Average Thai salary?

[IamRoach]

5 hours ago, blackcab said:

 

I don't think there are that many mid management Thai staff earning 100-250k a month.

Sure there are you just need to look at international companies and brands not the Thai Chinese owned mickey mouse businesses that would save 1 satang on toilet paper if they could.

[Ks45672]

1 minute ago, IamRoach said:

Sure there are you just need to look at international companies and brands not the Thai Chinese owned mickey mouse businesses that would save 1 satang on toilet paper if they could.

There are some who earn 500k a month + car and house benefits....... 

Fairly rare but they do exist 

[blackcab]

30 minutes ago, IamRoach said:

Sure there are you just need to look at international companies and brands not the Thai Chinese owned mickey mouse businesses that would save 1 satang on toilet paper if they could.

 

Would you care to share some recruitment ads? While I'll go with mid management being paid up to 150k, I don't see Thai nationals at that level commonly being paid over that.

 

I'm very happy to be proven wrong though.

[IamRoach]

4 hours ago, blackcab said:

 

Would you care to share some recruitment ads? While I'll go with mid management being paid up to 150k, I don't see Thai nationals at that level commonly being paid over that.

 

I'm very happy to be proven wrong though.

Go to Jobsdb, select minimum salary 130k, click jobs and you will find hundreds of job postings(even after taking out top management jobs) of which half have Thai nationals in their descriptions. Then you don't even take in account that many positions are not advertised.
 

Edited April 21, 2018 by IamRoach

[theguyfromanotherforum]

5 hours ago, IamRoach said:

Sure there are you just need to look at international companies and brands not the Thai Chinese owned mickey mouse businesses that would save 1 satang on toilet paper if they could.

 

You talk a lot of crap in your posts buddy. You come sounding like so important with throwing numbers that make no sense whatsoever. Let's hear some of the names of these companies that pay so much according to you. My wife works for Siemens....you know....the BTS division. The company doesn't get more international and important than this. Your numbers are way out of line. 

 

Name of these companies that like throwing money away please.

[Elkski]

https://m.jobsdb.co.th/en-th/jobad/data-scientist-300003001622806?pageIdx=2&jobAdOffset=9&searchResultUrl=search.do%3FSalaryT%3D2147483647%26careerLevelFromId%3D0%26pageNumber%3D3%26SalaryFText%3D130%2C000%26SalaryTText%3D130%2C000%2B%26careerLevelToId%3D0%26employmentTermId%3D0%26industryId%3D0%26submitForm%3Dtrue%26moreOption%3Dfalse%26locationId%3D2%26SalaryType%3D1%26pager.offset%3D20%26jobFunctionId%3D0%26SalaryF%3D130000%26keyword%3D&moreOption=false&jobFunctionId=0&industryId=0&careerLevelFromId=0&careerLevelToId=0&locationId=2&employmentTermId=0&method=add&SalaryType=1&SalaryT=2147483647&SalaryF=130000&Career=&JobCat=&JobTypes=&Locations=&EM_Locations=&JobInd=&SearchFields=&AD=

 

Seems to be many jobs over 130 k.

All need good English.   

 

I think Thai people don't know how bad they are getting ripped off by employers.   I don't think they know how to play poker with employers.  But maybe employer's can just find another sucker to work for peanuts.   I admit I don't have real experience in this area.  But I see many Thai who seem to make plenty of money

   As example there were many young Thai couples on the bus to Koh samet and on the boat.  For the 3 days weekend.   April 6-9.   I see many Thai people at expensive japanese restaurant hangout places.   And unlike me they seem to have no qualms buying many expensive appetizers and drinks as well as the western priced main courses.   

[Airalee]

Looks like there are 719 jobs where someone can earn up to ฿130k (rarely did the position state that it was over ฿130k). It appeared that many of these positions were for Directors, VP, and other upper level management.

 

If you run the same search for jobs from ฿10k-30k, you will get almost exactly 10x that amount.

 

Then, we also have to consider all the low end jobs that would never show up on a website like that.  Then we can add in all the rural areas (which is the majority of Thailand).

 

If I had to guess, I would say that jobs above 130k are approximately 1-2% of the workforce tops.

 

If someone can find me a legitimate source showing the median (not mean) Thai income I will be impressed.

