Economy Thailand’s Wealth Gap Widens: Most Bank Accounts Below 50,000 Baht

[webfact]

Picture courtesy: Royal Vacation

 

Alarm bells ring as new figures from the Bank of Thailand reveal that 89% of bank deposit accounts in the kingdom hold less than 50,000 baht. This stark statistic paints a bleak picture of financial fragility among the Thai populace and how close to the edge many households are living. As highlighted by Thai Rath, these numbers reflect a worrying level of economic instability.

 

For numerous Thais, savings remain a distant dream as daily struggles with the cost of living take precedence. Whether it's daily wage earners, freelancers, or informal workers, many rely on unstable income streams amid swelling expenses such as food, travel, and healthcare.

 

With a scant financial cushion against unexpected disruptions like job loss or medical emergencies, their vulnerability is pronounced.

 

The sobering data paints a broader portrait of financial literacy challenges across the country.

 

Misconceptions like the belief that investing requires significant initial capital contribute to money mismanagement. Heightened risk aversion further hampers attempts at better financial planning, despite low returns on traditional savings.

 

Educational shortcomings and policy gaps in promoting financial literacy exacerbate the issue, sidelining it from everyday life skills. The numbers also starkly expose income inequality, with under 1% of the population holding deposits in the tens of millions. This wealthy minority's combined savings surpass that of the rest by a substantial margin.

 

Addressing these concerns necessitates robust macroeconomic policies targeting structural inequality and empowering people economically. Solving this disparity is critical for ensuring broad-spectrum financial resilience and the feasibility of future security for all, transcending the privilege of the few.

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from Thai Newsroom 2025-05-19

 

 

[Mentors65]

a loud ticking timebomb

[ikke1959]

I am not surprised.. The Thai people are not being paid decently anymore and all the money is hands of a few rich and superrich families...These families are holding the country back from going forward for their own pockets.. 

[thesetat]

This is no surprise. With the average salary at 20 to 30k monthly for skilled workers and only 15 for unskilled how can people save so much. Plus the fact that most Thais are heavily into debt. 

 AI generated

In 2024, the average household debt in Thailand reached a record high of 606,378 baht. This is an 8.4% increase from the previous year and the highest level since the survey began in 2009. The survey, conducted by the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC), found that nearly all households (99.8%) reported being in debt. The average monthly debt repayment burden is around 16,742 baht per family. 

 

[ozz1]

Yet they all drive around in new cars something's got to give 

[hotsun]

Most people worldwide dont understand the concept of savings

[blaze master]

I got a fabulous idea. Why doesn't the government transfer 10k baht to those accounts. 

 

You heard it here first folks. 

[Equatorial]

30 minutes ago, ozz1 said:

Yet they all drive around in new cars something's got to give 

 

Borrowed money. Money they don't have, and in many cases, won't be able to keep up with payments. 

 

That's the Thai way. 

[topt]

1 hour ago, ikke1959 said:

The Thai people are not being paid decently anymore and all the money is hands of a few rich and superrich families.

Not sure about "anymore".......Has it not always been this way?

 

Unfortunately nothing seems to have changed in that regard certainly for the last 15 years.

[Quentin Zen]

I'll chime in because I'll retire next year and can look back and try to understand all my prior mistakes.  

 

1.  YOLO.   I remember in my 30's thinking if I didn't buy this sports car now I won't buy it in my 50's.  well, that was correct.  bought about 5 total, all bad financial decisions.  same with sports equipment, kitchen appliances, house upgrades, etc......

2.  Boredom/depression/anxiety/dopamine.   Never really figured out what it was, I think anxiety and dopamine mix.   Anyhow, bought something (could be between $20 and $5000, but had to be something) almost every week just to get that rush of something new coming.  

3.  Used items.  Same rush, much cheaper, but it's still spending money.  parents prob. spoiled me on a relative basis and i just never grew up....who knows.  i knew the problem, only fix was just buy something cheaper.  

4.  It's either a house or nothing.   When you have, say $10k to $50k a house is still not possible if single without a stable job.  So then it just goes to zero.  to get a lot of money you really need to invest in the big picture.  you do need money.   

5.  Boredom, again.   Let's see if I can go from 100k to 0k and make it work.  yes, you can.  work, save money, quit, freedom, get worried about money,  work more, save more, budget more, think more...it's crazy how humans (most) Just seem to make it work.  I had to test this theory a few times.  it did work every time.  

6.  Family money.  Most people just rely on inheritance or family money or some "solid" support group and so their savings don't matter.  Since there's no timeline or guarantee on how this plays out, you can waste decades always being broke.   I've seen many people take this route and very rarely it works out well.

7.  Random expenses.   Medical (not emergency), traveling, something breaks, get fired, whatever....this wipes someone out for a year or two.

 

Now, if you get married and/or have a kid then I'm sure it's a bottomless pit if you start with 50k baht...

 

for decades I kept putting money into my ROTH IRA.  ah, I am not sure if I can retire in America (will do the math next year), but Thailand should be fine for decades....  never felt rich and never felt poor (Thai standards).....but I did fake it rich for decades and that must be better than faking it poor.  Had a Porsche (company's car) and lived in a 2.5 million dollar house (company's retreat) for a few years.  def. doesn't make you happy when it's not yours and your salary is less because you get perks.  ah, whatever....not complaining. 

 

life is not easy, and it gets harder when you realize the 9-5 grind won't get you out of the box.  i failed a million times trying to break out of the cycle....Thailand, coffee shop.  nope.  massage place, nope.  hotel, doubtful.  travel agency, probably not.   it's tough.   but try.  

