What's The Average Thai Salary?

[phibunmike]

I gave very specific quotations from reputable sources.

Wikipedia?

Troll.

I don't support the suggestion of "troll", I disagree but respect points in jeebusjone's argument, I personally take offense at his summary of Isaan girls and those who love them; but I must say "thank you" to MarkBKK - Wikipedia is NOT an authorotative reference.

Edited February 5, 2007 by phibunmike

[jeebusjones]

I gave very specific quotations from reputable sources.

Wikipedia?

Troll.

What is that supposed to mean?

Thanks for your valuable input.

[qualtrough]

Jeebusjones--Rather than just inquiring about this topic, you made a lot of very strong statements of opinion with really very little to go on (see some in bold below). You also wrote that foreigners 'almost always have poor Isaan girlfriends and never educated Bangkokians', which is a totally incorrect observation as I pointed out to you. Finally, your idea that the average foreigner is as wealthy as the average Thai is simply ludicrous. Yes, there are many very wealthy Thais in Bangkok, but for every one of them there are probably hundreds who live a hand-to-mouth existence, or get by on a pittance even by local standards. How you could live here and not realize that I do not know.

Here are some of your gems:

Most foreigners I meet will say the average Thai gets 6-8,000 baht a month or something ridiculous like that.

So, this crap about the average Thai earning 8k a month is purely bullsh_t.

Also the idea that the average westerner is so much wealthier than the average Thai. It's simply not true.

I think that's why foreigners almost always have poor Isaan girlfriends and never educated Bangkokians.

To a poor country girl you are well off, but to an educated urbanite you're nothing.

Anyone else have any thoughts on this? I've been wondering about it for some time. Do you think Wikipedia may have incorrect figures?

Edited February 5, 2007 by qualtrough

[jeebusjones]

I don't support the suggestion of "troll", I disagree but respect points in jeebusjone's argument, I personally take offense at his summary of Isaan girls and those who love them; but I must say "thank you" to MarkBKK - Wikipedia is NOT an authorotative reference.

I agree Wikipedia is not an authorative reference. However that's half of the reason why I posted. Wikipedia's article about Bangkok states that the average income is $20,000 a year (PPP), which I've not seen else where. I wanted to see what others thought.

Regarding per capita income in all of Thailand, I also referenced the CIA world factbook, which I think is fairly accurate for statistics like this.

https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/th.html

GDP - per capita (PPP):

$9,100 (2006 est.)

[phibunmike]

Bangkok Post economic review 2006/verage wage in Thailand :Bath 8.309.

You can find on their site the average wage by industry.

http://www.bangkokpost.net/economicreviews.html

Yeah that does show some pretty low figures. But on the bottom left it also says:

GDP per capita (purchasing power parity) $8,600

So, the figures seem to contradict each other.

Also, what do you think of this quote from Wikipedia's article on Bangkok:

"In 2005, it produced a GDP (PPP) of about USD 220 billion, which accounts for 43 percent of the country's GDP. Its GDP (PPP) per capita is roughly USD 20,000, one of the highest in Southeast Asia."

I would like to throw some figures in for others to contemplate, without comment.

According to the 2005 edition of The Economist "World in Figures":

Thailand

GDP : $126.9 bn (Bt 5,452 bn)

GDP per head : $1,970

GDP per head in purchasing power parity (USA=100) : 19.1

The same book gives GDP per capita (PPP) as:

Hong Kong 76.1

Singapore 65.7

South Korea 47.0

Malaysia 23.5

Philippines 12.3

Indonesia 8.5

Vietnam 6.4

Burma (Myanmar) (not listed)

Laos (not listed)

North Korea (not listed)

Thailand "one of the highest" ? In the middle, amongst the low performers, perhaps...

The above are eferred to:

USA GDP per head : $35,990

USA GDP (PPP) : 100

[qualtrough]

I don't support the suggestion of "troll", I disagree but respect points in jeebusjone's argument, I personally take offense at his summary of Isaan girls and those who love them; but I must say "thank you" to MarkBKK - Wikipedia is NOT an authorotative reference.

