What salaries should I expect to pay Thai employees for the following positions?

[Genix]

Doing Thai only hire initially (due to 1:4 expat rule) for our new beauty ecommerce brand and I'm looking at online sides but it seems the prices are given much higher than what Thai folks suggest.

 

1) Personal Assistant (A smart one who speaks English to make this whole thing easier)
2) Telesales (better than average, as there will be upselling required)
3) Support Agent (messenger/line/shopping support)
4) Facebook/Ad Video Editor
5) Influencer Outreach

 

Thanks

[Excel]

1  suggest you pay according to how she performs her required duties.  2 to 4 suggest you put them on commission only. As for 5 that is the latest name for a con man or women attempting to convince or sell to people something that they do not want or need so give them another title. 

Edited June 17, 2021 by Excel

[Gulfsailor]

For a decent PA expect to pay 30k at the minimum upcountry and 30% more around Bangkok. If you want someone who actually thinks along and is not just a glorified secretary/translator then double the salary.  

[Excel]

2 minutes ago, Gulfsailor said:

For a decent PA expect to pay 30k at the minimum upcountry and 30% more around Bangkok. If you want someone who actually thinks along and is not just a glorified secretary/translator then double the salary.  

The pa's to the senior managers  at a well know  nationwide food producing company in Saraburi and other provinces are paid 16000 per month for 13 months per year plus a year end performance bonus. 

[Pravda]

You should be aware how Thai companies operate. 

 

They pay the absolute minimum required plus commission.

 

Where are you located?

[Genix]

6 minutes ago, Pravda said:

You should be aware how Thai companies operate. 

 

They pay the absolute minimum required plus commission.

 

Where are you located?

 

In Bangkok. Yes I'm currently in the process of learning. Probably will have a 3rd party agency help with recruitment.

 

My current team for my main company is remote and we have employees from 5 countries (& no issues) but with this new ecommerce company we'll have to hire locally as it's for the Thai market (+ legally have to hire a minimum of 4).

 

Ultimately my plan was to find a good PA who can help me navigate these new waters along with work related stuff to the brand.

 

We do not plan to hire for minimum salary, but rather a bit more. For ex. paying 25% more for a good telesales person can easily pay off within a few days with upselling.

 

[Pravda]

44 minutes ago, Genix said:

 

In Bangkok. Yes I'm currently in the process of learning. Probably will have a 3rd party agency help with recruitment.

 

My current team for my main company is remote and we have employees from 5 countries (& no issues) but with this new ecommerce company we'll have to hire locally as it's for the Thai market (+ legally have to hire a minimum of 4).

 

Ultimately my plan was to find a good PA who can help me navigate these new waters along with work related stuff to the brand.

 

We do not plan to hire for minimum salary, but rather a bit more. For ex. paying 25% more for a good telesales person can easily pay off within a few days with upselling.

 

 

My wife is a sales manager for Japanese company and for over a year I have been listening how finding a good sales person is next to impossible. Apparently the new generation is full of themselves and the ones that do speak English have a lot of options.

 

Good luck.

[bojo]

I have a friend and she has worked for a major Thai drinks company for over 8 years. She has worked her way up from a mid range office position to her current position as a deputy manager in the export department. She hasn't had secret liasons with her boss to get where she is, just pure hard work. She is often still in the office late into the evening dealing with overseas clients and still takes advanced English classes weekly. One of her peers is Singaporean,  and at top end, they all have damn good English skills, hers, no exception. Her salary is 100K THB a month and as Pravda points out, those with good English skills do have alot of options................................

[Tropicalevo]

2 hours ago, Excel said:

The pa's to the senior managers  at a well know  nationwide food producing company in Saraburi and other provinces are paid 16000 per month

Pre-Covid, I was paying a couple of my senior cleaners that much per month. ( I have a cleaning company.)

I am not sure what the OP is expecting from a PA, but I always expect them to think about what I need before I ask for it. My PA would handle the smaller problems and know when to bring me the big ones.

Thinking, analysing, people skills and solving skills along with very good English. Walking on water not required.

I would expect to be paying numbers similar to the ones below.

 

2 hours ago, Gulfsailor said:

For a decent PA expect to pay 30k at the minimum upcountry and 30% more around Bangkok. If you want someone who actually thinks along and is not just a glorified secretary/translator then double the salary.  

 

My best ever PA eventually became my wife which was a pain as I then had to hire another PA. Not as good. ????

 

[itsari]

payscale.com

[Deli]

My PA is at 40 k in Covid now, otherwise 50 k + bonus. 5 days working week.

Pay with peanuts, work with monkeys. Still very much valid.

[MadMuhammad]

It’s good to see someone looking for talent and happy to not pay absolute bare minimum because ‘it’s the going rate’. There’s a large pool of talented workers here but as we all know finding them is the hard part. 
 

Good luck in your search

[Brickbat]

Lots of bs farang prices.
My full time maid gets 10,000 a month , cooks, cleans and Thai massages me and the gf . 6 days a week and works a treat! She’s Happy as a pig in ....!

