Likelihood of getting an IT job in Thailand as a farang?

[arizonamike74]

On jobsdb.com I see a lot of IT jobs but they rarely list the salary and when they do its often only 30K a month. I am married to a Thai national, we have a daughter together, and I plan on moving in the next three to six years - whenever I have enough put away in my retirement account for it to grow on its own (I'm turning 40 this year so not ready to retire yet).

I'm just curious if there are any members here that work in the IT field in Thailand, specifically what they do (programmer, Cisco engineer, etc.), and their ballpark salary. I'm currently a Network Analyst - I've been a Windows Server admin for over 14 years and I know a little Cisco (I could learn more if I thought that's what it took to land a decent salary in Thailand). I would be happy with 60K a month in Thailand but I don't know if that's realistic.

I've read some discouraging things in the past about Thai companies, even those run by Farangs, being unwilling to hire Americans, Europeans, etc. for local IT jobs. I've been resigned to the fact I will probably have to teach English in Thailand to survive until I'm ready to retire. I have Bachelor's Degree in IT and I'm actually considering getting a Masters in Education in order to make a better salary teaching in Thailand but it means getting into even more student loan debt. I would like to know what the members here think my chances are for landing an IT job and my expected salary.

Thanks,

Michael

[kevvy]

Simple . Thai employers will employ a Natinal before a"farang" in most cases.They can pay cheaper salaries for Thai workers.I have a construction company and had the opportunity to hire an Farang accountant.He wanted 3 times more then Thai accountant .We have no issues with this Thai accountant and does a great job.Good luck in your quest.

[Nautilus05]

Start your own consultant firm, work from home in Thailand, and source clients from out West. You're nearing 40, so you must have a few connections by now.

[jacktor27]

Interesting topic, I have looked for IT jobs for a few years and never really found any that would pay at least comparable amounts to what I can get in the west. If you find any and they are looking for 2 engineers let me know. Good luck

[kimbathewhitelion]

Better bet, get a GED & masters & try for a teaching job. IT is no go. In the same boat, but though I'm well versed in computer hardware, sticking to marketing design which I believe will only be available per a private school. Not easy here unless you were recruited either from outside the country or thru a western company of the same & relocated here.

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[arthurwait]

My mates on his fifth I think in 3 years.

Just got to put up with 40-50k per month.

.

Now works for and International school running their IT department, last was with an Australian/Thai company.

Edited April 8, 2014 by arthurwait

[rwdrwdrwd]

As Nautilus05 says, by far the most sensible approach is to find western clients and consult for them. If you are good enough, you can get full western rates and full weeks. There are IT roles here but they pay little, generally seek very dated skillsets and are usually filled by Thai nationals.

Edited April 8, 2014 by rwdrwdrwd

[chrisinth]

One thing that shouldn't be overlooked when talking about IT in Thailand is the language. The majority of Thai companies will have their servers & computers setup for the Thai language (toolbars, etc.) so a technical knowledge in the Thai language is a good thing to have...................

[duanebigsby]

I like the masters degree idea. You could teach in an International school or uni and teach English or IT. You can make 50k baht plus doing that.

I'm teaching with a bachelor's so I'm getting the typical 30k. It's fine for me as I'm single and not looking, but with the wife and family it is not enough.

If you got the Master's you could come here with Plan A- along the lines Nautilus suggested with your own clients or looking into IT positions, but you would have a healthy Plan B- teaching.

Please realize teaching isn't for everyone; you will love it or hate it. I happen to enjoy my job.

Edited April 8, 2014 by duanebigsby

[recycler]

Unless you have very special knowledge it will be difficult to get a decent salary here in IT. I left Europe 10 years ago while working as an telecom and ICT consultant, high level rate 175 Euro / 240 US$ per hour Ex VAT..... I'm in recycling and hazardous waste disposal now ;-)

If you want to give your daughter a good education and want to live comfortable in Thailand 60K is not enough now and prices keep going up like crazy!

My advise is stay in the US until your daughter goes to university and retire here when you have the money to do so and still want to come.

[Globeman]

Better bet, get a GED & masters & try for a teaching job. IT is no go. In the same boat, but though I'm well versed in computer hardware, sticking to marketing design which I believe will only be available per a private school. Not easy here unless you were recruited either from outside the country or thru a western company of the same & relocated here.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

IT jobs for farangs may be a little more rare than the ubiquitous and soul-destroying teaching jobs, but saying it is a no-go is just discouraging nonsense. Why would you tell the OP with such certainty when it simply isn't true? Off the top of my head, I can think of two farang friends who are currently in IT - in management positions over Thai IT staff at farang-owned companies... at salaries well over 100k. With work permit and medical coverage.

