good salary to support family in Thailand

[Clive]

Good morning
I was wondering what would be considered a good wage to support a family (wife and a couple of kids) for a Thai national in Thailand?
My half Thai kids wish to live in Thailand in the future and I wish to invest in a fund but not sure what the target should be approximately.
Thank you

[JimmyTheMook]

How much did your mother pay ?

[NCC1701A]

45,000 baht a month plus 2% inflation a year forever.

[Puchaiyank]

It is a bit more complex than one might think...

 

Where one lives, required housing, utilities, vehicles, food, entertainment, schools, clothing, medical and dental, and factor in unexpected vehicle and housing maintenance, insurance and other costs that may be associated if visas are required.

 

50000 baht is probably sufficient as a starting place...????

 

 

[BritManToo]

30 minutes ago, Puchaiyank said:

Where one lives, required housing, utilities, vehicles, food, entertainment, schools, clothing, medical and dental, and factor in unexpected vehicle and housing maintenance, insurance and other costs that may be associated if visas are required.

Op is talking about his Thai kids,

They won't need medical, insurance or VISAs.

[KiChakayan]

12 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Op is talking about his Thai kids,

They won't need medical, insurance or VISAs.

Why on earth wouldn't Thai kids need private insurance? I couldn't see myself camping with the locals in the wards to care for a sick child. Remember, any patient in a government hospital requires a full time caretaker. Health insurance for a young kid (4000000 Bahts, no OPD) costs 40K to 50K).

Anyhow, for a family of 4, to have a standard of living similar the one I used to have in my previous life, I need about 170k a month. For the past few years I spent about 100k on top of that to establish our home.

Don't want to divert, but this could shed some lights in TI financial requirements...

[Tagged]

How much can you afford? And then see if it will cover what you think they need, and what you would like them to have. 

[wgdanson]

1 hour ago, NCC1701A said:

45,000 baht a month plus 2% inflation a year forever.

Is that just for the family or yourself included? A policy to give the Mrs something when I pop me clogs is 4k a month.

Health insurance can be anything from 5k to 20k a month.

Kids schooling....I pay 2 x 6k a year = 1000 a month plus a room for the elder one at college = 3000 per month.

45k will not go very far.

[wgdanson]

17 minutes ago, Tagged said:

How much can you afford? And then see if it will cover what you think they need, and what you would like them to have. 

The 65k a month seems about adequate for my personal family needs, 2 big uns, 2 kids and a dog.

House and car paid for, reasonable beer intake! 

[Vacuum]

24 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

The 65k a month seems about adequate for my personal family needs, 2 big uns, 2 kids and a dog.

House and car paid for, reasonable beer intake! 

Yes, with the house paid for, it should be more than enough. Wonder where you found the one with biguns though, they seem to be scarce here. 

[wgdanson]

10 minutes ago, Vacuum said:

Yes, with the house paid for, it should be more than enough. Wonder where you found the one with biguns though, they seem to be scarce here. 

That was another 60k a few years ago.  LOL

[Clive]

Thank you all so much for taking the time out to reply.
I was planning for around £100k ppm so I believe after all your replies I think my figure is writing the realms of possibility.......Thank you

[Tagged]

14 minutes ago, Clive said:

Thank you all so much for taking the time out to reply.
I was planning for around £100k ppm so I believe after all your replies I think my figure is writing the realms of possibility.......Thank you

100 000 pounds parts pr million? 

 

????

 

 

[Clive]

Sausage fingers!!!!
100,000B pcm

[bkk_mike]

It will depend very much on what sort of schooling you want your grandchildren to have, and where you want them to live.

 

It's a lot cheaper if you're just planning on having them live upcountry and go to a local school than to live in the centre of Bangkok with the kids going to an International School.

 

How long is a piece of string comes to mind...

[kensisaket]

How much would it cost you to live in the lifestyle you are accustomed to?  Your kids are being raised in a non-Thai environment.  That is their standard of living.  

[exemplary21]

Depends on which halves are Thai: top or bottom?

[sfokevin]

On 6/8/2019 at 9:11 AM, Vacuum said:

Wonder where you found the one with biguns though, they seem to be scarce here.  

