I've been denied entry to Thailand - Now What ! ?

[Scaler]

Hello Peoples!

A little intro about myself.

I sold everything I had last year in the US and moved to Thailand before landing a job in China. Ever since I stepped foot on Thailand, some ten years ago, I made it my mission to once live there. I am 33 years old and currently working in Shanghai on a bridge construction project as a Surveyor/ Dimensional Control Engineer. I have almost 4 years experience working as such- from building refineries to more bridge work. Job will end by the end of the month.

Now, having worked here in China, I've found there to be a lot more work for welding inspectors or NDT inspectors overseas then surveyors. Also having read some of the posts about Offshore work, or even Onshore work I'm thinking about getting my level 1 as an NDT inspector, and maybe even going for the CSWIP. Would these courses allow me to find work in SE Asia, or Asia in general?

I read on here that the BOSIET is readily available in Thailand, and I should wait with getting the cert once I found an Offshore job.

Also do any of you know of any vocational schools in Thailand? I've saved up some decent amount of cash while here in China and am not afraid to invest some into my education.

What would you recommend for a guy in my shoes, who all he wants to do is live in Thailand? Work wise I'm open to almost anything, I work super hard, have a great work ethic and am super easy to get along with.

Thanks

[Soutpeel]

Multiple questions asked.

Lets start with the easy one offshore Thailand....forget about it, you are about 15 years too late.

In SEA/Asia even world wide offshore, generally..no one will touch a Level 1 and basically you are a trainee, minimum to get offshore for the most part is Level II, you say NDT inspector ?......NDT inspector in what ?....there are multiple disiplines and qualifications...for offshore you generally need as a minimum of Level II PT,MT,UT and RT is preferred as well.

CSWIP (PCN) NDT quals are worthwhile chasing, but are expensive to do and maintain, CWI these days outside the US is not worth a cr*p, most guys do the CSWIP 3.1 or 3.2 which is better ticket to have.

You can do all your tickets in Thailand at Mermaid (institute of welding) out near Laem Chabang, look up up the UK institute of welding in Malaysia and they will have details of all the stuff done in Thailand.

On your BOSIET, unless you have something lined up....forget about it....it will not make it ay easier to get a job, just say you have it and if a job comes up go and do it quickly...just tell the company yours has just expired.

Suppose the question is are you prepared to pay +/- 20/25k US$ in courses on the hope you might get a job, getting the tickets doesnt mean you will get a job ?

In SEA/Asia there are lots of guys about from Phillpines/Malaysia/Indonesia who have all the tickets and lots of experience and these are the people you will be competing with, and further to that are excellent at their jobs.

If you really want to do this, then do your tickets and try to get something in the likes of Angola on a 28/28 with Oceaneering or similar, but your stumbling block on this will be lack of experience.

Anyway hope this helps, not trying to p*ss on your plans, just giving you the reality.

[Scaler]

Multiple questions asked.

Lets start with the easy one offshore Thailand....forget about it, you are about 15 years too late.

In SEA/Asia even world wide offshore, generally..no one will touch a Level 1 and basically you are a trainee, minimum to get offshore for the most part is Level II, you say NDT inspector ?......NDT inspector in what ?....there are multiple disiplines and qualifications...for offshore you generally need as a minimum of Level II PT,MT,UT and RT is preferred as well.

CSWIP (PCN) NDT quals are worthwhile chasing, but are expensive to do and maintain, CWI these days outside the US is not worth a cr*p, most guys do the CSWIP 3.1 or 3.2 which is better ticket to have.

You can do all your tickets in Thailand at Mermaid (institute of welding) out near Laem Chabang, look up up the UK institute of welding in Malaysia and they will have details of all the stuff done in Thailand.

On your BOSIET, unless you have something lined up....forget about it....it will not make it ay easier to get a job, just say you have it and if a job comes up go and do it quickly...just tell the company yours has just expired.

