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Posts posted by Iquot70
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3 minutes ago, tryasimight said:
Sounds like a quality hotel.
Not really. Large hotel can pay much more for a GM, even Thai national. My assistant, executive sous-chef, take almost that salary, although with probably less benefits. He's Thai. Hotel we work is not big at all, just 146 rooms. In Phuket there are hotels with 650 rooms and more, salaries are normally directly proportional to the number of rooms when it comes to GMs.
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1 minute ago, BritManToo said:
Married the wrong person ..... you mean married a female?
Married the wrong person, correct. It doesn't really matter if male or female, you can definitely encounter good and bad person of any possible sexual proclivity....
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7 minutes ago, nausea said:Exception that proves the rule. Yeah, I know a few guys who had successful careers here in Thailand. I don't have a skin in this game. So what's your plan when you retire. I'm thinking particularly of some succesful English teacher, who suddenly realised at the age of 60, he had no retirement plan, and decided to go to Saudi to build up a retirement pot. I, personally, wouldn't like to be worrying about retirement at 60, 'nough problems worrying about my health status.
I don't think I'm an exception, and that's my point. Let me elaborate...
We are basing our comments on the assumption that the figures of this survey have any statistical mean, and that's the first huge mistake.
To quantify an approximate number of a certain category of people, you need to start from a significative sample, taken from the wider possible array of different variations. This survey was actually accessible to only a small portion of expats that have access to internet and read TVF. The accessibility to the survey and its platform, with its peculiar editorial style, already put an inherent bias to the whole survey, it simply depict a situation with is unrealistic and far from adherent to the actual numbers.
I don't know the actual numbers, so I try not to use expressions like "The most", "Most likely", "For sure" etcetera. As I don't know the exact figures, and I Repeat, the figures of this survey are NOT statistically reliable, I can only speak for myself and to a certain extent for some people I know personally.
There is a number of people who made a lot of mistake, a lot of wrong choices. I was writing about "Walking ATMs" farangs who married bar girls and ended up broken and often beaten too, you cited expat who didn't plan any form of retirement and now they're broken as well, so what?
I can definitely bring examples of people who made exactly the same mistakes, taken the same wrong decisions in pretty much any country on earth! I know a number of people who didn't build up a decent retirement in Italy, and I mean Italians! I know Italians that in Italy, of course, married the wrong people, who is not necessary a bar girls, but it can be an alcoholic or violent or junkie, or a combination of all those sins.
I do agree that for many people, the most significant activity throughout the day is to bray about their misery in Thailand, but I'm pretty sure most of them would do exactly the same in their own country and about their own country, if not, I don't see why they shouldn't go back to their country to start with.
To go back to the specific of my job, I can ensure you that most of the colleagues I know, people of different cultures, nationalities and educations, would not change Thailand for any other country as a working and living place. Not all of them, absolutely, I also know a number of chef who simply couldn't cope with cultural differences or language barrier, but I believe that they would have the same problems in many other countries.
In the end, I believe that under some circumstances, such as you general attitude, skills and expertise, working and living in Thailand can be as good as any other western country if not better. Said that, it is also a matter of own priorities, what do you really value in life, money? Good time with your friends/family? Success? Social position? You name it!
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2 minutes ago, nausea said:If, as a single guy, you can't live on 15,000 bt a month in Thailand, you haven't been here very long or you've learnt nothing. The whole point is that the rest of your disposable income is for luxury decisions. Of course, if you factor in a wife, family, pick-up, house, etc. the equation changes. To live the equivalent of a Western lifestyle you need a Western income - wife, putting kids through college, red wine, cheese, single malt whisky - wouldn't argue with that. The point is Thailand is great for single guys looking for a bit of adventure, and retirees (maybe widowed) looking to maximise the benefit from their limited income. Wouldn't recommend it as a career decision though, a year in Thailand on the CV looks pretty authentic, more than that and people are going to start asking questions.
I don't get the point, really... I work and live in Thailand since 15 years now. I'm an executive chef (which is a managerial position) and I had, so far a successful careen both here in Thailand and before in numerous other countries. At this moment I have a very good job, well paid and with good benefits. In the same position, in my country of origin, Italy, I would be paid sensibly less and with a much higher cost of life (a liter of gas, in Italy is around two euros, just an example). Need to be mentioned, that the pace of life and work, is also much different, where in Thailand I still have a plenty of time to spend with my family, time I would not have in Italy. Working in Thailand is also far less stressful than in Italy, obviously I'm talking about my specific working environment, but believe me, while in Europe the kitchen is pretty much like in Gordon Ramsay shows, here the day starts and ends with a smile on the face.