I agree Wikipedia is not an authorative reference. However that's half of the reason why I posted. Wikipedia's article about Bangkok states that the average income is $20,000 a year (PPP), which I've not seen else where. I wanted to see what others thought.

Regarding per capita income in all of Thailand, I also referenced the CIA world factbook, which I think is fairly accurate for statistics like this.

https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/th.html

GDP - per capita (PPP):

$9,100 (2006 est.)

I am not sure if someone explained it to you yet, but the average doesn't really tell you much in this situation. Here is the science. Suppose you had 10 people in a room, nine make $1000 dollars a month, and one makes $100,000 a month. That would mean the average person in that room made $10,900 dollars a month (all salaries/10)--not too shabby a salary is it? But the reality is that 9 out of those ten people made only $1000 a month. That is why you would be better off looking at median and mode figures to get a better idea of the distribution of income, not just the average per person.

Edited February 5, 2007 by qualtrough

[jeebusjones]

Jeebusjones--Rather than just inquiring about this topic, you made a lot of very strong statements of opinion with really very little to go on (see some in bold below). You also wrote that foreigners 'almost always have poor Isaan girlfriends and never educated Bangkokians', which is a totally incorrect observation as I pointed out to you. Finally, your idea that the average foreigner is as wealthy as the average Thai is simply ludicrous. Yes, there are many very wealthy Thais in Bangkok, but for every one of them there are probably hundreds who live a hand-to-mouth existence, or get by on a pittance even by local standards. How you could live here and not realize that I do not know.

I actually had no intention of "ranting" or saying anything negative towards anyone, but I suppose I did use some fairly strong statements. Actually when I was writing I think I just had a few specific people in mind, and perhaps a little bitterness seeped through.

I would stand by my statement that most farangs have girlfriends from poorer backgrounds. Perhaps not 90%, but I would say almost definitely the majority. Again, I don't mean to say anything negative about that. As I mentioned before, my girlfriend is from a fairly poor background as well. I think it's just a fairly obvious observation.

I would like to refine my question though, since there has been some difficulty answering the original. I was mainly interested in the average income in Bangkok for degreed professionals. I think that question has been answered quite well already.

But a further question would be, what percentage of the workforce is uneducated and on the minimum wage? What percentage is in the professional class? I think just knowing the median income would not necessarily answer that question. It would be nice if someone could post a nice graph showing the different income brackets but I doubt such detailed information is readily available.

[phibunmike]

I don't support the suggestion of "troll", I disagree but respect points in jeebusjone's argument, I personally take offense at his summary of Isaan girls and those who love them; but I must say "thank you" to MarkBKK - Wikipedia is NOT an authorotative reference.

I agree Wikipedia is not an authorative reference. However that's half of the reason why I posted. Wikipedia's article about Bangkok states that the average income is $20,000 a year (PPP), which I've not seen else where. I wanted to see what others thought.

Regarding per capita income in all of Thailand, I also referenced the CIA world factbook, which I think is fairly accurate for statistics like this.

https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/th.html

GDP - per capita (PPP):

$9,100 (2006 est.)

I am not sure if someone explained it to you yet, but the average doesn't really tell you much in this situation. Here is the science. Suppose you had 10 people in a room, nine make $1000 dollars a month, and one makes $100,000 a month. That would mean the average person in that room made $10,900 dollars a month (all salaries/10)--not too shabby a salary is it? But the reality is that 9 out of those ten people made only $1000 a month. That is why you would be better off looking at median and mode figures to get a better idea of the distribution of income, not just the average per person.

I agree, that is the point I was making when I said

I think that was qualtrough's point - the mean (average) is almost meaningless in Thailand. The modal income is a far better indicator. I am making up statistics here, but I think I would not be a million miles away if I said that 55,000,000 people earn less than 5,000 baht a month, and the the other 5,000,000 bring in an average of 250,000 baht a month. Not correct figures, but I hope you get the way I am thinking.