Yeah... Most on this forum seem to be looking for a good doctor to have them cheaply installed... 

[richard_smith237]

51 minutes ago, kensisaket said:

How much would it cost you to live in the lifestyle you are accustomed to?  Your kids are being raised in a non-Thai environment.  That is their standard of living.  

 

Mileage varies and there are those who are able to do life much more frugally and 'go native'.. but for someone making a true evaluation it depends what lifestyle they are after here and what standards they expect for their children. 

 

1) Schooling - International School Entrance fee's: 200-250k Baht entrance (one off payment)

2) Schooling - International School Yearly fee's: 500-600k baht per year

3) Healthcare - Medical Insurance:  100-200k (for a reasonable Policy for a family of 3-4)

4) Travel - Yearly flights back home: 120-180k (for a family of 4)

5) Transport - Car: 1.3 Million Baht for a CRV / Fortuna etc  (Honda Jazz / Mazda 2 about 600k) - On the other hand Taxi's are very cheap.

6) Supermakerts - Variable 15,000 baht per month (western items are more expensive)

7) Eating Out - 20,000 baht per month at restaurants (if eating out 4-6 times per month)

8 ) Rent - In Bangkok 50,000 - 200,000 baht per month / Outside of Bangkok: 15k to 50k per month (this is very much area dependent) 

 

Explanations: 

1 & 2: Local schools are awful and do not compare to Schools overseas (some will argue otherwise but they are trading their children's education for their weekly Rub'n tug or access to cheap women 1/4 their age).

2: The best international Schools are in Bangkok. Prices of living in Bangkok are generally higher than elsewhere in the country, but the standards of education elsewhere is poorer (Good Schools: NIST, Bangkok Patana, Harrow, Shrewsbury, St. Andrews 71)

3: Healthcare - Local health care is ok, but its worse than the UK NHS. You can end up waiting a long long time for a non Emergency procedures (like the UK). Healthcare at the Private hospitals is expensive, you'll get faster treatment, better facilities, many of the Doctors in private hospitals also work one or two days per week in a government facility (there is good info on ThaiVisa.com about which Doctors are good at which procedures etc - in BKK especially).

4: Travel - only a concern if you are going to travel back regularly but it adds up especially if you are going to travel back more than 1x per year. 

5: Transport - Taxi's are very cheap (in Bangkok) - but how old are your kids (need a car seat?), driving in Bangkok is ok. A car is not a necessity in Bangkok, its a 'nice to have' item rather than a 'need to have' a car makes life easier... especially for a school run, supermarket run and getting out of the city for a short break etc..  If living outside of Bangkok a car becomes somewhat of a must unless you are looking to live in the center of a town. 

6: Supermarkets - Food can be obtained from the markets etc and much cheaper. Normal items are similarly priced to the UK supermarkets. Items considered luxuries (cheese / Wine etc) are vastly inflated. 

7: Eating out - Is variable, it can be much cheaper or more expensive than anywhere. Basic restaurants are incredibly cheap and a decent family meal can be had for 1,000 baht, a quality 'higher-end' family meal may cost around 5,000 baht+ and more if ordering wine or a good few beers etc (again, this is highly individual and dependent on where / what you want to eat). 

8: Rent - A decent house in Bangkok costs anywhere from 40,000 baht per month up to 200,000 baht per month - it depends what you want. A crappy aging town house can be found for 25k per month. Rents outside of Bangkok are much cheaper and a rather decent house can be rented for anywhere from 15k in the sticks up to about to 50k per month for a decent house in a town area such as Khon Kaen, Chiang Mai or Hua Hin etc...  (this is very much area dependent). 

 

 

There is another thread which ran recently and discusses budgets (with a vote) many people can and do live very frugally, but the moment we live to Westernised standards (and forgo the 40 baht street noodles, drive instead of using the 2baht bus service etc) and aim to live life with the levels of comfort we'd expect back home, life in Thailand can become fairy expensive....  its common for a family of 3-4 to live on a budget of 200,000 baht+ per month when living a lifestyle which more closely resembles Western standards.

 

Edited June 11, 2019 by richard_smith237

[RBOP]

With expat family and one child in Inter. school my monthly expense is 150k.

