ajw1982

Hi,

Right now I'm in Bangkok on business until Friday. It dawned on me that now would be the ideal time to purchase some learning resources that I wouldn't have access to in the UK.

I'd class myself as intermediate. Can ready thai relatively well (Children's books... Manee, Chujai etc.) and speak to a beginner / intermediate level. Would be keen to get anyone's thoughts on:

1. Books to practice reading

2. CDs etc. to practice listening (not necessarily learn Thai specific, but as long as it isn't too complex and I can follow)

3. Where to buy? I'm staying at Landmark near Nana BTS so nearby would be good but can get around easily enough.

Any suggestions massively appreciated!

Thanks.

Here now... raining heavily. Looks like a good option. Some good suggestions. Thanks.

Staying in the heart of sukhumvit and keen to escape it so will probably head out as you suggest.

Getting on a plane to Bangkok in a few hours. Going for work but got Wednesday night to Friday free (before flying back to UK). Haven't been for about 4 yrs. not really sure what I want to do so absolutely any suggestions welcome.

If the OP is legit, maybe he also has problems if he's got to come on an internet forum to get advice while his kid's life is at risk.

Grow a pair, grab your kid and get out. Then you can evaluate your options (with a lawyer).

OP seems angry. Do you smile?

Wow... nice to see a positive thread. I'm in! 7 years, 2 kids... still saving for the grand return to Thailand, but overall life couldn't be better!

...but now we're all sounding a little bit smug

Good luck to you. I only lasted one year back when I was 23. Been back in the UK last 6 year's building for that dream. It's still some way off but it keeps me going! Hope it works out for you.

If you have a big printing operation then Thailand is probably a good place to do it, but if it's mostly sales then Singapore or Hong Kong would be a better bet.

The "problem" with Thailand is that it's a big and lucrative enough market to serve itself, with relatively high taxes. That means that to find good staff with strong English and most likely a foreign education you will be paying similar rates to what you would be paying in Singapore or HK. The key difference would be that they'd be paying 37% tax, rather than 15-18% elsewhere.

Wow... tax is that high!!! I assumed tax in Thailand was relatively low.

from a practical stand point you will have to employ 4 X Thai's for every expat you employ and be captialised for THB 2.0 million

so would say going to be tricky getting 5 expats working for you.

One assumes you will need a WP here, therefore you will need 4 Thai employees to start with + 4 more more for every WP

If married to a Thai, is it still 2 employess and 1 Mil?...not sure..maybe make it a little easier, especially as the OP would be looking for staff that are settled here.

Yeap..married to Thai national... 2 employee's + THB 1.0mil

If I were you I would love to hire 4 staff:1 foreigner better than married to Thai.

Probation 3 months If your staff isn't good. You can fire them and look at for a new one.

So what about marry with Thai? Do you think it's easy way to divored If you didn't want her anymore?

Haha... just to clarify. I'm already married to a Thai... 7 years so far and still want her

Do agree on 3 months probation. It's what I do with my business now and helps to make sure people are working hard to prove themselves / easy way to get rid of people who art up to it. Long term a stable workforce is crucial though!

from a practical stand point you will have to employ 4 X Thai's for every expat you employ and be captialised for THB 2.0 million

so would say going to be tricky getting 5 expats working for you.

One assumes you will need a WP here, therefore you will need 4 Thai employees to start with + 4 more more for every WP

If married to a Thai, is it still 2 employess and 1 Mil?...not sure..maybe make it a little easier, especially as the OP would be looking for staff that are settled here.

Yeap..married to Thai national... 2 employee's + THB 1.0mil

This is an interesting development! Could you clarify?

I am married to a Thai... so this means I need 1 mill (invested on the company or in a company account?) and is that 2 Thai staff per foreign staff member.

As a director / investor would I count as a foreign staff member? And how about other foreign investors that would be living in the UK?

Thanks... plenty of helpful info already! Much appreciated.

from a practical stand point you will have to employ 4 X Thai's for every expat you employ and be captialised for THB 2.0 million

so would say going to be tricky getting 5 expats working for you.

