Expat Life, or Immigrant Life?

[MaeJoMTB]

I'm just here for the cheap sex,

That makes me a sexpat.

Cost of living doesn't really matter, I could happily live in the UK or Spain for the same money.

But I would have to manage without the cheap sex.

Don't have a job in Thailand, so can't ever be an immigrant.

Too old for a job, don't need a job either.

Nice to see you admit that it's because the women are cheaper than western women, rather than superior to them.

I'd need to be a millionaire to buy a 20 year old weighing 45Kg in the UK.

Here, 2,000bht does the job (short-time).

I don't believe I've ever claimed Thai women are superior to western women.

Only the price tag (and payment plan) is different.

[yellowboat]

The wisest use of time is spent with hardworking, productive Thais. The expat community in Bangkok never struck me is large nor dynamic. Given the current situation, it will probably shrink more.

I think a lot of the retired crowd don't realise how many younger working expats there are in Bangkok - they don't drink in the same bars, they don't post on the same forums, and you probably just assume they're tourists when you do see them around, but they exist in large numbers.

Where ? What do they do ?

For exemple me, arrived a 23. Work in big manufacture company (over 300 persons) as a manager, 4 years already, very good salary. Will change job soon to get more experience (they call me, I wasn't looking). My ambition is to have my own company in the next 10 years.

So what sort of advice would you give another 23 year old wanting to work in Asia. Would you say to them the sky is the limit in Thailand, opportunities galore ? Would you say there are better opportunities here than say China or Indonesia for manufacturing ?

Somebody earlier mentioned a tremendous decline of expatriate workers in Thailand, and it is true. There are some wonderful pearls in Thailand, but it has been better to deal with Thailand from the outside of its borders.

When you open your Thai business, be sure to open up a Hong Kong or Singapore bank account when accepting overseas payment.

[laolover88]

Very important topic!

Could write a very learned long article about this, but I wont!

Raises all kinds of questions about how people view each other and themselves.

If of interest I suggest reading:

http://www.laphamsquarterly.org/foreigners

In brief I think it really relates to freedom and force. If you can choose where to go and live it is quite different from being forced from your "home" by what ever circumstances. If you can choose, or you work that requires that choice you are an expat. In Thailand they have chosen to use tourist and "non immigrant" as the way they categorise people. Non-immigrant is a concept constructed to distinguish temporary residence from permanent residence.Never met anyone who considered themselves an immigrant!

I happen to object to being called "farang" because that diminishes both my individuality and my nationality. I object, too, to those Thai forms that refer to me as an "Alien". I have no objection to "foreigner" because the word has few pejorative connotations in English unlike "farang" does in Thai. The wobbly border between language and racism never ceases to wobble.The vast majority of people are "immigrants" whether in Europe, America or Asia and its odd how both the terms "immigrant" and "indigenous people" have both acquired a stigma of an underclass.

2 out of 3 children in London schools are of British African or British Asian origin. The proportion of the children in Bangkok schools whose grand parents and great grandparents are or were Chinese must be very high. But we don'talk about that, do we?

[sawadee1947]

i guess we are ex pats from your native country's point of view but an immigrant from a Thai point of view.

From a thai point of view most are non-immigrants...fact

Given a lot of refugees in Europe are classifed as "ecomonic refugees" using the same rational, one could deem the vast majority of "expats" coming to Thailand as "sexual refugees"

In many cases you might see "economic refugees " here, just to have a life they can't afford in their home countries

O

[bazza40]

I'm just here for the cheap sex,

That makes me a sexpat.

Cost of living doesn't really matter, I could happily live in the UK or Spain for the same money.

But I would have to manage without the cheap sex.

Don't have a job in Thailand, so can't ever be an immigrant.

Too old for a job, don't need a job either.

Nice to see you admit that it's because the women are cheaper than western women, rather than superior to them.

Call me superficial; however, I do feel a 45 kg Thai woman is superior to a 90 kg Western woman with thunder thighs and attitude. And yes, giving a Thai woman the money to build a AUD 25K house is a lot less costly than a AUD 250K divorce settlement.

[SoiBiker]

I'm just here for the cheap sex,

That makes me a sexpat.

Cost of living doesn't really matter, I could happily live in the UK or Spain for the same money.

But I would have to manage without the cheap sex.

Don't have a job in Thailand, so can't ever be an immigrant.

Too old for a job, don't need a job either.

Nice to see you admit that it's because the women are cheaper than western women, rather than superior to them.

Call me superficial; however, I do feel a 45 kg Thai woman is superior to a 90 kg Western woman with thunder thighs and attitude. And yes, giving a Thai woman the money to build a AUD 25K house is a lot less costly than a AUD 250K divorce settlement.

