weekend. Traditional school teachers will get long summer and winter breaks to make the most of it though. I work in a language school and get around 30 days a year vacation. I guess the major benefit is that you are already in Thailand and can do a short 3 day break to any part of the country.

Shopping

When I first arrived here on vacation I would happily pay 300 Baht for a T-shirt from the market or go into a shopping mall and buy some new shoes. My disposable income from the UK was enough to comfortably buy most things I wanted.

Nowadays, after my accommodation and bills are taken into account I have around 1,500 Baht a day which is still a fair amount but not enough to go splashing out every day. I also try to save some of this money to pay for things like a flight home or an emergency.

As I said before you will have many unplanned expenses during your first couple of months here. Furniture, clothes and books need to be purchased. Buying clothes for work can be cheap if you buy low quality items. However to buy a decent shirt you will be spending 700+ Baht and a pair of good trousers 1,000+ Baht.

The one improvement you will see is that you better understand the true value of items and will learn to pay a fair price, not the tourist price. A few sentences in Thai often help.

Leisure Time

As you are working you will have less free time than when you were here on vacation. However I find I work a lot less here than I did in the UK. I do around 40 hours a week including office hours. I split my work over 6 days so I have lots of free time in the mornings.

Maybe your leisure activities on holiday are more adventurous – scuba diving, bungee jumping and kite surfing. When you live here you can change to swimming, badminton and golf – all of which are very popular here. Badminton is a great way to stay fit and meet new people. The price is also very low, around 40 Baht per person for an hour.

Friends

This is a big one and something I have struggled with at times.

On vacation you probably come with friends and it is very easy to meet new people to travel with once you are here. You get grouped up on tours or meet in your hostel. Those 2 weeks of partying and doing amazing activities live long in the memory. When you get home you reminisce about those times and wish it could last longer.

Living here many people start their new life this way until they hit a brick wall. This brick wall could be a lack of money, a lack of energy to keep partying or just getting bored of doing the same things everyday.

I reckon most people move to Thailand alone which leaves a big void in your life in terms of socializing. This means you are forced to find new people to hang out with. Whether they are from your TEFL course or from your new job it can be difficult to meet new people who you want to hang out with.

When I moved out of Bangkok for my first job I found myself in the middle of nowhere with 2 other foreigners. For the first few weeks I was lucky and had 2 nice people working with me. However, they cracked and left the job and were replaced with quite possibly 2 of the most annoying people I have met. Being in the middle of nowhere I was roped into helping them and spending time showing them around the town.

Making friends with Thai people is an option but it’s not that easy. Firstly the language issue can make conversation difficult. Outside tourist areas I would say around 70% of Thais cant speak more than very basic English and if they can many are very shy around foreigners. Also I have found that some people are very wary around foreigners and gaining their trust can be hard.

I do have some Thai friends and I can say that they are really nice people but it has taken time to reach this point.

Family

This is another big one that some people don’t consider. When you’re on holiday you can have a quick chat on Skype but then you’re probably going home in a couple of weeks.

Chatting to my family on Skype is something I do often but it’s not really the same as spending time with them. Missing birthdays, celebrations and births is a big thing. Sure they can come here and visit you or you can go home but I certainly have missed a lot of big family occasions. You also have the threat of someone getting seriously ill and not knowing whether you should go home or if you can even afford to.

Language

Staying in Bangkok, Phuket or Chiang Mai you can get by without a single word of Thai. People working in the tourist industry understand basic English and you will get some very good speakers in some parts.

It is true that in most places you can speak some English and be understood but further away from the cities you will need to learn a bit of Thai. Directions for taxi drivers, food for waiters and numbers are necessary for everyone and are quite easy to learn.

Women

A holiday romance, a holiday fling, a night together. They all happen in Thailand. I have had friends come here on vacation and hook up with a Thai girl and fall in love after 3 days. I also read countless stories of men who meet bar girls and decide she is the one for them.

Living with someone is very different to being with them for a few days. The best outcome is that you were right and everything ends happily ever after but, I bet it probably wont. That bar girl probably tells a different guy every day that she loves him – ever wonder how she can afford the latest IPhone?

An ex colleague of mine came over to Thailand to work after meeting a girl on his vacation. After 3 months of living together he decided to end it and head back home. However, after he told her to leave she took his laptop, 25,000 Baht in cash and smashed up his motorbike- not the happy ending he planned.

Now what I will say is that when you come here on vacation you maybe don’t get the chance to meet the best quality of Thai women. Living here you get to meet the normal women who are extremely kind, caring and different from anything you get in Pattaya or Phuket. In truth I find Thai women more interesting and beautiful than women from the UK but that’s maybe just my choice.

There are many people who are in happy relationships with Thais, myself included. It just takes time to find the right person.

Health and Safety

When you’re here on vacation you probably spend some time at the beach or in the jungle seeing the incredible nature Thailand has to offer. Those few days in Bangkok make you realise how polluted the city is. In Khao Yai or on Koh Tao you get fresh air and incredible nature.

After about 2 minutes looking for jobs you will see that most offered are in Bangkok or in the middle of the northern provinces. That high paying job 2 kilometres from the beach doesn’t exist. That means you’re probably starting in Bangkok and dealing with polluted air most days.

Although there are some accidents in tourist areas, many precautions are taken to ensure tourists have a positive experience. You will soon see outside these locations safety isn’t so important. Try take the number 8 bus and see how safe you feel ( even Thai’s are scared of it!) . In the same way riding a motorbike around Phuket or Chiang Mai is great fun but in Bangkok it’s a miracle if you don’t have at least 1 accident over a couple of years living here.

Weather

When you step off the plane and arrive in Thailand you start to smile. Coming from a cold country it feels great to wear shorts and a T-shirt. Putting on sunglasses and dreaming of that suntan. At night it’s 25 degrees and it’s a pleasure to sit outside.

Walking to work when it’s 35 degrees isn’t fun. Winter here can last for 3 or 4 days. Yes 3 or 4 days when, really, it’s still hot ( although many Thai people wear coats and gloves….. ). I miss snow, cold mornings and being able to walk to the shops without sweating like a marathon runner. You can go to the Snow Dome at Dream World which is like a big freezer but then you go in shorts and T-shirts so it’s too cold.