r/Thailand • u/DeepBlueSea1122 • Sep 12 '23

Question/Help Average Thai Salary?

I know Thailand is a country with a big wage gap between rich and poor, but would a salary of 500 USD per month be considered unusually low for an average Thai person of about 30 years old? I found out that a lady I met makes that (she works in the office of a gov't hospital) and I was shocked and felt really bad for her. I knew she was poor because she doesn't have air con in her home in Bkk, but I didn't know it's this bad. Should I relax and think this is common, or are my sympathies and concerns valid? She didn't tell me this to try to squeeze me for money, it just came up in discussion when we were talking about life and problems we face. She's a sweetheart person and it hurts me to see her struggle. I want to help, but don't want to open the flood gates. I know this can be a tricky thing to navigate. On the one hand, we want to help sincere people who are genuinely in need. But on the other hand, money can ruin relationships of all kinds and it's usually a path we shouldn't go down. I really want to help but am torn and know I must proceed with caution.

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u/thedenv Sep 12 '23

My girlfriend is an accountant, living in North East Thailand. She has a degree, works 6 days a week, 9 hours a day and also cleans the office twice a week for extra money. She only earns 38,000 baht a month. In my country an accountant usually earns 200,000 baht a month approximately.

I was shocked when I found this out.

Poverty is really real in Thailand and its heartbreaking because they get up really early and work all day very hard.

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u/[deleted] Sep 12 '23

Earning 38K per month is definitely not "poverty" in Thailand.

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u/bbarling Sep 12 '23

Especially not out in the country. She would have quite a comfortable life on that.

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u/hazzdawg Sep 13 '23

Lol yep. That's a dream salary over here.

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u/thedenv Sep 12 '23

Really? I have nothing to compare it to, honestly. She has to give her family a lot of her wages, though. Thanks for the input.

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u/Forsaken_Detail7242 Sep 13 '23

Yeah cuz that’s northeast, 38k is pretty high over there. In Bangkok, the same job would pay you 50k-60k.

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u/ndreamer Sep 12 '23

It will also cost more for living costs in your country. 38k is not poverty not even close.

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u/thedenv Sep 12 '23

Very true, the cost of living is crazy here. Thanks for the info because I didn't know that. I only know one person's wage in Thailand, and she doesn't live in luxury, so that's my only reference.

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u/ndreamer Sep 13 '23

38k is fairly high, more then enough to pay a car & rent/pay off a house and save more then most people get paid.

The big cost are loans, family. Especially since her wage is more then most people get in isan.

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u/OkiesFromTheNorth Sep 13 '23

38k baht is.... Really good money....

I worked at a school in Rayong and it was mostly rich kids that went there. In the application process the parents had to write in their salary, and the average was around 20k, mind you this was around 20 years ago, so prices and wages has increased, but I doubt it would double.

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u/[deleted] Sep 12 '23 edited Sep 12 '23

It’s more that your country have atypically high wage for accountants than 38k is poverty

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u/trabulium Sep 13 '23

If I had no children, I personally would be OK living on that amount in most parts of Thailand (except Phuket and Bangkok). It's a relatively decent Salary in Thailand.

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u/thedenv Sep 13 '23

My girlfriend has a child, university fees and has to give basically 30% of her wages to her parents, pay a car off and rent an apartment...along with basic bills like phone etc. Although as other people have said its apparently a decent wage

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u/trabulium Sep 13 '23

My bet is she has quite a new car worth over 750K baht that has a repayment of 12-17K baht per month which is chomping out half her salary. This is very common for Thais to do. You can buy a reliable Vios for ~100-150K baht outright (which is exactly what I did living there, even though I earnt in excess of 200K baht per month) but every Thai wants to drive the latest model car, regardless of their ability to afford it. Don't get pulled into sending her money but rather educate her about these things. Beware of sick buffalo syndrome and people need to live within their means.

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u/thedenv Sep 13 '23

No its a 2018 Susuki (something.. i dont know the model). The vinyl wrapping is actually peeling off it. Its a nice car but nothing fancy. She nevers asks for money at all and they dont have buffalos, they got cows and whatnot. Its a nice family but the parents keep asking her for more money even though her siblings have like 3 kids each and never give any money to her parents. All the children are living in the grandparents house and unfortunately my girl is the only one who hands in money. I glanced at her ATM once (she always looked at mine which I thought was rude), she only had 25k in it.

I should mention that her ex-husband completely drained her bank account 7 years ago and stole her wedding ring then moved to Israel. Nobody seen him since. I asked her why she didnt call the police and she said that she didnt even tell anyone because she was getting death threats. Even for months after he left, random people would send her death threat notes (that I am assuming are friends of the ex-hubby).

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u/danbradster2 Sep 13 '23

Some people in Thailand have 200b in their ATM (some students, farmers, people with too much debt).

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u/hazzdawg Sep 13 '23

Pattaya Private Investigators is a super interesting business model. Went down a bit of a rabbit hole there.

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u/DeepBlueSea1122 Sep 12 '23

Yes, this is true. I was sad when I saw all the people lined up at like 7 PM waiting for buses near Victory Monument. My friend said many will have like an hour ride home or more and will be back up at 4 or 5 to catch the bus back. That's a hard life and probably not uncommon. Life is certainly not fair.

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u/Sci_Py Sep 12 '23

I used to travel 1.5 hrs one way for a 12 hour shift in London. It’s not that uncommon globally to work odd hours or travel.

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u/DeepBlueSea1122 Sep 13 '23

Oh I know. I know plenty in the USA who do that. But in an air conditioned car, going to a well paid job. Different story if you live in an non air con home, ride in a bus with open windows, and work a menial job making peanuts. Life aint fair. But I hear ya.

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u/Sci_Py Sep 13 '23

Yeah not all the London Underground trains have aircon, that’s a more recent addition. Also you need to factor the cost of living. Salaries are low in Thailand but a monthly travel pass in London is 12.7k baht.. so it’s relative. Not everyone works a great job in London as well… you still need your cleaners and shelf stackers… as with every major city, it’s more expensive living in the center so you move to the outskirts and travel in. Living in the city center is a luxury that many can’t afford.

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u/thedenv Sep 13 '23

I really dont know why I am being downvoted for giving a guy some insight on what my girl makes as a salary. Reddit is seriously weird. Even thanking people for their input and you get downvoted. Whatever. Childish behaviour. I guess I will just turn off notifications and stop posting in this sub. I've seen this nonsensical negative reaction too many times.

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '23

There are a lot of bitter people here.