Can I Work Or Have Business In Udon Thani

[daveman]

Hello I’m new to this forum, Firstly I am 38 form Ireland and I would love to move to the north of Thailand, around Udon, I have a girl from a village a couple of hours form Udon, and I have a friend living across the border in Laos and I don’t want to be too far away form him, but I prefer Thailand to Laos

I have so many questions. I know I cant work there as I have no special skills and will have no income other then what I can bring with me. What kind of business can I do? I also know that I cant own my own business, but I’m not sure if I would be ready just yet to sign everything over to a girl I only spent a couple of weeks with, although we have been talking regular for on the telephone the past 4 months. I have been trying to get her a visa too visit for a couple of months, but it is taking ages and we have to appeal as her first application was refused.

I don’t see myself as the farming type although GF from a rural area. I told her I would not be able for that life where I would be 7km away form the nearest market, I would prefer the city life of Udon. I am far form rich by western standards, but If I sold my car and possessions along with a little savings, I am sure I could have some kind of business to keep us ticking over. I Have no idea of how much I would need too start-up. I know I am not going to make a lot of money, I just want enough for a family to make a decent living.

I know a lot of westerners teach English so I did the two day TEFL but I am struggling myself with the grammar, so I have a lot of study to do before I do the online course, plus being a teacher takes a long time (imoa) and I have no batchlers degree which I believe you need for most teaching jobs in Thailand.

I am sure most of these questions have been answered before on this forum, so forgive me for asking again, any help or advice, even a link to previous topics are gratefully appreciated.

one more thing, does marrying a Thai girl, give me any rights to work or own anything, or just make it easier for her to take everything?

[britmaveric]

one more thing, does marrying a Thai girl, give me any rights to work or own anything, or just make it easier for her to take everything?

No!!! Just makes it easier for you to stay long term without leaving the country as long as you meet the financial requirements.

[bergen]

Starting a business in Thailand will in most cases create more expenses than income.

Teaching English might be an option, and most local schools will not ask if you have any TEFL course

[siamjj]

Starting a business in Thailand will in most cases create more expenses than income.

Teaching English might be an option, and most local schools will not ask if you have any TEFL course

not ask?info?

[abdulrahman]

Starting a business in Thailand will in most cases create more expenses than income.

Teaching English might be an option, and most local schools will not ask if you have any TEFL course

Not ask?Are you speaking from experience?

I know some English teachers in Udon,all have a degree,most are paid a pittance,the contract is for a semester only,renewable if they need you.

An acquaintance of mine,without a degree,made the TEFL,after 1 year he hasn't found a job,yet.

Business? The OP doesn't even know the kind of business he's able to do,or how many Baht he is able to lose.

Were he to marry his recent GF,a certified income of 40K monthly would be enough for a visa extension.

[Isee]

Hello I'm new to this forum, Firstly I am 38 form Ireland and I would love to move to the north of Thailand, around Udon, I have a girl from a village a couple of hours form Udon, and I have a friend living across the border in Laos and I don't want to be too far away form him, but I prefer Thailand to Laos

I have so many questions. I know I cant work there as I have no special skills and will have no income other then what I can bring with me. What kind of business can I do? I also know that I cant own my own business, but I'm not sure if I would be ready just yet to sign everything over to a girl I only spent a couple of weeks with, although we have been talking regular for on the telephone the past 4 months. I have been trying to get her a visa too visit for a couple of months, but it is taking ages and we have to appeal as her first application was refused.

I don't see myself as the farming type although GF from a rural area. I told her I would not be able for that life where I would be 7km away form the nearest market, I would prefer the city life of Udon. I am far form rich by western standards, but If I sold my car and possessions along with a little savings, I am sure I could have some kind of business to keep us ticking over. I Have no idea of how much I would need too start-up. I know I am not going to make a lot of money, I just want enough for a family to make a decent living.

I know a lot of westerners teach English so I did the two day TEFL but I am struggling myself with the grammar, so I have a lot of study to do before I do the online course, plus being a teacher takes a long time (imoa) and I have no batchlers degree which I believe you need for most teaching jobs in Thailand.

I am sure most of these questions have been answered before on this forum, so forgive me for asking again, any help or advice, even a link to previous topics are gratefully appreciated.

one more thing, does marrying a Thai girl, give me any rights to work or own anything, or just make it easier for her to take everything?

daveman, there are so many red flags in your story that I couldn't comment without getting sidetracked and becoming overly negative. As for links to other threads (on this exact subject) try: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Business-Sta...an-t242420.html which was started 5 days ago...

[daveman]

Starting a business in Thailand will in most cases create more expenses than income.

Teaching English might be an option, and most local schools will not ask if you have any TEFL course

Not ask?Are you speaking from experience?

I know some English teachers in Udon,all have a degree,most are paid a pittance,the contract is for a semester only,renewable if they need you.

