Request Moving Advice For American/thai Couple

[Foo Tao]

Hello,

I know that a lot of people ask for advice on moving to Thailand, but I would still like help on my particular situation. My Thai husband and I are currently living in the US, and we are considering moving back to Thailand. We lived in Bangkok for a year together about 3 years ago. We have gotten some advice from his family there and my family here, but we’re especially interested in hearing from international couples who have actually made the move.

We own a house here that we would need to sell, and we both work for a nonprofit, so we don’t have a lot of extra income. We were hoping to ship some furniture and personal items, but would also like some input on that.

My husband’s family lives in Bangkok, but we’re thinking about trying Chiang Mai. We visited there a couple of times and really liked the feel of it. We’re hoping to start a family soon and want to find a good place to raise kids. We are looking for a good combination of the easy lifestyle we have gotten used to in the US and the wonderful Thai culture.

I have an MA in Linguistics with a concentration in TEFL, and my husband is fluent in both English and Thai. I assume we could find jobs fairly easily, is this right?

With that background information, I would be interested in getting input on how much we should have saved up before we move, a good place to raise kids in Thailand, and any other comments people who have been in our situation would have.

Thanks in advance for your help!