Moving to Thailand

[Will2011]

From your last post, you are not from Lisbon, are you?

First of, you wrote 'My boyfriend works online as a graphic designer'. Do you know how much I pay graphic designer to let's say create an ad or designing graphic materials? About $20. I doubt your boyfriend want to spend his time for 20 bucks, unless he's Cambodian!

The posts sounds rather negative, but they are extremely valuable and realistic comments, as people already live here. You do what you want, but if I'm asking for directions and, 9/10 people tell me "don't go this way because you gonna have problems, take the other way", but I still wanna take the same way I foresaw, then I would be very stubborn and not logical.

As an apart, the different between smart young (or not) people and others is that the smart ones are aware of their environment, meaning that rather than just hear, they listen to anybody who has valuable insights, and then do the maths between pros and cons. Did you do your pro's and con's chart?

You seem very kind and by no mean I dare to judge you, but the only fact you mentioned that portugal has no foreseeable future made me laugh and I guess made everybody else laugh. If you think it hasn't, what about Thailand so? Don't take it wrong, but your statement tells me (and it's normal since you've never been to thailand) that you have no knowledge about Thailand's today situation .

The other fact that you said basically young people go away from portugal because there's no future isn't the full picture. Only young people who don't have financial support emigrate because the rest of them stay. The future of portugal is bright, well for people who have money. Also, I think that if portuguese people worked as hard in portugal as they do in other countries, they wouldn't leave portugal. It all starts by not showing up late at work or start working around 10.30 am. Who does that in hard working countries?

You said it yourself, you might want to teach English, but you have no teaching degree and are not native (even though you sound like one). Why wouldn't you teach Portuguese… in Macau instead? Probabilities are higher and it's near thailand. It would be a great first Asian approach and you could easily visit thailand to see what it's like and perhaps get connected and find a job here.

Portugal is cheap no more just like Thailand. Purchasing power wise at the end of the month, it's probable you'd have the same money in your pocket, meaning 0!

Anyway, do what you want. I know it's hard to hear, but you've been asking for advice. Maybe you don't like them, but we can't ask people to sing cinderella stories all day long, and expect valuable inputs.

Edited May 11, 2014 by Will2011

[MargaridaGuerra]

From your last post, you are not from Lisbon, are you?

First of, you wrote 'My boyfriend works online as a graphic designer'. Do you know how much I pay graphic designer to let's say create an ad or designing graphic materials? About $20. I doubt your boyfriend want to spend his time for 20 bucks, unless he's Cambodian!

The posts sounds rather negative, but they are extremely valuable and realistic comments, as people already live here. You do what you want, but if I'm asking for directions and, 9/10 people tell me "don't go this way because you gonna have problems, take the other way", but I still wanna take the same way I foresaw, then I would be very stubborn and not logical.

As an apart, the different between smart young (or not) people and others is that the smart ones are aware of their environment, meaning that rather than just hear, they listen to anybody who has valuable insights, and then do the maths between pros and cons. Did you do your pro's and con's chart?

You seem very kind and by no mean I dare to judge you, but the only fact you mentioned that portugal has no foreseeable future made me laugh and I guess made everybody else laugh. If you think it hasn't, what about Thailand so? Don't take it wrong, but your statement tells me (and it's normal since you've never been to thailand) that you have no knowledge about Thailand's today situation .

The other fact that you said basically young people go away from portugal because there's no future isn't the full picture. Only young people who don't have financial support emigrate because the rest of them stay. The future of portugal is bright, well for people who have money. Also, I think that if portuguese people worked as hard in portugal as they do in other countries, they wouldn't leave portugal. It all starts by not showing up late at work or start working around 10.30 am. Who does that in hard working countries?

You said it yourself, you might want to teach English, but you have no teaching degree and are not native (even though you sound like one). Why wouldn't you teach Portuguese… in Macau instead? Probabilities are higher and it's near thailand. It would be a great first Asian approach and you could easily visit thailand to see what it's like and perhaps get connected and find a job here.

