What are the ways to make living/money as an expat in Thailand?

[Benmart]

running a religion can be a nice earner but you may have to wake up early

if you are not really a morning person you could try prostitution instead

A juvenile post in response to someone asking a serious question.

[Benmart]

"1.b. Extending on the above, don't even think of starting "anything digital" (you mentioned a website?). Thai's have absolutely no appreciation for any of that. An iPhone/Samsung is there to feed Facebook and that's the end of the use of IT in Thailand. Websites are regarded a waste of money, no one looks at it, emails are not used by most normal "thai business people". Thailand is a truly "special place" regarding IT, Just forget it........ !!"

I believe he is speaking of setting up a website for Farangs about Thailand. Probably a 1000 domains like that, but there is always the possibility of doing it better than everyone else out there. Make me an offer for my domain

ThailandTravel.com or Thailandinfo.com , I should have done something with them by now.. too lazy.

brainless, naive talk...

When we point a finger and call someone an unkind name, the other three fingers are pointed back at us.

There are alternate ways of expressing an opposing view. It's takes intelligence and effort to do that.

[mdmayes]

you call it "negative", I call it "realistic". It's almost easy to be "shoulders above the competition", as you said, of many businesses in Thailand, that's not too hard...

The problem is that, contrary to popular talk, "Quality" is not in high demand by most locals and Farangs if it costs more than lesser quality, cheap, local service/products... You can be better easily, that is NOT the problem, but you still will have a much harder time than you think to convert that into business success! Try it, and you will know what I mean

Set up a tour guide business. Advertise in your home county and charge non Thai rates. Providing first time tourists from your home county a unique Thai experiance form a non Thai perspective. You can taylor this to your own interests for example photography. It will take time to build up a good rep and referrals but once thats done your set. Takes around 5 years to do. The magic of this is you earn money offshore which can more than sustain you lifestyle in Thailand for years to come.

agree, one of the few realistic way to earn money "in Thailand through business from outside Thailand", as long as you have a business idea (and the skills/connections) which fis this model !! As an example, Scuba Diving companies did quite well based on such a model in the past, but those time are also over by now, as far I as I am told...

Dont be so negative...

If you have the desire and know how you can make anything work. The trick is to get a GOOD rep back home and the world will beat a path to your door. You will stand head and sholders above any compitition. In order to do this you need a positive attitude. If you have a negative attitude your done before you even have started.

What im saying tt is not to worry about the Thai market at all. All advertising and customers are from your home county.

[mdmayes]

Set up a tour guide business. Advertise in your home county and charge non Thai rates. Providing first time tourists from your home county a unique Thai experiance form a non Thai perspective. You can taylor this to your own interests for example photography. It will take time to build up a good rep and referrals but once thats done your set. Takes around 5 years to do. The magic of this is you earn money offshore which can more than sustain you lifestyle in Thailand for years to come.

agree, one of the few realistic way to earn money "in Thailand through business from outside Thailand", as long as you have a business idea (and the skills/connections) which fis this model !! As an example, Scuba Diving companies did quite well based on such a model in the past, but those time are also over by now, as far I as I am told...

Dont be so negative...

If you have the desire and know how you can make anything work. The trick is to get a GOOD rep back home and the world will beat a path to your door. You will stand head and sholders above any compitition. In order to do this you need a positive attitude. If you have a negative attitude your done before you even have started.

Lets use your idea of scuba diving as an example. You could advertise in your home county that you can provide the customer an unique Thailand Diving Experiance all over Thailand. Target lets say four different areas of Thailand where you can set up dives for the customer. You may take the customer to 1-3 locations. Lets say they had a great time visiting the dive locations then your rep builds. They want to come back to try the other locations they could not get to the first time...repeat busness. They tell there friends and coworkers of the great time they have had and you rep builds. Soon you have more customers than you can handle. This is a simplistic example and i cant type much on this small phone but i would hope get the idea.

Yes you will have to a little work. Yes you will have to make some hard choices. In the end it could change your life...but first comes attitude. Be positive and many more doors open up for you than if your negatitve.

Tt please read my complete message. This will be my last post on this subject so be sure to give me you "realistic" repy. Have a good day.