My curriculum does not look worse because I've working in Thailand, I don't really understand why you should say something so blatantly wrong. In jobs like mine, having traveled, worked in many places is a plus. In my job, and many others, be able to work in multicultural environment is definitely a plus. Working in the same place for more than year, is also a positive thing in the cv, as it demonstrates commitment and reliability. I'm at the peak of my career, also because I decided not to step further in positions I don't feel comfortable in, so I'll probably end up here for my retirement, what's wrong with that?
And what questions, for God sake, people should ask about me working 15 years in Thailand???
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2 minutes ago, tryasimight said:
Sorry I could only give you one thank you for your comments. Hit the nail fair square on the head.
I also entirely agree. I have three children, wife and mother in law to feed. Children go International school, we all eat, and every day too... Place a car in the picture, with all the expenses, a motorbike, because we both work and have different schedule, send some money to wife's family, send some to my family too and all in all, I can't even imagine to be able to pay all this things with less than 200k NETT a month, and yes, it includes some comfort and hobby, why not?
Thanks God we both work, sure as a faring my salary is higher than my wife's, but it's thank to her job too we meet the ends every month and we're able to save some too. When I was single (15 years ago in BKK), used to earn just a little less than today, life was much cheaper, but still I was able to spend all the money any way ?
I think this figures are realistic, 40~50 K for a long single might be enough for a decent life, maybe not luxurious, but decent. If you have a family and want to grant them a minimum standard, 150k NETT at least!
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2 minutes ago, tryasimight said:
No not poor...... Just bad at maths.
Very bad... Even assuming that he has zero utilities, he doesn't change/buy clothings, no telephone expenses...
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I'd also like do add that this story about walking ATMs is starting to get on my nerves! If a "farang" (I really hate that word) reduces himself to a mere walking ATM is ONLY because of his own bad choices. No one forces "farangs" to marry improductive partners (read "Bar Girls"), it's their choice. For what I am concerned, my Thai partner and mother of our three children works as hard as I do, not because I force her, but because she is a responsible and productive adult, law abiding citizen and caring mother and partner. Am I Lucky? Sure I had enough luck to meet her at a certain point of my life, however, the chances I would have found her in a Men's Club or GoGo Bar were ZERO. Again it was my choice, and only my choice to frequent other environments rather than just bars and clubs. I'm no moralist, and I definitely had my share of crazy nights in red light districts when I was single, sure I thrown away a substantial amount of money in those above mentioned amusements, but when it came to chose the partner of my life, I exercised a totally different judgment, which in turn became a long and happy relationship. I can say exactly the same for many of other foreigners I know, people who have fantastic Thai partners and spouses who don't treat them as walking ATM, and we all have the same thing in common, just better judgment....
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I think there are other elements to be considered. Thai minimum wage , if I'm correct, is now at 9,400 baht a month and I believe a lot of Thais live with that, how can they do it?
If I look at the Thais working with me, they are mostly in 20k range, because of service charge and other benefits, I can tell that most of them have their own car/motorbike, many of them is paying mortgage for their own house. As a foreigner that would be simply impossible, no way to pay for a car or house in installments, unless of course, it's everything under the name of a Thai. My point is that although the foreigner's wage can be much higher, it does not mean foreigners have the same benefits, particularly access to credit terms, which in turn makes their life more expensive. Plus, generally speaking, most foreigners tend to live by the standards of their origin countries, meaning that there are a lot of extra costs due to import duties or simply better standards, i.e. how many foreigners would go in a public hospital? How many foreigners eat only Thai food? how many Thais drink wine? and so on and forth...
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"Tour operators have to prevent accidents because tourism is their source of income"... And I though accidents should be avoided because people might get hurt... Such a naive I am....
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Not worried at all, although I work in the hospitality business, I do have a different market to cater for. Street food won't be banned, no matter how big titles on first pages are, it won't be banned. I just feel that once again, rules are made, then are not enforced, people keeps doing whatever they want and who pay the price is always the right guys...
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Competition should be fair. Right now it's not fair that some restaurant have to pay all taxes, be right with hygiene and safety, pay minimum wages, have licenses and restrooms and all those (costly) things, while other so called restaurants, often encroaching on public land, sell cheaper product just because they don't pay anything... This is not competition, is deregulation and is making life impossible for who play by the rules, while delinquents of any sort are free to cash whatever they want.
Same things with taxis, believe me, I'm not a big fan of them, but they are required proper licenses, even a proper attire. They have to pay for proper license plates and all the rest, the come into the market Grab or Uber and everybody is taxi driver with no obligation whatsoever. So the rules apply for everyone or not???