- as well as an earlier post.

I think JBJ's

GDP - per capita (PPP): $9,100 (2006 est.)

is probably sound, my Economist figures for 2005 work out to $6,874 - same ball park, especially allowing for growth.

[jeebusjones]

That is why you would be better off looking at median and mode figures to get a better idea of the distribution of income, not just the average per person.

I do understand middle school mathematics. However the per capita income is the information that's most commonly referenced. If you happen to know the median income it would be beneficial to share it here.

[phibunmike]

That is why you would be better off looking at median and mode figures to get a better idea of the distribution of income, not just the average per person.

I do understand middle school mathematics. However the per capita income is the information that's most commonly referenced. If you happen to know the median income it would be beneficial to share it here.

That would be interesting - actually, a complete histogram of income would be interesting, especially if it included the "cash" economy....

[david96]

What is the cost of living in Thailand ( Bangkok) compared with your own country

The basic wage in Australia is approx $2200 gross /month. The PPP is 3.6:1(ref CIA website)

From practical experience I have found Thailand to have a cost of living to be about 30% that of Australia.

Exclude "entertainment" as an expence from the CPI (consumer price index).

[phibunmike]

What is the cost of living in Thailand ( Bangkok) compared with your own country

The basic wage in Australia is approx $2200 gross /month. The PPP is 3.6:1(ref CIA website)

From practical experience I have found Thailand to have a cost of living to be about 30% that of Australia.

Exclude "entertainment" as an expence from the CPI (consumer price index).

Referring again to 2005 edn. of "World in Figures" by The Economist:

Cost of Living (New York = 100) (Dec 2003)

Japan 138

UK 109

Singapore 98

South Korea 97

Australia 93

Italy 88

Indonesia 73

Vietnam 63

Malaysia 62

Thailand 61

Philippines 39

Cheers,

Mike

[Plus]

I'm not sure all these numbers help a lot.

Perhaps we should clarify what do we mean by "average Thai". Each one of us has a particular idea of what his/her average would be, especially for practical purposes. If you want to keep up with Joneses you are talking about average in you village/mooban, if you don't know how much to pay your staff you are talking about average salary for this position in this industry. If you are walking around the dept. store and you wonder how "average" Thais can afford shopping there, you have to look at the average car in the car park.

One should also define to himself what his average quality gf is supposed to be and then work out how much an average girl of that kind would make. The you can compare your prospective specimen to that average.

It makes much more sense to talk about specifics - an average doctor's salary in Bangkok, or a recent graduates without connections applying for average jobs from average newspapers, or an average income from a shophouse/noodle cart in one particular area.

[LinkPopularity]

let's say 5% of the Thai are extremely rich, that are 300.000 BMW's en Mercedes, still about 50.000.000 are poor

[david96]

Look at it from this viewpoint Mike, USD100 spent in Thailand is the equivalent to AUD300 or USD400 spent in Aust. or the US.

"Economist" type figures refer to "expat" living all company paid expenses and entertainment,houses car,driver, maid etc.

[phibunmike]

"Economist" type figures refer to "expat" living all company paid expenses and entertainment,houses car,driver, maid etc.

You are right David, reading the small print those figures do indeed refer to the "cost of maintaining a typical international lifestyle" in the country, not the purchasing power of an average citizen. Thanks for pointing that out.

[MarkBKK]

I gave very specific quotations from reputable sources.

Wikipedia?

Troll.

What is that supposed to mean?

Thanks for your valuable input.

It means quite simply that citing Wikipedia as a ''reputable source'' is about as good as saying ''This bloke in the pub told me ...''

[MarkBKK]

What is the cost of living in Thailand ( Bangkok) compared with your own country

The basic wage in Australia is approx $2200 gross /month. The PPP is 3.6:1(ref CIA website)

From practical experience I have found Thailand to have a cost of living to be about 30% that of Australia.

Exclude "entertainment" as an expence from the CPI (consumer price index).

