Job Offer. Where Do We Start?

[quester]

Hubby works in the US for a Japanese company. He was offered a 2-3 year TDY in Bangkok. We have always been interested in taking a foreign assignment and he has a rule about not passing up opportunities for work. But we know NOTHING about Bangkok.

We have a few days to do research and think it over. We aren't worried about compensation as the company tends to be generous when they send someone overseas. We are worried about schooling (we have three children aged 13, 11, and 6) and lifestyle/quality of life. We currently live in the suburbs in Texas, so we know that Bangkok will be a completely different life. We love the idea of our children experiencing a different culture.

Where do we start? What sort of things do we need to consider?

[Thanyaburi Mac]

When might you be coming to Thailand? Makes a bit of difference as to schooling for kids.

Will you be based in Bangkok or one of the other cities where there lots of industrial estates?

Here's a couple of urls for background reading:

http://www.ediplomat.com/np/post_reports/pr_th.htm

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1040.html

Mac

[lopburi3]

As you do not appear to be asking about visas (your company will likely take care of that) will move this to the family area for feedback. Be sure company will pick up the tab for schooling as good international schools are not cheap here.

[impulse]

Just finished Moving To Thailand by Mike Santos - a pretty good book for someone thinking of moving here. Recommended.

http://www.amazon.co...k/dp/B00CKA3ACI

Compliments of davejones, post #514 here.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/560701-what-books-are-people-reading-now/page-21?hl=%2Bamazon#entry6368309

Seriously, you're better off Googling or buying a book from Amazon, etc than posting here, unless you have very specific questions.

I'm from Texas, on expat assignment in Bangkok. I don't consider it a hardship posting, but if the pay were not correct, I'd be gone in an instant. I have no kids, but read thousands of posts about educating kids in Thailand, from one end of the spectrum to the other.

Good luck!

Edited May 10, 2013 by impulse

[asiaexpat]

Being from a Texas suburb myself, I can tell you that a lot of the activities for your kids will not be available here in Bangkok. My kids all participated in the usual sports in Texas and they found the lack of community sports activities a little disappointing. They all had to find substitute activities (the internet was not an option for them either) and seem bored outside school. International schools are extremely expensive in Bangkok and the level of educational quality varies. Make sure you and the company agree on the school and cost sharing before you agree to come since that will be your biggest issue when here. Also, housing costs can be high depending on how far your spouse is willing to travel to work each day. We live in a suburb (Prawet) of Bangkok and it takes up to an hour to get to the business section of Bangkok. Traffic is a much like the large cities in Texas only without any traffic rules. I drive here, but after many years of doing so, I still use public transport most of the time (taxis are cheap.) My kids found the overall experience satisfying and much better than our time in the middle east. It does seem unreasonable that the company would only give you a few days to decide on such a significant move. Good luck with your future what ever it may be.

[ExpatJ]

International schools in Bangkok are expensive (starting at 20,000 US$ per child per year for a 5 year old)but they are world class- certainly better than 99% of state schools- so you are getting what you pay for. NIST, one of these top schools here, is located in central bangkok so living and working in the same area means your commute times will be minimal (20-30 mins).

In terms of sports- if your kids play soccer than there are plenty of little leagues, community games etc.

Housing- you have the choice of every price range and quality- many of the expat families I know are living in central bangkok and paying on average @120,000 Thai baht (3- 4,000 US$) per month rent- apartment complexes, with nice gardens, play areas, pools, gyms etc..

You also have access to maids, nannies, drivers- which makes life much easier!