Expats Here on a Permanent Basis: How did you pull it off?

[ev1lchris]

You all seem very wise and I'm just a young pup.

For those here living the dream how did you pull it off? How are you supporting yourself?

I'm really interested in hearing from the people who aren't retired or teachers.

[wow64]

Got transferred here for work.. Wanted to move here as had a Thai wife and daughter.. When the role came up I put my hand up.

There are many jobs here depending on the industry you work. Have changed jobs since moving here working for the competition. Once you have experience here it's very easy to get a job here.

[tonray]

How would you support yourself back in your home country ? Get an education, get a job, get some experience and then live where you want. The problem with young pups is they want to learn new tricks without putting in their time to be an old dog. There are no shortcuts to life son.

[Cypress Hill]

How would you support yourself back in your home country ? Get an education, get a job, get some experience and then live where you want. The problem with young pups is they want to learn new tricks without putting in their time to be an old dog. There are no shortcuts to life son.

Yeah graft your whole life away and pay into a defined-contribution retirement plan in the desperate hope that you'll be able to attain the Holy Grail of life, the universe and everything . . . namely moving to Thailand once your youth and vitality have disappeared and you need all sorts of medication just to feel remotely normal. That kinda thing is no fun here, especially with the heat and some aspects of the culture that can make the less tolerant extremely grumpy as a quick perusal through the forum will prove.

If you work smart and have a bit of gumption, you can do it NOW.

I got here at 40 - hardly young but youthful enough to have a scream without being stretchered into an ICU after 7 years partying several times a week like some of the old boys with gout and comb overs trying to relive their 20s and 30s. LOL!

OP can do it with back-to-back, triple entry tourist visas or the Elite visa if he's got some readies lying around. He can support himself making money freelancing at something online - copy writing, web design yadda-yadda

Don't demean yourself teaching English for goat-cheese 30K salaries.

You won't be able to save a penny and that's not cool

[Aussieroaming]

I work fly In and fly out (FIFO) contracts with Thailand as my point of hire. Sometimes if wifey is lucky she gets to go too

[Suradit69]

How would you support yourself back in your home country ? Get an education, get a job, get some experience and then live where you want. The problem with young pups is they want to learn new tricks without putting in their time to be an old dog. There are no shortcuts to life son.

Yeah graft your whole life away and pay into a defined-contribution retirement plan in the desperate hope that you'll be able to attain the Holy Grail of life, the universe and everything . . . namely moving to Thailand once your youth and vitality have disappeared and you need all sorts of medication just to feel remotely normal. That kinda thing is no fun here, especially with the heat and some aspects of the culture that can make the less tolerant extremely grumpy as a quick perusal through the forum will prove.

If you work smart and have a bit of gumption, you can do it NOW.

I got here at 40 - hardly young but youthful enough to have a scream without being stretchered into an ICU after 7 years partying several times a week like some of the old boys with gout and comb overs trying to relive their 20s and 30s. LOL!

OP can do it with back-to-back, triple entry tourist visas or the Elite visa if he's got some readies lying around. He can support himself making money freelancing at something online - copy writing, web design yadda-yadda

Don't demean yourself teaching English for goat-cheese 30K salaries.

You won't be able to save a penny and that's not cool

"namely moving to Thailand once your youth and vitality have disappeared and you need all sorts of medication just to feel remotely normal. "

I've worked and lived in 4 countries and while doing so, during the last 10 years before retirement, I spent 3 to 4 months a year in Thailand, using the condo I bought earlier on as well as traveling to many more countries. I then took up full-time residence here after taking early retirement.

No need to spend all your vital youth here in one place. It's a big world. Spending your youth and vitality in one place, even Thailand, would be pretty boring.

I enjoyed Thailand and other places around the world when I had all the youth & vitality, and now I'm enjoying my life in retirement. If all you want to do is visit the gogo bars and get drunk every night (it's true I no longer bother with that , but I'm hardly spending my time in a hospital ICU or popping pills all day), then most people would get tired of that and by the time you did retire you'd probably want to look elsewhere.

I never wanted to work in Thailand nor did I want to stay here full-time when I was much younger. There were too many things to do and places to see to get settled in one place. I was saving Thailand as a place to settle full time later in life. Had I lived here full time from when I was 30 or 40, there wouldn't be much pleasure in retiring here. As much as I love Thailand, it would have worn very thin if I lived & worked here for 30 years and then retired here.

