High living cost causes highest stress among Thai people

[SjaakNL2013]

You will see after iPhone6 release in TH. Most people will be stressful until they own it!

I can understand this fully. And in my view you are a total dumbo if you don't have the new Apple 6S. If you see how nice he blinks, have so many useful functions and looks so much more mature, so stylish, so expensive.

There is no life without an Apple 6C..... is there?

[kuiburi]

Raising minimum wages to 300 a day was the killer . big company's and factory's have to and did raise it , lotta things got more expensive because of this .

the big bosses still want there same percentage of the profit .

not need half a brain to know who gets richer and who gets poorer .

Where I live the people in the fields get 200 to 250 a day .

There is few competition in Thailand for the big company's because they created " cartels"

Why is frutejuice " product of Thailand " in europe cheaper then in Thailand ? ( small example )

[BudRight]

Cheap for yoooou...

[RubbaJohnny]

Aping the success of revolving credit in western usuary societies Thais stall any sanook deficit by bank loan for urban worker and loan shark chanote mortgage for the farmer.

Still amazes me in my second century here the size of pick ups phones and so many items unsuited to the after life or sufficiency economy.

However at a lower base the level and leverage of debt is nothing compared to Uk Oz Netherlands etc and should a recession arrive have a rice paddy even mortgaged or a noodle cart seems more sustainable than the foodstamp handout culture

[HaleySabai]

are you aware how many Thais have only 200 - 600 Baht income per day (that may be 2 persons working 10 hours or more per day),

yes....then think about the cost of a single beer from 7/11- ratio approx. 500baht / 35baht = 7%

in my country(Canada) min.wage $80 /$2 = 2.5% ,BUT if you smoke = 15%

then factor in tax,food,accom and it may reach a relative balance between the two realms.

"the working poor" is a common reality in the global village.

[Commerce]

It's not only Thai people but all people suffer from dress resulted from high costs of living.

Not sure who or what helped who or when but prices have gone up like crazy across the board .

It's the Farang!

They have so much money that the locals up the prices to grab more.

This causes the locals to have to pay more too.

A vicious circle of inflation.

As I have said before, Cuba had the best idea.

Let the locals pay with local dollars and the tourist must pay with American dollars (40 x the price).

Nope. There is rakkar farang and rakkar Thai, and they are completely separate.

What the Thais have no concept of is spending beyond one's means. It's as simple as that.

[Danhig]

Modern technology and the 21st Century, combined with peasant cultures built on face above all else.

Never going to be a pretty outcome.

Dare I say that Thais were a lot happier before must have goods that cost 6 months salary and are available on tick existed.

[laislica]

Its amazing the malls can survive with only the richer percentage of about 10% of the population buying from them.

My staff is going to the malls and they aren't the richest 10 % of the population.

If a couple works, he earns 15K she 10K they have 25.000 Baht per month.

living place 1500 Baht per month

Food say 6000 Baht per month

Leaves a lot left to spend in the malls.....

Hmmm... did you really mean 1500 bahts per month for a living place? How is that possible? I thought it was more like 10-15k.

1,500b/month would be the going rate out in the countryside for a small room of say 5m x 4m including a tiny Hong nam in a block house of such rooms.

In a town it would generally be more.

They would be places for outside workers to share, four to a room.

It is possible to find even cheaper if you don't care too much about your environment.

If you are not "up north" there would never be any heating costs and street food would do nicely.

[Tongdee]

\Living in Thailand for many years now, I have come to learn that Thais are inherently very bad

with managing their funds and are thrift spenders that will buy any thing that shine and has

buttons on it, they will beg, borrow and steal, yes steal, borrow with high interests from just any

one who's willing to land them to get those things, unless they learn

how to me more financially responsible they will continue with their money's woes...

I would have to comment that you are farmiliar (spelling intended) with a small portion of the Thai Population

& could be speaking from YOUR experiances with the people YOU know. There are other groups of Thai people

That are Good at handling, managing their money & lives.

Should you wish to meet some of those people

I would sugest hanging out in different places.

If you need to have this spelled out more exactly than this

You are not ready to meet those groups yet.

Likely never will be... ... ...

[jacky54]

Mental health day, very appropriate for most Thai!

[fish fingers]

yes the thais are up to their necks in household debt ..

when higher taxes and bills start kicking in properly over the next few yrs the shit will hit the fan. Prayuth hasn't thought this through at all

[dirtycash]

stress ? did " mai pen rai " dissapear overnight . yea only money could do that to a thai. i cannot say my heart bleeds for them, didnt thais know we farang suffer great stress at double prices we have to pay to them ?

