How To Make Money In Thailand...

[Ta22]

Many Thai Have Land and have the Money to Build the Apartment .

but is not as cheap and as easy many would see ,

there is alot of problem related to Rental and also - The return for such investment , is much much longer then most caculate .

- and also there is a huge problem with LAND ownership ..

as investor . is best you be very sure , if not a fine print can render all your investment down the drain .

the basic of LAW do not allow farang to own Land . - And if you have the Fund to Build the House , seriously you do not need to Invest just buy small Plot of 1 rai land or maybe less.

You can easily Build . 20 unit apartment in less then half Rai of land and you do not need . rai to do so .

- The construction fee is sky high and there is far too much loophole to juice the investor , after the building is Done . there is still many RED tape to clear , Eg. the permit for Water and electrical wiring .

as well as all the paper work as a farang you need to operate a Condo style rent out .

..

most of the time . the effort is far heavier then most investor would think .

and cos the Number add up well . assuming . all your 50 unit is Rent out .. and evry tenant love to climb up the 3rd floor and 4th floor of your multi story bulilding .

---

my Suggestion , if you would to Venture into such .. front iN RENTAL .

MY best suggestion is .

get maybe Half a Rai of Land .--

Build a Small Bulding maybe only 8 - 10 unit .

you would Own the prime location so you can hire some Thai or your Thai wife or GF can Run a mini Mart . and supplier

from there you learn the basic and also see the real Operational Cost .. And can easily UpGrade .

and if it your Cup of Tea . Move on to 20 unit and more . within a years or so .

i am not saying is not a profitable venture , but is a venture with alot of pot hole and alot of time , the trip is far more rocky then most would think .

Plus every thai said owning an apartment is a long run investment .. and most thai know this . and almost all well off thai . make money from it .

and you ponder if Thai . can make money from thia so can you .

that where you get Hook .

The Thai that make money from Such investment is Those who is LAND OWNER .. and not someone who spend extra 2-3 million just to start off .

if your rent is 2000 baht per unit . and you make half of it . as profit after returning your investment every month .

with 50 unit . - The cost of Building 50 unit may Vary from 5- 8 million maybe more .

so let take 5 million .

Without operation cost --

collecting 2000b X 50 unit = 100,000 baht per month .

assuming all unit is Rent out .( which very unlightly at most 85% )

so let say with return of investment you POCKET 505 of the 100,000b per month that is 50,000

so now ..

we take 50,000 Sound like good income Right ???

now you put in 5,000,000 b

that is 100 Month .

plus minus low season and some up and down ..

it will easily add up to 120 month before you earn another 5,000,000

this is all under the condition that you got no OPERATION COSt and run it by yourself on a i am free BASIS .

and also NOT SHARING WITH ANYONE >

---

120month is 10 YEARS .

this is to consider with the 10 years you do not have Major renovation that need between 300,000 - 500,000 and also no major problem with the Thai Gov and nobody come to collect Watchman fee and the cost of police to come Sign a booket at your Condo .. that you need to pay a monthly fee . and also provided that NO one take drug in your COndo . or die in one of your unit .

not to add in the rubbish collection fee for a Condo and also the Water pump service . as well as and Paint work that need to be done every 5 years .

--

seriously . sometime is better doing SMALL scale then Big scale ..

just my View on investing on COndo .

is good money when you have EXTRA money to speard if you have 30 million some where store in a BANK and you do nto have any illness that need more then 10 million - i sau go ahead and get your own land and start having fun ,

if this investment is taking more then 305 of your NET worth now . I say you better think very hard and start visiting Condo owner and drink with them so you can hear their problem .

[GuestHouse]

Not true, Tyree.

What I think you mean is that it's hard for the type of uneducated and unskilled farang coming here to make a decent living.

I'm currently trying to hire for two roles - a marketing communications manager and a business development manager - for a large international organisation. Both roles are covering a number of offices in South East Asia. Both can be based in Bangkok.

Both attract salaries of around 150-180,000 per month, but I'm buggered if I can find anyone half decent.

They're not looking for expats to relocate across the world. They see this as middle management role for possibly someone already here or an overseas educated local.

Perhaps, since you are unable to find anyone qualified in the local market, it's time time ou suggested they pay the going rate to get someone from overseas to do the job.

[Heng]

Always best to start small when construction is involved. I've seen plenty of projects drag on forever (bleeding money for the owner at the same time) because the property owner didn't know how to manage a construction site. Classic clash of classes. You have laborers that would have nothing to eat and nearly no place worth staying to live when the job ends... vs. a property owner who wants the job done as quickly as possible (but doesn't want to splurge and have 4 Pattana or Ritta do the job).