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5 minutes ago, shows said:
Who is Sam Khoury? What are his qualifications? And why would The Nation print such nonsense?
It doesn't matter, actually. Instead looking at the article's author qualifications, it would be a more scientific approach to verify his sources such as “The Mysterious Receding Seas” by Richard Guy. The author also cites other pieces of informations which are easily to check and verify, just Google any of the ancient ports in the article and check by yourself, it's that easy....
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I would feel safer in Falluja or Aleppo....
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I don't mind sharing my personal info to the Thai Government, actually they already have most of it, although they seem to be unable to put all that stuff together in a database. For instance, they surely know my bank account or my mobile number, passport, work permit, address, visas and so on, but all this data is fragmented and dispersed in their prehistoric bureaucracy...
Perhaps, with this new form (which I didn't see yet, despite I've been updating my papers regularly), their trying to get all this data in the same place. I'm not worried about tracking SIM cards neither, I don't really envy the guy who has to follow my steps or conversations, it's gonna be an extremely boring job... There is also some advantages, all this data would be (conditional, of course) handy if I need to prove my innocence in case of false accusations, no need to remind you farangs, how easy is to get trapped with some local greedy cop...
My concern is more on the tenure of the safety measures taken in storing this data. I don't wanna think what would happen if the wrong guy puts the hands on it...
Last but not least, it's plain simply annoying to be forced to write again and again all the same things, and that applies to 90 days stamp, work permit and so on, it's just a huge waste of time for me, waste of money for the Thai government and an even greater waste of trees. How many frigging trees has been cut down for all the papers we have to fill? It's everything in three or four copies!!!
My suggestion, which I know is just for the wind, would be to implement a database, nothing more, nothing less than what most of modern countries already have since decades, where to collect all this information to have them ready for the government agencies who need them. From our side, would suffice to keep this info updated regularly, on a schedule basis or simply when something change (i.e. if I change address or mobile number).
Honestly I think the concept of "Privacy" is overrated and too often confused with "Anonymity". The government needs to know where people is and what they're doing, it's the most obvious thing to keep a minimum of legal control. Privacy means that the government cannot share this information, otherwise is anonymity, the most fertile ground for any kind of felony.
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I have been at Patong Immigration only one time to apply for the 90 days staying in the Kingdom since this form is in effect and the form was not handed to me. I didn't ask for it, as I think it's the duty of the officer to ask me to compile it if necessary. Apparently they don't care much, so do I...
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Though I'm technically not married (no papers, I mean), I live with the same young woman since now 11 years and we have three daughters.
I agree that is simpler to be a father than an husband, but only to a certain extent. All depends on the strength of your relationship and the degree of maturity of both of you. My partner is 10 years younger than me, nevertheless she's a responsible adult and we definitely share the same vision on many subjects, from child education to the very meaning of life!
But... Same problem... When it comes about money we do experience those rare moments of fight. She's stubborn, I'm stubborn, she has her priorities on money spending, so do I.
Although as a foreigner my income is much higher than hers, she also contribute in the family finance and not in a small part.
After all this years I reached the conclusion that, at least in my relationship, the best way to avoid this sort of confrontation is to set common priorities, to simplify:
1) Set a budget for all the expenses which are in common, such as schooling for the children, food and other commodities for the whole family, rent, car, etc...
2) Set a minimum budget for your and her personal expenses, such as an evening out with your/her friends, your toys, her bags and shoes, etc...
3) Both of you must share, proportionally to your income to the expenses in point 1
4) Whatever remains, goes to the point 2, possibly in a way that both of you have a similar budget for your personal expenses.
I know that our toys (we're foreigners...) might be quite expensive, but in the end, peace at home is truly a priceless commodity. I gave up many of my habits to make our relationship work, but I'm not blind enough, to see that she also renounces to a great deal of things for the very same purpose. I trust that talking things out with her, talking freely about money is the key to fix all your troubles.
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Sorry to mix with you guys, I'm not from USA, I'm from Italy. I live in Thailand since 2003, got a Thai wife and three children. Since the day I set my feet in this country I never went back, not one time, not even for holidays... There are many reasons, life is cheaper (than Italy), things work better, believe it or not. Getting a driving license, just to make a point, in Italy is amatter of six months and 2,000 euros, maybe more. Here 200 naht (when i did it) and half a day. Averything depends mostly on what are you doing here. I have a good job, working 5 days a week for a decent salary and good benefits. Not interested on rent a girlfriend or cheap booze, but here, in in Thailand, I was able to realize, so far, all my dreams in terms of job, family and more. I'm well aware that Thailand is not a perfect country, so no other country is perfect, I had my great deal of troubles and stress, but in the end, much less tham in my home country. Perhaps is my life style that just match with this place, I don't know, nut I'll definitely stay here for the foreseeable future.
