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

[AnotherOneAmerican]

Yeah, sure, sure, sure.

Only AnotherOneAmerican knows for sure.

Thanks for reminding me. Again.

I can only tell you of my experiences in villages, around Korat, LomSak, and far north.

There are no hospitals in the villages, no 7/11s (nearest 7-11 to my home village is 20Km in LomSak), no high schools, no police, junior schools with 4-5 teachers and maybe 100 children (shared between 4-5 villages).

I don't know where you are finding villages that have all these things?

But clearly you aren't sharing my village experiences, and I wonder why?

[Gecko123]

I don't know where you are finding villages that have all these things?

You need to get out more. They're all over the place.

You're trying to backpedal and define "rural Thailand" as the tiniest of tiny hamlets.

Everyone knows that's bs.

Edited October 22, 2014 by Gecko123

[AnotherOneAmerican]

I don't know where you are finding villages that have all these things?

You need to get out more. They're all over the place.

But not average villages, which is what the thread is about.

[bigjules007]

An average village is not a village with 10-20 shacks thats more like a street in an average village.

Maybe 10,000 baht is a huge amount of money for AnotherOneAmerican.

My wife sends her own money over from the money she earns, so no hood winking going on here.

[bigjules007]

And btw, my wifes village is 30 km to nearest 7-11, no hospital, no police station, 1 school with 3 teachers around 75 students coming from 3 villages.

And is in Issan.

[oldsailor35]

OK ! Trying to understand all the replies, and some are utter frog shit , only illustrating the low intelligence of a few in here. I imagine that any village labourer would be more than happy receiving Bht10.000 per month.

I went back and reviewed all the replies on this thread. The vast majority of respondents answered that 6,000 to 10,000 baht/mo was "needed to live."

Some of the people who gave even lower figures probably interpreted your question to mean "the bare minimun to live."

10,000 baht will get you a modest few frills fairly hardscrabble lifestyle. By Thai standards, someone earning 10,000 would be considered low income, but not impoverished. By no means would 10,000 baht/mo be considered middle class, even by rural standards.

Your comment that just about anyone ought to be ecstatic to be earning 10,000 baht/mo simply isn't untrue.

To get into the rural middle-class, I would say a minimum of 20,000 baht/month income is required.

In general, I was impressed with the quality and consistency of the responses on this thread, and think you should be as well.

I don't think that "more than happy" means ecstatic, and i did not say "anyone". I said "Labourer" which means casual to most villagers. So seeing as how you are so impressed, how about trying to understand what you are reading !

[oldsailor35]

I went back and reviewed all the replies on this thread. The vast majority of respondents answered that 6,000 to 10,000 baht/mo was "needed to live."

Some of the people who gave even lower figures probably interpreted your question to mean "the bare minimun to live."

10,000 baht will get you a modest few frills fairly hardscrabble lifestyle. By Thai standards, someone earning 10,000 would be considered low income, but not impoverished. By no means would 10,000 baht/mo be considered middle class, even by rural standards.

Your comment that just about anyone ought to be ecstatic to be earning 10,000 baht/mo simply isn't untrue.

To get into the rural middle-class, I would say a minimum of 20,000 baht/month income is required.

In general, I was impressed with the quality and consistency of the responses on this thread, and think you should be as well.

Most guys who reply only know what their wife tells them.

They really have no personal idea of what happens in a village or how much it costs.

There are no rural middle class, they all moved to big cities, where they can find work.

My relatives live and work in a village, nobody is earning 3,000 bht/month let alone 10,000 bht/month.

10,000bht/month is a really good wage for an office worker living in Chiamg Mai.

Never underestimate the stupidity and gullibility of a white guy giving his wife's family whet she tells him they need.

The comments I made come from talking to neighbors, farming myself, seeing pay stubs, asking plenty of people about their incomes, observing their purchases of farm equipment and pickup trucks, and purchasing power, etc.

