Thais In Saudi

[bermondburi]

It is my intention to move to Saudi Arabia in the next year or two and I'm going to take my wife and children with me. I went on to a SA forum to try and get some answers but I didn't have much luck so I'm going to try at this end to see if I fare any better. I'm wondering how easy it is for Thais to get visas to stay in SA what with all the diplomatic problems between the two countries, that have no sign of ending anytime soon.

For example ; in 1990 there were about 300,000 Thais working in Saudi whereas now there are only about 10,000 Thais there because of restrictions on Thai workers. On one of the SA forums a guy told me to make sure that I got an employment visa for myself rather than a business visa as this was the only one that I could get a susequent spouse visa for. Apparently I wll have to be incountry for about three to four months while the spouse visa is being processed so that my wife and children can then follow on later. Has anyone had any experience of this first hand or know someone personally who has. I'm just wondering if new applications for Thais are being considered. It's not a working visa but a spouse visa so I hope it should be okay and I don't imagine the children having any problems because of dual nationality . I know that many Thai muslims go there every year on Haj but that is a bit different as they are only going for a short time

Also on a final note , if someone did go there with their wife how did they find it , living somewhere like that, how did their wife adapt, good/bad etc . Any stories or advice would be apreciated. I know this should probably be in the migration to other countries section but I'm hoping for a wider pool of TV people in here. See what happens.

[gotlost]

There are numerous Thai nationals that are married in Saudi Arabia. To be able to answer your questions who is your sponsor in Saudi for this will play a big part.

[PattayaParent]

^and it will also depend on where in Saudi and what accommodation you have to know whether your wife is likely to adapt well or not.

[meom]

You have to come on a worker visa. After arrival your sponsor will apply for your Saudi residence card (ikama) and once you have received that your sponsor can apply for your family to come over provided the profession mentioned in your residence card will allow this and your sponsor is willing to support this.

A couple of things to consider when bringing your family over are for example accommodation and leave schedule. If your sponsor pays for bachelor accommodation then who is going to pay for family accommodation which in a lot of cases is more expensive (some bachelor places don’t allow families and vice versa).

Also your sponsor might want to change your leave schedule and instead of going out every couple of months you’re going out once or twice a year only.

Regarding living in Saudi with family it all depends where you live and if your wife can keep herself busy while you’re at work.

[Deserted]

I used to live in Saudi. I'd be willing to give you plenty of info.Just pm me with details, especially regarding your employer. As you will undoubtably learn, the work scenario in Saudi is very different to Thailand and its imperative that you are working with a reputable employer.

The information you've been given so far is generally correct, though the advice you've been given is a little unclear. As you may know, the Thai-Saudi relationship has been somewhat strained since the jewel-heist/theft in the late 70's. They generally don't process Thai spouse applications as fast as they could do. Saudi is a difficult place to live but with the right set-up and employer it can be worthwhile and nowhere near as bad as some people may tell you. I have 2 former colleagues that have been there for nearly a decade now, put their kids through school and have no intention of leaving.

[PattayaParent]

^Aramcons?

[GuestHouse]

I was posted in Saudi for two years, my wife was still working in Rome but visited and stayed for a couple of 3 month periods.

Our experience was that while the working week cycle (6x10hours..... 12 hours with travel time taken into account) was a problem, we experienced non of the negative attitudes we expected to find in Saudi.

Quite the contrary, my wife and I were invited to join Saudi family events, something that I do not believe would have happened had I been in Saudi alone all the time.

We both look back with some fondness on our time in Saudi, the rewards were far more than the bank balance.

[bermondburi]

Thanks for all the replies, good to know that many people have done all this before me and that it is all possible. I haven't got a definite employer lined up as yet so I can't be more specific about that but I'm getting regular job postings and all the jobs I have been looking at for my profession all say family quarters provided or they specify that they only want single men. We're not ready to go yet as we're still tidying things up here. If it takes along time to process the visas for my wife and kids then I guess there is nothing I can do about that but more than six months would be pretty tough. Most of the jobs say that they provide a place to live on compound ( could be good or bad ) but I'm hoping that there should be a good mix of people and my wife gets on with people pretty easily. An excellent cook too so that is a good way to make friends.

