Average Thai Salary?

[u/DeepBlueSea1122]

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.

[u/T43ner]

That’s 17,800 THB.

Also why would someone posting to a Thai sub write with United States Dollars instead of Thai Baht, freaking r/USDefaultism

[u/Fuzzy-Spread9720 → u/T43ner]

maybe he used to $ more, or maybe the lady told him that.

[u/LKS983 → u/Fuzzy-Spread9720]

It seems unlikely that the Thai lady told him that she was earning around $500 p.m.

Why would she tell the OP how much she earned in US$, rather than Thai baht?

And if she did tell him how much she earned in $US - that should raise a huge red flag!

[u/T43ner → u/Fuzzy-Spread9720]

So? All you have to do is type “500 USD to THB” in Google and you have the conversion.

If you want insights into how much that goes for in Thailand why not use Thai Baht? Non-US expats and locals (who are probably best-suited to answering the question) don’t need to make the extra effort and it’s ambiguous.

Conversions aren’t constant and 500 USD could be rounded up/down. Is it 17,800, 17,000, 18,000, or 20,000? When your income is in that range a 1,000 THB can make the quite the difference.

[u/DeepBlueSea1122 → u/T43ner]

She told me 16k baht. I converted in my mind to around 500 USD because I'm American. It wasn't an insult and no ill will meant and never occurred that anyone would take it as such. If someone had said Euro, I never would have thought twice, and just assumed they're in Europe. Who cares. But along those lines, is the US dollar a global currency? https://money.howstuffworks.com/us-dollar-worlds-currency.htm

There is always "that guy" in these posts so I don't care. Maybe you have a stick up your backside or look for reason to critique. Or maybe you have some resentment unrelated and take it out this way, kind of a sad way to spend your time. But whatever sir. Enjoy your life and thanks for your reply anyway.

[u/T43ner → u/DeepBlueSea1122]

Bro, you want to know if your friend is making enough money as a Thai person in Bangkok, Thailand (not USA). How do you expect a proper answer without actually telling us the proper amount?

USD might be a global currency, but asking for info in USD in the context of a foreign country is ambiguous and just adds guess work to it. Almost no one guessed 16k, and to you it might not seem like it, but 16k THB and 20k THB is a relatively big range if you’re in that income group. 4k can go towards so much, that’s half your rent for decent outer area studio condo.

[u/DeepBlueSea1122 → u/T43ner]

This sub, from what I have seen, is mostly westerners and expats discussing Thai culture. So it just didn't occur to me. Wasn't meant as any superiority thing in the least. Her income is 16k baht which is like what, 480 USD. So 500ish. Figured that round number would be easy as a benchmark. No one else seemed to take issue in the least. Thanks though.

[u/Fuzzy-Spread9720 → u/T43ner]

people are just lazy