It Farang Salary Range

[kawaiimomo]

Hi there,

I have a question that maybe the people living here for a longer time can help me about. I'm 33 and I've been working in the IT sector for around 10-11 years, concretely developing mobile applications (started back in 2001 with Java phones, then switched to Android and also worked a little bit on iPhone/iPad). So I think I have a good experience. Last 3 years in Europe I worked for a big international telecom and develop apps for O2, Jahjah, and so on. Let me add I studied in university but didn't present the final course project so I am lacking the degree.

Now, my question is about salary; Right now I'm working for a small Thai company and getting 50k. I think it's a low salary for my experience, specially while some companies are paying 15-25k for newly graduated programmers (I worked with some of them and the quality of their code is pure crap). I read on TV some farangs having 200k+ salaries and I wonder if I am just stupid working for my current amount :-P So my question is: Do you think my salary is low? and What do you think a proper salary range would be according to my experience?

Hope you can help me on this as I have no clue and I am also terribly bad negotiating :S

[Darrel]

"I read on TV some farangs having 200k+ salaries ....."

I read about some farangs here being ex-SAS or owning half of New York.

Doesn't make it true though.

[fletchsmile]

Yes, to be honest sounds low to me compared to what you could get for your experience, although I'm sure there are people tucked away earning less so it's all relative.

You might want to check out ranges on somewhere like Jobrapido or Thai IT jobs

http://th.jobrapido....thailand&r=auto

http://www.thaiitjob...gner/false/p-1/

Your main drawback is your lack of degree. Thais attach a lot more importance to bachelor degrees, master degrees etc in the office, whereas foreigners attach more importance to experience, than academics, especially after 10 years or so of working. In addition there are a lot of quality Thai IT people out there, so it's also not a choice of either degree or experience, and they can find both. Most Thai IT people in an office will have a degree, in the same way most car sales people do. Not that the degrees always mean much either when compared to the west! Here your 7-11 lady likely has a degree from Ramkamhaeng or similar.

Yes there are also those dream IT jobs out there in IT, and I've known a couple of expats that earn well into the hundreds of thousands of baht a month. They are usually quite a bit more epxerienced than yourself (say 5-10 years further down the line in their careers) and in large multinational companies rather than Thai companies. Few and far between tho'.

You mention your negotiation skills. As well as absence of degree, another drawback you will have is the way employers here often look at current salary as a key driver of what they will pay you. One of the biggest changes I noticed in this part of the world: in the UK when a job is offered they have set scales and numbers in mind and usually advertise a salary range paticularly at your sort of level, and your current salary is more of a passing interest, as the focus is on paying a fair market rate. Here the market rate can vary a lot. They are very focused on current salary and expected salary so the onus is on you, and offers often come back based on what you earn + X%. So if you start low, the cost + X% mentality and cycle is difficult to break. Not a good idea to lie about your current salary, but a good reason about why you are accepting a lower rate than you might get, and maybe a reference to what you were worth back in the west may help you break that cycle if you can quote that.

Most Thais won't think about it too much though and will assume you are worth what you are paid now, and the reason you aren't paid much is your absence of degree.

Looking at an expat company may also help in a more open mind to you on your value and experience.

Best of luck

Cheers

Edited June 27, 2012 by fletchsmile

[fstarbkk]

If you're good at what you do in this field, with that amount of experience, you should be in the 80-120K range as a developer, or up to 150K with, say project/ team management responibilities. Over 200 is senior exec. territory as a local hire, and i don't see that in your background as you describe it.

[mpetersen]

If you're good at what you do in this field, with that amount of experience, you should be in the 80-120K range as a developer, or up to 150K with, say project/ team management responibilities. Over 200 is senior exec. territory as a local hire, and i don't see that in your background as you describe it.

pm me your resume and we can talk

[palm]

In 20 years of hiring coders, a candidate having a degree has been absolutely last on my list.

Give me a highly skilled, experienced coder any day, over than someone with no expereince and a degree.

50k is indeed low, but 100k is reasonable, so long as you can deliver high quality work. Why not drop me your CV?

[otissp]

Would someone please make explicit what currency units and pay period are being described here? I have a sense that USD per year are being discussed, though I dont want to assume since this is a Thai forum.

[Soutpeel]

Would someone please make explicit what currency units and pay period are being described here? I have a sense that USD per year are being discussed, though I dont want to assume since this is a Thai forum.

Its a Thai forum, and people are working in Thailand..the amounts stated are THB and are monthly not yearly and not USD

[kawaiimomo]

Thanks so much to all of you guys for your valuable input, you really made my day :-)

I will definitively send you my CV, probably by tomorrow as today I'm expecting a long working night due to a 'super urgent' demo we have on Friday :-P

Thank you very much, really appreciated.

[NCFC]

Thanks so much to all of you guys for your valuable input, you really made my day :-)

I will definitively send you my CV, probably by tomorrow as today I'm expecting a long working night due to a 'super urgent' demo we have on Friday :-P

Thank you very much, really appreciated.

Put yourself in the shoes of the employer. Why would they hire you for 200k plus per month if they can hire a native speaker for a quarter of that. For 200k they could hire four people and expect a couple of them to be half decent.

You would need some pretty exceptional skills to be commanding 200k.

[Endorphin]

I have 10+ years exp in coding. After my research and getting employed here 50k doesn't sound too low. Although I work remote and for a foreign company I didn't find many jobs promising substantially higher pay here in Thailand for my exp/skills. I also don't have a degree.

[vijer]

Yes, to be honest sounds low to me compared to what you could get for your experience, although I'm sure there are people tucked away earning less so it's all relative.

You might want to check out ranges on somewhere like Jobrapido or Thai IT jobs

http://th.jobrapido....thailand&r=auto

http://www.thaiitjob...gner/false/p-1/

Your main drawback is your lack of degree. Thais attach a lot more importance to bachelor degrees, master degrees etc in the office, whereas foreigners attach more importance to experience, than academics, especially after 10 years or so of working. In addition there are a lot of quality Thai IT people out there, so it's also not a choice of either degree or experience, and they can find both. Most Thai IT people in an office will have a degree, in the same way most car sales people do. Not that the degrees always mean much either when compared to the west! Here your 7-11 lady likely has a degree from Ramkamhaeng or similar.

Yes there are also those dream IT jobs out there in IT, and I've known a couple of expats that earn well into the hundreds of thousands of baht a month. They are usually quite a bit more epxerienced than yourself (say 5-10 years further down the line in their careers) and in large multinational companies rather than Thai companies. Few and far between tho'.

You mention your negotiation skills. As well as absence of degree, another drawback you will have is the way employers here often look at current salary as a key driver of what they will pay you. One of the biggest changes I noticed in this part of the world: in the UK when a job is offered they have set scales and numbers in mind and usually advertise a salary range paticularly at your sort of level, and your current salary is more of a passing interest, as the focus is on paying a fair market rate. Here the market rate can vary a lot. They are very focused on current salary and expected salary so the onus is on you, and offers often come back based on what you earn + X%. So if you start low, the cost + X% mentality and cycle is difficult to break. Not a good idea to lie about your current salary, but a good reason about why you are accepting a lower rate than you might get, and maybe a reference to what you were worth back in the west may help you break that cycle if you can quote that.

Most Thais won't think about it too much though and will assume you are worth what you are paid now, and the reason you aren't paid much is your absence of degree.

Looking at an expat company may also help in a more open mind to you on your value and experience.

Best of luck

Cheers

I agree with your comment about the lady working at 7-11 having a degree; my wife says you can't get a job without one. Also, almost every person that comes to the language school I teach at has a Masters Degree.