Software engineer relocating to Thailand.

[Recon6483]

OK so my situation is a little unique and the post will be wordy, sorry for that.

 

I'm currently pursuing an online degree at Arizona state  university for software engineering and I have about 3 years left; benefits of an online degree include studying anywhere in the world. I'm actually in a long distance relationship with a girl in Thailand now and I really want to close the distance. Would it be a good idea to work remotely for a US company while living in Thailand? Is there any type of job I could do while finishing my degree in Thailand? I'd be happy with 10,000$ a year honestly, until I graduated. Any help is appreciated.

[tonray]

If you are a Native English speaker you can find work as a teacher.  Not an easy job and does not pay much about 12,000 per year for newbies but that's the game. But ask the long term question : how will you build a family and life.. Teaching here is not the answer 

[DrDave]

If your plan is to live in Thailand while completing your online degree, and then apply for a software engineering job with a US company while continuing to live in Thailand, I think you'll have a difficult time.

 

It is extremely unlikely that a US company would hire an engineer with no experience to work remotely and independently half way around the world. While some US software companies have offices in Bangkok, you would need to do a little research to see if they hire recent s/w engineering graduates with no experience. Some US companies hire new graduates ("freshers") to work in their development centers in Bangalore and Hyderabad, but that's India and this is Thailand.  Failing that, you might have a better chance working for a local Thailand-based company once you obtain your degree.

[remaxtony]

First things first.....as a foreigner, the first thing you will learn is that it can be challenging to stay in Thailand for 2 to 3 years while finishing your degree online.

 

The ease of a tourist visa is simple....but for 30 to 60 days or so.  You are NOT allowed to work in Thailand while on a student visa or tourist visa.  You must obtain a work permit under a different type of visa.  That is a whole other discussion on this forum.

 

Some people get 60 or 90 day tourist visas and keep getting more,,,,,but there are challenges and the govmt doesn't like to keep giving those out bec it becomes obvious that you are trying to live there and not a tourist.

 

If you get caught working without a work permit, you will pay a decent sized fine and/or be shown the door to leave.  Usually people pay the fine......but the police use extortion to avoid this process and its a mess.

 

Many many people try doing what you want to do....so there are tons of guys that will give you advice.  Bottom line is that it is doable.....but nothing in Thailand is easy.   Many small hurdles.

I lived there 3 years and did some ONLINE work......I had student visas,,,and,,,work visa for a while bec I did work there doing real estate......The visa is the biggest hurdle......other than preventing your girl from taking all of your money.

 

Good luck.

Edited May 4, 2017 by remaxtony

[yellowboat]

Think with your head and not with your heart.  Even if you marry your little princess, you will find living in Thailand challenging from a visa perspective and a work perspective.   You are also taking a risk by uprooting yourself to a place that is not easy to make a living and not being able to speak an Asian language.   

 

Your best bet is to live Vietnam.  They have a very active software industry where you can actually put to use what you are learning and gain experience.  There are ample, decent paying English teaching jobs for you to pay the bills.   There are cheap flights between the two places.  If things work out with your Thai love interest, great.  If not, you will find others and you will be able to work towards a future.  There is a certain advantage for you to take your misses out of Thailand as well. 

 

If you plan to stay in Asia, learn a viable language: Chinese, Bhasa Indonesian or Japanese.  Bhasa is the easiest.  Learn Thai for fun, as you will probably not find too much fulfilling work there.   It is not an innovative place. 

Edited May 4, 2017 by yellowboat

[JackThompson]

No problem doing your online-degree while here, working is something else (see below). 

 

Although many continue to live here most of the time (some for many years) on TR Visas, the pattern is, currently:

• Travel to nearby country for TR Visa (apply day 1, receive day 2).  Some suggest staying out a week or so is "better tolerated" by Immigration, but others who stay out a month at a time are still hassled, so ...
• Return to Thailand by a friendly border crossing - Airports and one particular land-crossing are unfriendly - more on this below.
• Show 20K Baht worth (can be USD) of Cash or Travelers Checks upon entry if questioned and answer questions like, "What do you do in Thailand," and "How do you support yourself in Thailand."  Failure to prove financial-support (the cash) or how you live here so much of the year Without Working Illegally is key, because those are the only 2 reasons ever used for rejection in these circumstances.
• Before the 60-days your TR visa offers expires, go to immigration and pay 1900 Baht for an extension of 30 days
• Rinse, repeat ever 90-days, rotating to use different nearby consulates, as each one will only issue 3 or 4 Tourist Visas in a passport - though this is a "made up" rule the consulates apply - not based on any law or police orders.
• Get a new passport after 2 years or so, to allow 'starting over' with the nearby consulates

If you can arrange a Multi-Entry Tourist Visa while in the USA (not available locally), you can get nearly 9 months of use from it, saving A Lot of trouble during that time.  See recent posts on this - proving money in the bank, etc.