[MobileContent]

From my experience it's no longer that easy to pop up with a website and make money out of it.

Can it be done ? Yes, absolutely but it takes years to develop. As an Example look at agoda, asiarooms and hoteltravel. They were all setup in the beginning in Thailand.

My advise, use Thailand as a base and push your products globally. Make sure you have enough capital for the first one to two years and stay away from local investors, both Thais and Expats.

Good luck

[trihent]

You have hit on one of the number one topics that expats talk among themselves. I already have a whole list of good and bad ideas. Very reluctantly if you want message me.

[Maestro]

I have removed some troll posts and replies to them.

[banglassie]

how about farming? Are we allowed to farm in Thailand? Or is it one of those "Thai blood only" careers?

We have land, most of it rice fields, but we want to advance to grow other vegetables and similar, like Cassava and Rubber etc.

So, can I do this legally? Or I would it be easier for me to just be a side-kick, investing a bit and working as a "helper" without any official salary, while the to-be-wife would distribute cash to me from "her own pocket"?

I'm very new to all this, and not that old to be honest, so please don't throw dirt at me just for asking. I just want to check out all possibilities possible.

And yea, I know many would love to reply "good luck throwing your hard earned money in the lake" or "just wait till the Soo Nice family comes to get their share" or "Might as well just give the missy a bunch of cash straight away since u probably will end up empty handed while she's living life with her Thai bf"...

I am fully AWARE of how bad it has went for many people here. But let's make a statistic of how many of those people met their "love of their life" in Phuket? Samui? Pattaya?... Or perhaps a dating site? (not saying any of these are wrong, but good precaution should be taken...)

There are a lot of gold diggers, but I do know my friends, family and my lady. And yea, I'm sure I belong to the lucky people, and I believe many here do, but they simply have no need to complain about all and everything so they mostly keep their mouth shut unless they strongly disagree with something etc.

And yea, I might one day wake up and be proven wrong, that's always a possibility, but I prefer to have faith in humanity instead of being cynical non-stop.

I have had Thais around me since I was 4 years old, and I feel very natural in their environment as well as their thinking, (which I don't always agree with, but still understand how it comes).

So, let's say I am right and have a family I can trust to the bone (except for my brother-in-law who loves gambling a bit too much (way too much...).

Which is the best way for me to go? Simply invest in her name, or walk a long narrow road to get some permits?

Or do I need to be Thai to trully work in the agricultural area? If so, how do I bypass it the easiest way? I know many do. But how?

And not willing to answer, or give me a quick "there's a search function u know?" then fine. Please don't answer at all, I know how to search and I do it regularly, just wanted some update info on these matters.

For those willing to reply with any info at all of value, much respect and big thanks to you all.

[mmh8]

marry into money

[inkorat]

If you are interested in buying a small online business for (1m) that can make 50 - 100k/month and have repeat customer, PM me.

My wife has two sites that are first page in the search engines and have been established for over 10 years. Income verifiable and traceable.

You must be located close to a city to purchase some items to make this doable. We have moved into the country and it is now just to much running around for the wife with all her other activities and commitments.

Sorry this will not be discussed in the forum and only serious parties should PM me for further information. A non-disclose agreement will be required.

[TTom911]

Set up a tour guide business. Advertise in your home county and charge non Thai rates. Providing first time tourists from your home county a unique Thai experiance form a non Thai perspective. You can taylor this to your own interests for example photography. It will take time to build up a good rep and referrals but once thats done your set. Takes around 5 years to do. The magic of this is you earn money offshore which can more than sustain you lifestyle in Thailand for years to come.

agree, one of the few realistic way to earn money "in Thailand through business from outside Thailand", as long as you have a business idea (and the skills/connections) which fis this model !! As an example, Scuba Diving companies did quite well based on such a model in the past, but those time are also over by now, as far I as I am told...

Dont be so negative...

If you have the desire and know how you can make anything work. The trick is to get a GOOD rep back home and the world will beat a path to your door. You will stand head and sholders above any compitition. In order to do this you need a positive attitude. If you have a negative attitude your done before you even have started.

