Looking for IT work in Thailand

[haze69uk]

Hi All

I'm looking for work in Thailand or SE Asia, as life back in London after living abroad for so long is giving me the arsehole.
I'm CompTIA A+ certified, studying the N+ at the moment and after that will be starting the CISCO CCNA, and following that with the CCNP.
Can any of the guys that live in Thailand offer any suggestions for job notice boards, expat forums, recruitment agencies, or direct emails addresses that might help me in my quest to get back to Asia.
I previously spent 5 years in Indonesia as an English teacher, but i found it more of a job than a career, hence the study. That said if an English school would take me over there i might consider it as a stepping stone just to help me get in the IT loop over there, (it's much easier trying to find a job when you live in that country rather than over the net) but i don't have a BA degree, and in the past that was a stumbling block to getting a teaching job worth having.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

Haze

[Snick]

Your best bet is to line up some work in your home country that you can do remotely.
You can volunteer to take the 'night shift'.

Another option is to look for a job in Singapore or Hong Kong.

Thai companies are cheap and can not afford to pay you a 'good' wage, also you do NOT want a Thai as your boss.

[BAM]

Maybe you can help out the Pattaya Marriott Hotel. When I spoke to their IT manager on the phone to ask why they had closed off the VPN ports on me the guy didn€™t have the slightest clue what I was talking about. This guy was so clueless he was still trying to figure out why an RJ45 won€™t fit in a telephone jack. Lucky for me I had an Open VPN server available too.

[stogie bear]

What salary are you prepared to work for? It had better be low and you better speak Thai if you want to work in computers in Thailand!

Unfortunately you don't have anything to offer and what you do have can be done easily by a well trained young Thai graduate who will work 70 hours a week for 500 bucks a month.

All your experience and qualifications don't mean a thing to anyone here. They will want to know if you can keep a network running and fix the photocopier for less than a bowl of peanuts every few hours.

If you want to work in your field then stay where you are. If you want to work in Thailand move here and teach English...

You can't have it both ways.

[swaraj]

Couldn't agree more. You may well have a much better chance of finding work in Cambodia, but the pay will be the pits. You either want to go for it out here or you dont, forget the (your) cash situation.

[haze69uk]

Thanks for the feedback guys.
Whats the crack with teaching in Thailand then? As I mentioned before i have 5 years experience in that field, but i dunno if my lack of a bachelor degree will hold me back. On all the TEFL internet sites that seems to be a must.
It was the same in Indonesia, to appease the government department that dealt with the work visas, not the school. But the school accountant would just forge a degree certificate, and fill my name in every year, and everything was 'Tidak apa apa.'
Is there a similar situation in Thailand with English language schools?
If so is that something that can be fixed by getting one of those 'life expereince degrees'? Surely 5 years experience , in a very reputable british council school, with gleaming references is worth someting out there?
Once again any help or feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Haze

[stogie bear]

You don't need a degree to teach English in Thailand.

Well, actually, by law you do need a degree in almost all circumstances, but the law in Thailand isn't something that people pay too much attention to.

There are plenty of threads offering great advice on teaching in the "Living in Thailand" forum or for even more confusion go to www.ajarn.com

[geezer]

As Stoogie says if you looking for a tech job (which all those qualifications are) forget it. They have people out there who are quite happy to earn a 10th what your on. Your best bet is to get a job in a Multi National and be moved out as an IT manager but even then your chances are slim. Our company has an Office in BKK but it only has about 100 staff so they have no need for a highly paid IT person from London. Our major offices in S.E.Asia are Singapore and Hong Kong but it's pretty rare they move someone out from London who is a techie.

The other option is to look at getting into development and starting your own business. Basically you need a job which you can do from anywhere in the world, I'm guessing starting up your own company in Thailand is not something you can do overnight though.

Don't stop looking but, believe me I've looked and the tech market in thailand is pretty small to non existant for a Farang. There is just not enough money flowing through BKK as there is London. Good luck with the search.

[Guest]

Hi Mate

A word of advice without being critical but telling you straight.

Your IT qualifications are very basic. A+ and N+ is for HelpDesk Monkeys.

Cisco path a bit better but you need to get lots of experience and high end Cisco certs not CCNA

A decent well paid IT job in Bangkok you will need a degree not for the knowledge to do the job but for the company to consider hiring you.

The skills you have are basic IT Support skills. Tons of local staff that can fill that role cheap. I work as a IT Consultant in Sydney and had to setup a branch office in Bangkok. We just prebuilt the servers and workstations and had them shipped. For 2000 baht for the day I was able to contract 2 Cisco certified techs from Samart to assemble everything and configure the VPN.

To do IT on a decent wage in Thailand you need some in demand and unique skill sets not easily filled locally. Something like SAP or NetSuite. Or you need to work for a large multinational that will transfer you there.

Cheers and best wishes with whatever you end up doing.