What's The Average Thai Salary?

[Prakanong]

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.

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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.

As I have mentioned before - last I heard our starting salaries were at least 40k per month for fresh grads in the role we require.

They do jump quite quickly as well with only a little experience.

This is probably not the norm though as we hve certain requirments and are in a certain sector which in itself is peculiar.

[pampal]

My girlfriend has 5 workers.

3 of them are paid 6000 baht/ month

1 is the accountant making 9000 baht/month

1 is the manager making 10000 baht/month

they are happy as the customers also give tips

[sukanyacondo]

Very good question, I would like to also know how they do it. I see many fancy cars, houses, etc. Were is all the money coming from if they only make about 8,000 baht a month,

You never heard of "Tea Money"?

Or easy credit???

[steveromagnino]

My girlfriend has 5 workers.

3 of them are paid 6000 baht/ month

1 is the accountant making 9000 baht/month

1 is the manager making 10000 baht/month

they are happy as the customers also give tips

in general Thai people tend to mix in a somewhat class based level, so if one person earns say 6k, then most of her friends will probably earn in the same ballpark.

For companies, well let us just say of all my clients, I can only think of maids and messengers who earn under 10k a month; the remainder tend to be on far higher than that, and most of the clients have turnover problems for not paying enough!

All horses for courses.

[Prakanong]

My girlfriend has 5 workers.

3 of them are paid 6000 baht/ month

1 is the accountant making 9000 baht/month

1 is the manager making 10000 baht/month

they are happy as the customers also give tips

in general Thai people tend to mix in a somewhat class based level, so if one person earns say 6k, then most of her friends will probably earn in the same ballpark.

For companies, well let us just say of all my clients, I can only think of maids and messengers who earn under 10k a month; the remainder tend to be on far higher than that, and most of the clients have turnover problems for not paying enough!

All horses for courses.

Hmm turnover problems - yes I know about them.

Mainly rectified now with regards salary but its the turnover as they move on to bigger and better things as they are very good that will never go away and even though it causes more work it is accepted as a good thing and good one them - my pal was recently promoted just before going on mat leave - has to be good.

[sukanyacondo]

hmmmmmmm

seems i am overpaying my gf.

she is earning double the average wage.

Eeeeek then Im paying mine 5 times the average wage...... but she still buys clothes for 100 baht secondhand down the road

[Furbie]

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.

As I have mentioned before - last I heard our starting salaries were at least 40k per month for fresh grads in the role we require.

They do jump quite quickly as well with only a little experience.

This is probably not the norm though as we hve certain requirments and are in a certain sector which in itself is peculiar.

To be fair Prakanong, you are talking about one particular type of employment. If I limited my example to drivers, I would have a lower amount. If I limited my example to investment bankers, it would be much higher. Think about all the people graduating with humanities majors, education majors, agricultural sciences majors, architects etc. – these people make very little upon graduation. Then think about the huge government sector in Thailand and how little these people make even after 15 years (before the under the table bonus anyway).

Look at the job boards and you will see that most Thai companies do not pay very well. True, you can move up quickly, but not that quickly. True, there are jobs that pay more – but you need a decent uni degree to get them. Believe me, I had the HR function under me for a few years and have seen thousands of resumes and applications which list previous salary history. I have seen people who have worked in every function, in nearly every industry in most decent sized companies in Thailand. Specialized people may get more as the number of these graduates from good unis is limited (accountants, engineers, etc.), but most don't.

I would say a second tier uni grad with 2-5 years experience should be between 15-25k, but many of these functions will top out at this level. For example, the secretary at my last position was on 30k, she had been at roughly 30k for three years (she had some small cost of living adjustment) and in the role for seven years – she started answering the phones at 8k something like 10 years ago, moved up twice and wound up a secretary at 18k – then got some increases until she maxed out at 30k – where is she going to go, another company and start at a lower salary? Other girls who started at 8k, most married and left the work force. Some went on for their Master's and get better jobs, some moved up one level and have been there ever since.

