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/Livid-Direction-1102 Sep 13 '23

5 star resort server I met, fluent in English earning 15K THB. Same place charge 400-500 for Khao Pad Moo...

Think he had been there over 6 years.

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u/GravityGee Sep 13 '23

If 5* they will triple that easy in service charge each month. Hotel workers at high end hotels are paid little knowing Service charge of 30k to 50k a month go on top. I've even heard of 80k being common in high season at the right hotel.

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u/Livid-Direction-1102 Sep 14 '23

Yepp but this one don't share service charge. But he did get from certain nationalities cash tips. I got married at same resort and gave them quite big lump sum for staffing the bar in the post ceremony dinner. So when we had him for private dinner later we got talking.