[kimbathewhitelion]

Better bet, get a GED & masters & try for a teaching job. IT is no go. In the same boat, but though I'm well versed in computer hardware, sticking to marketing design which I believe will only be available per a private school. Not easy here unless you were recruited either from outside the country or thru a western company of the same & relocated here.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

IT jobs for farangs may be a little more rare than the ubiquitous and soul-destroying teaching jobs, but saying it is a no-go is just discouraging nonsense. Why would you tell the OP with such certainty when it simply isn't true? Off the top of my head, I can think of two farang friends who are currently in IT - in management positions over Thai IT staff at farang-owned companies... at salaries well over 100k. With work permit and medical coverage.

Then tell him the specifics! I'm just going off what others said in the post. Of which another noted that knowing the Thai language would be a huge plus. Also found most high end jobs recruit either those who already have work permits or internally through internationally linked companies. There is also the Visa issue for someone just moving here. This country makes nothing easy.

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[dtrain5000]

If you're highly skilled, there is opportunity but it's all about timing. It took us 3 months to find a good backend programmer and many companies look for foreigners because the Thai programmers are usually not qualified with the right skill-sets. Most are just frontend php only. There's a market now for skilled programmers with c#, JavaScript, vb applications, MySQL and php experience. We pay our programmers very well and way above average teaching salaries. Best thing to do is post a resume online and develop a portfolio on your website with reference and example work. However, based on experience, companies prefer to recruit when you're already here. Just frequently check the classifieds on thaivisa when you're ready to make the move and you'll find something if you look hard enough and are willing to relocate based on where the company is located. For someone with excellent skills and experience, you could find salaries and offers from around 75,000b and up. I know some programmers here in chanthaburi making over 100,000b. Good luck !

[rwdrwdrwd]

Better bet, get a GED & masters & try for a teaching job. IT is no go. In the same boat, but though I'm well versed in computer hardware, sticking to marketing design which I believe will only be available per a private school. Not easy here unless you were recruited either from outside the country or thru a western company of the same & relocated here.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

IT jobs for farangs may be a little more rare than the ubiquitous and soul-destroying teaching jobs, but saying it is a no-go is just discouraging nonsense. Why would you tell the OP with such certainty when it simply isn't true? Off the top of my head, I can think of two farang friends who are currently in IT - in management positions over Thai IT staff at farang-owned companies... at salaries well over 100k. With work permit and medical coverage.

Decent, but still far below what you get in the west, and with the nature of the work it is possible to work remotely getting 2-3 x that amount and still be easily undercutting Silicon Valley averages. You need to be very experienced and have both rare and in demand skills though, very advanced JavaScript / Node / Rails / Python are good current areas to focus on. There is a growing movement toward distributed development with very tech heavy teams - Mozilla, 37Signals, Automattic, RedHat, Ubuntu all spring to mind.

If you have programming skills and can cross train to the above, I'd recommend doing so and getting to the point where you can land a temp contract in the west for 6 months or so, then make the move after this when you have recent relevant experience.

Edited April 8, 2014 by rwdrwdrwd

[JSixpack]

With a Master's in IT, teaching IT at a private uni would be a good possibility I think. Be cheaper to get it here in Thailand, tuition-wise.

[smotherb]

Why don't you plan on working online from Thailand and making Western wages. Spend your next few years setting-up that situation.

[p_brownstone]

Better bet, get a GED & masters & try for a teaching job. IT is no go. In the same boat, but though I'm well versed in computer hardware, sticking to marketing design which I believe will only be available per a private school. Not easy here unless you were recruited either from outside the country or thru a western company of the same & relocated here.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

IT jobs for farangs may be a little more rare than the ubiquitous and soul-destroying teaching jobs, but saying it is a no-go is just discouraging nonsense. Why would you tell the OP with such certainty when it simply isn't true? Off the top of my head, I can think of two farang friends who are currently in IT - in management positions over Thai IT staff at farang-owned companies... at salaries well over 100k. With work permit and medical coverage.

So :

"Off the top of your head"

You can "think of" exactly TWO Farang who earn a reasonable living here in IT (and I would definitely dispute your apparent definition of Baht 100,000.- per month as being anything near "well over" the requirement to support a decent lifestyle in Bangkok by the way!).

Patrick

Edited April 8, 2014 by p_brownstone

[belg]

sometimes, a dream just remains a dream...

financial freedom is what we all want, but only for the happy few

webdesign is dead... people want free facebook even you are not free and your customers find it hard to look up products...

