Hi,

could anyone give me an idea of the success rate of finding a (decently paid) job in the IT department of a Thai bank/financial institution.

For example: a project leader position in a Thai bank.

I'm Belgian, around 30, have a master degree in IT and have relevant experience (8 years of banking experience in ATMs and cards as analyst and project leader). My English, Dutch and French are fluent but I only have a basic knowledge of Thai (not sufficient to have a decent conversation).

I have no Thai visa and no relationship with a Thai.

Should I be in Thailand to apply for the job or could I do that from here?

How long does the application process takes normally and what's expected for availability (my notice period in Belgium is about 6 weeks)

I've read that IT people get a higher priority for getting visa and work permits... Is this correct? Does anyone has experience with that?

Are Thai banks recruiting foreigners for the moment??

Thanks for any information!

Banks recruit mainly Thais, due to the salary demands.

You might look at the jobs that Foreigners are allowed and not allowed to do in Thailand.

you maybe better to look at HK or Singapore who employee foreigners.

i have known a few foreigners who work for bangkok bank and SCB , but there roles are more ' critical thinking ' , which is hard to find among thai employees

but on another note, what harm is there to send your CV to all the Thai Banks ... you never know !

but on another note, what harm is there to send your CV to all the Thai Banks ... you never know !

I have done that.

You will never get a reply.

but on another note, what harm is there to send your CV to all the Thai Banks ... you never know !

I have done that.

You will never get a reply.

Maybe have it translated into Thai first - it probably never got past the clerk who opened it, couldn't read it, so accidently dropped it in the bin (and made his day a littlke bit easier)!

The success rate is going to be very low, my educated guess after having lived and worked at a few different companies both Thai and Foreign here in Thailand for the last 10 years and being out of work for a long time between jobs is that your chance of finding a well paid IT job here in Thailand is almost zero.

There are plenty of Thai with a CV like yours and not speaking fluent Thai is killer for Project Leader.

Thai immigration regulations and labour laws make it very hard for a foreigner to find a job here in Thailand, they have banned foreigners from most jobs outright or have made us so expensive (minimum salary for Workpermits) and difficult to hire that most Thai companies can not be bothered to hire foreigners here.

Due to this most companies will only hire a foreigner if there is no other option to get a Thai to do the job.

And thats exactly the purpose of these laws.

Protect jobs for Thais.

If you look online on job sites or in newspapers here in Thailand you will see that most ads for jobs have this "Only Open to Thai Nationals".

Only jobs I see for foreigners are English Teachers and CFO jobs.

As you mention "I have no Thai visa and no relationship with a Thai", as far as Visa and work permits even being Married to a Thai National does not change much regarding permision to stay and work here.

So read, read and read about these subjects on Thai Visa . com

You can try but I suggest that you just send your CV to companies here in Thailand from Belgium and the amount of replies that you get will show how much chance you have here.

Edited January 5, 201016 yr by brianinbangkok

Thanks for all the replies, they were as I feared not so encouraging...

But there are still somethings that make think it should be possible:

If I look the situation in the Belgian banks, the last few months we were trying to recruit consultants that have bank card expertise (analyst, project leader): almost impossible to find a few months ago (little good response) and now even worse... And that's in a crisis...

Hard to believe that in Thailand that expertise would be abundantly available...

If Thai banks would not recruit directly, do they hire external consultants? In Belgium this is very common. A good IT person can start his own company and get paid 500 euro+ per day.

Is this practice also used in Thailand?

In that case, starting a Thai (or maybe just Belgium) company would be possible and then work there...