Average household debt over B134,000

[tartempion]

 

Well, what I get out of this is that over half the households in the country are buying their home and the average value of that is well over 100k.

 

Not bad for a feudal society badly in need of a complete of social revolution, don’t you think?

:content:

TH

 

 

I definitely can confirm you that 4 new houses (what's in a name?) built in 2009 either way 200m from my place have been built within a budget of 50K.

 

The house my inlaws live in was built with 200K 15 years ago, financed by the work as maids of 3 daughters (and not through prostitution)

 

The wooden village house next doors to her parents house is for sale for 400K for over one year now, the land is worth 200K, and I declined to buy such a shaggy place. Not a single Thai is stupid enough to buy such rubbish at b400K.

 

We did buy 3 nang 1/2 (1400 sqm) a few 100m from there at 200K a few months ago and have been asked to sell already, which we won't.

 

Bloody meaningless statistics

 

[Mekong]

 

Living in a rice growing Isaan village I don't see much families having 16K/MONTH to spend' date=' but Mrs and Mr Mekong know better [/quote']

 

Obviously we are a lot more in touch with reality and better informed where we are compared to where you are as This Data proves

 

I did post the link previously but you didn't bother to check it out, so you are correct we do know better thanks for the compliment and admitting your own ignorance.

[lifeline]

Obviously we are a lot more in touch with reality and better informed where we are compared to where you are as This Data proves

 

Due to the length of the report found at "This Data", I scanned it and did not read every page. Anyway, the big factors in my mind are how many of each of the jobs mentioned exist and how many in total. I did not see any information of this type in my scan.

 

I know in the US, underemployment is on the rise So, it seems possible that underemployment is also significant in Thailand.

 

If someone in Thailand is educationally fit for a position mentioned in the report but all of the available positions are already filled (or if there are x00 candidates for every unfilled position) then that person will be unemployed or underemployed. Put to an extreme as a speculative exercise, if all of the positions mentioned in the report add up to two million jobs then something like 30 million Thai workers (men and women) are outside of the report and more than likely most of them are on the low level of the pay scale. If this is the case or anything close to it is the case, then the report is meaningless as an indicator of the earnings of the majority of the Thai population.

[khunsanuk]

Hi,

 

"Remember a New Car here could cost from 1 Million Baht upwards"

 

Plenty of new cars that are about half that cost.

 

Sanuk!

 

[khunsanuk]

Hi,

 

Had a look at that salary document and one line I think was quite relevant:

 

"The information provided are average salaries derived from positions that Adecco recruited throughout the year 2009."

 

I would imagine the fact that all of these positions were filled by a recruiting agency might have some impact on the average salaries. E.g. how many small companies would use a recruiting agency to find a secretary, sales manager, web master, etc?

 

Having said that I can't really gauge the validity of the salaries for anything other then the IT sector and there they did look quite reasonable.

 

Sanuk!

 

[lifeline]

Government teachers' pay starts low, but they recieve an automatic increase virtually every year, either 5% or 10%. Figure a teacher with 20 years experience is earning 25,000 to 30,000 a month. Senior teachers may be making as much as 40,000, but not many get to that level. They also get a pension of 50% of their salary plus complete medical insurance. It is common for teachers to marry another teacher, thus doubling their income. It is not as bad as it sounds!

 

Does teacher income depend upon Province? school? ...?

 

I know a Thai guy in Khon Kaen who just retired at age sixty two this past year, having been a teacher. He said his retirement income is 9,000 a month - so, if 50% is correct his salary would have been 18,000. This guy is pretty impressive, so, I imagine he would have been one of the better teachers - I believe he taught Mittayon (not sure if I spelled that correctly).

[tartempion]

 

Living in a rice growing Isaan village I don't see much families having 16K/MONTH to spend' date=' but Mrs and Mr Mekong know better [/quote']

 

Obviously we are a lot more in touch with reality and better informed where we are compared to where you are as This Data proves

 

I did post the link previously but you didn't bother to check it out, so you are correct we do know better thanks for the compliment and admitting your own ignorance.

 

We don't live in the same Thailand don't we?

 

And "the average Thai family spends 16K month" is a meaningless statement (in my opinion)

 

And no, I did not read that excellent Adecco report you linked to because I replied to you before you posted that link.

 

Please note that the Adecco report is an excellent salary indication tool for Thai people with a degree.

 

Again, the Thailand I live in must be different from the Thailand you live in:

 

My village counts approx 2500 souls living in +-500 houses, one family lives in a 5 million+ house (he sells construction materials). The village counts 10 1 million+ houses, 8 of them farang houses. The vast majority of places are sub 300K.

 

In the 50 houses on my in-laws street one has a car (Dmax), the man runs a motorbike repair shop and his wife next doors runs a mom&pop shop.