And of course, steveromagnino, not everyone is on 6k per month, but I will wager that the vast majority of the population is under 10k per month, not averaging. Don't forget, only a small % of that Thai population has a uni degree, and without one, you won't be making much money. As for your maid example, the last full-time maid I had was 4,000 baht a month, she was thrilled as it was 1,000k more than her last job (though she got room and board). 8,000 is over kill for a home maid, however, maids in decent hotels make more, but that is due to tips, not wages – and their hours are killer. It is a sad fact that many uni educated people in Thailand make less than service sector employees – but that is nothing new, auto mechanics in the US can make a lot more to start than many uni grads, same with plumbers. Lots of uni educated people leave the Philippines and Burma to maids here in Thailand; however, ask some uni grads if they would be a maid even if it paid more – the answer is no, there is no status in it.

Take a look at this UNESCO report, the data is a little old, but I doubt much has changed, which sums up the problem I discussed above – too many graduates with degrees that won't get them good jobs:

Massification of higher education in Thailand

Since the early days of the university system in Thailand, the size of the system has progressively expanded in response to population growth, political pressure and socio-economic development. The rate of growth has accelerated over the last three decades, as evidenced by the increase in the number of institutions and the size of enrollment. Thailand is at present still in the massification period. The number of higher educational institutions was 43 (26 private) in 1990, 66 (42 private) in 1998, and 78 (54 private) in 2002. The number of students in the higher education system in 2002 was over 1.2 million; about 0.66 in the open universities and 0.22 in the private ones. The increase stemmed both from the larger number of those finished secondary schools and a larger proportion seeking higher education. For instance, in 1988, 244,034 students graduated from secondary schools and 144,931 or 59 % entered into higher education; while in 1998, 480,609 finished secondary schools and 364,871 or 76% entered colleges and universities. Since 96% of those attending public universities completed their training and graduated, but only 26% of those registered at open universities actually graduated, the figures could be misleading, and efficiency of the system had to be addressed. In 2004, forty two public institutes which were originally teacher-training and technical colleges were upgraded to be full-fledged universities.

The expansion has responded to the youth's demand which is not corresponding to the world of work, resulting in unemployed graduates and at the same time shortage for certain disciplines. There has been imbalance between science and technology on the one hand, and social sciences and humanities on the other hand, the latter of which are subjects that can be offered with less investment cost.

[jdinasia]

I am pretty unsure about the 40k/mo claim for fresh out of college ... unless the degree they hold is hard science etc (and even then)

I do know that it is possible for a very well connected Thai guy with a degree in IT and professional certs in a specialty to make 100k/mo 6 years out of college ... but he would have prof certifications that put him as one of 19 people in the country

[keebone]

I found these figures yesterday.

http://www.d-trac.org/en/average_thai_wages

[Prakanong]

I am pretty unsure about the 40k/mo claim for fresh out of college ... unless the degree they hold is hard science etc (and even then)

I do know that it is possible for a very well connected Thai guy with a degree in IT and professional certs in a specialty to make 100k/mo 6 years out of college ... but he would have prof certifications that put him as one of 19 people in the country

These are people with an overseas degree either at undergrad or graduate level - they need the overseas degree to have the level of english that is required and thus can get a premium for this.

Withing a few months they are being head hunted - plenty of people moving into the Thai market as its cheaper to do certain things there and our traning and development is excellent - some of the CRO's are willing to pay a premium for a trained person as they can not do the training themselves due to lack of resources or no wish to invest in them.

The old saying apply's too

Old money gos to England

New money goes to America

No money goes to Australia

100,000 IT guy in Thailand - IT is very wide - yes I would say 100,000 as a SAP guy or someone with banking experience etc should have no problem with that with only 6 years.

1 of only 19 though - I struggle to think what that would be in area's I know (IT is so wide now its impossible to keep track) but it can not be SAP - plenty of those around.

If I was him i would be off contracting and pulling in more than that a week - makes me miss those days now I am permie again even if the money is the same it does not feel like the same seat of your pants work.!

[jdinasia]

There MAY be more than 19 now in Thailand with a CISSP cert ... but not on multiple platforms ...

[a2396]

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?

I have been trying to find the salaries for gov officials with no luck. I did find a site that listed the Prime ministers salary plus a few others but no complete list.

After I tried to get some help at Tesco I told my wife Tesco needs someone who can speak english to help all the falangs that shop there so she went and asked for a job. They told her that you have to have a university degree to work there even just to be a sales person. What a waste of an expensive education.

