Typical thai incomes

[sunny17]

Hi all - i hope I am starting this thread in the right forum - if not, i hope the mods will place it in the right place. 

 

Anyway I request to know about Thai salaries. What is the minimum salary that's needed to live in a place like Bangkok?

 

I have seen youtube video's where people lived quite nicely off $700, so I am thinking that 20,000 Baht should be enough.

 

Meanwhile, whats a "good" salary - like if you were an affluent family in Bangkok, living in a posh flat, then you would be making how much per month?

 

 

I also request to know some typical salaries - if someone provides the data, then it will be much appreciated. 

 

1 - people who work as street side food vendors - for example selling coconut ice cream - how much do they make per month?

 

2 - people who work in McJobs - like in a Burger King, or a bar, or a sales woman in a branded clothes shop (in a mall) or a hair dresser in a beauty parlor?

 

3 - people who own small business - like a handicrafts and trinkets store on Khaosan road (or on some other place in Bangkok) or the owner of a 7-11?

 

4 - how much do office goers make? Teachers? Bank officers? Entry level software engineers?

 

 

I need to know all this, so that I know what sort of targets to shoot for if I want to settle there and/or if i want to help some local Thai person.

 

I have another question, about the entrepreneurship scene of Bangkok, but that's for another thread !

 

Thanks.

[shady86]

https://adecco.co.th/salary-guide

[akirasan]

I wouldn't live in Bangkok on less than 30,000 thb/month honestly.  20,000 is going to be cutting it too fine.  It's doable but I don't think you'd have a great quality of life. 

[Estrada]

When  I worked on various NGO reports, I got the information from the National Statistics Office, which is located one floor above Immigration Office Div.1 at Government Complex Laksi.

 

You need the report on Private Pay which cost $10 + postage anywhere in the world. It is published every 2 years and a new  one is due 2017.

 

In fact you can pick up a lot of statistics on many subjects which are published on their web site;

.   The Government Complex,Building B,Chaeng Watthana Rd, Laksi Bangkok 10210 Thailand Tel. (66) 02142-1234 Information Services: [email protected] Recommendation: [email protected]

[Briggsy]

Be aware that a Thai salary may only represent as little as 50% of the remuneration or less in some cases.

 

Extras such as an annual bonus often of several months' salary, housing allowance, phone allowance, meal allowance, petrol allowance, etc. (plus fiddles on the side!) paint a truer picture.

 

As ever in Thailand, scratch the surface and a different picture emerges.

[mark5335]

Re: No 4, I worked in a Thai bank in Bangkok 8 years ago. Back then, a local EVP at head office in charge of department had a base salary of around 300K baht per month (depending on the dept function), plus a BMW 5 series with driver, health insurance, and annual bonus. That bank, whilst local, had a major foreign shareholder so the salaries compared well to international banks. Having said that, the bank employed hundreds of plodders of questionable productivity that would have been earning less than 30K per month.

 

 

 

[jadee]

For No.2 - you can find jobs boards in any Thai mall advertising the salaries for positions at those types of shops inside the mall such as McDonald's, Burger King etc. They are in Thai but you can read the salaries. Or you could ask the workers if you speak basic Thai. I've tried practicing my Thai with shop keepers in my local mall, people that run toy shops, clothing shops and coffee shops. Most can speak a little English. I'm interested in how much their rent is and it's always astronomical,but somehow people make it work. One lady with a dress shop admitted that sometimes she doesn't make enough to cover the rent and her husband bails her out. She also sells online though. Another guy who runs a coffee shop has done quite well - he started off renting one 'stall' area and has now expanded his shop to three so he's obviously doing well. 

[dotpoom]

Minimunm Thai income 300 baht a day......hardly thousands of dollars every month (not sure why people talk in dollars anyway when we are talking about Thailand?

[Juan B Tong]

20,000  month eh?

 

Please start taking your meds again.

 

You could live here on $1000 a month.  But unless you have some real special skill, I wouldn't expect to come here, get a job, and live happy ever after.

 

If you want to sponsor someone, I suggest starting on a hourly basis.  

 

So come for a visit and a look see.  If you get here please never feed the soil dogs.

 

Edited July 8, 2017 by Juan B Tong

[i claudius]

The wife sells and rents property on commision one month 10k another 200k

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[little mary sunshine]

Well off Thai Family with posh BKK Flat

B 175,000-240,000/ month, Benz too!

[ujayujay]

2 hours ago, Briggsy said:

Be aware that a Thai salary may only represent as little as 50% of the remuneration or less in some cases.

 

Extras such as an annual bonus often of several months' salary, housing allowance, phone allowance, meal allowance, petrol allowance, etc. (plus fiddles on the side!) paint a truer picture.

 

As ever in Thailand, scratch the surface and a different picture emerges.

....you describe a typical Governement Job. 

[little mary sunshine]

1 minute ago, ujayujay said:

....you describe a typical Governement Job. 

 

 

Very true.  My friend is Food and Beverage Manager/Supervisor

at 4-5 Star BKK Hotel..  salary B 20,000 monthly, surcharge

monthly 10-12,000B,  bonus 2x per year 10-15,000B. 

 

I laugh when my Farong friends think hard working, educated

Thais are earning B 9,000 per month.