I'd also like to point out to you --MrAnotherOneAmerican -- that the responses on this thread were remarkably similar, so if everyone's relying on their wives, the wives were amazing consistent in their responses. And if the wives were juicing the numbers in order to dupe their "stupid and gullible white guy" husbands, don't you think they'd come up with a more 'high on the hog' cost of living number than a measly 10,000 baht per month???????

I know for a fact what my fellow teachers earn per month because all of the teachers sign for receipt of wages on the same sheet of paper. Aside from seeing my wife's paystub, none of this information came from my wife. I am fluent in Thai, and have a long standing interest in macro-economics, and am fully capable of discussing wages with people in my area, and in general, most people are fairly open about this. I also know exactly what the cost of living is because I make all the household purchases myself, and am a skilled and well-practiced comparison shopper.

School teachers, successful small business owners, successful farmers with 50+ rai of land, many employees at the land office and amphoe, nurses, doctors, veterinarians, grain and manoaic processors, sugar cane cutters (during cutting season), mini-van service operators, factory workers, etc., etc. all can earn over 10,000 baht per month. I also have many friends who sell at the local farmer's markets who report and have visible signs of wealth consistent with earning over 10,000 baht per month. My next door neighbor told me last year he netted 145,000 baht from farming operations alone. He bought a new pickup truck for cash, and his daughter attends private school, as do about 3-4 other children in town.

AnotherOneAmerican - - this is yet another example of you talking nonsense about people you don't have a clue about. You seem to think you're the only person in Thailand who knows anything about Thailand.

Sorry, bro, you're wrong.

On both counts.

Yet again.

What an amazing man, all that knowledge and experience and he is just a school teacher. What a waste of such a highly qualified brain.

[pgrahmm]

When I was first here - lived out in the sticks between 3 villages.....paid a husband/wife team to take care of 8 rai - she was the housekeeper/cook/misc - he tended the yard and slept in a guest house at night doubling as a guard.....because of their assignments and family they spent time together during the day but did not have nights together.....

As a couple they made 8,000B a month + use of a motorbike - and - they were the big dogs of the village.....

That was about 28k away from CM.....

Edited October 23, 2014 by pgrahmm

[Bluetongue]

A large number of respondents quoted 6k or a bit more. I wonder if this is their actual knowledge ora sign of their arithmetic skills, knowing that the mandated daily wage is 300 and that there are 20or more working days in a month. The workers around here would be fortunate indeed to get a job for over 20 days a month. Those that do inevitably work outside the village. The village kings for

instance offer permanent daily work on their many properties but only pay 200. Nobody grows rice

here so there is none to barter, you have to buy it. You know someone has reached rock bottom when

they have no rice. Scamming, scheming, selling, scraping, hunting, fishing and gathering plants are all commonplace. But lottery day, the shopkeeper/black lottery seller is holding 30k of debt out of 50k of lottery sold. Most of it is eventually paid. So the answer is that people usually get some

money during a month, usually not much. 6-10k would not be average in my opinion.

[Gecko123]

A large number of respondents quoted 6k or a bit more. I wonder if this is their actual knowledge ora sign of their arithmetic skills, knowing that the mandated daily wage is 300 and that there are 20or more working days in a month. The workers around here would be fortunate indeed to get a job for over 20 days a month. Those that do inevitably work outside the village. The village kings for

instance offer permanent daily work on their many properties but only pay 200. Nobody grows rice

here so there is none to barter, you have to buy it. You know someone has reached rock bottom when

they have no rice. Scamming, scheming, selling, scraping, hunting, fishing and gathering plants are all commonplace. But lottery day, the shopkeeper/black lottery seller is holding 30k of debt out of 50k of lottery sold. Most of it is eventually paid. So the answer is that people usually get some

money during a month, usually not much. 6-10k would not be average in my opinion.

I am in agreement with you that if you restrict responses to how much an unlanded and unskilled farm laborer earns per month on average, the answer is probably lower than 6,000/mo.

However, in all but the tiniest of backwater hamlets, almost all average sized or larger villages have farmers, land owners, merchants, service providers, artisans, mechanics, construction workers, poultry processing employees (who commute back and forth to work), and professionals which bring the average income up. When you include the income for these people, I still think the average for a medium sized town can be in the 6,000 to 10,000 baht/mo range. I live in a town which has a population of 4500 people that has people working in all of these capacities.

