Want to move to LOS permamently (25 years old, not a native speaker)

[Soutpeel]

Some good posts on booth sides.

What seems obvious to me is that the younger guys are satisfied with a monthly income of $1000 and enjoying life, whereas the guys that built a career are probably in the $5000 - $25000 range, have a house, cars, married and are very stable. There is a big expectation gap on what constitutes a good salary and career.

I don't want a house, car, wife or family yet.

The old guys seem to be projecting their expecations on what constitutes a good salary and career onto younger guys who aren't in their prime earning years yet, and have a long road ahead to come.

Who's to say in 20 years time when they reach their age they won't be in the higher earnings bracket, and have plenty saved up from earning $2000/mo and spending $1500/mo for 200 months. That's $120,000, even assuming their income doesn't rise with time and experience.

The whole debate is silly, the two sides are a generation apart. For one it was customary to rush into getting a trade, get on the property ladder, get that house with a white picket fence, make a honest woman out of someone and tie the knot, etc. etc. For the other things are totally different, with globalization, divorce rates, the ease of travel, online enterprise, etc.

And there's that fixation with old men again so prominent among the pikeys, in 20 years time 120k savings will be like have 10k savings today not worth very much, for someone who professes to be a smart pikey you not very good with basic economics and the concept of inflation, in 20 years a pack of mamma noodles will cost hundreds of Thb

Further who is to say the same people you refer to will not be living in a worse shit hole than they are living now because they never planned for the future or developed a proper career but insisted on blagging it in gay tourism videos and playing poker on line to support their life in Thailand while abusing Ed visa's

Yes some people may be a generation apart, the current generation wants something for nothing, full of self entitlement, with no real work ethic, be assured me and you are not even a generation apart and I can see this to today

[Sirbergan]

Older people don't always know better. Sometimes you have to take chances in life and do what you think it's best for yourself not what other people tell you is best for you.

Well that's certainly a "free-spirit" sort of attitude. Nothing wrong with that. But you're forgetting that the OP did come on an anonymous forum to ask for advice. Many of us are just giving our opinions based on our life experiences. The OP is free to take our advice or ignore it. But it sure does seem like he's already made up his mind and just wants people to tell him to "go for it." Only time will tell if your advice is better than mine.

That's fair enough, and I agree - there's nothing wrong with advise from more experienced members, even if it's not what the OP wants to hear. I think what some of "us younger" people react to is how any younger person wanting to move to LOS are met with replies like:

Welcome Thailand please come soon

another digital pikey/movie actor/Ed visa abuser/Walt/wannabee/quality tourist in the in the making

I don't really see how that improves the quality of this place, quite the contrary.

Myself, I came here without a plan, 10 years ago. Ended up moving back home after staying for a year and a half, before moving back to the LOS approx. 6 years ago (couldn't bear staying so far away from my wife and little girl). The first few years were rough (I didn't get any money from back home like the OP), and my not so well thought out plan didn't quite work out as well as I had hoped. I did turn out allright in the end, though. I was determined to stay, and worked hard to make it happen. You can come a long way with determination and will to work around the clock.

If the OP is determined to make it here, and got subsidies from his parents while doing so, there is nothing wrong with that at all. He's got a safety net, which puts him in the extremely lucky situation that he'll be relatively comfortable while trying to find his way. There are also a lot of studies that are likely to land you a job afterwards, if you do well. So there are options.

Edited January 15, 2015 by Sirbergan

[DLock]

Some good posts on booth sides.

What seems obvious to me is that the younger guys are satisfied with a monthly income of $1000 and enjoying life, whereas the guys that built a career are probably in the $5000 - $25000 range, have a house, cars, married and are very stable. There is a big expectation gap on what constitutes a good salary and career.

I don't want a house, car, wife or family yet.

The old guys seem to be projecting their expecations on what constitutes a good salary and career onto younger guys who aren't in their prime earning years yet, and have a long road ahead to come.

Who's to say in 20 years time when they reach their age they won't be in the higher earnings bracket, and have plenty saved up from earning $2000/mo and spending $1500/mo for 200 months. That's $120,000, even assuming their income doesn't rise with time and experience.

The whole debate is silly, the two sides are a generation apart. For one it was customary to rush into getting a trade, get on the property ladder, get that house with a white picket fence, make a honest woman out of someone and tie the knot, etc. etc. For the other things are totally different, with globalization, divorce rates, the ease of travel, online enterprise, etc.