I enjoyed Thailand during short stays while I was younger and now feel very much at home here(and "remotely normal") now that I am older and less motivated to travel to "faraway places with strange sounding names."

Edited May 8, 2015 by Suradit69

[zierf1]

How would you support yourself back in your home country ? Get an education, get a job, get some experience and then live where you want. The problem with young pups is they want to learn new tricks without putting in their time to be an old dog. There are no shortcuts to life son.

Unfortunately, the US doesn't work like that anymore. 2.5% GDP growth doesn't allow it. You can get an education but there is no guarantee of a job at the end of the rainbow.

I've supported my travels in the past by running an internet business. For somebody who doesn't want to teach English, this is definitely the way to go. There are thousands of digital nomads in Thailand now and they can earn good money.

[longstebe]

What does the OP do for a living?

[longstebe]

How would you support yourself back in your home country ? Get an education, get a job, get some experience and then live where you want. The problem with young pups is they want to learn new tricks without putting in their time to be an old dog. There are no shortcuts to life son.

Very patronising but right.

[Rod Wallop]

I used my year 10 education and a little animal cunning to stay here, buy a house, 2 cars, an apartment

[FireMedic]

I retired here when I was 35. I got bored (as in not having a job) and found a need for something. I built that need I saw in a market to a wonderful full time job that lets me travel all over Asia. Best job I've ever had and I'm happier now than I ever was working in the US. I very much miss my friends and family, but I love this new life.

[chicowoodduck]

Lucky me...got an early out at 55 and the rest has been smoke and mirrors...?

[splodger]

My gf pulls it off for me.

[Evolare]

Well have my own business with clients back home. Work from here started another business here pay taxes and now after 3 year of being a good boy paying taxes one can apply for permanent recidency but (that cost 97200baht). If waiting 5 years and being a good boy and you married a thai you can apply for citizenship.

[DrTuner]

I got this rare thing called a job.

[MobileContent]

I was invited at the age of 23 to work for a Bangkok in IT. 27 years later I am still in Thailand and have a couple of software and IT projects. I also run a few websites which opened a lot of doors in the Thai and Asian tourism industry.

All in all Thailand has been great to me but my lady still doesn't understand why I pay a few hundred Baht in taxes every year.

Not sure what the future holds for Thailand but I do have a plan to might move with my lady and our baby boy to Singapore sometime next year as I hold a PR in Singapore.

[BKResort]

Getting married with the right woman, and starting a small business. I was retired with a very small income when I moved here, and having trouble with the language. Still do. Also regretting that I didn't move here well before my old years.

To young people, thinking in have a life here. Learn Thai ASAP, meet good people, and work hard without dreaming too much.

Not all is just about money.

Edited May 9, 2015 by BKResort

[quandow]

There are three components in life and you can simultaneously have two of the three, depending on your age: time, money, energy.

As a youth, you have time and energy but no money.

In between youth and old age you have money and energy but no time.

When you finally get to that Golden Age, you (should) have money and time, just no energy.

Viva Kamagra!!!

[tonray]

There are three components in life and you can simultaneously have two of the three, depending on your age: time, money, energy.

As a youth, you have time and energy but no money.

In between youth and old age you have money and energy but no time.

When you finally get to that Golden Age, you (should) have money and time, just no energy.

Viva Kamagra!!!

Don't you mean viva "Viagra" ?

[tonray]

I also think the post is somewhat demeaning to English teaching....I have done it and there is nothing wrong with staying in country by putting in an honest day's work.

[quandow]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

There are three components in life and you can simultaneously have two of the three, depending on your age: time, money, energy.

As a youth, you have time and energy but no money.

In between youth and old age you have money and energy but no time.

When you finally get to that Golden Age, you (should) have money and time, just no energy.

Viva Kamagra!!!

Don't you mean viva "Viagra" ?

Kamagra is a liquid equivalent, and I find it superior in speed of delivery and how long it lasts.

[tonray]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

There are three components in life and you can simultaneously have two of the three, depending on your age: time, money, energy.

As a youth, you have time and energy but no money.

In between youth and old age you have money and energy but no time.

When you finally get to that Golden Age, you (should) have money and time, just no energy.

Viva Kamagra!!!

Don't you mean viva "Viagra" ?

Kamagra is a liquid equivalent, and I find it superior in speed of delivery and how long it lasts.

Ahh...thanks did not know that !

[yellowboat]

Learn languages. Thais pick up spoken Chinese fairly well, but do not speak many other languages.

