Cost of Living in Thailand: Save money? You're having a laugh!

 

 

A survey commissioned by the Government Savings Bank has found that "grassroots" income in Thailand is too low for the majority of Thais to save anything for the future.

 

The survey revealed that people earning under 15,000 baht have a real struggle to survive.

 

Only 32.2% made any saving at all. About 56% of that number put a little away each month. 

 

This averaged out at about 1,500 baht among those that saved anything.

 

Some 70% of people who saved did so for reasons of possible future emergencies or ill-health. 

 

Only a quarter are planning for retirement in any way. 

 

Workpointnews published the story highlighting the fact that low income "grassroots" earners were finding it difficult to save. 

 

Source: https://www.thairath.co.th/content/1407973

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2018-11-2

On the very far north border where I live people earn minimal wage and know they have to live simple, make it go round and there is little competition to outdo their neighbours. Saving is virtually impossible. But down in C Mai there is a class of workers who want the good things in life and are not prepared to go without. They buy expensive big screen TV's, computers, mobiles, auto's and even houses to keep up with their neighbours and borrow to do so. You'd be hard pressed to find a group of Thais with ordinary jobs who actually save money monthly. For that you would need to look at business owners, managers etc. Bangkok is maybe a different world, I know nothing of how they live.

Yeah but it's impossible to live in Thailand on less then 40k a month, so no wonder they can't save. I read this on TV often. Where are the Thais mentioned in this article getting their fix of premium import beer and superior western food from?

2 minutes ago, Lungstib said:

 Bangkok is maybe a different world, I know nothing of how they live.

Well, it is the most populated area.  And by far the most debt is there.

Many office workers in BKK do not make more then 15k. 

Especially the females I have met mostly have big big debt trying to make an appearance of being hiso.

But truly the US is not much different. Just a higher income, but their debt is much higher so who is the winner...

Thats partly to blame on the fairly high increase in salaries for everyone in Thailand less than a half a decade ago, which caused a spending and loaning boom and was followed by an abnormal increase in prices and taxes, which has only steadily continued to increase, while the yearly increase in salaries has nearly stopped for the mid- and low income class, making it again very expensive for the average Thai.


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"most families are only $500 from bankruptcy".... 63% ???

it's called financial irresponsibility.   these families have flat screen tv's and xboxs, everyone in the family has their own "mobile plan" and expensive phone, not to mention multiple cable tv hook-ups, and big car, they don't need that their making payments on.

just think about what the economy looks like when everyone was broke.

get real.

3 minutes ago, HOAX said:

Thats partly to blame on the fairly high increase in salaries for everyone in Thailand less than a half a decade ago, which caused a spending and loaning boom and was followed by an abnormal increase in prices and taxes, which has only steadily continued to increase, while the yearly increase in salaries has nearly stopped for the mid- and low income class, making it again very expensive for the average Thai.


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Horse poo, "partly", "fairly high", "less than half a decade"! Please post a link from a reliable source proving what you write is true and not just a brain fart.

It is not going to get any easier for them either,with inflation,

and someday the interest rates will have to rise.it's a I want it,

and i want NOW ! society,everytime Apple brings a new phone

out there deeper in debt. this is not only a Thai problem.

 

regards Worgeordie

Horse poo, "partly", "fairly high", "less than half a decade"! Please post a link from a reliable source proving what you write is true and not just a brain fart.

If you stop eating horse poo and just pay attention instead you’d know already. The “sources” are spread around in a whole bunch of articles posted the last years. Look it up yourself instead of asking others to spoon feed you.


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4 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

I want it,

and i want NOW ! society

In a nutshell that's the global problem.

 

Exacerbated by social media "look what I've got!" - creating a never ending circle of consumption and envy.

 

.

Edited November 2, 20187 yr by Stocky

Says a lot about the distribution of wealth in the country, when the govt continually sprouts about how well the country is doing. There's enough people to do something about but they all just seem to bend over and cop it!...………………...Let's buy some submarines!

@simoh1490 - To add to that, just use your eyes, “the new era” lives in a fake “luxury/good times”, where even 7/11 workers buys 35k iphones and 700k pickup trucks. What’d you expect. Its like seeing the average western macdonald’s worker driving around in brand new Mercedes benzes. It doesn’t happen, and for good reasons that I shouldn’t need to tell you.


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90% of  people want things immediately and will borrow  to get it, 10%  will save or not bother with unnecessary junk like the latest phone etc

36 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

the females I have met mostly have big big debt trying to make an appearance of being hiso.