An acquaintance of mine,without a degree,made the TEFL,after 1 year he hasn't found a job,yet.

Business? The OP doesn't even know the kind of business he's able to do,or how many Baht he is able to lose.

Were he to marry his recent GF,a certified income of 40K monthly would be enough for a visa extension.

So I need to be earning 40000bhat a month to get a visa extension? that sounds a lot for Udon. if you can't own a business in your own name then how can you earn.

[TerryLH]

"An acquaintance of mine,without a degree,made the TEFL,after 1 year he hasn't found a job,yet."

What area has he been looking in, and what nationality is he? Does he have experience?

There are a lot of factors that go into not finding a teaching job.

[Macclad]

In the UK you can get a Non-Immigrant O multi entry visa valid for 12 months in Thailand....come and go as often as you please.You would have to do the 90 day visa run from Udon to Nong Khai and across the Friendship Bridge into Laos and back.If you time your last border run just before the visa expires you can get another 90 days giving you almost 15 months in total overall.

Check with the Thai Embassy in Dublin about this type of visa.

If you marry your Thai lady but cannot meet the 40k per month income I think you can go to a neighbouring country such as Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) and get an extension to your Non Immigrant visa.I think you need a letter from your wife to show to the Thai Embassy requesting that you stay with her.Others more knowledgeable than myself can confirm/deny this.

Failing that you can nip across the border to Vientiane in Laos and request 2 x 60 day Tourist Visa from the Thai Embassy there.

[Gary A]

"So I need to be earning 40000bhat a month to get a visa extension? that sounds a lot for Udon. if you can't own a business in your own name then how can you earn."

That's the general idea. The Thai government doesn't want you to earn a living in Thailand. They want your money to come from outside the country.

[daveman]

Hello I'm new to this forum, Firstly I am 38 form Ireland and I would love to move to the north of Thailand, around Udon, I have a girl from a village a couple of hours form Udon, and I have a friend living across the border in Laos and I don't want to be too far away form him, but I prefer Thailand to Laos

I have so many questions. I know I cant work there as I have no special skills and will have no income other then what I can bring with me. What kind of business can I do? I also know that I cant own my own business, but I'm not sure if I would be ready just yet to sign everything over to a girl I only spent a couple of weeks with, although we have been talking regular for on the telephone the past 4 months. I have been trying to get her a visa too visit for a couple of months, but it is taking ages and we have to appeal as her first application was refused.

I don't see myself as the farming type although GF from a rural area. I told her I would not be able for that life where I would be 7km away form the nearest market, I would prefer the city life of Udon. I am far form rich by western standards, but If I sold my car and possessions along with a little savings, I am sure I could have some kind of business to keep us ticking over. I Have no idea of how much I would need too start-up. I know I am not going to make a lot of money, I just want enough for a family to make a decent living.

I know a lot of westerners teach English so I did the two day TEFL but I am struggling myself with the grammar, so I have a lot of study to do before I do the online course, plus being a teacher takes a long time (imoa) and I have no batchlers degree which I believe you need for most teaching jobs in Thailand.

I am sure most of these questions have been answered before on this forum, so forgive me for asking again, any help or advice, even a link to previous topics are gratefully appreciated.

one more thing, does marrying a Thai girl, give me any rights to work or own anything, or just make it easier for her to take everything?

daveman, there are so many red flags in your story that I couldn't comment without getting sidetracked and becoming overly negative. As for links to other threads (on this exact subject) try: link which was started 5 days ago...

I dont mean to sound so negitave, but my research sofar has been mostly negitave. and I realy want this to work. I have been following this forum. Not sure if it makes anything clearer for me as it mostly deals with the farming aspect. and I dont know a shovel from a spade. I should have between 80000 and 1 million bhat, so maybe this is nowhere near enough to start a small business. so I might have to wait a nother couple of years. I dont expect to make a lot of money, just enough to live on and enough for a family.

[ubonjoe]

If married it gives you the same rights as a Thai in case of divorse. Before it is granted it requires both parties to of agreed to the division of assets and etc.

If you are married to a Thai the number of employees and certain financial requirements for the business are cut in half.

Your wife could start a bussiness as a sole trader and you could get a work permit based upon that.

For and extesnion based upon marriage it requires an income of 40,000 per month or 400,000 baht in the bank for 2 months in your name.

If you were to start a company and could meet the requirements for an extension based upon work you would have to have a salary of at least 50,000 baht per month. The way the rules are now you would not get an extension for 2 years after the business is started.

[daveman]

If married it gives you the same rights as a Thai in case of divorse. Before it is granted it requires both parties to of agreed to the division of assets and etc.

If you are married to a Thai the number of employees and certain financial requirements for the business are cut in half.

Your wife could start a bussiness as a sole trader and you could get a work permit based upon that.