Lets use your idea of scuba diving as an example. You could advertise in your home county that you can provide the customer an unique Thailand Diving Experiance all over Thailand. Target lets say four different areas of Thailand where you can set up dives for the customer. You may take the customer to 1-3 locations. Lets say they had a great time visiting the dive locations then your rep builds. They want to come back to try the other locations they could not get to the first time...repeat busness. They tell there friends and coworkers of the great time they have had and you rep builds. Soon you have more customers than you can handle. This is a simplistic example and i cant type much on this small phone but i would hope get the idea.

Yes you will have to a little work. Yes you will have to make some hard choices. In the end it could change your life...but first comes attitude. Be positive and many more doors open up for you than if your negatitve.

Tt please read my complete message. This will be my last post on this subject so be sure to give me you "realistic" repy. Have a good day.

You picked the very wrong example (scuba) trying to make your point. If you can't see already out of the top of your head why your seemingly easy suggestion (scuba and ideas of similar concepts) is flawed then just take Excel and make some P&L and cash flow projection for the first 2 years... If you put realistic numbers into that plan you will have tears in your eyes, I promise...

I can only repeat again, if futures are built on coffee table (or beer table for that matter) talks without some proper financial planning then people can't be helped and they just ask for getting hurt (or they knowingly accept the risk for adventure sake, and that is fine then, coz it's they choice). For the more diligent ones, they can buy solid and easy to use business planing software on the web (e.g. Business Plan Pro from Palo Alto Software) or do it cloud-based online, paying a small monthly subscription fee (e.g. liveplan.com, they even have (had?) a free starter package (and if you feel you can entrust other people with your business data...)). Whatever the tool, JUST DO THE PLANNING!

Unfortunately experience tells (I worked with startup, mainly in IT, over more than 20 yrs in Europe and the US) that this advise is ignored regularly

Edited November 11, 2013 by TTom911

[TTom911]

Money SAVED is money earned. There are many ways to reduce and cut back on your spending while still enjoying life in Thailand. There are lots of good threads here that will give you some good ideas on how to save cash without giving up much.

Simple and good point ! Never underestimate "common sense" (like "money SAVED is money earned") when planning and running a business !

[wileycoyote]

I have currently been working here for a few years now, and my current "solution" is to go back to my home country, make money and bring it back here. There is just too much BS when you work for any Thai business that it is hard to fade. I do like investing here however, which is a significant plus for me. That is my answer, or lack of one anyway.... short version is, unless you get hired overseas and come here, the job will probably be more trouble than it is worth.

True !

[smotherb]

Simple really, just marry a rich Thai and let her support you in grand style.

[aechzen]

brow beer

Edited November 11, 2013 by aechzen

[belg]

start a language school

seems to get a lot of money if you believe some of the posters here

and than you start selling ED visas and let your students work for free to earn you big CASH

[ev1lchris]

What about oDesk?

[asupeartea]

I was under the impression that it is 100% illegal to earn any income here if one does not have a work permit. Of course, if you just have some little selling stuff on the internet thing going, I suppose it would be easy to conceal. But still, illegal. And then, if you are from the USA, any income made here is taxed as if you were still living there. Pay up, suckah! Barry and Boner need the money.

If I'm wrong on any of this, please feel free to correct me.

The first US$80,000 earned is untaxed by the USA. After that you pay the rate for that income, I think. So, US$80,000 is a lot. 80-90k won't add much after USA taxes. Then after, you start making money because you've covered the taxes.

[oakweb]

I believe you guys are referring to Foreign Earned Income Exclusion

http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Foreign-Earned-Income-Exclusion-1

[TTom911]

I was under the impression that it is 100% illegal to earn any income here if one does not have a work permit. Of course, if you just have some little selling stuff on the internet thing going, I suppose it would be easy to conceal. But still, illegal. And then, if you are from the USA, any income made here is taxed as if you were still living there. Pay up, suckah! Barry and Boner need the money.

If I'm wrong on any of this, please feel free to correct me.

The first US$80,000 earned is untaxed by the USA. After that you pay the rate for that income, I think. So, US$80,000 is a lot. 80-90k won't add much after USA taxes. Then after, you start making money because you've covered the taxes.