[Stevemercer]

The average Thai family will be able to live very comfortably on a monthly income of 100,000 Baht (increasing 2% per years). 

[manchega]

they will be working as well one assumes, at least 100 k per month needs to be generated to deal with the lions share of outflows, if they have a house already paid up and living inside it that would make things more comfortable.

[manchega]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Mileage varies and there are those who are able to do life much more frugally and 'go native'.. but for someone making a true evaluation it depends what lifestyle they are after here and what standards they expect for their children. 

 

1) Schooling - International School Entrance fee's: 200-250k Baht entrance (one off payment)

2) Schooling - International School Yearly fee's: 500-600k baht per year

3) Healthcare - Medical Insurance:  100-200k (for a reasonable Policy for a family of 3-4)

4) Travel - Yearly flights back home: 120-180k (for a family of 4)

5) Transport - Car: 1.3 Million Baht for a CRV / Fortuna etc  (Honda Jazz / Mazda 2 about 600k) - On the other hand Taxi's are very cheap.

6) Supermakerts - Variable 15,000 baht per month (western items are more expensive)

7) Eating Out - 20,000 baht per month at restaurants (if eating out 4-6 times per month)

8 ) Rent - In Bangkok 50,000 - 200,000 baht per month / Outside of Bangkok: 15k to 50k per month (this is very much area dependent) 

 

Explanations: 

1 & 2: Local schools are awful and do not compare to Schools overseas (some will argue otherwise but they are trading their children's education for their weekly Rub'n tug or access to cheap women 1/4 their age).

2: The best international Schools are in Bangkok. Prices of living in Bangkok are generally higher than elsewhere in the country, but the standards of education elsewhere is poorer (Good Schools: NIST, Bangkok Patana, Harrow, Shrewsbury, St. Andrews 71)

3: Healthcare - Local health care is ok, but its worse than the UK NHS. You can end up waiting a long long time for a non Emergency procedures (like the UK). Healthcare at the Private hospitals is expensive, you'll get faster treatment, better facilities, many of the Doctors in private hospitals also work one or two days per week in a government facility (there is good info on ThaiVisa.com about which Doctors are good at which procedures etc - in BKK especially).

4: Travel - only a concern if you are going to travel back regularly but it adds up especially if you are going to travel back more than 1x per year. 

5: Transport - Taxi's are very cheap (in Bangkok) - but how old are your kids (need a car seat?), driving in Bangkok is ok. A car is not a necessity in Bangkok, its a 'nice to have' item rather than a 'need to have' a car makes life easier... especially for a school run, supermarket run and getting out of the city for a short break etc..  If living outside of Bangkok a car becomes somewhat of a must unless you are looking to live in the center of a town. 

6: Supermarkets - Food can be obtained from the markets etc and much cheaper. Normal items are similarly priced to the UK supermarkets. Items considered luxuries (cheese / Wine etc) are vastly inflated. 

7: Eating out - Is variable, it can be much cheaper or more expensive than anywhere. Basic restaurants are incredibly cheap and a decent family meal can be had for 1,000 baht, a quality 'higher-end' family meal may cost around 5,000 baht+ and more if ordering wine or a good few beers etc (again, this is highly individual and dependent on where / what you want to eat). 

8: Rent - A decent house in Bangkok costs anywhere from 40,000 baht per month up to 200,000 baht per month - it depends what you want. A crappy aging town house can be found for 25k per month. Rents outside of Bangkok are much cheaper and a rather decent house can be rented for anywhere from 15k in the sticks up to about to 50k per month for a decent house in a town area such as Khon Kaen, Chiang Mai or Hua Hin etc...  (this is very much area dependent). 

 

 

There is another thread which ran recently and discusses budgets (with a vote) many people can and do live very frugally, but the moment we live to Westernised standards (and forgo the 40 baht street noodles, drive instead of using the 2baht bus service etc) and aim to live life with the levels of comfort we'd expect back home, life in Thailand can become fairy expensive....  its common for a family of 3-4 to live on a budget of 200,000 baht+ per month when living a lifestyle which more closely resembles Western standards.