Edited October 9, 2014 by dirtycash

[smedly]

More PTP fallout, the Thai people will be living this legacy for years, that's what they get for supporting a billionaire corrupt evil criminal crackpot on the run living abroad to run the country

W#TF has this got to with a high cost of living? Sh#it, my flip flops are worn out. Is this Thaksin's fault? Jesus H. Christ.

so you don't think the government in office for almost 3 years had any influence on the cost of living - are you for real

[ClutchClark]

Aping the success of revolving credit in western usuary societies Thais stall any sanook deficit by bank loan for urban worker and loan shark chanote mortgage for the farmer.

Still amazes me in my second century here the size of pick ups phones and so many items unsuited to the after life or sufficiency economy.

However at a lower base the level and leverage of debt is nothing compared to Uk Oz Netherlands etc and should a recession arrive have a rice paddy even mortgaged or a noodle cart seems more sustainable than the foodstamp handout culture

Second century? That makes you over 100 years old. Congrats on your longevity ;-)

[chiang mai]

Its amazing the malls can survive with only the richer percentage of about 10% of the population buying from them.

My staff is going to the malls and they aren't the richest 10 % of the population.

If a couple works, he earns 15K she 10K they have 25.000 Baht per month.

living place 1500 Baht per month

Food say 6000 Baht per month

Leaves a lot left to spend in the malls.....

Hmmm... did you really mean 1500 bahts per month for a living place? How is that possible? I thought it was more like 10-15k.

1,500b/month would be the going rate out in the countryside for a small room of say 5m x 4m including a tiny Hong nam in a block house of such rooms.

In a town it would generally be more.

They would be places for outside workers to share, four to a room.

It is possible to find even cheaper if you don't care too much about your environment.

If you are not "up north" there would never be any heating costs and street food would do nicely.

If the couple you describe were in the countryside they could indeed find a room to rent for about 1,500 baht a month but they wouldn't be earning 10K and 25k respectively, not in the countryside! Higher wages means higher rent by virtue of location.

Lamphun is a small town south of Chiang Mai, there's lots of industry there, mostly Japanese clean engineering. There's block after block of rooms for rent, all purpose built, salaries are typically 8k to 10k a month, rent for a room where two people share, about 3,000/3,500 baht a month.

[kinmaew]

Maybe some flowers and offerings and crawling on your hands and knees will help?

[me313]

More PTP fallout, the Thai people will be living this legacy for years, that's what they get for supporting a billionaire corrupt evil criminal crackpot on the run living abroad to run the country

When global warming makes life on earth intolerable, when crops fail and drought fails to bring the plentiful foods that you are used to consuming in abundance at your table of plenty, from your country where you have more than two political parties to choose from in hopes that corrupt crony practices haven't interfered with your sense of superiority to developing countries, when the crap hits the fan, it's YOU who will be to blame for what you GET for backing your own versions of legitimate evil billionaire thieves.

[ClutchClark]

More PTP fallout, the Thai people will be living this legacy for years, that's what they get for supporting a billionaire corrupt evil criminal crackpot on the run living abroad to run the country

When global warming makes life on earth intolerable, when crops fail and drought fails to bring the plentiful foods that you are used to consuming in abundance at your table of plenty, from your country where you have more than two political parties to choose from in hopes that corrupt crony practices haven't interfered with your sense of superiority to developing countries, when the crap hits the fan, it's YOU who will be to blame for what you GET for backing your own versions of legitimate evil billionaire thieves.

Am I catching a hint of unresolved hostility?

[smedly]

More PTP fallout, the Thai people will be living this legacy for years, that's what they get for supporting a billionaire corrupt evil criminal crackpot on the run living abroad to run the country

When global warming makes life on earth intolerable, when crops fail and drought fails to bring the plentiful foods that you are used to consuming in abundance at your table of plenty, from your country where you have more than two political parties to choose from in hopes that corrupt crony practices haven't interfered with your sense of superiority to developing countries, when the crap hits the fan, it's YOU who will be to blame for what you GET for backing your own versions of legitimate evil billionaire thieves.

and your solution is ? oh that's right you didn't offer one lol

[mike324]

Its amazing the malls can survive with only the richer percentage of about 10% of the population buying from them.

