Why does it feel like so many Westerners living in Thailand are broke? Thais no longer think of Caucasians in Thailand as wealthy. Today, many urban Thais think white guys in Bangkok are poor. Are they right, and if they are, what happened?
Poor or not, the profile of farangs in Thailand is changing. Expat society is no longer dominated by Americans, Brits, Germans and Scandinavians as it was just 20 years ago. Today, expat society in Thailand is so much more diverse. There are more Caucasians in Thailand than ever. There are more farang females both in number and, I suspect, in percentage terms.
Turning back the clock for a minute, I clearly remember my early days in Bangkok. The new kid on the block, in mid 1998 I was earning 33,000 baht / month base salary teaching English. I occasionally did an extra class or two which pushed up my take home pay to around 35K baht take home / month. I was happy with that in my first year in a new country. I guess 35,000 baht / month back then had the equivalent purchasing power of about twice that amount in Bangkok today. It was a decent salary for a teacher, but everyone I knew outside of teaching earned much, much more.
The offshore oil / gas industry workers, the foreign-hired expat fat cats and the IT specialists all earned many multiples of what us teachers made.
Ditto with the guys working securitysecurity in the sandpit.
Today Thailand is full of poor foreigners. Where once poor foreigners in Thailand meant those on the backpacker circuit, today it feels like Thailand is home to many broke Westerners.
The change in the profile of farangs in Thailand can be seen all over.
Real estate agents who deal with the top end of the market report that general enquiries and customer numbers are well down.
Foreign Chamber Of Commerce memberships are, as I understand it, in decline.
Where upmarket restaurants and bars were once dominated by wealthy white guys, now the customers are much more likely to be Thai.
normal!
exist.
Poor or not, the profile of farangs in Thailand is changing. Expat society is no longer dominated by Americans, Brits, Germans and Scandinavians as it was just 20 years ago. Today, expat society in Thailand is so much more diverse. There are more Caucasians in Thailand than ever. There are more farang females both in number and, I suspect, in percentage terms.
Turning back the clock for a minute, I clearly remember my early days in Bangkok. The new kid on the block, in mid 1998 I was earning 33,000 baht / month base salary teaching English. I occasionally did an extra class or two which pushed up my take home pay to around 35K baht take home / month. I was happy with that in my first year in a new country. I guess 35,000 baht / month back then had the equivalent purchasing power of about twice that amount in Bangkok today. It was a decent salary for a teacher, but everyone I knew outside of teaching earned much, much more.
The offshore oil / gas industry workers, the foreign-hired expat fat cats and the IT specialists all earned many multiples of what us teachers made.
Ditto with the guys working securitysecurity in the sandpit.
Today Thailand is full of poor foreigners. Where once poor foreigners in Thailand meant those on the backpacker circuit, today it feels like Thailand is home to many broke Westerners.
The change in the profile of farangs in Thailand can be seen all over.
Real estate agents who deal with the top end of the market report that general enquiries and customer numbers are well down.
Foreign Chamber Of Commerce memberships are, as I understand it, in decline.
Where upmarket restaurants and bars were once dominated by wealthy white guys, now the customers are much more likely to be Thai.
normal!
exist.
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