For and extesnion based upon marriage it requires an income of 40,000 per month or 400,000 baht in the bank for 2 months in your name.

If you were to start a company and could meet the requirements for an extension based upon work you would have to have a salary of at least 50,000 baht per month. The way the rules are now you would not get an extension for 2 years after the business is started.

Thanks to all who replied. It is going to be difficult to move. I will know more when I spend time with GF, If she can get visa. Everything seems to be against us at the moment.

[geriatrickid]

Save your money and hold onto your job. If you still feel this way a year from now, then revisit the subject.

[kevin2008]

ROYAL THAI CONSULATE

PO BOX 9863

DUBLIN 14

TEL; (001353) 1 4786412

Hi Dave,Give the above a call, may be helpful. Bought a house myself 80km east of UDON on route 22...rear of Tesco...new development. The visa application process in Ireland has become very strict for obvious reasons. (abuse of the system by certain nationalites ..not Thai ) Whereas the application visa form used to contain ONE page, it now has 18 pages. Previous employment history of your GF is the important question on the application form...PM me.

Edited February 26, 2009 by kevin2008

[buffaloe]

daveman,i made a suggestion to someone else about a fish pond.i will be in thailand in july and thinking seriosly about putting in one myself.my girlfriend says she pays 40 baht a kilo for fish.you would probably need oxygen for the pond in the dry season.also you would need to feed them for 3 years after that maybe you can cut down on the feeding time.check with some other folks about what i am saying.i think if you girlfriend has some land this would be a good idea.you want need no special work visa if it belongs to your girlfriend i think.on the other h and you need to check about this also.just trying to help out.

[daveman]

daveman,i made a suggestion to someone else about a fish pond.i will be in thailand in july and thinking seriosly about putting in one myself.my girlfriend says she pays 40 baht a kilo for fish.you would probably need oxygen for the pond in the dry season.also you would need to feed them for 3 years after that maybe you can cut down on the feeding time.check with some other folks about what i am saying.i think if you girlfriend has some land this would be a good idea.you want need no special work visa if it belongs to your girlfriend i think.on the other h and you need to check about this also.just trying to help out.

Thanks for suggestion. what sort of scale would this pond be? I guessing pretty big

[Gary A]

We have two 10 rai mini farms. Both have ponds. We bought and put hundreds of fish in the ponds. We found out that if you don't live beside the ponds, the fish will be stolen. The one pond was pumped dry for irrigating rice last year and there was not a single fish in it. The other has not been pumped out but I suspect there are no fish left in it either. We fed the fish until they were about 3 inches long. If I throw feed in now, it just floats and it appears there are no fish to eat it.

[BigSnake]

Last visit to Udon I saw many Farangs done Business in Udon mostly resturants/bars, place like TJ's, Harrys, MoJo, Crazy Ken to name just a few. My guess most of these place are in the Wife's name. Even saw one Rent a Car place Own by Farang and (wife).

[buffaloe]

daveman i am thinking about puttin a 2 to 3 rai pond myself,but if you have the land i would put in a bigger one.i think gary a. is very correct on that daveman.you would have to be very near on top of the pond because some thai,s will still from underneath your nose.i have heard khon kaen university may be able to give you a heads up on what size and what to feed the fish. i believe it is a good way to make money,but you need to very careful who you are dealing with though.as i see you will need to live by the pond in order to make a go at it though.sorry i meant to say steal. wish you luck in your endeavor.

[loong]

RE Fish..

EVERYBODY that I know who has tried rearing fish has lost money. Obviously, some people do make a living this way, but that may be because they know what they are doing.

Most people that try this as a business think that it basically takes care of itself and just have to throw in some food every day. I think that anyone looking at this should do the research first.

OP.

You state that you are not looking to earn a fortune, just enough to get by. You haven't mentioned any sums, so how much do you mean? 20 30 40,000 Baht per month?

20,000 Baht per month is enough to live on, but unless you are very lucky, your gf/wife is unlikely to see it that way.

Most farangs can live here very cheaply alone, but Thai gf/wives tend to be expensive.

I often consider what business may be worthwhile here, but if competing with Thais with low income expectations I don't think that there are a lot of choices.

1 million is not a lot of start up capital.

If I was to start a business, I would be looking at what to market with a Thai customer base, not just Farang. Look at places like KFC and Pizza hut - they have a lot of Thai customers as well as Farang. Is there a busy shopping mall without a Pizza or KFC outlet? (or other western foods).

I have no idea what the overhead is in these malls, but the prices for western foods are very high and labour costs very low.

You could open a business like this away from the malls, but it would have to be in an area with high spending Thais.

[Gary A]

A Thai who clears 20,000 baht per month from a small business is doing VERY well. Considering that, you are not on a level playing field nor do you know how the Thais do business. If you plan to run a small business, you better plan on losing your investment. I really don't like to sound so negative but I believe that I'm being realistic and telling you that your chances are slim to none as far as earning a living.