My staff is going to the malls and they aren't the richest 10 % of the population.

If a couple works, he earns 15K she 10K they have 25.000 Baht per month.

living place 1500 Baht per month

Food say 6000 Baht per month

Leaves a lot left to spend in the malls.....

Hmmm... did you really mean 1500 bahts per month for a living place? How is that possible? I thought it was more like 10-15k.

1,500b/month would be the going rate out in the countryside for a small room of say 5m x 4m including a tiny Hong nam in a block house of such rooms.

In a town it would generally be more.

They would be places for outside workers to share, four to a room.

It is possible to find even cheaper if you don't care too much about your environment.

If you are not "up north" there would never be any heating costs and street food would do nicely.

If the couple you describe were in the countryside they could indeed find a room to rent for about 1,500 baht a month but they wouldn't be earning 10K and 25k respectively, not in the countryside! Higher wages means higher rent by virtue of location.

Lamphun is a small town south of Chiang Mai, there's lots of industry there, mostly Japanese clean engineering. There's block after block of rooms for rent, all purpose built, salaries are typically 8k to 10k a month, rent for a room where two people share, about 3,000/3,500 baht a month.

You don't need to be in the countryside to find a room for rent for 1,500 baht a month. I live in the outskirts of Bangkok (an hour drive with traffic, 30 minute without) where it is still Industrial Zone 1 (some parts of the Industrial Zone is consider as Bangkok). Salaries in this area ranges from 12,000 and up for office jobs. You can get rooms for 1,500 baht per month although very small and basic. It is all about the supply, since this is the first industrial zone, there is so much building going on here for the past 50 years, hence the oversupply especially with older units and that they no longer allow new factories to be built in this zone without an existing permit.

Factory workers rent rooms for around 1000 to 1,500 baht. Many of the migrant workers pay less than 1000 as they share rooms with a handful of people.

Lamphun is a small town, hence not much supply and demand. Most workers are from the area and have their own houses, the apartments that are built there are mostly for the foreign engineers or folks who are from provinces nearby. New apartment built int he past decade would need to charge at least 3000 baht and up to make back the investment.

[mike324]

I think the minimum wage does play a pretty big part in the rise of living cost. In some areas rages jumped as much as 40% when the PTP but it into effect, and with the shortage of labor people have been competing for workers as well, especially in the manufacturing sectors. Because of the rise in labor cost, it gives the manufacturing sector an excuse to raise the prices of goods, many times they profit more than it is necessary to cover the raise in labor wages.

I think the rising living standards makes you truly feel the heat with apartments going up everywhere and new malls popping up here and there. All at the same time, Thailand's current labor wages can't support all these new "luxuries".

Import tax is too high, folks in Thailand pay more for daily goods compare to folks in America if you compare shopping at stores such as Lotus / Big C vs WalMart in the States (there are exceptions to where some food costs are cheaper in Thailand).

There was a chart a couple of months ago in BK Magazine which shows that Thais spend something like 70-80% of their salaries on basic necessities (food / living) compare folks from other first world countries who spend less than 50% on it.

[chiang mai]

W#TF has this got to with a high cost of living? Sh#it, my flip flops are worn out. Is this Thaksin's fault? Jesus H. Christ.

so you don't think the government in office for almost 3 years had any influence on the cost of living - are you for real

Neither the Thai government(s) of the past three or even fifty years has had much to do with the rising cost of living in Thailand. What has had a serious impact on living costs is foreign and domestic investors (both legitimate and not) trying to find a return on their capital, this has created a building boom and has pushed up land, property prices and the price of doing business - low interest rates have also been factor although they are a function of the economy, not the government. Finally, bad weather has caused food price inflation and higher oil costs over the past few years have created inflation across the board. And finally finally, inflation is under the BOT remit, not the government per se.

Your post might skirt around some of the general global understandings of inflation and who can put measures in to control it but it doesn't necessarily apply in whole to Thailand - possibly slightly

The one single thing that has mostly driven inflation here is the election promise of minimum wage hike, not only has it put pressure on employers it has driven prices up and the demand for imported labour up1 - don't forget that Thailand supports itself for food, it doesn't require imports - further not everyone in Thailand is on minimum wage there are many that have suddenly become poorer than before due to price rises because minimum wage didn't affect them - those at the bottom of the earning tree have become very poor - this is one example of many

The increase in the minimum wage was a response to inflation, not the cause of it.

