Career Advice Needed

[mightymaxx]

My wife and I are wanting to relocate to Thailand. My wife is a Thai citizen, with a BA in English...so I'm not overly worried about finding her employment, it's myself thats left out. I do hold and Associates Degree in Computer Information Systems. I had heard that teachers were needed in Thailand, so I originally came to the forum to ask a variant of the same "do I need BA degree to teach in Thailand?" question. Though after reading through a lot of threads the answer is yes more than likely, and as of recent legislative changes it will be much harder to get one with out. I wanted to teach, I like teaching and come from a family of teachers, so it's a field I'm well familair with. It looks though that legit teaching isn't really an option for me with out the BA...so I'm now wondering what can I do? How do I go about even looking? Thanks in advance for any help.

[Dakhar]

Your problem isn't the job... it is the money. You will not earn much. Even combined, I would imagine the both of you will bring in 60K. Wow wee, a lot for Thailand, your wife may say. But the reality is, if you ever want to return to your home, you will have nothing in the bank.

If this economic situation that I described is no better than your current one.... well then maybe it would be OK.

But the moment, you and your wifes income dips below 40K, the Thai govt gets to kick you out. Keep that in mind, not to mention, they can up the bar at any moment.

Good luck to you.

[mightymaxx]

But the moment, you and your wifes income dips below 40K, the Thai govt gets to kick you out.

Good luck to you.

Wasn't aware of that, especially if I'm married to Thai citizen..I was never worried about not being able to stay...maybe I should be. The money wouldn't be a big issue, as we only plan on stay a for a few years (unless we become succesful)...I'm just curious as to what opportunities that might be available to somone in my situation.

[tingtong]

it is rather for the visa topic, as a bit off.

however as you are married to a thai, you can apply for non-imm. "O" visa( which is a 1 year), and can convert that in Thailand to a marriage visa, if you wish. Your embassy will tell you the documents you need.

This way, you dont have to worry about income limits. When you find a suitable job here, with non-imm. visa you can apply to work permit too.

[Momo8]

And for job sourcing try www.shambles.net for a comprehensie list of schools in Asia/Thailand or one of the recruitment agencies www.selecteducation.com , www.hays.com or www.ajarn.com for Thailand teaching job listings.Another site is www.teachabroad.com.As Dakhar said, the problem is not finding a job, it's the salary. My advice is to find a job BEFORE you arrive then you will get an expat package deal covering accomodation allowance, health insurance, education subsidy for dependent children etc. Once you are in Thailand you are a local contract employee which usually means no fringe benefits.Good luck! Plenty of IT jobs out there.

Edited February 16, 2007 by Momo8

[GuestHouse]

Your problem isn't the job... it is the money. You will not earn much.

This is very true, but it leads to a growing problem for the future.

If you look at the regulations for obtaining a retirment visa in Thailand, presumably you will one day retire, you'll see the requirement for retirement income is relatively high. Higher than the majority of UK pension incomes.

So your plans to live in Thailand need to address two parts, living in Thailand now, and living in Thailand after retirement.

Far too many people neglect this future issue, and in Thailand not many earn enough to save for their retirement.

Naturally this may not effect you if you already have sufficient capital and or retirement savings, but don't overlook checking this out.

And if retirement is a long way off, consider inflation... it's a kiler.

[richard10365]

Since your looking for options........

When you move to Thailand, move somewhere where there is a university you can attend that teaches in English and complete your degree.

Chiang Mai has Payap University and they do have a computer course taught in English that ends with a BA. The cost of the course is about 100,000/year (well, at least for the English Communication course). You can pick up your degree at low cost and start teaching with your wife (or somewhere else).

[mightymaxx]

Thanks so much for the responses. We don't plan on living here long term. Her parents are getting less able to care for themselves...so we'll be here as long as they remain on this mortal coil. That should be roughly 1-10yrs. I'm 26 at the moment, so I have some time to get retirement back on track. I'm guessing I'll have to persue the IT side of the job market as it appears that I'm under qualified to teach at the moment. Any well recommendations for finding IT jobs in Bangkok in particular? Thanks again for all the help, glad I found this site.