How much money per month does the average village Thai need to live

[oldsailor35]

What the average villagers income

[benalibina]

A cousin, 27 yrs old with a history in the barscene, of my wife told me that 30.000 bth a month was not enough. Surprised ?

[oldsailor35]

A cousin, 27 yrs old with a history in the barscene, of my wife told me that 30.000 bth a month was not enough. Surprised ?

Read me again...................Average villager !....................Need !.

Nothing about ex bar girls demands. Thank you.

[CharlieH]

My sister and Brother in law, with 1 child, live fine with a joint monthly income of 22k.

[Amusements]

From what I have seen, a villager can last on 100 - 200 Baht a day, so long as they don't drink, smoke, gamble, pay rent or have debts.

Edited October 19, 2014 by Amusements

[NeverSure]

I know an older couple in S. Isaan who live on 2,000 baht per month which they get from their children.

They have a very small farm and a neighbor grows rice on it and gives them 1/2, so I guess that's income. They still tend a vegetable garden and have some fruit trees.

Their house is an old traditional Thai house and it's very small. They don't have aircon or a car or scooter. Their children or neighbors take them to market and doctors's visits as needed. Neighbors also give them some of the food they grow and sometimes it's pork, chicken, fish or duck.

They don't seem to think they are poor. Unlike the home countries of many farangs they don't need winter heat and they don't worry about food. They have a roof over their head that they own.

They have a strong sense of community and lots of friends around. Maybe they are rich by homeless Western standards?

[GuyL]

The monthly average income per person in Thailand amounts just a little bit over 13000 bahts (13,237.8 THB for the second quarter of 2014 - source: National Statistical Office of Thailand: http://www.bot.or.th/English/Statistics/Standard/SDDS/Pages/sdds.aspx).

A significant number of Thai people, especially in the agricultural sector (farming, fishing, etc.), have a monthly income much lower than this, as low as (and sometimes lower than) 6500 THB monthly (their income not always being a salary, and they don't get paid the official minimal daily wage on an everyday basis).

In a rural village, it's not unusual to spend less than 3000 THB per month per person for the essential needs (food, health, etc.), but of course, many people are in debt for various reasons (gambling, purchasing of non-essential goods, etc.). I am not being judgmental here, just saying the way it is.

[AYJAYDEE]

define average villager

[jspill]

define average villager

the gross income of all villages divided by the population of said villages

[AYJAYDEE]

define average villager

the gross income of all villages divided by the population of said villages

that is the average income of thai villagers, not the average thai villager. try again

[chiang mai]

Figure mum and dad plus one grand child, three adult children living elsewhere plus one pair of elderly parents also nearby. Mum makes and sales "stuff" locally, food or something else, dad odd jobs a lot, maybe on minimum wage, the kids send small amounts of money from time to time but the grand parents need financial support - they have a used Click or Dream on credit plus they owe a loan to the local cooperative which must be repaid monthly.

Income, 8k/12k month from all sources - expense, 8k/12k per month.

[Gumballl]

My wife sends the in-laws anywhere from US$300-$500 (9600-16000 Baht) per month... for whatever, and for incidentals for her (our) house.

Edited October 19, 2014 by Gumballl

[Gecko123]

I would say that the days of living in a village and having 'no visible means of support' all but disappeared about 8 years ago when there was sharp food inflation. Almost everyone needs to have some cash income from some source to get by.

If a person has a stay-at-home lifestyle, borrows a scooter or hitches a ride when they need to go into town, has a good network of relatives they can barter with and mooch off of, never pays for alcohol, eats very little (especially animal protein), is a skilled hunter (tiny fishes, crabs, frogs, birds, field rats, insects) and gatherer (wild edible plants) it is still possible to squeak by on as little as 2-3,000 baht per person per month.

The average monthly cash income of people who work strictly in the agricultural sector, is probably around 6-9,000 baht per household. A successful farmer who has 100 or more rai of land might average 20,000 to 40,000 per month, but most farmers have far less land than this. Even though a good agricultural worker ought to be able to earn at least 300 baht per day, due to weather and demand for labor, nobody earns this daily wage consistently year around.

Those who own a small restaurant or store or repair shop, sell in the market, work in a government office, etc., might net from 6,000 to 20,000/month.

A small handful of people earn substantially above this.

Edited October 20, 2014 by Gecko123

[metisdead]

Off topic post and trolling post removed as well as a reply.

[iancnx]

It depends on the level of household debt.

No debt =. No gambling. Locally brewed alcohol 40 baht a day for father..... Perhaps .....

5000 baht for someone uneducated who owns there own house is comfortable in the village. Assume rice and veg is grown for own consumption.

Educated girl might be able to find a decent job 10,000 baht (cashier supermarket). Husband labourer 10,000 if he is very lucky. Joint 20,000 income very good, if no debt, but this is rarely the case. Think car, motorbike, bank loan on the property. Also if there are children a good portion might be allocated for education.

If enquiry is about your girl, the family (if she lives with them) expectation will be any income is 'pooled' and expended jointly.

[NeverSure]

There's something about the rural Thai lifestyle that farangs may not think of at first. A farang in his home country can't buy food until he works, pays taxes on that income, and then pays VAT or sales tax or whatever it's called at the cash register. His food and other necessities cost him a lot more than the price on the shelf.