That's a rather silly false comparison, though - not all western women are the way you describe them, or all Thai women either for that matter.

[bazza40]

Nice to see you admit that it's because the women are cheaper than western women, rather than superior to them.

Call me superficial; however, I do feel a 45 kg Thai woman is superior to a 90 kg Western woman with thunder thighs and attitude. And yes, giving a Thai woman the money to build a AUD 25K house is a lot less costly than a AUD 250K divorce settlement.

That's a rather silly false comparison, though - not all western women are the way you describe them, or all Thai women either for that matter.

You obviously haven't taken a walk around a US or Australian shopping mall for quite a while. Attempted putdown is what I've come to expect from you.

[ericthai]

Thailand is full of retirees mostly. Few work in Thailand as it is not allowed or overly complicated. Thailand is to be avoided if you have drive and ambition.

Shows you have no idea what your talking about. Allot of expats work in Thailand. I worked in Thailand for almost 20 years and did very good, better than I would have done in the USA.

I have several expat friends that work for large foreign owned companies and they are all happy. Also getting a work permit to be allowed to work is not difficult, main thing is the company you are going to work for needs to qualify to hire expats. Teachers have problems because allot of the small schools don't qualify or don't care and don't want to get a work permit they use the WP as a carrot to keep a teacher hoping and working.

[ericthai]

Somebody earlier mentioned a tremendous decline of expatriate workers in Thailand, and it is true. There are some wonderful pearls in Thailand, but it has been better to deal with Thailand from the outside of its borders.

When you open your Thai business, be sure to open up a Hong Kong or Singapore bank account when accepting overseas payment.

Why do you need to open a Hong Kong or Singapore bank account?? My company used Bangkok Bank and we received payments from Aust, S. Korea, Singapore, Germany, etc never an issue.

Also I dont see the tremendous decline in expats. My friend she works for a company that helps expats relocate and get settled in (showing wives where to shop, finding a place to live, getting kids enrolled in school etc) and she is just as busy as she was 10 years ago. Do you ever go to Lam Chabang or Rayong? There are so many industrial factories it's not funny.

[Oceanbat]

I consider myself an expat as I have no real rights here. In terms of working I had no issues getting a job and all of my friends have great careers. Depends on the industry.

OB

[Dewey]

Where ? What do they do ?

For exemple me, arrived a 23. Work in big manufacture company (over 300 persons) as a manager, 4 years already, very good salary. Will change job soon to get more experience (they call me, I wasn't looking). My ambition is to have my own company in the next 10 years.

So what sort of advice would you give another 23 year old wanting to work in Asia. Would you say to them the sky is the limit in Thailand, opportunities galore ? Would you say there are better opportunities here than say China or Indonesia for manufacturing ?

Somebody earlier mentioned a tremendous decline of expatriate workers in Thailand, and it is true. There are some wonderful pearls in Thailand, but it has been better to deal with Thailand from the outside of its borders.

When you open your Thai business, be sure to open up a Hong Kong or Singapore bank account when accepting overseas payment.

The advice I would give is, get a diploma and a first experience abroad before going to asia (I spent a year studying in England so it helped me to speak better english). Then don't come here because you liked the 2 weeks you spent here during holidays and look all asian country (personally I was looking in Vietnam at the begining and I was contacted to work in Thailand). And the last advise would be to work as much as possible at the begining, I know plenty of factory with foreign boss which are looking for good foreign managers.

[MaeJoMTB]

You obviously haven't taken a walk around a US or Australian shopping mall for quite a while. Attempted putdown is what I've come to expect from you.

I bet I could find a 45Kg woman in a US or Oz shopping mall.

I just couldn't afford her asking price.

You need to compare like with like,

Not what you can afford here, with what you can afford there.

[laolover88]

You might like this!

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/britains-human-landscape-oxford-university-s-professor-danny-dorling-has-created-an-atlas-of-the-uk-a6935101.html

[Baerboxer]

i guess we are ex pats from your native country's point of view but an immigrant from a Thai point of view.

From a thai point of view most are non-immigrants...fact

Given a lot of refugees in Europe are classifed as "ecomonic refugees" using the same rational, one could deem the vast majority of "expats" coming to Thailand as "sexual refugees"

What a load of nonsense.

[bazza40]

You obviously haven't taken a walk around a US or Australian shopping mall for quite a while. Attempted putdown is what I've come to expect from you.

I bet I could find a 45Kg woman in a US or Oz shopping mall.

I just couldn't afford her asking price.

You need to compare like with like,

Not what you can afford here, with what you can afford there.

I bet I could too. Statistically, has to happen eventually.

