Average Thai Income and Debts

[Shilo 371]

The question of "What is the average income of Thais" comes up from time to time... so I thought I would share the latest data.

 

Studies show that on average, a Thai person earns Bt25,405 a month and spends Bt19,259, or 75.8 per cent, on monthly expenses. Also, debts average at Bt159,492 per household, so at least Bt6,144 needs to be saved per month to cover debt payments.

 

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Rising-debt-likely-to-keep-households-in-the-red-30235089.html

[Gary 4,119]

The question of "What is the average income of Thais" comes up from time to time... so I thought I would share the latest data.

 

Studies show that on average, a Thai person earns Bt25,405 a month and spends Bt19,259, or 75.8 per cent, on monthly expenses. Also, debts average at Bt159,492 per household, so at least Bt6,144 needs to be saved per month to cover debt payments.

 

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Rising-debt-likely-to-keep-households-in-the-red-30235089.html

 

Unfortunately that average certainly does not mean average. If you take the top ten percent earners out of the figures I would bet that the average would drop to less than 10,000 baht per month. Factory workers earning 300 baht per day would only be earning 9,000 baht per month and upcountry farmers are far below that.

[Bushcraft 2,591]

Yep, taking a straight average in a country with such a huge disparity between rich and poor is pretty meaningless.

[Idefix 2,275]

Yep, taking a straight average in a country with such a huge disparity between rich and poor is pretty meaningless.

Humm... Not sure that the disparity in Thailand is worse than in some of our "civilized countries" who get a few people having a fortune of tens of billion of $ while some people just have a few hundred $/month to live with...

 

PS: Example of my country: France:

- we have billionaires whose fortune is ~40'000'000'000 US$

- people without resource (work) get a "Solidarity income" of barely 500€ ~680 US$

Disparity?

Edited June 1, 2014 by Idefix

[Bushcraft 2,591]

You're right of course Idefix - just taking a straight average to arrive at an income figure is equally meaningless anywhere, it tells nobody anything useful.

[jacko 8,822]

 

Unfortunately that average certainly does not mean average. If you take the top ten percent earners out of the figures I would bet that the average would drop to less than 10,000 baht per month. Factory workers earning 300 baht per day would only be earning 9,000 baht per month and upcountry farmers are far below that.

There you go manipulating the stats again Gary......

That figure, 25,000 baht per month might be a median number, but not an average. Those sweeping the verge as I rode past this morning would aspire to 1/10th of that and if my missus learns of that figure she will be asking for a rise!

[tombon 113]

I read an article a few months back (sorry haven't got the link) that stated the average starting salary for a university graduate was 15000 baht a month. I dread to think what an uneducated person earns (excluding sex workers).

[js007 795]

I read an article a few months back (sorry haven't got the link) that stated the average starting salary for a university graduate was 15000 baht a month. I dread to think what an uneducated person earns (excluding sex workers).

I remember once talking to a cashier on Soi 6 who had just graduated with an MBA. I think the year was 2007. She was getting ready to start a new job in Bangkok and was just working for a month or so before the start of the job. She showed me her graduation pictures, etc. Anyway, she seemed proud to have landed a job starting at 12,000 baht a month.

[Geno 25]

I remember once talking to a cashier on Soi 6 who had just graduated with an MBA. I think the year was 2007. She was getting ready to start a new job in Bangkok and was just working for a month or so before the start of the job. She showed me her graduation pictures, etc. Anyway, she seemed proud to have landed a job starting at 12,000 baht a month.

 

I bet she is still in Pattaya earning more than 12,000 a month.

[nkped 1,208]

There you go manipulating the stats again Gary......

That figure, 25,000 baht per month might be a median number, but not an average. Those sweeping the verge as I rode past this morning would aspire to 1/10th of that and if my missus learns of that figure she will be asking for a rise!

One of the few things I remember from the management course I took where the instructor tried to teach me something about statistics was that if somebody said the "average" was X, you didn't really know what he was talking about. You needed to know whether it was mean, median or mode. http://math.about.com/od/statistics/a/MeanMedian.htm No, I am not normally able to remember which is which.

[teelack 9,645]

The thing that generally concerns this site is not the average Thai wage but the wages expected in Pattaya. I think that we are all aware that there is an underclass of people living on bugger all in the provinces. Knowing that your girlfriend is being paid at the level of a university professor or an army general is totally unhelpful to understanding the costings in Pattaya, what we should or would like to be paying for our time there.

 

Some months ago the Bangkok Post reported that there would be dreadful repercussions if the minimum daily wage was set at 300 baht!

[js007 795]

 

I bet she is still in Pattaya earning more than 12,000 a month.

 

Anything is possible, but I think she was telling me the truth, She had a whole big book of graduation pictures, pictures of her boyfriend who was in school with her and also graduated, etc. She was just a temporary cashier in a Soi 6 bar. Some guys tried to barfine her, but she wouldn't have any of that. I'm not sure how she ended up as a cashier in Pattaya, though. Maybe she knew someone?

[Geno 25]

 

Anything is possible, but I think she was telling me the truth, She had a whole big book of graduation pictures, pictures of her boyfriend who was in school with her and also graduated, etc. She was just a temporary cashier in a Soi 6 bar. Some guys tried to barfine her, but she wouldn't have any of that. I'm not sure how she ended up as a cashier in Pattaya, though. Maybe she knew someone?

 

 

I have met a graduate before,she was working in a bar on second road,I barfined her one night. She had a degree in English.I asked why she was working in a bar instead of an office job in Bangkok, more money was the answer.

[Bushcraft 2,591]

3-4 years back I was frequently very close to a primary school teacher in Udon Thani with 20 years experience. She was on a salary of 20k, and like very many teachers had very large bank debts.