[theguyfromanotherforum]

Well off Thai Family with posh BKK Flat
B 175,000-240,000/ month, Benz too!

A well off Thai family will never live in a flat, let alone rent one at these outrageous amounts.

[little mary sunshine]

Just now, theguyfromanotherforum said:

 

A well off Thai family will never live in a flat, let alone rent one at these outrageous amounts.

 

Many OWN Penthouses!

[jenifer d]

1 hour ago, dotpoom said:

Minimunm Thai income 300 baht a day......hardly thousands of dollars every month (not sure why people talk in dollars anyway when we are talking about Thailand?

actually the 300 baht/day is only in effect in Bangkok, Phuket, major cities, and tourist areas;

in rural areas, many are only making 200-250/day- the exception is harder semi-skilled work such as construction,

but the salaries are still somewhat low since many workers are migrant/"unregistered"

-even on our island, many of the resort and restaurant workers are only making 200/day

(but usually getting a shared room & staff food)

[tartempion]

There is no "typical Thai income"
In the villages millions live of near nothing.
People working their (or rented) rice field, working 2x 1 month, surviving the rest of the year, cutting my grass once a month for 300B, or my maid 300B one day week work (6 hours + food)


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[Aussieroaming]

My wife was earning 50K Baht/month as a PA in a law firm (but she was there 7 years) and our monthly living costs were about 100k/month when were were in Bangkok. She quit about 6 years ago, so assume it would have been more in todays money.

[theguyfromanotherforum]

My wife was earning 50K Baht/month as a PA in a law firm (but she was there 7 years) and our monthly living costs were about 100k/month when were were in Bangkok. She quit about 6 years ago, so assume it would have been more in todays money.

So the monthly living costs were 100% more than her salary?

Definitely nothing typical about this.

[Aussieroaming]

4 minutes ago, theguyfromanotherforum said:

 

So the monthly living costs were 100% more than her salary?

Definitely nothing typical about this.

 

Nothing typical except for the fact that i work in the mining industry and the total living expenses are less than 10% of our combined income

[trainman34014]

Bangkok statistics don't tell the real story.  Out here in The Boonies people earn very much less than City dwellers. Basic pay for restaurant waitress's, shop workers etc is around 250 Baht per day.   We have a Female neighbour who earns 6,200 Baht a month fixed salary as a Hospital cleaner working a 6 day 48 hour week and she supports a family of five on that.  Mum and Dad too old and infirm to work, Sister incapacitated in road accident and one school age Daughter.   Many other neighbours earning peanuts doing manual farm or construction work.

[Gary A]

My wife has a decent house out in the boonies and I also have a nice condo in the farang ghetto called Jomtien. I give her 30,000 baht a month. She pays all the utilities, my Internet, buys all the household needs, food and our clothes. However, we have two motorbikes, a car and a pickup truck. I buy them and any other big ticket items, road taxes, insurance,  my condo expenses and of course my bar bills (small). It is possible to live on a thousand dollar a month if you eliminate things you really don't need and don't live in a major city.

[little mary sunshine]

No such thing as TYPICAL Thai salaries ...Same as

no such thing as TYPICAL  Foreign  retirement income.

[sunny17]

Thanks for all the answers - so in sum =

 

Its possible to live of B 30K a month, and many live off less. 

 

Also for people who have nice office jobs, the salary could be 5 times this amount or more. 

 

 

PS = Those who own a Benz - they must be the top 1% of Bangkok society. 

[nofarang]

1. 400 a day
2. 8.000 – 10.000/month
3. no idea
4. 12.000 – 15.000/month

 

But it depends on many things and can be more or less: Bangkok, upcountry, job starters, professional, location etc

[Suradit69]

1 hour ago, theguyfromanotherforum said:

 

So the monthly living costs were 100% more than her salary?

Definitely nothing typical about this.

 

He was talking about her pay and their combined living expenses.  Seems likely that in most cases if both husband and wife are working that her income would be less than their combine expenses.

[connda]

Well, nobodies is talking about the normal people who do the grunt work.  My step son works as a sales clerk and my daughter in law is a graphics designer.  They both make 9K/mo.  

[Oceanbat]

Average household income in Bangkok is 45k



OB


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[fordguy61mi]

It  depends on where you live and the cost of living there. A small rice village in Isaan will be different than Bangkok. My girl lives in Bangkok and is a waitress at an italian restaurant and makes about 17000 baht a month. It allows her to have a small room with no kitchen and no hot water. She does have A/C and an elevator. She eats mostly street food and doesn't have money to go out and socialize so she basically works 6 days a week and sleeps the rest of the time. She just exists, not really lives. She chooses to live in Bangkok so she doesn't complain. She also sends her mom in Udon Thani a little money every month. When she was looking for work the restaurants were all paying between 12000 and 20000 baht for wait service, with the average being about 15000.

[South]

Manual workers have a set (by the Government) minimum wage depending on the Changwat or Province they work in. Going up the scale to semi-skilled, skilled, management, senior management etc and the figures change drastically, a lot depending on job/location. Company/business owners and it is a totally different ball game altogether. So, in answer to the OP's question, there is no answer unless you are more specific in area.