working in thailand

[fabman]

Not long to go now until i move to sunny LOS its reached as low as -15 c near london last night !

I'm a bit worried though about not having enough money. times have been really hard back here in the uk and i havent saved as much as i would have liked ..i'm thinking about doing a tefl course but am not sure if the work is still there or not ?
its either that or doing online computer work ( data entry, surveys etc ) i'm guessing thats ok as the money will be paid into my uk bank account ..

Does anyone have any ideas ? i'm pretty good with computers but not actually qualified in anything ( i'm just a humble cabbie here in the uk ) i know the work restrictions in thailand are pretty strict !

even an extra 5-10 thousand baht a month extra would be great

thanks for any help guys and girls

ps i thought the living on 1000 baht a day thread was great , maybe we can start a new one now, living on 500 baht a day

[buksida]

There is a section on working in Thailand on the Hua Hin Expat website: http://www.expathuahin.com/employment-huahin.php

Others will tell you more about teaching but from what I've heard they are clamping down hard again and increasing the requirements for farang teachers (nothing changes), a TEFL alone may not be enough.

Internet work is fine if you can get it, technically you're still working but providing you keep your head down and avoid living in a place where you're likely to get investigated (Hua Hin) you should be ok.

I'd wouldn't be too eager to move permanently if I couldn't support myself, costs of living are increasing in Thailand, exchange rates do westerners no favours, and the government are constantly tweaking the requirements to make it harder to settle - sorry to slash on your bonfire but I cant see these trends changing.

[Pagey]

Is having a university degree of any kind a pre-requisite to doing a TEFL course ?

I am not interested in doing it myself but I thought I had read that somewhere previously and if the OP is considering it................

[dtaai-maai]

Is having a university degree of any kind a pre-requisite to doing a TEFL course ?

No, not at all, but many schools and universities require a degree and a TEFL certificate. In fact, I believe it's a legal requirement, although one that is sometimes ignored.
The subject of the degree is, naturally, quite irrelevant...

[Pleng]

ps i thought the living on 1000 baht a day thread was great , maybe we can start a new one now, living on 500 baht a day

Me and my girlfriend are living on about 450bt per day each after rent/electricity/internet/tv are paid for. It's not particularly easy; and it would be a lot harder if that was all we were gonna ever have. Luckily this time next year that will increase by about 50%, and a further 50% the following year. But that's only going to happen if we stick to budget for the first 12 months (or my gf gets a promotion ) so we really have to be strict with ourselves.

The problem is not the quality of life; it's a far better lifestyle that I could afford on the same budget back home, it's just there's more things jumping out at you here that are 'within reach' but out of budget. The urge to go to a nice restaurant or bar by the beach, for example, as opposed to one of the options that are within budget, strikes. Or the simple desire to have some of the nice things you see as you're walking around shops. And if you're single I'm sure it's difficult walking down certain areas knowing there's things you can 'easily have' but really can't afford.

[kendo]

I wish i had the answer i am dieing to move to Thailand but can not see a way of supporting my family long term, i have only ever seen farangs move to LOS and loose all there money or it will become pear shaped very quickly when money pressure's take over.

I am married to a Thai, living in the UK with One daughter here, and two grown up stepsons that we still support there, but i don't think that even helps you apart getting a visa.

Kendo.

[centermid7]

Its often been said ('cause it's often true): Thailand is a great place to retire, not such a great place to work.

[richard]

The lucky guys are the ones that work off shore or away from Thailand for a few months and leisure it here for the rest of the year

[Siani]

How do businesses like real estate or cafe/bars manage to work that one? There seem to be a lot of foreigners in real estate? Maybe Thai partners or wives?

[richard]

Cafe/bars They don't work, just fund
Real Estate I'll leave that to others to explain

[Siani]

Cafe/bars They don't work, just fund
Real Estate I'll leave that to others to explain

I met a French chef you worked in the cafe? He said he could work but not take the money, whether that is true or not I wouldn't know. Also there was a Swedish man who was cooking his regional food, he was saying the same
I wonder what the thing is with real estate? all the websites show pictures of farangs as owners

[Lung Per]

It's all quite simple: As a foreigner you need to have a work permit to work in Thailand. The general rule is that Thais, understandably, reserve the jobs they have to Thais. Jobs that Thais cannot perform may be open to farangs.
This is probably the situation in your native country too, it provides work permits for people with special skills which are a in special demand and cannot be filled by nationals. And work permits for jobs where there are shortages of workers. In my native country simple jobs like dishwashers, garbage collectors, ceaning and sanitaton etc. are often left to foreigners.
Then again, this is Thailand and as soon as you get East of Suez there seems to be more loopholes and brown envelopes that do magic tricks.

[Siani]

[quote="Lung Per"]It's all quite simple: As a foreigner you need to have a work permit to work in Thailand. The general rule is that Thais, understandably, reserve the jobs they have to Thais. Jobs that Thais cannot perform may be open to farangs.
This is probably the situation in your native country too, it provides work permits for people with special skills which are a in special demand and cannot be filled by nationals.


quote]
"This is probably the situation in your native country too"
....certainly not the case LP, not in the UK
The UK seem to give jobs to foreigners rather than support nationals! That is why there are no jobs for uni graduates. The number of foreign born workers jumps 181,000 in a year - or 495 a day! Not the same policy at all

[Lung Per]

It's all quite simple: As a foreigner you need to have a work permit to work in Thailand. The general rule is that Thais, understandably, reserve the jobs they have to Thais. Jobs that Thais cannot perform may be open to farangs.
This is probably the situation in your native country too, it provides work permits for people with special skills which are a in special demand and cannot be filled by nationals.


quote]
"This is probably the situation in your native country too"
....certainly not the case LP, not in the UK
The UK seem to give jobs to foreigners rather than support nationals! That is why there are no jobs for uni graduates. The number of foreign born workers jumps 181,000 in a year - or 495 a day! Not the same policy at all

I give you that. The U.K. is really something special, perhaps because of its legacy from colonial times...

[Siani]

It's all quite simple: As a foreigner you need to have a work permit to work in Thailand. The general rule is that Thais, understandably, reserve the jobs they have to Thais. Jobs that Thais cannot perform may be open to farangs.
This is probably the situation in your native country too, it provides work permits for people with special skills which are a in special demand and cannot be filled by nationals.


quote]
"This is probably the situation in your native country too"
....certainly not the case LP, not in the UK
The UK seem to give jobs to foreigners rather than support nationals! That is why there are no jobs for uni graduates. The number of foreign born workers jumps 181,000 in a year - or 495 a day! Not the same policy at all

I give you that. The U.K. is really something special, perhaps because of its legacy from colonial times...

Well it's about time they changed their policies They have been giving India aid for years Forget colonial times I say...India, which has more billionaires than the UK, will get £1.2billion over five years..ridiculous! What did India do to repay the UK for its loyalty all these years ....it gave a £13billion warplane contract to France There are
Now I am off topic....sorry