Thai Income Levels

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PeteC
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Thai Income Levels

Post by PeteC »

After reading our "Starbucks" thread I wanted an update of what income really is per class of Thai society these days. The below is 2014 data and based upon 3 people in a family. Of course the numbers would change if people living on the amount stated is below or above 3 people. Pete

13,000 Baht per month or less - LOW income level. 58.1% of population.

26,000 Baht per month to 14,000 Baht - MIDDLE income level. 28.9% of population.

65,000 Baht per month to 27,000 Baht - UPPER MIDDLE income level. 11.4% of population.

Greater than 65,000 Baht per month - HIGH income level. 1.3% of population. This includes the mega rich. There was no separate stats for them using my source.
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Re: Thai Income Levels

Post by HHTel »

One more stat for you:-

0.01% of the population has more than 50% of the wealth. Very much a country of the 'haves' and 'have nots'.
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Re: Thai Income Levels

Post by buksida »

That was the Prime Minister before he was exiled wasn't it? :duck:
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Re: Thai Income Levels

Post by JamesWest »

yes this is the primary reason I live here. My US Social Security payment ALONE each month is greater than 98.4% of the Thai's monthly income. As I like to joke I am a HISO. :) The entire economy is setup to service people with very little money.

Ironically I was in the bottom of the top 10% in the USA. So I have only gone up about 6% by coming here. :)

The difference is of course Thailand is a huge step down coming from the USA. But I don't want to live for 30 more years in the USA. Too boring there in the giant nanny state. So I am forced to sit at the beach.

One thing I like is most Thais appreciate the smallest gift giving and don't take things for granted. I try to tell them to save their money, but like most humans they want stuff. You just have to walk in the malls and look round. Another country and another generation of bank debt consumers.

My very first Thai girlfriend made 15,000 baht a month working 12 hours a day with two days off a MONTH. I remember how happy she was that I took her to a 7/11 for something to eat. We spent like four dollars on crap food and you would think it was like Sunday Brunch at the Four Seasons in West Los Angeles. :)

She split her rent with two other girls. They lived in a studio apartment with one bed that they all shared. She never asked me for a penny. Which made me feel really happy to help her out when she would let me. Unlike spoiled people in the States who just expect you to jump around.

Having lived in one of the most elitist places in the world, Beverly Hills, California, I find the HISO Thais tripping around in their Mercedes to be sort of amateur hour.

Sad to see Thais struggling with monthly scooter payments. I paid $1,500.00 cash for my scooter. or less money than my old yearly cell phone bill in the states. hard to believe the difference. anyway off to soi 88 for dirt cheap food and people watching.
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Re: Thai Income Levels

Post by Bristolian »

JamesWest wrote:yes this is the primary reason I live here......Having lived in one of the most elitist places in the world, Beverly Hills, California, I find the HISO Thais tripping around in their Mercedes to be sort of amateur.
Sorry, please don't take this the wrong way but BH and California do not even get a place in the top 10 eletist places. Elitist places are gained by Bombay, Calcutta, Chenai, Bangkok, Jacarta, Shanghai, Beiging; only to mention a few in Asia....Try the list in SA and Latin America, then add Ex Russian states. CA is well down the list and descending :cheers:

Ps I've missed a lot of elitist places so please don't shoot me for the places I've missed
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Re: Thai Income Levels

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Thais in general have been encouraged to borrow irresponsibly since the year 2000...wasn't a problem before then. There are so many people that are in such horrible debt with zero chance of paying it back that it's getting to the point where the only solution in the future will be debt cancelation with the condition that no more future borrowing will be possible.

It's truely unreal that so many have been allowed to borrow from the government in such an unsustainable way. Where I come from the government won't lift a finger to help people like me...let alone let me borrow money from them in the order of a comical level that resembles a monthly payment back to them of 80-90% (or more) of my salary.

D'fuq is going on here? What were they thinking and how in a million years did/do they think it'll all work out fine and sweet?

