Working Visas, what's the go?

jingjai wrote:

I don't understand why all you young guys are so eager to move, live, and work, in Thailand, during the best years (IMO) of your life?

Lol. Classic. How many young(er) guys get on the plane in Bangkok with tears in their eyes?

He wants the woman to go live with him in Oz, but she (family) said no.
He's considering alternative arrangements.
Sounds logical to me. Maybe he'll determine it's not worth the sacrifice.
Maybe he'll make the leap. Personally, I wouldn't come to live in Thailand if I had to work.
That's a decision he'll have to make for himself.
I applaud his effort to seek answers. His delivery needs some work though...

He wants the woman to go live with him in Oz, but she (family) said no.

I didn't read that anywhere in his post? But...whatever.
I guess he is doomed to spend the rest of his working life...in immigration hell.
Or he can give his GF's family an ultimatum.
One of the best bits of advice I was ever given here in Thailand was: "sometimes you just gotta show 'em your back and start walking out the door". You'd be surprised at how quickly they cave.
I know, I'm just a mean old fart .

jingjai wrote:

I have to be brutally honest here. If I had my way I would never live in Thailand, for so many reasons, although there are many things about Thailand that I really love-my hierarchy of needs is food, beer, sex, and Thailand fulfills those needs, however my lifestyle is not compatible with being treated like a second class person. That having been said, if I stay with my GF, I will have no option but to see out my final years in Thailand

petemcc, from your previous posts...you sound like a fairly young man? Correct me if I'm wrong.
If you still have x-amount of working years left...?
Why don't you legally marry your GF, get her a visa to Australia or wherever you are from, and finish out your working years, making Western wages with all their benefits and pensions, and then retire here, like the majority of us have done?
I don't understand why all you young guys are so eager to move to, live, and work, in Thailand, during the best years (IMO) of your life?
Of course, all of this is only my opinion. However, my opinion is based on 11 years of living in Thailand.

Im 39 and will be moving to Thailand in December. The very reason I want to move to Thailand is because i am in the very best years of my life! Maybe things were different when you were working but now everybody is stressed out, working enviorements are difficult at best and everyone is under pressure with mortgages etc etc etc. Ive been to Thailand about 20 time and lived there for 6 months. Even though the vast majority of Thai people dont have much they seem a much happier race of people than farangs to me! Now lt me compare......having 9 months of winter and 3 months of a rainy summer with white women that are up there own backsides or living in paradise with ladies that are beautiful and make excellent wives for the most part....hmm let me see.........

Good luck DermotC.
If you are moving here as working packaged ex-pat, IE: working for a Western Company, making Western wages, with housing allowance, car & driver, etc...great. I've know plenty of these guys, and I envy them, most of them have cushy jobs and lifestyles.
Perhaps, DermotC, you are independently wealthy already?

You are correct, when I was in my 20's, 30's, and 40's, mid 1960's to the 90's, things were simpler, and life was a lot more fun in the West, than what you described.
Once again, chok dee khup.

Cheers Jingjai!

Unfortunatly I wont have those conditions to look forward to however what i will have to look forward to my stress levels being cut by about 50%! This to me I couldnt put a price on. I have an extreamly stressful Job and in the last 4 years Ive aged about 20! Eh sorry to say this but my Mum tells me things were much easier back then also. Ok she didnt have as much as we do nowadays but she said people were much happier.

Society in the West, for sure has changed with everyone chasing the Euro, pound or dollar with little regard for other people and in most cases even themselves! I rekon Im adding at least 10 years to my lifespan by moving to Udon. SO i wont have things that I would have had in Ireland like a lovely car and beautiful home in a great area but what i will have is time to spend with my family which I worked out is what i want from my life. My brother had a heart attack when he was 41, thats 2 years older than I am now. This is the way Im heading if I stay here.

Times have definately Changed Jingjai in the west and for me, not for the better....

Good post Dermot.

Im 39 and will be moving to Thailand in December.

Best to have a secured job or a pension.
Otherwise get additional pages in your passport before you come. You'll need them.

(I should start a shuttle business)

I agree with you Dermot -- many farangs on this board don't see the changes in the west.

They remember it how it was.

HEHEHEHEHEH

Yes I got a 60 page passport before my trip to Udon last month. Ive been thinking about it for a while but wanted to see how things went with the tgf. Things are good thank God.