One assumes you will need a WP here, therefore you will need 4 Thai employees to start with + 4 more more for every WP

Thanks. Would happily employ only Thais if they're up to scratch. I suppose that's the challenge! What do top Thai grads (e.g. who've been uni in the UK) expect to earn?

I know it a bit of a long shot... ultimately I'll probably set up in Singapore. I know good staff there from a former employer that I can easily tempt . Just want to explore options in Thailand first as would be nice.

I want to move to Thailand to get away from being a money crazed entrepreneur... so perhaps it's better there's a little distance between me and the business.

Good thread and really interesting reading. Helping motivate me as well!

1. What level are you at?

I would say beginner / intermediate. Primarily based on the fact I've moved on from Thai for Beginners book to Thai for Intermediate Learners! Probably around 1000+ word vocabulary so still not enough to have more than fairly basic conversations and can speak much better than I can understand.

2. Can you read and write Thai?

I can read it really quite well... but honestly don't know a lot of the words (but I know how to say and pronounce them). I can write all the letters but I need to practice much more and work on my spelling.

3. How long have you been learning for?

Picked up bits and pieces and the basics over the last few years, but have started studying really hard this year. Based on a trip to Thailand at the beginning of the year where I realised I knew much more than I thought. This really motivated me!

4. How did you learn?

Thai for Beginners and Thai for Intermediate Learners books and audio. Recently purchased a grammar book, Thai Reference Grammar. Use Anki for flashcards (inputting my vocabulary). Reading Thai children's books my wife downloaded for me. Speaking with my wife and chatting with her family on Facebook.

5. What other languages could you speak before Thai?

Only English. Always been one of my biggest regrets that I can't speak another language, so now's my chance!

Hi,

Over the next 3 - 5 years I will be selling my business (in the UK) and completing my earn out... funding my long awaited move to Thailand.

I'll still be relatively young and don't plan on sitting around doing nothing for the rest of my life so will be setting up a business in Asia (on a similar model to my current business).

My business partner and I already have a plan in place and the obvious option would be to set up in Singapore or HK, basing myself as a non-exec. director in Thailand, advising an MD that I would install to run things (who I would be sourcing via my network of existing contacts).

Broadly speaking it's an events / publishing business... not giving my secrets away . I'd need content / editorial staff, sales staff, marketing staff and people to handle logistics. People who can do business in Thailand, but also across all of South East Asia.

Would be great if I could set up in Thailand as it's cheaper, I'd be living there etc. and could be more hands on (and would need to be as don't necessarily have the right contacts for an MD type in Thailand). I do know there are restrictions on foreign ownership of businesses (I have options to cover that) and I understand I would need to hire a certain amount of Thai staff.

So after the long intro, my question is this... what is the job market like and what is the likelihood of me finding 5+ intelligent, business savvy employees. Either Thais that could do a good job or entrepreneurial foreigners that are looking for a long term career (i.e. no jokers looking to extend their holiday in Thailand).

Would be paying decent salaries, with profit share / commission with a possible equity tie in for serious, long-term senior staff.

PS I know internet forums aren't always the best place to ask questions like this, but always interested to hear a diverse range of opinion.

Yeah... a bit too lazy to start messing about with parallels etc. Plus this option is free but I think I'd have to pay another fair whack to get parallels and the Paiboon PC edition!

I use talking Thai from paiboon publishing.

Has a speaking Thai and English function for pronunciation and both phonetic and Thai script entries with the English definitions.

A bit expensive but good.t want it on that

What sort of gadget do you run it on? Last time I checked there were no plans for an Apple version. I'm not buying any more

stuff from a discriminatory outfit like Paiboon, unless they make an Apple version.

Runs on my iPad and iPhone.

Yeah. Got this on my iPhone (it is great!), but needed something on the mac to refer to when typing text messages on my phone!