The good news is that after 2-3 projects, you'll likely be experienced enough.

[Heng]

Build a ---------- website offshore and have it cater to Thais. Note, -------- is illegal in Thailand (but don't tell the Thais this because the industry is estimated to be worth about 100,000 million Baht (about 2 billion US$ and change) just during the various major 2-3 week tournaments/cups each year). That's per tournament, not the estimates for the entire year. And that's just one sport, which is a minute midget to the amount of funds circulated in the various underground ---------. hint: do yourself a favor and make sure your admin team is offshore as well so that you don't wind up on the news.

No, that's not what I did to get to where I am, but when you lend money here, you inevitably will meet some people (make that boatloads) with --------- issues. I would otherwise suggest private lending as a way to get ahead, but you have to actually have the funds in the first place before you lend them out.

Wow, zomg, genius. Everything is done above board and licensed somewhere like Costa Rica or the Caribbean? I know there are tons of sports book online, but doing one in Thai language is such a nice idea. The only other thing one would need to do is find the best means of advertising in Thailand. I image it would not be all that hard to keep a degree separation and even attempt forms of advertising like mailing/handing out fliers, and obviously, web based advertising and affiliates, which is the way the majority of online poker rooms operate. you place their banner on your site and recieve a percentage of the amount the site earns from those people gambling. you also need a payment processor to send and recieve funds.

my intuition is that for someone who writes and speaks Thai, there are probably ridiculous oportunities online to make money and establish websites/web businesses that don't yet exist here.

Yeah, just not my own genius. I mention the idea because I've seen it done. There are about a dozen sites that I know of and only because my debtors mentioned them in passing....

"steel and glass is slow this month, eh?

"yeah, that and I dropped 900k last weekend on ___.com."

IMO advertising is not a huge issue as gambling is a sickness and your customers will spread the news like a virus. You just have to rationalize that you're not really doing a business 'in Thailand' but running an offshore casino that Thais seem to really like to visit (like any casino in Macau or Kampuchea). This type of business IMO is a major reason (aside from Thais remitting foreign income homewards) why some major banks, like Bangkok Bank offers such convenient ACH services from overseas into plain jane Thai savings accounts.

There are plenty of good ideas out there, and I've even gotten a few from reading ThaiVisa. True, it's not an exact business plan, but sometimes you use them as sparks to ignite another concept. It's the same reason why so many of us in business still read a newspaper or two each day (even if the news is mostly junk), because as a businessman, it's important to have a constant flow of data and fresh ideas into your mind.

Edited May 6, 2009 by Heng

[Phatcharanan]

I have 10,000 Manchester United "We won all 5" T-shirts for sale................... dead cheap if you want. Sell them on in a market for a good profit! PM for details.

[Ta22]

My wife parent is in Construction .

and many of her relative is in construction .

--

from what i heard from all the thai construction worker ..

is that there seldom want to do farang project unless is relaly well paid ,

one simple .. reason is farang just can't make up their Mind when it come to construction ..

alot of minor changes .. and there all expert all this minor changes that alot of time take up the whole week to re do it and also extra working hour and more labour and raw material needed .. is expected to pay the SAME price there started . and demand the job be done . even with him acting like a foreman . giving instruction which he do not even know what he is speaking ..

and end up a simple 3 month project is Drag on to years .. and at the end of Days.. prefer to SUE then to finish the job ..

so in the construction circle of thai worke r.. Many who take farang Job prefer to charge double or more when it come to .. taking a project ..

---

i had seen houses build for less then 300,000 bhat as beautiful build for 1.2 million . .

it boil down to finding someone you can trust and you.

and i agree with HEng that . seriously , don't be a sucker to get yourself into Constructing your own Guest house , condo , apartment of any big project unitl you started yor very own .. half rai . 5- 8 unit .. test run ..

even for 5- 8 unit is already very taxing and may cost you alot already .. so be smart not sorry at the end of the days when you run out of money .. you are the only suffering for it .

and that time you can see who is your real friends , so this is a bonus realaly whahhaa

[Naam]

i had seen houses build for less then 300,000 bhat as beautiful build for 1.2 million . .

this is one of these houses:

[Dave the Dude]

I live in Rayong and as you might know this is an industrial area in Thailand. Lots of people out here need apartments or small houses to live in. One way to make a bit of money is to buy a plot of land subdivide it and build small houses on the subdivided land and sell them. You should be able to profit 100,000 baht up per house. I would build them to sell to Thais more than westerners.

