booji

On 1/9/2021 at 6:46 PM, Mike Teavee said:

One thing I haven't seen mentioned is Singapore is a much better place to work than Bangkok, not only are salaries (for the same roles) higher there but taxes are much lower, this actually made it cheaper for me to live in Singapore than Bangkok as the difference more than covered housing / extra transport costs.... There is also a certain "Status" in having spent time working in Singapore whereas there's probably a "Stigma" in working in Bangkok.  

 

But after 12 years working in Singapore, I moved to Bangkok in February and much prefer living here now that I'm retired... I would be climbing the walls if I hadn't got out when I did & been stuck there for the past 9 months as when I lived there I flew out to somewhere else at least once a month & for my final 18 months I was coming to Bangkok every 2nd weekend.

 

In summary I think Singapore is a much better place to work/grow a career, but Thailand is a better place for a single, 54 year old guy to "Live"  

 

Agree 100%. I am a Singapore PR for 13 years and have lived before in BKK for two. Singapore is really an awesome place to grow your career. Cost of living is high, but so are salaries. In a desired area like IT, digital marketing, or finance, salaries are comparable or sometimes higher than the US. Living there, the infrastructure is impeccable, affordable health care and the rule of law. Low taxes and everything just works. You can start a business just by going online and setting up an LLC in five minutes. Red tape just does not exist. Pre-COVID, it was just so easy to hop on a plane and go anywhere and spend your strong Singapore dollar and feel like a king. 

On the flip side, if you are not crazy rich, Singapore would not be a good place to retire. BKK hands down would be so much better on a limited income. 



 

I think it is true - pre-COVID Pattaya was moving away, albeit slowly, from the sex trade. 

35 minutes ago, Traubert said:

Read Nathan Rich on Youtube about Serpentza and educate yourself. Then read Jaoyo, Gweilo60, Numuves, and Barrett to finish the job.

Serpentza was an English teacher, become a vlogger and motorcycle modder and suffered big time from Marco Polo syndrome because white dude wearing a cheap black suit speaking marginal Chinese can do anything. After he become irrelevant and the government started cracking down on unlicensed businesses and his iffy immigration status.  Now lives in the US and exploits anti-China sentiment. Bitter and resentful. 

3 hours ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

What does this cliché even mean in this context...China (and a few other countries) have demonstrably no/low Covid rates...why wouldn't Thailand reopen to tourism from them?

I would guess that because China is a much larger market for Thailand tourism. The other reason being that such talks are bilateral and it also depends on the willingness of the other sides which are understandably cautious. 

On 10/10/2020 at 12:50 PM, Surelynot said:

Don't you find it a bit sweet?

Actually I don't like Leo but then I'm not a long-timer 

On 10/8/2020 at 9:23 PM, HashBrownHarry said:

My beer of choice is Leo, eventually everyone that stays here a while comes over to the dark side.

 

i don't know many people that drink Singha, especially the light version.

yes that does seem to be the case. Every long term person I know is a Leo drinker.

7 minutes ago, polpott said:

Would look nice from a high floor in the Waterfront condo. Pity no one will get to enjoy the view.

It really is a pity. I remember walking by the Waterfront condo when it was going up and was actually considering one. It would have been the place to live - just far enough away from the noise, but close enough when you want to partake, plus the best view. It would have been amazing with a proper marina just in front. Sad. 

5 hours ago, holy cow cm said:

Huh?

Very good question 

For those unable or unwilling to read the report I linked to, here's info on the author:
 

By Hubert Horan, who has 40 years of experience in the management and regulation of transportation companies (primarily airlines). Horan has no financial links with any urban car service industry competitors, investors or regulators, or any firms that work on behalf of industry participants.

 

And one small snippet that's nevertheless more informational than pages of opinion based (at best) on anecdotal experience:

 

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Uber’s business model is radically different from past tech unicorns and has (and will continue to) massively reduce overall economic welfare

Most of this series has focused on the economics of Uber, and how the growth of Uber has, and will continue to massively reduce overall economic welfare. Earlier posts presented a wide range of evidence documenting Uber’s hugely unprofitable operations and how its growth had been driven by predatory behavior, its uncompetitive costs, its false claims about innovation and competitive advantage, and that investor returns always depended on industry dominance and anti-competitive market power.

The growth of Uber is massively misallocating resources because Uber is a less efficient producer of urban cars services than the operators it has been driving out of business. Uber cannot achieve sustainable profits or investor returns without achieving the quasi-monopoly industry dominance it has been aggressively pursuing and exploiting anti-competitive market power

The original growth of companies like Google, Amazon, Ebay and Facebook was driven by powerful competitive efficiency advantages and natural scale/network economies that generated massive consumer welfare benefits, although these welfare gains were somewhat offset by the ability to exploit market power once they achieved industry dominance.