Referring again to 2005 edn. of "World in Figures" by The Economist:

Cost of Living (New York = 100) (Dec 2003)

Japan 138

UK 109

Singapore 98

South Korea 97

Australia 93

Italy 88

Indonesia 73

Vietnam 63

Malaysia 62

Thailand 61

Philippines 39

Cheers,

Mike

Those ''cost of living'' surveys always used to confuse me. Tokyo always seemed so much cheaper than central London when I visited Japan. Then I found out that they factored in things like ''cost of taxi from airport to city centre''. No one in their right mind would get a taxi from Narita to the middle of Tokyo (from memory 40 odd miles vs about 10 from Heathrow to the middle of London).

[TAWP]

I gave very specific quotations from reputable sources.

Wikipedia?

Troll.

What is that supposed to mean?

Thanks for your valuable input.

It means quite simply that citing Wikipedia as a ''reputable source'' is about as good as saying ''This bloke in the pub told me ...''

Right. Since you have never discovered the references-section on each page on wikipedia?

[Plus]

Wikipedia is an excellent source of information on popular topics where lots of people monitor each other's input. On obscure topics they usually put disclaimers. "This article is a stub", "References needed" and so on. On truly controversial topics they find a wording that is acceptable to both sides and reflect only factual information.

It beats Encyclopedia Britannica or Encarta at least in practicality.

[MarkBKK]

I gave very specific quotations from reputable sources.

Wikipedia?

Troll.

What is that supposed to mean?

Thanks for your valuable input.

It means quite simply that citing Wikipedia as a ''reputable source'' is about as good as saying ''This bloke in the pub told me ...''

Right. Since you have never discovered the references-section on each page on wikipedia?

If the figures come from another source, quote that. (And from what you say you don't appear to be that familiar with Wikipedia ...)

[MarkBKK]

Wikipedia is an excellent source of information on popular topics where lots of people monitor each other's input. On obscure topics they usually put disclaimers. "This article is a stub", "References needed" and so on. On truly controversial topics they find a wording that is acceptable to both sides and reflect only factual information.

It beats Encyclopedia Britannica or Encarta at least in practicality.

The problem I have with Wikipedia (what has this got to do with Thailand?) is that of the very (very) few things I happen to know a great deal about, Wikipedia gets basic facts/information about them wrong.

Yes, years ago -- before the current system of editing was introduced -- I even corrected them (with pictures, quotes, references, etc.). The corrections then dissapear over time as ''folk lore'' and what people think they know reappears. This incorrect information is still there, and will probably remain so.

Given that I, like many other people, unfortunately don't know everything about everything, but do know there is some complete and utter tosh masquerading as ''fact'', tends to make me disbelieve everything I see on Wikipedia. It is also (or was before the new editing ''rules'') very easy to just make stuff up (about people, things ... stuff) and leave it there. Great fun too.

The Encyclopædia Britannica has been rubbish for about 100 years and Encarta ... well ...

[keenok]

one thing i think that must be noted is that people working for private individuals are very often relatively well paid. for example an earlier poster refering to unskilled labour at 400 baht a day. this is often due to the employer being able to afford the wage and wishing to provide their employee with a good wage with which to take care of their family and also loyalty. these workers are indeed lucky. one poster said "they" paid workers during the last rice harvest 120 baht per day.this in my opinion is closer to the norm than the "lucky " individual earning 400 a day.(although a little low from what im told). as for somebodys suggestion that somebody working in a 7/11 or tescos would earn about 8000 a month ,certainly not the cashiers!! (unless they worked all hours )supervisors perhaps. cashiers wage in carefour is 165 baht per day. 300 baht bonus per month and 300 baht travel allowance. with a little overtime(30 baht per hour) and hopefully not being down on the till ,(which is deducted from wage)they will take home about 6-6500 per month.note this is for the cashier not the guy weighing veg or the old lady mopping the floor who would love to have the cashiers wage!!

[bingbong]

I've always been curious about this. Most foreigners I meet will say the average Thai gets 6-8,000 baht a month or something ridiculous like that.