[chiang mai]

Hmmm... did you really mean 1500 bahts per month for a living place? How is that possible? I thought it was more like 10-15k.

1,500b/month would be the going rate out in the countryside for a small room of say 5m x 4m including a tiny Hong nam in a block house of such rooms.

In a town it would generally be more.

They would be places for outside workers to share, four to a room.

It is possible to find even cheaper if you don't care too much about your environment.

If you are not "up north" there would never be any heating costs and street food would do nicely.

If the couple you describe were in the countryside they could indeed find a room to rent for about 1,500 baht a month but they wouldn't be earning 10K and 25k respectively, not in the countryside! Higher wages means higher rent by virtue of location.

Lamphun is a small town south of Chiang Mai, there's lots of industry there, mostly Japanese clean engineering. There's block after block of rooms for rent, all purpose built, salaries are typically 8k to 10k a month, rent for a room where two people share, about 3,000/3,500 baht a month.

Lamphun is a small town, hence not much supply and demand. Most workers are from the area and have their own houses, the apartments that are built there are mostly for the foreign engineers or folks who are from provinces nearby. New apartment built int he past decade would need to charge at least 3000 baht and up to make back the investment.

Not so, the foreign engineers live where I live, 26 kilo's away in CM and mostly in the building I live in, they're all Japanese and they rent in the range of 25k/35k a month - there is no western style condominiums/apartments in Lamphun.

Most of the native rooming blocks in Lamphun are at least ten years old and there are literally hundreds of them, Lamphun doesn't have a large enough population to support the industry there hence most of the rooms are occupied by out of town/province workers. My sister in law lives in such a place and works for a Japanese optical lens manufacturer hence I'm certain of my numbers here.

[Apiwan2]

New cars here are pretty much the same here as the UK.

4 DOOR saloon 600 to 900 K .

But everybody's got a car.

And a new one at that

Second hand is not cheap cheap as in UK.

Then you gotta tax . mot Insure service and fuel it.

[mike324]

Hmmm... did you really mean 1500 bahts per month for a living place? How is that possible? I thought it was more like 10-15k.

1,500b/month would be the going rate out in the countryside for a small room of say 5m x 4m including a tiny Hong nam in a block house of such rooms.

In a town it would generally be more.

They would be places for outside workers to share, four to a room.

It is possible to find even cheaper if you don't care too much about your environment.

If you are not "up north" there would never be any heating costs and street food would do nicely.

If the couple you describe were in the countryside they could indeed find a room to rent for about 1,500 baht a month but they wouldn't be earning 10K and 25k respectively, not in the countryside! Higher wages means higher rent by virtue of location.

Lamphun is a small town south of Chiang Mai, there's lots of industry there, mostly Japanese clean engineering. There's block after block of rooms for rent, all purpose built, salaries are typically 8k to 10k a month, rent for a room where two people share, about 3,000/3,500 baht a month.

Lamphun is a small town, hence not much supply and demand. Most workers are from the area and have their own houses, the apartments that are built there are mostly for the foreign engineers or folks who are from provinces nearby. New apartment built int he past decade would need to charge at least 3000 baht and up to make back the investment.

Not so, the foreign engineers live where I live, 26 kilo's away in CM and mostly in the building I live in, they're all Japanese and they rent in the range of 25k/35k a month - there is no western style condominiums/apartments in Lamphun.

Most of the native rooming blocks in Lamphun are at least ten years old and there are literally hundreds of them, Lamphun doesn't have a large enough population to support the industry there hence most of the rooms are occupied by out of town/province workers. My sister in law lives in such a place and works for a Japanese optical lens manufacturer hence I'm certain of my numbers here.

I do believe your number! Just saying 1,500 baht / month close to Bangkok also exists! Its a small box with a basic bathroom, office workers in the area do live in these apartments. I'm also certain of my numbers

[smedly]

so you don't think the government in office for almost 3 years had any influence on the cost of living - are you for real

Neither the Thai government(s) of the past three or even fifty years has had much to do with the rising cost of living in Thailand. What has had a serious impact on living costs is foreign and domestic investors (both legitimate and not) trying to find a return on their capital, this has created a building boom and has pushed up land, property prices and the price of doing business - low interest rates have also been factor although they are a function of the economy, not the government. Finally, bad weather has caused food price inflation and higher oil costs over the past few years have created inflation across the board. And finally finally, inflation is under the BOT remit, not the government per se.

