JAFO

On 11/10/2019 at 1:57 AM, corkman said:

Mid range life style. Modestly well. Not reduced to sharing buckets at the khaosan road, but not breaking out the champagne at 5-star places either. A lifestyle commensurate with a similar professional back home.

The additional information above helps in answering part of your questions. Timendres makes some good points that there are always unplanned expenses that can add up quickly. Don't handcuff yourself trying to live too cheaply. I knew a few that tried it that way and in 6 months were totally miserable because their expectations could not be met. Give yourself some freedom.  the key to you being successful is being honest with yourself. You don't sound as if you are taking employment here to live in a box and eat noodle every day. Sure one could live in a 10k-15k baht a month studio and eat Thai food every day and walk everywhere they go but to your point you want to live a life in the middle. That being noted, 45k to 65k bht per month gives you a comfortable life in the heart of BKK. If you live on the outskirts of BKK you can probably shave off  15k to 20k bht. A lot would depend on where you will work and how close you can find a suitable place to live by it.

Salary wise you were not clear on working for a local company paid in Thai baht or hired by a company outside Thailand.  

Best of luck.  

Many factors.

• Hired by the Thai company direct?
• "Expat" living and working in Thailand for the home company paid outside Thailand?
• "Inpat" working for the home country outside Thailand?
• Expat on assignment or contract?

Lots of variables and all of them will have an impact on the salary, some significantly. Also you did not specify the field of profession.

Honestly hard to answer your question.   

As for living expenses, again depends on your expectations and where in BKK you would reside. Some will come on and state you can live for very little. Median guess with the limited info would be 75 to 100K baht to be safe.

On 11/7/2019 at 2:48 AM, moontang said:

The Absolut is commonly fake here.  Number should be etched in the glass.  711 might be safe, unfortunately mom pop might be unwilling players in the counterfeit game. 

I agree. I always look for the Import label but have seldom ever bought any alcohol from 7/11 except the occasional Leo.

16 hours ago, mrblonde said:

Sorry all I should of said, vodka and Bacardi  ????

I see 7/11's sell Absolut Vodka and Bacardi clear rum. They are fairly priced.

Villa sells Absolut and other top shelf Vodka's. They also sell a host of various dark and clear rums.

I typically do not mix. ????

21 hours ago, tyga said:

It is about good management. We don't have any issue with Thai workforce being absent or late for work. Like everywhere you just need the right work ethic and team spirit. Thais are very adept at doing long hours in what many in the West would regard as boring jobs. I have heard this from my friends in the automotive sector where there work ethic is compared favourably with many countries in Europe.

You are absolutely right. It boils down to management, work environment. Most that join are excited to join a bigger company because they get to work in an AC environment, Usually get benefits, paid holidays and bonuses. 

16 hours ago, StayinThailand2much said:

Why would any company invest in a country with uneducated/-qualified and unmotivated/lazy staff, unstabile government, lack of infrastructure and language skills, record corruption, inane bureaucracy, and backwardness, if they can have the opposite just a thousand kilometers to the east?

Because its not as bad as you say it is. Quite simple really. The companies I work and have worked for find qualified staff, they work hard, are paid well, treated well. Language is not a problem as most people speak in English. Most companies transfer operations here with little to no issues and in many cases it goes very fast. The only thing I would agree on is the unstable government but that has sense stabilized. Now I speak from a strictly business point of view for US companies that move operations offshore. 

But I can say that eventually Thailand will do like China did and price themselves out of the market.

7 minutes ago, BestB said:

why? why do not you tell us?

Pretty obvious no? Its the age old adage, the small few ruin it for the many. The news never shows the good folks, only the dregs that make big news. 

Just now, Olmate said:

Why not the good brands at 7/11?

Some 7/11's have a few selections. Its hit and miss. Depends on what one is looking for I suppose

10 minutes ago, sirineou said:

Question: just out of curiosity.

since your fiance came on a tourist visa, and then you got married in the states and filed for a change of status. Did your then wife have to leave the country and re-enter with the proper visa?

No she did not. We did a quick wedding and she immediately became my wife and after applying for her green card she surrendered her Tourist Visa. The only risk in that is if she was denied her green card and they proved the entire thing was a plan to emigrate she would have to leave. All went well. As we were on the up and up. 

On 11/3/2019 at 3:55 AM, bkk6060 said:

As far as any tourist Visa they are a big zero if under 40. Even then good luck.

Every last guy I know who has tried to get their gf to the US has been denied TV. Most, several times.

While I do not want to cite a debate, my wife (then GF) got a Tourist Visa at 37. She did it all on her own online, did the appt. The only thing I supplied was I would be her guarantor. Cost $160 dollars. We traveled to the US together. As it turned out I was offered a job back in the US while we were visiting and we converted her Tourist Visa and got married in the US and she stayed. We did all the paperwork ourselves. No need for attorneys.  Green card process took about a month, then started the clock to citizenship. IIRC the total cost up to and through citizenship was roughly $4,000.  The govt tends to nickel and dime you on app fees and such. If one adds an immigration attorney and you can probably double that figure and its an absolute waste of money and they will delay it because they make more money by doing so. All the applications are on the USgov site. Its very clear and quite easy. Besides if you do it yourself you will understand the process very well. 

