Just curious how everyone out there earns their living....

We dont ,its very hard to earn a living here for a Falang ,most of us have investments and pensions,thats why so many of us are older.

Engineering - O&G.

Kenny, I really doubt many of the posters here make a living in Thailand, unless they have good jobs. Most will be living 2 lives. One here and another elsewhere, or have an independent income.

I live and earn my money here and it took 7 years to set up, no easy deal and I still struggle.

If an idea won't float in the west, chances are it won't work here.

I have seen them come and go, the ones that make it, have something to offer and the money and knowledge to see it through.

I think I have made it, but I took a big risk and gambled all. You can see what I do in my profile and I have a blog, of how I got here. Some say not a bad read. Jim

like guesthouse oil and gas, and power, still contract on verious jobs off shore and on shore,

but we do have a small pig farm here too,

jake

IT

Well, an answer could found in the quote 'how do you make a small fortune here in Thailand? - come here with a large one!!'

Let me know when you find out, I'm starting to run low on cash

Schlumberger are currently funding my stay.

We dont ,its very hard to earn a living here for a Falang ,most of us have investments and pensions,thats why so many of us are older.

Thailand is a big drain for all our money, you just don't know it till is too late

Only 1% of businesses make money, rest loose.

tourism industry..

Web design company

Whoring my body for the oil dollar

O&G and Mining.

I have found Bangkok a good central point for my main residence. It is no more than three hours from any country I have concessions/holdings in. If you are simply looking at Thailand to make your fortune that would be very tough, possible but tough. It would largely depend on your relationships and your ability to leverage opportunity while mitigating risk. over the past 20 years no more than 10% of my gross income has stemmed from Thailand. If you broaden your focus and take into consideration countries like Indonesia, Philippines, Laos, Burma and Vietnam this region is an absolute treasure trove of opportunity. Look at business models and individuals that are highly successful and find a way to fit your talents/knowledge into a scenario that adds value to what these groups are already doing. Thailand is not friendly to foreign business ownership and the tax structure reflects this clearly. Holding assets in Thailand is a recipe for disaster if that is all you have. This is why god made Hong Kong and Singapore, for this region these are the key players for establishing your corporate structure and then you can branch out to the smaller local markets by virtue of subsidiary establishment. Never never keep a significant portion of your portfolio in an emerging market or a pineapple republic such as The Kingdom. Use the local entities to conduct your business, and then receive funds into your main holding companies offshore that have a huge tax relief structure, then feed back only that amount of capital that is needed to to sustain the local subsidiary and create a local tax payment track-record.

When you look at just the brownfield opportunities in natural resources throughout SE Asia alone, there is more opportunity/deal flow than a sound minded business person could possible realize in several lifetimes. With forward thinking and a keen understanding of risk mitigation a person can invest a relatively small amount of money in assets to partially prove (infer) the resources within the concession, then compile a basket, on your own or combining with a trusted partner, and you are looking at a minimum of 10X return on your investment; this is not even looking at low level IPO events.

When I read comments like what is written above it never ceases to amaze me that people are that short sighted, to say "if it is not successful in the West it wont work here" is ridiculous. I could not engage my business model in the West for two days, I would be bankrupt. But in SE Asia and Thailand i can support hundreds of employees and a lifestyle that I could only dream of back home. My point is, don't listen to the doubters and na-sayers, spend your time seeking out and emualating successful people/companies in the region that you share skills or talent with and get to work at duplicating what they do or bringing value added complement to their existing organization(s).

When people ask how do you make a living in Thailand they are often asking how to get a job in Thailand rather than building a business for which one needs capital.

And when they are asking how to get a job they are often asking from a position of having no technical skills or qualifications.

In short they are looking to finance their stay in Thailand rather than thinking about building a career.

It rarely works.

Marketing/ distribution

Sent from my XT910 using Thaivisa Connect App

e-commerce. started from ground up 2 years.

I capture backpackers, scalp them, and then sell their hair to thai wigmakers.

I've got a metal detector, i found a $7000 wedding ring on Lamai beach last week. Sometimes i sell stuff on ebay .

The larger part of my income comes from my gogo bar in Pattaya!

It all supplements my £100 a week pension from the U.K.

Only 1% of businesses make money, rest loose.

So 99% are let loose on the World.

I capture backpackers, scalp them, and then sell their hair to thai wigmakers.

Might go and try that,sounds like fun

I've got a metal detector, i found a $7000 wedding ring on Lamai beach last week. Sometimes i sell stuff on ebay .

The larger part of my income comes from my gogo bar in Pattaya!

It all supplements my £100 a week pension from the U.K.

I forgot to mention my frog farm thats in the pipeline

I'm a go-go boy..

open a Laundry

trapping & selling wild birds.. 10,000thb+ for some of the smaller colourful varieties. Usually bag 10-30 a week.

rest of the week i just play hi lo, cards or buy lottery tickets and hope for the big win...

edit - oh, and dabble a bit with delusions of being a fantasy novelist (as yet, unpublished)

I started investing in the new your stock exchange at an early age.

I get dividends quarterly.I do mess with gold.try and wait til it's down some and then buy A fair amount.When it goes up A few baht i unload it.It works for me.

Only 1% of businesses make money, rest loose.

Where did you get your figure - guess work?

You're all gonna love this, especially those with a degree that can't find a job or are earning 25k per month. I have a year 10 education, am not particularly bright and I lied my way into a job 12 years ago. I am now a country manager of a huge international company, and despite being fairly incompetent, still manage to hold onto my job.

Only 1% of businesses make money, rest loose.

Where did you get your figure - guess work?

Yes agrees with my survey, I asked 100 local business's if they were making money. 100 replied 'yes making lots', reckoned 99 of them were lying and one was.Therefore 99% are losing money, see scientific !!