monthly salary for those of u workin in THAILAND..

[mardhi]

I made considerably more money in my pocket when posted to BKK than when I was in Singapore, and even then that was about twice what i was earning in Europe - the key is benefits, allowances and taxation.

Ziggy is absolutely correct - its the true cost of living day to day that makes a difference.

Cheers
Mardhi

[Guest]

I am very curious about this. It seems that many multinationals would bring in extrapats to Thailand? I was always under the impressions that all of them put the Asia bases in either HK or Singapore, and now, all in the process of moving to Shanghai .... am I wrong?
For Ziggy, why do you base in Thailand - if there is anything (business reasons) in addition to that you obviously want to live there?
Before I kept reading how it is impossible, and now you guys are trowing around these pretty decent numbers .... Please don't tease me, please.

[stogie bear]

I don't know how you assumed that multinationals were all based in HK or Singapore. Almost NO manufatcturing companies would dream of moving there be cause of the relative high cocts of the labour market. I've worked for companies like Nike and Flextronics and they seem happily entrenched in Thailand (and other similarly poor Asian countries.)

Other companies supplying goods and services move around a little. I recently helped a pharmaceutical company (Schering) move to Hong Kong, although it's staff refused to follow so they had to re-recruit everyone.

Oil companies are based here because their rigs are here... Unical is a company I have been working with for a long time doing security stuff for in the past. They obviosuly won't be moving or relocating!

Thailand is far far away from being a third world country. Although there is a multitude of poor people there is also a burgeoning middle class which is growing by the thousands each day.

Businesses are here to stay... much as they are in Hong Kong and Singapore also...

[katoeylover]

Singapore and HK seem to be the centre for Financial Industries whereaes Thailand is centre for Manufacturing and Industry.

[Stewart]

seems that many multinationals would bring in extrapats to Thailand? I was always under the impressions that all of them put the Asia bases in either HK or Singapore, and now, all in the process of moving to Shanghai .... am I wrong?

Yes and no. What do you mean by 'base'. Most western mnc's will have traditionally put their Asian Regional HQ in HK or Spore, but will still have operations in many Asian countries.

Spore still strong in high-end manufacturing, but the real volume and low cost stuff mostly has gone to China.

[mardhi]

The simple way of answering this, at least in my experience, is that SIN/HKG remain the regional centres for MNC's - however, Thailand is still the home to asean operations in a manufacturing environment.

In the crux of things Sin/HKG is the brain, Asean and Thailand is the factory behind the brain.

Cheers
Mardhi

[Snick]

What he said. But I will add that Thailand does a lot to shoot itself in the foot in that regards

By not allowing Voice Over IP Services to be sold in the country, they make it more expensive then Singapore to have a regional office or support center. The poor internet in general is also a factor.

And of course the unfathomable foreign ownership laws also hurt.

And don't ask about the banking system

[MARKUK]

i would say average admin staff 10-20k
secretary 20-40k
good sales staff 30-40k
sales managers 50/60k +
senior managers 80-100k+

myself i work here in security on an expat position so earn well, still manage to spend most of it every month but then i have no self control, 6 nights a week on the beer and women takes its toll on your wallet!

[moe666]

I get a weekly listing of busibesses for sale this covers bars, salons, travel agencies, video renatal stores, and factories, They will list salaries as 5 employees 30,000baht. Typically in Bangkok some of these people are lucky to make 6,000baht out in the boonies 4,000 can be the monthly.
Maybe they are fudging the numbers to make the business look better? A friend works in a travel agency on soi see/4 she is still a trainee she is at 10,000baht a month.
It is the same as the states if you work for a big business you will probly make in the upper areas, if for a small local business you make shit.

[stogie bear]

I get a weekly listing of busibesses for sale this covers bars, salons, travel agencies, video renatal stores, and factories...

This is unskilled labour and as with the rest of the world it only applies to students, drop outs and losers or stupid people, so these should'nt really be taken into account in the grand scheme of things. Almost all unskilled labour is paid at the minimum wage (or slightly more or less) in any country and Thailand is nio exception.

[mardhi]

A good late 20's travel agent will be earning between 20-35k month for a 5 day week with holidays, full benefits etc. The travel industry is actually one of the better paying jobs in Thailand. However you must read, write & speak English in order to use the computer res systems as they are all in English.

Cheers
Mardhi

[Guest]

As this is my job, I can speak with some certainty here, as I've also studied it more than you want to know.

BKK, SING are the no.1 REGIONAL spots for knowledge workers in terms of cost, however, SING has a major advantage in language. BKK would be no.1 except for this fact. This is based on a combination of labor costs, but even more so, airline costs to other locations. Thai Airways is cheaper, and Thai workers, but loyalty is less, as are language skills and education. This equates to cost.

For manufacturing, there is zero contest, China is it. They have the labor rates, skills, and government incentives. Thailand is nowhere close.

India is NOT a manufacturing place, only s/w house, and due its rising labor rates and high churn rates (employees changing companies, thus incurring high training costs over and over), it is reducing in global attactiveness, year by year, but still very good, and the best for volume (1000s of employees). Vietnam is catching up to India rapidly due to the lowest labor rates in all of Asia, a gov't starting to open up, and not too bad education and English. Thailand is not far behind, and desired due to positive living conditions for foreigners.

To answer a basic question of why Thailand isn't positioned higher? It does not have a favorable, stable investment environment, and it has a reputation of...being on the dark side of sex...no shit. I positioned it as our headquarters for Asia, and was told nearly, these exact words.

FYI, I did global strategy on this topic for a global mutli-national telecom company (including Europe, Latin America, America, Middle East, and Russia).

[moe666]

Ziggy, also the one problem with India is infastructure, althought a friend of my was there recently and said it is improving.