20/08/2026
Catching Flights, Not Feelings βοΈπΉπ
[Opening β serious, cinematic tone]
Letβs be real for a moment.
Moving to Thailand isnβt just about beaches, beautiful sunsets and taking pictures in paradise.
Itβs about making a serious decision to change your life.
Iβve lived in Thailand before, and today I want to talk about something teachers really need to understand before making the move:
Your salary, your expenses, and what life in Thailand actually costs.
Welcome to βCatching Flights, Not Feelings.β
π° So, what can a teacher actually earn?
Teaching salaries in Thailand can vary depending on your qualifications, experience, location and the school you work for.
A typical foreign English teacher can expect somewhere around 25,000β40,000 Thai baht per month, with some positions offering more depending on the role and qualifications.
But hereβs the important part:
Donβt just look at the salary. Look at what your salary can actually buy you.
Because 30,000 baht in Thailand can give you a very different lifestyle than the equivalent amount might give you back home.
π Accommodation
Your biggest monthly expense is likely to be accommodation.
Depending on where you live, you could find a basic but comfortable apartment for approximately 5,000β10,000 baht per month.
In more expensive areas or major cities, you may pay more.
And this is where location matters.
Living outside the main tourist areas can significantly reduce your monthly expenses.
π Food
Now let's talk about food.
Thailand can be incredibly affordable if you eat like a local.
A simple Thai meal from a local restaurant or street-food vendor can cost around 50β100 baht.
But if you're constantly eating Western food, ordering delivery or going to international restaurants, your food budget can increase quickly.
So yes, you can eat well without spending a fortune β but your lifestyle choices matter.
π΅ Getting around
Transport is another expense you'll need to budget for.
Depending on where you live, you might use buses, trains, taxis, Grab, motorbike taxis or your own scooter.
You could potentially budget around 1,500β3,000 baht per month for regular transport, although this varies greatly depending on your location and how much you travel.
π± Utilities & everyday expenses
Then you've got your electricity, water, phone data and internet.
These might add another 1,500β3,000 baht or more to your monthly expenses depending on your apartment and usage.
And don't forget the little things:
Coffee.
Shopping.
Weekend trips.
Entertainment.
Those small expenses can quietly eat into your salary.
πΈ So, what could your monthly budget look like?
Let's use an example.
If you're earning 30,000 baht a month, you might budget approximately:
Accommodation: 7,000 baht
Food: 8,000 baht
Transport: 2,000 baht
Utilities & phone: 2,000 baht
Personal & entertainment: 4,000 baht
That's around 23,000 baht in expenses.
That potentially leaves you with around 7,000 baht for savings, emergencies, travel or additional spending.
Of course, everyone's lifestyle is different, and your actual costs can be higher or lower.
βοΈ The reality
Thailand isn't a place where you move simply because you want an escape.
You need to plan.
You need to understand your salary.
You need to understand your expenses.
And you need to know what you're signing up for.
But if you plan properly, teaching in Thailand can give you something incredibly valuable:
A chance to experience another culture, build your teaching career, travel, meet people from around the world β and create a life you might never have imagined.
Iβve lived it.
And that's why this series isn't about selling you a dream.
It's about showing you the reality.
Because we're not catching feelingsβ¦
We're catching flights. βοΈ
And maybe, just maybe, changing our lives along the way.
TEFL on the Beach β Teach. Travel. Transform.