Uber is radically different from these past unicorns because its business model is focused entirely on the second (exploit anti-competitive market power) part of this equation[1]. It skipped the difficult first part, which requires creating a totally new product that consumers value, or finding major efficiency breakthroughs so consumers can enjoy much more service at much lower cost.

As a result, Uber required a massively greater investment base than any prior unicorn in order to fund years of predatory subsidies. Amazon could fund much of its growth out of the positive cash flow generated by legitimate competitive advantages and scale/network economies. Uber’s growth required $13 billion in cash — 1600 times Amazon’s pre-IPO investment funding.

While these massive subsidies may have provided some temporary benefits to consumers and drivers they are not sustainable. In reality, they are hugely welfare-reducing because they are designed to destroy more efficient industry capacity and create the anti-competitive market power Uber’s investors need in order to eventually earn returns on that $13 billion.

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In the original the bolded sections link to earlier articles. Those interested in better understanding Uber can go to the original webpage I linked to.

 

 

On 3/5/2017 at 0:31 AM, PremiumLane said:

But not the experience of a lot of drivers in the US, where Uber are exploitative - Google is your friend :) 

It may be anecdotal, but every single ride I took in the US it was the same case - met a social case worker, a teacher, a startup owner, a real estate agent, a student and a retired person. I've also met a guy who was recently laid off and was thinking about what next.  I think I've met only one that said he as driving full time.

Tell us again how all Uber drivers are happy. The reason most will not complain about it to passengers is because a, they will get a bad review and b, they are being professional 
 
I suggest you Google about Uber's CEO having a run in with an Uber Black driver, and how the company puts too many cars on the road, lies to new drivers, encourages drivers to buy expensive cars and get in debt, cut prices and other shady practices.
 
Typical zero hour contract rubbish that benefits the ultra-rich only 

Thank goodness that war monger Hillary didn't win election (sarcasm)

As far as your strategy is concerned, I think the best way is to just go to BKK first and be ready to spend one to six months on your search. In the mean time, you can teach English or whatever to pay the bills. These kind of positions do take time and usually won't come from a recruiter or advertisement.


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I have several friends with similar background that got "half-pat" jobs in BKK with large, multinational firms. Especially with your German backgound - there are lots of positions that require interface with the home office and certain business skills. The best way to find this is to network like crazy - chambers of commerce events, etc.


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"No meter, 600 baht, good price!"
 
This is what the driver proposes when you find yourself in the taxi and you have already moved away from the airport and you realise that the meter is not on. Of course, you pay all the highway tolls too.

 Uber is the only practical alternative if you are a business person regularly coming in an out with goods and samples as we do, and a lot od people so. Until the taxis provide clean, safe (seatbelts are a start), English speaking, reliable and fast XL type SUVs (as Uber does) and quickly on the same floor as arrivals then it's not crap at all.

Actually it's not a bad option as you know what the fare is and no need to negotiate. The one car I got was a licensed limo and it was clean and good ride.


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There's no Uber in Phuket and that was the OP's question.

4 hours ago, stevenl said:

And you use Uber on Phuket?

That was the original question 

But it looks like I'm going to use Grab instead thanks to the helpful people who pointed it out!

Are you in Phuket? Or even Thailand? Uber is illegal in Thailand according to everything I've read. And as many have posted there isn't Uber in Phuket.

Uber is alright
 
Definitely worth trying

1) Use a local thai sim. The driver will usually call you.
2) Unless you speak Thai and can give reasonably accurate driving directions, I always call for Uber/grab from
a prominent location (hotel entrance, restaurant, etc), with local staff (security, doorman, etc) close by.
It's easier for the driver to find you, and if he calls, Thai's are friendly people and I've never had trouble
handing the phone over to a staff to advise the driver how to find the pickup location.
3) You can change the uber account to bangkok, but then it's not recommended.
4) You can sign up uber using this code below to get 75 THB off two rides
 
https://www.uber.com/invite/jonathanc19741ue

So sad


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KK is indeed the best example for those rip-offs finally coming to an end. This rip-offs have been in place since 2001 when I was at KK for the first time. Last time they wanted 35RM for that less than 10 minutes drive along the coastal highway without any traffic jam to downtown. After midnight it got even more laughable when they charged 50% extra. I am so glad these organized scammers get the boot now. last time in KK I used the Airport Bus which was convenient, but agree, 9 RM for a Grab car is the best option. If u think it's not enough (and I agree it indeed is not), we r free to add a few Ringgit as a tip.
I have a friend in KK who sometimes drives for Uber, but he stopped as he cannot really make money from it. Maybe they are moving from one extreme to the other there (same seems to be the case in Chiang Mai)