Suppose the question is are you prepared to pay +/- 20/25k US$ in courses on the hope you might get a job, getting the tickets doesnt mean you will get a job ?

In SEA/Asia there are lots of guys about from Phillpines/Malaysia/Indonesia who have all the tickets and lots of experience and these are the people you will be competing with, and further to that are excellent at their jobs.

If you really want to do this, then do your tickets and try to get something in the likes of Angola on a 28/28 with Oceaneering or similar, but your stumbling block on this will be lack of experience.

Anyway hope this helps, not trying to p*ss on your plans, just giving you the reality.

I appreciate the honesty. Not sure what I'm gonna do, the current company is asking for me to go back to the US, but that is something I am trying to avoid with heart and soul. If its going to run ~$25K to get all the necessary certs, I think I'd be better of getting a BS in Civil Engineering.

Sounds like the CSWIP cert is the way to go. i've heard of the Mermaid institute. I'm not hard bent on only working Offshore. All I really want to do is work in Asia with a decent salary.

Edited August 9, 2011 by Scaler

[DMC1]

Multiple questions asked.

Lets start with the easy one offshore Thailand....forget about it, you are about 15 years too late.

In SEA/Asia even world wide offshore, generally..no one will touch a Level 1 and basically you are a trainee, minimum to get offshore for the most part is Level II, you say NDT inspector ?......NDT inspector in what ?....there are multiple disiplines and qualifications...for offshore you generally need as a minimum of Level II PT,MT,UT and RT is preferred as well.

CSWIP (PCN) NDT quals are worthwhile chasing, but are expensive to do and maintain, CWI these days outside the US is not worth a cr*p, most guys do the CSWIP 3.1 or 3.2 which is better ticket to have.

You can do all your tickets in Thailand at Mermaid (institute of welding) out near Laem Chabang, look up up the UK institute of welding in Malaysia and they will have details of all the stuff done in Thailand.

On your BOSIET, unless you have something lined up....forget about it....it will not make it ay easier to get a job, just say you have it and if a job comes up go and do it quickly...just tell the company yours has just expired.

Suppose the question is are you prepared to pay +/- 20/25k US$ in courses on the hope you might get a job, getting the tickets doesnt mean you will get a job ?

In SEA/Asia there are lots of guys about from Phillpines/Malaysia/Indonesia who have all the tickets and lots of experience and these are the people you will be competing with, and further to that are excellent at their jobs.

If you really want to do this, then do your tickets and try to get something in the likes of Angola on a 28/28 with Oceaneering or similar, but your stumbling block on this will be lack of experience.

Anyway hope this helps, not trying to p*ss on your plans, just giving you the reality.

I appreciate the honesty. Not sure what I'm gonna do, the current company is asking for me to go back to the US, but that is something I am trying to avoid with heart and soul. If its going to run ~$25K to get all the necessary certs, I think I'd be better of getting a BS in Civil Engineering.

Sounds like the CSWIP cert is the way to go. i've heard of the Mermaid institute. I'm not hard bent on only working Offshore. All I really want to do is work in Asia with a decent salary.

Agree with Soutpeel advice. Forget it and go with what you know. I have been in this industry in Thailand for 10 years but all of our techs are 100% Thai nationals. No expats any more apart from a couple of supervisors/managers. Sometimes I work outside of Thailand and again all the techs are locals with only a sprinkling of expat supervisors.

TWI now have a training school in Pattaya just by the flyover towards Laem Chabang. They now do all the diver training/exams for Mermaid. Last time I popped in they were only teaching MT, PT, UT & possibly RT. No Eddy Current and no higher end stuff that might get you in somewhere. Can also do CSWIP but again this course is usually packed with local lads.

Edited August 9, 2011 by DMC1

[Scaler]

Agree with Soutpeel advice. Forget it and go with what you know. I have been in this industry in Thailand for 10 years but all of our techs are 100% Thai nationals. No expats any more apart from a couple of supervisors/managers. Sometimes I work outside of Thailand and again all the techs are locals with only a sprinkling of expat supervisors.

