Information Please! Curious about your wonderful town.

[Uncle Sam]

Hi! Excellent job on the site to all that is responsible and keep up the work. I'm new at this and have been reading this forum for a good while now. This forum is very informative. Just wished I'd found the site before I went to Thailand back in July. What I was wondering is what is the population in Udon Thani and is there a Military Surplus Store there? Is there any restrictions on an American Citizen opening a business or working in Thailand? I'm nowhere near retirement so I have to work if my dreams of living in Thailand is to ever to come true. What are my chances as Thai speaking American? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Again good job on the site.. Keep up the good work.

[averagejoe]

uncle sam,

stumbled on this great website for awhile now and haven't posted much of anything. just like to what others have to say. i was in thailand and in udonthani back in July as well. we are in the same boat, i've always been fascniated with Thailand. for that reason i researched alot about job opportunities there. if you are interested in working there, for non-thai citizens all you need is a work permit. your employer can help issue that. teaching english is one of the popular choice of employment for non thai citizens. i met a few guys who own businesses there as well. but don't know much about how they got started. i'm planning on working and living in thailand for a few years in the near future. i'm in texas, glad to see a fellow american interested in working and living in thailand.

[averagejoe]

forgot to tell you, a great website to look for jobs (mostly teaching jobs) in thailand is www.ajorn.com
good luck!

[Bump]

Hi! Excellent job on the site to all that is responsible and keep up the work. I'm new at this and have been reading this forum for a good while now. This forum is very informative. Just wished I'd found the site before I went to Thailand back in July. What I was wondering is what is the population in Udon Thani and is there a Military Surplus Store there? Is there any restrictions on an American Citizen opening a business or working in Thailand? I'm nowhere near retirement so I have to work if my dreams of living in Thailand is to ever to come true. What are my chances as Thai speaking American? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Again good job on the site.. Keep up the good work.

Haven't seen a Militray surplus store here but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Lat I heard from a thia Udon has a poplulation of around 1 million, doesn't feel like it and not my numbers. There are tons' of restrictions for foriegners opening a buisness. A Thia must be 51% of the busines usually that is done through the wife, don't let her catch you with any of the little cuties after that. In addtion by law owner or n owner a a foriegner you pick up a pencil in that buines and you are required to have a work permit Maybe a completly different story if you are talikng about serious mone. I don't know.

Check out the teaching thread on the Thiavisa.com forum and what you will find out is getting a work permit is not an easy thing.

By the way I'm not a bitter expat, I have a retirement and I have it wired.

Two pieces of advice that were given to me three years ago, when I came here that so far have held true. If you can't lose it don't bring it to Thailand. If you want to make a little money in Thailand bring a fortune it will soon be a little.

If you have a bit of income that is safe coming from your home country, this is a great plce to be.

[businessman]

Uncle Sam,wellcome aboard.I'm afraid job prospects are not too good here in Isaan.The farang i know are either:

1)teachers
2)bar/kareoke owners
3)guesthouse/restaurant owners
4)rubber plantation owners

[arjay]

The website you referred to is: www.ajarn.com. Note an "a" not an "o".

My ten penneth/cents:-

You are making these things sound very easy, which they are not. Generally speaking the Thais don't want us working here. They just want our money.

To get a teaching job here, one first has to find a job and be suitably qualified, the latter can in itself be a "grey" issue. (Note the correct spelling of grey!)

The school then has to obtain a Teacher Licence for you, which can take months. Then if they can be bothered with the hassle and masses of paperwork and formalities required, they apply for the work permit.

Many schools don't bother, because it is so onerous and they dont understand everything required, which means you are working illegally on a Tourist visa. Also, the schools anticipate that once the novelty has worn off, you may leave, before they have even completed all the formalities.

If you get a job, you will be paid good money for Thais, but poor money for farangs. Maybe about 30K baht per month. The working hours will be long and the classrooms often without AC.

If its your forte and you are suited to it, you will enjoy it very much. I did it for 5 years, but not in Udon. I enjoyed actually teaching the students and the rapport very much, but eventually got fed up with the ever-lengthening working hours, inflexible working conditions, holidays etc.,not to mention driving in rush hour traffic. So I am happy to have retired now.

If you are thinking of starting a business over here, there are also many things to be wary of and you should use a lawyer to advise you. Be wary of anything in your girlfriend's name. So many things can and do go wrong with relationships over here, and as much as you may be sure she isn't the same as many others, take proper advice and PROTECT your self in all respects, and go very slowly.

I could write a book on what I have seen or heard about.

Here endeth my ten bahts worth.

Arjay

[valentine]

For me, Thailand has always been a great place to spend the money you get from your own country ie; pension etc. It goes much further here than it ever would at home. If your not 'lucky?' enough to be of pensionable age, work at home for 6 months then come here and live on it the rest of the year. Under no cicumstances try to make a living here, it just doesn't work, in my experience.
Six months in paradise is better than trying to make meagre wages strech for 12 months.