[Elkski]

How would anyone be able to give income figures.  So many jobs are cash.  Do you think any food vendor declares their income or pays taxes.  I know a couple food vendors and they make more than you can imagine.   

[jackdd]

1 hour ago, Elkski said:

How would anyone be able to give income figures.  So many jobs are cash.  Do you think any food vendor declares their income or pays taxes.  I know a couple food vendors and they make more than you can imagine.   

This thread is about "Average Thai salary" so it's about what employees earn, not the income of business owners

[Airalee]

2 hours ago, Elkski said:

How would anyone be able to give income figures.  So many jobs are cash.  Do you think any food vendor declares their income or pays taxes.  I know a couple food vendors and they make more than you can imagine.   

And I know a couple food vendors (well...former vendors in sukhothai) that only made about ฿4000 a month so they moved to Chiang Mai and became higher paid (but still low paid) employees.

[Airalee]

The only people I have ever known that try to convince me about how much the general population makes were (r)ealtors trying to convince me to buy a condo before all the other fabulously wealthy people bought them all.

[jenny2017]

On 8/28/2014 at 9:30 AM, benj005 said:

Have you seen Scott's You Tube I'm an American in Bangkok. He talks about the possibility of living in Thailand on $500 USD (bht16,000) a month. He said it's really not desirable. I guess you would disagree.

Thailand is so much cheaper compared to New Jersey. I took a taxi ride 2 weeks ago to immigration. Took me 40 minutes and paid baht 300. I took a taxi ride in New Jersey last year. The cost was $26 for a 15 minute ride.

You took a bad example with the taxi. Gasoline is cheaper here and taxi drivers make less money. Most drivers in Bangkok are from Isaan. 

[janclaes47]

18 hours ago, Elkski said:

 As example there were many young Thai couples on the bus to Koh samet and on the boat.  For the 3 days weekend.   April 6-9.   I see many Thai people at expensive japanese restaurant hangout places.   And unlike me they seem to have no qualms buying many expensive appetizers and drinks as well as the western priced main courses.   

When I go to siam paragon I see many Ferrari, Rolls and Lamborghini parked there.

 

Doesn't mean the average Thai drives one.

[Elkski]

So many Thai workers are the boss.  Small businesses  with under 2 employees must cover a large % of workers.  If you watch these vendors like the guy who cooks the crepe looking things on a beach on Koh samet.   His two grills are busy from when he opens till closes. 

[Airalee]

I also see vendors hanging out with very few customers. The problem is that anecdotal evidence does not equal data.

[Elkski]

I say there is no real data on most Thai workers and never will be.  It's probably more accurate to guage salary by the price Leo can charge for that crap. And how many buy it and that 50 power drink every day.

My point is that many Thai make more than the reported average of 10k/mo.   I think the10 k number is propagated by big business and govt so that Thailand remains a good business location.   With such low wages just think how high the profit for some of these hotels and companies must be.  

And fuel is cheaper in USA as well as beer and mangos are cheaper here than BKK.  170 baht 1.5 kg. 

Gas is 90 baht per gallon.  So about 22 baht/ l

[Airalee]

Ok...gotcha...the price of Leo and energy drinks is an excellent way to deduce what Thai salaries are.

 

Do you know the difference between median and mean (average)?  The captains of industry (CEOs CFOs etc etc)  will skew the average to the high side.  I suspect that the “median” is lower than the average.

 

You already provided some data regarding salaries with the link to the jobs database.  However,  the ฿130,000 salaries also include jobs that pay up to ฿130,000.  Many of those jobs started at less than that...much less.  I pointed out that those jobs were approximately 1/10 of the number of positions advertised in the ฿10,000-30,000 range.

 

But if you want to blather on about the cost of Chang, power drinks, mangos and gasoline, you’ve proven my point quite well.

 

2 minutes ago, Elkski said:

I say there is no real data on most Thai workers and never will be.  It's probably more accurate to guage salary by the price Leo can charge for that crap. And how many buy it and that 50 power drink every day.

My point is that many Thai make more than the reported average of 10k/mo.   I think the10 k number is propagated by big business and govt so that Thailand remains a good business location.   With such low wages just think how high the profit for some of these hotels and companies must be.  

And fuel is cheaper in USA as well as beer and mangos are cheaper here than BKK.  170 baht 1.5 kg. 

