All About Work and Jobs in Thailand

What about, "Work and jobs in Thailand?" This is probably one of the most asked questions I get about Thailand.

Well overseas jobs like working in Thailand can be a tricky subject. I would first ask what are you good at and what do you enjoy doing?

The most common jobs I found for foreigners in Thailand are:

Teaching

This could mean teaching English, Math or any other subject to grades 1 through 12, college level, or even teaching to private individuals or corporations, which can be a little more profitable than teaching to schools in some cases.

If this is the route you'd like to go, ajarn is the best way to start out. Teaching jobs can pay anywhere from 25,000 Thai Baht/month for entry level school positions to 70,000 Thai Baht/mo or or more for corporate or specialized teaching.

One of my friends who permanently lives in Bangkok actually teaches University of Las Vegas film classes over the internet to students in Las Vegas and gets paid his normal Western wages while living in Thailand.

The students in Las Vegas don't even know he's in Bangkok!

Modeling

I met many people modeling in Bangkok. If you think you got what it takes then give it a shot. A few of the major modeling companies I saw there were RED, JIM, Apple, and Elite.

These types of jobs pay anywhere from 15,000 Baht/month if your not getting selected very much to over 200,000 Baht/month or more if your getting selected all the time.

Real Estate or Business Sales

I have a friend who sells real estate for the Ritz Carlton and another who has his own real estate web site.

Yet another friend who works for Sun Belt Asia who actually sold all my Thai businesses for me before moving back to the U.S. This is sales so depending on how good you are then that's how much you'll make.

Web site graphics & design

computer repair and almost most anything computer related. This group of people were almost all freelancers.

The customers are not Thai people but Westerners or foreigners.

Hiring a Thai person is cheaper than hiring a Westerner but many times something has to be done where a client needs good communication with a Western born individual and the Western born computer expert probably has a better chance of getting the service done when & how the the client need it than a Thai person, mainly because they can relate better.

This type of work pays anywhere from 45,000 a month to no limit as some of these type of people have become very good at making a business out of it.

Some of the more business minded even out source some of their work to web sites like scriptlance. On the flip side you can even do jobs for web sites like Scriptlance.

In my opinion, the best and most profitable option in the computer realm would be to build web sites for yourself about something you know. A decent web site can easily make $1000 to $2000 usd a month, some of the better ones can make much more. I've built and kept and even sold many web sites for myself and others. It's also a good long term strategy. Plus you can get started on your web site before you leave to Thailand, that way you already have some income coming before you make the actual move.

The top four were the most common jobs I found but of course there are many others like, Stock Broker. Now to be fair a lot of these guys were based in Hong Kong or Singapore but it's a short flight from there.

I also saw quite a few day traders who lived in Thailand and seemed to be doing good.

The money you can make here is like real estate, it depends on how good you are.

I found some foreigners doing work on oil rigs and would spend their time off from the rigs living in Thailand. Most oilrig workers work one month on and one month off or something similar to that.

Thailand has a pretty big club and music scene so I met many good D.J.'s from all parts of the world.

Now Thailand jobs, as in working for a major company can be a little harder to find for a foreigner as most of these jobs are reserved for Thais.

But if you are a high level manager or have some kind of special skills set that your company needs in Thailand then look for those jobs abroad with-in your company and sign up for that position.

I met managers for Sony in Bangkok who came from Europe, I met specialized electrical engineers for the Thai power system from America. Journalist from South Africa...and so on. The trick here is to get your company to move you there.

You can find work for a Thai company but it's hard.

One of the best things I saw people doing was running their own business.

I love business and I think starting your own business in Thailand is one of the best options, it's what I did. The businesses section of this web site goes into greater detail.

Another great way to find jobs in Thailand is to network with people living in Thailand. People are very open and willing to talk with you about what they are doing. They will also let you know the word on the street about working and jobs in Thailand.

The cost of living in Thailand is something else to consider as well but I wouldn't think about too long about this as it's very cheap to live in Thailand compared to the most of the world.

Remember, getting your visa information and stamps beforehand can save you some time later, especially if it involves jobs in Thailand or working in Thailand.

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