Cheers for the advice Textpat

SO i wont have things that I would have had in Ireland like a lovely car and beautiful home in a great area but what i will have is time to spend with my family which I worked out is what i want from my life.

I can relate to that. I lived and worked in Hawaii for 30 years, I could have made more money and had a more materially opulent lifestyle had I chosen to live and work on the mainland. I chose Hawaii because it made me happy.
The only advice I can give you DermotC...plan monetarily for your future. Time passes quickly. I'm 62, and I can remember my 40th B'day like it was yesterday. I can also remember every little detail about the girl I was with that night .

hahahahahh,

Excellent reply and yes it seems like only yesterday I was packing my bags to go and live in New York, that was 18 years ago! Time does go by really quickly!

When im 60 I can sell my home in Ireland. It will be worth alot of money by then and I can retire easily. Its getting from 39 to 60 is the problem! But i have a few Ideas. As i told my mate last night, if I never did it or at least tried I would always regret it and I dont want to have that on my mind. I try to life my life having no 'What If's'. Sometimes things work out sometimes they dont, thats the great journey we are on thats called life!

Cheers again Jingjai you are a good man!

Even though the vast majority of Thai people dont have much they seem a much happier race of people than farangs to me!

I said those exact words five years ago before coming here.

I still believe them to be true.

I struggle every day to be as happy with my lot in life as most around me are with theirs.

When im 60 I can sell my home in Ireland. It will be worth alot of money by then

Opps, the dreamer falls off a cliff. I lived in 1990s Japan when they said the same.
I moved to 2005 Los Angeles where they said the same.

Diversify....

Texpat,

The Irish 'Celtic Tiger' if you heard of it began in about 1995 and ended abruptly in 2008. Its the only time in the history of my country that we had any money! The boom was completely driven by the housing market. Ireland has been hit worse than most European countries becasue of government mismanagement during the boom years and the housing market has already crashed by as much as 50% in some place. Dublin Suburbs has what we are calling 'Ghost Estates' all over it. These are housing estates that were built just before the crash then couldnt be sold. My place has fallen about 12% in value from when i purchased so at the moment I am in Negative equity. However my Mortgage will be paid off when im 60 and I would have expected the economy to have recovered somewhat by then. Even if I only get what I paid for it it will still be well enough to retire in Thailand and live out my days without worrying where the next buck is coming from. My home will be rented out and this will cover the mortgage, barely while Im away. Believe me Ive given things alot of thought.

Thanks for the advice texpat, much appreciated but as you can see Im already in the middle of a housing price crash and I dont think we have hot bottom yet!

my Mortgage will be paid off when im 60 and I would have expected the economy to have recovered somewhat by then. Even if I only get what I paid for it it will still be well enough to retire in Thailand

Many, many people around the world expected the same.
They were shattered. While I admire your enthusiasm, I question your logic.
Look at how many regular people lose millions in a single year.
Their dreams are gone.

Diversify.... On digg

Point taken

jingjai wrote:

I have to be brutally honest here. If I had my way I would never live in Thailand, for so many reasons, although there are many things about Thailand that I really love-my hierarchy of needs is food, beer, sex, and Thailand fulfills those needs, however my lifestyle is not compatible with being treated like a second class person. That having been said, if I stay with my GF, I will have no option but to see out my final years in Thailand

petemcc, from your previous posts...you sound like a fairly young man? Correct me if I'm wrong.
If you still have x-amount of working years left...?
Why don't you legally marry your GF, get her a visa to Australia or wherever you are from, and finish out your working years, making Western wages with all their benefits and pensions, and then retire here, like the majority of us have done?
I don't understand why all you young guys are so eager to move to, live, and work, in Thailand, during the best years (IMO) of your life?
Of course, all of this is only my opinion. However, my opinion is based on 11 years of living in Thailand.

Jingjai, that is exactly what I want to do. I am 46, not young, but with plenty of years of work left in me. If she can get a job as a nurse here we will be more than comfortable and the boy can get a better education. The problem, as someone has quoted later on is the family. She wants to try to live here and indeed even said last night her family is more important, but qualified 'family' as her, me and her son! I am pretty sure she will live here but it is the length of time. 10 years would be the minimum optimum, but persuading her past more than 5 may be difficult, but like I told her with 35 days leave a year plus days off and tricks, she could go home 3 times a year and if I could get mum across on a holiday I think it would do the trick. However I like to explore my various options and keep them all open.
Cheers.