You can go to any shopping mall here, take a seat and watch the eye candy pass by. Take a counter if necessary.

Then carry out the same exercise in a shopping mall in Australia or the USA. You won't need a counter, it's the percentages I'm referring to.

Don't know what it's like in the UK, haven't been there for a long time.When I'm in an Australian shopping mall, I sometimes feel a cattle prod would be a desirable accessory.

[SoiBiker]

You obviously haven't taken a walk around a US or Australian shopping mall for quite a while. Attempted putdown is what I've come to expect from you.

I bet I could find a 45Kg woman in a US or Oz shopping mall.

I just couldn't afford her asking price.

You need to compare like with like,

Not what you can afford here, with what you can afford there.

I bet I could too. Statistically, has to happen eventually.

You can go to any shopping mall here, take a seat and watch the eye candy pass by. Take a counter if necessary.

Then carry out the same exercise in a shopping mall in Australia or the USA. You won't need a counter, it's the percentages I'm referring to.

Don't know what it's like in the UK, haven't been there for a long time.When I'm in an Australian shopping mall, I sometimes feel a cattle prod would be a desirable accessory.

It's just a matter of personal taste, though. Personally, I'd find more to please my eye in a mall in the UK than I do in any of them here. You might prefer Thai women, but that doesn't mean everyone does.

[laislica]

You obviously haven't taken a walk around a US or Australian shopping mall for quite a while. Attempted putdown is what I've come to expect from you.

I bet I could find a 45Kg woman in a US or Oz shopping mall.

I just couldn't afford her asking price.

You need to compare like with like,

Not what you can afford here, with what you can afford there.

I bet I could too. Statistically, has to happen eventually.

You can go to any shopping mall here, take a seat and watch the eye candy pass by. Take a counter if necessary.

Then carry out the same exercise in a shopping mall in Australia or the USA. You won't need a counter, it's the percentages I'm referring to.

Don't know what it's like in the UK, haven't been there for a long time.When I'm in an Australian shopping mall, I sometimes feel a cattle prod would be a desirable accessory.

It's just a matter of personal taste, though. Personally, I'd find more to please my eye in a mall in the UK than I do in any of them here. You might prefer Thai women, but that doesn't mean everyone does.

We do seem to be straying a tad off topic here, but since you mention it.....

Have a visit to the east of Andalusia, Spain, far away from regular tourism; eye candy to pop your eyes!

[Bobotie]

i guess we are ex pats from your native country's point of view but an immigrant from a Thai point of view.

From a thai point of view most are non-immigrants...fact

Given a lot of refugees in Europe are classifed as "ecomonic refugees" using the same rational, one could deem the vast majority of "expats" coming to Thailand as "sexual refugees"

What a load of nonsense.

Why ?

[SoiBiker]

I bet I could find a 45Kg woman in a US or Oz shopping mall.

I just couldn't afford her asking price.

You need to compare like with like,

Not what you can afford here, with what you can afford there.

I bet I could too. Statistically, has to happen eventually.

You can go to any shopping mall here, take a seat and watch the eye candy pass by. Take a counter if necessary.

Then carry out the same exercise in a shopping mall in Australia or the USA. You won't need a counter, it's the percentages I'm referring to.

Don't know what it's like in the UK, haven't been there for a long time.When I'm in an Australian shopping mall, I sometimes feel a cattle prod would be a desirable accessory.

It's just a matter of personal taste, though. Personally, I'd find more to please my eye in a mall in the UK than I do in any of them here. You might prefer Thai women, but that doesn't mean everyone does.

We do seem to be straying a tad off topic here, but since you mention it.....

Have a visit to the east of Andalusia, Spain, far away from regular tourism; eye candy to pop your eyes!

I absolutely agree. Spanish women are way hotter than Thai.

Most Thai girls I see around are rather plain looking, with bad teeth, bad skin, poorly dressed in ill-fitting clothes, scrawny and awkward. I guess maybe that does it for some people, but it's not for me.

[bazza40]

It's just a matter of personal taste, though. Personally, I'd find more to please my eye in a mall in the UK than I do in any of them here. You might prefer Thai women, but that doesn't mean everyone does.

We do seem to be straying a tad off topic here, but since you mention it.....

Have a visit to the east of Andalusia, Spain, far away from regular tourism; eye candy to pop your eyes!

I absolutely agree. Spanish women are way hotter than Thai.

Most Thai girls I see around are rather plain looking, with bad teeth, bad skin, poorly dressed in ill-fitting clothes, scrawny and awkward. I guess maybe that does it for some people, but it's not for me.

Somehow I feel the national religion of most Spanish women would get in the way. Not much point to being stunning if it's inaccessible. Yes, it is a matter of personal taste.