However, most official sources say the average salary is $8,200 a year. This means something around 24,000 baht a month is the average, nation wide.

(See https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/th.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangkok)

But even 24,000 a month strikes me as being somewhat low for a place like Bangkok, which is full of delux shopping centers, Mercedes and BMWs and some very expensive condos.

According to Wikipedia, the average salary in Bangkok is $20,000 a year. This equates to roughly 58,000 baht a month. Does this sound right? (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangkok#Economy)

So, this crap about the average Thai earning 8k a month is purely bullsh_t. Also the idea that the average westerner is so much wealthier than the average Thai. It's simply not true. Someone working at Tesco or 7/11 may be earning 8k a month. But someone with an education and a decent job will be earning far more, maybe more than you.

I think that's why foreigners almost always have poor Isaan girlfriends and never educated Bangkokians. To a poor country girl you are well off, but to an educated urbanite you're nothing. That's why wealthy Thais stick together, and poor Thais leech off the stupid farang.

Anyone else have any thoughts on this? I've been wondering about it for some time. Do you think Wikipedia may have incorrect figures?

Hi

I'm Thai. I'd like to try to answer your question. I don't have any official data but I will tell you my direct experience. I graduated in BA of education from one of a famous government university in the south in year 2000. The first job I got was a trainee office worker in Pattani province. The salary stared at 5,000 Baht. It was never enough. But my parents alway supported me ( It normal in Thailand for parents giving money to grown up child ) The salary was raised after 2 months and kept going up every month to 8,000 baht and that the time when I was a full office worker. Basicly 8,000 baht is enough for rent ( a room ) and food some cheap cloths and petrol for my motorcycle but hardly enough for holiday or other luxury like designer stuffs. After that my parent decided to sent me to study more in London in 2001. that was the end of my career in thailand 'cos I live in germany now. Let 's hear about my big sister. She graduated from same uni as I but with a much better grade in 1997. She started her career as a receptionist in a 5 stars hotel in phuket. She started at 8,000 baht but her situation was much better. Her company have very goood benefit for the employees. She has a free accomodation, free meal at work and free transportation. But she still can't have holiday but can effort more shopping ,had a mobile phone and save some money. She also went to study in London, after that she got a job in Bangkok as a exhibition organiser in a big international campany started at 20,000 baht. That was 2001. She still strugled as the life in Bkk is expensive. As u said there r too many things that too nice not to buy. Now she gets about 40,000 baht but I don't think she will be able to have a BMW. 40,000 baht is in quite a good level but BKK is just like any capital cities in the world there are extream on both rich and poor. Luckily there are always cheap fashion cloths and cheap but good food to buy everywhere in BKK, so average girls like us can have a bit of life. I think Wikipedia got the number right but not in dollas, I think it should be in baht. The average that they talking about is included people out side BKK who may doing farm. or maybe unskilled labourers. Most people in countryside they live in a big expanding family so they don't pay rent. Food is always quite chep anywhere in thailand . And going on holiday isn't our culture. And don' forget that thailand is considered poor contry. So 8,200 baht a year is not unrealistic.

About what u said that farangs mostly have poor Isaan girlfriend. It's not 'cos the eduated one look down on farang. The thing is there are many farangs go to Pattaya and meet their girlfriends there. Mostly in a bar. And most bar girls in pattaya are from the poor Isaan. I'm sure that the educated thai girl and other average girls find farangs attractive but most of them are quite shy(quite opposit to bar girl in pattaya) so to built relationship with farangs is difficult, left alone langue barrier and culture different.

[kmart]

Thailand is almost like 4 different countries. With extreme income disparity to match.

Anyone really wanting to find out the median salary countrywide for Thais should find the local news classifieds sections in those four parts of the country.

A lot of Thai salaries include proportionately large bonuses to boost average pay packets. A lot of Thai Chinese firms pay these out as "ang pao" at Chinese New Year.