 

One border-crossing and all airports (some more than others) may refuse-entry after you have stayed here a few times in close-succession.  The personnel doing this are violating their own laws and rules (there is no legal-limit on the use of TR Visas, if you don't work or overstay) , but what the head-honcho says might as well be the law.  They may falsify their reason for rejection to justify their actions - like saying you didn't have the required funds to enter when you did (it has been reported as happening).  Avoid These Locations and you will be fine - for now - but ...

 

You do need a backup-country "Plan B" if living here on Tourist Visas, because the rules could change at any time, and "all of a sudden" you could have no way to stay in Thailand. For a Plan "B" country - Note that US Citizens get 1-year TR Visas in Vietnam for $135,  a 1-year visa in Cambodia for ~$360/yr, and The Philippines is also approx that price-range, though it is a bit at a time, visiting their immigration-office for renewals.  If you are like me, you would rather live any of those places 10x more than the USA, (even in Latin America is better) - but This Is Subjective. 

 

Your next issue is working while here.  Work permits here are issued to individuals to work for a specific Thai company at a specified location.  If you do any work "In Thailand" without a work-visa, expect to be prosecuted.  As to offshore work, Thai law offers no legal visa which can be obtained to "work here" even if

• That work is carried out in another country on/for remote computers / customers.
• No Thais are being denied work as a result,
• The foreign-sourced income you earn is spent into the Thai economy - a net benefit for the country

We can speculate that, for this reason, this law has never been reported enforced under those circumstances - other than rare cases when combined with other serious charges (I recall 1 example being cited).  As evidence of near-zero enforcement - there are co-working spaces where foreigners do work for non-Thai companies out in the open, and no arrests or prosecutions have resulted; this has been ongoing for years.  That said, it Is Not Legal, so I think people who flaunt the law like this are asking for trouble.  Learn about "saving face" and think how that plays into this equation.  OTOH, those who keep quiet about what they do - pretty much zero risk working from your private-residence on a machine in the USA.

 

As to "working for a US Company" - unless you have a gig / experience, you would probably need to use "UpWork" or a similar service, paid low rates, to get started.  Low rates may be 3x an average Thai salary - but Thais don't have to finance visa-runs and extensions.  And you probably need Air-Conditioning to "exist" here - and they probably don't.

 

Many will tell you not to come.  I only wish I had come when younger, so I would advise the opposite.  That said, especially since your Thai gal was met online, you need to be very careful with your finances upon arrival.  Rule #1 - Do not invest or spend 1 dollar in Thailand you cannot afford to lose.  Much more could be said about this, but perhaps in another thread.

Edited May 4, 2017 by JackThompson

[JayBird]

Working as a teacher will eat up time that could be spent studying. So be careful there.

 

Obtaining a US based job while abroad may also prove to be very challenging,to the point where it could take years to find one.

 

Getting a job locally in IT is also very difficult due to labour restrictions and your lack of experience.

 

Expect a 90% chance of failure in obtaining an IT job while living in Thailand and plan accordingly.

 

Your chance of success will go up a lot of you had at least ten years experience.

[yellowboat]

1 hour ago, JackThompson said:

No problem doing your online-degree while here, working is something else (see below). 

 

Although many continue to live here most of the time (some for many years) on TR Visas, the pattern is, currently:

• Travel to nearby country for TR Visa (apply day 1, receive day 2).  Some suggest staying out a week or so is "better tolerated" by Immigration, but others who stay out a month at a time are still hassled, so ...
• Return to Thailand by a friendly border crossing - Airports and one particular land-crossing are unfriendly - more on this below.
• Show 20K Baht worth (can be USD) of Cash or Travelers Checks upon entry if questioned and answer questions like, "What do you do in Thailand," and "How do you support yourself in Thailand."  Failure to prove financial-support (the cash) or how you live here so much of the year Without Working Illegally is key, because those are the only 2 reasons ever used for rejection in these circumstances.
• Before the 60-days your TR visa offers expires, go to immigration and pay 1900 Baht for an extension of 30 days
• Rinse, repeat ever 90-days, rotating to use different nearby consulates, as each one will only issue 3 or 4 Tourist Visas in a passport - though this is a "made up" rule the consulates apply - not based on any law or police orders.
• Get a new passport after 2 years or so, to allow 'starting over' with the nearby consulates

If you can arrange a Multi-Entry Tourist Visa while in the USA (not available locally), you can get nearly 9 months of use from it, saving A Lot of trouble during that time.  See recent posts on this - proving money in the bank, etc.