Another question : when my wife's visa did come through my intention was to fly back over the weekend ( working a five day week ) to BKK to meet her as the children are quite young and the plane would be tough. Are there direct flights from BKK to SA ? I imagine there are but I could be wrong.

What about schools ? I don't want to be paying too much for schools, what's a medium sort of price range. I know a guy who went to Qatar and then Oman who put his kids in Indian schools because the international ones were too expensive.

Any more info would be great, thankyou.

[PattayaParent]

^Compounds are the best place to live wherever you are in Saudi, and it'll be more comfortable for you wife to move around by herself or with the kids.

Again schooling depends on where you are. Jeddah is likely to have a variety of choices, probably Riyadh too, whereas Yanbu had 1 international school when I was there.

I never met any expat kids at school in Saudi though, or even couples with kids there, so I can't say what the standard is like.

Edited December 17, 2010 by PattayaParent

[meom]

Schools are not cheap and prices vary from SAR25,000 to SAR 45,000 per year.

You can check out this link http://www.isgdh.org/index.htm that mentions various schools and their pricing structure.

[cdnvic]

Personal attack removed.

[gotlost]

Please get your wife a Koran with Thai translation.

I've always understood that translations of the Koran are illegal in Saudi, only the original Arabic is the true word of Allah.

I purchased a Koran in 1996 Arabic to English from a religious book store in Al-Khobar. so your understanding is incorrect.

[bermondburi]

Please get your wife a Koran with Thai translation.

I take it that's a joke !

[bina]

obviously there are korans in thai since there are muslem thais although the ones i know also read arabic, maybe not udnerstanding it much, like some of us learned hebrew in a synogogue so we could read and pray but not really understand word for word.

however, that is neither here nor there. religous persuasion is not on discussion here. moving to a foreign country is the discussion.

bina

israel

[dmax]

are you a saudi or farang or thai ? why not contact saudi embassy in london

[mrbojangles]

I'm in Saudi and the Mrs (thai) and our little girl live here also. I work for a top company and our compound is first rate and more akin to a Sandals holiday resort, with both Married and Bachelor accomodation. Schooling is also top notch but my company pay for the British School not the International one, so I don't know what they are like. There are another 6 brits with Thai wives on this compound so the Mrs is fine with people to talk with and cook food etc. Yes, she would prefer to work and drive etc but it doesn't put her off too much.

As someone else stated, the crux of the matter is where you end up living. I go on business and stay on some other compounds that to be honest, I wouldn't stay on, never mind wanting the family to live on. Areas vary vastly also.

Flights to BKK:- As far as I am aware, Saudi Air don't fly to Thailand (except through a partner airline). However, Gulf Air, Etihad, Emirates and Qatar all fly from here to Bangkok but you have to stop at their hub. i.e Bhahrain, Abu Dhabi, Dubai or Doha but the connections are quite good. If you are working in Al Khobar, Dhahran or Jubail etc, you can nip over the causeway into Bhahrain and fly direct to BKK from there. I wouldn't do it for a weekend though.

All in all I love it here and once you get used to the little things like shops closing all the time for prayer, it gets better and better. I went back to the UK on business a couple of months ago and couldn't wait to get back here.

[deankham]

I'm currently in the final stages of accepting a job offer in Saudi, so it's very interesting to find this topic. My only concerns currently are finding a good compound so that the wife and daughter will be OK while I'm at work.

MrBojangles - would you mind sharing region and name of the compound you live in, as it sounds like a good starting point if their are already some thais living there. (PM me if you don't want to post this info on the forum.) Many thanks! :jap:

[thaibeachlovers]

Please get your wife a Koran with Thai translation.