 

smith with all your virtue signalling you have quite the biased opinion, as I assume you live and work amongst us just like other tv members I know as i would expect you to know /be friends with many Thai people or 'natives' as you would describe them with inflows and outflows similar to expats the middle class driving those luxury cars living in those gigantic houses and condos all over the place sending kids to international schools and purchasing quality ingredients for cooking, 

[Hanuman2547]

Everybody has a different level of living standard.  You could live upcountry in Nakorn Nowhere and probably live like a Thai for 30,000 baht a month.  You could also live in Bangkok like a cashed up expat with an employer picking up your rent and international school fees and get by on 650,000 a month.  Big international schools like NIST, Patana, and ISB are quite expensive which really eats into your budget if you have to self-pay.

[Ireland32]

47 minutes ago, Hanuman2547 said:

Everybody has a different level of living standard.  You could live upcountry in Nakorn Nowhere and probably live like a Thai for 30,000 baht a month.  You could also live in Bangkok like a cashed up expat with an employer picking up your rent and international school fees and get by on 650,000 a month.  Big international schools like NIST, Patana, and ISB are quite expensive which really eats into your budget if you have to self-pay.

I sent my gf , 8,000 a month for 6 years and she was still able to gamble, 100,000, you will create a monster, This was in Korat, now I give her 3,000 a week, plenty for her and son and nephew she lives at home, child is in top of his class, he’s 11, if you have money to throw around, throw it, I do but I’m keenyow, she’s a gambler, I don’t feed gamblers

Edited June 11, 2019 by Ireland32

[Tony125]

The children should be working as well as receiving the benefit of your investments but why not have them think (and prepare them) to return them to your homeland to work. We don't have kids but may adopt our niece so that she will be a US citizen and can go to US for University and work. You kids could make far more in Britain, EU or USA than in Thailand.

[richard_smith237]

1 hour ago, manchega said:

smith with all your virtue signalling you have quite the biased opinion, as I assume you live and work amongst us just like other tv members I know as i would expect you to know /be friends with many Thai people or 'natives' as you would describe them with inflows and outflows similar to expats the middle class driving those luxury cars living in those gigantic houses and condos all over the place sending kids to international schools and purchasing quality ingredients for cooking, 

You'll have to make a point...  

 

I wrote 'Mileage varies'...  this is what I see my fellow Westerners spend - many of my fellow Thai's too (who may also save when owning their own house or living in extended family houses).

 

I think you may have looked too hard in an attempt to take offense... also note that a CRV is not a luxury car, neither are houses which can be rented for 40,000 baht gigantic or luxurious, at the higher end of the scale yes, hence the provision of the range, which I guess you also took offence at in searching for bias. 

 

If you live on a much more frugal budget, good for you... why not list your spends and provide insight for the Op instead of displaying jealousy or what ever it was that seems to have rubbed you up the wrong way?

Edited June 11, 2019 by richard_smith237

[Tagged]

35 minutes ago, Ireland32 said:

I sent my gf , 8,000 a month for 6 years and she was still able to gamble, 100,000, you will create a monster, This was in Korat, now I give her 3,000 a week, plenty for her and son and nephew she lives at home, child is in top of his class, he’s 11, if you have money to throw around, throw it, I do but I’m keenyow, she’s a gambler, I don’t feed gamblers

You know, you have to pay to keep them, if not they just look around for something better. Especially if you are not around. Just saying, and it doesnt matter how much money you trow around you, they will always look for someone better, if they know they have a chance. 

 

Be good, dont be cheep charlie, and do not be an idiot who trow money out just because you can. 

[Thingamabob]

Between 50-100k baht per month depending on where and how you/they want to live.

[Jimbo2014]

This is really a question of lifestyle and expectations.  You can spend as little as 40,000 THB a month but most foreigners would struggle.  We educate my son at a private school and fees with ++ are close to 30K USD a year.  Health insurance can add a few more K.  Then you have house expenses, living costs.  The cost of food in the supermarket is now at least as expensive as Australia.  Our baseline expenses top close to 80 to 100K USD a year which is around 3M THB or 250K THB a month.  If we were back in Australia our cost of living would likely be closer to 60K USD PA.