Are these jobs only available to Thais?

[lionmeetstiger]

Say I'm looking at professional engineering and construction jobs here:

http://th.jobsdb.com/TH/EN/Search/FindJobs?KeyOpt=COMPLEX&JSRV=1&RLRSF=1&JobCat=55&JSSRC=JSRSB

Do I need to assume these jobs are for Thai nationals only unless they specify that foreigners can apply?

[starship]

Pretty much. It's annoying that they do not often specify jobs open to foreign nationals as you can waste a lot of time applying for jobs that you wont be eligible for. I think any jobs that state 'good English skills/ability' are obviously aimed at Thai's with English skills not foreigners. Occasionally you do see jobs open to foreigners where it will say 'Thai or foreigner' or 'Expat Manager required', most not all though, state 'Thai national only'.

I think unless you have extremely specialized skills or are a very senior manager you will probably find it hard to get a job through here. Jobs in most areas are only really open to foreigners when they can do something a Thai can't do. There are probably tens of thousands of Thai engineers here. Why would they give a job to you unless you can do something they can't.

Maybe you might have more luck and less effort going through an agency (many of them advertise on the site you mention) where they try to find a job for you. Just go via the job to their home page and register.

There are foreigners working here as engineers but I would imagine many have been transferred here by their foreign company's and I guess you are not in this position. Also language comes into it. Unless you are technically very skilled or senior as previously mentioned in which case the company might use an interpreter, how would you communicate (at all or technically) unless you can speak Thai?

Anyway, good luck.

[Soutpeel]

Here is the general rule with job postings even written in English in Thailand, unless it specifically states expat's welcome to apply, the position is for Thai nationals only

[thrilled]

95% of jobs farangs not allowed to have.The government says your taking jobs away from A Thai citizen.Supposely even if you own A business your not supposed to do any of the physical work.You have to hire it done.

[lionmeetstiger]

Thanks for the replies all, confirms what I suspected.

I occasionally see Thailand-based jobs open to foreigners posted on the international job websites, but they can pop up on any of dozens of sites and are mixed up with jobs from all over the world. I was hoping to be able to find a site that focusses on Thailand, or even just SEA-based jobs that are open to foreigners.

- thanks for the tip on agencies starship, I'm only curious at the moment really as I have some time left on my current contract, but I suppose seeing what some agencies have to offer over there can't do too much harm.

Edited January 1, 2014 by lionmeetstiger

[mmh8]

This is not always the case. Just continue your job search as you would in your home country. You may click or network your way somewhere.

I was offered a number of positions last time i was hunting. About 6 - 9 months of job search / acceptance, over that time period the early offers got fed up with stalling ( lookig for better offer) and withdrew offers.

[MeowBundit]

Not all jobs on JobsDB for Thais only. But to be sure - every year less and less foreigners will have a chance to be employed here, especially if they not come here straight from US/EU/AU HQ. The reason is Thais become more educated and the only one type of foreigners have a chance - who speaks Thai. No exception. New trick on JobsDB is a postings in thai, but for foreigners. If you able to read it, you can read something like "be able to communicate in Thai". "This position open for foreign candidates" "We prefer foreign candidate".

[Soutpeel]

Not all jobs on JobsDB for Thais only. But to be sure - every year less and less foreigners will have a chance to be employed here, especially if they not come here straight from US/EU/AU HQ. The reason is Thais become more educated and the only one type of foreigners have a chance - who speaks Thai. No exception. New trick on JobsDB is a postings in thai, but for foreigners. If you able to read it, you can read something like "be able to communicate in Thai". "This position open for foreign candidates" "We prefer foreign candidate".

LOL.....you have an example of this "latest trick" then ? Or are you making this up ?

OP take it from someone who has worked in engineering for the 13 years in Thailand, your best bet is the agencies as some else has posted, and build your contacts with expats already in the part of the business your looking to get into, certainly in my experience in Thailand most expat jobs are not even advertised and some gets a job by word of mouth or via an agency as someone else

As to the Thai proficiency thing, in the engineering field not really an obstacle

[MrHammer]

I don't know, I've recently applied for two jobs - for which I am more than qualified - and did not get any response. They were both internationally owned too.

In my country, and most western, it is usually customary to at least get an acknowledgement of application or a mass emailing once the position has been filled.

Not so here and that does make it more difficult.

I honestly think that the better way to go about things is to apply in person with your printed resume and application. That way, you should be able to ask the human resource people (as unwanted as they are), if the job is open for a foreigner.

