Married To Thai - Want To Move To Thailand

[mrbojangles]

Fireball,

Just a thought. It seems that it's your Mrs who has this dream, rather than you. How's about letting her go there, for 3 months or so. That way she'll get over the "life is greener" train of thought and more into the daily life. You never know, she might find it's not the same Thailand, she remembers 19 years ago and she might want to hop on a plane back. It would be a lot less risky and costly.

[Fireball]

fIREWALL,

hAND SHANDY? If youre into internet porn forget Thailand. Set to be banned -seriously.

Your wife has 2 sons in Scotland. Still in contact. Is she not going to miss them?

You are coming here for the wrong reason - your wife's homesickness.

Consider this. If you make a mistake how easy financially will it be for you to return and would your wife return with you?

Most people move here after many trips and/or they're become hooked on the place or ensnared by he way of life or a bar-girl. Or because they are saddo's looking for excitement in their twilight years. (I'll let you guess where I fit in).

OK some come to work here but mostly singles, who've come to suck it and see, unless the've get VERY well paid jobs with multi-nationals. Many singles later marry Thais and live on modest incomes and can support Thai sife and their extended families but they choose to remain here after experiencing Thailand. Many go home. Many wcan no longer afford the UK.. Outside Bangkok most expats are reitrees it appears to me.

You do not fit the identikit off the usual suspects. I would like to be positive but I think you'd be making the biggest mistake of your life.

Do YOU really want to come. Are you excited by the prospect?

Auntie Seen All,

Forum Agony Aunt

Lets see, next post

Mel from Auckland,

You must attend a sexually transmitted disease clinic and suggest that you ask your vet to examine the entire flock without delay.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I really do want to live in Thailand for a few years at least. I've only been once so I cant really say I'll still like it in 1 years time. Assuming I go now that is. I am excited but making it happen seems to be very daunting, still.

Thailand is my idea of paradise... is it really a paradise though?

Or is it a paradise only for the rich and wealthy with 10s of thousands of pounds saved up? And a nightmare for low to middle income families?

[Fireball]

Fireball,

Just a thought. It seems that it's your Mrs who has this dream, rather than you. How's about letting her go there, for 3 months or so. That way she'll get over the "life is greener" train of thought and more into the daily life. You never know, she might find it's not the same Thailand, she remembers 19 years ago and she might want to hop on a plane back. It would be a lot less risky and costly.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Great idea! I must admit it was her idea in the first place and I initially thought she was nuts. I was thinking how can I give up a decent £27K job in the UK for uncertainty in Thailand? But the lure of the easy life and scorching hot weather at the perfect beaches and fascinating sea life really appeals to me.

However I'd rather live securely than with risk. A little risk is fine but I dont know jack about living in Thailand.....well I know a little now thanks to you lot

[mrbojangles]

scorching hot weather at the perfect beaches and fascinating sea life really appeals to me.

Not trying to put you off, buddy. Just scroll to the bottom of this thread. Pictures taken in Pattaya this week. Yes, there is lots and lots of the above but there is also another side. Just a reality check.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...pic=37443&st=90

[Fireball]

scorching hot weather at the perfect beaches and fascinating sea life really appeals to me.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not trying to put you off, buddy. Just scroll to the bottom of this thread. Pictures taken in Pattaya this week. Yes, there is lots and lots of the above but there is also another side. Just a reality check.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...pic=37443&st=90

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Maybe we would stay in the UK until armageddon has been and gone....

[Seen all,learnt nothing]

Paradise.......NO.........Exciting.....RARELY......Boring.....OFTEN........Beaut

ful women.......after a few pints, YES....in the cold light of day, NO.........Polluted..... BANGKOK, you BET..........poverty...A LOT.....wealth.....for the few, A LOT.......colourful....WHEN THE SUN SHINES, not as often as you might think....unbearable humidity.....FREQUENTLY......

Power cuts, cr*p TV (includes UBC), cr*p beer, intrusive Thai relatives, Thais who take you for a fool or a tourist and try and rip you off (but less frequently now they seem to sense if you live here), negotiating a price and knowing you could have got it cheaper, frustrations every day, corrupt government, corrupt police, petty bureaucrats, false smiles and on and on and on.