 

Whilst I do see kids attending college in nearby amphur medium school I don't know any from the village who got a degree. Thus the Adecco report is not very useful here.

 

I am not going to detail most of what's out here. but 16K/month spending money? This Ain't Kansas here boy. Not to mention 16k/week.

 

I do my daily bicycle ride at 6 am and visit the villages 20kms around my village. Thus I see the houses and their people. No 5 million+ houses around.

 

Now I realize there is a middle class Thai society in Bangkok, Hua Hin, Phuket and main towns. There are people who drive 20 million cars etc. I do visit Bangkok a few times a year and I do see the condo high rises and good earning people.

 

I have lived and worked in exotic places such as Montreal, Atlanta, Paris, Munich, Sillypore and Lisboa.

 

Now if you know nothing about poor uneducated people but you only have knowledge of your middle and upper class world, I pity you

[Mekong]

Hi,

 

Having said that I can't really gauge the validity of the salaries for anything other then the IT sector and there they did look quite reasonable.

 

Sanuk!

 

KS

 

As I mentioned in yesterdays post I found a lot of the Salaries quoted as being on the conservative side based on the Industry I work in, or info from other family members. In Oil and Gas it is stating Senior Engineers 35-70K bracket whereas 2-3 years ago the company I was with were paying Junior Engineers in the 60-70L Bracket and some of them got head hunted by the likes od Thai Oil, Mobil, PTT etc for a better package.

 

One of my Brother in Law's is a Project Engineer for TRUE, working on 3G country wide and his salary is more in line with IT Management Levels than with Network Engineer or Consultant, same witht the other in laws and the wife they earn slightly higher than quoted figures

 

 

 

[khunsanuk]

Hi,

 

"I found a lot of the Salaries quoted as being on the conservative side"

 

I would imagine that the salaries in companies that do not use recruiting agencies (which is likely a LOT of companies) may every well be quite a bit lower.

 

As for the overall discussion here, while I have no doubt there are people like your wife who have a large disposable income I am also certain that a MUCH larger amount of people would love to earn 16K / month, let alone spend it in a week.

 

People are likely looking at their own environment and basing conclusion on that. As you can see in the differences between your and tartempion's experience, the income range is Thailand is very large.

 

Sanuk!

 

[Mekong]

We don't live in the same Thailand don't we?

 

I am sure that we do, last time I checked there was only one Thailand and I am sure that the Capital City of your Thailand is Bangkok the same as mine.

 

And no, I did not read that excellent Adecco report you linked to because I replied to you before you posted that link.

 

I actualy posted the link yesterday in this Post as I said you were too eager to jump on my comments without looking into the facts I made available.

 

Please note that the Adecco report is an excellent salary indication tool for Thai people with a degree.

 

And your point is? I was replying to a question from Gobbledook about salaries in Thailand not just Bangkok, just because no one from your Isaan Village has never achieved Degree Education Standaeds does not diminish from the fact that 2-3 million Thais have.

 

My village counts approx 2500 souls living in +-500 houses, one family lives in a 5 million+ house (he sells construction materials). The village counts 10 1 million+ houses, 8 of them farang houses. The vast majority of places are sub 300K.

 

In the 50 houses on my in-laws street one has a car (Dmax), the man runs a motorbike repair shop and his wife next doors runs a mom&pop shop.

 

My Moo Baan consists of approx 320 houses and maybe 1000 residents, 3.9 Million is probably the cheapest a property would go for here, but average price is in the 6.5-7.0 Mill range. I would say majority of households have at least one car many have two or more, More like Benz BMW and Audi here than D-Max or Vigo, and there arte no ostentatious "Farang Properties" overlooking the rest. Neighbours to one side, he is a Pilot for YG and his wife is a Trainer for TG cabin staff, on the other side he is a professor at AIT.

 

I have lived and worked in exotic places such as Montreal, Atlanta, Paris, Munich, Sillypore and Lisboa.

 

Now if you know nothing about poor uneducated people but you only have knowledge of your middle and upper class world, I pity you

 

Boo Hoo, you didn't make much of a success of your life then did you, having spent so many years working in such exotic locations onan expat package you decide to retire in a piss poor village where you can pretend to be lord of the manor.

 

For your information, I do come from a working class background, grew up in a 2 up 2 down terraced house on a council estate with 3 other siblings so I know what being poor is about. My parents worked all hours god sent to ensure that my 3 sisters and I had "opportunity in life" hence the reason they now live in "semi-Luxury" in their retirement years because we take care of them, its not just Thais who are family orientated.

 

If you choose to lower your standard of living because you gave up on life I PITY YOU, maybe the lifestrle suits your requirments / expectations but I have higher standards than yourself.

 

Bangkok, Hua Hin, Phuket and main towns

 

I don't live in any of them!

 

 

 

At the end of the day as long as you and your loved ones are happy that is all that matters and as much as we disagree I wish you much happiness/