Hate to break it to you Sparky, but 25 is prime earning years these days.

Waste a few more years and you have to contend with the guys that didn't waste time, built a resume and will outgun you every time.

$120,000 is chump change these days...and in 15 more years it will be worth less than chump change - you can barely buy a decent studio apartment in Bangkok for that money TODAY.

Maybe you will be happy with a studio condo in BKK at 45...but I really think you should aim higher kid.

Don't follow the advice. It's just advice. An opinion based on experience. Had I listened to advice of Elders when I was 21, I would never had taken the risks I took and made the money and lifestyle I enjoy today. So, I respect where you're coming from, but Thailand is just not the "risk" you should be looking at.

Get on a plane and head to Silicon Valley. Work for a low salary in a start-up (or 10) and stock options. That's a risk worth taking.

Work with some smart friends on some iPhone app ideas for a few years while you stack shelves at night. That's a risk worth taking.

Build several Internet businesses yourself based around things you are interested in and run it from anywhere, or sell out. That's a risk worth taking.

Work for Google, or Facebook or the next big IT company and in 10 years (or less) you should be a millionaire in stock options. That's a risk worth taking.

There are risks and there are risks. None of them are a guarantee...but Thailand is just not a risk that is ever going to pay off.

[jspill]

I do build internet businesses... from Thailand. The 120k figure was just a random example, point being you can save small fractions of a small income over time while you're enjoying life and semi-retired by your late 20s working 4 hours a day. If one doesn't want to buy a condo, or house, or enter marriage, sacrificing one's younger years are not necessary.

And there's that fixation with old men again so prominent among the pikeys, in 20 years time 120k savings will be like have 10k savings today not worth very much, for someone who professes to be a smart pikey you not very good with basic economics and the concept of inflation, in 20 years a pack of mamma noodles will cost hundreds of Thb

Obviously it was a contrived example of fresh earnings each month, not 120k earnt today and magically teleported untouched to 20 years in the future.

Further who is to say the same people you refer to will not be living in a worse shit hole than they are living now because they never planned for the future or developed a proper career but insisted on blagging it in gay tourism videos and playing poker on line to support their life in Thailand while abusing Ed visa's

And there's that fixation with homosexuality and self-defining what visa abuse is (what it actually is, is dealing narcotics on Soi 5 while on an Ed visa).

[YeahSiam]

And there's that fixation with old men again so prominent among the pikeys, in 20 years time 120k savings will be like have 10k savings today not worth very much, for someone who professes to be a smart pikey you not very good with basic economics and the concept of inflation, in 20 years a pack of mamma noodles will cost hundreds of Thb

Further who is to say the same people you refer to will not be living in a worse shit hole than they are living now because they never planned for the future or developed a proper career but insisted on blagging it in gay tourism videos and playing poker on line to support their life in Thailand while abusing Ed visa's

Yes some people may be a generation apart, the current generation wants something for nothing, full of self entitlement, with no real work ethic, be assured me and you are not even a generation apart and I can see this to today

Mass generalizations are the tools of the fool. To suggest that

an entire generation is bristling with self-entitlement and/or is bone

idle demonstrates perfectly just how completely out of touch you are.

I can understand it coming from Beetlejuice given his age but

you claim to be under 50 so one has to wonder what your excuse is.

The method you advocate has been used by millions who are now

coming to terms with retiring 5 or 10 years later than they'd planned

as crappy investment-linked pensions and 401Ks plunged before the

financial crisis.

I don't blame the younger generation for striking out in different ways

to cover their asses because the conventional school, uni, career, wife,

kids and mortgage path has turned out to be a crock of shit.

You can insult people with alternative means of income all you like but

you and your ilk can't do a damned thing to stop them swimming in your

pool, pal.

[Berkshire]

I was determined to stay, and worked hard to make it happen. You can come a long way with determination and will to work around the clock.

Yes, exactly. It's possible, but it will be harder than back home. That's the point. You did good.

[jspill]

Get on a plane and head to Silicon Valley. Work for a low salary in a start-up (or 10) and stock options. That's a risk worth taking.my

My friends did that. I'm an Imperial Physics grad, they're ranked no. 2 in the world. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/11097256/Imperial-College-named-as-worlds-second-best-university.html

My friends are miserable.

