Thailand: The next BIG startup hub of Asia
- Thread starter Wicked Ice
- Start date
The numbers are a little deceptive. The country's average wage is about 10,000 baht ($333) per month. That doesn't leave a lot of cash left over for anything else.
I can see Thais booking holiday flights, hotels, etc type of stuff online but eCommerce for physical goods would be difficult. Considering the stiff duties on imported goods and the sticky fingers of post office employees and duties officers, you would have to write that off as a cost of doing business.
Credit cards aren't used by most of the population. Debit cards are. Also, there's the fraud issue. When I travel to Thailand my bank insta-freezes my account the first time I put my card in an ATM due to the high fraud rate in Thailand.
They should release some numbers with the percentages listed in the graph. For instance, a recent poll said that Thais, on average, read 1 book per year. Owning 85% of the eBook market likely means 85% of a very, very low number.
I can see Thais booking holiday flights, hotels, etc type of stuff online but eCommerce for physical goods would be difficult. Considering the stiff duties on imported goods and the sticky fingers of post office employees and duties officers, you would have to write that off as a cost of doing business.
Credit cards aren't used by most of the population. Debit cards are. Also, there's the fraud issue. When I travel to Thailand my bank insta-freezes my account the first time I put my card in an ATM due to the high fraud rate in Thailand.
They should release some numbers with the percentages listed in the graph. For instance, a recent poll said that Thais, on average, read 1 book per year. Owning 85% of the eBook market likely means 85% of a very, very low number.
^The myth of the poor Thai is simply a myth. The average university educated Thai begins at 15-20K and rises to 30K after maybe 4 years then tops out at aound 40-50K, managers make around 60-90K. This straight from a survery done by some international firm, forgot which one, I have the pdf.
The average is that low because of all the peasent farmers who in many cases use a barter economy.
The average is that low because of all the peasent farmers who in many cases use a barter economy.
Agreed. I live up in the swamp for now, and trust me, 10k/month doesn't mean fuck all to people, not even the drunk village rice farmers. Ok, maybe it matters a little to them, but not much.
Hell, just illegal logging pays 4000 - 5000/day. The Thai government only knows about maybe 20% of the cash that changes hand, so their statistics are bullshit. It's very much a cash based society, and obviously, not much of that gets reported on yearly tax forms.
Also I get invited on FB for startup seminars all the time, have Danish friend who regularly goes there to feed his gooro statues byin doing speeches...
They all seems really gay and I always been abit ANTI to shit like that sine it seems to me like 99% in their have no value or direction and are totally clueless. Not the best place to network..
They all seems really gay and I always been abit ANTI to shit like that sine it seems to me like 99% in their have no value or direction and are totally clueless. Not the best place to network..
Ummm, I don't really know. If I had to guess, I'd probably say more than I realize, especially the poorer Thais.
I know we've paid in whiskey fairly often, when someone has come by to fix the plumbing, front gate, motorbike, whatever. I would imagine it happens more in the villages, but don't really know, as I despise the villages these days.