TWI now have a training school in Pattaya just by the flyover towards Laem Chabang. They now do all the diver training/exams for Mermaid. Last time I popped in they were only teaching MT, PT, UT & possibly RT. No Eddy Current and no higher end stuff that might get you in somewhere. Can also do CSWIP but again this course is usually packed with local lads.

It seems to me that China has a booming industry, at least in the fabrication side. Especially now that ZPMC has just completed the SAS San Francisco Bay Bridge, they are already lining up other bridges. I'm not looking to work in Thailand, just live, and work else where.

Anyways I'm glad I found this forum. Seems there is a lot of wisdom to be found here.

Also the CSWIP course is something I might undertake.

[kwonitoy]

Multiple questions asked.

Lets start with the easy one offshore Thailand....forget about it, you are about 15 years too late.

In SEA/Asia even world wide offshore, generally..no one will touch a Level 1 and basically you are a trainee, minimum to get offshore for the most part is Level II, you say NDT inspector ?......NDT inspector in what ?....there are multiple disiplines and qualifications...for offshore you generally need as a minimum of Level II PT,MT,UT and RT is preferred as well.

CSWIP (PCN) NDT quals are worthwhile chasing, but are expensive to do and maintain, CWI these days outside the US is not worth a cr*p, most guys do the CSWIP 3.1 or 3.2 which is better ticket to have.

You can do all your tickets in Thailand at Mermaid (institute of welding) out near Laem Chabang, look up up the UK institute of welding in Malaysia and they will have details of all the stuff done in Thailand.

On your BOSIET, unless you have something lined up....forget about it....it will not make it ay easier to get a job, just say you have it and if a job comes up go and do it quickly...just tell the company yours has just expired.

Suppose the question is are you prepared to pay +/- 20/25k US$ in courses on the hope you might get a job, getting the tickets doesnt mean you will get a job ?

In SEA/Asia there are lots of guys about from Phillpines/Malaysia/Indonesia who have all the tickets and lots of experience and these are the people you will be competing with, and further to that are excellent at their jobs.

If you really want to do this, then do your tickets and try to get something in the likes of Angola on a 28/28 with Oceaneering or similar, but your stumbling block on this will be lack of experience.

Anyway hope this helps, not trying to p*ss on your plans, just giving you the reality.

I appreciate the honesty. Not sure what I'm gonna do, the current company is asking for me to go back to the US, but that is something I am trying to avoid with heart and soul. If its going to run ~$25K to get all the necessary certs, I think I'd be better of getting a BS in Civil Engineering.

Sounds like the CSWIP cert is the way to go. i've heard of the Mermaid institute. I'm not hard bent on only working Offshore. All I really want to do is work in Asia with a decent salary.

Soutpeel is giving good advice.

I'm a 34 year veteren in the NDT game and live in Thailand. I hold multiple level 2 tickets from Canada (CGSB) and the equivilant in ACCP (ASNT) I came to work in Thailand in 1995 on a pipeline project and you had expats from the foreman level up, expat welders, expat equipement operators, expat surveyors, and NDT expats running their operation.

The current PTT project under way from Rayong to Saraburi has practically no expat involvment at all. Only some high level client reps and specilast's.

To get your level 1 or 2 in RT UT MT and PT isn't going to make you stand out technically from the locals and of course they are far cheaper to employ.

I have specilized in AUT (automated ultrasonic testing) starting in 1999 and it was the best thing I ever did, but even now we are using operators from Thailand, Indonesia, and India with one very experienced expat supervisor to hold thing together.

Lavender in the UK offers a very good AUT course, but you need to have a UT qualification before attending and your CV talks when applying for work, the more years the better.

I'm not saying it can't be done and if it interests you by all means go for it. But the expat slice of the pie is getting smaller not just in Asia but all over the world.