Eventually, you'll probably be able to figure out which jobs are actually open for foreigners or not.

[Langsuan Man]

I don't know why but most international companies seem to always want to recruit from outside the country. Was never a Personnel Manager so I don't know why, but that just seems to be the way it is

[MeowBundit]

Not all jobs on JobsDB for Thais only. But to be sure - every year less and less foreigners will have a chance to be employed here, especially if they not come here straight from US/EU/AU HQ. The reason is Thais become more educated and the only one type of foreigners have a chance - who speaks Thai. No exception. New trick on JobsDB is a postings in thai, but for foreigners. If you able to read it, you can read something like "be able to communicate in Thai". "This position open for foreign candidates" "We prefer foreign candidate".

LOL.....you have an example of this "latest trick" then ? Or are you making this up ?

OP take it from someone who has worked in engineering for the 13 years in Thailand, your best bet is the agencies as some else has posted, and build your contacts with expats already in the part of the business your looking to get into, certainly in my experience in Thailand most expat jobs are not even advertised and some gets a job by word of mouth or via an agency as someone else

As to the Thai proficiency thing, in the engineering field not really an obstacle

Of course I have example, but postings in Thai not welcomed here as I understand forum policy.

[Tomtomtom69]

Not all jobs on JobsDB for Thais only. But to be sure - every year less and less foreigners will have a chance to be employed here, especially if they not come here straight from US/EU/AU HQ. The reason is Thais become more educated and the only one type of foreigners have a chance - who speaks Thai. No exception. New trick on JobsDB is a postings in thai, but for foreigners. If you able to read it, you can read something like "be able to communicate in Thai". "This position open for foreign candidates" "We prefer foreign candidate".

Sure Thais are becoming more educated and capable, but in the west foreigners are not being squeezed out of the job market over time (except maybe in the USA?) and surely Thailand is no different - the world is becoming more multicultural and migrants will continue to move around to different countries, Thailand included. Even in low skilled areas, foreigners (well those from Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia and perhaps Bangladesh in the near future too and possibly a few others like India) are preferred over Thais as there are plenty of jobs Thais don't want to do anymore. When it comes to skilled positions, sure Thai language is becoming more important for foreigners to compete here. Also, Thais generally aren't getting better at English so a highly skilled and educated foreigner that can speak Thai is very marketable (I know because I am in that category).

[SheungWan]

I don't know, I've recently applied for two jobs - for which I am more than qualified - and did not get any response. They were both internationally owned too.

In my country, and most western, it is usually customary to at least get an acknowledgement of application or a mass emailing once the position has been filled.

Not so here and that does make it more difficult.

I honestly think that the better way to go about things is to apply in person with your printed resume and application. That way, you should be able to ask the human resource people (as unwanted as they are), if the job is open for a foreigner.

Eventually, you'll probably be able to figure out which jobs are actually open for foreigners or not.

Without knowing the specific details (and you might have been just plain unlucky), the lack of an acknowledgement might be due to an overwhelming number of applicants or something critical about your CV. Even in the West job applications go unanswered these days.

[SheungWan]

I don't know why but most international companies seem to always want to recruit from outside the country. Was never a Personnel Manager so I don't know why, but that just seems to be the way it is

For some of those jobs it is assumed that the recruit will come from outside the country and that is why an expat package is factored in. They are assuming someone already in employment, not someone not working looking for employment coming out of the blue. If, on the other hand, you are already working in that field in that country eg Thailand, then you probably will have networked, companies know you exist and there is the chance of being headhunted. There are always exceptions of course such as with the oil industry, but on the whole Thailand is not exactly the best place to start one's career for a young man/woman with qualifications but little experience other than stars in their eyes for wanting to live in Thailand.

[Soutpeel]

I don't know why but most international companies seem to always want to recruit from outside the country. Was never a Personnel Manager so I don't know why, but that just seems to be the way it is

For some of those jobs it is assumed that the recruit will come from outside the country and that is why an expat package is factored in. They are assuming someone already in employment, not someone not working looking for employment coming out of the blue. If, on the other hand, you are already working in that field in that country eg Thailand, then you probably will have networked, companies know you exist and there is the chance of being headhunted. There are always exceptions of course such as with the oil industry, but on the whole Thailand is not exactly the best place to start one's career for a young man/woman with qualifications but little experience other than stars in their eyes for wanting to live in Thailand.