Cr*p food, whoever says Thai food is best in the world has never tasted it,

English language newspapers that read as though they've been loosely translated from Sebo-croat, the nauseating sight of senile old pervs with girls just out of the teens and boys still in their teens and on and on, Sad scandinavians who think they can come up to you in supermarkets to practice their English just because you're another farang (would you go into Sainsburys and strike up a conversation with a perfect stranger?)

But would I go back to UK. NO NEVER. Why. I don't know. The country for all it's many faults gets under your skin. I LOVE IT

[Maestro]

I am currently on £27K and my Thai wife and I wish to move to Thailand because shes home sick

I married my wife in Thailand and seven years later moved to Switzerland. All this time, 23 years with annul trips to Thailand, she has complained to all and sundry about the hardship of living in Switzerland. The other day, I broached the idea of moving our legal residence to Thailand, living there some 7 months a year, during the summer in Switzerland, and lo and behold she tells me that she couldn’t stand living longer than two months at a time in Thailand.

My suggestion to you: give your wife an annual home leave – every two years if annually would be two heavy on your budget. Let her stay, with your young child, with her parents or other relative for three months or so.

[Fireball]

I wouldnt go up to someone in a supermarket and start talking to them unless it was an emergency but I would go up to someone waiting for a bus or having a cigarette if I had a question I thought they could answer.

If I needed to test my language abilities I'd ask for permission first of course.

Are you easily offended by overly friendly people, SeenAllLearntNothing? Or are you getting grumpy in your "twilight" years?

Maestro, why doesnt your wife want to go back for more than 2 months? Is it the toilets they have over there?

[richard10365]

Any ideas how to look for a job in Thailand while being here in the UK? If its possible...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I believe several members on the forum, including myself, have made that attempt. Trying to obtain a position in Thailand if not here is difficult. What I did for nearly a year was to read any regional (Thai specific) newspapers and look for ads. Also looked into professional journals (career specific) to see what might be available. Most International postings to Thailand would require you to be high up on the totum pole and been with the company for a long time (seniority).

Bottom line was I had no luck sending CVs to Thailand (never got a response from any company). Decided to just pack up and come over for a year and see what I can find. Took a year leave of abscence, wasn't ready to burn my bridges yet. Luckily I did find a great position and haven't looked back since.

Try the professional journals and periodicals as I did. Your luck could easily be different then mine (remote job searching).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Do you mean search the Internet for Thai jobs and check UK IT magazines?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

At the time I was looking the Internet was not as useful for searching as it is now. So that is one more tool you can use. As for regional periodicals, things like the Bangkok Post, The Nation, etc. should be available in the UK. And, yes the UK IT magazines, not the hobbiest type but catering to IT professionals.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You probably already know this but.......when searching the internet for Thai information,....try the search using the Thai language.

For instance, lets say you want to build or buy a new house in Thialand and you type "house" and "Thailand" in your favorite search engine. You will get so many results, IN ENGLISH with not many results relavent to your search.

But if you type บ้าน (the Thai word for house) you get all sorts of results for building or buying a new home in Thailand.

My point is, if your using the internet to find a job and not getting results, have your wife do a search using the Thai language and see what comes up.

There are more websites from Thailand on the internet than most people realize. Since they are in the Thai language, the do not pop up when doing an internet search with the English language.

Good luck

[paulfr]

fIREWALL,

Thailand is my idea of paradise... is it really a paradise though?

Or is it a paradise only for the rich and wealthy with 10s of thousands of pounds saved up? And a nightmare for low to middle income families?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Everywhere is Paradise for the wealthy.

Thailand is Paradise for the single vigorous male as it is a target rich environment filled with young, gorgeous, willing Thai girls in NEED of a man.

But for a married man on limited income in a foreign land, it could be hel_l.

I am fortunate to have a good job and getting up every day and going to work, coming home tired each night is really no different than what life was like in the US. Except it is bloody humid as heck here and I am wet a lot even with the AC in the car and the office.

I think the suggestion to fly her here a few times a year to let her first see if living here is what she really needs is the best first step. If after that she still wants to come back to LOS, then you will need to find a way to support your family here.

I doubt you could live on an average English teacher's salary of 30KTHB/month.

Tough One

Good Luck

[Seen all,learnt nothing]

Fireball.

Grumpy? Yeah that's me too a tee. But so would you be if you lived here and your doc restricted your alchol intake. Cheap booze is the redeeming feature of this country (excludes BKK "clubs" and pseudo "pubs"). I was a friend of the writer who came up with Victor Meldrew.