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Why don't you buy off the internet?
Thanks KarenBravo
That's why I'm here ;-)
Just kiddin', I really need to try three or four size before I find the right one, It's difficult for me.
Thanks anyway
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Red Wing has a Thai distributor.
Thanks Shot
Of course, internet is the first place I looked into. Red wings has a distributor in Chomburi, no chance to go there and try the shoes, that's my problem. I need to try before I buy, as my feet are somewhat "difficult" to fit in shoes, nothing so serious to require orthotics. I normally find usable the half sizes, between 42,5 to 44 depending on construction and/or design.
For instance, the good old Clogs from Dr. Scholl's, at the time they were built on solid beechwood, they were the best shoes I had the chance to wear in a kitchen and although open and without toe protection, they had a perfect grip both on the floor and inside, and the material was robust enough to protect my toes from the fall of the most common things you might find in a kitchen, including heavy, forged knives (Back in Europe, I used forged knives, real monsters over 5 kg weight, imagine if you let it fall on your toe...). Ironically, there is a Thai company that builds specific Chef's shoes, called Pangolin, but their shoes are far to hot! A day in those traps and my feet look like huge Mortadellas, not to mention the vapors that escape from them... Perhaps, more than looking for safety shoes, I should look more into Chef's gear shops?
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Look at this link under,maybe they can help you they make and selling shoes.
This is a Swedes Hospital inside Bangkok Hospital.
http://www.phukethospital.com/Health-Centre/Orthopaedic-Laboratory-Center.php
Bjorn R
Thanks a lot Bjorn
In the exhaustive list of service they have, does not appear any safety shoes, thanks God I don't need (yet) all the rest :-D
Good to know that actually there's something like that, you never know...
Thanks again
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Thanks Shot
You remember well, they endeed have safety shoes, but really cheap stuff. I'm looking for something better than that, perhaps something more specific for the kitchen environmental.
Thanks again
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I guess you're after birkenstocks that specializes in kitchen shoes. You can buy them at outlet on bypass.
Sent from my LG-D858
Thanks hansgruber
Birkenstock are well made, high quality shoes and although many chefs use them in the kitchen, they are not safety shoes.
Don't know the reason, perhaps it's because they are extremely comfortable, promote a healthy posture and correct skeletal-muscle pump, however they miss the elementary features I'm looking for: toe protection (no need to be for heavy falls), anti slippery sole, including on oil spills and the possibility to machine wash them. Another prerequisite is that they must be close shoes and possible with the fast emergency opening.
Thanks again
Thai woman moans on Pantip - my life insurance premium went down by 200,000 baht on withdrawal
in Thailand News
Posted · Edited by Iquot70
Breach of contract, in general it's stated in the contract that if you breach it, you have to pay something. I think it's the same every where in the world. For the other comments about ATM cards I don't quite understand. If you are eligible to have a bank account (means you are able to provide ALL the relevant documents, such as proof of address, work permit or other permanent visa etcetera), you can actually open a bank account, get perfectly working ATM cards, credit cards and even a cheque book. I speak for myself, I have two bank accounts on SCB and Kasikorn, for both I have perfectly working debit cards, never refused so far (15 years in Thailand) and even an AMEX credit card, the latter is not widely accepted but it still works on line and many other shops. To be noted that each debit card and the AMEX card, have included an inpatient insurance. Couple of years ago, I needed to be hospitalized for a bad infection at Bangkok Hospital; when dismissed I was able to use the insurance of one debit card (paid with the card but no money was deducted from my account) to its total limit and I used the second debit card to cover the remaining sum, and again not a satang was deducted from my account, full paid by both insurances. I don't know you guys why you always brag that nothing works in Thailand, but I am perfectly regular in my papers and I never had, in 15 years any such problem. I would suggest to make your position in the Kingdom regular, so to enjoy all the benefits this country has to offer.
PS
As I work in Thailand, I also posses a social card. I used it few times and it was a pleasure to discover that I can get medicine for free (Did it at Camillian hospital BKK, I actually didn't know, they ask me the social card and then told me everything was free at that time), and even teeth cleaning for a couple hundreds bath in any dental clinic I choose. That's something I do regularly...
PPS
I'm not rich, I don't have, not nearly, a million baht in my accounts, never had... Still I have two perfectly working debit cards and one perfectly working AMEX card. I don't have check book currently because I don't like that system anyway, however I had it in the past and again it was working perfectly. I guess you're in the kingdom with the wrong papers...