Work for farangs other than teaching?

[toscatiger]

I wish to move to Thailand to work, but earlier investigation revealed it was not easy for farangs to work in any field other than teaching so I completed CELTA earlier this year.

However, after reading some entries on this site, I was wondering about farangs finding work in other industries...a higher income level than teaching WOULD be nice!

Is it possible to find such work by actively searching while in Thailand (bearing in mind visa/work restrictions) or are these positions usually filled by corporates overseas that "sponsor" (or otherwise arrange) the visas and work permits?

*****Added later - my industry/qualifications are banking/finance/accounting*****

[singa-traz]

What's your industry, maybe someone on this forum would be working in the same field ?

[MaiChai]

If you are serious about working in Thailand, most work is in Bangkok. You will probably have to start with the English teaching gig. If you persvere, in time you should be able to do enough networking to put yourself about and find something more suitable. Put it this way, the process is much more different than what you will find in the west. It also helps if you are sociable, out going, friendly, etc. Basically normal. Don't expect to earn what you earn in the west, and be prepared to adapt your ways to fit in with the Thai culture. Most people don't persever, and don't stick it out. Maybe they find the cultural change too much? Good luck.

[mrentoul]

Most people don't persever, and don't stick it out.

Really? Most of the westerners I know (the ones at work) have been here 100 years. I'm a journalist.

[MaiChai]

What I meant was persevering looking for something better than teaching English. I know a lot of people who taught English for a while, then gave up and returned to their home country to work. If they had stuck it out and networked, they may have eventually found work more suitable to their skills.

mrentoul, how did you get your job, and is it well paid? Interested to know, if you don't mind.

[mrentoul]

I applied for my job while on holiday here. I came with a friend, or I would not have come at all. One of those life-changing things for the better, I am happy to say.

I picked up a copy of the newspaper one day and noticed the staff list included the names of westerners. I phoned the Deputy Editor and asked about a vacancy for a sub-editor, and went in for an interview the day before I was due to leave. Several weeks later they sent me an offer and I returned.

The paper takes on westerners only if they are trained, and then only if they have had experience working overseas.

So no back-door entry, although the paper has made the occasional exception; a colleague of mine has no formal training but worked in Japan as a sub-editor/lay-out guy before he came here. He would be very lucky to find work in the West as a journalist, because the barriers to entry are much higher.

It is reasonably well-paid, yes, and the hours are not long. On the negative side - and this may be why people return after a few years - you leave the career ladder if you come here to work.

I am sure employers in the West think you only come to Thailand to sit on beaches; so three years spent here, say, is three years in which you opt out of the workforce. Of course that is rubbish but I suspect employers think that way.

I am not bothered by that as I don't expect I'll return...but it might upset some people.

[dlfisher]

Dude,

You just have to be damned dogged about things. Burn up the phones and go meet as many people as you can. Nertworking, networking, networking. I'm involved in marketing and film/video, and it is an everyday get up and go get 'em affair. Then again, I am freelance, and by choice, so that makes it that way. But as far as getting a 'regular' job goes, the same applies until you get one, as far as I am concerned anyway. And as others have stated here earlier, scale your expectations back, sometimes a lot, sometimes a little. Try to get hired out of your homebase if you can. Better money, benefits and the whole package in general. Getting hired here and mean going in as a local, and that can represent a huge economic hit.

There are a lot of job boards though, JobsDB.com being one of the better around.

Best of luck

David