The "oil" industry in Thailand is not the best place to start their careers either, if they want a farang in a postion , its because there is a specific experience/skill set needed which is not locally available

In Thai O&G the number of farangs employed is reducing by the year and one would guess in the next 5-10 years there will be very few if any left

[mmh8]

One thing that will be important though is real English skills, which this country is sorely lacking, you can find your engineers, very experienced, very good at what they do, but the report will in a lot of cases need rewriting.

Malaysia, Singapore this is less of a problem, in fact Burma as well I hear and read better English .

were'nt meant to be a rant, but if you are skilled then your English will also be a benefit to you

[Soutpeel]

One thing that will be important though is real English skills, which this country is sorely lacking, you can find your engineers, very experienced, very good at what they do, but the report will in a lot of cases need rewriting.

Malaysia, Singapore this is less of a problem, in fact Burma as well I hear and read better English .

were'nt meant to be a rant, but if you are skilled then your English will also be a benefit to you

I have worked with Engineers for all 4 of those nationalities..and my opinion/ranking 1 being the best in the reading/writing stakes

Malaysia (maybe a bit of a bia's here, all the ones I have worked with were educated in the UK)

Burma

Singapore

Thailand

[mmh8]

not going to argue with that, it ain't Thailand and I have worked with those educated in UK from each of them, except for Burma, but have had a nanny/maid who was from Burma and could speak English way better than a lot of Thai's

[Arkady]

Many expats work in restricted occupations such as law, accounting, architecture,.engineering by applying for a WP as a consultant, administrator or trainer or somesuch. The authorities seem to turn a blind eye to this they they are not allow to sign things like engineering plans etc.

[steveromagnino]

This is an industry (construction) I have some knowledge of, and I can say there are plenty of foreigners working in the sector in management/project management roles. Thailand is a stepping stone and a hub for some of the firms for the work they also do in Cambodia, Burma, Laos etc also, plus Thailand is in the middle (well it was until the last month) of a building boom, and with more to come if this current government continue to build white elephants left and right.

With loads of jobs available, in all honesty, the real way to get in is to start with any firm, doesn't matter which and what salary, and immediately start 'pressing the flesh' (in the non prostitute connotation of the word) by networking. If you are good, once you are networking, you will have more job offers than you can handle. The proviso is you need to be competent, capable of communicating and working in a Thai environment, and your results will be what matter - note that I don't necessarily say you need to speak Thai, rather you need to be an effective communicator with the people around you. Thai helps, but English - proper decent English - is vital in engineering. As is knowing what you are doing.

Certain firms are French and prefer to hire French etc, but on the whole, international standard project management firms and design consultancies and engineering firms are ALWAYS looking for competent people, and yes, Thai Engineers can do it, but there is a huge amount of construction going on here, so there are jobs around. However, you will not be able to get into this group if you are not here, not working and not spending the effort to get to know the people around you. And you must be decent at what you do.

The idea that occupations are 'restricted' may be true on paper, but in reality there are Expat doctors, lawyers, architects, etc throughout Thailand, there is a legal work around and so it's just the job title that might be a bit different (e.g. legal consultant rather than Lawyer).

Construction at the moment is a better industry perhaps that O & G for foreigners, in fact most construction sites now have a substantial proportion of non Thai workers/labourers simply because the sector cannot get close to enough people - at an upper level the same issue is occurring with some firms (only a few, but enough nevertheless) wanting to achieve an international standard....and to get there they are using international standard firms/consultants; I truly believe that there is not an issue finding great Thais to do the jobs, but there are simply not enough great Thais, there are plenty of inexperienced ones, but the good ones get snapped up all the time.

I would almost go through the list of firms you are applying for, remove all the big Thai developers/firms unless you have specific experience in an area (e.g. marina construction), and focus on international level consultancies for project management and specific aspects of construction; and apply for those ones. In my experience the world over, really craft and focus on creating a great CV, and be aware that the hit rate is going to be low; your aim is to get a job that gets your foot in the door, and from there, you will leverage that first year into a decent job - assuming you are decent etc etc.

I'm not a huge fan of jobsdb which is mostly for middle/lower Thai office worker recruitment; check out Bangkok Post and also identify the 50 firms you could work for and take a good look through their websites for what jobs are going. A huge number of jobs are not advertised, as is the case in other parts of the world also.

BTW and take this in the spirit it is meant, if you plan to come here to hang out at Soi Cowboy every night or show up at work with an Isaan 'maid' turned wife, etc then you are likely not really going to go anywhere in Thailand; we party hard, and we enjoy our work, but the label of 'farang kee nok' or 'farang tuan' will not wear off if you act like a knob as many farangs tend to do here.

Edited January 14, 2014 by steveromagnino