Living And Working In Phuket

[Poppa P]

Hello

I've been offered a job in Phuket. Its Pays 65K a month plus a car (and Fuel), mobile phone, visa and money for renting a place.

I use to live in Thailand 6-7 years ago on the east coast and the prices have changed quite a lot. I still come to Thailand 3 times a year but as a tourist so I have lost track the cost of living.

What sort of life style would I have on that money, I know that Phuket is a very expense place to live but I do know several local hotspots which don't cost a arm and a leg.

What would I expect to pay for

Water

Electric

Tv subscription

Internet

How much Tax would I have to Pay on 65K a month??

How much will it cost per year to send a child to an international school - Just for futrue referance!

Thanks

[FunFon]

If your housing allowance really covers the full cost, you'll be doing pretty well, but completely forget about true international school tuition unless you're making five times that, best you can do on that salary is an EP/IP place, which on the other hand is probably fine for early years as long as the kids' spending a lot of time interacting with you, do home-schooling on English reading and writing up to say 7 or 8, but then it will be time to head back to NES land unless you can afford 400K + per year per kid plus one-time fees, trips plus plus.

That's the one area where it falls apart here for people that really care about education for their kids.

Make sure to check into the details on health insurance, much better to have disaster-oriented low-deductible but high upper-limits, most employers offer something not even close to adequate, maybe offer to chip in to get an upgrade rather than having to fund separate supplementary yourself.

Clarify the car insurance too, what liabilities you might have for any damages/injuries.

The rest should be fine, you won't be living like a king but with those perks a lot better than most.

Water + TV + Internet maybe 2K if you don't go crazy, Electric totally depends on how much you run the air, say 3-5K.

Tax might be 15%?

[SeaVisionBurma]

Specific questions about Phuket might be best answered in the Phuket forum - moving....

[Phronesis]

Ok...

So most of your fixed living costs are met by your package, and you will have about USD2K per month after tax from your salary. Lets say half of that to be spent on food, entertainment, clothing.

That means you will be able to save about 12K per year.

Oh...minus you international school fees that will be significantly more than 12K.

Whoops.....back to the drawing board...

[steelepulse]

How many dependents are you supporting and what is/are the age(s) of the kids? What sort of housing allowance is included? With answers to these two questions we'll have a better understanding of if this is doable or not on the given salary.

[phuketrichard]

figure an international school ( not bi-lingual) will cost ya $8-10,000/year for primary--- secondary $12-15,000/year PLUS PLUS/kid

UBC 1,500/month

internet 3b 600

water?? drinking or for shower?? :-)

car insurance for a 2 year old car/truck first class 12-15,000 baht/year

will they give ya the house or an allowance??

2 bedroom homes rent for 10-150,000 baht/month

Phuket is not THAT expensive but it is going up

I owned my house and my daughter was at QSI ($12,000/year) and i lived good on 60,000/month for 3 of us

[stevenl]

I'm really surprised at the prices for an international school given here. Sure, some are really expensive like QSI and BIS, but Headstart, Palm House, Phuket International School (Chalong) really are quite affordable.

[PattayaPhom]

I'm really surprised at the prices for an international school given here. Sure, some are really expensive like QSI and BIS, but Headstart, Palm House, Phuket International School (Chalong) really are quite affordable.

How much is affordable?

[steelepulse]

Headstart,Palm House and Kajonkiat's new int''l are between 220 and 300K/year depending on age of the students.

[stevenl]

Headstart,Palm House and Kajonkiat's new int''l are between 220 and 300K/year depending on age of the students.

Palm House is 14,000 Baht per month, so 168.000 per year. I think Phuket International School, the one close to the circle, is cheaper. The other ones I don't know by heart, but I'm sure a quick google search can assist there.

Edited April 1, 2013 by stevenl

[phuketrichard]

Palm house is primary only ( up to 11 years old)

Phuket international in Chalong is only kindergarten (up to 6 years old)

Kajonkiat's International 228-237,000 but only up to year 6 or 12 -13 years old

There is also the Montessori school in Rawaii ( my daughter went there till she was 8) but they only go to age 12

Head start is 220-300,000/year depending on age

My Daughter attended the Montessori school, Dulwich (now BIS) and QSI

So that leaves u with PIA, QSI and BIS

http://www.phuket.com/schools.htm

With loans and grants her College education costs less!/year!!!!