Edited January 15, 2015 by jspill

[DLock]

Get on a plane and head to Silicon Valley. Work for a low salary in a start-up (or 10) and stock options. That's a risk worth taking.my

My friends did that. I'm an Imperial Physics grad, they're ranked no. 2 in the world. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/11097256/Imperial-College-named-as-worlds-second-best-university.html

My friends are miserable.

Good school...now make it pay.

I also did the Silicon Valley thing...and I got lucky with timing and my first attempt.

My point was that there are risks worth taking. I listed 4. There are plenty more. One will make you happy.

...but maybe scrounging around Thailand on a low salary will make you happier. Horses for courses.

Would seem such a waste of such a good headstart, however.

[wow64]

There are a few pilot jobs that became available at Air Asia.

Haven't seen many ppl move to Thailand for a career move.

Edited January 15, 2015 by wow64

[Soutpeel]

And there's that fixation with old men again so prominent among the pikeys, in 20 years time 120k savings will be like have 10k savings today not worth very much, for someone who professes to be a smart pikey you not very good with basic economics and the concept of inflation, in 20 years a pack of mamma noodles will cost hundreds of Thb

Further who is to say the same people you refer to will not be living in a worse shit hole than they are living now because they never planned for the future or developed a proper career but insisted on blagging it in gay tourism videos and playing poker on line to support their life in Thailand while abusing Ed visa's

Yes some people may be a generation apart, the current generation wants something for nothing, full of self entitlement, with no real work ethic, be assured me and you are not even a generation apart and I can see this to today

Mass generalizations are the tools of the fool. To suggest that

an entire generation is bristling with self-entitlement and/or is bone

idle demonstrates perfectly just how completely out of touch you are.

I can understand it coming from Beetlejuice given his age but

you claim to be under 50 so one has to wonder what your excuse is.

The method you advocate has been used by millions who are now

coming to terms with retiring 5 or 10 years later than they'd planned

as crappy investment-linked pensions and 401Ks plunged before the

financial crisis.

I don't blame the younger generation for striking out in different ways

to cover their asses because the conventional school, uni, career, wife,

kids and mortgage path has turned out to be a crock of shit.

You can insult people with alternative means of income all you like but

you and your ilk can't do a damned thing to stop them swimming in your

pool, pal.

Ah the chairman of the ALBC via his sock puppet has made an appearance, I don't have an excuse, just making observations of the world around me, get out the bedsit more often and away from your digital "activities " and you may see it, you accuse me of me making generalisations and inferring I am a fool, but here you are doing the same bleating on about 401ks, mortgages, etc Edited January 15, 2015 by Soutpeel

[YeahSiam]

 

Ah the chairman of the ALBC via his sock puppet has made an appearance, I don't have an excuse, just making observations of the world around me, get out the bedsit more often and away from your digital "activities " and you may see it, you accuse me of me making generalisations and inferring I am a fool, but here you are doing the same bleating on about 401ks, mortgages, etc

 

Yeah because there's so much more evidence to support

your theory about an entire generation being lazy and

spoilt than there is to support my observation of real

life cases where working mules approaching retirement

have had to shelve their plans. Think Greece, Portugal,

Ireland, Spain. Ask employees-even in the private sector-

who haven't had a pay rise in years. Ask the public

sector retirees in Detroit.

I'm not bleating- I'm just saying that there are any number

of paths to the same destination and none of them involve

having the kind of blinkered mindset that hallmarks all

your disparaging and offensive comments.

[SoiBiker]

So the message from some of you seems to be 'forget about being happy, just make as much money as you can'.

Not everyone subscribes to that philosophy.

[arthurwait]

So the message from some of you seems to be 'forget about being happy, just make as much money as you can'.

Not everyone subscribes to that philosophy.

The O&G workers have to spend 50% of their time at sea with nothing but a censored copy of Thai playboy and the communal copy of readers wives to keep them company, add that to the fear of dropping the soap in the showers and you can understand that they will get grumpy. Please have some sympathy for them.

[ATF]

arthurwait, on 15 Jan 2015 - 22:19, said:

SoiBiker, on 15 Jan 2015 - 22:01, said:

So the message from some of you seems to be 'forget about being happy, just make as much money as you can'.

Not everyone subscribes to that philosophy.

The O&G workers have to spend 50% of their time at sea with nothing but a censored copy of Thai playboy and the communal copy of readers wives to keep them company, add that to the fear of dropping the soap in the showers and you can understand that they will get grumpy. Please have some sympathy for them.

Sure but they make more money in a day than the Pikeys make in a month and then get a month's paid leave.

