# immigrating to Thailand dont know where to start



## seri

My husband and i (newly weds) are considering immigrating to Thailand but we dont know where to start or if it would be a good move. We are from South Africa. Please can anyone please give us some advice or perhaps tell me how to go about applying for a job there or an agency who could help?


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## stednick

*Due Diligence*



seri said:


> My husband and i (newly weds) are considering immigrating to Thailand but we dont know where to start or if it would be a good move. We are from South Africa. Please can anyone please give us some advice or perhaps tell me how to go about applying for a job there or an agency who could help?


Seri:

This forum is a very good place to start. Spend some serious time reading threads and posts in this forum. 

The first question to answer is why Thailand. Jobs are scarce. Unless you have a unique skill and an employment contract with incentives, benefits and allowances, pay is low. 

Although you can live relatively cheaply in Thailand, your quality of life determines the actual cost-of-living. Many threads in this forum address "cost-of-living". Read, read, read. My personal experience was the standard of living I had become accustomed to in the USA cost slightly more in Bangkok Thailand. All metro areas tend to be pricey compared to the outlying suburbs. When I agreed to Bangkok I thought it would be considerably more economical than it was. 

If you do decide that Thailand is your "cup-of-tea" you need to find employment before you move. Talk to the local Thai Embassy near you. Review the Thai visa, work permit and employment requirements. Investigate the tax implications of both Thailand and foreign earned income tax to South Africa.

Most important is to do a great deal of investigation before you relocate to anywhere. Be forewarned. Once you have moved, and then decide you don't like it, going back can be a costly and problematic event. 

Read the thread "Moving to Thailand in 3 years", located on page 3 of this forum. Specifically read "Canamom"'s post for a horror story of what they found once they got here. Caveat emptor - let the buyer beware. You must complete your "due diligence" to avoid making a mistake.


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## Mweiga

seri said:


> My husband and i (newly weds) are considering immigrating to Thailand but we dont know where to start or if it would be a good move. We are from South Africa. Please can anyone please give us some advice or perhaps tell me how to go about applying for a job there or an agency who could help?


Having spent 30 years living and working in Africa - Kenya was home base , but spent a lot of time in RSA - what I'd advise as mandatory for your planning decision is at least a month's visit to Thailand to check it out , and as already advised , read past posts in this forum where your situation is discussed over and over. 

You'll find this place has most of the positive aspects of Africa like climate , colourful and unregulated lifestyle , etc , and none of the negatives which I won't go into as you know them already. Like most oriental societies , Thais are practical and self-sufficient with a strong work ethic and as a country it's well managed with a rapidly growing economy. However , culturally it's 180 degrees from Africa and this will be your biggest challenge.


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## mds6901

I would like to jump on this thread. I would like to move to Thailand too, but unfortunately, I do not know what companies to even look into regarding a job to work at. I am an IT guy, (Windows, UNIX, NetApp/EMC/SANs, Networks, etc) but I know there are dozens of "cheaper" foreigners as well as Thai locals that can do many, but not all the things I can do. 

So the question is, does anyone have any recommendations regarding what companies that do enterprise and high level IT work the may even occasionally hire expats. I'm not expecting to live like I do in the US and I have lived in 9 different countries as it is some high cost of living (Kuwait) and some low, with varying degrees of pay so I can adjust to most any situation. 

Any advice would be appreciate. Hopefully no one saying don't come here or there are no jobs. I just feel like if someone there is performing similar functions, a good list of companies will really let me know who to apply with and see if there is anything there for me. I will then let my resume do the talking as I'm very experienced. Again, I'm not looking to live like a King. I just Love the country and the people there. I have stayed for months at a time in the past between government contracts so I have a decent idea of how the cost of living goes. 

Thanks to anyone who would be willing to help...


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## stednick

mds6901 said:


> I would like to jump on this thread. I would like to move to Thailand too, but unfortunately, I do not know what companies to even look into regarding a job to work at. I am an IT guy, (Windows, UNIX, NetApp/EMC/SANs, Networks, etc) but I know there are dozens of "cheaper" foreigners as well as Thai locals that can do many, but not all the things I can do.
> 
> So the question is, does anyone have any recommendations regarding what companies that do enterprise and high level IT work the may even occasionally hire expats. I'm not expecting to live like I do in the US and I have lived in 9 different countries as it is some high cost of living (Kuwait) and some low, with varying degrees of pay so I can adjust to most any situation.
> 
> Any advice would be appreciate. Hopefully no one saying don't come here or there are no jobs. I just feel like if someone there is performing similar functions, a good list of companies will really let me know who to apply with and see if there is anything there for me. I will then let my resume do the talking as I'm very experienced. Again, I'm not looking to live like a King. I just Love the country and the people there. I have stayed for months at a time in the past between government contracts so I have a decent idea of how the cost of living goes.
> 
> Thanks to anyone who would be willing to help...


mds6901:

I do not personally know of the IT job market in Thailand.

