Expat salary adjustment for cost/standard of living

[sherwho]

Hi, I am from India have been shuttling to Bkk for work for quite a while. 

I would be relocating to my company's Thai branch in a couple of month, and I am about to have some kind of salary discussion with the management. 

 

I was trying to work out some numbers to justify what would be an equivalent good salary in THB compared to my salary in India. 

 

I have asked around and understand that 2-3 times higher in Thailand is the general opinion however I want some references or more logical approach to it to be able to justify better numbers in case I am provided a bad deal. 

 

I have looked into it in two ways

a) looking at cost of living comparison at a site like numbeo.com here : https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=India&country2=Thailand&city1=Bangalore&city2=Bangkok

(this shows that for maintaining a similar standard of living for every 1 INR in India, I need 1.02 THB in Thailand)

 

b) to compare the difference between median salary for a variety of jobs in line with my job (Business Development, Sales, Marketing, Finance, etc) in India vs Thailand from payscale.com. 

something like this

BD Manager in India : https://www.payscale.com/research/IN/Job=Business_Development_Manager/Salary 

BD Manager in Thailand: https://www.payscale.com/research/TH/Job=Business_Development_Manager/Salary 

(I have done such salary comparison for a variety of roles I could think of which my job kinda covers and over 10-15 odd such jobs, the average difference was coming out at that for 1 INR in India, similar job gets paid 1.53 THB in Thailand. )

 

Now these two are quite a bit different numbers and I was hoping to see if anyone on the forum had done similar analysis. Expecting the same case as mine of shifting from India to Thailand might be too much to expect or hope for, but I am sure most expats would have to look at similar things at some point of time. 

 

I would highly appreciate if members here can give their view on how to approach this in a better way. 

 

This being my first post here, feel free to let me know if I am breaking any forum rules or should modify this post somehow. 

 

Thanks ! 

 

[Scottjouro]

A quick look at cost of living in Mumbai which would be a comparable city to BKK indicates a comfortable living level of  around USD 700 c.a THB 23000/m, one suspects for BKK you would need to be at the THB 35k to THB 40k level

 

https://www.quora.com/Can-somebody-write-the-distribution-of-cost-of-living-in-Mumbai-for-an-average-Indian-Primarily-electricity-house-rent-gas-water-groceries-and-dining-distribution-for-1-BHK-furnished-And-what-all-things-does-a-furnished-BHK-include

 

 

 

 

[markeewan]

It is not just comparing the two jobs and relative standards, there is also an inconvenience factor of having to relocate. So you should at least expect a higher salary for two years before reverting to a Bangkok salary for that position.

[DjChris28]

Do what I did when comparing Thailand to Australia.

 

Work out what you typically spend back home in India and what quality you get (It needs to match the quality). Then look at how much you are left with (Back in India after that lifestyle).

 

In Thailand, you need to be able to pay for the same lifestyle as in India and also be able to save as much as you could in India. I have a big Excel Document full for formulas that works it out for me for my lifestyle.

 

So your final after tax amoun tper month is to cover the same lifestyle as back home and also to cover your savings (THB back to rupees)

 

For example for myself (I live spoiled):

For me, I live in the CBD in a 1 bedroom apartment. (in Bangkok, this is about 30K for same quality)

I also eat out both lunch and dinner and don't eat breakfast and eat out at restuarants (About 25k a month in Bangkok, street food is not equal to this quality level, 100-150 baht for lunch, 600-800 baht mid quality restaurant with entree included)

I also pay my bills (1800 baht per month electricity, 100 baht per month water, 1200 transport, 1068 baht fibre internet)

 

In Australia, I get $1530 after tax. I pay $400 per week for rent in CBD. I pay $385 per week for restaurants and also bills. I walk to work because I live in city. This means i'm left with $745 per week in savings as I don't spend much more outside this.