I've always understood that translations of the Koran are illegal in Saudi, only the original Arabic is the true word of Allah.

Not true. I could have bought an English version when I was there.

OP, while I left in '96 ( couldn't stand it anymore ), my advice is to ONLY go there if you can work in Jeddah, or stay on an expat compound ( with NO Saudis ). Anyone worked there will understand why I say that. You should read some books on the subject before proceeding.

I knew a Brit lived with a Thai wife in a Riyadh apartment building, but if you are not on a pay level that includes wives you will have to pay yourself. Females are not permitted in male residential buildings.

Almost all the single women I worked with hated being there, as did I, but we were there for the money, not the culture, and the money was good. Had to be, or most would have left.

I can't say here, for obvious reasons, what I really felt about living there, but it was a black period in my life, and one I will not repeat.

[thaibeachlovers]

I'm in Saudi and the Mrs (thai) and our little girl live here also. I work for a top company and our compound is first rate and more akin to a Sandals holiday resort, with both Married and Bachelor accomodation. Schooling is also top notch but my company pay for the British School not the International one, so I don't know what they are like. There are another 6 brits with Thai wives on this compound so the Mrs is fine with people to talk with and cook food etc. Yes, she would prefer to work and drive etc but it doesn't put her off too much.

As someone else stated, the crux of the matter is where you end up living. I go on business and stay on some other compounds that to be honest, I wouldn't stay on, never mind wanting the family to live on. Areas vary vastly also.

Flights to BKK:- As far as I am aware, Saudi Air don't fly to Thailand (except through a partner airline). However, Gulf Air, Etihad, Emirates and Qatar all fly from here to Bangkok but you have to stop at their hub. i.e Bhahrain, Abu Dhabi, Dubai or Doha but the connections are quite good. If you are working in Al Khobar, Dhahran or Jubail etc, you can nip over the causeway into Bhahrain and fly direct to BKK from there. I wouldn't do it for a weekend though.

All in all I love it here and once you get used to the little things like shops closing all the time for prayer, it gets better and better. I went back to the UK on business a couple of months ago and couldn't wait to get back here.

Do you know when Saudia stopped flying to Bangkok?

I used to fly with them all the time, despite being the worst airline I ever flew with, "Cattle class" was a fitting description of their economy section! The benefits of direct flights outweighed a few hours of discomfort.

Agreed that where you live is crucial to the experience. I envied people that lived on "non saudi" compounds, but I had to live in the city. Hated it.

[mrbojangles]

MrBojangles - would you mind sharing region and name of the compound you live in, as it sounds like a good starting point if their are already some thais living there. (PM me if you don't want to post this info on the forum.) Many thanks! :jap:

PM on it's way.

[mrbojangles]

OP, while I left in '96 ( couldn't stand it anymore ), my advice is to ONLY go there if you can work in Jeddah, or stay on an expat compound ( with NO Saudis ). Anyone worked there will understand why I say that. You should read some books on the subject before proceeding.

I knew a Brit lived with a Thai wife in a Riyadh apartment building, but if you are not on a pay level that includes wives you will have to pay yourself. Females are not permitted in male residential buildings.

Almost all the single women I worked with hated being there, as did I, but we were there for the money, not the culture, and the money was good. Had to be, or most would have left.

[/size]

I can't say here, for obvious reasons, what I really felt about living there, but it was a black period in my life, and one I will not repeat.

Totally agree on living on a expat only compound, i would hate to live on a mixed one. I wasn't there in 96 but people who i know who were tell me the place has changed beyond all recognition (for the better).

[bermondburi]

So I'm in Saudi now waiting for my Iqama which should be coming through next week hopefully , and then the company have said that they will start to do the sponsorship process for the family . The place to stay they have provided is fine and I can see us all staying here with no problems . Anybody got any recent experiences of getting a visa for a Thai wife ? I can't read any of the above because it's gone into gobbledgook !