Often with the "matching attitude" that goes with it, I find it hilarious when they aint got two farthings to rub together.

I let them feel free to sneer at me in my old tired trousers, shabby clothes etc

I owe nowt to no man/woman

40 minutes ago, HOAX said:

If you stop eating horse poo and just pay attention instead you’d know already. The “sources” are spread around in a whole bunch of articles posted the last years. Look it up yourself instead of asking others to spoon feed you.


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Post proof and be credible or be quiet, it's simple.

1 hour ago, snoop1130 said:

A survey commissioned by the Government Savings Bank has found that "grassroots" income in Thailand is too low for the majority of Thais to save anything for the future.

 

Why does it take the Government Savings Bank to announce this to the world? I was having a chat the other day with Winnie the Pooh and he told me much the same thing.

38 minutes ago, kannot said:

Often with the "matching attitude" that goes with it, I find it hilarious when they aint got two farthings to rub together.

I let them feel free to sneer at me in my old tired trousers, shabby clothes etc

I owe nowt to no man/woman

i'm with ya.   I'm sure i've made a helluva lot less money in my lifetime than most westerners....but never borrowed.   And never bought the  c...p that most people did.   Still living well but simply, thank you.

But,  i do manage to reach into my piggy bank for a pair of pants or such at Big C  or Lotus .  NOT Central where they are 10 times more,  Fancy name but still made in Vietnam .    Cmon kannot.....no need to be shabby (image is everything  :-).

1 hour ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Just like it was intended to do.

+1   Asset stripping at its finest.

I would be curious to see what the stats are for all the people making ฿15,000-60,000+.  I suspect it wouldn’t be that much different than for those making less than ฿15,000

 

People seem to take on debt commensurate to their incomes.

Simple cause and effect: 

 

Conditioned mindset towards mindless and unnecessary consumption and accumulation. 

 

Why?

2 hours ago, Stocky said:

In a nutshell that's the global problem.

 

Exacerbated by social media "look what I've got!" - creating a never ending circle of consumption and envy.

 

.

 

"Wanting it now" is fine if one has the money or will have it soon.

 

The other half of the "nutshell" is "but I don't have the money now and I'm not going to have it anytime soon".

 

So what to do?

 

Stop everyone wanting it now?

 

Spread the money around a bit more evenly?

 

Or just stick to the way that has brought Thailand to where it is socially, economically and politically "now" :

 

"You all stay poor (it's what Buddha would have wanted and you don't need a 20th/21st century education or the opportunities that would present) while we strive to maintain the system which made us rich while you, as was our intention, continue to grovel in the rural/urban filth"

 

And during that glorious. much revered period. the population exploded from 20 to 69 million.

 

A population that literally has nowhere to go and nothing to lose.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 2, 20187 yr by Enoon

Depends. If you live in a bamboo shack in the jungle, don't drink and eat from your garden yeah sure you can save - if you bother to work at all. Get stuck somewhere in a dead-end job in the middle of BKK and you're one satang from starvation. Thailand has a wide spectrum of lifestyles.

2 hours ago, ZeVonderBearz said:

Yeah but it's impossible to live in Thailand on less then 40k a month, so no wonder they can't save. I read this on TV often. Where are the Thais mentioned in this article getting their fix of premium import beer and superior western food from?

it's possible to live here on 20,000 baht a month. I have several farang friends that do. It's a matter of not buying overpriced pickups and cars.

Rents here range from 3000 baht a month to 25000 baht a month.  It's a question of how well one wants to live, and how much one wants to impress friends and neighbours.

 

Let's all go out and buy some more cr@p. Walk all day through some damn mall, there's hardly a single thing you actually need. Embrace the voluptuousness of austerity. 

1 hour ago, rumak said:

i'm with ya.   I'm sure i've made a helluva lot less money in my lifetime than most westerners....but never borrowed.   And never bought the  c...p that most people did.   Still living well but simply, thank you.

But,  i do manage to reach into my piggy bank for a pair of pants or such at Big C  or Lotus .  NOT Central where they are 10 times more,  Fancy name but still made in Vietnam .    Cmon kannot.....no need to be shabby (image is everything  :-).

Ill stay "looking"  poor, but thanks for caring????

1 hour ago, rumak said:

i'm with ya.   I'm sure i've made a helluva lot less money in my lifetime than most westerners....but never borrowed.   And never bought the  c...p that most people did.   Still living well but simply, thank you.

