Big bike forced off road by car on Bangkok highway - video

[Fat Haggis]

All 25 of them earning 100k per year as employees. This middle class nonsense.

Are you saying there are only 25 people who qualify as "middle class" in Thailand ?

By a western measure, yes, very few. The notiion of the middle class in Thaialnd has been created to give them someone to look down on and for the govt to pat itself on the back and fool the populous. 30,000 baht a month doesn't make someone middle class. Thailand has at least 30 years to go before the middle class takes on a size and wealth that makes it significant. There are the uber rich, a tiny amount of wealthy, those barely above daily wage and the rest in Thailand. 1%, 5%, 40% and 64%. I would say middle class should start at a household income of 100k per month.

In reality, they have been fooled into looking down their noses at the very poorest to make themselves feel better.

Just got to say that I think Thai at Hearts last post hit the nail right on the head about class here...

Oh really ? I would like to know where he got his figures from. Any idea ?

From the same place djjamie gets his 7% from!!

[sawadee1947]

see him into prison, lock the door and throw away the key. He is one of the evil for Thailand

[mikemac]

By a western measure, yes, very few. The notiion of the middle class in Thaialnd has been created to give them someone to look down on and for the govt to pat itself on the back and fool the populous. 30,000 baht a month doesn't make someone middle class. Thailand has at least 30 years to go before the middle class takes on a size and wealth that makes it significant. There are the uber rich, a tiny amount of wealthy, those barely above daily wage and the rest in Thailand. 1%, 5%, 40% and 64%. I would say middle class should start at a household income of 100k per month.

In reality, they have been fooled into looking down their noses at the very poorest to make themselves feel better.

Just got to say that I think Thai at Hearts last post hit the nail right on the head about class here...

Oh really ? I would like to know where he got his figures from. Any idea ?

From the same place djjamie gets his 7% from!!

Very funny Fatty, but seriously where do those figures come from ? I would like to know where he is plucking them from.

[fish fingers]

Suthep is a thai Rasputin for the middle classes

All 25 of them earning 100k per year as employees. This middle class nonsense.

Are you saying there are only 25 people who qualify as "middle class" in Thailand ?

By a western measure, yes, very few. The notiion of the middle class in Thaialnd has been created to give them someone to look down on and for the govt to pat itself on the back and fool the populous. 30,000 baht a month doesn't make someone middle class. Thailand has at least 30 years to go before the middle class takes on a size and wealth that makes it significant. There are the uber rich, a tiny amount of wealthy, those barely above daily wage and the rest in Thailand. 1%, 5%, 40% and 64%. I would say middle class should start at a household income of 100k per month.

In reality, they have been fooled into looking down their noses at the very poorest to make themselves feel better.

Basically the same types of professional we have in the UK. Doctors/ trainee doctors, Engineers, Accountants, Dentists, Architects etc. The difference is the family structure - more thai families than we will admit have asset wealth (something most farangs wouldn't understand). Only a few years out of Uni, a qualified professional isn't going to make 100k a year, but the thai family system of trickle down wealth from the elders works to keep it all afloat very effectively.

So I would totally disagree that there isn't a middle class in Thailand as I've seen it with my own eyes i.e. a large class of young professionals working in the main cities with this type of family support network, which in turn gives the same benefits.

We in the west could learn alot.

[Thai at Heart]

All 25 of them earning 100k per year as employees. This middle class nonsense.

Are you saying there are only 25 people who qualify as "middle class" in Thailand ?

By a western measure, yes, very few. The notiion of the middle class in Thaialnd has been created to give them someone to look down on and for the govt to pat itself on the back and fool the populous. 30,000 baht a month doesn't make someone middle class. Thailand has at least 30 years to go before the middle class takes on a size and wealth that makes it significant. There are the uber rich, a tiny amount of wealthy, those barely above daily wage and the rest in Thailand. 1%, 5%, 40% and 64%. I would say middle class should start at a household income of 100k per month.

In reality, they have been fooled into looking down their noses at the very poorest to make themselves feel better.

Just got to say that I think Thai at Hearts last post hit the nail right on the head about class here...

Oh really ? I would like to know where he got his figures from. Any idea ?

From hiring literally hundreds of employees into varous companies all over thailand for over 15 years

[Thai at Heart]

In reality, they have been fooled into looking down their noses at the very poorest to make themselves feel better.

Basically the same types of professional we have in the UK. Doctors/ trainee doctors, Engineers, Accountants, Dentists, Architects etc. The difference is the family structure - more thai families than we will admit have asset wealth (something most farangs wouldn't understand). Only a few years out of Uni, a qualified professional isn't going to make 100k a year, but the thai family system of trickle down wealth from the elders works to keep it all afloat very effectively.

So I would totally disagree that there isn't a middle class in Thailand as I've seen it with my own eyes i.e. a large class of young professionals working in the main cities with this type of family support network, which in turn gives the same benefits.

We in the west could learn alot.

Yes I have seen it to, but the average calculations for wealth distribution in Thailand show it has the worst Gini coefficient in the world. There are millions of farmers and many millions on the average. 80% of the wealth is in the hands of a very small percentage. That is the reality. I have many friends who work for PTT, one of hte best payers in the country. Middle management can get after 15 years, approx 80k per month with some benefits. Same for Siam Cement.

Most Bangkokians in a career path are on between 25 and 50k per month, but for every one of them, there are 10 street market sellers......The so called educated middle class are merely one step above minimum wage....I have a very close family friend who has been at Diageo for many years, she is on 52k per month. Starters are on 25k, 550 GBP per month.....Another professional at Deloittes is on 80k after nearly 15 years. Very very few people 100k baht in Thailand, I would hazard a guess at less than 3%