Salary Comparison: Bangkok Vs Us (northeast

[DJMWalker]

I'm looking for a good website reference regarding salary comparisons for professional jobs (ie programmer, consultant, actuary, accountant, engineers) in Bangkok compared to US (Northeast) I've searched this group for some time but so far the best information I've come across is a post that US engineers generally get USD 50k.

Thanks...

[Chang_paarp]

I'm looking for a good website reference regarding salary comparisons for professional jobs (ie programmer, consultant, actuary, accountant, engineers) in Bangkok compared to US (Northeast) I've searched this group for some time but so far the best information I've come across is a post that US engineers generally get USD 50k.

Thanks...

This thread has a link to professional salary in BKK.

If you are thinking of moving here you may get a shock.

[PeaceBlondie]

That list is shocking, indeed. I can qualify as an entry-level accountant, having been an IRS tax auditor and revenue agent, and having 7 courses in accounting at uni level. But the entry level for a farang from Bulgaria and a nose ring, to teach English in BKK, makes 50% more without a BA or a TEFL cert, than a Thai with a Thai degree in accounting earns. In Chiang Mai, a Brit with a BA, and TEFL makes the same 50% more.

But most of the occupations in that list for professional salaries in BKK are for Thais, and farang probably couldn't qualify if they wanted that job.

High-class professional engineers, of course, are a law unto their own.

[GuestHouse]

High-class professional engineers, of course, are a law unto their own.

Nothing wrong with that in my book

[thaihome]

High-class professional engineers, of course, are a law unto their own.

Nothing wrong with that in my book

I certainly agree, as I get 25% more then my US salary.

Take a look at the link and tell me how many of your Thai engineers are making 18k a month? None of ours are that is for sure. With job market today you had better pay or they will leave, as I am sure you have found out.

TH

Edited June 16, 2006 by thaihome

[GuestHouse]

The Thai Engineers assigned here with me in Rome are making (Salaries) a great deal more than Bht18K a month. In additon to their salaries they receive the exact same expat package as I do.

In our Thai office we have Thai engineers who are making over Bht100K a monthK, to my knowledge non of our Thai engineers earn as little as Bht18K.

[Chang_paarp]

If I remember correctly those were graduate salaries.

With experience they would expect some improvement, as the wheat rice and chaff were seperated.

[Introspection]

how much to expat engineers usually make per month?

[thaihome]

how much to expat engineers usually make per month?

What they would make in their home country, plus various uplifts, tax equalizations, and allowances depending on company policies. “Local Expat” contract hires about the same, but without the uplift or allowances.

TH

[thaihome]

If I remember correctly those were graduate salaries.

With experience they would expect some improvement, as the wheat rice and chaff were seperated.

We recently hired (stole) 3 engineers with less then 2 years experience for about 30K a month.

TH

[Chang_paarp]

If I remember correctly those were graduate salaries.

With experience they would expect some improvement, as the wheat rice and chaff were seperated.

We recently hired (stole) 3 engineers with less then 2 years experience for about 30K a month.

TH

See rice not chaff. Bet you would not have hired them if they fell into the chaff catagory. The sorting has started.

[christos11]

Hi guys Im in the prosses

of getting a job in Bangkok

as the Manager of a wine shop

I was wondering if you can give

me ideas of salary and living expencies

since I'm used to london Prices now

Thanks alot for your help

Christos

[SunbeltAsia]

Hi guys Im in the prosses

of getting a job in Bangkok

as the Manager of a wine shop

I was wondering if you can give

me ideas of salary and living expencies

since I'm used to london Prices now

Thanks alot for your help

Christos

50,000 Baht a month would be the norm for the salary of an expat as a Mgr of a retail shop.