 

One border-crossing and all airports (some more than others) may refuse-entry after you have stayed here a few times in close-succession.  The personnel doing this are violating their own laws and rules (there is no legal-limit on the use of TR Visas, if you don't work or overstay) , but what the head-honcho says might as well be the law.  They may falsify their reason for rejection to justify their actions - like saying you didn't have the required funds to enter when you did (it has been reported as happening).  Avoid These Locations and you will be fine - for now - but ...

 

You do need a backup-country "Plan B" if living here on Tourist Visas, because the rules could change at any time, and "all of a sudden" you could have no way to stay in Thailand. For a Plan "B" country - Note that US Citizens get 1-year TR Visas in Vietnam for $135,  a 1-year visa in Cambodia for ~$360/yr, and The Philippines is also approx that price-range, though it is a bit at a time, visiting their immigration-office for renewals.  If you are like me, you would rather live any of those places 10x more than the USA, (even in Latin America is better) - but This Is Subjective. 

 

Your next issue is working while here.  Work permits here are issued to individuals to work for a specific Thai company at a specified location.  If you do any work "In Thailand" without a work-visa, expect to be prosecuted.  As to offshore work, Thai law offers no legal visa which can be obtained to "work here" even if

• That work is carried out in another country on/for remote computers / customers.
• No Thais are being denied work as a result,
• The foreign-sourced income you earn is spent into the Thai economy - a net benefit for the country

We can speculate that, for this reason, this law has never been reported enforced under those circumstances - other than rare cases when combined with other serious charges (I recall 1 example being cited).  As evidence of near-zero enforcement - there are co-working spaces where foreigners do work for non-Thai companies out in the open, and no arrests or prosecutions have resulted; this has been ongoing for years.  That said, it Is Not Legal, so I think people who flaunt the law like this are asking for trouble.  Learn about "saving face" and think how that plays into this equation.  OTOH, those who keep quiet about what they do - pretty much zero risk working from your private-residence on a machine in the USA.

 

As to "working for a US Company" - unless you have a gig / experience, you would probably need to use "UpWork" or a similar service, paid low rates, to get started.  Low rates may be 3x an average Thai salary - but Thais don't have to finance visa-runs and extensions.  And you probably need Air-Conditioning to "exist" here - and they probably don't.

 

Many will tell you not to come.  I only wish I had come when younger, so I would advise the opposite.  That said, especially since your Thai gal was met online, you need to be very careful with your finances upon arrival.  Rule #1 - Do not invest or spend 1 dollar in Thailand you cannot afford to lose.  Much more could be said about this, but perhaps in another thread.

Or live in a place less than an hour's flight away that will actually suit your needs.

Edited May 4, 2017 by yellowboat

[JackThompson]

1 minute ago, yellowboat said:

Or live in a place less than an hour's flight away that will suit your needs.

If not for his love-interest, I would also recommend Vietnam as a base, given the current climate in Thailand.  Your advice on that sounds good - I have not lived there (yet), so cannot compare.  I do know I absolutely love Thailand - much better than Cambodia or The Philippines, though those are not bad, either. 

 

But since his feelings are involved, he will probably come to find out if she is "for real" or not, I reckon.  I was just "passing through" Thailand when I met my GF of 4+ years - never planned to stay, due to the visa-hassles.  But I "had to know" if she really was what she seemed to be (100x better than any GF I ever had in the West), so stayed to find out.  Maybe gals in Vietnam are similar - or not - I don't know - but he is started with one here, so will probably want to find out where that leads. 

What I provided is a short "how to" on staying here long enough to answer his gal-question.  But the gal-aspect of it - pros, cons, dangers, benefits - could have many pages more written.

[seancbk]

OP,

Send your resume to Agoda in Bangkok.  

They hire 100's of foreigners and you might be able to get a part time job with them while you study, with the end goal being a full time developer job after you graduate.

Currently 246 vacancies in Bangkok of which 120 are IT positions.

https://careersatagoda.com/vacancies/?searchphrase=&locations[]=city_bangkok-thailand

Best of luck!

Edited May 4, 2017 by seancbk