A university degree to work in Tasco?? Why do the clerks speak zero English then? The sam for most hotel staff outside BKK.

[a2396]

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!!

4 to 6,000 bht per mo seems to be the avg. for store clerks & other unskilled help in Issan. It is surprising that most of my prospective GF's, who are mostly high school & tech school drop-outs, sneer at my offer of 5-6,000 bht per mo. Seems like they have better offers.

[Prakanong]

There MAY be more than 19 now in Thailand with a CISSP cert ... but not on multiple platforms ...

Ahh security stuff - I know nowt about that ;-)

there was a guy on the bus yesterday morning sat opposite me with all the Cisco boxed coursework relating to the stuff - he even had a small day pack from a security conference in San Francisco - that the closest i have been to that ara of IT ;-)

[grace28]

Well, I'm pretty sure 8,600 baht is probably the whole of Thailand, while 58,000 baht is probably only Bangkok. Living in Bangkok myself, I would say that both are correct. Still, you may not want to believe my word much I'm still a student at an International school in BKK and living off of my parents. If it helps, my mom's factory earns about 60,000,00 a year I think. That would be about $1,796,891.

Edited July 22, 2008 by grace28

[kmart]

It is surprising that most of my prospective GF's, who are mostly high school & tech school drop-outs, sneer at my offer of 5-6,000 bht per mo. Seems like they have better offers.

Most probably.

[Tyke]

My Thai partner with good management and English skills, batchelor degree in business computing and works for a farang-run international school earns 20000 baht per month and that is considered a good salary for someone in their '20s and was making 13000 baht per month before.

I have been assured that the average cop in BKK earns about 8000 baht per month plus medical and education for his famiily. No wonder they are always on the make.

I would not be surprised about 8000 baht being the average salary. Food and accommodation, maybe shared, somewhere in the suburbs can be very cheap compared to what farangs need and pay for.

[h90]

Its pretty simple, for example lets say that for every 100 Thais that earn 6,000 Baht there's one that earns 1,800,000 baht, an average salary is just that an average of all peoples earnings. 98% of the population probably earn less than 8,000 baht a month, whilst the rest are middle class (say 24,000 Baht salary) or very well off.

Someone with an education and a decent job is still likely to be earning 15-25,000 baht or so, I mean Doctors in a public hospital would be lucky to be getting more than say 30k baht, so a teenager working at Mcdonalds in the UK could easily earn three times what a fully qualified doctor of 30 years does here.

Well in a real statistic you should cut away some outsider with 1.800.000 Baht.

[Edonista]

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

No they don't.

Those 8,600 $ are valued at PPP , being that around 0.40 (Thailand to USA) they are actually $3,440 that is 120,000 baht that is 10,000 baht/month . The difference between 10,000 and 8,000 is due to the fact that internal product includes also profits and not just salaries.

[Gary A]

You have the "HAVES" and the "HAVE NOTS". If you eliminate the top ten percent you will find the average drops like a rock. I'm not sure now, but I think the minimum wage in Bangkok is 175 baht per 8 hour day in the factories. Most Thais are not fortunate enough to have a good paying factory job. The minimum wage varies by province and Bangkok is the highest. Out in the boonies a 4,000 baht per month wage is quite good. Don't believe the statistics. They are WAY out of line.

[Heng]

You have the "HAVES" and the "HAVE NOTS". If you eliminate the top ten percent you will find the average drops like a rock.

Absolutely. What's funny though is that on a lot of these threads, a lot of folks apparently can't grasp the concept that the top 10-20% exists.

[Tod Daniels]

While the top 10-20% or as it was put; the "HAVES" certainly exist, you can see that would leave about 80-90% in the catergory known as the "HAVE NOTS".

The minimum wage in the glorious "Land 'O Thais" (unless I am mistaken) is broken down like this;

These regulations apply to all businesses and rates depend largely on the location of the workplace.