Living costs.... From BOI

http://www.boi.go.th/english/how/selected_..._in_bangkok.asp

from Bell International

http://www.bell-centres.com/jobs/worldwide...ngInBangkok.pdf

From Teachers

http://www.ajarn.com/Banter/costofliving.htm

From Into Asia

http://www.into-asia.com/thailand/costs.php

From Stickman

http://www.stickmanbangkok.com/living.html

The Cost Of Living & Shopping

Thailand is a very easy place to live if you are earning a decent salary - and it needn't be that much. The figures I quote here are more relevant to English teachers than anyone else because that is the line of work that I am in. Some people can live here comfortably on less than 20,000 baht a month while I know of some other people who struggle to survive on $US 3,000 (about 120,000+ baht) or more a month! The latter may have been used to a rather decadent lifestyle in their own country before coming here or perhaps ant to live their life in Thailand like they are on one long holiday. Assuming you are single and do not spend too much on accommodation, monthly discretionary spending money of more than 50,000 baht will allow you some comforts. Over 60,000 will allow some fun and much more than that, well, you should be laughing! Let me re-iterate that it does all come back to your particular lifestyle. If you are eating in the restaurants or 5 star hotels often, wining and dining some of the lovely local ladies then things could become quite pricey. But if you eat at more standard restaurants, sometimes cook in your apartment and do not go out that often, you really could get by on not a lot of money. But just how much you need really is like asking how long a piece of string is.

If you are recruited in your home country and then move to Thailand and receive your same Western salary plus a per diem or hardship allowance, you may well be earning a phenomenal amount of money for Thailand and would have an extremely high standard of living. I know of such guys and they can earn well over half a million baht a month. This sort of income would allow you almost complete freedom to live how you wanted. You could have a fabulous apartment, a driver, could eat out anywhere you wanted, party anywhere you wanted, buy all of the flashest clothes, the latest books, basically do whatever you wanted and still have money left over at the end of the month.

Just to give you some sort of idea about costs from a personal perspective, I spend around 55,000 baht per month. I believe that this allows a pleasant lifestyle. We live in a one bedroom apartment (under 20,000 baht a month) in a very nice building just a couple of kilometres from the main business district. This 55K figure covers all expenses including all entertainment, transportation, all food, both eating in and out, new clothes, miscellaneous expenses - basically everything. I believe I have a nice lifestyle indeed, and one which would cost a whole lot more in my native New Zealand. I do NOT go out nearly as much as I used to and do not spend any time with ladies of the night, which can eat up money if you are not careful. However, this figure does not allow for major purchases, trips overseas, new computer or camera equipment or the all important pension planning, so if one wants to consider all of these things, you might want to plan to earn a fair bit more!

But my lifestyle has not always been like this. If we go back a few years, my monthly spending was around 40,000 baht a month. I had a studio apartment in a very central area, just a few minutes walk from MBK which cost 10,000 baht a month. I used to eat most meals at street vendors, more for convenience than any other reason, and that cost around 30 baht a meal so my eating costs, apart from the odd splurge at the weekend was very low. I did used to go out at night too much and spent to much money on alcohol. Going out to the bars can add up if you are not careful especially with the price increases since mid 2001. I enjoyed my lifestyle back then, but then I would not want to go back to it now. The point here being that if you have 40K baht a month to spend, you should be able to have a pleasant, though certainly not luxurious, lifestyle. If you are on one of the expat fat pay packets, you will be laughing. Life could be very sweet indeed!

Following is a list of prices of various things in Bangkok. Note, there may well be differences here between what you read here and what you pay because prices do vary throughout Bangkok. Due to fluctuating exchange rates and quite simply the fact that this is Thailand and you pay in baht, all prices are quoted in Thai baht.