But,  i do manage to reach into my piggy bank for a pair of pants or such at Big C  or Lotus .  NOT Central where they are 10 times more,  Fancy name but still made in Vietnam .    Cmon kannot.....no need to be shabby (image is everything  :-).

Actually many clothes are  cheaper in the Uk when I was back there a few  days ago, I got some from TK MAX.............then flew  back as normal............business class????

I would be curious to see what the stats are for all the people making ฿15,000-60,000+.  I suspect it wouldn’t be that much different than for those making less than ฿15,000
 
People seem to take on debt commensurate to their incomes.

I suspect the same, especially within that frame and lower. A few more percent will do better, hence why they did better in the first place, but in general the more money people have, the more they’ll spend (world mentality), and that goes even more so for the “new wealth generation” of Thais, or what I like to call the “borrowed luxury time”, similar to 15 minutes of fame. Theres no plan B, nor any backup, just buy what they can while there’s a boom. Very similar to the mentality of the Thai gov’t and the economy of Thailand in recent years. 60k in Thailand isn’t that much. Sure, some are going to make smart decisions, kudos on them, but no, its not many of them. Unless they make something significant in Thai standards like 100k+, you won’t see actual positive numbers. They don’t understand economy. Its not just specific to Thailand, but Thailand has already fallen into the same trap as so many other economies that make the exact same mistakes. They’ll be fine now, but as soon as the tiniest shake in economy happens, they’ll be as vulnerable as they were in 1997.


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4 minutes ago, HOAX said:

I suspect the same, especially within that frame and lower. A few more percent will do better, hence why they did better in the first place, but in general the more money people have, the more they’ll spend (world mentality), and that goes even more so for the “new wealth generation” of Thais, or what I like to call the “borrowed luxury time”, similar to 15 minutes of fame. Theres no plan B, nor any backup, just buy what they can while there’s a boom. Very similar to the mentality of the Thai gov’t and the economy of Thailand in recent years. 60k in Thailand isn’t that much. Sure, some are going to make smart decisions, kudos on them, but no, its not many of them. Unless they make something significant in Thai standards like 100k+, you won’t see actual positive numbers. They don’t understand economy. Its not just specific to Thailand, but Thailand has already fallen into the same trap as so many other economies that make the exact same mistakes. They’ll be fine now, but as soon as the tiniest shake in economy happens, they’ll be as vulnerable as they were in 1997.


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Even at the 100k+ level, it all depends on the person.  Both personal choices and luck play a role.  When the housing bubble popped in the US, I saw many people lose multi-million dollar homes that were purchased 30 years prior for not much over $100,000.  But, they had refinanced them over and over pulling out the equity.  It wouldn’t surprise me to see that in any other country worldwide.

 

One thing I find interesting are the comments about wealth disparity.  If you took all the billionaires in Thailand (32 of them with a combined net worth of approximately $150 Billion) and forced them to liquidate their assets* in order to “share the wealth” with 50,000,000** people, each of the 50,000,000 would get about $3,000.  That’s an IPhone, a new TV and a Honda wave.  Are they really that much better off?

 

*If you liquidated their assets, who would you sell them to?

**(just using this number as an example)

 

https://www.forbes.com/thailand-billionaires/list/#tab:overall

Even at the 100k+ level, it all depends on the person.  Both personal choices and luck play a role.  When the housing bubble popped in the US, I saw many people lose multi-million dollar homes that were purchased 30 years prior for not much over $100,000.  But, they had refinanced them over and over pulling out the equity.  It wouldn’t surprise me to see that in any other country worldwide.
 
One thing I find interesting are the comments about wealth disparity.  If you took all the billionaires in Thailand (32 of them with a combined net worth of approximately $150 Billion) and forced them to liquidate their assets* in order to “share the wealth” with 50,000,000** people, each of the 50,000,000 would get about $3,000.  That’s an IPhone, a new TV and a Honda wave.  Are they really that much better off?
 
*If you liquidated their assets, who would you sell them to?
**(just using this number as an example)
 
https://www.forbes.com/thailand-billionaires/list/#tab:overall

I’m 100% with you, but its like I said the higher the salary, the more likely they achieved by making better decisions in the first place and stood with it, call it what you want, some call it intelligence, lets just call it higher education and far more focus on saving/achieving their goals for the sake of simplicity.


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Savings??? Hahaha,  Should address the fact that every single Thai has DEBT!