Salary in Thailand

[Chocolateislife123]

My husband has been offered a job in Bangkok. He would be on 180,000 baht per month (that includes housing allowance) and health care for him, me and our three children. Has anyone got any experience living in Thailand? Would this be enough? We have a 5 month old so I would be at house full time so wouldn't work. Our two other children (5 and 8) get tuition fees included in his package.
Does this sound OK? Or is it on the low side if he is the only one working?

Bump

If there are limited people on here, you might ge better joining a Facebook group like two fat expats, who are more likely to have people with recent experience.

Have you factored trips home? Flights for 5 and maybe accomadation. I used to come home 3 times over 2 years - so every summer, plus every other Christmas. And since I came for a month (or longer) each summer, accomadation soon added up. But Thailand may ge a better place to spend summer than the middle east - 2 kids I'm 50C heat was worth escaping for!

As a quick guess, £4k per month, after school and accomadation and healthcare, in a country known to be cheap, is probably going to give you savings - unless you blow it on holidays!

Yes, 180k is enough for a family of 5 if you have medical and tuition fees covered. Consider what you will do if you stay long term and your youngest also needs to go to school - would your package change to include another school place? School fees are comparable with fairly expensive day fees in the UK so would quickly impact your budget.

There are expat families in Bangkok on MUCH less than this but also many on far more, and lifestyle will of course massively dictate what you need to live on comfortably. Eating cheaply is easy but as soon as you want imported goods or foreign takeaways, you find yourself spending a lot! Cheese is expensive

Accommodation costs vary wildly but you would probably be looking at around 50k a month for a big enough condo or a house in a compound. In some areas or if you live in a flashier or newer building, you could double that.

Electricity is expensive, expect to spend at least 4k a month on that, that's what I pay for limited use during the day but 3 ac units all night. Again, I have some friends who pay double that! But water is cheap as chips.

Taxis are cheap and plentiful but school buses are expensive. I would definitely advise choosing accommodation near to workplace and school if possible; if not, I would prioritise school and have your husband take on the commute instead of your children.

Cars are expensive to buy or rent (although rental deals are much better since covid, they are starting to rise again). 15k for a small car on a long term lease would be a fairly good deal. A Toyota Fortuner or similar would normally be 35 but you can get better deals at the moment. Will your husband get a driver/vehicle through work? And if so are you able to use them during the day when your husband is at work?

The only other thing to consider is as a PP suggested - could you negotiate flights home annually or every second year? With a family, that's a big expense. Aim to negotiate for a cash sum rather than the actual flights, so you can use the money to bring people to you or take your own holidays locally if you prefer.

Home help (nanny/cleaner) is cheap and once you have it, you'll never look back!

PurpleFrost pretty much covers it all. Except s/he forgot to mention that cheese is not only inordinately expensive but that you only have a choice of 5 or six types.

180k Baht is ample to live with family here. Housing costs are down from 2 years ago due to lack of movement globally. Driving is crazy and expensive; for the vehicle, usually 2 to 3 times the cost of UK, Taxis and the MTR on the other hand are dirt cheap. Eating out is almost cheaper than cooking at home, and help for any job is instantaneous and cheap.

The amount of cash you have though is not the whole picture of living here. Sometimes it can be quite frustrating living here without some very reliable and honest Thai family / friends.

Cheese is insanely expensive. And wine. Two of my favourite things.
180k isn't a lavish expat lifestyle but if you adopt some local customs , especially food, then you'll be fine.
Cars are expensive to buy but not to run. If you live far from the bts/mrt you may find you need a car unless you're happy relying on motorbike taxis. The cost of the car would be offset by the lower rent.
If you live outside of the main sukhumvit or silom/sathron area, rents are far cheaper too. You could find a nice house in a moo baan for 50-60k a month or even less.
If you want household help, you can find for 16-20k a month full time or 150-200 baht per hour for part time
I would check the health care coverage. You want it to be good. Costs can add up in the private hospitals.