[YeahSiam]

I made ฿100,000 on the Swissie/Euro currency pair today

and I had my beautiful 11 month-old daughter on my lap the

whole time. Unlike the O&G guys who've gotta be shitting

themselves as oil heads to $40, my only concerns

about the price of crude center solely on the best point

at which to shortsell it again.

Edited January 15, 2015 by YeahSiam

[ATF]

YeahSiam, on 15 Jan 2015 - 23:14, said:

I made ฿100,000 on the Swissie/Euro currency pair today

and I had my beautiful 11 month-old daughter on my lap the

whole time. Unlike the O&G guys who've gotta be shitting

themselves as oil heads to $40, my only concerns

about the price of crude center solely on the best point

at which to shortsell it again.

I find this highly unbelievable because it was a surprise announcement from the Swiss Central Bank that they were cutting their Euro ties. So unless you had inside information it is highly improbable. Dream on.

[YeahSiam]

 

YeahSiam, on 15 Jan 2015 - 23:14, said:

I made ฿100,000 on the Swissie/Euro currency pair today

and I had my beautiful 11 month-old daughter on my lap the

whole time. Unlike the O&G guys who've gotta be shitting

themselves as oil heads to $40, my only concerns

about the price of crude center solely on the best point

at which to shortsell it again.

I find this highly unbelievable because it was a surprise announcement from the Swiss Central Bank that they were cutting their Euro ties. So unless you had inside information it is highly improbable. Dream on.

 

Shows what you know. It's only £2,000 - hardly

a windfall and given the ECB's been telegraphing

its QE/OMT aspirations/intentions for weeks, it

was inevitable the peg would have to go. Stick to

cheerleading your cronies

[ATF]

YeahSiam, on 15 Jan 2015 - 23:35, said:

 

Shows what you know. It's only £2,000 - hardly

a windfall and given the ECB's been telegraphing

its QE/OMT aspirations/intentions for weeks, it

was inevitable the peg would have to go. Stick to

cheerleading your cronies

If you told me you had shorted EUR/USD I would believe you but even then you would need a credit line of at least 200,000 EUR to make 3000 EUR profit on the 1.5% drop today. As I said dream on.

[YeahSiam]

 

YeahSiam, on 15 Jan 2015 - 23:35, said:

 

Shows what you know. It's only £2,000 - hardly

a windfall and given the ECB's been telegraphing

its QE/OMT aspirations/intentions for weeks, it

was inevitable the peg would have to go. Stick to

cheerleading your cronies

If you told me you had shorted EUR/USD I would believe you but even then you would need a credit line of at least 200,000 EUR to make 3000 EUR profit on the 1.5% drop today. As I said dream on.

 

Heard of leverage?

[ATF]

YeahSiam, on 15 Jan 2015 - 23:53, said:

 

ATF, on 15 Jan 2015 - 23:42, said:

If you told me you had shorted EUR/USD I would believe you but even then you would need a credit line of at least 200,000 EUR to make 3000 EUR profit on the 1.5% drop today. As I said dream on.

 

Heard of leverage?

My statement explains leverage or margin.

[TheSpade]

Out of interest what does a farang working in the oil and gas sector in Thailand make on average per month?

[ATF]

TheSpade, on 16 Jan 2015 - 00:08, said:

Out of interest what does a farang working in the oil and gas sector in Thailand make on average per month?

Most don't only work in Thailand but work around the World but anything from $500 per day up to several thousand a day. Senior positions pay extremely well and it's usually all tax free.

[YeahSiam]

 

TheSpade, on 16 Jan 2015 - 00:08, said:

Out of interest what does a farang working in the oil and gas sector in Thailand make on average per month?

Most don't only work in Thailand but work around the World but anything from $500 per day up to several thousand a day. Senior positions pay extremely well and it's usually all tax free.

 

Yes but with the new normal in the oil market,

they're a highly endangered species. Not much call

for headcount with crude oil heading for $40.

Thing is, the couple of O&G guys I know are nice,

decent people; nothing like the Harry Enfield types

we have to endure on Thaivisa.

[ThePlant]

YeahSiam, on 15 Jan 2015 - 23:35, said:

 

Shows what you know. It's only £2,000 - hardly

a windfall and given the ECB's been telegraphing

its QE/OMT aspirations/intentions for weeks, it

was inevitable the peg would have to go. Stick to

cheerleading your cronies

If you told me you had shorted EUR/USD I would believe you but even then you would need a credit line of at least 200,000 EUR to make 3000 EUR profit on the 1.5% drop today. As I said dream on.

