Vaughan Green

Get a few grams of weed and make yourself some 'cannabutter', then make cookies.

Basically, this.

Is there any way my wife can get a divorce that I approve while being absent?

This must happen a lot, she is the one asking for the divorce.

No money involved, just the legal process.

Thanks

V.

On 16/09/2017 at 10:54 AM, tso310 said:

Hi Vaughan

 

I retired at 60 last year after working my whole life in IT, UK and overseas. Outsourcing has killed the once thriving UK IT industry. I don't blame the Indians, its the short sighted accountants that now work for companies that is the root cause.

 

Many years ago I used to know a TEFL guy in Bangkok. He had a lot of private high end clients from some very large well known companies. What they wanted was a discreete way of bringing up their language skills without their colleagues knowing so as to save face. Perhaps ths is the way to go as I'm sure that there are many, dare I say older, execs out there that are defficient in IT knowledge/skills and would like to increase it discreetly.

Just an idea. 

Thanks so much for this advice.

The first hurdle I can see to jump is that I wouldn't know how to contact these guys...

I guess I'd have to spend the time out there and build my network first.

There have been further developments in my situation, everything has suddenly gone to pot, and I'm reviewing my options.

Vaughan

On 27/07/2017 at 4:53 AM, petermik said:

What a nice person you come across as "Thainess"...........next time you feel the need to give similar advice out on here do yourself a favour and give it a miss,the guy was asking for help not unnecessary criticism

Thanks so much.

He's obviously rich and not £36,000 in debt like I am.

He must be very happy... no offence taken.

Vaughan

On 09/09/2017 at 7:57 AM, jenny2017 said:

The Thais are very reluctant to admit they are way behind on the IT front. It stops the country from progressing, this loss-of-face, they will not admit publicly, especially to a farang.

 

She will learn English, and about Computing, and I, in turn, will learn Thai and how to speak to Thais in Business English, and "IT Thai", and also how to teach English, and make very good money while we do it.

 

 Please keep us updated how you got your work permit. 

 

    

Many thanks.

Maybe my optimism is a little misplaced.

I need to do more research, which I can only really do if I'm out there.

I will most certainly report back on any progress I make with this.

Vaughan

On ‎04‎/‎05‎/‎2017 at 2:00 AM, Phyraya said:

I am not sure are you still looking the room for your wife?

 

how long she plan to stay?

 

i am thai

and female.

 

i own one bedroom Condominium 

yes I stay here. Location is around victory monument.

 

sound interesting to meet new friend. And have someone help me share expense.

 

But on weekend sometimes my friend, female, will come to stay here because she work for English  language school at Chidlom. And her home so far.

 

Sometimes we have cooking party.

if your wife love cooking is perfect.

 

if you interested 8,000 THB all included is  acceptable price for me

 

Because generally room same mine in this building they rent out around 18,000 per month without internet and other bills.

 

 

View from my room.

 

Here have nice facilities such as 2-pools this is one of pools on top floor.

Hello Phyraya

Your apartment looks fantastic!

Sorry to be so late replying to you. Unfortunately my wife's circumstances have changed now, she has had a lot of problems come up in her life and I will be going out to Thailand to live with her for a while.

I hope you found someone else to share with you.

Kind regards

Vaughan

OK, one year on... my job here in the UK has finished and I am now in a position to spend time out in Bangkok settling in and making contacts.

Last time I went over back in April, I paid a visit to the Microsoft Offices. The receptionist spoke no English, and I was surprised to see no westerners there.

I introduced myself in a polite and positive fashion (as one would in the UK or anywhere in Europe)  and asked the bloke who eventually shuffled out from an office if he could give me a list of Microsoft partners in the city.

He looked at me contemptuously and said "I believe our sales people may have such a list, but I doubt they would share it with you".

So, I walked out of there pretty disheartened, to say the least. It seems that they want jobs for Thais only, and are completely against any farangs wanting to come in and help them out. This would seem to me to be a pretty destructive and negative attitude, and I wonder if the guys at Redmond area aware of how their products are being promoted in other countries.

2 minutes ago, Rc2702 said:

If you need more options you can get a room at MN place with a communal pool which is pretty central with nearest BTS being Bang Chak. (12THB motorbike taxi ride to BTS) room is adequate with shower and balcony. 5k a month excluding utilities. MN place is on Facebook. English speaking thai family. Very decent people. Good security and excellent food delivered to room.

Much obliged, that sounds marvellous. An English-speaking Thai family would be perfect, if she hasn't found somewhere else in the meantime.

I found the FaceBook page for it, it's on Sukhumvit but quite a way down... I'll pass it on to her.

Just now, tonray said:

BTS is not live yet in that area....caution. Being built but not active

Thanks, I'll pass that on to her.

I know what you mean, we were very close to it a couple of weeks ago, many huge concrete pillars but no trains.

I think perhaps her friend lives there, but the room she has to rent out is in fact near the BTS.

