Living in South East Asia on $400 USD a month?

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Barang chgout
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Re: Living in South East Asia on $400 USD a month?

Post by Barang chgout »

phuketrichard wrote:
Kammekor wrote: Thu Oct 18, 2018 3:31 pm
Hotdigr wrote: Thu Oct 18, 2018 1:26 pm
Jamie_Lambo wrote: Thu Oct 18, 2018 1:10 pm
iirc isnt the minimum wage only applicable to the factory workers, and doesnt count for everyone in other fields of work
Correct I believe.
While this raise is only applicable to factory workers it will effect wages in all sectors all across the country. If 800.000 people in a country with about 16.000.000 people earn a certain minimal wage that effects other sectors and the way other people look at their work and their wages.
The 100$ per months wages BITM sees in the remote areas are history. Cambodia is an extremely inefficient country, making stuff relatively expensive. A lot is more expensive than in neighboring countries. That calls for high(er) wages. Cambodia is in bad spiral of rising prices and rising wages without rising productivity.
GF sister, no education, 27 years old works for a western owned hotel, restaurant bar near kandal market 6 days a week, 10 hours a day. Pay is $125 + tips.
Fair enuff, farmwork appears to include 8hrs labour a day and 30 days a month but it does often come with a roof and some rice.

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Re: Living in South East Asia on $400 USD a month?

Post by Jamie_Lambo »

Can still get food for 20baht in isaan... Image


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Re: Living in South East Asia on $400 USD a month?

Post by shnoukieBRO »

No doubt the XYZ number of beers will easily mean spending a few K Baht a night @Jamie.
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Re: Living in South East Asia on $400 USD a month?

Post by Jamie_Lambo »

shnoukieBRO wrote: Thu Oct 18, 2018 8:20 pm No doubt the XYZ number of beers will easily mean spending a few K Baht a night Jamie.
been blowing a few K Baht a bar in Patts the past week, its not been a cheep trip at all this time :plus1:
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Hotdigr
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Re: Living in South East Asia on $400 USD a month?

Post by Hotdigr »

Kammekor wrote: Thu Oct 18, 2018 9:46 am
You're close, but not close enough, minimum wage just increased to 182$. Add to that many Khmer households live of several incomes and 400$ ain't that fancy anymore.
Sorry maaate, but you are quite simply wrong. NOT sticking up for Trapper necessarily, but in this instance, he called you out and you were wrong. I know PLENTY of Khmer staff in Kampot ( hospitality) who make less then $150 a month. You often see ads for staff here offering $120 a month for a 6 day a week, 9 hours per day for around $120. YES They are well behind the 8 ball here, but there simply AIN'T no minimum wage in hospitality at least. Don't come on here and say "this is the way it is" without knowing your facts digr. Minimum wage is for factory workers ONLY.
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Re: Living in South East Asia on $400 USD a month?

Post by Bitte_Kein_Lexus »

Duncan wrote:
Kammekor wrote: Thu Oct 18, 2018 3:31 pm
Hotdigr wrote: Thu Oct 18, 2018 1:26 pm
Jamie_Lambo wrote: Thu Oct 18, 2018 1:10 pm
iirc isnt the minimum wage only applicable to the factory workers, and doesnt count for everyone in other fields of work
Correct I believe.
While this raise is only applicable to factory workers it will effect wages in all sectors all across the country. If 800.000 people in a country with about 16.000.000 people earn a certain minimal wage that effects other sectors and the way other people look at their work and their wages.
The 100$ per months wages BITM sees in the remote areas are history. Cambodia is an extremely inefficient country, making stuff relatively expensive. A lot is more expensive than in neighboring countries. That calls for high(er) wages. Cambodia is in bad spiral of rising prices and rising wages without rising productivity.

To add to the problem is the fact that Cambodia has no control of it's dollar currency, which is what everything is valued in at the import and export destinations and the salaries paid. Just because the USA has a booming economy and a strong dollar does not mean the Cambodian economy will follow.
Just wait two or three more years until the US economy plummets (along with the dollar), and I'm very curious what'll happen here.

Anyways, as mentioned, the days of $100/month are gone, even for unskilled labour. There are definitely people still making around that, but they're a relatively small minority, even in the countryside.


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Re: Living in South East Asia on $400 USD a month?

Post by oopsfermi »

Jamie_Lambo wrote: Thu Oct 18, 2018 8:02 pm Can still get food for 20baht in isaan... Image


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But then he's bragging about drinking a Leo, which takes the 20 baht bill up north of 100.
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Re: Living in South East Asia on $400 USD a month?

Post by Jamie_Lambo »

oopsfermi wrote: Fri Oct 19, 2018 1:25 am
Jamie_Lambo wrote: Thu Oct 18, 2018 8:02 pm Can still get food for 20baht in isaan... Image


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But then he's bragging about drinking a Leo, which takes the 20 baht bill up north of 100.
i posted it because a number of people were saying the 30 baht meals are long gone and all thai meals are 40baht+
was just pointing out that in some places it could still be found
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Re: Living in South East Asia on $400 USD a month?

Post by Kung-fu Hillbilly »

Going native in many places can take monthly costs to ridiculously low levels without it being unbearable. You can live in a one bedroom local apartment just out of Pokhara, Nepal, for $50 with reliable internet at $20, very cheap local food for home cooking which still leaves plenty for smokes, coffees and an occasional meal out bringing your total spend to under $250 a month. Yogya/Solo in Indonesia is also a place where it's still possible to live very cheaply while not being completely removed from society. Parts of India (Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gokarna, for me) can still be done dirt cheap which will be one reason I'm returning again in July next year for a six month stint.

As a single guy, a very fulfilling and engaging life can be had all over the region for peanuts if you want it. The older I get the more I find myself gravitating toward it with pleasure.
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Re: Living in South East Asia on $400 USD a month?

Post by Kammekor »

Hotdigr wrote: Thu Oct 18, 2018 8:54 pm
Kammekor wrote: Thu Oct 18, 2018 9:46 am
You're close, but not close enough, minimum wage just increased to 182$. Add to that many Khmer households live of several incomes and 400$ ain't that fancy anymore.
Sorry maaate, but you are quite simply wrong. NOT sticking up for Trapper necessarily, but in this instance, he called you out and you were wrong. I know PLENTY of Khmer staff in Kampot ( hospitality) who make less then $150 a month. You often see ads for staff here offering $120 a month for a 6 day a week, 9 hours per day for around $120. YES They are well behind the 8 ball here, but there simply AIN'T no minimum wage in hospitality at least. Don't come on here and say "this is the way it is" without knowing your facts digr. Minimum wage is for factory workers ONLY.
You didn't bother to read my other post about the minimum wage and its' effects, but you can look it up if you want.

I simply don't know nobody working full time for a 100$ salary, and that includes hospitality. The fact BITM was told by one staff in a Kampong Cham guesthouse about a 100$ salary is one story. The staff might earn a 100$, BITM might have misunderstood, the staff might have lied hoping for some tip, maybe staff worked for family, I don't know.

After going through this thread yesterday I checked with the girls working in the coffeeshop 5km from my house I sometimes visit. Salary well north of a 100 plus some extras.

You know bunches of Cambodians on a 100$ salary?
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