And re. Richard advice, just get your wife to pop along to officeworld and pick up a Thai/English keyboard......no prob

[Seen all,learnt nothing]

Paulfr,

If an average English teacher gets 30K/month how much does a good one earn?

[paulfr]

An English teacher in an English program at a private school can pull down 48K-60K depending on how long they have been there and their yrs of experience. I know this for a fact.

For International Schools the numbers are even higher (2x-3x), but it is very difficult to find/get those positions due to rigid competition and requirements.

[Maestro]

Maestro, why doesnt your wife want to go back for more than 2 months? Is it the toilets they have over there?

It’s nothing I worry about: just one of her menopausal mood swings

On her last trip – she had to go alone – she got too much hassle and nagging from her elder sister (an old spinster) with whom she stayed, as far as I can make out. It will be different once we move into our own place, she figures.

…and she loves the spacious house with big garden we have in Switzerland …and which we shall keep.

[ben01]

sweet, music to my ear's, everyone dreams of returning to thai, having an 'easy' life but in reality this never happens..cheap beer= problems from all angles, being surrounded by beutifull ( smilling ) women= problems, spending everyday in 'scorching' heat= problems, i think a better way to put it is almost living hel_l, the grass is certainly not greener but will probably be browner!!!

Anyone who is single would be almost mad not to try an adventure, be it for a year / 6 months etc.. but with a family this is by no means an adventure and you hear of more sob stories than success.....but its always good to have that dream.

[ben01]

no such thing as paradise, were' all human and everybody wants more , whatever you do in life it will always become manotaneous ( spelling ) and you will still have everyday chores tho' be it , not the same as we all have now.......chin up!

[shadscat]

27k b4 or after tax ?

loads of dodgy characters needing websites developed in Pattaya most of whom don't trust thais or other european nations to do the work.

I'd hire someone decent to do a few sites for me :-)

[rio666uk]

27k b4 or after tax ?

loads of dodgy characters needing websites developed in Pattaya most of whom don't trust thais or other european nations to do the work.

I'd hire someone decent to do a few sites for me :-)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

yeah but thats a hel_l of a gamble - how long could someone survive if they were doing freelance site design for themselves... even if they were incorporating that with another job such as teaching - it would still cost a bit to set up.

however if fireball was able to offer the whole shooting match, site design, web hosting, domain registration and support from home then that could be a goer.... but im guessing once youve taken out youre initial outlay for setting up the business, living expenses and visa runs, would it really be worth it?

[haha]

I agree with others posting that you should have "some" money before coming over. especially since you have a family. it would be irresponsible on your part to put your family in possible dire straits without proper preparation.

at age 30, you are a spring chicken with many moons to go (hopefully). if I were in your shoes, I would work a little longer and save a little more before making the move.

on the other hand, if your wifes family in thailand have some sort of way of helping you out. like helping you open up a store, or can assist you financially, then, I would consider making the move sooner.

before I made the move over, I did a few years of coming over for long 6 month vacations. maybe you can consider that instead of just packing up and moving over without a probation period.

some friends of mine work 8 months of the year in the USA, and visit thailand for the other 4 months. as an IT person, you could do this if you are a consultant. ..that's what I did.

[Seen all,learnt nothing]

Fireball,

I don't understand a word of what's been said since my last post.

Come here and you'll become the same. Rambling, incoherent.

Look to me and you'll know what to do.

[Clip_My_Wings]

Fireball,

I don't understand a word of what's been said since my last post.

Come here and you'll become the same. Rambling, incoherent.

Look to me and you'll know what to do.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

by doing the exact opposite ???

[Fireball]

Thanks for the additional input people. I appreciate it.

How about if I save £3000 ( 216000 Baht ), meet her out there in 6 months and then live Thai-style for a year, learning the language in order to help secure a good IT job?

At the moment I'm on 27K before tax so I take home £1550 a month, shadscat.

I can handle the entire Internet hosting and web design requirements as I used to work for an ISP as a system administrator.

I'm not Macromedia Flash expert but I can make a website do just about anything I want like communicate with a database, process forms, send emails, have drop down menus etc. Javascript, PHP, HTML and mySQL can do everything a website would ever need to do.

I'm not an artist but I'm not colourblind

The few websites I've done are not visible on the web anymore though so if you wanted I'd have to email you some examples.

What are peoples experience with living in Thailand and what are your plans if any?

Edited October 21, 2005 by Fireball