Farang Minimum Wage

[wasabi]

A friend of mine is in Thailand and someone told him there is a 60K minimum wage for Farangs. I told him I never heard of anything like that or even a variant of it. I know there are limited social welfare protection in Thailand even for their own citizens so I would be very surprised if such a thing exists for Farangs. Is this complete nonsense or is there some industry such as teaching English where there is a 60K minimum?

[whiterussian]

er.. no.

Might be an overseas wage for a foreign firm... but certainly not in teaching, not at any level as far as I know.

[wasabi]

er.. no.

Might be an overseas wage for a foreign firm... but certainly not in teaching, not at any level as far as I know.

By the way I searched on this and did see the above, that there are income requirements for extension of stay visas but I don't think this has anything to do with a Thai company employing a Farang.

[whiterussian]

yes, i think its something like 20k in the bank, or 30k per month income... im not sure - I've never been asked for proof.

[aitch52]

I was recruited from overseas, minimum 50K which I believe is the criterion for a work permit, teaching they move the goalposts and can pay as low as 15K and still get the work permit.

[matthiasvk]

If you want to work in the private sector, the minimum wage requirement in order to qualify for a work permit is:

60K for Americans and Japanese

50K for Europeans and Australians

Vietnamese and Cambodians can settle for much less :-)

Teachers can earn less since they work for a 'non-profit' organization.

Please note that this is the 'official' income. There is always the possibility to state that you earn more than what you actually receive.

Also, next to the minimum income, each company has to employ (='register') 4 Thai nationals for each farang they wish to employ.

Cheers,

[MrE]

What Matt said is correct. For a farang to work, he or ahe needs a work permit. To get a work permit those are the required salaries. The government doesn't care if the farang actually gets the salary, but income tax must be paid on that amount.

Edited March 24, 2010 by MrE

[Soutpeel]

The salary minimums stated are to qualify for extension of stay only, dont believe there are stated minimums for a farang being given a WP.

Therefore some of the info stated here is incorrect.

[Tywais]

The salary minimums stated are to qualify for extension of stay only, dont believe there are stated minimums for a farang being given a WP.

Therefore some of the info stated here is incorrect.

As Soutpeel says, the minimum wage is for the extension of stay based on work and not for the WP.

Royal Thai Police Order (pdf)

//edit - this does not apply to teaching positions as mentioned above.

[monty]

There are no minimum salaries per se for foreigners working in Thailand.

However, labor department wants to see acceptable numbers, for non managerial functions they can be rather low, for managerial jobs, a minimum of 30,000 Baht would probably be required, again, labor department can be flexible on that amount (both ways!). You'll need some negotiation etc, as some labor offices as a standard use the immigration guidelines on salaries, but some insistence will likely see you get away with lower then that.

The minimum income comes into play when you want to extend your stay in Thailand based on employment. Most Westerners will need a minimum of 50,000 Baht/month, but it is nationality based.

Some people do not need to extend their visa's based on employment, as they already have said extension based for example on marriage.

And indeed the two main professions not burdened by the immigration minimum salary thing are teachers and journalists.