6 minutes ago, samsensam said:

 

plenty of accommodation available at that price, she can search on line or go to the bts station she wants to be near and walk the sois checking out what's available. it's far esier for her to do here than you remotely, she can ask her friends, communicate with the locals, it is her country after all and she understands the place more than you ever will!

 

 

Thanks and absolutely, however she's a bit unused to looking after herself on her own in this way, having spent most of the previous 20 years married, and hence unfortunately not too confident on her own.

It now transpires that we may be able to enlist the help of one of her friends who lives there, who may have a room for 4500 baht in the Don Muang area, near the BTS.

I'll wait for a bit and see what transpires...

Just now, tonray said:

She can get her own room for 8000 or less. As long as she is near MRT/BTS she can get most places quickly. I am on west side of river (Thonburi) and only takes me 15 minutes to get to Siam station foe example.

 

http://www.renthub.in.th/en

Hey, that looks great. I see there's a Thai language version too.

Many thanks, Tonray :)

Hi there

My wife desperately needs a cheap room/flat share in Bangkok, central, and if possible with one or more females only. Want to pay a maximum of 8000 baht a month inclusive of bills.

I think she may be OK with a couple, I will ask her.

She needs to be central so she can attend English classes. I am in the UK for the forseeable, and hoping to join her out there soon.

Is such a thing possible? I have had a look at Craigslist and there are some rooms on there, but not much detail about who's doing the sharing.

Really need a specialised Flat Share site ( like http://spareroom.co.uk ) but can't find a Thai equivalent.

Any help gratefully received..

Thanks

Vaughan

12 hours ago, alexlm said:

You are not wrong.

I'm wrong.

I thought you were already married at the District office but I'm guessing you are not yet?

So the information I wrote were wrong. Just deleted them.

Ah, OK, thanks then :-)

Vaughan

1 hour ago, Mark123456 said:

On the example you posted, Bangkok Metropolis is the place of Marriage. All they are looking for is a province, or city in the case of Bangkok.

 

To the OP - It does not refer to the religious ceremony or the date of the consular visit; it refers to the location of the government office where you will be registering your marriage.

Many thanks Mark, I will put that on the form.

Sorry all, for the confusion.

Best regards

Vaughan

4 minutes ago, alexlm said:

deleted

I beg your pardon?

Have I asked something wrong?

Vaughan

Hi all

Please could somebody tell me how I am meant to answer this question, for an affidavit for the British Embassy in Bangkok.

<My wife's name>, a THAI National at (place of marriage) ??? on (date of marriage) 

Does this refer to the religious ceremony that took place in her village, or the date of the "Consular service:    Oaths affirmations and affidavits" appointment?

I have to print this out tomorrow to take with me to Bankok on Saturday, so I guess this is quite urgent.

Many thanks in anticipation

Vaughan

Get into InfoSec, most of them do not have a clue.

Yes, this :-)

Same situation exists in the UK...

I started up my first small IT company in Bangkok back in '93, I got lucky in '97 and got a consulting job with a big American multinational company and became a locally hired permanent employee in 2000 and I'm still there.

It was really hard work building up a new life from scratch, really hard. I could do it when I was in my twenties but I'm not so sure I could do it now. I doubt starting up your own company without contacts will work. No degree isn't a door stopper when you're 60 but not sure your skills are matching what's needed here either

3 options to explore:

1) If you are a native English speaker: Online teaching of anyone in the world, pays 400 baht an hour or so, probably need to fake a BA

2) Head hunter IT companies and let them take 25 - 30%. They won't give work permit

3) Take online programming jobs. That's probably the easiest path for you. Shouldn't be too difficult to beat the money the other options give

Good Luck

Thanks for this. I had never anticipated an easy ride, and in part my optimism about finding work in Thailand is based on a friend who was headhunted for a job at Thai Farmers Bank (co-incidentally, in 1997). The lucky sod was paid UK contract rates and lived the live of Reilly in a penthouse apartment in Sukhamvit. Maybe westerners were more flavour-of-the-month then, at a time when there were fewer trained-up Indians to do the work cheaply.

As for your 3 options,

1. you're suggesting teaching via Skype / Webex? I would of course get myself a TEFL certificate first so that I know the basics.

2. I expect that my skillset is not of the kind to at the top of a headhunters 'wanted' list right now, so would have to give that one a miss

3. Would be very grateful for any pointers to job sites - a 20 minute Google didn't yield anything too promising

Kind regards

Vaughan

I have also been in IT in Thailand for the last 20 years. I have never had trouble getting work. But you need to network and develop contacts with people in the industry. If you don't need to land a job as soon as you arrive, then you can take the time to meet people in IT here and put the word out that you are available. Obviously, the more people you know, the better chance you will find something up your street that pays a decent wage.

If you really have good project management skills, I would shop those around first. There is plenty of work here. As anywhere else these days, universities are simply not producing enough qualified IT and computer science people to satisfy demand. It certainly isn't super easy breaking into the industry here, but it can be done. A solid skill set in project management or a current, in-demand technology is what will get you in. Good luck!

Thanks for that, at last a bit of positivity :-) Could you recommend to me any agencies and agents in particular who could help me please?

