You’ve got a dream of exploring the tropical paradise that is Thailand while earning a living making a difference to the lives of the community you’ll be living in and meeting incredible people, making lifelong memories along the way. You’re well on your way to some incredible experiences! The thing is, and we’ll be the first to admit this, while our programs are great value for money and ensure you’re paid more than enough to survive abroad, they may require you to save up a little before being able to hop on that plane – unless you’ve got a generous family member willing to sponsor you the trip!

You’ll need to take into account program fees, initial living expenses, visas and flights. So here we’ll take a look at how much everything will cost for you to start your Teach English in Thailand adventure, depending on where you come from in the world. We’ll also break it down for you so that you know exactly how much you’ll need to save per month after your deposit has been paid to secure your spot.

How much money will I need in total?

How much it will cost in total for you to teach English in Thailand, broken down by currency for country of origin. Program fees are in USD, other currencies are approximates based on exchange rates for September 2016. Flight costing are approximate based on cheapest available flights at time of publication. Living expenses and most visa fees are in Thai Baht converted to other currencies based on September 2016 exchange rates.

Have we left anything out? Travel insurance is definitely something you should budget for and we’ve not included it because the costs can vary wildly depending on the scheme you’re using and where in the world you’re coming from. It also varies depending on how long you want to be abroad for at one go. Speak to your insurer or travel agent about this pricing and your options. There may be other stuff you’ll want to budget for too like buying a new camera or clothes while abroad – these are obviously all up to you!

Once you’ve decided on the program you want and we’ve helped you work out if you fit the requirements, you pay your deposit (see the first column above). This secures you a spot on your preferred starting date. It also means we can now start helping you with your application and visa process and provide you with the pre-departure support we’ve become famous for.

It’s important to remember here that you don’t pay everything at once, so this will give you plenty of time to get your finances together to pay for flights, living expenses and the remainder of your program fees which are usually due no less than 6 weeks prior to your arrival in Thailand. Also remember that after 2 months of being in Thailand you’ll start earning a salary to help you start saving up again!

Saving up

So let’s have a look at how much you’ll need to save up per month after your deposit has been paid:

How much money you’ll need to save per month depending on which country you’re coming from and how long in advance you start planning. This assumes your deposit has already been paid.

What’s included in the program fees?

The fees include enrolment into the program with guidance and support prior to departure for answering of questions, help with your application and direction on how to apply for your visa. You’ll also get airport pick-up and transfer to the training centre in Hua Hin, Thailand, a sim card for your mobile phone, a 120 hour 4 week TESOL course (done in Thailand) with certification upon completion, a 1 week cultural orientation and excursions, guaranteed job placement with salaries of 25,000 to 40,000 Thai Baht (US $720 – $1155) per month, assistance with finding your own accommodation close to school and 24/7 in-country support from our team for the duration of your teaching contract.

Getting to Bangkok

We’ve listed some flight prices in the table above, below is a slightly more detailed breakdown showing which city they were calculated from, they are based on the lowest fares from the cities listed below for travel in mid-2017 if booked in September 2016. The best time to book can vary depending on where you travel from in the world, but we suggest booking your flights no later than 2 months before departure.

We don’t book your flights ourselves, but we can point you in the right direction of where to book if need be, so please use these as a rough guide. They’re all round trip flight prices, including taxes, you may be eligible to fly in on a one-way ticket which should cost less, just ask us during your application if this is possible for your nationality.

• From New York: from ± USD 550
• From Los Angeles: from ± USD 450
• From Toronto: from ± CAD 750
• From Vancouver: from ± CAD 750
• From London: from ± GBP 400
• From Dublin: from ± EUR 500
• From Johannesburg: from ± ZAR 7000
• From Sydney: from ± AUD 470
• From Perth: from ± AUD 350
• From Auckland: from ± NZD 850

 Living Expenses & Visas

In the table above we mention living expenses. It will be about 2 months between arriving in Thailand and receiving your first pay check because during your first month you do your TESOL course and cultural orientation, the following month you start working and get paid at the end of that month. The living expenses in the table cover food, accommodation, transport, entertainment and a buffer of about 3500 Thai Baht for miscellaneous items. The amounts are based on current exchange rates for 41,500 Thai Baht.

The visa situation is different for each nationality so just keep that in mind, the visa costs for longer stays may also be higher than for shorter ones – use these amounts as a rough guide. We make sure during your application process that you know exactly what to do and how much to pay, so don’t worry too much about this!

How much will I earn and save teaching in Thailand?

This is the super important stuff! After all, enriching the lives of the kids in your class is only part of the reason you decided to work in Thailand – you’re also after saving some cash and exploring the region during those looooong Thai school holidays. So let’s take a look at how much money you’ll be earning, spending and saving in Thailand – sorry guys this now switches over to Baht, so check your Dollars, Pound, Euros and Rands at the door.

For your reference, as of September 2016 this is roughly how many Thai Baht (฿) one of your home currency is worth:

• 1 US Dollar = ± ฿35
• 1 Canadian Dollar = ± ฿26
• 1 Great British Pound = ± ฿45
• 1 Euro = ± ฿39 Baht
• 1 South African Rand = ± ฿2.50
• 1 Australian Dollar = ± ฿26
• 1 New Zealand Dollar = ± ฿25

Your salary is going to be on average ฿30,000 per month – it ranges from ฿25,000 to ฿40,000 depending on placement location and other qualifying criteria. But before you think you’ll get all smart and request those high paying locations, remember that they’re likely in big cities, and big cities have a higher cost of living! So for the purposes of this example, we’ll be looking at averages.

How much you could save while teaching in Thailand after expenses. Amounts are averages and may fluctuate depending on location. NB re transport, this amount is for using public transport, for renting a scooter you’d look at 500 Baht more.

So as you can see there’s plenty of opportunity to save up lots of cash in Thailand to explore the region however you like. Some schools even throw in free accommodation adding an extra whopper of a saving to go towards those plane tickets to wherever you’ve set your mind on. Perhaps the island paradise of Koh Samui, bustling and vibey Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam or even exploring the ancient ruins of Bagan in Myanmar, who knows where you might end up! And, with flight prices from Thailand to neighbouring countries starting from as low as ฿2000 for a round trip, the world (or at the very least, the region) is your oyster!