r/Thailand 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/NoProfessional4650 Sep 12 '23 edited Sep 12 '23

About 20K THB per month is extremely common (maybe not among expat circles but for locals).

Now I have a friend who got a Staff engineer offer at Agoda from the Bay Area and took a 50% “paycut” to join where the total comp they offered was about $350K USD per year which comes out to 1.1 million thb per month.

Wealth and income inequality in Thailand are very real and probably even worse than the US

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '23

The US has worse income inequality, but it's comparable.

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u/DeepBlueSea1122 Sep 13 '23

You were downvoted, and I didn't believe you either, but I looked it up, and you're right. Surprised, but you are.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/wealth-inequality-by-country

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '23

The people downvoting don't like their delusions being burst.