 

This means in Bangkok for my lavish lifestyle, I need:

30000 (rent)

+ 25000 (food at restaurants) (having street food only, this would be WAY off)

+ 4168 (bills, internet and transport)

+ 77738 ($745 AUD per week in savings at 24.08 baht per AUD)

----

136906 after tax for me.

 

Of course my thai employer refused to pay this and I resigned. But this is another story. But you get the idea of what you should do.

 

[Scottjouro]

4 hours ago, markeewan said:

It is not just comparing the two jobs and relative standards, there is also an inconvenience factor of having to relocate. So you should at least expect a higher salary for two years before reverting to a Bangkok salary for that position.

Well if the postion was a true expat packe one, then the OP wouldnt be even asking these questions, accomdation, living allowance and uplift would be already stated by his company, he wouldnt need to ask or negotiate..

 

On the full expat jobs i have been on

 

1. Accomadation/services provided 

2. Per Diem

3. 30% uplift on current base salary

 

Basic premise is your not spending your salary 

[Cricky]

14 hours ago, Scottjouro said:

19 hours ago, markeewan said:

It is not just comparing the two jobs and relative standards, there is also an inconvenience factor of having to relocate. So you should at least expect a higher salary for two years before reverting to a Bangkok salary for that position.

Well if the postion was a true expat packe one, then the OP wouldnt be even asking these questions, accomdation, living allowance and uplift would be already stated by his company, he wouldnt need to ask or negotiate..

 

On the full expat jobs i have been on

 

1. Accomadation/services provided 

2. Per Diem

3. 30% uplift on current base salary

 

Basic premise is your not spending your salary 

It’s not quite that simple, you have to factor in nationality.

 

I’ve worked offshore for multinationals, they base their expat (commuter) salaries on nationalities.

The highest packages were offered to US, UK, Australians, Canadians and a few other.

The pay grade took a huge plunge for Asians, so I would assume if you ask too much they will look for other nationality.

 

On the oil rigs Indians were paid a much lower wage.

[DJ54]

In the past expat packages were very attractive now companies are less apt to throw in all the bells and whistles.

 

You should expect a higher salary to make the move. Let the employer present their offer before showing what you’re looking

for. If their offer is reasonable make a decision if not negotiate. 

 

Make sure whatever the cost to make the move that you have same expense paid to go back at end of contract. 

 

You’ll need to make sure Visa and Work permit fees are included 

as well as renewals. 

 

[Scottjouro]

On 11/17/2018 at 10:31 AM, markeewan said:

It is not just comparing the two jobs and relative standards, there is also an inconvenience factor of having to relocate. So you should at least expect a higher salary for two years before reverting to a Bangkok salary for that position.

Thailand is considered a soft posting,  there is no "inconvenience factor" and why would one expect a higher salary for 2 years then revert to a BKK salary ?...makes no sense and thats not how companies certainly MNCs operate..

 

Tell me the OP is going to Iraq and then we talk " inconvenience" LOL

 

My money is on the OP has volunteered for the posting and is now trying to blag the compwny for more cash

[Scottjouro]

12 hours ago, DJ54 said:

In the past expat packages were very attractive now companies are less apt to throw in all the bells and whistles.

 

You should expect a higher salary to make the move. Let the employer present their offer before showing what you’re looking

for. If their offer is reasonable make a decision if not negotiate. 

 

Make sure whatever the cost to make the move that you have same expense paid to go back at end of contract. 

 

You’ll need to make sure Visa and Work permit fees are included 

as well as renewals. 

 

Expat packages are still attractive, except they are more selective as to they are handing them to these days

 

 goes without saying, moving costs, visa etc are included in the deal, why would one consider moving to a foreign country to work if these sorts of things were not included ?

 

 

[CGW]

On 11/17/2018 at 7:49 PM, Scottjouro said:

Basic premise is your not spending your salary 

That was always my main focus on taking a "expat" position, no point inconveniencing yourself otherwise!