I'm glad I'm at the end of my carrer, I've told the younger guys at work that they have to stay ahead of the curve with advanced training and keep moving up the food chain to more technically advanced methods to stay ahead of the hordes coming up from beneath.

Best of luck

Ken

[Soutpeel]

I spent may first part of my working life in NDT/Inspection all over the world and held just about every ticket you could think of including quite a few level III's, but let about 80% of them go as they where not really needed during the second part of my working life, I still hold a few relating to welding (CSWIP) and the API tickets.

On the CSWIP the other thng you have to consider is that they will let you take the exam and if you pass it, you will be credited with the exam, but if you dont meet the experience requirements, they will not certify you, so in your case you could pay the money pass everything and the piece of paper you get would be worthless to an employer (Yes IMHO a bit of a scam, as they shouldnt let you on the exam/course)

Personally if I was you, I would stay in survey/dims control and use any cash to improve your skills/quals there, reason being for the most part, the vast majority of guys working the region I have come across are expats, granted there are a few lads from Singapore/Malaysia as well.

Irrespective of which way you go, offshore is a difficult business to break into and you need somebody on the inside who can pull some strings for you, this is what happened to me when I started offshore many years ago, once in and your contact base has developed getting new jobs is pretty easy as somebody know somebody and being the right place at the right time is important as well

[Scaler]

I spent may first part of my working life in NDT/Inspection all over the world and held just about every ticket you could think of including quite a few level III's, but let about 80% of them go as they where not really needed during the second part of my working life, I still hold a few relating to welding (CSWIP) and the API tickets.

On the CSWIP the other thng you have to consider is that they will let you take the exam and if you pass it, you will be credited with the exam, but if you dont meet the experience requirements, they will not certify you, so in your case you could pay the money pass everything and the piece of paper you get would be worthless to an employer (Yes IMHO a bit of a scam, as they shouldnt let you on the exam/course)

Personally if I was you, I would stay in survey/dims control and use any cash to improve your skills/quals there, reason being for the most part, the vast majority of guys working the region I have come across are expats, granted there are a few lads from Singapore/Malaysia as well.

Irrespective of which way you go, offshore is a difficult business to break into and you need somebody on the inside who can pull some strings for you, this is what happened to me when I started offshore many years ago, once in and your contact base has developed getting new jobs is pretty easy as somebody know somebody and being the right place at the right time is important as well

Great advice and having read the previous posts this is the route I will go, staying in the survey/ dimensional control world.

I'm going to research and see if there are any courses in Thailand that specialize in such areas.

Thanks again!

[Soutpeel]

Great advice and having read the previous posts this is the route I will go, staying in the survey/ dimensional control world.

I'm going to research and see if there are any courses in Thailand that specialize in such areas.

Thanks again!

I wouldnt have thought there would be much in Thailand, have a look in Singapore or Malaysia

Failing that there is a company in Thailand out of the UK....think its called NB Surveys, drop them a line and pretty sure they would steer you in the right direction, you would have to search the contact details as dont have them

[DMC1]

Great advice and having read the previous posts this is the route I will go, staying in the survey/ dimensional control world.

I'm going to research and see if there are any courses in Thailand that specialize in such areas.

Thanks again!

I wouldnt have thought there would be much in Thailand, have a look in Singapore or Malaysia

Failing that there is a company in Thailand out of the UK....think its called NB Surveys, drop them a line and pretty sure they would steer you in the right direction, you would have to search the contact details as dont have them

Yes, NB have an office in BKK.

[Scaler]

Great advice and having read the previous posts this is the route I will go, staying in the survey/ dimensional control world.

I'm going to research and see if there are any courses in Thailand that specialize in such areas.

Thanks again!

I wouldnt have thought there would be much in Thailand, have a look in Singapore or Malaysia

Failing that there is a company in Thailand out of the UK....think its called NB Surveys, drop them a line and pretty sure they would steer you in the right direction, you would have to search the contact details as dont have them

Thanks Soutpeel. I am truly impressed with the generosity of everyones advice.

Cheers