I refer you to the thread "26 Year old moving to Thailand, would appreciate advice" located in the Basement Lounge section of this forum - specifically read the posts by pinkfloyd2310 concerning the IT job market(s) in Thailand. Perhaps you may want to contact him.

Good luck.


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## mds6901

stednick said:


> mds6901:
> 
> I do not personally know of the IT job market in Thailand.
> 
> I refer you to the thread "26 Year old moving to Thailand, would appreciate advice" located in the Basement Lounge section of this forum - specifically read the posts by pinkfloyd2310 concerning the IT job market(s) in Thailand. Perhaps you may want to contact him.
> 
> Good luck.



I appreciate the quick reply and I will check those posts. I am not really a IT generalist and have several specialties that are not common, but I didn't want to bore anyone with detailed IT jargon


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## Andrew Hicks

seri said:


> My husband and i (newly weds) are considering immigrating to Thailand but we dont know where to start or if it would be a good move. We are from South Africa. Please can anyone please give us some advice or perhaps tell me how to go about applying for a job there or an agency who could help?


The only real way to decide whether and how you should relocate to Thailand is to spend as much time as possible here as a visitor and you will discover some of the answers you need. Finding an adequate income is extremely difficult though.

Read as much as you can, even 'My Thai Girl and I' would fill you in on many of the experiences of living here, but only direct experience really counts.

The other advice is don't burn your boats.

Andrew


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## TomC

stednick said:


> Seri:
> 
> My personal experience was the standard of living I had become accustomed to in the USA cost slightly more in Bangkok Thailand. All metro areas tend to be pricey compared to the outlying suburbs.


Great info stednick. I've been working on this theory along the line of Big Mac index that food cost is related to fuel cost. Animal protein cost is roughly similar around the world because of fuel cost. Things that are cheaper in Thailand are stuff that related to cheap labor and lots of sunshine (fruits, rice and vegetables). People need to keep in mind that COA is low in Thailand (if you live like the locals) but so will their salary be if they could even get a job. Unless you have your own successful business, it's very hard making a living working for somebody. But that requires knowledge of the language and or a Thai partner. This is also when you can literally lose your shirt. lol


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## godfree

You could start by reading an e-book on Amazon, "Making Money in Thailand".
Originally written for expat retirees, it now covers 22 different employment types, along with visa info, etc. It's $2.99 I believe.


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## TomC

godfree said:


> You could start by reading an e-book on Amazon, "Making Money in Thailand".
> Originally written for expat retirees, it now covers 22 different employment types, along with visa info, etc. It's $2.99 I believe.


Yes, I saw that also on amazon and other moving to Thailand books. I can only assume that anyone who's interested in Thailand would pick those up. It's also a good way to make money for the authors. How to make money in Thailand? Become an expert in Thailand (or at least pretend to be) and write e-books. You never know how many you could sell. It could be in the thousands!


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## xtr3mx7

mds6901 said:


> I appreciate the quick reply and I will check those posts. I am not really a IT generalist and have several specialties that are not common, but I didn't want to bore anyone with detailed IT jargon


Even though you are much qualified with years of experiences, if you can't speak or understand Thai, you won't get considered by the IT Enterprises as most Thai "can't" speak/understand English very well.

The language barrier is your biggest disadvantage.

If you are a SAP/Oracle specialist, you can target the multi-nationals like Accenture, ATOS, Monroe Consulting, etc. But that a job still remain in balance.

Good luck 

Cheers.


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## godfree

seri said:


> My husband and i (newly weds) are considering immigrating to Thailand but we dont know where to start or if it would be a good move. We are from South Africa. Please can anyone please give us some advice or perhaps tell me how to go about applying for a job there or an agency who could help?


IT skills are generally weak here. If you'd like me to find an expat connection here who's already established, let me know by IM.


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## cooked

I know a few guys that work free lance in IT, translation, getting a job doesn't seem an easy option.


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## JustChris

Pretty much the only jobs available to non-Thais are teaching positions, medical doctors, international law consultants and some really high end stuff. You can start your own business but I think you need to invest between 1 to 3 million Baht to do so.


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