What is this??? A Pikey being exposed as a fantasist then trying lamely to hit back on the defensive by making unfounded claims about a profession none of us are in!? Whatever next?

I enjoyed the 'View from the Chatuchak Grindhouse with Khao San Road diploma' photo...

[Soutpeel]

I made ฿100,000 on the Swissie/Euro currency pair today

and I had my beautiful 11 month-old daughter on my lap the

whole time. Unlike the O&G guys who've gotta be shitting

themselves as oil heads to $40, my only concerns

about the price of crude center solely on the best point

at which to shortsell it again.

Yeah sure you did YS or should I say CH, and unfortunately for you tried this line once before in another thread when you posted under CH

Another George Soros wannabe

Edited January 15, 2015 by Soutpeel

[Lukecan]

TheSpade, on 16 Jan 2015 - 00:08, said:

Out of interest what does a farang working in the oil and gas sector in Thailand make on average per month?

Most don't only work in Thailand but work around the World but anything from $500 per day up to several thousand a day. Senior positions pay extremely well and it's usually all tax free.

Can I break into that field without being an engineer?

[ThePlant]

Can I break into that field without being an engineer?

Doubt it. If it were that easy, most all of the pikeys on this thread would be queuing up to get a piece of that pie no matter what they bitterly guess about the future of the industry

They (the oil lads, not the pikeys) have their own sub forum here. You could try asking there.

Edited January 15, 2015 by ThePlant

[Lukecan]

Again thanks to all ya guy for the replies. But I'll say it again, I dont get why the discussion is centered around Thailand. Thailand is one of my options only, I wouldn't mind Malaysia,Indonesia,Vietnam either. Last 2-3 pages the qualtiy of posts has gone considerably up, would like to thank you all for the valuable ideas.

I've decided that my plan B is the best in the event that I dont get into the foreign ministry. My cousin who graduated from the same school with the same major now flies with Turkish Airlines, mind you Turkish airlines is a pretty decent airline which pays 7-8k usd a month to a junior first officer.I'd like to thank Dafy for encouraging me, instead of going the Turkish Airlines route, I'll fly for no name carriers in Asia for peanuts while accumulating flight hours and after that I'll try to break into AirAsia,MAS,Cathay Pacific,Singapore Airlines.

There are some very materialistic posts here revolving around houses and cars. In the event that my parents die before me I'll inherit more than 20 residential and commercial properties around Ankara,Istanbul and Bursa + bunch of land + some stocks in Borsa Istanbul. So wealth accumulation is not my primary goal right now, presevation is. Of course I dont want to be some loser who relies on inheritance so thats why I'm trying to find a suitable gig for me.

I've calculated that 6-7k usd a month in todays money is enough for me to lead a decent lifestyle in South East Asia(Singapore is the exception here). My long term goal is to make this amount. And really, I dont need more money than this. In the event that I make more than this, I'll donate most of the excess amount to charitable causes given that the cost of living remains more or less the same. South East Asia passion is not a one time thing for me, 4 years of my childhood I spent in manila, and the other 4 in KL. Been to Thailad bunch of times on vacation alone and with my parents.

The west is losing its exclusivity day by day. I visited Birmingham last year, I thought I took the wrong flight to Pakistan. Even Turkey is getting run down by immigrants now, from Syria and a bunch of arabic countries. Add to that amount of political correctness going on in the west disgusts me, cant stand feminists and communists either.

Edited January 15, 2015 by Lukecan

[SoiBiker]

Can I break into that field without being an engineer?

Doubt it. If it were that easy, most all of the pikeys on this thread would be queuing up to get a piece of that pie no matter what they bitterly guess about the future of the industry

They (the oil lads, not the pikeys) have their own sub forum here. You could try asking there.

All of the pikeys?

Who are these people you're talking about?

[Lukecan]

Can I break into that field without being an engineer?

Doubt it. If it were that easy, most all of the pikeys on this thread would be queuing up to get a piece of that pie no matter what they bitterly guess about the future of the industry

They (the oil lads, not the pikeys) have their own sub forum here. You could try asking there.

Its a very decent field, If I went back 4-5 years in time, I probably would of studied Petroleum Engineering. I made some enquries before, realized that its impossible for me to break into a good position in exploration with my current qualifications.