Living in Thailand

Thailand gives a comfortable life more readily than it builds savings. Pay and the cost of living both sit around the middle, and though tax barely touches a salary, the margin that survives the month stays thin. Getting hired is hard for someone without local standing, and English mostly carries in the work built around visitors, hospitality and tourism above all. The trade is a good life now against little set aside for later.

Thailand is a regional magnet for migrant labor: about 2.9M foreign-born residents live there, the world's 23rd-largest immigrant population, and arrivals come overwhelmingly from neighboring Myanmar, which accounts for roughly 1.7M on its own, with Cambodia and Laos next. The foreign-born count has grown 17% over the past decade. Thailand's own diaspora of 1.2M is far smaller, leaving the country a clear net receiver.