Another way is to build apartments for rent. In Rayong apartments are on high demand. Rent isn't really high (2000-3000B/month) but say you build 50+ appartments rent them all, which shoulden't be a problem, there is an extra 100,000-150,000B a month.

I have a plot of 6rai in Rayong and sometime in the future I'm going to build either houses or apartments on it. I just don't have the time at the moment to do it. Well if you have more questions OR MONEY contact me. Cheers

Nice try.

I have a waterlogged paddyfield that is crying out to be a MacDonalds, are you interested

Dave

[Ta22]

This is just an Example of house i seen build in the range of 300k - 400k .

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anyway . i am not going to take any order to build you one such house and i am sure you will not be able to build one at this price range unless you stay in a construction town ( meaning where most of the people in that town work in construction and you have good relationship , and everyone help each other to build house ..

when we expand our house in sukothai .. some 30 people came to help us ..and the work got done in 6 days .

expanding . 2 room and 2 new toilet

This will depend alot on resources .

which i don't think any farang would even come close to half the price .

-- Which also give away the trade secret that there is a huge margin in Construction .

Edited May 6, 2009 by Ta22

[waza]

seems the farrangs making the best money in Thailand are the ones ripping off other farrangs.

[Ta22]

seems the farrangs making the best money in Thailand are the ones ripping off other farrangs.

whahhahahahah a how ironic .

[somluck]

If you're willing to do for a year what others won't, you can enjoy the life for a lifetime what others can only dream about!

Doing something illegal will bring in the big bucks

[Ta22]

will what you said is correct . but making a living on the suffering of others . is not a good way to live one life .

but then again is your life , and you do have the right to crash it if you want and risk it if you like .

like i said . where had the decent hardworking people gone to

[JohnGotti]

5-8m baht to build a 50 unit condominium?

[JohnGotti]

A very awesome business strategy I have seen first hand is doing the following, and obviously it takes a large amount of cash. Buy land very close to a BTS station. Build a small 5-6 story condominium with very cheap materials. Lay down some of that cheap, but looks sort of expensive hardwood flooring. Put a glass window in the bathroom so it 'looks nice'. Install one of those desktop burners and cabinets so it 'looks nice'. Now, even though its like a Grade C/D condominium at best, with cheap ass furniture, etc, rent it out to farang at about 10% lower than what is being charged by all the 50 story Grade B condominiums next door 'cause its close to the BTS and many of these farang do not want to live in a more 'Thai' enviroment farther down the soi or away from public transportation. If you want to see this first hand just get off almost any BTS station and walk around.

[Heng]

Doubtful. But like all things in construction, there's a huge swing in terms of quality that builders play with.

[Datsun240Z]

5-8m baht to build a 50 unit condominium?

I think i can build a skyscraper for that amount.

[1927]

If you find the answer to your original question my friend please PM me !

[Ta22]

I think i can build a skyscraper for that amount.

5-8m baht to build a 50 unit condominium?

Pm me with More of your Info .

if you really can do so .. please show me your skyscraper

Let me know what kinda land area you building and also how many unit and prefer with some drawing and proof of pass project .

i personally help a Thai friends with advice and info to build a condo some years ago . 4 storey 52 unit Apartment on 1.5 rai of land .

and the cost i add up to almost 10++million . as we spend alot on the interio as well as a Garden also the steel gate and the railing itself cost almost 1 million . and Then i will personally invest .

but please don't PM me if you are just bullshitting

Edited May 6, 2009 by Ta22

[OxfordWill]

This thread makes me a sad panda.

[jackr]

My Educations are:

- Webdesigner, IT Communications

- MBO Level 4 Mechanical Engineer

- MBO Level 4 Car,Bike Engineer.

- Some additional studies in Science and Foreign Langauges.

<deleted> would you come on here asking for advice when you've worked in the web world? If you can't see the monetary potential there then there's no hope.

Get down to Baan Chang (south of Pattaya/Sattahip) or Songkhla (Dark Side), get drinking with some oil/gas contractors, let them know your engineering background and availability to work. Forget going to the oil companies direct.

Foreign languages, speaks for itself - online translation...

[pnustedt]

I found a way to make a small fortune in Thailand - I bought a big fortune with me!

[Tokay]

If I read the OPs post correctly, he is a webmaster. If he is a good one, he can make a living.

That means you can work online from anywhere in the world. So I suggest do what you know how to do and find enough clients to keep you busy.