Hi,

I know there's a lot of good online dictionaries, but wanted a go to when offline. Not so many options for mac, searched this forum and a found a few options but not what I wanted... then stumbled across this link:

http://www.mactail.com/how-to/macos/how-to-install-thai-dictionary-into-dictionary-app/

Good solution. Apologies if someone has already posted this. Hope it's useful for some.

PS You do need to be able to read Thai script to use this dictionary.

I love the rational applied here....go to a prospective employer and tell them...I have a good education..I know my 3 R's....LOL

Employers these days rightly or wrongly are more interested in the bits of paper you have, and which school you went to..its the game thats played today...especially in Thailand....at sometime in the future you will need a degree to sweep the floors...

My last major employers (in the UK) preferred to employ on 'personal recommendation' of existing staff.

Most of the lower jobs, if advertised nationally, would attract 3000+ applicants with honours degrees, but choosing from them was always second choice.

With most employers 'who you know' is far more important than paper you accumulate in education.

I do quite a bit of hiring and currently have guys with MBA's and master's degrees (everyone seems to have one nowadays!) on minimum wage... because although they've passed exams they seemingly have nothing else to them. I've also got guys with only good A-levels or standard degrees making a lot of money, due to their drive and character.

The difference... yes, a good education is important (and I genuinely believe it is) but family, culture and personality (a result of the first two) also go a long way to defining long term success.

Ideally I'd like both for my kids which will probably mean sending them to the best international school I can find when I move to Thailand and devoting a lot of time to them outside of school as well.

To chip in here... I think technology certainly does have value for a couple of reasons.

1. I'm living in the UK and a lot of my initial interest and learning in Buddhism came from research on the internet. It also helped me locate a Thai temple near where I'm living (Amaravati) who also put their teachings online.

2. As a lot of teaching books are available for free and rely on donations it's helpful that you can put them online at minimal cost (without publishing costs etc.).

3. Monks on Facebook! It means that my wife can communicate with Thai monks and ask them for advice etc. (and I also like to practice writing in Thai to them). Overall I think this is a positive thing.

The one caveat... one of my biggest weaknesses and attachments is emails on my phone. I run my own business so feel I need to be "online" 24/7 (something I am seriously trying to change!).

So IMO technology / internet can be great for spreading teachings, awareness etc. but like anything it can become an unnecessary attachment when not controlled!

Thanks for this. I was actually at Amaravati yesterday and briefly met with Ajahn Amaro. I was interested in Buddhism for a long time, and learned more from my wife. Being at the temple, listening to teachings and my recent learnings are making me really determined to try harder to remain mindful and devote time to meditation.

I run events in lots of different countries and just recently did an event in Bangkok. I can honestly say that from the hotel to the AV suppliers it was some of the best service I've ever received at a fraction of the cost elsewhere.

Then again I have to deal with the UK "service" industry on a day to day basis so maybe my expectations aren't that high!

Welcome to the forum ajw. And all the best for your planned move

Thanks... and very much appreciate your avatar Looks like Giroud deal should be going through any day now!

Just on the point of family time, work and education. A good education may get your children a good job, but it doesn't guarantee a happy life. Having a happy home life is more likely to produce happy stable adults. No one wants their kids to end up in a dead end 9 to 5 job, but better that then a suicidal cocaine snorting, under therapy, 3 times divorced CEO of a multi national.

My kids are young and I promised myself that I was going to spend as much time with them as possible, while they were growing up. The type of work I did meant that with shifts, long days and weekends, quality family time was not an option. Now we live a simple life here and for all intensive purposes, I and wife are a 24/ 7 parents and I an more then sure it shows in how happy and well adjusted my kids seem Jim

Couldn't agree more. I'm currently in the "working extremely hard, traveling a lot, with less than desired family time" stage at the moment. But I've promised myself and my family this it's the means to the end and I'm out by the time I'm 35 and off to Thailand or the simpler life.

