Making It Big In Thailand - Whether Love Or Money

[thhMan]

Quick Intro

In the news, there is always someone that has failed doing something in Thailand.

For some it is in a relationship.

Others its the promise of a happy family life with the new wife, buying a home then suddenly losing it to the wife.

Then there are the business ideas that fail.

I am far from an expert, in fact, last year I was let go by a Thai company and lost the battle to get my money owed for 3 years of 7 day working week. Sure I never worked the full Sat or Sun, but I was normally called in to fix this or that... I didnt mind so much until the day I was let go.

Anyway, with a wife and 2 children, rent, school etc, I had nothing in the bank and I started selling what I had, just to put food on the table. It was at the second month, my frustration at being conned of 3 years severance began to subside and I started being positive about how to feed my family. I began to do odd jobs and in doing so, met some fantastic and professional people, from Pattaya, Bangkok and even as far as Chiang Mai. I was able to talk to these guys and they where kind enough to send people my way for odd jobs and so on. People that I met while working for (the above company) , suddenly began calling me and soon I had some real nice mates who where previously just clients of "the company". Even the staff for "the company" started to come by for the odd coffee and chat. All my visa issues where suddenly fixed and I even have my own company now. simply due to knowing some great people who know other great people and so on. I never took a handout !

Its also the time that I started paying attention to circumstances that I was reading in the news, watching on TV and of course reading in this forum. It soon dawned that life is not exactly rosy for some "well off" westerners in Thailand. Just today a received a call from one of these well off guys, who I now call a mate, asking for my advice on what to do about his property investments in Thailand. His wife of over 10 years had suddenly got the "grumps" and his rock solid marriage, suddenly didn't look so good. To make a long story short, I am now helping him get rid of his properties now, while he still can.

Making it BIG

I have had over a year to ponder things and there are a few things you can do.

Not lose money

I have met <snip> and others, who presented themselves well, but had dark and deadly secrets (which I didnt know at the time). I have even spent time with <snip> on a project he was working on and needed my help to complete. Needless to say, I didnt help the guy as I found out what he was all about. In fact, all of these people had "something" about them that just made me cautious.

Dont buy off the plan property. Do not buy anything without due diligence. Do not get cheap when it comes to doing your due diligence as you may regret it deeply. Talk to people on the forum or in pubs... It wont be long before you find out whats what

Fall in love with your lady (or man), but be discreet about your net worth. Keep money separate from others, such as in an OS bank account. Understand that you maybe required to fund "the family" so before proceeding, find out whats requested, work out the yearly budget and stick to it. If you offer 10,000 THB a month, then do so on the day its promised and never miss a payment. You will find that its easier to say no, when you and "the family" know that payday is soon approaching, so making waves or asking for extra will not be tolerated. Understand that if you do give extra, it may not get paid back and taking it out of next months "family pay" will not be appreciated.

Work out ways to keep as much of the house in your name as possible, whether as a company or other. Yes, you love her, but remember your first love as a teen.... It didn't last... and you moved on, but thankfully, you didn't lose a bundle, except maybe some comics or a friendship bracelet that you brought for her....

You maybe offered cheap land on the "families" property. Just remember, the house you build on that land, may just become theirs if you are not careful. This is not Thai bashing in any way. Its just the sad fact that as westerners, we cannot buy land and we are subject to the Thai laws and conditions, which tend to mean that anything we do, its already at least 51% Thai owned. (I am generalizing and being sarcastic)

Remember, if she/he loves you, then money should not come into play. If it does, it doesn't mean you need to run away, it just means that money will be an issue every now and then, so be prepared for it. Big tip... Listen to your mates. They maybe right with what they say, and if enough of them tell you what you "don't want to hear", then perhaps its time to suck it in and listen to them. That why they are called Mates

Making Money

This one would be the easiest thing to comment on. Making money is VERY EASY.... Its not in pubs or restaurants, even though some do very well....

The secret is to look around at your environment and see what the differences are to back home and using that prophetic knowledge to your advantage!... I wont hand out ideas, because its not all about the idea, but how something is implemented.

