What Are The Chances Of Getting A Job In Thailand?

[Weho]

Just curious, what might the chances be of a "westerner" arriving in Thailand on a tourist visa, looking around for a decent job, (hopefully with a foreign company), and actually getting hired? This would be for someone with a good appearance, college education, bright/quick learner. Ideally, looking for something paying a livable wage, I'm guessing 40,000 to 80,000 Baht per month.

Can this happen? If someone made the job interview rounds, as a tourist, and if a company liked the job applicant, might they be willing to process the VISA paperwork?

Has anyone had luck with this?

Any help HIGHLY appreciated!

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Just curious, what might the chances be of a "westerner" arriving in Thailand on a tourist visa, looking around for a decent job, (hopefully with a foreign company), and actually getting hired? This would be for someone with a good appearance, college education, bright/quick learner. Ideally, looking for something paying a livable wage, I'm guessing 40,000 to 80,000 Baht per month.

Can this happen? If someone made the job interview rounds, as a tourist, and if a company liked the job applicant, might they be willing to process the VISA paperwork?

Has anyone had luck with this?

Any help HIGHLY appreciated!

What is your age ... your skills ... and your nationality ?

[Weho]

45 years old, male, USA. Skills: quick learner, background in legal research/investigations, family law/divorce issues; also, knowledge in travel industry, (sales, marketing). fluent in English and French, some Spanish. Computer: good skills, fast typist. Not really anything very specific, as far as what kind of a job might be available in Thailand/Bangkok, but I've very eager to adapt/learn quickly.

[Bluecat]

40,000 to 80,000 Baht/month?

Sorry, none.

Even for far lower expectations.

And I am neither mean, nor joking,...

[Darknight]

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

sorry to put it so bluntly, tried it myself....

[PvtDick]

Too bad you don't speak Thai, or I'd consider hiring you.

[Crash999]

Just curious, what might the chances be of a "westerner" arriving in Thailand on a tourist visa, looking around for a decent job, (hopefully with a foreign company), and actually getting hired? This would be for someone with a good appearance, college education, bright/quick learner. Ideally, looking for something paying a livable wage, I'm guessing 40,000 to 80,000 Baht per month.

It certainly is possible- but you need to set up an agenda for yourself and work like a madman. Plan on finding work using your current experience and skills and *not* something new- even though you may be willing to work for such a small salary, companies may be unwilling to hire you if you don't seem serious about working in the industry- or seem to just want to hang around and party.

Attend chamber of commerce meetings, Rotary Club meetings, FTTC meetings, and talk to all expats you can- especially with your legal background you should look into industry associations. Contact regional and industry headhunters to give them your resume.

Be open and forthright about your goals to the people you talk to. Offer to buy people a quick lunch in exchange for their ideas about how to get a foot in the door here.

Don't lock yourself into a salary range- it's good to see you're willing to be flexible, but with a legal background you could most likely earn more. If you have a graduate degree you could work as a university lecturer for the salary range you mentioned.

Lastly, think it over. I've known guys who have come over here and been successful in finding work... only to be bored as ###### a year or so later. Once you're living here life isn't a constant party- during the week I rarely go out and on the weekends I wind up doing errands and getting things done. As such, I wind up reading more about the various nightlife antics online from tourists than I actually manage to participate in myself.

Drop me a PM and send me you're resume- I'll keep my eyes open for anything that seems appropriate.

Cheers!

[Drewcifer]

Crash999,

You mentioned attending chamber of commerce meetings and rotary club meetings. Can you suggest any that would be good to attend? Is there a prefered way to track down expats?

-Drew

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Crash999,

You mentioned attending chamber of commerce meetings and rotary club meetings. Can you suggest any that would be good to attend? Is there a prefered way to track down expats?

-Drew

Rotary welcome members of Rotary. See if someone would take you to the Rotary Club of Bangkok South. Lunchtime Friday meetings. Members are all captains of industry and professionals. Large expat membership.

