How did you all do it?

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Viseman
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How did you all do it?

Post by Viseman »

For those of you who managed to make a permenant transition to the Land of Smiles, how did you do it? Did you save up in your home country and then come here? Or did you find work here? I am asking because I want to get out of St. Louis as fast as possible :cuss: , so any advice would be much appreciated.
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PeteC
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Post by PeteC »

There's probably as many different answers as there are expat members on here. For me, through marriage. Very helpful if you have a family over here you can live with in the early days. Then, I started doing business extensively in Asia and made Thailand my home base. No business here in LOS anymore but that's good as I can escape it when here.

For sure it helps if you have a bank roll when you arrive. Don't arrive broke and no job as you're looking for disaster that way. I think your motivation cannot be driven by your desire to flee St. Louis and the USA. Be patient and think it out. Pete
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Post by lomuamart »

Once I'd decided to come over here, it took me the best part of two years to get ready. I had a good job in the UK and owned my own property in central London.
So, saved, rented my property out and arrived on 26th April 1998 to run a bar - not so difficult to make money in those days!! The bar was sold after 2.5 years.
I now live off rental income from the UK. It dosn't make me rich, but my g/f and I have a comfortable life. One thing I havn't done is to sell up back home. The prospect of me with a really hefty wad of cash over here is frightening.
So, as prescct said, do think about things carefully and if you've got investments back in The States, think twice about realising them unless you really need to.
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Post by VincentD »

In a way, by marriage. I'd been coming here for many years before that, and had many friends. When I got married sixteen years ago, my wife would have become a housewife if I had brought her back home, so I just pulled up stakes and came over. She had (and still has) a good job in aviation, which is how we met. I've been with aviation for at least thirteen of the past sixteen years here. We've got kids, so that also helps. The fees for PR unfortunately, have now increased.

As Pete says, think it out. I met many people here who were running from alimony, etc to the point where I felt I was the exception to the rule. There is no safety net in this country.
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buksida
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how it was done

Post by buksida »

Good question. I'd been here once before on a 9 month travelling stint throughout Asia before deciding to move here "permanently". I guess I was young and stupid as most 23 year olds are, I turned up with not a lot in my pockets or on my back and looked for work. Met a few good expats that steered me in the right direction and picked up some work here and there. Pay was low and I struggled at times but the lifestyle was always far better than what I had in the UK so I persevered. Six years later I have a decent job, lots of contacts and a nice comfortable life.

Advice: Its out there if you want it, and unless you're already filthy rich it will be a lot of hard work but its worth it in the end. Good luck :cheers:
Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed? - Hunter S Thompson
Viseman
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Post by Viseman »

Thanks for all of the advice! It is really interesting to see how people from all over end up in one place. It sounds like with enough planning and initiative, I have a good shot of calling one of my favorite places home.
Thanks again.
:cheers:
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Post by Rider »

Remember that life in Thailand is not as cheap as you may think, before you up stumps and move out to LOS try and ensure a steady income from somewhere. Its easy to spend cash out in Thailand and theres plenty of 'distractions' and scammers to watch out for. Getting work is a nightmare with the thai system taking care of the thais first and the falangs last!
If you are cool with teaching english or scuba diving then you can get work this way, otherwise little else will be available.
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