Gf’s friend works in admin for the local government. 5 days a week .  Salary 12,500 thb a month plus perks.

 

Go easy or go broke! 

[Peterw42]

Whilst I agree with the "pay peanuts you get monkeys" adage. There is also an upper limit to wages to remain competitive, still have a decent profit margin etc.

Its fine to pay your Thai staff, very high wages, on Thai terms, but if the competitor down the road is paying average Thai wages, and their wages bill is 30% of your wages bill. Their products will be cheaper, their profit higher etc.

I dont know any business at the moment that has huge profit margin and turnover, that warrants western wages for Thai jobs

[Pravda]

1 minute ago, Brickbat said:

Lots of bs farang prices.
My full time maid gets 10,000 a month , cooks, cleans and Thai massages me and the gf . 6 days a week and works a treat! She’s Happy as a pig in ....!

Gf’s friend works in admin for the local government. 5 days a week .  Salary 12,500 thb a month plus perks.

 

Go easy or go broke! 

 

I just sent Siemens a personal email telling them they are getting ripped off paying their admins 50,000 a month and not even getting a free massage.

 

 

 

 

[nickmondo]

13 minutes ago, Brickbat said:

Lots of bs farang prices.
My full time maid gets 10,000 a month , cooks, cleans and Thai massages me and the gf . 6 days a week and works a treat! She’s Happy as a pig in ....!

Gf’s friend works in admin for the local government. 5 days a week .  Salary 12,500 thb a month plus perks.

 

Go easy or go broke! 

I also had the maid, massage, and everything else service for 10k a month!

She was absolutely made up about it

But I am very hansum.

ha ha

Your salary expamples are very accurate.

Unlike a lot of the rubbish I saw in this post

[Pravda]

15 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

Whilst I agree with the "pay peanuts you get monkeys" adage. There is also an upper limit to wages to remain competitive, still have a decent profit margin etc.

Its fine to pay your Thai staff, very high wages, on Thai terms, but if the competitor down the road is paying average Thai wages, and their wages bill is 30% of your wages bill. Their products will be cheaper, their profit higher etc.

I dont know any business at the moment that has huge profit margin and turnover, that warrants western wages for Thai jobs

 

This is not how people get salaried in this country. For example, wife is eyeing a job in a Thai company that would cut her salary by 80%. However, the monthly commission ranges between 200k to half a million baht per month, even in this economy. My wife's English is very average, but she has sales skills that many Thais simply don't have. 

 

The OP is looking for telesales. I would strongly advise him to go this route and not waste time paying above average salary because he will get a lemon. Good sales people love working for commission.

 

 

 

 

[Peterw42]

20 minutes ago, Pravda said:

 

This is not how people get salaried in this country. For example, wife is eyeing a job in a Thai company that would cut her salary by 80%. However, the monthly commission ranges between 200k to half a million baht per month, even in this economy. My wife's English is very average, but she has sales skills that many Thais simply don't have. 

 

The OP is looking for telesales. I would strongly advise him to go this route and not waste time paying above average salary because he will get a lemon. Good sales people love working for commission.

 

 

 

 

I'm really interested to know (without being too specific) What industry or product is selling at such a volume/margin to pay those sort of commissions, in the current economic climate ???

[Pravda]

1 minute ago, Peterw42 said:

I'm really interested to know (without being too specific) What industry or product is selling at such a volume/margin to pay those sort of commissions, in the current economic climate ???

 

Wife is in industrial manufacturing.

 

She told me this company she is looking for imports machines from Taiwan and has been around for years. Last year their sales manager got a 10 million baht house as a gift for the years of service. This is 100% Thai operated and ran company.

 

 

 

[Satcommlee]

Always try to pay the minimum but with high incentives, performance bonus and full attendance bonus.

 

Thai Labour law is highly weighted to the employee, it is not easy and can be expensive to get rid of them.

 

They can not show up for up to 3 consequetive days and there is little you can do etc..

 

15000 is minimum wage for someone with a bachelors degree.

 

 

[Eric Loh]

45 minutes ago, Satcommlee said:

Thai Labour law is highly weighted to the employee, it is not easy and can be expensive to get rid of them.

Not that hard either but you need to follow the Thai labour Protection Act & Employment Act. I have fired few staffs without issues with the Labour Ministry. Important that you give give warning notice in writing and counter signed by the offender as required by the Act. You can fired wo notice for corruption, criminal offenses, negligence that lead to serious loss to company, disobeying working rules or absent for more than 3 days wo reasons. 

[Genix]

1 hour ago, Pravda said:

 

This is not how people get salaried in this country. For example, wife is eyeing a job in a Thai company that would cut her salary by 80%. However, the monthly commission ranges between 200k to half a million baht per month, even in this economy. My wife's English is very average, but she has sales skills that many Thais simply don't have. 

 

The OP is looking for telesales. I would strongly advise him to go this route and not waste time paying above average salary because he will get a lemon. Good sales people love working for commission.

