Thai State Pension

[Lix]

Boring i know but could anyone explain to me the state pension set up in Thailand:

Who is eligible ?

Only those that have paid tax i assume?

Only those working for government run/backed institutions?

How much is it?

What is the retirement age?

What about the poor who labour for 150 baht a day all their lives, i have been told by a Thai today that most do not get it but his English wasn't that great so i didn't get the full picture.

I am interested does anybody know?

Thanks

[Neeranam]

Boring i know but could anyone explain to me the state pension set up in Thailand:

Who is eligible ?Anyone who pays "pragan sang kom" - not tax but a social insurance

Only those that have paid tax i assume?

Only those working for government run/backed institutions?no

How much is it?not much - If I work until I'm 60 I might get 10,000 baht a month

What is the retirement age?60

What about the poor who labour for 150 baht a day all their lives, i have been told by a Thai today that most do not get it but his English wasn't that great so i didn't get the full picture.

I am interested does anybody know? Oh btw, I'm not Thai

Thanks

[loong]

AS far as I know, the locals here, over 65 get 1000 Baht every 3 months. I don't know if that is a national scheme or not. Obviously they have paid nothing into a social fund.

A village doctor I know retired on half salary, about 15000 Baht/month.

Sorry, I have no idea what the norm is though

[henryalleman]

Only civil servants get a monthly state pension, but 3 or 5 years ago they changed the system, the new generation civil servants get a sum of money when they retire at the retirement age of 60, and that's it.

People who work for semi-owned government companies like TOT also get a sum of money when they retire at 60, this sum can be a few million Baht depend on your career. But after that not even one Satang anymore.

That's one of the reasons why Thai like to buy a house and sometimes 2 or 3 generations live together in the same house, and why children help their parents financially. This practise is not only so in Isan but widely practised in middle class and well off Bangkokian families.

So if you see an Bangkokian elderly middle class Thai couple living in a nice house in an compound and drive a car, many times its with the monthly support of their children. Sometimes even the house belong to their children. This is so for all brothers and sisters of my wife's Thai family. And they give some of that money to the other children who are not so well off.

In Europe we call this re-distribution of wealth and social welfare, but in LOS its organized on family level and not by the government.

With all this, you must keep in mind that parents invest many times a few million Bath to send their children to top private schools and good universities. their are even kindergartens in BKK who ask 200 000 Baht for one term. Without the annual extras for the school fund. In some schools its even custom to give a closed envelop to buy a place and need an recommendations from seniors.

I know most of my comments area little bit but some insight is always useful.

[Lix]

thank you that is really helpful and interesting

cheers

[syd barrett]

AS far as I know, the locals here, over 65 get 1000 Baht every 3 months. I don't know if that is a national scheme or not. Obviously they have paid nothing into a social fund.

A village doctor I know retired on half salary, about 15000 Baht/month.

Sorry, I have no idea what the norm is though

In Isaan old folks over 65 receive 900 Baht every 3 months. That is about 10 baht per day.

[TerryLH]

As mentioned above, for most workers it's Thai Social Security that provides an old age pension.

Like a lot of other places there is an age limit (55) to get anything, and it's based on salary and number of months you paid into the system.

You can take it as a pension, paid monthly, or you can take a lump sum.

Old-Age Pension.

If you've paid for over 180 months, the pension will be 15% of the average wage for the last 60 months.

If you paid more than 180 months, you get the 15% plus an additional 1% for each 12 months over the base 180 months.

Old-Age Lump Sum

If you paid less than 12 months, you get back what you paid to the Fund.

If more than 12 months, you get back what you paid into the Fund, plus what your employer paid (an equal amount), plus interest.

There are other odds and ends as well.

This info was taken from a Social Security brochure dated 2001. The amount of monthly contributions has gone up from 2% to 5% since then, so some of the other figures may have changed as well.

I've found the Soc Sec's offices helpful, so would suggest that anyone wanting to retire or get their money back contact one of the SS offices in person.

If you routinely use the Soc Sec health benefit, check closely before taking a pension or lump sum payout. It may be that you are then no longer eligible for the health benefit.

[Neeranam]

I know most of my comments area little bit offtopic.gif but some insight is always useful.

Henry, I know you've been maried to a Thai lady for a long time - did you live/work in Thailand or abroad?

If Thailand, do you get a pension?

[Neeranam]

Old-Age Lump Sum

If you paid less than 12 months, you get back what you paid to the Fund.

If more than 12 months, you get back what you paid into the Fund, plus what your employer paid (an equal amount), plus interest.

Thanks for that informative post - if I work until Im 60, I could get about 700,000 I think

[typhoon]

AS far as I know, the locals here, over 65 get 1000 Baht every 3 months. I don't know if that is a national scheme or not. Obviously they have paid nothing into a social fund.

A village doctor I know retired on half salary, about 15000 Baht/month.

Sorry, I have no idea what the norm is though

In Isaan old folks over 65 receive 900 Baht every 3 months. That is about 10 baht per day.

I agree with this post, the old lady next door told me she gets 500 baht a month, not alot. not sure how the system works.

[henryalleman]

I know most of my comments area little bit offtopic.gif but some insight is always useful.

Henry, I know you've been maried to a Thai lady for a long time - did you live/work in Thailand or abroad?

If Thailand, do you get a pension?

Hi Neeranam,

I never worked in Thailand and I get my indexed secured pension from my home country.

But I have an large Thai family and we talked many time about the different pension systems.

Al my Thai family work as civil servants, in the military, semi Government companies or are business people. But no one work in the private sector, so i don't know nothing about that.