My current plan is to take a TEFL course and try to get an English teaching job for when I arrive. I'm told that it's hard to get one without a degree, but I know for a fact that there are many English teachers out there without even the TEFL. Maybe it's just got harder in the past few years.

Well, without a degree you may find it difficult to come by quality I.T. work. Not impossible to find something I suppose. The company I work for almost never hires anyone (Thai or expat) without a degree. Technically it is not a requirement for a work permit, so if you can convince an outfit to hire you it should be OK. I don't know anything about agencies. You could try developing contacts on LinkedIn maybe. I get hit up on there by one company or another from time to time.

In my experience, if your interviewer has any harsh experience of recruiting graduates who talk a good talk but don't deliver, if you can offer decades of hard-won experience in the real world, that is worth more than a MSc in Computer Science from Cambridge with a distinction :-)

However other countries such as Thailand may have a different attitude, I will have to wait and see.

Good news that a work permit can be obviated, gives me hope. Thanks again.

I have also been in IT in Thailand for the last 20 years. I have never had trouble getting work. But you need to network and develop contacts with people in the industry. If you don't need to land a job as soon as you arrive, then you can take the time to meet people in IT here and put the word out that you are available. Obviously, the more people you know, the better chance you will find something up your street that pays a decent wage.

If you really have good project management skills, I would shop those around first. There is plenty of work here. As anywhere else these days, universities are simply not producing enough qualified IT and computer science people to satisfy demand. It certainly isn't super easy breaking into the industry here, but it can be done. A solid skill set in project management or a current, in-demand technology is what will get you in. Good luck!

Thanks for that, at last a bit of positivity :-) Could you recommend to me any agencies and agents in particular who could help me please?

My current plan is to take a TEFL course and try to get an English teaching job for when I arrive. I'm told that it's hard to get one without a degree, but I know for a fact that there are many English teachers out there without even the TEFL. Maybe it's just got harder in the past few years.

Well, without a degree you may find it difficult to come by quality I.T. work. Not impossible to find something I suppose. The company I work for almost never hires anyone (Thai or expat) without a degree. Technically it is not a requirement for a work permit, so if you can convince an outfit to hire you it should be OK. I don't know anything about agencies. You could try developing contacts on LinkedIn maybe. I get hit up on there by one company or another from time to time.

Thanks for that. I'll work on my LinkedIn, I have had an an account on there for a few years but probably need to bit the bullet and cough up the dosh (it's not a cheap site).

I've worked in the IT field in Thailand for 8 years or so (I don't anymore, back to my home country)

I think that if you want to find a job in a Thai company, you do need to speak (at least) and possibly write Thai.

I certainly couldn't have got my job if I didn't.

It's really hard to get hired by a Thai company. It took me almost a year to find a job despite the fact that I had skills that were really hard to find in Thailand then (probably still are). Hiring a foreigner is a real hassle and many people from mid-management at least are very much prejudiced against this (sometimes for good reasons, there's a story I've already told here on TVF).

Also, at some point I have recently considered coming back to Thailand and I spoke to one of my former colleagues who's now the tech director at one of the major Thai ISPs. He basically said "you're over 50 now, no way you'll find a job". Harsh to hear, but true I'm afraid.

I think maybe my mileage may vary with yours, in my time it's always seemed to me that if you have in-depth niche skills (like maintaining legacy code that nobody else wants to touch) then you'll always get a job somewhere. The best IT managers look beyond youth and skill and go for age and treachery ;-)

As you are an older gentleman i urge you to read around before thinking of giving a woman 51% of your company

Work outside of the country untill you can retire, if your woman is of any decent calibre(by that i mean that she would not steal everything you have) she should be able to come live with you until you can afford to move to bangkok together

or keep freelancing online

on a side note, i would suggest you contact a lot of international and private school to offer to work part time for them, you could probably find enough IT works in the school industry to get a good salary.

Thanks for the suggestions, I am keeping all my options open for now, I still think the best way forward is for her to come and live in the UK, but there's a hell of a lot of expense and ball-ache dealing with the Embassy before that can happen, plus the fact she'd have to countenance her kids moving out of her ex-husband's house (which he's still paying for) to go and live with him and his mother. Theirs was a pretty acrimonious split, unfortunately :-/

As you are an older gentleman i urge you to read around before thinking of giving a woman 51% of your company

Work outside of the country untill you can retire, if your woman is of any decent calibre(by that i mean that she would not steal everything you have) she should be able to come live with you until you can afford to move to bangkok together

or keep freelancing online

on a side note, i would suggest you contact a lot of international and private school to offer to work part time for them, you could probably find enough IT works in the school industry to get a good salary.

Thanks for the heads up, but I am appraised of the dangers of such a large step to take, and have been undertaking extensive research. I would not embark on that course of action until I was completely sure it was the right thing to do, maybe 2 or 3 years down the line, hence the 'work as a TEFL teacher first' which would give me plenty of time to sound out the environment.

Right now I'm going to put out feelers with my intended's family and friends who work in business out there, a bit of networking always comes in handy.