The original post asked "How much money per month does an average village Thai need to live." Most people who responded seem to have interpreted this question to mean what the average cost of living for a Thai person in a typical village was. It wasn't until the tail end of the thread that the OP clarified that he intended "average village Thai" to mean only "unskilled farm laborers."

I would also like to add that where I live in central Thailand there are very few people who rely exclusively on income from doing farm labor. Most people who hire out locally as day farm labor also have at least some plot of land which they farm, or hustle other work to supplement their income. Although I live in a small village, labor at harvest time is mostly done by migrant labor. Some of this labor comes from surrounding communities, and some from Issan, and some from as far away as Myanmar and Combodia. There are simply insufficient labor resources locally to handle the demand for labor at harvest time.

I hope this helps explain why there might be a difference of opinion between yourself and other posters.

[trainman34014]

I know a Thai family of five nearby that live on one persons wages of 6,700 a month and two 500 Baht old age pensions. They don't have much but eat well, have no debt and are happy in their own way.

[In Search of Space]

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

Sounds like "the average villager"

[CharlieH]

A quantity of off topic/bickering posts removed

[khaowong1]

From all the answers on here, it would depend on what the OP means by a village.. I lived for about 3 years in what I could a village in Lopburi.. 2 main roads, one being the highway, the other leading to a large well known temple and about 8 residential streets.. maybe 200 people, maybe. A small elementary school, a small govt. medical clinic, a small mom and pop gas station. Approx. 14 kilometers from a larger city.

[chiang mai]

From all the answers on here, it would depend on what the OP means by a village.. I lived for about 3 years in what I could a village in Lopburi.. 2 main roads, one being the highway, the other leading to a large well known temple and about 8 residential streets.. maybe 200 people, maybe. A small elementary school, a small govt. medical clinic, a small mom and pop gas station. Approx. 14 kilometers from a larger city.

The OP uses the word "average" in the title. But yes you are right to some degree in that it's difficult to classify the average. Remote rural is likely to have a very different income profile to a similar sized and similarly equipped village located on the outskirts of say Bangkok.

[choochoo]

From all the answers on here, it would depend on what the OP means by a village.. I lived for about 3 years in what I could a village in Lopburi.. 2 main roads, one being the highway, the other leading to a large well known temple and about 8 residential streets.. maybe 200 people, maybe. A small elementary school, a small govt. medical clinic, a small mom and pop gas station. Approx. 14 kilometers from a larger city.

The OP uses the word "average" in the title. But yes you are right to some degree in that it's difficult to classify the average. Remote rural is likely to have a very different income profile to a similar sized and similarly equipped village located on the outskirts of say Bangkok.

not hard at all. avg income in village is VERY little.

[chiang mai]

From all the answers on here, it would depend on what the OP means by a village.. I lived for about 3 years in what I could a village in Lopburi.. 2 main roads, one being the highway, the other leading to a large well known temple and about 8 residential streets.. maybe 200 people, maybe. A small elementary school, a small govt. medical clinic, a small mom and pop gas station. Approx. 14 kilometers from a larger city.

The OP uses the word "average" in the title. But yes you are right to some degree in that it's difficult to classify the average. Remote rural is likely to have a very different income profile to a similar sized and similarly equipped village located on the outskirts of say Bangkok.

not hard at all. avg income in village is VERY little.

Statistically it is calculated to be THB 13k a month, my point was however that those living in remote rural villages will likely earn significantly below the average where as the villages located outside of a major city will earn more.

[Gecko123]

I spent about an hour this afternoon brazenly asking people at the farmer's market 16 kilometers from my house how much they earned a month.

I know this isn't "farm labor" per say, but it does give insight into the income base in rural Thailand.

Here's what they told me:

The four young women working the 7-11 counter told me that a full time clerk earned 9.000 baht/mo, but in Bangkok wages are higher.