 

 

 

 

Defo will setup an incentivized commission basis, no doubt it will work better.

 

Initially as we are just launching I want to make sure telesales gets enough leads to be able to call 5-6 days a week non-stop, which shouldn't be a problem. Initially will hire based on salary for 1-2 months (guaranteed income) for that reason, while I understand performance will be down compared to commission basis.

 

Good luck to your wife! Performance based salaries tend to incentive employees to improve overtime so her skill will keep growing.

Edited June 18, 2021 by Genix

[Genix]

11 minutes ago, Excel said:

The simple answer is none, as another poster pointed out there is so much BS in this thread

 

There are businesses that have significantly benefited from this economic climate.

Most business owners who were heavily digital (or adapted digitally) saw their companies grow.

-Ecommerce

-Apps

-Online Sellers & Delivery

-Anything related to digital

-Digital Agencies

-Digital Healthcare (& other services that have gone digital)

-Used cars

 

and the list goes on...

 

Edited June 18, 2021 by Genix

[patman30]

this applies everywhere not just here
do not think paying more equals working more
offer average wage for base pay
and the rest as PRP to ensure your targets are met

also change "facebook editor" to Social media manager????
lots of platforms these day, so dont limit it to FB
and use something like hootsuite to automate all social media activity in one place, makes it so much more efficient.

dont forget first 3 months is training.

[patman30]

2 hours ago, Pravda said:

Good sales people love working for commission.

exactly this????

[Excel]

10 minutes ago, Genix said:

 

There are businesses that have significantly benefited from this economic climate.

Most business owners who were heavily digital (or adapted digitally) saw their companies grow.

-Ecommerce

-Apps

-Online Sellers & Delivery

-Anything related to digital

-Digital Agencies

-Digital Healthcare (& other services that have gone digital)

-Used cars

 

and the list goes on...

 

Used cars a digital business ?what planet are you on. Many of the tents in around where I live have gone to the wall already. Carry on dreaming

[Genix]

7 minutes ago, Excel said:

Used cars a digital business ?what planet are you on. Many of the tents in around where I live have gone to the wall already. Carry on dreaming

 

Example of a non-digital business. 

Nonetheless, where do you think all those potential buyers were hanging out during lockdowns? Online. It gave much greater opportunity for businesses to advertise online with such a vast amount of inventory avaialble to buy from online (due to increased traffic).

 

Just one example of many. I have no clue if used cars specifically grew here in Thailand but I know in other countries the business has grown during the pandemic.

 

Offline business (used cars) saw their demand grew, then they hired a digital marketing agency to advertise. Now you have two businesses/industries growing at the same time.

 

Edited June 18, 2021 by Genix

[Excel]

Just now, Genix said:

 

Example of a non-digital business. 

Nonetheless, where do you think all those potential buyers were hanging out during lockdowns? Online. It gave much greater opportunity for businesses to advertise online with such a vast amount of inventory avaialble to buy from online (due to increased traffic).

 

Just one example of many. I have no clue if used cars specifically grew here in Thailand but I know in other countries the business has grown during the pandemic.

 

No clue is correct and this thread is about salaries in Thailand not other countries as you have just referred to so if you know nothing relevant, which it seems you don't, then say nothing

[Genix]

8 minutes ago, Excel said:

No clue is correct and this thread is about salaries in Thailand not other countries as you have just referred to so if you know nothing relevant, which it seems you don't, then say nothing

  

41 minutes ago, Excel said:

The simple answer is none, as another poster pointed out there is so much BS in this thread

 

What are you on about? My comment is literally about your statement above in response regarding to which business would pay good commission in this economic climate.

 

Seems like you're having a bad day - grab a beer or coffee.

 

Edited June 18, 2021 by Genix

[scorecard]

20 hours ago, Genix said:

 

In Bangkok. Yes I'm currently in the process of learning. Probably will have a 3rd party agency help with recruitment.

 

My current team for my main company is remote and we have employees from 5 countries (& no issues) but with this new ecommerce company we'll have to hire locally as it's for the Thai market (+ legally have to hire a minimum of 4).

 

Ultimately my plan was to find a good PA who can help me navigate these new waters along with work related stuff to the brand.

 

We do not plan to hire for minimum salary, but rather a bit more. For ex. paying 25% more for a good telesales person can easily pay off within a few days with upselling.

 

QUOTE:  "Probably will have a 3rd party agency help with recruitment."

 

- Beware of nepotism and/or person who offers biggest 'gift' to recruiter gets the job!

 

- Don't quickly/automatically employ family!

 

- Beware recruitment companies who offer all sorts of good benefits, many just do a quick search of online names looking for jobs, many such sites exist, some run by aligned government agencies, then offer automatic jobs, recruiter doing basically nothing for the commission!

 

- Always make the final decision/job offer is made by you or your Thai partner? Never allow the agency to go ahead and offer jobs/promise jobs!

Edited June 18, 2021 by scorecard