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Are the Expats working in Thailand any good?


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Are the Expats working in Thailand any good?

By Dan Cheeseman

 

expats-working-thailand.jpg

 

Through my job here in Thailand I am always meeting new working expats from all over the country although mainly in Bangkok. Prior to working in Thailand I spent over 10 years working in London. The two companies I worked for in the UK were Coca-Cola Enterprises and the Post Office and I held various roles in that time from account management to more strategic roles. My head office in Thailand is still Pattaya, where I initially set up, but my time now is increasingly spent in Bangkok.

 

I was out for a meal with a successful German entrepreneur just the other week and the topic of staff came up, which is quite usual actually. It was the usual small talk about the struggle to find good Thai staff, interestingly he refuses to have direct contact with Thai employees and makes sure all his senior team that report to him are foreign. “I work too fast for Thais, they cannot keep up” was his rationale. This guy is smart by the way and repeatedly having success in business set ups, I would love to tell you the brands, but trust me you use at least two of them in Thailand.

 

I then discussed my plight working in Pattaya and in finding decent professional working expats, as with very few exceptions they just don’t exist. He laughed and said not to expect that to change if I relocated the business to Bangkok. His next move was Singapore.

 

It shocked me, I always felt Bangkok had a good mix of working expats. I have certainly come across quite a few in recent months from country managers of hotel chains, to business owners of large companies and even many small new set ups. I guess what he was saying is they are the exception.

 

The timing of his comments came at the wrong time as we were dining with my wife present, and she is looking for any excuse to relocate back to the UK. But his comments stopped me in my tracks, was my impending move to Bangkok going to give the enrichment I was so looking for?

 

Full story: https://danaboutthailand.com/2018/05/25/are-the-expats-working-in-thailand-any-good/

 

DAN ABOUT THAILAND

Weekly Vlogs and Blogs from in and around Thailand

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monolingual language teachers are ineffective, but other than that, there's no reason a european would work less heere than in europe, i would even say the fact they relocated to another continent shows enterprise and initiative

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5 hours ago, cornishcarlos said:

What's the point of your "story" ??

 

All I get from it is Thai staff are shit and expat staff are shit !! Is that it... ?

An employer will get the staff he deserves.

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Business owners always think their employees are lazy. Somehow they always seem surprised that their employees won't want to work themselves to death for them or don't care about the company the same way the owner does. 

 

I do the work i'm paid to do, you want extras you offer something extra in return. 

 

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Before you rubbish all of us who are working Expats start organizing yourself.

Do you wish to employ someone ?

Then advertise in the right places & you will find them.

As to your friend who refuses to work directly with Thais I think he is the goose

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Why don't you interview first and see what you turn up?

 

Finding good employees is a challenge anywhere. My last 2 years in business, I only hired manager level people and paid them as such, even to do the jobs that were the lowest rungs. It was a good idea too. 

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6 hours ago, zaphod reborn said:

Dan, you are really outside your area of expertise, which is online marketing.  I know, because I had contact with you before you were ever involved with Thaivisa.  This blog post should have been assigned to a journalist, which you are not.  A journalist could have interviewed expat HR managers and recruiters in Bangkok (like myself with 12 years of experience in Thailand) to get a professional assessment of the  relative skills of Thais and expats in the labor pool.  Instead you published a load of crap and passed it off as "content".  Stick to your skill-set and assign topics like this out to your team who will do the legwork it takes to research this kind of article.

Ouch!

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First Dan, what do you mean by good?

 

First there are the farang assigned to work here by an MNC etc., in my experience these people are highly capable. The reality is an MNC doesn't pay all the costs of full expat assignments for poor work / no value added.

 

Are you saying 'group are no good?

 

On the other hand have you considered how many highly capable foreigners (capable at the level just above) deliberately move themselves her and then look for a job?come here without a job? My belief is that the numbers are not great. Further, those really capable at the MNC level, if they decide to resign and move themselves to Thailand would probably do some checking (one example contact a professional headhunter to see what the possibilities are). A few would find a job but many not because the openings are very limited.  

 

Then we have the the foreigners, mostly nice people, who just decide to move to Thailand without a job including those who came here for a 10 day holiday and believe they have discovered utopia, but in reality have limited professional knowledge, skills, drive, and experience to crack the very few jobs available at high levels. Many in this group have convinced themselves that a Thai company will hire them just because they can speak English or a diploma in IT gained 20 years ago - not reality at all. 

 

Are these the folks you're looking for Dan?

 

Then we have the large numbers of sex tourists, vagrants, thugs who have moved to Thailand who mostly will never crack a job here. And in this group there are many who just want to get enough money for their next ride but have no desire to contribute anything, come late / miss work, etc. I've come across  a few of these guys in well over 30 years here, some I wouldn't allow to enter my house.

 

Are these the folks you're looking for Dan?

 

In well over 30 years here I've had a few farang call me and say you don't know me but I want you to call xxxxx and give them a good work recommendation for me. I don't call.

 

Are these the folks you're looking for Dan?

 

This is the reality of Thailand Dan.  

 

 

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First Dan, what do you mean by good?

 

First there are the farang assigned to work here by an MNC etc., in my experience these people are highly capable. The reality is an MNC doesn't pay all the costs of full expat assignments for poor work / no value added.

 

Are you saying 'group are no good?

 

On the other hand have you considered how many highly capable foreigners (capable at the level just above) deliberately move themselves her and then look for a job?come here without a job? My belief is that the numbers are not great. Further, those really capable at the MNC level, if they decide to resign and move themselves to Thailand would probably do some checking (one example contact a professional headhunter to see what the possibilities are). A few would find a job but many not because the openings are very limited.  

 

Then we have the the foreigners, mostly nice people, who just decide to move to Thailand without a job including those who came here for a 10 day holiday and believe they have discovered utopia, but in reality have limited professional knowledge, skills, drive, and experience to crack the very few jobs available at high levels. Many in this group have convinced themselves that a Thai company will hire them just because they can speak English or a diploma in IT gained 20 years ago - not reality at all. 

 

Are these the folks you're looking for Dan?

 

Then we have the large numbers of sex tourists, vagrants, thugs who have moved to Thailand who mostly will never crack a job here. And in this group there are many who just want to get enough money for their next ride but have no desire to contribute anything, come late / miss work, etc. I've come across  a few of these guys in well over 30 years here, some I wouldn't allow to enter my house.

 

Are these the folks you're looking for Dan?

 

In well over 30 years here I've had a few farang call me and say you don't know me but I want you to call xxxxx and give them a good work recommendation for me. I don't call.

 

Are these the folks you're looking for Dan?

 

This is the reality of Thailand Dan IMHO.

 

Comparisons to Singapore is a waste of time for obvious reasons.

 

 

 

 

Edited by scorecard
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I’m not really sure where you are looking expat staff.   I have been looking for a good expat position in Thailand now for years.   When I say good I mean longevity and pay.  It seems everything I apply for is either term based or low pay.   

Maybe if the positions you are referring to were long term and pay which is decent it would be easier to find quality employees.   

Me, US education (master degree) 25+ years project management, project engineering and business capture.   

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There are plenty of good expats, but with the visa situation and other concerns, it's hard to find them.   I know people who have had pretty impressive careers who, for a variety of reasons, end up in Thailand, but are relegated to teaching as the only means of supporting themselves and remaining in the country.   

 

Once situated, I suspect that many of them aren't looking for other work.   It's also hard to find employees because often employers are looking for someone with a specialized field.   

 

It's not like in Western Countries where when you put out an ad, you get a hundred well qualified applicants.  

 

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