Sure I have a thousand ways to be a millionaire in Thailand, but right now I am taking baby steps. I got myself out of a horrible and hopeless situation a year ago and as I get financially able, I will start each of my ideas and make them projects. Many I will share with my mates and some I will share with strangers. I have already started a few and will continue until I reach my goal of buying a farm upcountry and taking in those that are doing it tough and giving them some breathing space to get their life in order....

Actually, I will hand out one idea.... I have thought about this one for a while and it does make sense...

Those food carts... They do about 20k in profit a month.... So what would setting up 10 of them make you and splitting half the cash with someone to run them?

Running one of them wont be so expensive and if your running 10 of them, you would be buying product in bulk and that would lower your expenses a tad as well. Every 2nd month, add another food cart with your profits and just keep going until you want to stop and just take in the profit. Setup as a company and there is your work permit and your required staff.

Making it big in Thailand is about getting off your backside and doing something. Not following the sheeple (buy a bar) and being able to work through every hurdle without giving up. If you can make it past the first "problem" then every problem after that, gets easier to deal with.

Feel free to PM me and if I can help in any way, I would be glad to do so. Remember, stay with the right crowd and soon you will find everyone helping each other. That's what the Thai's do and it works

Edited May 15, 2013 by craigt3365
removed references to people

[Eesat]

So you apparently "know 1,000 ways to become a millionaire" but you're not going to share any of them with us?
Bit of a pointless thread then really,isn't it?

[mrtoad]

I see a book being written....

[pomchop]

somehow I suspect running a bunch of food carts operated by a thai person with no cash register, no real inventory control, problems with paying off various people to allow you a location might not be quite so simple as you describe....and this thai person is going to run all this for you and work long hours day after day after day for half of the money? maybe he/she will just find a way to cut you out of the picture?

however I do wish you luck as I suspect you will need a lot of that to fulfill your dream of being the king of the thai food carts....

[Eesat]

somehow I suspect running a bunch of food carts operated by a thai person with no cash register, no real inventory control, problems with paying off various people to allow you a location might not be quite so simple as you describe....and this thai person is going to run all this for you and work long hours day after day after day for half of the money? maybe he/she will just find a way to cut you out of the picture?

however I do wish you luck as I suspect you will need a lot of that to fulfill your dream of being the king of the thai food carts....

Oh well,he has 999 more ideas left!

[Eesat]

Maybe this thread could be guessing what they are,Thai boxing gyms,Money lending etc,etc!

[JLCrab]

From the screenplay for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) -- Fred C. Dobbs - Humphrey Bogart

Fred C. Dobbs: You know, if I was a native, I'd get me a can of shoe polish and I'd be in business. They'd never let a gringo. You can sit on a bench 'til you're three-quarters starved... you can beg from another gringo... you can even commit burglary. You try shinin' shoes in the street, peddlin' lemonade out of a bucket, and your hash is settled. You'll never get another job from an American.

Bob Curtin: Yeah, and the natives would hound and pester you to death.

Fred C. Dobbs: Some town to be broke in.

Bob Curtain: What town isn't?

Edited May 14, 2013 by JLCrab

[mrtoad]

Maybe this thread could be guessing what they are,Thai boxing gyms,Money lending etc,etc!

Real estate judging by some of his associates.

[mickjn]

I will tell you one.Never lend money.Never lend money to Farangs who were your friends back home.Other than that it is very easy to get along here.

[thhMan]

I will tell you one.Never lend money.Never lend money to Farangs who were your friends back home.Other than that it is very easy to get along here.

Absolutely right. Lending money is a one way money transaction.

BTW... for the other posts... If you want to start a Thai Boxing gym or anything else, thats up to you. What I was getting at is that there is an opportunity that we all have, due to where we have lived. How many times back home have you said... "I wish I would have thought about that" ?

Well, in Thailand you just may get the chance to do it.

I read a fantastic thread on Thaivisa by a gent on how he was going to start a car repair business. He has the experience, he has the connections and he has the cash to do it. Sure there are many Thai car repair businesses out there now, but his idea was to bring the business model in Thailand up to modern standards and practices.... His idea was sound and having done it back in his own country, he can do it here.