[pos]

Average salary in Thailand in 2005:

engineer: 32,655 bahts per month

car mechanic: 6530 bahts per month

miner: 4,172 bahts per month

other jobs here:

http://www.worldsalaries.org/thailand.shtm...e-salary-by-job

Edited June 18, 2007 by pos

[jdinasia]

This thread seems to boil down to the OP not understanding GDP and PPP ....

[Furbie]

Just a few observations on how people live off such low salaries and the salary discrepancies in Thailand:

1) The tax burden on the typical Thai salary is very low or non existent – therefore, a majority of Thai's pocket their whole salary. They are also not shopping or eating at places that charge VAT in many cases.

2) Most Thais are farmers or hourly wage earners, meaning making the minimum wage and working about 50 hours per week for around 6,000 baht per month in Bangkok.

3) Thais tend to live in groups – either family or friends or both – which will obviously reduce living expenses. Many families pool earnings.

4) Costs for public transportation in Thailand are very low – especially the bus. Motorcycles are also a cheap option.

5) Many jobs which would be considered menial in the West, such as working at a Tesco, may require a university degree – though I believe cashiers and stock boys require a high school degree. I believe help wanted signs at Pizza Company advertising for a waitress required a High School degree, but I see many jobs which say Uni educated – however, these would be third rate Uni students going for these jobs.

6) Strong English skills and a good University degree can get you access to a Western company, in which case your salary can be double, triple or more for senior management than at your Thai company equivalent. However, basic workers, like the girl answering the phone are still doing around 8k per month, a fairly typical salary for a Uni grad just starting out. Japanese companies are in the middle, but will have some good benefits.

7) Bonuses and overtime can make up a good portion of extra income for many Thais – but people in construction, farmers, taxi drivers, the majority of the population, don't have this luxury. However, for those that do, it can be significant – drivers at my company nearly double their monthly salary in overtime.

8) Wealthy people also derive income from investments, not just wages. One of my previous GFs earned roughly 35k per month, but she had investments in many companies her friends had opened – her income from these was a lot more than her salary.

As I stated in a previous post, my GF has a Uni degree, but I earn about 8 times her monthly basic salary – she does get a nice bonus however. She earns roughly 25% more than her Thai friends working in similar jobs at Thai companies; she is one level above entry level white collar work. He boss' salary has a more significant difference.

It was stated before, PPP is not GDP – do not confuse the two. Thailand also has one of the worst, if not the worst, gap between rich and poor on the planet. This is what brings up the average wage up, with so many people making a low income. The black/grey market economy also contributes to this, but at the end of the day, Thai salaries are just plain low for the majority of Thais.

[ilyushin]

All depends on the job and skills of the employee. Commercial Pilots ( Thai) make around USD5,000/mth and a messenger makes around baht 9,000/mth plus food , commissions, OT, etc...

Girl at the PX on base stocks the shelves for baht 4,000/mth. The guard at one of my old condo units makes baht 2,500, meals and a place to sleep.He also washes cars for extra cash. Some guys washing cars opposite the PX make baht 3,000/mth, food and place to sleep. The local drunk can beg upwards of baht 5,000/mth eats food out of the trash bin and sleeps any place.

[steveromagnino]

It was stated before, PPP is not GDP – do not confuse the two. Thailand also has one of the worst, if not the worst, gap between rich and poor on the planet. This is what brings up the average wage up, with so many people making a low income. The black/grey market economy also contributes to this, but at the end of the day, Thai salaries are just plain low for the majority of Thais.

[/size][/font]

In fact wealth distribution of Thailand and USA is almost identical using standard measures such as GINI or Lorenz curves. And yes, this is very disparate between the rich and poor.

Most of the other figures you name are spot on for outside of BKK, for anyone half decent in BKK, the numbers go up fairly rapidly far beyond 8k starting grad wages; hel_l decent maids earn 8k or more these days. in general, most foreigners tend to underestimate the earning power and the power of averages including the senior executives on 200k - 1m baht a month in influencing those averages. not everyone is on 6k a month.