[bergen]

A Thai who clears 20,000 baht per month from a small business is doing VERY well. Considering that, you are not on a level playing field nor do you know how the Thais do business. If you plan to run a small business, you better plan on losing your investment. I really don't like to sound so negative but I believe that I'm being realistic and telling you that your chances are slim to none as far as earning a living.

I agree with Gary A

If the Thais make money it's because "all" the family work together, live together, eat together, share motorbike, pick up, and so on.

If you as a farang are not able to adjust to the same lifestyle.......you'll lose money..........

That is of course unless you have a special concept, that nobody has thought of before!

[daveman]

A Thai who clears 20,000 baht per month from a small business is doing VERY well. Considering that, you are not on a level playing field nor do you know how the Thais do business. If you plan to run a small business, you better plan on losing your investment. I really don't like to sound so negative but I believe that I'm being realistic and telling you that your chances are slim to none as far as earning a living.

I agree with Gary A

If the Thais make money it's because "all" the family work together, live together, eat together, share motorbike, pick up, and so on.

If you as a farang are not able to adjust to the same lifestyle.......you'll lose money..........

That is of course unless you have a special concept, that nobody has thought of before!

[rossuk]

"So I need to be earning 40000bhat a month to get a visa extension? that sounds a lot for Udon. if you can't own a business in your own name then how can you earn."

That's the general idea. The Thai government doesn't want you to earn a living in Thailand. They want your money to come from outside the country.

40,000bht for a month, if you was married to her then that would be between you both

[Lite Beer]

40,000bht for a month, if you was married to her then that would be between you both

Wrong. It has to be the foreign Husbands earnings. OR 400,000 in his bank account.

[thaiphoon]

40,000bht for a month, if you was married to her then that would be between you both

Not so. The 40k/month has to be the OP's income, and if earnt within Thailand would need to provide tax receipts to immigration when applying for extension of stay, or embassy letter verifying income if from outside Thailand. Or alternatively 400k in Thai bank account in Op's name for 2 months before first application will also meet requirements for extension of stay based on marriage.

[plachon]

A Thai who clears 20,000 baht per month from a small business is doing VERY well. Considering that, you are not on a level playing field nor do you know how the Thais do business. If you plan to run a small business, you better plan on losing your investment. I really don't like to sound so negative but I believe that I'm being realistic and telling you that your chances are slim to none as far as earning a living.

I agree with Gary A

If the Thais make money it's because "all" the family work together, live together, eat together, share motorbike, pick up, and so on.

If you as a farang are not able to adjust to the same lifestyle.......you'll lose money..........

That is of course unless you have a special concept, that nobody has thought of before!

As you said yourself, you don't know a shovel from a spade, so I highly doubt if you are going to find a hidden talent for fish farming in your genes.

Any type of farming is highly risky and involves big investment for little relative reward. It is not something the average farang whose just rocked up in Thailand can do, let alone be successful at. Indeed, any business in Thailand is highly risky and few succeed in whatever business you care to mention, and those that do, tend to be ones who've lived here for years and know both the ropes and the rewards inside out.

My advice (fwiw) is to avoid selling up in Ireland and moving to Thailand with your hard earned million baht, or you could find yourself satangless and washed up before you can say "Guinness", and even worse, you may find that girl of your dreams is not as sweet and innocent as she seems and is already on to the next farang who failed to check whether "gullible" had been removed from the dictionary or not.

[thelegend]

[bHere is a sure fire way for an Irishman to get involved in a small business in Udon...........

Buy him a big business and wait six months . ][/b]

[ice1318]

As it's so early in your relationship financing and setting up a business is not to be advised.

The Teaching English is the most realistic option.

Whilst I have a degree I have taught and worked with other equally competent Western English teachers who didn't.

There's an element of luck in everything and you'd have to get across to Isaan sharpish,March would be ideal,. put together a portfolio and turn up at all the schools who are interested in hiring. Your girlfriend could ring around in advance to see what the demand is like.

The worst scenario is that a month or so on you don't find work. Sure you're down the price of the plane ticket but at least you'll have spent some more time with your intended partner and reaquainted yourself with Isaan life to check it's still what you want.

However, if successful you'll have a wage, circa 30,000 bhat pcm, which trust me will be enough to live comfortably (for Isaan) and at the same time have no problems with your visa status in the country due to your Work Permit granted for your employment.

All this would give you time to check out how your relationship pans out, learn some Thai which is a great advantage if you plan to reside long time and most importantly see if your GF is happy to with the pair of you not to mention her family existing on the 30k.

The big plus is you don't touch your capital.

Finally, once you're in play you could always keep your ear to the ground for business opportunities if that continues to appeal to you but I wouldn't hold your breath.

Good luck