[arjay]

For me, Valentine sums it up perfectly.

If you want to Whoop it up, then Udon is not the place to be. Better to go to the over-commercialised places like Phuket or Pattaya, depending on your tastes. Carrying on working in your home country and take 3 or 6 month breaks over here.

But if you want to settle down in a quieter location, without all the tourist comercialisation and with a cheaper cost of living, where your money goes further, - and maybe you have found the right person, - then Udon is fine. And it has some nightlife.

To try and work here is difficult and many people lose money.

Arjay

[Uncle Sam]

Thank you All.... for all your advices and wisdoms. If anyone else has any more advices it would be greatly appreciated. For all you retirees "Congratulations" and those not yet retired hang in there. Udon will always be there when you reach retirement. From the looks of all the forums it's in good hands (very divesified group of folks). Thanks again

[admin]

Welcome to the forum Uncle Sam,

Good luck with finding work over here in Thailand on your next visit.

Some people are lucky in business while some are not so lucky, it's just the business world and the same everywhere you go. While it may be a little more difficult for a foreigner to succeed over here, some actually make a go of it, you just have to have the right idea. IMO don't go into the bar business unless you're really sure that's what you want to do.

Work visas are actually quite easy to get if you have a good lawyer and your own business, they will sort all the paper work out for you and you supply them with your information. There are several farang business owners in Udon that have work visas and all say that they were easy to obtain.

Good luck, It's not all bad news.

[Paul]

Agree: A work permit is easy to get providing you have all the correct documentation (hmmmm)

The hard thing, is to find work as an employee. Except for the teachers here I do not know of any foreigner who works here as an employee (A Thai works for peanuts and theres no complicated paperwork either)

Living here full time will soon give you a reality check !

[wansman]

I have a quick question about working in Thailand. I don't really want a JOB, but I have that dam wall that the wife want;s me to build in Dec/Jan. I also don't expect to be seen building it by anyone except the people in the village but then at the same time no one expects to be seen doing something that they shouldn't be doing. Jails everywhere are full of them.

Anyway, back to my question, do you think that it is supposed to be prohibited for me to build a wall around my farm? (well I paid for it even if it is in the TW's name)

[valentine]

As is usual in Thailand, it is difficult to get a definitive answer, but the consensus of informed opinion, thai authorities not farangs, is that you will obviously be employing some local labour to do the manual work and providing your involvement "appears" to be a purely supervisory and advisory role and you or your immediate family are the beneficiaries of the work, then you will not be in breach of the non working clause of your visa.
I myself employed tradesmen to build my house and acted as the site foreman every day for nearly a year, during which time many local digniteries paid courtesy calls(Being nosey) and I never had a moments problem. During holiday times , I even slept in the site hut, as a night watchman, to deter theft.
The final decision is yours though, immigration won't give you a straight answer and if you press them to, will say noway, to be on the safe side.
Ps. would you like wooly gloves or a hat?LOL

[businessman]

wansman as long as you don't upset anyone locally who knows farangs cannot do labouring you will be fine plus you are out of town so only the country folk will see.Their knowledge of immigration laws are non existent.

Marcus

[lee]

I can't see any problem with doing the work yourself, otherwise where would we draw the line? Mowing the lawn, washing the dishes, cooking, fixing a broken pipe etc etc could all be classed as working. If we went by the rules then we'd all sit around doing nothing and become very fat and lazy.

[wansman]

Thanks all, Although I plan to have some local help the wife has told me that she want to see me working also. I guess she just likes to sit in the shade and look at me. However, I will be out in the middle of nowhere and have a very good relationship with everyone in the village.

On a better note, Last night (here) when we were talking on the phone everyone started asking the exact date of my arrival. Whean knows but all she ever tells them is "soon". I ask if they need time to find her boyfriend someplace else to live. They all start laughing and she gets angry with me. Then I hear someone talking about working on the bathroom. I think before I arrive they are going to put in a shower head on the wall and a western toilet.

Also, we have a new addition to the family. Wheans younger sister and her husband had a baby boy (Ohm) a few days ago. Everyone was wishing for a girl but seem just as happy with a boy.

[businessman]

wansman,driving from Nong Khai to Udon the other day i noticed that someone has built a wall around a huge plot of land on the main road and has used preformed sections between the pillars.About five or six pieces make up the height of the wall.They look like concrete planks.I am certain i have read this is cheaper and way,way faster than all the bricks and mortar and rendering.If the property has access for a truck the sections are just lifted into place in seconds.
Preformed columns are also cheaper than DIY.A friend just got some big ones done for a large house at 200 Baht a metre.
The results may not be as beautiful,but in the middle of nowhere does it matter?

Marcus