In terms of the extra languages etc. my biggest regret was not learning another language (although I'm half way there with the Thai now). Will definitely want them up to speed on Thai, then probably hobbies that I enjoy... sport, guitar, reading etc.

We're also quite immersed in Buddhism via my wife (just back from Thai temple in the UK actually) and personally it helps me deal with the stresses of life so I hope it's something the kids can get value out of as well! My 4 yr old son is giving meditation a try... don't think he really gets it and does it because he sees me doing it, but can't be a bad thing!

Thanks all. Genuinely appreciate all the input... a lot more constructive than the typical internet forum! It's certainly raised a few questions that I need to consider, particularly around money and schooling.

1. Money: I'm turning 30 this year and have a 3 - 5 year exit plan (sell business in 3 years with 2 year earn out). So, I would have a long time (assuming I live a long life) to support myself in Thailand. If i execute my business plan successfully I'll be heading to Thailand with a touch over 7 figures GBP. Some of which I would reinvest with my business partner in businesses of a similar nature to the one I run now, acting as a non-executive director and advising the MD (this is the curent relationship my investor and I have) and taking a salary on this. We already have a business plan for this, I can do it out of Asia, and our specialization is counter-cyclical markets so "in theory" the ongoing economic situation shouldn't have a massive impact (obviously things could be easier!)

I also have a property that I would rent out that would bring about 30,000 baht per month. Point being, after my previous impulse move to Thailand, I'm planning with military precision and have no illusions on surviving on a small pot that will last for event. I'm also not naive and realise the unexpected (medical bills etc.) can happen, but am planning on having a large pot to cover this.

2. Kids / school: children are 4 (almost 5) and 7 months so by the latest we move should be 9 and 4. It'll certainly be harder for my eldest but when I was young I moved around (US, Singapore) with my family before I was 10. I think as long as it's before they hit 10 / teens it's manageable.

I certainly appreciate that schools in Thailand have their issues from what I can gather from the above. That said, you still suffer challenges over here. My son's curent school (1st year) is decent but not great (30+ in a class), and there's an amazing Catholic school round the corner, literally 200 metres from my house, but he can't get in yet as we're not Catholic and most places are reserved for them (even though it's still majority funded by my taxes). From what I can see... and I will listen to what you guys have said and research more... I think some of these schools could do a suitable job (vs. English state school - or at least equal to).

I also don't want to give the impression that Thailand is the perfect dream land where my kids will be running free and full of joy, so to speak. But in part it's about me having the time to spend with them (currently I'm working my nuts off to live this dream... so please don't shatter it entirely... just constructive input )

Anyway, sorry for long response, but this thread has genuinely provided me with a lot of good insights and food for thought.

Cheers,

Alex

Reading a little between the lines, my feeling is that, you want to give your kids a quality life.

Ofcourse good schooling is a part of that, but only a part. My feeling is if you choose one of "real" and expensive schools mentioned here, both you and your kids are going to be part of the ratrace, that it my understanding, that you are trying to get away from by moving here. Pick a "normal" good school and see where it takes you. Here in Hua Hin Check out Salasian School, A Catholic run school, where most students are Bhuddist ! It is a private school, but not very expensive and in all my years here, I have never heard anything negative from the expatparents having their kids there, some who easyly could afford the more "hi-so" Somtawin. No I am not a shareholder

That's exactly what's between the lines Thanks!

My son's curent school (1st year) is decent but not great (30+ in a class)

Off topic a little, but if your son is in a class of over 30, i'd be questioning it, as they are limited by statute to 30 maximum.

Good luck to you in your future move....

Will actually look into that! He's in reception (KS1) next year. I guess they know the laws so are probably bang on 30. It just annoyed me that his school seems to be the dumping ground for anyone who isn't CoE or Catholic for the good schools around where I live (they build another pre-fab classroom and added another class to his year last minute!)

With a touch over 7 figures GBP as u mentioned you shouldnt have any problems in choosing what u want property or education wise , best of luck to you n your family , cant beat a good plan im doing similar

Thanks, and best of luck to you as well!