[surfinglife]

approximately 0.00000001

[kimbathewhitelion]

Better bet, get a GED & masters & try for a teaching job. IT is no go. In the same boat, but though I'm well versed in computer hardware, sticking to marketing design which I believe will only be available per a private school. Not easy here unless you were recruited either from outside the country or thru a western company of the same & relocated here.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

IT jobs for farangs may be a little more rare than the ubiquitous and soul-destroying teaching jobs, but saying it is a no-go is just discouraging nonsense. Why would you tell the OP with such certainty when it simply isn't true? Off the top of my head, I can think of two farang friends who are currently in IT - in management positions over Thai IT staff at farang-owned companies... at salaries well over 100k. With work permit and medical coverage.

So :

"Off the top of your head"

You can "think of" exactly TWO Farang who earn a reasonable living here in IT (and I would definitely dispute your apparent definition of Baht 100,000.- per month as being anything near "well over" the requirement to support a decent lifestyle in Bangkok by the way!).

Patrick

You idiot, I didn't write/post that! Read the original post & reply accordingly or just use your brain & help the OP!

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[kimbathewhitelion]

What is it with this crap "ThaiVisa Connect" App, each update is worse than before...believe ThaiVisa is in need of a competent IT guy. Every time I quote someone, it only shows me as if I quoted myself, but others are still notified. Which doesn't help with the rest of the morons unwilling to read the posts.

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[kimbathewhitelion]

P_Brownstone or Patrick, who gives a sh*t, learn to read or at least finish primary school.

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[balo]

Get an online job and work from home in Thailand. I use remote software and assist customers in EU when they need my help. Easy money and no need to involve any Thai business .

Edited April 8, 2014 by balo

[arizonamike74]

approximately 0.00000001

With the exception of the decimal troll, I would like to thank everyone for their thoughtful replies I am sorry if I started a poop storm since that wasn't my intention. I understand everyone's opinion varies based on their own personal experience. As stated in my original post I am a Windows Server Admin, not a programmer or web developer so although I do see quite a demand on jobs.db for programmers, I am not qualified for those jobs nor would I ever want to do that (I tried programming in 8th grade - not for me).

Since server administration occasionally requires hands on the actual hardware, working for a company based in the West is probably not going to work (not to mention the 14 hour time difference if I was to try remote support). My bachelor's degree is actually a BA in IT Management (I have an AA in Computer Service Tech. from 1996), so I could look for a management position but I imagine those are rare. I really would like to teach here or abroad as I'm a little burned out in IT after working on computers since I was 16; I only continue to do so because I can't make as much doing something else.

I've always wanted to teach and I spend a large portion of my day teaching the technicians under me and teaching end users how to use their computers and I enjoy teaching. I would try to teach here in Arizona but I play poker with two public high school teachers who started teaching the same time I started working on computers.18 years ago. They started out making 35K (dollars) a year and now they make about 38K a year. That comes down to about $2000 a month after taxes (somewhere around 60K baht a month), and not nearly enough to live comfortably in America; here in Arizona 3 bedroom houses rent for $1500 a month (up to $3500 in places like Boston).

I understand I'm not gonna be a "baller" on 30-60K a month in Thailand but I don't often drink or party. I just want to eat out (I love Thai food so that's fine), go to an occasional movie, go to the gym, and hopefully be near a beach or at least be able to spend some weekends at the beach (no beaches in Arizona;). It appears that unlike the estimation of 0.00000001 percent there are some Farangs with IT jobs in Thailand in management, programming, etc.. but it is just hard to find. I think I will try to put my nose to the grindstone so to speak and get my Masters in Ed. (I'm not sure if I'm going to get a K-8 Education or ESL Masters). I think my biggest expense in Thailand will be my daughters education at a private school which is another motivation to get on with a good private school so I can hopefully get her free tuition.

When I get to Thailand I will sign up for a TEFL course, get started on my Marriage Visa, and once I'm situated I can look for teaching jobs and IT jobs since I believe that the biggest obstacle is not being in the country. I think that local IT companies don't want to deal with Farangs that are not already living in Thailand. It's much the same in America; I apply for out of state jobs but rarely get any replies because they don't want to deal with having to do a Skype interview, wait for me to relocate, etc..

Again thanks for all the replies. I think I have a clearer picture now of the IT job scene in Thailand.

Michael

[Satcommlee]

You would normally have to have a very specialist skill.

Thailand has thier own home grown Cisco guys, Programmers, Server admins etc, who almost always will take preference over farangs and as you said, you've seen the salaries on offer..

You have to consider a salary of at least 50'000 baht to be eligible for a work permit and you must be able to demonstrate that a Thai national is very unlikely to posess the skills required.

My particular speciality cannot be found in Thailand unless the Thai studied for an appropriate Masters degree abroad, hence it was quite easy for me to make the move and 'live the dream' so to speak, after discovering the country 10 years ago.

