PAY FOR JOURNALISTS
A recent survey from the National Union of Journalists in the United Kingdom showed the average salary for a magazine reporter in London is now £25,440 per year. For a senior reporter the average rises to £31,535.
That's a world away from the rates being paid to magazine journalists in Bangkok. My own very unscientific study, but based on personal experiences from the last couple of years, estimates the average salary for a Thai magazine journalist to be around 25,000 baht per month. That equates to a mere £4,700 per year using today's exchange rates.
I know this is not a fair comparison and takes no account of the cost of living in each city. Thai journalists can live quite comfortable of a salary of 25,000 baht per month and I would guess that salary would give them equal purchasing power to their London counterparts.
1 comments:
I think it gives them far from equal purchasing power. Granted, the typical Thai and UK lifestyles and standard of living are different, but there are many things one might afford in a foreign country that 25,000 baht/month does not afford here.
I must confess here that I'm an American, so correct me on the details, please.
Many of the basics are cheaper in Thailand--food and clothes (assuming you're not obsessed with name brands, which far too many Thais are). Rent is much cheaper, if you're willing to live sparsely. But the amenities and space had in a typical apartment where I'm from cost a positively exorbitant amount here, for a Thai salaried worker. Someone making 25,000 a month has virtually no hope of owning a hope without supplemental income from other household members.
Automobiles are another thing that Thais really can't afford, but which they tend to buy anyway. Someone making 25,000 baht a month will like have their spouse or other family member chip in, but a typical car payment is 10-15,000 baht per month, no cheaper than the U.S., and because of import taxes, cars are more than twice as expensive in Thailand. A new Toyota Camry in the U.S. runs just over $20,000. Its counterpart in Thailand approaches the Thai baht equivalent of $50-60,000.
Even basic things like health and life insurance most Thais go without. This is balanced by cheap healthcare, but the cheap care isn't very good, and the good care isn't very cheap (i.e. not affordable for someone making 25,000 a month).
It amazes me most newly minted college grads in Thailand can expect to make only 7-8,000 baht per month starting. 10,000 is a good job. Graduates of the Big 3 public universities (Chula, Thammasat, Kaset) may be able to find upwards of 15-20,000 starting, but they're a tiny percentage.
Thailand is a cheap place to live if you live a very limited lifestyle, no kids, no cars, no homeowning. But where I come from, that's the basic standard of living. To meet that basic standard here, you've either got to love being in debt, or make significantly more money than the average Thai.
This is an interesting discussion. I'd like to hear input from others, but this seems to have slipped off most readers' radars (including mine until now).
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