Top Ten hard truths of living as an expat in Thailand

[Banjo]

Top Ten hard truths of living as an expat in Thailand

There will be bumps along the way between your visits to the beach, bar and immigration office (sometimes the bumps will be at the beach, bar and immigration office). Expat life is what you make it here in the Land of Smiles. Moaning about it never helps but accepting the bumps is part of the adventure. Here are our Top Ten Hard Truths for expats in Thailand.

1. VISAS ARE A PAIN IN THE NECK

You have plenty of options but the options never quite fit into your line of work or expectations. But between the Non-B visa, Retirement visa, Education visa, Tourist visa, Elite visa and Smart visa, along with a few visa runs and trips to your local immigration office, you can usually fernangle a long-term stay in Thailand (yes, we know we used nick names for some of the visas). One way or the other you will need to keep your paperwork up to date as the fines for over-stays and visa problems can be quite aggressive and difficult to negotiate your way around these days. There’s plenty of good information on the net about visas but, despite what you read, interpretation may be different on the day you visit the local office and depending who you end up speaking too.

At the end of the day, ask yourself how difficult is it for Thai citizens to live in your country…

2. YOU CALL IT CORRUPTION. THEY CALL IT BUSINESS.

You are a guest in a foreign country. Thailand has a long history of independence and hasn’t been tainted with a lot of western influence. Unlike Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia. Philippines and India (just to list the countries around Thailand), there has never been western colonisation of the Kingdom. And most Thais will be delighted to remind you of this proud fact. The down-side is that your perception of western efficiencies and customs are going to be challenged whenever you want to do just about anything.

There will be times when you will be asked, or invited, to put your hand in your pocket to get something happening – it could be a building project, a visa, getting your accounting done or getting a signature on a contract. If you are running a business in Thailand you’ll be invited more often than if you’re just living the single life here. Be shocked, be angry, be determined to point out your isses with corruption – it’s not going to change a system that has been in place for generations and unlikely to change much during your time in the Kingdom.

Speaking of business…

3. THAIS LOVE PAPERWORK

Thais and Thai bureaucracy loves paperwork. You will be bewildered by the amount of paperwork generated for the most simple tasks. We’ve decided that there must be a huge building somewhere in Thailand that just holds mountains of paperwork that will never, ever be seen again. Despite computers, modern banking and the concept of the ‘paperless office’, you will see paperwork generated at the expense of perfectly good trees in quantities you can’t even start to imagine. How about 32 A4 pages of paperwork for changing one brake disc in a 12 year old Honda Jazz? Watch in wonder as the photostat machines and bubble-jet printers churn out paper you probably can’t even read and get placed into files that will likely never be read by anyone else.

4. BUSINESS IS A CHALLENGE

Despite a US NGO voting Thailand as one of the best places to start a business in Asia (try and hold back your laughter), starting a business in Thailand can be 1) challenging 2) an adventure 3) bewildering 4) perhaps impossible. Or all four at once. Free you mind of anything you’ve learned in the west about starting a business, jump onto Google and find a good local Admin. person or lawyer. Do it all yourself at your peril. Just because the Thai GF can pour a beer or ‘knows someone’ is no guarantee that things will go smoothly. Running a Thai business never ever goes the way you plan. Ever. Between your visas, business registration, Labour Office, Department of this and that, accountants and your Thai staff is a wall of red tape, twists, turns and WTFs that will test your resolve. The effort is usually all worth it but you’ve been warned! Dot your ‘i’s and cross your ’t’s and check everything thoroughly before you sign a document. And then do it again.

5. TWO-TIER PRICING

Go to a small local restaurant in any holiday area and there will likely be several versions of the menu – one for locals and one for tourists. Off course the menu for the tourists has the same food listed at higher. Go to any national park in Thailand and the entry price can be as much as 1000% higher for ‘farang’ and tourists. It’s just a fact of life much-debated, and you probably just need to accept it. If you do confront a two-tier pricing issue from time to time get out your Work Permit or local drivers licence and the higher price is usually waived. But not always.


thethaiger.com/lifestyle/top-ten-hard-truths-living-expat-thailand

[Banjo]

Just a reminder that it's Thai new year and the road toll is running at it's usual catastrophic rate, don't drive if you don't have to.

Road deaths, injuries up for first 2 days of Songkran

Breaking News April 13, 2018 16:30

By The Nation

In just the first two days of the Songkran holiday’ “seven-day dangerous period” from April 11-17, a total of 99 people have been killed in traffic accidents, with another 1,085 injured.

www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30343118

[nomadic]

they forgot the one that says falang will not be served before a local even if waiting much longer. this one irks me more than any other. road danger we all know and have to accept. immigration no problem to me also. lastly getting enough chilly in my meals as they can't understand that some of us falang are better than them at eating spicy food.