[Yagoda]

mY account is well below $100

[Gsxrnz]

This displays Price's Square Root Law in action. 

 

The square root of the population will hold 50% of the wealth. And if you drilled down to that population, the square root of that number will hold 50% of the combined wealth. And if you drilled down again....get the picture? This can never be changed, barring major social intervention a la Mao, Stalin, Pol Pot, Starmer etc.

 

Ironically, the wealthier you make the poor, the wealthy become exponentially wealthier. 

 

 

[JimHuaHin]

3 hours ago, Mentors65 said:

a loud ticking timebomb

One is reluctant to use the word "revolution", but Thailand is moving closer to meeting most of the classic conditions fostering a (violent) revolution ("violent" in brackets considering the large proportion of Thais owning weapons and growing number of violent acts we read about daily in the Thai media).

[Gottfrid]

2 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

The Thai people are not being paid decently anymore

I agree with everything in your post, except this. Anymore? When the heck did Thai people have a descent salary?

[edwinchester]

1 hour ago, ozz1 said:

Yet they all drive around in new cars something's got to give 

All? Absolute nonsense. Live in rural Thailand and you'll see the poverty the majority of Thais live in and it does not include brand new cars in the drive.

[Gottfrid]

1 hour ago, Quentin Zen said:

but I did fake it rich for decades and that must be better than faking it poor.  Had a Porsche (company's car) and lived in a 2.5 million dollar house (company's retreat) for a few years.  def. doesn't make you happy when it's not yours and your salary is less because you get perks.  ah, whatever....not complaining. 

If we say like this. The company you worked for provided a Porsche and a 2,5 MUSD house. Hell yeah, then they neither gave a bad salary. I think you will be fine retiring in most places. if you saved anything, that will say.

[MalcolmB]

58 minutes ago, Gottfrid said:

I agree with everything in your post, except this. Anymore? When the heck did Thai people have a descent salary?

It is a big reason I am here.

i can afford a maid to come daily, a pool guy, a lover for all night and eat out three times a day and to the pub most days.

I could not afford that in the UK. Life is fantastic here, but wouldn’t be if the Thais were expensive.

[BritManToo]

2 hours ago, hotsun said:

Most people worldwide dont understand the concept of savings

A lot more understand that having savings gets you nothing extra.

In the UK, you need to save 250,000GBP in a pension fund before you get any net gain in retirement.

(the first 250kGBP of pension savings just reduces your benefits)

 

Not to mention as a married/cohabiting guy, you'll lose half of anything you saved in the divorce/separation.

 

In some ways it's just better to spend everything you manage to earn and borrow on unsecured credit (free money). So I sort of agree with the Thais.

[MalcolmB]

57 minutes ago, edwinchester said:

All? Absolute nonsense. Live in rural Thailand and you'll see the poverty the majority of Thais live in and it does not include brand new cars in the drive.

All? 
Less than 5%

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, edwinchester said:

All? Absolute nonsense. Live in rural Thailand and you'll see the poverty the majority of Thais live in and it does not include brand new cars in the drive.

Most of them are happy though!

[StayinThailand2much]

2 hours ago, thesetat said:

In 2024, the average household debt in Thailand reached a record high of 606,378 baht.

 

Good luck ever repaying that debt, at a rate of, say, 3,000 baht a month... 😆 

[StayinThailand2much]

2 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Most of them are happy though!

 

If banks loaned me huge sums of money, I possibly couldn't pay back in my lifetime, I'd be happy too... 😂 

[edwinchester]

48 minutes ago, StayinThailand2much said:

 

If banks loaned me huge sums of money, I possibly couldn't pay back in my lifetime, I'd be happy too... 😂 

Banks are not lending huge sums of money to pensioners on 600 bht pension a month or those on 300 bht per day wage and that's when they can find work.

[hotchilli]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

Alarm bells ring as new figures from the Bank of Thailand reveal that 89% of bank deposit accounts in the kingdom hold less than 50,000 baht.

While the elite sit on billions...

[Sydebolle]

Well, the writing is all over the wall, in big red capital letters for a long time already ........ 

[Guderian]

50,000 Baht??? The GF empties her bank account of every Baht as soon as there's anything in it, usually deposited by muggins here, lol. Having 50,000 Baht in her account is an unimaginable dream - well, for me, anyway.

[proton]

Let them eat som tam 😁

[hotsun]

4 hours ago, BritManToo said:

A lot more understand that having savings gets you nothing extra.

In the UK, you need to save 250,000GBP in a pension fund before you get any net gain in retirement.

(the first 250kGBP of pension savings just reduces your benefits)

 

Not to mention as a married/cohabiting guy, you'll lose half of anything you saved in the divorce/separation.

 

In some ways it's just better to spend everything you manage to earn and borrow on unsecured credit (free money). So I sort of agree with the Thais.

True, unless you have a bank with high interest

[Caldera]

 

10 hours ago, webfact said:

Alarm bells ring as new figures from the Bank of Thailand reveal that 89% of bank deposit accounts in the kingdom hold less than 50,000 baht.

 

I'd say that's a pretty meaningless statistics, compared to household debt where the alarm bells really need to be ringing.

 

As banks charge no monthly fees for regular savings accounts and as many Thais need to open a new account whenever they start a new job, the number of effectively dormant accounts must be enormous.

[Kinok Farang]

8 hours ago, ozz1 said:

Yet they all drive around in new cars something's got to give 

That's our job.