You presumably don't live anywhere near Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai, from your statements about most of the Thai girls you see. Although you couldn't resist another putdown about "some people", could you?

[SoiBiker]

It's just a matter of personal taste, though. Personally, I'd find more to please my eye in a mall in the UK than I do in any of them here. You might prefer Thai women, but that doesn't mean everyone does.

We do seem to be straying a tad off topic here, but since you mention it.....

Have a visit to the east of Andalusia, Spain, far away from regular tourism; eye candy to pop your eyes!

I absolutely agree. Spanish women are way hotter than Thai.

Most Thai girls I see around are rather plain looking, with bad teeth, bad skin, poorly dressed in ill-fitting clothes, scrawny and awkward. I guess maybe that does it for some people, but it's not for me.

Somehow I feel the national religion of most Spanish women would get in the way. Not much point to being stunning if it's inaccessible. Yes, it is a matter of personal taste.

You presumably don't live anywhere near Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai, from your statements about most of the Thai girls you see. Although you couldn't resist another putdown about "some people", could you?

I don't live in Chiang Mai, but I've been there plenty of times. Same same.

I'm not putting anyone down - just pointing out that we don't all share the same tastes, and despite what some seem to believe, Thai women are not universally considered attractive.

It's ok for us to like different things.

[laolover88]

I regularly consider becoming an emigre. But I don't know where to go. When my children are being polite they call us "persons of no fixed abode" ie homeless, which we are not. When they are being rude the call me a "f**etc" gypsy. If I went back to the UK would I be a re-migrant? Or just a "Returned Empty" like those ladies that set out for the Raj but failed to land a gentleman. Most ladies I have landed in LOS have no desire to be emigrants. All quite confusing!

[SoiBiker]

I'm happy to be a vagabond. I don't plan to return to my home country, but I don't plan to stay in Thailand forever either. It's a big world, and I want to experience as much of it as I can.

[HooHaa]

Thailand is full of retirees mostly. Few work in Thailand as it is not allowed or overly complicated. Thailand is to be avoided if you have drive and ambition.

I know dozens of people that work here. It probably just seems like it's full of retirees if you spend your time in places where people with nothing much to do hang out.

The wisest use of time is spent with hardworking, productive Thais. The expat community in Bangkok never struck me is large nor dynamic. Given the current situation, it will probably shrink more.

I think a lot of the retired crowd don't realise how many younger working expats there are in Bangkok - they don't drink in the same bars, they don't post on the same forums, and you probably just assume they're tourists when you do see them around, but they exist in large numbers.

What he said.

[bazza40]

It's just a matter of personal taste, though. Personally, I'd find more to please my eye in a mall in the UK than I do in any of them here. You might prefer Thai women, but that doesn't mean everyone does.

The number of falang males hooking up with Thai women in preference to Western women suggests your personal taste is a minority.

[SoiBiker]

It's just a matter of personal taste, though. Personally, I'd find more to please my eye in a mall in the UK than I do in any of them here. You might prefer Thai women, but that doesn't mean everyone does.

The number of falang males hooking up with Thai women in preference to Western women suggests your personal taste is a minority.

Not really. The number of Farang men who 'hook up' with Thai women is a minuscule fraction of the world's farang population. Which by your logic suggests that only a tiny minority share your taste.

[bazza40]

It's just a matter of personal taste, though. Personally, I'd find more to please my eye in a mall in the UK than I do in any of them here. You might prefer Thai women, but that doesn't mean everyone does.

The number of falang males hooking up with Thai women in preference to Western women suggests your personal taste is a minority.

Not really. The number of Farang men who 'hook up' with Thai women is a minuscule fraction of the world's farang population. Which by your logic suggests that only a tiny minority share your taste.

Totally misleading. I'm referring to the number of falang males in THAILAND who choose Thai women in preference to any Western women available in THAILAND.

I'm still waiting for your explanation of why the divorce rate of falang couples in Thailand is double that of the rate in their country of origin.

I suspect the relationship you are currently in with a Western female, if I recollect correctly, is influencing your responses. Permit me to doubt she would be impressed if you agreed with me.

[SoiBiker]

Thats totally false logic. A bit like saying that the majority of people who went to Macdonalds chose a burger, so people like burgers more than pizza.

[SoiBiker]

I don't remember ever being asked about the divorce rate, so I don't know why you're waiting for me to explain it.

[bazza40]

Thats totally false logic. A bit like saying that the majority of people who went to Macdonalds chose a burger, so people like burgers more than pizza.

Again misleading. The comparison is only valid if MacDonalds offer a pizza on the menu as well. Or are you saying there are no falang females available in Thailand?