Money Worries

[RationalEnquirer]

I have been offered a Job in Thailand (with a trusted friend of many years) which is due to start in January, everything to do with work permits and the like has been sorted. my only concern is that I have loan in the UK, and the repayment for the loan gets debited from my account every month.

The job I am taking - in theory at least - pays enough to give me a comfortable lifestyle in Thailand, and also gives me more than enough left over to repay my loan. My salary will be paid into a Thai bank account, but I am really not sure of the best way to get a sum of money transferred on a monthly basis back to my account in the UK so I can meet my loan repayments.

Unfortunately I do not have a lot of funds to leave in the bank, to meet the repayments for the first few months.

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[GuestHouse]

Surely the salary that you are receiving in Thailand would be paid at the end of your fist month in Thailand.

So assuming that you are going to clean yourself out moving to Thailand, it would appear you have a one month gap in payments.

If that is not the case, or you have no guarantee when/how much you are being paid in Thailand then either sort that out before leave your current employment, or rechedule your plans.

Leaving a debt in the UK to be financed from Thailand is do-able, but it's not a good idea unless you have a secure assured income.

The difficulty arrises that if things go sour in Thailand and you have a growing debt in the UK, then returning home becomes difficult, perhaps impossible.

With VERY FEW ECCEPTIONS, Thailand is a great place to spend money and a very bad place to try and make money.

A good idea might be to sit down with a friend or family member, pad of paper and pencil to hand, and work through your financial plan. Be brutely honest about what IS CONFIRMED income and what is EXPECTATION.

The biggest single mistake people make moving to Thailand is to be under capitalized.

From what you tell us, you have zero margin for error.

Edited November 16, 2006 by GuestHouse

[bendix]

There are no problems sending money over on a regular basis. I send a chunky sum to a bank account in Australia monthly; noone ever questions it. It's sent one day and is in my account the following morning. If you're asked for the reason for the transfer, just put 'family expenses'. I do this through Bangkok Bank.

[naka]

You need to make doubly sure that what you have been promised in Thailand

will eventuate. Even "Trusted Friends" can leave you in the

lurch when things turn sour !

I you were going to work for a large multinational then ok, otherwise mmmm

Naka.

[thaihome]

Have them deposit your paycheck into your UK bank account.

I get paid into my US account but still pay Thai income tax on it. They don't care where it goes as long as they can tax you.

TH

[poorfarang]

How much can you send from Thailand overseas without them asking questions? And how often?

[RationalEnquirer]

Thank you, for your words of advice, and caution (Guesthouse and Naka), it's much appreciated.

Guesthoust - Thanks for the words of warning. I am aware that I am taking a risk, possibly one of the biggest risks I have ever taken, but I do have a backup plan if things go wrong, so I am not worried about getting stranded in Thailand.

Since reading your reply I have managed to get a written contract in place, for when I move to as an attempt to minimize my risk. I will still be treading very carefully mind you. blind optimism has never been one of my character traits, in fact anyone who knows me would say - and this is not not necessarily a good thing - that I'm quite a pessimistic person!

The amount of money I need to transfer is only £160 a month so I'm not talking really large amounts here. so am I right in saying that £160 per month or £320 every 2 months would not be a problem?

P.S Thanks TH, I will certainly look into the viability of that, it could be an easy solution.

[kikker]

just give your mom a 2nd ATM card to your bank account and buy her some extra's when you fly back for X-mas each year for sorting out the s* for you..

easy easy

Thank you, for your words of advice, and caution (Guesthouse and Naka), it's much appreciated.

Guesthoust - Thanks for the words of warning. I am aware that I am taking a risk, possibly one of the biggest risks I have ever taken, but I do have a backup plan if things go wrong, so I am not worried about getting stranded in Thailand.

Since reading your reply I have managed to get a written contract in place, for when I move to as an attempt to minimize my risk. I will still be treading very carefully mind you. blind optimism has never been one of my character traits, in fact anyone who knows me would say - and this is not not necessarily a good thing - that I'm quite a pessimistic person!

The amount of money I need to transfer is only £160 a month so I'm not talking really large amounts here. so am I right in saying that £160 per month or £320 every 2 months would not be a problem?

P.S Thanks TH, I will certainly look into the viability of that, it could be an easy solution.

Edited November 23, 2006 by kikker