The minimum wage per DAY effective January 1, 2007 are:

191 ฿ Bangkok , Nonthaburi, Nakhon Pathom, Pathumthani, Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon

186 ฿ Phuket

172 ฿ Chonburi

168 ฿ Saraburi

162 ฿ Nakhon Ratchasima

161 ฿ Rayong

160 ฿ Chachoengsao, Ayutthaya, Ranong

159 ฿ Chiang Mai, Phang Nga

156 ฿ Krabi, Petchaburi

155 ฿ Kanchanaburi Chanthaburi, Lopburi

154 ฿ Ratchaburi, Samut Songkhram, Srakeaw

152 ฿ Trang, Prachuapkirikan, Prachinburi, Songkhla, Singburi, Ang Thong

150 ฿ Loei, Udon Thani

149 ฿ Chumphon, Trat, Lampang, Lamphum, Sukothai, Suphanburi

148 ฿ Kalasin, Khon Kaen, Nakhon Phanom, Nakorn Si Thammarat, Narathiwat, Buriram, Pattani, Yala, Satun, Nong Khai

147 ฿ Kamphaengphet, Tak, Nakorn Na Yok, Nakorn Sawan, Phattalung, Phitsanulok, Phetchabun, Surat Thani, Uttaradit

146 ฿ Chainat, Chaiyaphum, Chiang Rai, Mahasarakram, Mukdahan, Yasothon, Roi Et, Sri Sa Ket, Sakhon Nakhon, Nong Bua Lamphu, U Thaithani

145 ฿ Phichit, Mae Hong Son, Surin, Ubon Ratchathani, Amnat Charoen

144 ฿ Payao and Phrae

143 ฿ Nan

That is assuming the company they work for even pays minimum wage. Although required to by law, there are a plethora of exemptions which a company can fall under to get around paying the minimum daily wage.

[Heng]

"Remember in this game we call life, that no one said it's fair..."

[farang555]

break down incomes for bkk and non bkk someone! its no wonder poor got to bkk not away from it.

[zzdocxx]

Well, I'm pretty sure 8,600 baht is probably the whole of Thailand, while 58,000 baht is probably only Bangkok. Living in Bangkok myself, I would say that both are correct. Still, you may not want to believe my word much I'm still a student at an International school in BKK and living off of my parents. If it helps, my mom's factory earns about 60,000,00 a year I think. That would be about $1,796,891.

Yes I would be delighted to make your acquaintance!

[Dakhar]

Dakhar here again....

I just learned that some of our employees are actually earning a good sum for Thailand. Almost as much as MDs without any real eduaction.

One individual that heads a dept in the comp. is earning 26K and this is without a degree. The problem is, he is a highly skilled craftsman, and this is what his job requires.

In Thailand, there are probably only 15 people that can do his job, and he is the best in Thailand.

Point is wages are all over the place, and for some reason Thai/Chinese seem to make more and from what I have seen it has nothing to do with education.

[Dakhar]

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?

I have been trying to find the salaries for gov officials with no luck. I did find a site that listed the Prime ministers salary plus a few others but no complete list.

After I tried to get some help at Tesco I told my wife Tesco needs someone who can speak english to help all the falangs that shop there so she went and asked for a job. They told her that you have to have a university degree to work there even just to be a sales person. What a waste of an expensive education.

A university degree to work in Tasco?? Why do the clerks speak zero English then? The sam for most hotel staff outside BKK.

It only reflects the education system, that is all.

[Heng]

Point is wages are all over the place, and for some reason Thai/Chinese seem to make more and from what I have seen it has nothing to do with education.

Education in the home (often being raised in business environments) and insurmountable head starts made by previous generations. The same can be seen in various groups (of various ethnicities, religious groups, etc.) all over the world

[sfokevin]

[dingdongrb]

I work in the 'high tech' electronics manufacturing field and have been traveling and living in LOS for the past 8+ years and I can tell you from first hand experience that in electronics mfg the average Operator will make somewhere around 8k baht a month. The average Engineer will make between 30k and 60k a month (maybe higher with time vested in the company and level of education). I don't know many other salary levels within this field but I do know of one certain Program Mgr who was making 120k baht a month.

As far a folks here in Thailand driving expensive cars, I always wondered the same when I first came to Thailand. I finally just related it to the same I am aware of in the USA. And that is there are many I personally know of in the USA that drive expensive cars in the USA but they are either up their arse in debt or live in a trailer.