dr. kc

I guess I am best off hoping my current employer will hold my wp until the new one can get it organised....

I'm flying with Phuket Airlines to Gatwick a week or so before you... There were still seats available when I checked the other day - costs around 28,000B...

Just wondered if any of the experts could offer some advice...

I've been working in Thai for nearly a year, and my contract is coming to an end at the end of December. I plan to move to a new job in January, and they will take care of my contract, WP etc. From what I gather, I have 2 options;

1) I get my current employer to cancel my wp and hopefully within 7 days get a new one from my new employer (which might not be straight forward as it could take time to get approval etc.).

2) I am heading back to UK for a week at the start of December - could I get a new 3 month Non-Imm B visa while there and come back using that allowing some overlap for the new wp to be got. Or would that cause problems for my current WP?

I don't really want to have to leave the country at the end of December to get a new visa....

Cheers

We went at 7:30 on a Friday at were in the high 60's... But they went down the line canvassing to see who was eligible for the drop box / postal option, and filtered several people out from in front of us....

Advice - Get there early!

Sorry 'theDude' for the confusion...

I started off by hiring a car at 14,000 per month. I realised this was costing me quite a lot, so I decided to buy a car instead.

It is possible for farang's to buy cars on finance, but it isn't straight forward (you need a Thai or Thai company to gaurantee for you) - I have my girlfriend for that. My car repayments similar to my rental was, but at least I will get some of it back when I sell.

Once again, sorry for the confusion - I read your question as

'can a foreigner borrow a car or not?'

I had a case of a bad stomach last week, which meant I went a few days... Apart from sickness, I'm with the Scamp - There's nothing better when I get home from work than to sit on the balcony watching the sunset over the ocean and drink a cold one....

It's not alcoholism, it's keeping the brewers in work...

Got a licence? Get a car! Either an international license, or a thai license... There are many expat car rental places - Q cars were good to me if you are around pattaya...

Rates from around 14000 p/m for long hire

60,000 can be a struggle!

As already said, almost everything is more expensive for Farang than Thai's and to maintain a standard of living comparable to home you either need some initial investment to bring out here or a wage in the 60's p/m.

Personally;

From a 60k budget;

i) Car around 15k - either renting at around 15k or buying a new one on finance (can't risk a 2nd hand one, and can't afford to buy out).

ii) Condo 5k - for the postage stamp variety, but at least the view is good!

iii) 1 round of golf a week - 5k p/m

iv) Healthy alcohol addiction - 5-10k p/m (depending where, when, and how healthy!)

v) Oh yeah, food (you can see my priorities) - 5-10k p/m

Thats 35-45k p/m without any 'extras'... I guess some people can do without a car, but I need one to get to work!

And your verdict was??

We decided they were pretty comparable!

We've debated at length as to whether riding a bike in Pattaya or being a world war II fighter pilot has a greater life expectancy... It's only a matter of time

Take care all!

Excellent use of my morning! Methinks the only way to get over around 550, is with a graphics program, but nice work.

I've got a PhD. in Computing - What should I be expecting in terms of pay / benefits etc..?

My GF was in a similar situation a couple of weeks back - (except with a little more money), and she didn't have a problem with getting the visa.

i) Get there early!!! They only give out 75 per day, and we arrived at 7:15 and got number 68!

ii) I went with her, but wasn't needed at all, except to carry the umbrellas, so probably no need for you to be there...

iii) Give them some evidence that

a) You both need and will come back

You have good reason to go

c) You have money to support it

It looks like you've got most of that covered, but I'd ask both your employers to state in their letters that you will HAVE to return to work here.

There is a section on the visa application form for 'other information', where you could write the information about her child?

Oh, and I doubt the language difficulty would be a problem!

Good luck!

Yup - no real problems there... Although you may have trouble with getting finance if you can't buy it all...

Sorry if this is slightly off topic, but it reminded me of one of my favourite douglas adams quotes from the hitch hikers guide to the galaxy :

"Far back in the mists of ancient time, in the great and glorious days of the former Galactic Empire, life was wild, rich and largely tax-free. Mighty starships plied their way between exotic suns, seeking adventure and reward among the farthest reaches of Galactic space. In those days spirits were brave, the stakes were high, men were real men, women were real women and small furry creatures from Alpha Centuari were real small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri. And all dared to brave unknown terrors, to do mighty deeds, TO BOLDLY SPLIT INFINITIVES THAT NO MAN HAD SPLIT BEFORE -- and thus was the Empire forged. " (DA)

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Incidently, you can't split a latin infinitive anyway as they are just a verb suffix (present tense at least!) - "Amare" = TO love, "Bibere" = TO drink.

As for split infinitives generally, it's been a long running linguistical debate - some are against it, and other linguists endorse them...

Sounds a bit dodgy... :S

On another note, You've been teaching here for 2 years - do you still have that work permit? You should have 7-10 days from cancelling one to get a new visa without having to go abroad... (I think I'm right on that, maybe someone can confirm for my purposes too!)

didn't he sell his soul to santa?

I'd figure you'd come under

"Employees with lower monthly salaries in other professions, such as teachers, can apply for non-immigrant visa extensions and work permits for employment in Thailand provided that they are able to provide an official letter of confirmation from a relevant government agency."???

Much like myself!

and what are the minimum rates again...?!

The hardest part is understanding the appallingly translated written exam...

What a great philosophical thread! Spot on IndoSiam...

gubeman:

Try contacting some of the Thai universities and get linked with them before coming out - there's a list of all thai uni's here:

http://www.internationaleducationmedia.com...niversities.htm

I also have PhD. in Software Engineering, and work at one of the uni's listed there. From my experience, research is not as well supported as in Western Uni's though, so be careful you don't get stuck into a purely teaching role (unless thats what your interested in). My contract is coming to an end at the end of the year, so I'm looking around for other options...

All the best.