[latindancer]

The important thing for newcomers (and even some old hands) to remember is to always keep your cool, and never show your anger, even if you're fuming inside.
If you show your anger and start behaving or ranting childishly, Thais look down on you like dirt.

You have to keep to the moral high ground and politely explain that you didn't want such-and-such a thing (or whatecer it is that you are objecting about).
If you don't allow yourself to get wound up, it's surprising what you can get done.

The worst part is that some Thais will purposely try to provoke you, in order to make you lose face....then they win. You must spot what they are doing and NOT REACT.

There are some expats living in Thailand for years who seem to have not learn this.

[nomadic]

Spot on LD. And after 23 years i am better at it than i once was. Apart from road rage which i have no control over as i yell daily at them doing the most dangerous things ever to make them the road kill champions of the world. And yes i know i can leave any time i want and they don't care how many die but i still get livid when someone tries to kill me. I know they can't understand why i am yelling because nothing happened other than me nearly having a heart attack as the 12 year old driving a motor bike as fast as a jet misses me by an inch while running a red light on the wrong side of the road at night without any lights on and while texting. OK, a slight exaggeration as they are usually only talking rather than texting. And i guess it equals out as the entertainment value while having a beer on the side of the road just watching on always put a smile on my face.

[onemore]

Nomadic,

Much the same here in the Philippines, texting while driving a motor cycle, no lights on at night, on the wrong side of the road, cars doing a U turn in front of you and expecting you to stop to avoid the collision.
Every time I get back from town after doing the shopping I say to myself "Well, you survived that trip" .
The reason for all of the above is that they don't have to do any licence testing, just money over the counter.
My partner did all the study before she went for her licence, I told her not to worry just wear a short skirt, the policeman just said to her, "You look as though you can drive, come inside and we will do the paperwork".

[nomadic]

Yeah onemore they say Thailand only comes in third in the corruption stakes, always behind Philippines and Indonesia so I can only imagine how corrupt those two are. I also often say the same thing when i get home the last time during the day. Survived another one. But then again how many haven't survived Centrelink? that's even harder to do. And unlike the roads there is no luck involved.

[Deleted]

2017 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI 2017) highlights that the majority of countries are making little or no progress in ending corruption, while further analysis shows journalists and activists in corrupt countries risking their lives every day in an effort to speak out.

The index, which ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and businesspeople, uses a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean.

This year, the index found that more than two-thirds of countries score below 50, with an average score of 43.

Unfortunately, compared to recent years, this poor performance is nothing new.


Listed below, excerpted from the index report, herewith are the rankings of each Southeast Asian nations in CPI 2017:

World Rank.     Country       Score 2017      Score 2016
6                       Singapore             84                       84
32                        Brunei                 62                      58
62                      Malaysia               47                      49
91                    Timor Leste            38                      35
96                       Indonesia             37                      37
96                        Thailand              37                      35
107                      Vietnam              35                      33
111                     Philippines           34                     35
130                       Myanmar            30                     28
135.                          Laos                 29                    30
161                       Cambodia            21                    21

According to the report's regional analysis, these are the highlights and effective strategy that could help the index to improve next year which includes:

# Putting in place laws and institutions that will prevent corruption from happening in the first place. Legal frameworks and access to information are essential components of a healthy political system where citizens can play a role in demanding accountability and preventing corruption. Whistleblower protection mechanisms and autonomous, well-resourced anti-corruption agencies are also a must in the Asia Pacific region.

# Reducing impunity for the corrupt. Professional and independent justice systems are necessary where police and prosecutors can respond to technical criteria and not political power plays.

# Improving space for civil society to speak out. Governments should ensure that activists can speak freely throughout the region without fear of retaliation.

# Improving integrity and values. Schools and universities should educate youth about ethics and values. Corporations should promote business integrity in the private sector and make these ideas more mainstream.

Rather than focus solely on the scores, rankings and method, we, the Southeast Asians could do substantial changes in this regard.

Don't you think?

seasia.co/2018/02/22/southeast-asian-s-2017-corruption-perceptions-index-and-why-we-should-know

[ghostbuster]

In the Philippines when you take your motor or vehicle for a machinery check for registration"if the horn works it`s ok". This applies especially for Jeepenys.

[nomadic]

ha ha and i know that is no joke. I was once in India and the guy was tooting none stop for no reason. I told him that in Australia you would be arrested for doing that. He replied that in India you would be arrested for not doing it. Yes indeed the horn is far more important than the brakes in this part of the world. Thai's have a total aversion to using the brakes unless they want to get off the bike or out of the car.