Expats in Thailand - How do you survive?

[sai]

this is the fish box... so i can ask what i want.......... i want to know.... how do you guys make your money...... ?? i have a good job and all you guys are in bangkok..... still living your life....... what the fuck am i doing wrong? how do you pay your bills?? can someone teach me......?? or atleast give me a hint.............

[laputanegra]

save save save

[JaiDee]

First off I'd guess most don't have kids.

     The ones that do live there usually work as teachers, in the porn business, some other type of on-line job where they can work from anywhere in the world or if they were lucky enough their company had a position in Thailand which they could fill.

Most of the rest of us who read here {90%?} are held back by jobs, or family and kids we care about, so you are far from alone.


     Maybe a poll could be taken as to just how many of the people who read here are ex-pats already.

[Ivor Biggun]

I'm retired

[Foggy]

(JaiDee @ Oct. 10 2009,09:12) First off I'd guess most don't have kids.

 

Not an ex-pat yet but will be in 77 days.......Dont have a wife either... ... never really wanted one

But seriously as Tan said save, save save.... I did and have been single minded for this sole intention for many years and at 48 its happening...

Anyone can do it if its really what u want... good luck...

[PigDogg]

(laputanegra @ Oct. 09 2009,18:11) save save save

Stop spending on almost everything in your home country.

Then be prepared to live frugally while living in Thailand.

This means you have to be on the same spending wave as your freinds.

Sorry, not going to the local pub with you because I'll be spending 20 quid.
Most guys are not willing to live like this until you really couldn't give a shit about going to your local pub anymore.

[Bicycle Pump]

For most people the fear of being in an unstable environment is enough to put them off making the effort.

For others it may be families or debt or the golden handcuffs of a well paid job.

For the ones that make it and actually stay the distance we end up having different lives and different viewpoints. Our ties to Western tradition stretch and eventually break.

Young people can't afford to do it, the middle aged are too busy and the old are too scared.

Moving to Thailand is an easy ambition to have but a hard decision to make...

...and good fortune and happiness won't find you - you have to find it.

My life is perfect now and I hope things stay the way they are for the foreseeable future.

[Chuck Wow]

How to become a millionaire in Thailand?

Start by bringing 10 million....

[dixon cox]

(Foggy @ Oct. 10 2009,06:24) Not an ex-pat yet but will be in 77 days....

... and at 48 its happening.

Foggy, please could you tell me...  What VISA do you plan on getting?

For the over 50's it's obvious, but not so for the unders ...  

[Bicycle Pump]

Non immigrant multiple entry 'O' type.

[JaiDee]

 shhhhh..... that's supposed to be a secret  


         Forgot about retirement..... many of the ex-pats who live there in Thailand are lucky enough to have saved a bit of cash and retired from a real job and moved there, with enough dough to live the rest of their lives;  great news for them, but doesn't affect people like Sai the original poster here or many others who want to go there NOW!

    I first discovered Thailand at age 36;  5 years off divorce, and travelling through Indochina as a history buff viewing battle sights in Vietnam and Cambodia {no, really!}, I tacked on an extra week because I had heard so much about the joys of Thailand.  Well, duhh...... after spending a few days in BKK and Pattaya wasn't the point of living an otherwise- dull life moot unless I could do it THERE?

   But hell, I had kids who were just waist-high; a well-paying job with *benefits* and security!   something no Yank is willling to give up easily. An aging stepfather and mother, extended family, furniture, etc..... so even though every thought in my working day was dedicated to "how can I get my arse over there at least 1/2 of every year until I can live there for good'' it wasn't really an option until I figured out a way to live in both places as much as possible until reaching retirement age;  Sai and others may have to do the same.  You need to be patient also; everyone who reads here wants to just uproot their life and get it over with, the Big Move that is, but leaving loved ones and the life you know and are used to takes time, creativity and patience for it to succeed.   As well as money and a way to make a living, of course.

 My buddy Pig Dogg succeeded with some creative saving; Manarak is a computer guru in the Bam mode and can live anywhere he wants to and may soon make the big leap as well; Snick knows PC stuff,  Bicycle Pump also has PC skills and can teach as well....many others from this board have skills also which allow them to physically move there and you have to find those as well.  Working  a real job in the west which you can't leave and typing threads on message boards about ''how do you all do it''  isn't going to get you there, trust me I was in your shoes once and I'd guess most of this board {below age 50} are as well.

 So get cracking, find a skill which will let you live there and keep working with a good income; otherwise you will drive yourself crazy wishing.

[dixon cox]

Thank Bike Pump, no surprises, but thought I'd ask anyway

(JaiDee @ Oct. 10 2009,12:25) ... otherwise you will drive yourself crazy wishing.

Nice post JaiDee  

As it happens my own enquiry was because next year I plan to take a year out of this life and enjoy an extended stay in that life for 12 months, maybe a little more. No full-time retirement in LOS just yet for me.

I've been planning longer term for the future for quite some years already and agree with many of your points.

[JaiDee]

(dixon cox @ Oct. 10 2009,22:58) I plan to take a year out of this life and enjoy an extended stay in that life for 12 months, maybe a little more. No full-time yet

well, not full time yet bit a full year is pretty damn good!! a lot of people here would love that oppurtunity, I am sure.

After first finding Thailand and loving it like literally every other person who reads here, I drove myself crazy thinking of ways to live there as close to full-time as possible, but while at the same time maintaining a fully -furnished place in the states and keeping commitments to people who depended on me here. It wasn't easy and probably couldn't be replicated again in 2009 for many reasons, but I *did* make it work and many others here have as well. So for Sai the original poster put your nose to the grindstone work-wise and save your ass off, or try and become self-employed with a gig which allows you to work anywhere in the world you want to; which, of course, would be Thailand.

The only other option is teaching and that's kind of a low salary for the type of life you are probably looking to live.

cheers Dixon, hopefully we can cross paths during that year {maybe with PD?} for a beer or 2.

[dixon cox]

(JaiDee @ Oct. 10 2009,20:40) cheers Dixon, hopefully we can cross paths during that year {maybe with PD?}  for a beer or 2.  

Absolutely  

It's the people you meet which turn a good time in LOS into a great time in LOS and PD has certainly helped me to keep that mantra alive. I look forward to that time

I have 2 shorter trips already booked for the end of this year and a further early next year in the pipeline prior to my (hopefully) summer release from the UK. I would love to make it in time for the Football World Cup in LOS (soccer) but I'll have to wait and see if that's possible as I must make hay while the sun shines in my current contract.

Fortunately I have no dependants and I'm divorced, so my self-centred existence makes for a good start.

Apologies to the OP for [hogging] keeping this thread warm  

[Stingray]

(JaiDee @ Oct. 10 2009,09:12) The ones that do live there usually work as teachers, in the porn business, some other type of on-line job where they can work from anywhere in the world or if they were lucky enough their company had a position in Thailand which they could fill.

I think you have a fundamental mis understanding of exactly how many expats there are here working in proper jobs with proper salaries.

Construction, Law, Oil and Gas, Power Generation, Project management, Beauty Products, all sorts of companies and many of us get our jobs from within country, not being transferred here.