Of course there is an argument with pricing and the Thai way is what everyone is used too. But the world is changing, the Asean agreement will have an effect on Thailand. It wasnt that long ago that China was a poor nation, who then opened the doors to the rest of the world and started growing as a nation and prosper. There are other countries doing it now and some are taking advantage of Thailands lack of interest in many sectors (including immigration) and offering companies the right to setup shop with full ownership of business, land etc...

The food cart was just an example. Who knows, some day there may be someone that does it and sells borsch or hot dogs (or whatever) and there will be people that will say... "I wish I had thought of that"

[Bangkokhatter]

Ok a nice feel good thread, but I still can't understand the " fund the family " part, why ? how did the family survive before you came along ?

[thhMan]

Ok a nice feel good thread, but I still can't understand the " fund the family " part, why ? how did the family survive before you came along ?

Well, when I met the missus she had a normal job at 7-11... Then we had kids... So when I was let go, I had to find a way to support/fund the family. I also brought a car the same week I was let go, so thankfully I could return it without to much drama... And that was 12 and a bit months ago...

Anything is possible if you can get out of your rut and just go for it. Something as simple as spending a few thousand THB to buy a domain and host it was a big gamble as we didnt have that much money to spend... However, it paid off with a lot of sleepless nights and the moral support of my family and friends

I watch many videos/read forums of people who simply give up and go back home. I am sure many are happy to do so, but I would guess that for some, its not what they want to do, but have to because they believe its the only way to get through a situation.... I thought about it... However, I left Australia for a reason and no matter what, I was determined to stay in Thailand and make things better for my family !

Edited May 15, 2013 by thhMan

[whiteman]

One has to ask after 3+ years working in thai company 7 days a week and did not have any money in the bank to fall back on does not give me much confidence in your so called advice to others now>

Unless I am missing something vailed like real estate

[thhMan]

One has to ask after 3+ years working in thai company 7 days a week and did not have any money in the bank to fall back on does not give me much confidence in your so called advice to others now>

Unless I am missing something vailed like real estate

If I was getting a decent salary, I could have saved.... But that was not the case. I did however save enough to put a down payment on a car, but that was short lived as explained. My kids also went to better schools and I was building up my career (or I thought so).... There is a lot more to the story, but I prefer to leave that behind me and just keep moving forward

Making money in Thailand is NOT working for a boss. Making money is about taking a step out of your comfort zone and doing something proactive.....

Edited May 16, 2013 by thhMan

[krisb]

Your food cart idea is far from original. Your whole op is also nothing new, heard it a thousand times on this forum from a thousand different members, apart from the working for 3 years for free bit. Then again volunteers do it all the time.

Anyhow best of luck mate!

[Chao Lao Beach]

This guy did.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/suzynam/2013/05/16/bill-heinecke-billionaire/

[nami]

Great post and inspirational, thanks for sharing :-)

I am interested to know a bit more on your background. You say at the end you bought a web domain and hosting, are you in IT? Was your last job related?

I am also curious about the snipped names :-D were they guys running sex websites maybe?

Anyway thanks for the nice reading ;-)

Edit: oops just noticed I was bumping an old thread ^^U

Edited July 2, 2013 by nami

[BoonToong]

So you apparently "know 1,000 ways to become a millionaire" but you're not going to share any of them with us?

Bit of a pointless thread then really,isn't it?

Nope!

[megaworldasia]

How to make a small fortune in Thailand?

Start with a large fortune.

[pigeonjake]

im no expert,

but were would you put another 10 food carts, and then you say buy 2 more , so on and so on,

were are you going to put them all,??

im not having a go, good on you for having a go at anything here,

one more thing, ill garantee you, if you start a profitable bussiness here, there will be one next door to you in a month,

just think some thai farmer years ago must of thought, i know im going to sell water melons by the side of a busy road,, great idea did really well, for that growing season,

next year there they are 20 of them,,

good luck to you, im running a few ideas around in my head, im lucky that i still work,

but i do have other ideas for when i retire, we have the farm with pigs, ducks, chickens and fish,

but i think i do have a winner in my head, im just doing some more research on it,

good luck to all that try,

but please remember, falangs have tried just about everything that could be tried to stay here,

jake