[Drewcifer]

I guess the next question is, are there any members of the Rotary Club of Bangkok South around here? I'd love to be able to finagle an lunch invite in the first two weeks of June.

[thawit76]

You can try either the US, British, or Australian Chambers of Commerce for the monthly luncheons or social nights. AMCHAM has a regular social event that is supposed to be for networking. Don't get your hopes up though, it's usually just a bunch of expat execs looking to get drunk and socialize with their friends - and it can be a difficult social circle to break into when you are looking for a job.

Why not try the hotel industry? You could put in a few years in the US or elsewhere with a chain then transfer to Thailand.

[Basher]

You could open a bar full of ladies that will have sex with me for money, I hear that is a lucrative market, but then you would be a pimp....

Bash

[Drewcifer]

Thawit76,

Thanks for the advice. In regards to the hotel industry comment, for some people (like me) its just not a viable option. If we were interested in waiting for a few years, we could just continue on our current career paths and just retire early. Unfortunately, our situation is a bit time sensative (elderly parents). So for us it would be a trade off.. work longer but have more time with parents, or work shorter and have less time.

Basher...

lol, not a bad idea, but my pimp hand isnt strong.. I'm too much of a sucker for tears from a woman.

[Sadayu]

It seems someone would do really well, or at least score a lot of Karma, by developing a Job Site for Foreign Workers.

But as I type that, I realize that it probably wouldn't work. Unless you want to teach English, I've discovered work here seems almost exclusively knowing someone.

I'm discovering it's also significantly difficult to break the B60,000 barrier when working for a Thai company. Do many people here get more than this and work for a Thai company (in whatever role?)

[Drewcifer]

Forestcall,

After that post,I wondering if your real name is Erco.

[Axel]

Sorry to make fun....but if you cant find work in Thailand especially Chiang Mai then you are not meant to travel or for that matter even breath! Sorry for the harshness! But its the GOLD-RUSH!!! In THailand! If you cant find a GOOOOOD Job your an idiot!

Sincerly!

Give us some more details, what do you feel is a GOOOOOD Job.

[thaimee]

does teaching tickle your fancy? could you cope being around attentive kiddies? if the answer is yes, then there's an above likliehhod of making a respectable salary. given you have some teaching experience and background?

money returns are best at the weekend. a lady colleague once told me that she'd be paid 600-700 baht hourly for teaching. where's the calculator? a good weekend rota and friendly contacts to supply you outisde contracts at respected universities would get you nearer the 60,000 baht bracket?

i worked as a general dog's body assistant to nonchalant staff and got paid 25,000 baht for my troubles. if you could muster enough workling hours at the weekend and make good contacts with other universities during the week, then you should be rewarded deeply in pocket. caution: teaching can be exhausting!

Thaimee.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

You could open a bar full of ladies that will have sex with me for money, I hear that is a lucrative market, but then you would be a pimp....

Bash

I am shocked. Are you really suggesting that some ladies do sex with men for money Bash ? I never heard of something like that happening, particularly here in Thailand. What does a pimp do ?

[dr_Pat_Pong]

does teaching tickle your fancy? could you cope being around attentive kiddies? if the answer is yes, then there's an above likliehhod of making a respectable salary. given you have some teaching experience and background?

money returns are best at the weekend. a lady colleague once told me that she'd be paid 600-700 baht hourly for teaching. where's the calculator? a good weekend rota and friendly contacts to supply you outisde contracts at respected universities would get you nearer the 60,000 baht bracket?

i worked as a general dog's body assistant to nonchalant staff and got paid 25,000 baht for my troubles. if you could muster enough workling hours at the weekend and make good contacts with other universities during the week, then you should be rewarded deeply in pocket. caution: teaching can be exhausting!

Thaimee.

I think that if you take a glimpse at Forest's parsar angkrid capablities, teaching English isn't a goooood option for him. Not a lot of promise there.