In a farang's home country, a garden and some fruit trees will be one of the best investments he can make. He gets the "income" from those tax free in every respect, and so it's worth a lot more than it might seem. (Forgive me if some country I don't know about has the gall to tax garden and fruit tree production.)

This is the same way rural Thais get by, but they probably don't pay any income tax or taxes on their home. So income isn't apples and apples.

Many rural Thais aren't really affected all that much by an increase in food prices. They are just as apt to have a roadside stand and sell food.

I'm not saying they aren't poor, but it's a lifestyle they grew up with and they know how to make it work.

[Sharp]

My GF has been sending home 10k home For the last 10 yrs... No complaints, No more asked for , No inflation, just thank her everymonth.. Seems to be working ok....

[Gayllips]

define average villager

the gross income of all villages divided by the population of said villages

What a clever answer Jspill darling.

You can see why a girl such as myself would be instantly attracted to you.

[chiang mai]

My GF has been sending home 10k home For the last 10 yrs... No complaints, No more asked for , No inflation, just thank her everymonth.. Seems to be working ok....

Is that from her working overseas or in Thailand, if the former it kinda distorts the picture.

[Sharp]

She's owns and operates a restaurant and bar in a tourist destination within Thailand which makes her decent money so it was her call.. For me personally think 6k is enough.

[tartempion]

My MIL has her rice from her field, although we pay for all that's needed to grow/harvest the rice, but her grand son stole most of her rice (to sell the rice and pay his yaba) I think she gets 500B/m pension or was this increased to 800B because she's 70+?

I also give her a "farang" pension of 1k baht.

Many villagers have nothing else for income.

When her husband was still alive he would catch a fish or a frog and sell some shrimp he fished with some handy made special net from the pond opposite his rice field.

Hope this helps.

[mrtoad]

Canary sun lives on 6000 baht a month, and 2000 is on his accommodation in Naklua. There you go

[Issangeorge]

When I wander around the village, I often wonder where their money comes from. Most people have a rice farm, that feeds them rice for the year, but supplies little income. Some more industrious people may plant vegetables and maybe some cassava, that supplies some more food and extra cash, and most will fish the rice fields in the raining season and then preserve the tiny fish they catch as plarah (sp). Some collect wild mushrooms and freeze them and bamboo and preserve it. However I think most comes from relatives working in Bangkok. As for how much they need? I pay my bl and sil ฿13,000 a month to look after the house, inside and out, do the laundry, cook the meals, pretty much everything, and in the dry season my bl makes extra money driving tractor. I buy my own food and a good portion of theirs, pay the kids school expenses, hydro etc. All they have to pay is the loan on their mc, and petrol for it. Yet they never seen to have any money. I have decided that the average person in Isaan, needs whatever they have, whether it's ฿1,000 or ฿100,000. Not much different from the west, the difference is, here most live in a home of some sort that is paid for, most do have a farm of some sort, that between that and scavenging, they can get enough to eat, so if they have to, they can get by on very little, and if they are old, 70 and above, they probably have had very little all their lives. If all of a sudden a child is sending them ฿10,000 a month, that would be like ฿100,000 for us.

Edited October 20, 2014 by Issangeorge

[thehelmsman]

Canary sun lives on 6000 baht a month, and 2000 is on his accommodation in Naklua. There you go

He's been relatively quiet these past few days, Certainly hope he's OK.

[CTO]

There is a difference between the "Cash" requirement and the batter or trade that often is a significant part of village life.

Many villagers supplement their income, or in some of my family, have very little income, but batter food etc grown and caught on their small farming blocks.

This income is not reported, and if you don't do it, i.e. have no farm, too lazy etc, then your "cash" requirement is significantly higher.

Some work we did in rural incomes a few years back suggest cash is only 40% of the transactions.

[godden]

With or with out a falang atm in tow??

[northernboy]

For rural average about 6,000 baht would be fine not with rent and a simple life. no fancy life.

Have friends live on less. But it depends on if you talk cash economy or a self reliant life style can be much less as is the case for most average villagers they produce at least some foods. .

[crazykopite]

I suppose it is down to how much money they spend on gambling because that is a very big problem in the Kingdom

[Dublin]

People who work for me the wife get paid anything from 100 to 350 per day, house keeper 100, farmers 150 to 250 depending on the experience and 350 for tradesmen if there good.

They usually get fed also if she likes them, and if she really likes them they get to drink my beer , with me in the evening,,,

Edited October 20, 2014 by Dublin

[cooked]

No private health insurance. Not even a motorbike, telephone. No alcohol, biggest luxury the fan and the TV. Electricity bills under ฿200.- so no bill. You have chickens and ducks, some family member dumps an 80Kg sack of rice in your kitchen, various temple and family events get you a square meal now and again. If you no longer go 'hunting' yourself, neighbours will bring fish, frogs and insects etc as mentioned above. Water from the roof. Quite a few bits and pieces from the hedgerows and from neighbours' trees. You can do that for ฿20 000.- a year. I know a few people that do this. That's not an average villager of course, it's the subsistence level for someone living alone and unable to work. The family next door (6 people) gets ฿6000.- a month plus rice income once a year, about ฿25 000.- last year when it did eventually get paid.

Many people have someone sending money from Bangkok in this village (or from Norway or whatever, but that's another story).

Two adults, two kids, working: I reckon that about ฿8000.- to ฿10 000.- is about right, but we don't have many average villagers here.