Edited April 1, 2013 by phuketrichard

[stevenl]

Palm house is primary only ( up to 11 years old)

Phuket international in Chalong is only kindergarten (up to 6 years old)

Kajonkiat's International 228-237,000 but only up to year 6 or 12 -13 years old

There is also the Montessori school in Rawaii ( my daughter went there till she was 8) but they only go to age 12

Head start is 220-300,000/year depending on age

My Daughter attended the Montessori school, Dulwich (now BIS) and QSI

So that leaves u with PIA, QSI and BIS

http://www.phuket.com/schools.htm

With loans and grants her College education costs less!/year!!!!

Yes, Palm House is primary only, but cheaper than the mentioned 8,000-10,000 US$

Phuket International is up to 11 or 12 years old, and again cheaper than the 8,000-10,000 US$ mentioned.

So there really are primary international schools cheaper than the mentioned 8,000-10,000 US$.

[Phronesis]

Dont worry about miscellaneous expenses for schooling and other matters. Additional employment will be readily available in the fields of vehicle steering conversion and gold mining.

[NamKangMan]

Palm house is primary only ( up to 11 years old)

Phuket international in Chalong is only kindergarten (up to 6 years old)

Kajonkiat's International 228-237,000 but only up to year 6 or 12 -13 years old

There is also the Montessori school in Rawaii ( my daughter went there till she was 8) but they only go to age 12

Head start is 220-300,000/year depending on age

My Daughter attended the Montessori school, Dulwich (now BIS) and QSI

So that leaves u with PIA, QSI and BIS

http://www.phuket.com/schools.htm

With loans and grants her College education costs less!/year!!!!

Yes, Palm House is primary only, but cheaper than the mentioned 8,000-10,000 US$

Phuket International is up to 11 or 12 years old, and again cheaper than the 8,000-10,000 US$ mentioned.

So there really are primary international schools cheaper than the mentioned 8,000-10,000 US$.

Just out of interest, why such a big difference in price? I have never been into the gounds/classrooms of any of the International Schools here. Never needed to, and probably never will.

For those of you with kids here, does the higher price reflect the quality of teachers and/or facilities?

Edited April 1, 2013 by NamKangMan

[Jimi007]

I would say if you are single or have a wife, you can get by easily on 65K a month, especially with housing and car paid for. Hopefully they include car and health insurance. My water is free, other than the electricity for the pump. Many people have to pay for their water though around here. My electric bill is 2,000 Baht or less a month, it was 700 before I put in an air conditioner. Cable TV with internet is about 850 Baht. I also get 3BB internet as the cable is out quite a bit. Another 630 Baht. You didn't mention what area of Phuket you are talking about so there are some variables in costs...

[phuketrichard]

Palm house is primary only ( up to 11 years old)

Phuket international in Chalong is only kindergarten (up to 6 years old)

Kajonkiat's International 228-237,000 but only up to year 6 or 12 -13 years old

There is also the Montessori school in Rawaii ( my daughter went there till she was 8) but they only go to age 12

Head start is 220-300,000/year depending on age

My Daughter attended the Montessori school, Dulwich (now BIS) and QSI

So that leaves u with PIA, QSI and BIS

http://www.phuket.com/schools.htm

With loans and grants her College education costs less!/year!!!!

Yes, Palm House is primary only, but cheaper than the mentioned 8,000-10,000 US$

Phuket International is up to 11 or 12 years old, and again cheaper than the 8,000-10,000 US$ mentioned.

So there really are primary international schools cheaper than the mentioned 8,000-10,000 US$.

ok;

so i could have said $6-10,000 for primary but pay a visit to either PIA or BIS, ( Bis now runs 447,000- 572,000/year) vs head start and Palm house/Phuket international u will see why.

For me i give the best i can for my daughter

If i had to do it again i would use a bi lingual school for ages 5-10, (especially if they were half Thai) than switch to either BIS or PIA if u want a British education ( with the IGCSE and IB Diploma) or QSI if u want American education.

Edited April 1, 2013 by phuketrichard

[Poppa P]

I have no kids at the moment it was only for futrue referance. But thanks for the input!

Next on the list is where to live! My partners family live close to Nai yang beach but there isn't much of an expat community around there or I have found the right places. Patong isn't keen on my list. Kata, Karon, Rawi or even Phuket town.

I use to live on the east coast and she really wants to move back to Phuket.