Situated, as it is, at the heart of the South East Asian region it is no
surprise that is home to
many expats. It is not only convenient geographically; it also has a modern
infrastructure making it a convenient place from which to do business. The ease
of living and the variety and beauty of places to live also mean that is also a
popular place to retire. It is a country where a modest pension can go a long
way.
For those wishing to make their home in the first
and most important hurdle to jump is that of visas. Although visiting as a
tourist is a simple process, negotiating the bureaucracy for a longer term stay
is more complicated. If you are employed in you will need
a work permit. This involves your employer providing proof that you are
genuinely employed. You then apply for a non immigrant visa, preferably from
your country of origin, which allows a stay of three months. During that time
you need to complete the process of getting a work permit at which point you
will be granted a one year renewable visa. For a retirement visa you need to be
over fifty years old and prove sufficient funds.
Once established in you will
need health insurance. Private health care is excellent and, compared to
western countries, is also very cheap. However cheap it is if you should be
unfortunate and need major medical the cost does mount up. There is not really
any need to be covered for outpatient care since the insurance payouts are
minimal and it is cheap in any case. BUPA BlueCross is an international company
that can take care of all this.
Opening a bank account in is very
simple. You do not necessarily need to show residency but it helps. The
Kasikorn Bank is the one that seems most foreigner friendly. You will be issued
with an ATM card that also functions as a debit card.
If you want to work in there are
opportunities but it can be complicated. The single biggest need in all of , given that
English is the global language of commerce, is for people who can teach. These
days you will need to be educated up to University standard and you will definitely
fair better if you also have a TESOL (Teaching English as a Second Language) or
TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) qualification that qualifies you
as a properly trained teacher. Apart from that there is work in the tourist
industry if you have skills in diving or the hospitality industry. Wages in are generally
fairly low if employed locally but then so is the cost of living. This works
both ways. Many people choose to work “remotely” for companies in their own
countries and with advances in technology and the reasonable living costs this
is an increasing trend.
When living in the expat
does have to get used to things that would generally not be an issue in . Although in
many ways very advanced, is also very
newly developed. One has to deal with a, sometimes, chaotic bureaucracy, a
legal system that lacks definition and a police force that is underpaid and
therefore unorthodox in methods of law enforcement. If you are asked for extra
curricular payments and you are guilty the most important thing is to remain
friendly and keep the costs down. In the main this will involve minor traffic
infringements and the standard ‘fee’ to walk away is about 200 baht. When it comes
to serious crimes, especially drugs, law enforcement in is punitive
to put it mildly.
One thing that every expat in learns
sooner or later is patience. Things don’t always happen as quickly as they
should and sometimes they don’t happen at all. To show anger and impatience,
however justified, will probably just make things worse. For the expat the
first phrase of Thai to be learned is ‘Mai Pen Rai’ or ‘never mind’.
Alex Smith maintains and manages the Cheap Thailand Travel website at http://www.cheapthaitravel.com |