Portugal is cheap no more just like Thailand. Purchasing power wise at the end of the month, it's probable you'd have the same money in your pocket, meaning 0!

Anyway, do what you want. I know it's hard to hear, but you've been asking for advice. Maybe you don't like them, but we can't ask people to sing cinderella stories all day long, and expect valuable inputs.

Hi Will, thanks for your input but if you had been paying attention to any of what I wrote than you would know that my boyfriend works online, for clients around the world and wouldn't be receiving a low Thailand income. He obviously wouldn't work for you. Most good graphic designers are paid from 200US dollars and up per project. He doesn't make much but brings home a steady 1000€ per month. I feel bad for your graphic designers.

We aren't from Lisbon, no, like I said, Lisbon is expensive. We're from Porto and we love it there but its quickly running out of options for what you call young people without financial support. Which if you knew Portugal as well as any local, it's the vast majority.

I dare you to find a house for 300€ a month near the beach with a swimming pool in Portugal. Can't find one? That's because there are none. Now, like I mentioned before, we don't want luxury but I know 300€ can stretch a lot more in Thailand than it does in Portugal or in any European country, that's a fact. I did my research and just because you've visited or lived there doesn't mean I know much less than you. We might not even have the same type of lifestyles so that's a pretty mute point to make.

I understand Thailand may not be as cheap as it once was, but it's still relatively cheap compared to the West. Why should I slave away in a place I don't like, when I can easily be better off somewhere else? Your right, I might not enjoy it, but I'm definitely going to give it a go and find out for myself.

You mentioned that I asked for advice on wether or not we should move to Thailand, which only reassures me you weren't paying attention. I never once asked for anyones opinion on whether we should go or not but on what type of visa and what type of expenses to expect. I appreciate the advice though.

I also didn't say I'd like to teach english, if the opportunity presented itself than maybe, but it's not something I'm looking to do. I'm also a little insulted that you think Portuguese people don't work as hard in our home land like we do in other countries. This makes me realize you really don't know what the Portuguese community is all about. Our government is continuously slapping us in the face and perhaps our biggest and only downfall as a people is we let them get away with it. People don't have money because there is no work.

I didn't leave Portugal on a whim. I didn't wake up one day and say, you know what, I'm going to leave. No, I tried, for two years I sent CV's to any place that would hire me. I looked for any job on any field. Becoming a cleaning lady sounded appealing at some point in time but even for that it's difficult. So don't tell me that portuguese people don't work as hard in there country as they do outside of it. You think I wouldn't rather be back home? Instead I'm in the Netherlands working 40 hours a week in a shit job for 800€ a month. The reason people leave Portugal is because of the lack of oppurtunity, that's the only reason. You may not know this but the minimum wage in Portugal is under 500€ which leaves you with little after rent and utilities. Not to mention that tax is an all time high of 23%. Whoever lives in Portugal without much money is basically stuck. They can't afford to leave and we can't afford to stay either.

Anyway, if we run into each other in Thailand, we'd gladly take you out for a cup of tea and pick each others brains over a meal.

Thank you once again for taking the time to give your honest advice.

Margarida G.

Edited May 11, 2014 by MargaridaGuerra

[Gillyflower]

Magarida,

Why don't you go to Australia? If your friend makes such good money etc, your income would allow you to live well. You know the MANY Sydney beaches are much more beautiful and certainly cleaner than Phuket. The climate is good. Plus you would have a wider variety of pastimes than here in Thailand. You sound rather stubborn (I didn't want to say pig-headed), but you have been given very good advice. You have also been at great pains to write in good slangy idiomatic English to show us that you speak it well.

By the way you will be ETERNALLY grateful not "internally".

[MargaridaGuerra]

Hi Gilly,

Australia would be my dream, it's what I aimed for, but it's too expensive for us, even in a city like Melbourne. Visa's are even harder to attain there which doesn't help our cause and a 1000€ is hardly good money to live on for two people if the rent is more than half of that.

Thanks for correcting me by the way.