I've been living and working in Korea for the past 5+ years. I travel to Thailand on a regular basis, and have made the decision that I want to move there. I know that living in a place is totally different from living there on a full-time basis. but I have visited enough over the years to know that this is not a whim.

The one thing that is stopping me from moving right now is money. Although I am well qualified I get the impression from everything I read that well paying jobs are hard to find. I make a good living here as a university English lecturer, and I know I don't want to work as a teacher in Thailand for peanuts. That being said:

Are there any females here who are in Thailand, working, and making a good living? Are you working for an employer or yourself? What are you doing?

Any thoughts on where the best place in Thailand is for a single woman to settle down? I know I would like to live somewhere with an established expat community, and good social network.

Although I have signed on for another teaching year here in Korea, I want this to be my last year here.

All comments and suggestions appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Edited May 21, 200620 yr by ladyexpat01

I came over to BKK as a single woman and while it did take some work and effort on my part, I have found a great bunch of friends through netball, diving and work and I don't find Bangkok all that bad for single chicks.

Also, not all teachers out here work for peanuts. I am a qualified secondary maths and science teacher and my salary is more than enough to live off, save and have a good time. Don't try to compare the baht salary to a UK/US salary, that wont attract anyone to teaching out here!

I know that the ladies who peruse this forum have all sorts of employment backgrounds, I would say that there is work to be found for those who try hard enough to find it....

I'm staying in Nai Harn Beach / Rawai, in the south of Phuket. It's the only place of Thailand I know and I am so happy here. There are heaps of young ppl to meet from all over the world who come to train Muay Thai here (rawaimuaythai.com). The Thai people are all so nice, I have never had many friends in any of the countries I lived in and I lived in many, but here I do. I have my own business overseas and use the Internet to monitor things are ok and go overseas for a week or two everytime I need a new visa. It's perfect.

There's a separate forum for Teachung in Thailand, you might try posting there giving the particulars of your qualifications, probably can get someidea of the job opportunities here.

The only real money maker here teaching wise are the international schools. My wife is a teacher at one of them and they do make a good buck.

My general rule of thumb is how much you can save, rather than the salary itself.

Say you get a THB120K package. After tax you'd be at about 100K. Housing would probably be paid for. You could easily save 60K of that easily (ie $1500 USD) a month without being a penny pincher and living a very very good life.

As for university lecturing I don't know. The salaries wouldn't be that great....I suspect maybe 50-60K per month. Private universities may pay a bit more...so you might want to do a bit of look see trip for jobs next time you visit.

Wow, this is a really tough one. You are making some stellar bucks in Korea no doubt; you will take a massive pay cut here in LOS. The competition here for teachers is massive as huge #s of men flock here to do just that.

Wow, this is a really tough one. You are making some stellar bucks in Korea no doubt; you will take a massive pay cut here in LOS. The competition here for teachers is massive as huge #s of men flock here to do just that.

Good teachers, with solid experience, usually walk into the better paying jobs here. The 'teachers' that monochaser is talking about are loosely described as 'English teachers'. Off the plane with a 6 week teaching course behind them hoping to get a 30K per month job so that they can live the eternal holiday.

Of course, there are many good ones here too. I know a few who teach ESL. Male and female. Salaries in this case are around 80K per month. More if you do privates. The ones who aren't here for the nightlife usually rise to the top quite easily.

Thanks for the great response. I think I'll have a look at some of the International schools.

Thanks for the great response. I think I'll have a look at some of the International schools.

For universities, Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok University, Rangsit University, ABAC (Assumption something College) come to mind.

For high schools there are a number, but I assume universities would pay better and sounds like you have that elevel of qualification.

Let us know how it goes!