Looking to open an office in Thailand, but need to better understand how much it will cost to hire Thai employees with basic English skills.  I understand that the average salary is 25,000 baht per month, but I suspect this is for Thai's that don't speak English.  Does anyone have any idea what we would need to pay Thai employees that can read, write and speak English?

 

 

It's all really depends on the employee's intended chores and duties, but 25-30,000 a month  for a person who is reasonably proficient in english is a good start, this is not taking into an account the availability of such person as it's all depends on the location of the intended office...

Depends on resposiblitys, and in some respect location but somewhere between 25-50k for a degree holder with provicient language skills and some experience. You will get the 300 baht a day mob along soon

How much is it worth to you?

Ask candidates what salary they expect.

It depends on where in Thailand. You will pay less upcountry and more in Bangkok.

 

For 25k you can get people with good to really good English skills.

 

The problem isn't finding the employees, it's keeping them.

Where do you open your office in Thailand?

 

Average salary with English skill about 25,000-50,000 Baht/Month with benefit.

I'd think a recent graduate from top three university could start at 17.5k with promise of 2.5k raise per annum. Some experience, 20k per annum. 25k+ 3yrs+ experience. BKK. Elsewhere drop by 15-20%.

 

Recruit from universities if you don't mind training. Young people will be more broad minded, enthusiastic and open to new ideas. I've taught some exceptionally clever young people although Thai tend to be deficient in critical thinking and analytical skills.

 

My wife barely makes 20k plus benefits. She speaks English but not necessarily a requirement. She has helped company and staff in a number of situations dealing with international schools. English not a part of job description and not bonused for it.

 

For English ask grads from international programs to produce TOEFL, TOEIC or IELTS scores. Maybe past SAT scores. Western standardized exams will tell all. If employees will be communicating outside in writing IELTS 6.5 writing is good in general but only ok for English position. 7.5 is worth paying for, rare in high schools. For university grad overall IELTS 8.0 with writing 7.0++ would be a good target.

 

@bkkpro

 

Don't over worry about the salary, worry about the English-fluent employee leaving after 3 and a half months along with your clients.

 

Don't over think about the salary, think about the total cost of the annual remuneration package including bonus, housing allowance, travel allowance, etc.

 

Don't overly concern yourself about the salary, concern yourself about protecting your business model, so that if somebody (you trained) sets up a clone company, you can shut them down.