Thai salaries

[Pagey]

I have been told by a guy who visists Thailand regularly that a Thai Bank Manager earns around 30,000 Baht per month and a Thai policeman only 10,00 Baht per month (which would explain their constant need for backhanders).

Does anyone know if these figures are correct ?

The owner of Sugarcane may know as a tourist policeman was playing pool there a couple of weeks ago.

My interest is that I am still trying to decide if I have enough to retire on. If they can live on those sort of salaries then there's scope for me to retire 20 years before my pension is due.

[Big Boy]

Pagey,

I can assure you that my daughter and her family survive on an income far below what you have quoted in your posting.

[STEVE G]

Thai policemen must be very frugal, as some of them from Hua Hin allegedly managed to attend the World Cup in Germany, on their meager salaries!

[buksida]

There are no strict figures for it but the national average is something like 7,000 baht per month (don't quote me on this). Naturally BKK will be higher and the provinces will be lower. It still baffles me how they drive around in brand spanking new cars and have the latest mobile phones ... thank crunchie for credit eh!

High end managers can earn between 25 - 40k. What police "earn" and what they get are two entirely different figures.

What a Thai can live on and a farang can are also two entirely different figures.

[migrant]

As many have stated, elsewhere, be careful, do you really want to scrimp in your retirement?

Mine is approaching, but I want sufficient to travel, eat well, cover emergencies, etc.

My (soon to be) Thai wife says 50,000 is a lot, especially if you have a house. I'm a accountant, so financially conservative, therefore I am shooting for at least that amount, but also a reserve for safety.

[DawnHRD]

I used to know a lot of the Border Police in HH. And yes, these guys who were not only policeman, but trained others to jump out of planes etc were on about 10,000 - 15,000 baht a month. I have no idea how much a bank manager earns.
FYI recommended minimum wage in Thailand is now 156 baht a day. Seriously! So you can get full time workers, 7 days a week for less than 5,000 baht a month - depending on the type of work, obviously.
Even living here, I have no idea how people survive on that kind of money.

[pookie]

As many have stated, elsewhere, be careful, do you really want to scrimp in your retirement?

Mine is approaching, but I want sufficient to travel, eat well, cover emergencies, etc.

My (soon to be) Thai wife says 50,000 is a lot, especially if you have a house. I'm a accountant, so financially conservative, therefore I am shooting for at least that amount, but also a reserve for safety.

Well, i am basing my figures on the historic exchange rates. That of about 35THB to the GBP (about 25THB to the $) Those were the rates when i 1st started visiting LOS in the 80's. It wasnt until the 1997 crash that you saw any great fluctuation in the exchange rates
Any figure above that is a bonus, i feel

Pookie

[Pagey]

Thanks for all the info, very useful and eye opening !

Migrant : You are right, I do not want to scrimp and I wanted to do a couple of more years in Saudi which would have made life a lot easier but things are changing here and I may not be able to stay more than a few months. I am allowing myself 50,000 to 70.000 per month but I need to pay rent of approx 10,000 per month out of that. I have also built in inflation at 2% p.a. so in 10 years I allow 83000 per month in my 'crude' retirement spreadsheet. As long as I have some capital left when my company pension kicks in I will be OK.

[Burger]

Pookie is right about exchange rates, don't budget on today's rate, esp in Asia. I'd Allow at least a 30% dip in exchange rate.

Think the worst, one year the exchange rate drops 30%, your car packs up, someone in the family over here needs hospital expenses, there's problems in the family back home and you need to fly to UK (or wherever) a couple of times, you fall in love with a Thai lady and have a baby (school fees), you decide you hate renting and want to build yourselves a house etc etc


Burger

[NikkiSixx]

My wifes guardian is a copper in Isaan and "officially" earns 10,000thb per month....but extorts a fair bit more......spends most of it on gallons of 100 Pipers...

[Big Boy]

Burger wrote:

Think the worst, one year the exchange rate drops 30%, your car packs up, someone in the family over here needs hospital expenses, there's problems in the family back home and you need to fly to UK (or wherever) a couple of times, you fall in love with a Thai lady and have a baby (school fees), you decide you hate renting and want to build yourselves a house etc etc

That all sounds pretty run of the mill to me .

[Norseman]

Some facts about Thailand:

Workforce: 35,711,300

Occupation :
Agriculture: 49%
Services: 37
Industry:14%

Unemployment rate: 2.2%

Average salary : 7,015 bahts/month

[kris]

Some facts about Thailand:

Workforce: 35,711,300

Occupation :
Agriculture: 49%
Services: 37
Industry:14%

Unemployment rate: 2.2%

Average salary : 7,015 bahts/month

where u get those figures from? from where i'm standing most people around here either work cash in hand, or just sit on there ass doing bugger all....that is until 4.30pm...LOTTERY TIME!!

[SugarCane]

I have been told by a guy who visists Thailand regularly that a Thai Bank Manager earns around 30,000 Baht per month and a Thai policeman only 10,00 Baht per month (which would explain their constant need for backhanders).

Does anyone know if these figures are correct ?

The owner of Sugarcane may know as a tourist policeman was playing pool there a couple of weeks ago.

My interest is that I am still trying to decide if I have enough to retire on. If they can live on those sort of salaries then there's scope for me to retire 20 years before my pension is due.

On behalf of SugarCane who is a lady and therefore still asleep. There are a number of policemen, (tourist and othersise) that drink in SugarCane. They vary in ranks and the ranks don't directly correspond to ranks used in the UK or the US. But the guy I think you are talking about is a major and earns about 20,000 baht. His main job is a shooting instructor so has litle scope, I would think, on that duty to make any on the side. There is another guy who plays pool regularly in the bar who is cross assigned between the tourist police and the main police force. He has all sorts of opportunities but his basic will be similar or a little bit less. My wife, SugarCane is friendly with the General who is the most senior policeman stationed in Hua Hin and it is reckoned he is on about 50,000.

None of this is secret by the way. Figues have just been published in the Nation on the discussion of rooting out corruption from the top. It has never really been attempted since the second world war when policemen had a free hand and were more or less autonomous so long as they were resepctful to the Japs. To stop the corruption these guys need to earning a decent salary or you will end up like the UK where they all join for crooked purposes.

As for your life, I do not hink it is a good idea to try to compare it with a Thai professional. He has probably had land handed down to him and other incomes. If you search back, within the last three months there was an extensive topic on the cost of living in Thailand for a farang. I have done it on as little as 8000 baht but I had to do a lot of child minding and ate only local Isan food for six months. (See Jaime's Bowell Movement topic in Foo).

[hoopburners]

I have worked as a trainee in BKK. My company based in Phils seconded me there. Received monthly allowance of BHT 30,000, besides the accomodation and transpo allowance. It's enough to last for the next two months, given I'm a big spender on clothes and foods.