My salary is "western" standard for the job I do, which of course makes it a no-brainer.

That is not to say that there is not a company out there that would prefer to employ a farang because of his western attributes, especially if the decision maker is also a Farang himself.

I would not give up all hope, perserverence may be the key here, but you need to look for that niche that will help you stand out..

Maybe post yourself up on the jobs section of this forum, you never know there may be a farang decision maker, sick to death of Thai staff and able to give you a chance.

You could even consider setting yourself up as a Thai company and doing freelance work (not a straight forward process)

Even the former British Ambassador abandoned his post and went to work for Singha beer.

edit: The 50K requirement I believe is exempted for teaching.

Edited April 8, 2014 by Satcommlee

[recycler]

approximately 0.00000001

With the exception of the decimal troll, I would like to thank everyone for their thoughtful replies I am sorry if I started a poop storm since that wasn't my intention. I understand everyone's opinion varies based on their own personal experience. As stated in my original post I am a Windows Server Admin, not a programmer or web developer so although I do see quite a demand on jobs.db for programmers, I am not qualified for those jobs nor would I ever want to do that (I tried programming in 8th grade - not for me).

Since server administration occasionally requires hands on the actual hardware, working for a company based in the West is probably not going to work (not to mention the 14 hour time difference if I was to try remote support). My bachelor's degree is actually a BA in IT Management (I have an AA in Computer Service Tech. from 1996), so I could look for a management position but I imagine those are rare. I really would like to teach here or abroad as I'm a little burned out in IT after working on computers since I was 16; I only continue to do so because I can't make as much doing something else.

I've always wanted to teach and I spend a large portion of my day teaching the technicians under me and teaching end users how to use their computers and I enjoy teaching. I would try to teach here in Arizona but I play poker with two public high school teachers who started teaching the same time I started working on computers.18 years ago. They started out making 35K (dollars) a year and now they make about 38K a year. That comes down to about $2000 a month after taxes (somewhere around 60K baht a month), and not nearly enough to live comfortably in America; here in Arizona 3 bedroom houses rent for $1500 a month (up to $3500 in places like Boston).

I understand I'm not gonna be a "baller" on 30-60K a month in Thailand but I don't often drink or party. I just want to eat out (I love Thai food so that's fine), go to an occasional movie, go to the gym, and hopefully be near a beach or at least be able to spend some weekends at the beach (no beaches in Arizona;). It appears that unlike the estimation of 0.00000001 percent there are some Farangs with IT jobs in Thailand in management, programming, etc.. but it is just hard to find. I think I will try to put my nose to the grindstone so to speak and get my Masters in Ed. (I'm not sure if I'm going to get a K-8 Education or ESL Masters). I think my biggest expense in Thailand will be my daughters education at a private school which is another motivation to get on with a good private school so I can hopefully get her free tuition.

When I get to Thailand I will sign up for a TEFL course, get started on my Marriage Visa, and once I'm situated I can look for teaching jobs and IT jobs since I believe that the biggest obstacle is not being in the country. I think that local IT companies don't want to deal with Farangs that are not already living in Thailand. It's much the same in America; I apply for out of state jobs but rarely get any replies because they don't want to deal with having to do a Skype interview, wait for me to relocate, etc..

Again thanks for all the replies. I think I have a clearer picture now of the IT job scene in Thailand.

Michael

You overlook one thing and that is that you have a daughter that needs proper education. Thailand is not famous for education, government schools are cheap, but your daughter will learn standing in line and sing the Thai alphabet with 35 others, but no skills let alone individual development. If you want proper education you have to send her to private bi-lingual or English program schools, think about 10,000 Baht or more per month or international schools starting at 4 to 5 times this amount. The only option would be to land a job at such a school with lower rates for teachers kds, but that would limit your freedom a lot.

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[joshstiles]

3-6 years??? A lot can happen in that time....maybe your thai wife finds another richer foreigner....maybe you find someone else.....maybe your job goes bust and the economy takes another dump and you lose everything because you can't work anymore due to depression that leads to pancreatic cancer and you only have 6 months to live....

Anyhow..

You are dreaming. Don't come to Thailand. Go to Vietnam

[p_brownstone]

P_Brownstone or Patrick, who gives a sh*t, learn to read or at least finish primary school.

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Learn how to read nested quotes old chap - I was replying to Globeman who was replying to you.

Patrick

[tiffanystoyz]

Why work I make 150 K a month drinking beer and banging the girlfriend and her girlfriends.

[geriatrickid]

Protected work class. Hiring preference is for Thai.

One advantage when the Thai IT workers are sacked or quit, we don't find creepy stuff in the workspace,and they haven't left crumbs, discarded sandwiches, or dirty clothes.