Gas is 90 baht per gallon.  So about 22 baht/ l

 

[lannarebirth]

3 hours ago, Elkski said:

I say there is no real data on most Thai workers and never will be.  It's probably more accurate to guage salary by the price Leo can charge for that crap. And how many buy it and that 50 power drink every day.

My point is that many Thai make more than the reported average of 10k/mo.   I think the10 k number is propagated by big business and govt so that Thailand remains a good business location.   With such low wages just think how high the profit for some of these hotels and companies must be.  

And fuel is cheaper in USA as well as beer and mangos are cheaper here than BKK.  170 baht 1.5 kg. 

Gas is 90 baht per gallon.  So about 22 baht/ l

 

Yeah, but those mangoes they grow in Mexico and Florida for sale in the US are not nearly so delicious as the Thai mangoes. Worth paying more to get them if you can find them.

[ostyan]

On 4/20/2018 at 10:14 PM, IamRoach said:

The numbers you mentioned are really the bottom of the barrel rates. Also your wife only gets 14k as a teacher ? Even the lowest scumbag delivery drivers who get smacked on lao khao on a weekday make around that figure at the company i work for.

There are quite a few Thais in mid management positions like sales manager, area manager, HR manager, warehouse manager making 100-250k a month and even secretaries to top management are in the 80-120k bracket and these are not even people necessarily super high skilled at their job either. Just because the majority of the population is getting ripped off doesn't mean there aren't Thais living well earning good wages on par with the West because let's be honest besides rental, public transportation and gasoline prices not many things in Thailand are cheaper.

 

Sadly, it is true. Country private schools know exactly that the majority of the teachers they apply have some kind of "limited freedom". This may be originated from lacking education or simply family ties. Not everybody can grab his bag and go to the other county to try his fortune. Yes, I double-checked, my wife, as a teacher earns 14k as a teacher and she has a relatively high salary comparing to the others in this private school.

The number of Thais with high salaries are usually relatives or whatever. Since my 9 years here I have never heard a guy walking in from the street and coming out with a serious wage. There are some, well-paid Thais, but they cannot be considered as an average.

 

[ostyan]

On 4/20/2018 at 10:14 PM, Elkski said:

I was recently privy to a teacher salary list from a government school.   They make much more than anyone on this thread has reported.  Some make 60,000 mo

It should be a government school, or a well-known international school in BKK.

[Elkski]

Yes big government school.  

Yes I had a mango from Mexico today and it didn't taste very good and tough and not juicy.  

[Ks45672]

On 20/04/2018 at 9:47 PM, brewsterbudgen said:

TEFL doesn't pay very well anywhere in the world.

Sent from my SM-A500F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

South Korea pay well but they might only be interested in real teachers 

[IsaanFam]

The wage is much higher than we think but much less in reality. It is really a boosting economy, if you travel to a European country and then Thailand, you know where the growth is. The people earning 7-15,000 THB are the unskilled workers (and yes, for a pop of nearly 70 million, the unskilled work force is probably 30-40 million). Nowadays a Thai can easily get 20,000-30,000 THB. The median is around 20,000 THB + you have many households which have 2-3 earners. Thailand's economy is really going good and has a growing middle class, the wages for skilled work reflect that.

 

Some real life examples:

Gardener, Phuket: 9,000 THB

Security Guard, Phuket, 8,000 THB

Live-in Maid, Phuket: 15,000 THB

Tesco staff, OT, Chonburi: 14,000 THB

Factory (some medical stuff) / OT, 16,000 THB

Factory (some cables) / OT, 18,000 THB

Construction Foreman, Phuket: 30,000 THB

Receptionist, Phuket: 22,000 THB
Dentist (hired) + Commission, BKK: 40,000 THB

 

Also, this. Purchasing power $3.7 - compare it to Malaysia or Philipines. https://www.statista.com/statistics/274326/big-mac-index-global-prices-for-a-big-mac/

 

 

Edited April 23, 2018 by IsaanFam

[manchega]

for those asking for real data companies such as adecco produce a free publication yearly for salaries in land of good driving.  These companies also benchmark so that comapnies can avoid loss of employess to overpaying competitors.  I t means that when somajai wants to jump from SCG to ACB to make use of their analytical skills the rate is similar and little advantage to be gained ( yes i know one is s bank and the other is scg)

[The Deerhunter]

On 28/08/2014 at 7:10 AM, Soutpeel said:

The number sounds about right for your GF, average salaries in Thailand like the rest of the world is regional, and dependent of where you are in the country THB 20k/m could be "high" or "low", there is on no one average salary in Thailand,

THB 7-8k/m may be average in say Isaan, but low for BKK or say Rayong area (which are the two higher paying areas)

the only real point of reference you have is referencing against the Thai minimum wage of THB 300/day and lets say a person works 6 days a week, (24 day month) then around THB 7200/m would be considered minumim, therefore based on this your GF is way above this thereshold.

