The Numbers at a Glance
below ฿3,700/month
($47 USD/month)
poverty line ($105)
members nationwide
Pension vs. Poverty Line Comparison
To put these figures in context: ฿1,674 per month is $1.57 per day. Thailand's daily minimum wage in Bangkok is approximately ฿400 ($11). These pensioners — after contributing an average of 24 years to the national fund — receive less per day than a first-hour of minimum wage work.
Geographic Distribution: This Is a National Crisis
One of the most striking findings of this dataset is its geographic spread. The 673 people below the poverty line come from 69 of Thailand's 77 provinces — demonstrating that this is not a regional anomaly or a problem concentrated in one sector of the economy. It is systemic.
The provinces with the most documented cases below ฿3,700/month:
Bangkok's high representation reflects two converging factors: it has the largest concentration of formal private-sector workers (Section 33) who later transitioned to Section 39 when leaving employment, and it has the highest cost of living — making the gap between pension received and living expenses most acute. A ฿1,674 pension in Bangkok covers approximately 3 days of basic living costs.
The Voices Behind the Numbers
These are not statistics. They are people who made a contract with their government — contributing a fixed percentage of their salary for decades — and received back a fraction of what actuarial fairness would have provided.
"Section 33 for 23 years, Section 39 for 8 years. Total pension: ฿1,248/month. I live in Ayutthaya. My children send money to help. I worked my whole life to not need that."
— Registered plaintiff, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province"316 combined payment periods. ฿1,952/month. It is not enough. It has never been enough. That is why I am here."
— Registered plaintiff, Bangkok, at the May 12 Channel 3 MarchWhat Would FAE-60 Have Provided?
Under the alternative formula FAE-60 (Final Average Earnings — last 60 months), a contributor with 23 years in Section 33 at an average salary of ฿15,000, followed by 8 years in Section 39, would receive approximately ฿3,300/month ($93 USD) — still below the poverty line, but 97% higher than the ฿1,674 average documented in this dataset.
Thailand's Supreme Court established in Ruling No. 3307/2567 (2024) that using the Section 39 ceiling of ฿4,800 to dilute pension entitlements accumulated under Section 33 constitutes an unlawful reduction of benefits. Every person in this dataset has a legal basis for their claim — not just a moral one.
This dataset reflects self-reported pension amounts from verified members of the "Khor Keun Mai Dai Khor Taan" class action movement, cross-referenced against SSO membership numbers. All 673 individuals have registered as formal plaintiffs and consented to the use of their anonymized data as evidentiary support for the case. The full testimony wall is available at boonarayapon.com/voices/.