Better to tell people to live within their means and suck it up related to their situation....which is reality, but will save them from losing their land and all else FFS.

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Re: Thai Income Levels

Post by Pleng »

prcscct wrote: 13,000 Baht per month or less - LOW income level. 58.1% of population.
I'd really like to see this stat broken down further... There's a *big* difference between earning say 3-5k a month, and earning 13k a month!
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Re: Thai Income Levels

Post by PeteC »

It's an income calculator and can be used for any country in the world. It simply doesn't go any lower than "low" at 13,000 or below for 3 people.

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/20 ... alculator/
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Re: Thai Income Levels

Post by STEVE G »

I've met many older people in my partners village that seem to able to live a tolerable life on almost no monetary income at all, they have small parcels of land where they grow their own food, they scavenge and hunt meat, collect rain water and pretty much get by however they can. The only real downfall is if they need expensive medical care.
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Re: Thai Income Levels

Post by Big Boy »

My wife is over 60, so gets a pension (600 Baht/month :D ) and free medical care - so not a problem.
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Re: Thai Income Levels

Post by STEVE G »

Big Boy wrote:My wife is over 60, so gets a pension (600 Baht/month :D ) and free medical care - so not a problem.
Yes, the problem out in the sticks is that free medical care only gets you into a local hospital which can be very small and they don't really have any kind of advanced treatment for anything serious.
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Re: Thai Income Levels

Post by Spitfire »

Steve G is spot-on there. 'Out in the sticks' there is only rudimentary healthcare really and if it's anything that can't be sorted with a very simple operation or a few pills then it's referred to the city in most places asap.

I broke my leg at the mother-in-laws house one time years ago and the local healthcare service was dismal. I managed to get picked up by a local meat wagon and taken to the local hospital but no-one was on duty there apart from a trainee nurse and the local snooty doctor was reluctant to come out to see my case as it was 9 pm......d'fuq?

It took me about 5 minutes after that to tell the wife to call the nearest Bangkok Hospital to send an ambulance that resembled something acceptable. Cost me 8k baht for the BBK Hospital ambulance to tansport me 300km to a decent city hospital but the morphine was fun on the way to the city....lol. The local nurses stationed at the local hospital looked at the BBK Hospital ambulance and staff like it was a spaceship that had just landed.....will never forget that, brought a smile to my face before they gave me the morphine and the worries drifted away... :rasta:
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Re: Thai Income Levels

Post by Big Boy »

This does surprise me. I know somebody living in Cha-Am who had a problem too complex for their facilities. He was referred to Petcharat under the same 30 Baht scheme.

I guess a broken leg was not beyond their capabilities - it was just a question of how long you could wait.
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Re: Thai Income Levels

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Big Boy wrote:I guess a broken leg was not beyond their capabilities - it was just a question of how long you could wait.
Try the service yourself man.....and then you will be supremely unimpressed. TBH, I waited 45 minutes on a cold concrete slab before learning the "local doctor' couldn't be arsed with my case till the next day and hence forth then watched a few local bike accident cases come in too...couple of them died.

Once I realised the local doctor was a lazy 'couldn't care less because it interjected with his life' type then the BBK Hopsital was called.

However, I should mention that this happened long ago when I still naively believed in the positives etc. of the services and society here in my reckless youth......not now.

Do not be fooled and realise the awefulness of this so-called "health service."
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Re: Thai Income Levels

Post by Big Boy »

I'm not doubting what happened at all, and I realise Hua Hin Hospital is a special case.

Whilst a broken leg is a relatively minor task, it certainly wouldn't be minor if you were the one laying there in agony. Rather you than me, and if in your position, I'd have certainly taken the same action.

The point I've been trying to make though is that if you were diagnosed with a problem beyond the local hospital's capability, there is a way forward without having to spend loads of cash. however, while the system is there, I've no idea about waiting times.
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