But up in the N &NE, many farm workers are well below 300 per day, especially if accommodation is supplied.  And some of the supplied accommodation even in more affluent regions like Chonburi has to be seen to be believed.  Office and some factory jobs are often around 20k so she is in the common office range. Farm and outside work very often around 300-350 a day but vary between 5 and 7 days p.w.

Edited April 26, 2018 by The Deerhunter

[lagavulin1]

On 8/28/2014 at 7:10 AM, Soutpeel said:

The number sounds about right for your GF, average salaries in Thailand like the rest of the world is regional, and dependent of where you are in the country THB 20k/m could be "high" or "low", there is on no one average salary in Thailand,

THB 7-8k/m may be average in say Isaan, but low for BKK or say Rayong area (which are the two higher paying areas)

the only real point of reference you have is referencing against the Thai minimum wage of THB 300/day and lets say a person works 6 days a week, (24 day month) then around THB 7200/m would be considered minumim, therefore based on this your GF is way above this thereshold.

A bar server I chatted to at a Global Chain Hotel in Patts told me she got 5k a month  but hotel charged 1K for room and full board. She worked 5x12hr shifts. 

[Percy P]

80% off Thai workers do not pay income tax as their earning are less then 12560 Baht a month. Minimums wage /day in Bkk is 350B a day.

[HaleySabai]

On 8/28/2014 at 10:02 AM, hotsoup said:

'Average' Thai salary is c.13,500; but it is a bit meaningless as there are huge variations in employment areas. A very loguacious and unusually forthcoming noodle stall holder at the end of the road said she made 30,000 a month. Not sure what the profit margin is on a 30B bowl, but that seems low to me! I reckon she was selling nearly 100 bowls/bags a day! Still more than a nurse or teacher though

My ex-partner from Hong Kong told me back in the 70's the first people to go on European vacations were street vendors. She worked in a bank in Hong Kong and was amazed at how the most ordinary looking people would waltz into the bank and drop piles of cash.

But the subject of this thread is how much a "job" pays not how much a self-employed person can make.

[manchega]

On 5/20/2019 at 6:29 PM, Percy P said:

80% off Thai workers do not pay income tax as their earning are less then 12560 Baht a month. Minimums wage /day in Bkk is 350B a day.

if this statistic is true then the average lies somewhere within

[xtrnuno41]

On 8/28/2014 at 2:12 AM, benj005 said:

Thanks for the help.

We're currently in Bangkok. I guess THB 20k is about average then.

It's no wonder that a lot of Thai girls choose to go into the sex industry. They can make a lot more money.

CAN make? Dont think so. Competition is way high.

I met the girls , running to landlord to pay room after client (otherwise sleep out), begging for some bath to get something basic to eat, sleeping outside as no money, to negotiate over price 100 bath instead 400, as the clients are so poor.

And if you have no choice anymore "sleep" with a frustrated mean bastard. 

Maybe the client likes long time, company all day for a period. SO they maybe can have some free food, bed, shower, they can save money for a rainy day.

If they can, as mostly they have family or a child to support.

Talk to them and you will find out they are just struggling for live. 

Getting rich? Absolute NOT.

Yeah of course , some do somehow better. 

Your gf doing 20000 bath is a good salary, minimum is 320 bath/day, not long ago raised with 20 Bath !! 

Experienced (older) labour inspector, just over 40000.

So you can imagine when they had 4 places in work, they got 2500 (Thai universities) applications for the jobs, many graduates but lack of jobs.

Once in CM, in the hotel there were girls (reception hotel) working, probably schooled, but not English speaking!

In the coffee shop there was a girl, probably not so schooled, but very good in English. 

We talked and i suggested her to take a chance at hotels, as she COULD speak and understand English well .

Weird from a hotel, not to have receptionist not speaking and understand English.