1 hour ago, Kwasaki said:

Not the same.

How so. Please explain. 

Good Luck Elkski.

I tend to agree with Papa al. The test is unclear of the true conditions and whether or not the K&N filter was properly prepped. While I am not a Pro K&N guy, experiments need to be fairly conducted before statements of do not use a product can be stated.

There will always be a trade off, you want more air flow, you sacrifice potential particles getting by. If you want clean air then you constrict flow. 

When we Baja raced our Chevy S10, we used K&Ns and never had any issues. 

Funny thread. 

As noted, check whats the insured amount and that keeps it simple. Same in the US, why would I keep xxxx dollars over what the the bank will cover in the event of a collapse (Which btw the way is idiotic to even think it will ???? )

The rest is noise.

To the OP, $15K is a good number. I do not know where you are from but if you are from the US and use BKK they have an office in NY. I can wire money from BKK to my bank or vise versa for very little and do from time to time. I work and live here and am paid in Thai Baht so occasionally when I feel there is enough in our acct, I just wire the balance to my US bank. 

It really boils down to your personal comfort level. If you are here for the long haul, then manage it accordingly. If you are a part timer then I would only bring enough that you could convert and carry it back with you on the plane legally which is $10K USD. 

15 hours ago, Psimbo said:

Nothing to do with 'Westerners'- the majority they target are Burmese, Laotians and Cambodians along with other Asiatic and African nations. 'Westerners' form a very small part of the overall picture but like to big up their own self-importance on here. 

Spot on. Westerners have this belief that Thai's are out to get them. Its really quite pathetic to read these threads and all the self pity posted.

In the US when they made health insurance mandatory do you think those folks all sat around saying "Man the U.S. wants me out of here?, Where will I go. I cannot afford it. Blah blah. 

Laws and policies are always going to change. Its all part of a country growing and emerging. Its the price that's paid. If you meet the new rules you can stay, does not matter race, color or religion. If you can't...well then. Choices have to be made.

Thanks for sharing the vid. I have done quite a few GoPro Vids on my moto's here in Thailand and posted them and there will always be a few that will comment about all the laws you broke or the things you did improperly. Riding and cutting traffic is pretty standard fare back in the states albeit its done far more here. But that's life on small cc moto's. 

As for the vid itself, a bit long but I understand. I have done some long ones then cleaned them up or sped them up a bit to shorten them. Actually doing some in hyperlapse make for some good laughs.

Looks like a fun ride albeit I would prefer to head out of the city and ride around the mountain roads.

Look forward to more.

Painful process for many. Because of the nonsense I saw in the states with the gated type communities I always tell expat friends to avoid them here, especially condo's. Best to build or rent in a regular old mooban community and put in your own private gate to the house. 

We have regular garbage pick up and the govt sends road crews every month or so to clean up the weeds that have grown. Amazingly our garbage bill annually is around $5 . But the good thing is, you don't pay they do not pick up and the other neighbors tell the owner to put their garbage back in their own yard. It only takes a few days of the smell and they cough up the 175bht or so. 

3 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I've never known anywhere in the UK where houses have HOA charges

The states has HOA's in lots of areas nowadays and they are strictly enforced. If you let them lapse 90 days a Lien is set against your property until you do pay. If it exceeds 6 months the HOA committee files grievances with the owners and they are stripped of privileges which includes deactivating your access card to all amenities including the front gate to drive in thus forcing the owners to park outside the community which is problematic as most cars on a basic street get a ticket or towed away as they do not have a permit.  

3 hours ago, Jeffrey346 said:

Seems just about every village has this problem.

^ And Condo's.

People buy into them and then do not pay the HOA fees. I have a friend in a Condo complex that has been chasing this for a few years. There really isn't anything that can be done. The HOA committee keeps mailing the owners the latest bill and showing how much they currently owe and are behind. I do know a few that have had security chase them out of the community pool as they have the names listed by the office and mail boxes. 

To the OP, while frustrating you are gonna drive yourself nuts trying to get it addressed. I'd read the HOA rules that those folks had to sign and agree too and see what can be applied to those that are not paying. If the HOA rules are vague, just move on. It all boils down to personal integrity and some people have none. 

16 hours ago, BritManToo said:

I'm actually OK with what I have, stopped working age 45 when I figured I had enough.

I retired early too. Then have taken a few jobs for US companies for fun.  Wife and I have no children. Just us to go do whatever we like.  I have always lived well within my means and had good positions at companies leaving me money now to play.  

5 hours ago, at15 said:

The problem is most of these Thai people's obsession with money. A lot of people do not realize how much these people will risk and sacrifice to portray an image of wealth. very low IQ thinking. They could have zero money and still want everything in their life to be hi-so

And this is different from the west? Are you kidding me? I'd venture to say that the majority of the worlds population wants more money to show some sort of status upgrade or becoming successful and more affluent. Nobody wants to live poor. Sadly most people live way beyond their means.

As for the OP. Honestly this all sounds pretty basic. Like everyone, we adjust our living standards based on their available means.