A seafood vendor estimated that the average income of all of the vendors at the market was "more than 10,000 baht/month." When I said to him, "but you must earn a lot more than that" he responded with a big grin, "Yeah, definitely." As he was the first person I asked, I did not press him further about his income.

A pork vendor (a husband and wife team in their mid-thirties) told me that they netted between 20-30,000 baht per month. (Guessestimating the average profit margin on pork is 30 baht per kilo, -- they would have to sell approx 1000 kilos of pork per month to earn 30,000 baht. This works out to 33 kilos per day. On a previous completely separate occasion, this same vendor told me they sold the equivalent of 4 pigs a day on average.) This rough calculation seems to confirm that 30,000 baht per month income is not implausible.

A red onion/garlic/egg vendor (a couple in their mid-forties) told me that they netted a little less than 10,000 baht per month.

A group of granny type vendors selling home grown vegetables on low tables told me that they netted around 4,000 baht per month. They talked about 6000 baht and then subtracting 2000 baht which I took to mean they netted 4000 but not 100% certain about the accuracy of the response in this case)

A mushroom vendor (het fang) told me she netted 7-8,000 baht per month. (Guessestimating the profit margin on mushrooms at 50 baht per kilo - - they sell for 120 baht/kilo - - they would have to sell approx 160 kilos of mushrooms per month or 5+ kilos per day to do this. I think that's entirely plausible. I buy a kilo of mushrooms from her practically every week.)

A vegetable vendor declined to comment but allowed that vegetable vendors have higher profit margins than fruit vendors.

A woman selling asparagus and home made deserts declined to comment.

Over the past several days I have also doublechecked with at least five people in my community what they thought the average household income was. I got estimates ranging from 8 to 10,000 baht per month. I would say that my village is a very average village both in size (4500 people) and in terms of prosperity. There are a handful of clearly poverty stricken people (mostly elderly, infirm, single head of household females, etc.) and nobody is ostentaciously wealthy. Most people fall somewhere between lower class and middle class.

[chiang mai]

An excellent post.

[tartempion]

OK ! Trying to understand all the replies, and some are utter frog shit , only illustrating the low intelligence of a few in here. I imagine that any village labourer would be more than happy receiving Bht10.000 per month.

And who is going to pay "any village labourer" 10.000 BHT per month?

There ain't any jobs in the village....

I was sitting at the MIL's place this afternoon, watching nothingness happening in the village, most people just sitting idle before their houses.

A lady passed by pushing a chariot, she had some freshly cut vegs in there and managed to sell the lot around the neighbors, including the MIL.

30 minutes later she came back with a new batch of vegs, she might have collected 100 baht, who knows?

[slapout]

The local barber cuts about 12 to 15 a day and charges 40 baht/shave 20 baht. He works off a little addition built next to his house , family (siblings) own so no rent/ low overhead He does do women but charges them 100 baht and does not seem fond of their business., thus the relative high price to keep them away.. He gets a little income from rice farm, sells some vegatables from garden might get fish from pond or pork at market and carrys his own weight in family finance matters. Drives a toyota pick up paid for.keeps 20 to 30,000 in bank. He will drink a beer with me but thats about it. no wife nor kids, says he enjoys his peaceful life.

He lived and worked in Bangkok for 15 years and came home to help ailing parents, when they passede on he just settled in after taking a school to cut hair, as he felt the farm land he inherited would not support him in the style he wanted.

[khaowong1]

The local barber cuts about 12 to 15 a day and charges 40 baht/shave 20 baht. He works off a little addition built next to his house , family (siblings) own so no rent/ low overhead He does do women but charges them 100 baht and does not seem fond of their business., thus the relative high price to keep them away.. He gets a little income from rice farm, sells some vegatables from garden might get fish from pond or pork at market and carrys his own weight in family finance matters. Drives a toyota pick up paid for.keeps 20 to 30,000 in bank. He will drink a beer with me but thats about it. no wife nor kids, says he enjoys his peaceful life.

He lived and worked in Bangkok for 15 years and came home to help ailing parents, when they passede on he just settled in after taking a school to cut hair, as he felt the farm land he inherited would not support him in the style he wanted.

That to me is what I see...