Reader question: How high is an average Thai monthly salary?

Moderator: We will post your question as a reader question.

Oh dear. Here we go again.
Taking a close look at Thai spending patterns.
4×4, motorbikes, phone calls, gold – to be rejected.
They have to save. Only the bare essentials are allowed!

Well, I'll wait.

You shouldn't be talking about the average income when you talk about luxury 4×4 cars.

What is relevant is the fact that there is a lot of wealth in Thailand.

What are the income ratios like. Rich vs poor and the middle income group.

The minimum wage is for 6 days work a 300 Baht per day 1800 Baht, is 7800 per month. An average household in Isaan cannot afford a car if there is a breadwinner. Certainly not the maintenance, insurance and tax.

Niece buys a car with her husband he works at a large photo shop 9000 Baht per month she works for a Fashion concern as a manager 12000 per month have a 2 year old baby. and bought a suzuki 4 door borrowed the down payment and the rest 8900 Baht per month. Have no money left every month but too short, can barely meet their obligations, the car does not run on water, it must also be filled every week, then no more insurance and forget about maintenance. But it washes nicely

My Thai wife has an income of approximately 130.000 THB per month at an American firm in Rayong. Many of her acquaintances, all graduates, are on the same level. Compared to the wages of the average worker, income disparities in Thailand are still very large.

Just tell Tino that the prices have also risen considerably, I do not yet have what, n, Thai pays in interest on his car

Quite right George, nurses and other well-educated people. Haven't you been that lucky? Then you're out of luck. And the salary is considerably less and 6 days a week And some even more. Many cars and motorbikes are bought on credit. And many are not or very badly insured. And there are even those who walk around hungry.

The question is what a Thai earns on average and/or what a normal monthly salary is. That is not the same in both the Netherlands and Thailand. Earning probably means anyone who earns money in one way or another, whether as an employee or as a large or small self-employed person or retiree. By average salary is probably meant the average of the salaries that Thais earn in paid employment, either in the (large and small) business or at some government agency.
In addition, the questioner makes a connection between possessions (such as a car and a motorbike) and the average income. However, these goods are paid for from the (average) disposable income (perhaps not individually, as in the Netherlands, but more family-related) and not from the total average income.
A few comments that indicate that you have to be careful when comparing (disposable) incomes of Thais with that of Dutch or Belgians and certainly with averages:
– more than half of the Thais do not have a permanent job (with an employment contract) and therefore no fixed (monthly) salary;
– the free sector ranges from the poor self-employed farmer in Isaan to the Thai multimillionaire from the Forbes top50;
– the majority of Thais do not pay income tax because their annual income does not exceed 150.000 Baht (= 12.000 Baht or 300 Euro)
– there are large regional differences in incomes, minimum wage per day, but also cost of living. On average, more is earned in Bangkok where life is also more expensive than in the countryside. Foreign companies pay better than Thai companies;
– there are many more Thais in the countryside who hardly have housing costs (except for utilities and home maintenance) while the majority in the big cities do (rent or mortgage);
– the average income may have doubled in 17 years, but at least 40% (1,5% per year) of this has been lost as an increase in the cost of living. Net therefore remains 60% over 17 years = slightly more than 3% per year.

I know from a number of Thai people what they earn. Here are some examples:
My wife's brother-in-law and his girlfriend work in a bar on Pattaya beach road. He plays guitar in a band and she sings along. They both receive 25.000 baht per month, so 50.000 baht together.
We pay a Thai woman who runs a market stall for us about 12.000 baht per month and she and her husband have a room with us that costs her nothing, her husband earns about 15.000 baht per month at KFC in the kitchen, together so about 27.000 baht and no housing costs and usually eat from us.
We have a Burmese housekeeper who we pay 10.000 baht per month for six days a week. She and her boyfriend (Burmese) also stay with us in a room for free and he earns about 9000 baht per month in cleaning. So together 19.000 baht.
The girlfriend of a cousin of my wife has a foreign boyfriend (money lender) and she receives a fixed amount of 2000 euros per month, so about 77.000 baht.
A cousin of my wife who works as a nurse in a hospital in Chumpon. She works some extra hours per month and also six days a week. She earns between 45.000 and 50.000 baht per month and is 28 years old. A 48-year-old woman who works in the kitchen of a renowned hotel in Pattaya earns 27.000 baht a month. In our market, the salaries of the market stall people vary considerably. There are those who earn 10.000 baht a month and sometimes even less, but also those who bring in between 100.000 and 150.000 baht per month. Certainly the fish, shrimp and squid stalls are doing well. They are hard workers so as long as it lasts, nothing lasts forever, because a lot depends on what the future brings.

If I read Mike's question carefully, I get the strong suspicion that he is not so concerned about the correct level of the average Thai income.
All mathematical calculations and numbers about this income are therefore not very interesting at all, and in fact have nothing to do with the actual core of his question.
I suspect because he has heard many times that many Thais earn very little, that it is more of a curiosity from him, how all this is paid for.
That is why it is perhaps important to mention that the majority of Thais, who do not earn much more than the minimum wage, can only do this if the entire family makes their monthly financial contribution.
Unlike most families in Europe, a Thai family is often very dependent on each other due to low wages and a lack of social services.
With few exceptions, they are often real Clans, who, if necessary, also offer their help to the weakest in the family where they can.
In Europe, everyone takes care of themselves, and God and the social system take care of us all.