[Bluecat]

I think that if you take a glimpse at Forest's parsar angkrid capablities, teaching English isn't a goooood option for him. Not a lot of promise there.

I think he is not a he but a she, Ukrainian/Russian I would guess.

Lot of job opportunities.

Are you, Weho?

If not,....

[johnnyk]

You are 45 years old which is on the downslope in career terms and you do not list any very substantial education, experience or achievement. Many, many people can type and will work for far less than you want.

In short, don't hold your breath that they are awaiting you with unbridled anticipation because you can speak English.

[Spee]

You mentioned attending chamber of commerce meetings and rotary club meetings. Can you suggest any that would be good to attend?

You may want to start by looking here ....

American Chamber of Commerce in Thailand web site

http://www.amchamthailand.com/asp/CorpList.asp?SponsorID=81

[Drewcifer]

Spee,

Thanks for the link. Its a usefull list to have.

Are there any Chamber or Rotary members on Thaivisa? I'd love to know a little bit more about them from a first hand perspective. I'm used to a fairly robust network of contacts (in the US) and I'm wondering how others went about establishing a good network of contacts in Thailand.

-Drew

[guy_l0ndon]

If its such a gold rush in Thailand how is it that a significant number of global companies are withdrawing from Asian interests in the expectantcy of an economic fallout within the next 2 years.

When an economy is bullish like the Thai econmy it is bound to decrease at some point.

I think Thailand is an amazing country and the people wonderful but to say that a gold rush is on suggests that the country is floating on money, it isnt.

I would suggest to the man looking for a job to start looking at his home country and source a company with Thai interests also he might want to consider getting some qualifications as being 45 and a quick learner is just not enough today.

[Drewcifer]

guy_l0ndon,

I think this is perhaps the best piece of advice I've heard yet for him. Finding a job without qualifications is hard enough in your country of origin. Finding one in Thailand, I imagine, would be much more difficult.

[guy_l0ndon]

Thank you.

I dont mean to dash anyones dream but Thailand has plenty of labour what any country requires are skilled people, and that is not just life experienced. In todays markets you need to show qualifications just to get an interview.

I am personally at Imperial College London doing my second degree (first being law) second is business International. The thing I have learnt is you have to tempt potential employers with a CV, then you over half way in.

Good luck to anyone attempting such a move.

Its a very tough job market in anyplace worldwide.

[simon43]

With the exception of people seconded to work in Thailand for their multi-national employers, I can well imagine that the vast majority of English-speaking 'farang' who work in Thailand, are teachers of some sort. I suspect that only a small number are working in different professions for Thai companies.

Anyone correct me if I'm way off-line here

And then that leaves a small number of farang who run their own businesses in Thailand..

Plus perhaps an even smaller number who live of their previously-earned wealth (Hey that's me!! )

And then a big crowd who are retired..

So which category do you think you fit into? By your previous postings I can say that you are not retired, and don't have a pot of gold back home.

So you can either run your own business in LoS (which usually takes a load of money ..), work as a teacher, or find that elusive job working for a Thai company.

Regardless of your current teaching or English abilities, I'd say that teaching 'something' is probably your best bet.

In any case, the lack of ability to teach or to speak/read/write good English has certainly not stopped loads of other farang from teaching in Thailand

(Waits for the howls of anger from the teachers here....)

[Jimbo]

Finding a job in Thailand isnt easy but certainly possible. Finding a job in Thailand while abroad is more difficult but possible. It took me three months of countless emails and web research but it paid off.

Here in Phuket there are always jobs available which often are not advertised anywhere but are filled through word of mouth. If you are not to picky regarding which sector you would like to work then there are often jobs available in real estate, timeshare, sales and marketing possitions for hotels / IT companies etc. If you are able to come down for 3 months or so and start networking, sending emails etc then I think that you would have the chance to find a job.