As at June 2006, $US 1 = about 38.5 baht

McDonalds Big Mac combo (incl. Coke + fries) 95 baht

KFC fillet burger combo (incl. Coke + fries) 79 baht

Burger King Whopper combo (incl. Coke + fries) 139 baht

Can of Coke / Pepsi in a supermarket 13 baht

5 km / 20 km metered taxi ride 50 / 125 baht

Plate of fried rice on the street / in a food hall 25 / 35 baht

950 ml bottle generic brand drinking water 5 baht

1.5 litre bottle of brand name drinking water 12 - 15 baht

Kodak gold 100 print film 36 shot 79 - 140 baht

Local call from phone box (every 2 minutes) 1 baht

Singha beer 330ml / 640ml in supermarket 30 / 50 baht

Heineken beer 330ml / 640ml in supermarket 35 / 65 baht

Jack Daniel's 700 ml bottle 899 baht

Portion of fruit from street vendor (see pic below) 10 baht

Bangkok Post / The Nation newspaper 25 baht

Packet of cheap / expensive noodles 5 / 14 baht

Cheap / Expensive men's haircut 50 / 350+ baht

Levis 501 jeans - genuine, not fake 2,350 baht

Paracetamol 500 mg 10 tablets generic brand 10 baht

New release English lang. paperback novels 300 - 450 baht

New release English lang. hardback novels 595 - 995 baht

New release movie ticket at cinema 100 - 140 baht

Nightly new release VHS video / DVD movie hire 30 - 50 baht

New release DVD (copied) 100 - 150 baht

New release DVD (original) 120 - 1,000+ baht

Local phone call (direct phone line / apartment line) 3 / 5 baht

Durex condoms, pack of three 50 baht

6 x 4 inch photograph print 3 - 5 baht

1 litre of 91 / 95 octane petrol 28.99 baht/ 29.79 baht

1 litre of diesel 27 baht

Basically, most things that one needs to survive in Thailand are reasonably priced. Food, transport, accommodation and all of the other necessities like toiletries etc are cheaper than in the West. The things that can be expensive tend to be luxury goods, cars and anything which is not made in Thailand and therefore must be imported - like decent beef or dairy products. Prices can vary dramatically. In the local supermarket, a roll of Kodak film may cost in excess of 150 baht whereas in a souvenir shop in a touristy area, exactly the same product is selling for 110 baht - which is opposite to what one would expect in the West. In a camera shop a roll can be bought for as little as 85 baht. Figure it out for yourself! Unlike neighbouring countries like Laos and Cambodia, all of the necessities of life can be easily found in stores and are very reasonably priced, more often than not, cheaper than the West, or at least the part of the West where I'm from. There are convenience stores all over the city and you'll be doing well if you can find a part of Bangkok that doesn't have a 24 hour minimart / convenience store in the neighbourhood. 7 Elevens have been popping up at a phenomenal rate over the past few years. In fact the range of products available is far better in Thailand than in many Western countries.

While things are generally a lot cheaper here than in the west, I still spend more in Thailand than in I did back home. There are just so many things to do, so many places to go and visit and the shopping is an absolute dream - huge variety and other than high end imported goods, the prices are low. It is so easy to buy all of the goodies that are available and before you know it, your spending is skyrocketing. You do need to be careful or your spending can get out of hand. There is something about this city that really seems to suck the money out of you. If you are coming here on a holiday and are using one of the guide books, such as Lonely Planet, you can get the impression that you can survive here on very little - you can read about hotels for 100 baht a night, plates of food for as little as 10 baht. While these prices are genuine and it is true that you could survive here on next to nothing, very few foreigners do. Most people end up spending far more than they anticipated - but they still get excellent value for money.

Over the last few years Bangkok has got a lot more expensive particularly for Westerners. I say this because the sorts of things that the average Thai person buys or consumes have stayed largely the same. Fried rice, noodle soup and the like still can be found for 25 baht, an you can still get a pair of rubber flip flops for under 50 baht. But for Westerners prices have moved. The cost of renting an apartment has gone up due to a much higher occupancy rate. I am talking about apartments in the 10,000 - 100,000 baht bracket here. Cheap places remain much the same prices as they were many years ago. Restaurants where Westerners like to go have seen numerous prices rises over the last few years. I could rattle off the names of at least half a dozen of the most popular restaurants with Westerners in Bangkok where prices have basically doubled since 2000. And don't think this is all due to the soaring fuel prices the whole world is experiencing. A lot of other things have gone up too. Alcohol prices have gone up a lot, and while I am loathe to include it, the fees charged by ladies of the night have gone up a lot too. Prices were moving a lot well before fuel prices started going up. Bangkok remains affordable but it is nowhere near as cheap as it used to be.

[backflip]

"it is nowhere near as cheap as it used to be."

Just like everywhere else.

[Mrjlh]

Try this site:

http://www.boi.go.th/english/how/labor_costs.asp

[kiakaha]

All the top expat professionals I know in Bangkok(brought in from overseas) get remunerated at international rates.The local Bangkok salary is irrelevant in their cases.