LoongLee wrote:Dave,,,,,,,,,, others have covered the pros and cons so I don't need to go down that street. Even though I don't live in Thailand I have given your idea a lot of thought over the last 2 years.
IMHO, I have come to the conclusion that the best chance a farang would have at making a living in the Issan (or Thailand) area would be to have an internet based business, probably in an urban area with the best internet service available. If you provide a product , you would have to have international shipping (FEDEX, UPS, DHL) available. Maybe start a business where you are, get it running, and then move to Thailand and run it remotely via internet. The most obvious would be a writer (travel, food, etc) that you could do anywhere and submit via the internet to a publisher. Have payments made to an "offshore" account. Other possibilities may come from your other interests. Use the new world idea of working remotely from an actual "bricks and mortar" job location. good luck
Someone, that actually writes, and thinks beyond the falang retiree box.
Good post LoongLee, and a breath of fresh air.
A falang business in Thailand is absolutely possible. The only thing I can't agree with, is the (travel, food, etc) idea. I do think it's a good idea, but a person can do a lot more, and anything else will pay more elsewhere, than in Udon, unless a person wants to settle for English teacher type wages. My brother works a restaurant in the states making double more wages than the most experienced teacher here and is a senior at Stanford.
There are many Thais in Udon doing much better than most falangs here. Most falangs are cheap.
Many Thais just simply have a businesses on coastal sites, where materials are less expensive, and can be quickly shipped from port. They're the one's with the hot women, expensive cars, and big homes.
I will agree about Udon not being the place to do business. This town, is simply that, simple, and a farmers town. If you want to compete as a banana farmer, or beer farmer, then good luck.
If a falang wants to farm potatoes to rubber trees, they still have to compete against the Thais that have 100% say, regardless what the Thai wife or girlfriend tells them.
Aside from cement and brick manufacturing, anything else, steel and such is imported from the coastal cities, and cost twice as much if you know somebody, or 3 times and more if you know them as well, or don't, and then you must have a Thai partner, that will lie, all the time. Same as a bar wife. There are no factories here or raw material smelting plants.
Udon is a transit and agriculture town. It's small here, with few people, and very little cash flow. A lot is credit flow.
Only the falang niche endeavors, with a falang following, can sometimes persevere here, and that is by slim chance in most cases. If a falang business makes money in Udon, it's most likely by luck or simple chance. It's nothing more. This is Udon. Even the rich Thais come here to simply relax, and have a part time home, away from the big cities. They invest little here, if ever. Udon is cheap for living, not business.
and while not living on the breadline many, including me are close to it. As for a bar, as a Business its been proven to be barely tenable for Thai's, if you think this will support two of you, no way. 