In particular this new piece of US regulation will cause huge headache amongst US Americans living anywhere abroad as it require ALL BANKS WORLDWIDE to automatically report any American held deposits of more than 50kUS$ to the IRS. Means, even if "you" don't declare it, never mind, the IRS knows already... And, as you Americans will know better than me, it does not matter if you did not set a foot on American soil for however long, your are taxable, no matter what (of course, some double taxation treaty my apply, dependent where you otherwise also have to pay taxes...). Another new Eldorado for tax advisers, accountants and lawyers...

See: The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA ("nice" acronym... reads almost like FAT CAT... )

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Account_Tax_Compliance_Act

http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Corporations/Foreign-Account-Tax-Compliance-Act-(FATCA)

http://www.pwc.com/us/en/financial-services/what-is-fatca.jhtml

P.S.: And, sure, it is illegal to work without a work permit !

Edited November 11, 2013 by TTom911

[ezzra]

The quickest way to make a million dollar in Thailand is to start with 2 million dollars....

[brit1984]

undercut the motorbike taxis with a piggyback taxi service

[brit1984]

start a circus with fellow "expats" performing dangerous stunts

make sure some go wrong at the first show for extra publicity

[TTom911]

start a circus with fellow "expats" performing dangerous stunts

make sure some go wrong at the first show for extra publicity

BRILLIANT, everyone will want to see that even though (as usual) no one will pay you a dime for it... but, Thailand being Thailand, if might help you to sell A LOT of beer alongside... so, that way it could well be "good business"...

[brit1984]

start a circus with fellow "expats" performing dangerous stunts

make sure some go wrong at the first show for extra publicity

BRILLIANT, everyone will want to see that even though (as usual) no one will pay you a dime for it... but, Thailand being Thailand, if might help you to sell A LOT of beer alongside... so, that way it could well be "good business"...

i was thinking the revenue model would be more based on taking out big insurance policies on the performers

[TTom911]

start a circus with fellow "expats" performing dangerous stunts

make sure some go wrong at the first show for extra publicity

BRILLIANT, everyone will want to see that even though (as usual) no one will pay you a dime for it... but, Thailand being Thailand, if might help you to sell A LOT of beer alongside... so, that way it could well be "good business"...

i was thinking the revenue model would be more based on taking out big insurance policies on the performers

don't think so, they will all be illegally working without a work permit anyways, no one will give them an insurance...

[jmccarty]

Like anything of value, you need some of your time and money for a start. Maybe just your time and someone elses money?

Figure out the logistics, plus import duty rule of thumb and set up a consolidated shipping service so that people can get a local "ship to:" address in the USA, UK, France, Australia etc. Obviously one country at a time. Then people here in Thailand can order stuff from wherever home is and pay less and actually be able to order stuff and get it shipped from home cheaper.

Now, many things from as an example amazon can not be shipped to Thailand when you try and place your order. This is not because the things are banned, it's because Amazon and many others have not completely figured out what the world wide web is yet.

See http://www.vpost.com.sg/ to see an example of one such service that works very well if you happen to be resident in Singapore. This one set up by a national postal service but the fundamentals are not that complicated.

I would do this if I could make the time to, but I work full time and make enough money in Thailand already. But not enough to spare to finance someone else doing this.

[brit1984]

start a circus with fellow "expats" performing dangerous stunts

make sure some go wrong at the first show for extra publicity

BRILLIANT, everyone will want to see that even though (as usual) no one will pay you a dime for it... but, Thailand being Thailand, if might help you to sell A LOT of beer alongside... so, that way it could well be "good business"...

i was thinking the revenue model would be more based on taking out big insurance policies on the performers

don't think so, they will all be illegally working without a work permit anyways, no one will give them an insurance...

i will list them in the insurance policy as livestock

[jmccarty]

undercut the motorbike taxis with a piggyback taxi service

Yes, and use real pigs!

[brit1984]

undercut the motorbike taxis with a piggyback taxi service

Yes, and use real pigs!

that's my plan... i will procure them from one the meat markets around Sukhumvit