Your post might skirt around some of the general global understandings of inflation and who can put measures in to control it but it doesn't necessarily apply in whole to Thailand - possibly slightly

The one single thing that has mostly driven inflation here is the election promise of minimum wage hike, not only has it put pressure on employers it has driven prices up and the demand for imported labour up1 - don't forget that Thailand supports itself for food, it doesn't require imports - further not everyone in Thailand is on minimum wage there are many that have suddenly become poorer than before due to price rises because minimum wage didn't affect them - those at the bottom of the earning tree have become very poor - this is one example of many

The increase in the minimum wage was a response to inflation, not the cause of it.

utter rubbish, inflation in Thailand was extremely low before PTP took office, that is an undisputed fact, the minimum wage promise was an election populist policy and so was the first car scheme not to mention the rice pledging scheme, all these three policies alone have caused no end of fiscal problems for Thailand, Thaksin used anything he could to make sure he won the election and it will take its toll on the people for many years to come and the very poor are going to suffer as prices continue to rise - don't forget there is no welfare here to support those in need, they will be left behind getting poorer and poorer as inflation gets out of control - and if your answer to that is giving everyone a pay rise then are truly dilusional

[chiang mai]

Neither the Thai government(s) of the past three or even fifty years has had much to do with the rising cost of living in Thailand. What has had a serious impact on living costs is foreign and domestic investors (both legitimate and not) trying to find a return on their capital, this has created a building boom and has pushed up land, property prices and the price of doing business - low interest rates have also been factor although they are a function of the economy, not the government. Finally, bad weather has caused food price inflation and higher oil costs over the past few years have created inflation across the board. And finally finally, inflation is under the BOT remit, not the government per se.

Your post might skirt around some of the general global understandings of inflation and who can put measures in to control it but it doesn't necessarily apply in whole to Thailand - possibly slightly

The one single thing that has mostly driven inflation here is the election promise of minimum wage hike, not only has it put pressure on employers it has driven prices up and the demand for imported labour up1 - don't forget that Thailand supports itself for food, it doesn't require imports - further not everyone in Thailand is on minimum wage there are many that have suddenly become poorer than before due to price rises because minimum wage didn't affect them - those at the bottom of the earning tree have become very poor - this is one example of many

The increase in the minimum wage was a response to inflation, not the cause of it.

utter rubbish, inflation in Thailand was extremely low before PTP took office, that is an undisputed fact, the minimum wage promise was an election populist policy and so was the first car scheme not to mention the rice pledging scheme, all these three policies alone have caused no end of fiscal problems for Thailand, Thaksin used anything he could to make sure he won the election and it will take its toll on the people for many years to come and the very poor are going to suffer as prices continue to rise - don't forget there is no welfare here to support those in need, they will be left behind getting poorer and poorer as inflation gets out of control - and if your answer to that is giving everyone a pay rise then are truly dilusional

Ouch, unfortunate choice of words on your part! Take your pick of the three links (inflation figures) below and tell us all what rubbish really is again what exactly is "an undisputed fact"!

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/thailand/inflation-cpi

http://www.indexmundi.com/g/g.aspx?c=th&v=71

http://www.focus-economics.com/country-indicator/thailand/inflation

Here's a clue:

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

2.4 2.1 1.6 0.6 1.8 2.8 4.5 5.1 2.2 5.5 -0.9 3.3 3.8 3.8

And just to help you get on the right track, here's a chart of the oil price,

http://www.macrotrends.net/1369/crude-oil-price-history-chart

Next!

Edited October 10, 2014 by chiang mai

[smedly]

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/thailand/consumer-price-index-cpi

enter 2011 to current day

my last post on the matter

and BTW CPI is used to calculate inflation

[chiang mai]

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/thailand/consumer-price-index-cpi

enter 2011 to current day

my last post on the matter

and BTW CPI is used to calculate inflation

I fail to see your point, I provide you with three links showing the annual inflation rate and you post back with one of th same three links showing a subset of total inflation!

But even if we take your CPI figures in isolation, all it shows is that CPI has increased on pretty much a straight line basis, consistently since the index was founded in 1995. There is a blip in 2008/2009 which coincides with the spike and fall in oil price but none of what you've posted relates in any way to the PTP being in power or anything else of a political nature. But what I'm sure is proven beyond doubt is the relationship between the price of oil and overall inflation rates.

[mikiea]

Stress !! at least it appears they get plenty of holidays , surely this helps