Learn Thai. Learn bahasa Indonesian (easy). Treat Thailand as just a place to operate from. It may not suit all your needs. All the neighboring countries are great. Many have given up on Thailand and have moved to Cambodia where immigration is not a concern in the least.

[villagefarang]

I guess we are all different. I have lived here since my early 20s and it has yet to wear thin as one poster suggested.

[smotherb]

How would you support yourself back in your home country ? Get an education, get a job, get some experience and then live where you want. The problem with young pups is they want to learn new tricks without putting in their time to be an old dog. There are no shortcuts to life son.

Unfortunately, the US doesn't work like that anymore. 2.5% GDP growth doesn't allow it. You can get an education but there is no guarantee of a job at the end of the rainbow.

I've supported my travels in the past by running an internet business. For somebody who doesn't want to teach English, this is definitely the way to go. There are thousands of digital nomads in Thailand now and they can earn good money.

There was never a guarantee at the end of the rainbow. You need to work hard for success; and a little luck doesn't hurt either. Sure, you can do an internet business; millions have tried and thousands may have achieved some success. I know two who were selling Thai handicraft on eBay, both are now teaching English.

Getting a good education may be the best bet. It is a simple fact that degree holders earn more money worldwide than non-degree holders. However, even more education may be needed today. A bachelor degree today provides the job opportunities a high school diploma offered a generation or two ago; a master degree the opportunities a bachelor degree did. So, you need more education and more viable experience in a discipline in demand today.

It shouldn't take a crystal ball to see you need skills not many others possess, if you want to succeed. If someone can learn your job in six months, you can be replaced by someone with six months experience. If a firm can proceduralize your job, you can be replaced by anyone who can read. The need to continually increase and perfect your skills should be obvious.

I often hear the cries of farangs made redundant in their jobs; like they never realized the Thais would take over, duh. When I asked what new skills they developed, they all say, "I have the experience." So, they expected experience to cover the fact they learned no more. Now, that is really dumb.

[razer]

I know a couple of millionaires who won the lottery for permanent residence. You figure it out.

[Stocky]

I'm a metals exploration geologist, as with others here I work regionally on a fly-in/fly-out basis with Thailand as my point of hire.

I work 2on/2off so I get plenty of time with the wife and family.

Edited May 9, 2015 by Stocky

[Arkady]

I was sent to Hong Kong by my company in the UK and changed jobs there to work for a company that wanted someone to set up an office in Thailand. After 7 years working on a WP I got permanent residence a year after applying for it (now it seems to take several years for reasons better known to the Interior Ministry). After being a PR for many years I finally got round to applying for citizenship which I obtained nearly 5 years after applying. Since 2008 it has also been possible to apply for citizenship without getting PR first, if you have a legally married Thai wife and a job with WP paying at least B40,000 a month. It takes some time but everyone gets processed eventually, millionaires or not. The documentation required for citizenship is actually less burdensome than for PR, possibly because it used to be assumed that everyone had been through the PR process already. i have come across teachers with Thai wives applying for citizenship and they will get it eventually, if they earn at least 40k. It is not that difficult but you need patience, perseverance and a fairly good knowledge of spoken Thai. There will always be frustrations along the way when you suddenly find yourself doing a paper chase for more docs when you thought you had submitted everything. One thing to bear in mind is that you need to maintain your job and WP throughout the citizenship process, as they might re-check everything half way through and can disqualify you, if you are no longer working. For PR you only need to maintain you employment for the first year or two while they are vetting you. Then you can retire using your automatic no more questions asked 6 month visa renewals while your application is still pending for as many years as it takes.

[Arkady]

I know a couple of millionaires who won the lottery for permanent residence. You figure it out.

Most people I know, who have got PR, including myself were not millionaires at the time. There is a common misconception that you have to pay a bribe but the reality is that the applications have to be approved by the Immigration Commission which comprises senior officials from various government agencies, which makes it hard to push through some one is not qualified or jump the queue, and everyone is terrified of being accused of corruption. For some reason PR now takes several years to get approved. Many wealthy applicants are frustrated because they can't find a way to pay a bribe and just have to wait. A friend has been waiting for 4 years and he has good connections in the current government but he stull can't get approved any quicker.

[cms22]

Good question. I work for an English company, but lucky enough to work around the region (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore etc) for a couple of days regularly and then come back home to BKK. No work here though, apart from some emails here are there. I am married with a one-yr multiple entry visa. Travelling is a drag sometimes but made easier whenever the missus and daughter come along for the ride.

Cheers

C