There is also porno. I don't want to get in a debate of the legalities of it here (it's illegal), but it's very profitable none the less. I know a two guys here who make porno websites for a living and are swimming in money. Though with that reward comes a risk. I would suppose if the BIB were to catch them and "tea money" was not an option, perhaps all that money would not be worth it.

[Datsun240Z]

Not Porno dude. What about the dope business?

[NHC]

[quote name='Dave the Dude' date='2009-05-06 08:34:03' post='2715463'

I have a waterlogged paddyfield ...

Dave

SUCKER!!!

[Abrak]

Re-condo developer - the correct number of floors is 8.

While Thailand isnt the easiest place to make money, many areas of business are fairly uncompetitive compared to the West. I certainly made all my money in Thailand without being particularly talented. When I first arrived in Thailand I achieved more in 3 months than I had in 5 years in the UK simply by adopting a professional approach to business that you need in the UK to avoid being sacked.

Most farang businesses fail here because they are hobbies for you or your competition - like a bar or a restaurant - or because your only reason for opening the business is to keep yourself occupied.

Incidentally the best business that I have found although I have never tried it in Thailand is funeral parlors - they generally make IRRs of well over 50% and the one I invested in, in the UK paid back its initial capital in under 4 months (I actually didnt make much money because the owner had a buyback option.)

[Ta22]

funeral parlors

- good idea but wrong location .

Most of it would held their event in temple .

and is run by the temple itself .

--

i knew cos when my uncle pass away in thailand , i handle the funeral logistic .

and temple provide alot of free stuff , and their only charge a small fee - compare to the feee that is charge in the wets ,

----

is very true that there is alot of window for profit in thailand and i see it too ,

same apply here for T.V is a window for profit .. whahaha every user is a Sheep that provide to the income of T.V . that one profit way . i wonder what kinda taxes T.V pay in thailand .

anyone

[jackr]

same apply here for T.V is a window for profit .. whahaha every user is a Sheep that provide to the income of T.V . that one profit way . i wonder what kinda taxes T.V pay in thailand.

anyone

Forums are generally not good money makers unless you have loads of users and sell advertising space, like TV. The click through rate for Adsense is usually crap as users, especially members, become ad-blind and rarely click outside the scope of a thread as with a genre-specific site. If they do, pay per click rates are generally low anyway.

I think TV is based in Singapore so probably no Thai tax, while Adsense is a yanky thing and don't have to pay tax there either unless you're a yanky in yankland

[Heng]

funeral parlors

- good idea but wrong location .

Most of it would held their event in temple .

and is run by the temple itself .

--

Agree, but also disagree. The market is definitely there and it's a business that locals are a little more reluctant to rush into if you get a successful operation going. You can still hold events in temples. Take funeral parlour and turn it more into funeral management. It's a time when people want to be on auto-pilot and let someone else take care of things for them (choosing a coffin, arranging food services, flower arrangement, guest management, etc.). The current version almost always boils down to the old almost senile temple guy, boxes of fried rice from the nearest food stall to the temple, and the nearest mom and pop flower shop, and whatever relative gets suckered/appointed into being the guest relations person. With enough marketing, the funeral services company could be the first people called before they call the temple (which typically have no marketing that you'd have to compete against).

I'd do it myself, but I detest the sight of crying adults (one at a time, because they are in debt to me is fine... but in large groups is just depressing).

Edited May 8, 2009 by Heng

[teacup]

Well I don’t know about all of you here, but for me…. I have found that, it’s easier to make money in the US than in Thailand? Or back in your country, wherever you happen to come from?

In Thailand - with all those strange laws, people, culture, language, etcs, ….you very have to try “at least “twice harder, just to get it going…as a foreigner. The obstacles are already stacked high up against you . It just seems like an extra hard work to me.

If you have the drive, determination, and resources……

Why haven’t you tried it back in your country already?…why waited to do it just in Thailand?

This makes me thinking about the OP or those in similar situation…..

If you very want to have a business, do you think it will be successful when you haven’t even run any business in your entire life or even have a clue of what business you want to be in?

To have and run a successful business, it takes more than just money and idea of what to sell, u know

Just seems a strange question/ and doesn’t make sense from the op,… to me

Unless it’s for a hobby or supplement the income in some small way, but as for the main income --hmm I very much doubt it here. I could be wrong of course. Time will tell.

But the odd is higher for a farang run successful business in Thailand.

For me…When I’m in Thailand, I don’t want to sweat over how to make the money, but rather just enjoy the fruits of my labor. If I don’t make it in the US, I probably wouldn’t fair that well in Thailand

No offense

Just my thought here

Edited May 8, 2009 by teacup