The majority of Thai people have savings of between less than a month and three months of their regular earnings, in case of an emergency or in case they become unemployed, according to Suan Dusit Poll.
The poll from Suan Dusit University gauged the opinions of 1,229 people of different walks of life and of various educational and financial backgrounds in May, on the subject of “Thai People and How to Cope with Economic Problems”.
The poll shows that 48.32% of the respondents have savings of less than a month of their regular salary, while 35.24% said they have savings of between one and three months. This means that 83% of Thai people are at risk of not being able to survive for up to three months in case they become unemployed.
The poll also shows that 76.06% of the respondents do not believe that the government will be able to cope with the impacts of US reciprocal tariffs.
Meanwhile, the Association of Thai Financial Planners has suggested that Thais who earn monthly salaries should have savings amounting to six months of their basic income, or 12 months if they are free-lancers. The association also suggested that they should expand their skills to be able to have a second job.
A lottery vendor in Din Daeng Area told a Thai PBS reporter that he also doubles as a “Win” motorcycle taxi driver to make extra income and has moved to live in a smaller room to reduce expenses, but he still can’t save enough to enable him to survive for a year without any income at all.
Most Thais don’t have enough savings to last for three month