Thai locals indeed boast of a low cost of living at a very high standard, they have a high-quality healthcare system, a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, and good locations to travel and explore. Because of all the goodies that come with living in Thailand, it has captured the hearts of many who wish to set up their lives in a new country.
However, to live comfortably in any part of the world one needs a good job with good payouts. If you’ve ever considered living and working in Thailand then you must have thought of the salary structure; what will it take to live comfortably? Will it take a high salary to live in Thailand? What is considered a high salary in Thailand?
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The salary range in Thailand starts from 370 USD (12,854 Thai Baht) to 12,984 USD (451,187 Thai Baht) depending on what sector of the economy you belong to, and according to Thai international and statistical recruitment agencies, an average monthly salary in Thailand in 2022 is 435 USD (15,107 Thai Baht). Factors such as your level of expertise and skills will determine if you get high payouts in Thailand, however, as a foreigner you need to be exceptionally skilled to be hired in the first place and this is because Thai locals are prioritized when it comes to employment.
To at least live comfortably in Thailand it would require a budget of 1,500 USD per month. Living off a budget of over 5,000 USD per month is certain to land you a more luxurious life. In the capital of Thailand (Bangkok) a one-bedroom apartment costs around 562 USD per month, not including the cost of utilities which could cost more than 640 USD. Unforeseen monthly costs could sum up to around 600 to 700 USD. Living outside of Bangkok could slash your rent to around roughly 300 USD per month. Therefore, a salary that shields you from the above-listed expenses is considered a high salary in Thailand.
If you can’t afford a life of luxury it would be in your best interest to eat and live like a local as this can save costs the most. For example, eating out small or buying local food often costs significantly lesser as compared to settling for international meals.
What Is The Most Paid Job In Thailand?
Truth is you need a good-paying job to comfortably live in Thailand, to travel to the most exotic locations with breathtaking scenery and experiences. Below are the most paying job industries in Thailand.
Throughout all career levels in Thailand, Engineering, medical services, and E-commerce have the highest-earning job opportunities, this is a piece of report-based information by JobsDB (an employment portal). Although engineering and medical sectors are fields with good payouts, e-commerce appeared to be the only sector that outranked all other career levels. In 2019, E-commerce and IT appeared to be the most sought-after sectors in the Thai job market.
According to JobsDB’s Thailand salary report of 2018 consisting of several data from about 50,000 employees, the payouts for all career levels, as well as top management, manager, supervisor, and the officer fell under the same range as the previous year. At the staff level, the starting average monthly salary for an e-commerce employee is 21,787 Thai Baht (626 USD), while that of supervisors and managers was 35,885 Thai Baht (1,032 USD) and 55,738 Thai Baht (1,602 USD) respectively.
At the higher level, highly skilled individuals or those with long experience in the industry earned about 145,000 Thai Baht (4,168 USD).
In the medical sector, the average startup salary at the officer level as well as interns, medical technologists, pharmacists, and nurses is almost around 20,000 Thai Baht (575 USD) per month, same goes for the engineering sector. At the management level, for experience and expertise, the payout is about 140,000 Thai Baht (4000 USD).
This report also showed other job functions companies needed the most in Thailand in the year 2019, there are:
- Business development, sales, and customer service 17%
- E-commerce and IT – 12%
- Engineering – 10%
- Human resources and administration – 9%
- Accounting – 8%
- Marketing and PR – 8%
- Banking and finance – 5%
- Food and beverage, hospitality, and travel – 5%
- Logistics and transport – 4%
- Manufacturing – 4%
