Phuket gay life for an american

[Guest kcrandy]

I am from the USA.

I am thinking about coming to Thailand.

I am a 47 year old gay.

How is the gay life in Phuket? Many gays or not?

Is there alot of english spoken or not?

Do you know what type of jobs would be availbale for english speaking only? Are there english speaking jobs at super nice resorts?

What kind of salary would I expect?

What is the cost of living like?

Is money transferred into Thai banks guaranteed?

Do Thai banks pay good interest?

 

Thanks you so much,

Randy

[Guest laurence]

I am from the USA.

I am thinking about coming to Thailand.

 

Do Thai banks pay good interest?

 

Thanks you so much,

Randy

 

Randy, I think you have a lot of homework to do before coming to Thailand. Many of these forums have resources where you can search previous posts, etc to answer your questions.

 

But, no, Thai banks do not pay good interest if any interest at all. Some banks have foreign currency accounts which pay 3.5% .

 

Prospects for a job are nil.

[Guest kcrandy]

Randy, I think you have a lot of homework to do before coming to Thailand. Many of these forums have resources where you can search previous posts, etc to answer your questions.

 

But, no, Thai banks do not pay good interest if any interest at all. Some banks have foreign currency accounts which pay 3.5% .

 

Prospects for a job are nil.

 

Thanks for the info and advice.

I am not moving tomorrow. I will take my time and research it.

[Guest laurence]

Regarding guarantees on funds deposited in a Thai Bank, there was a recent posting on another forum, www.baht-stop.com which reported that there are no government guarantees on deposits as in US banks.

[Gaybutton]

Yes, Phuket has a major gay life. Just do a Google search for Gay Phuket and you'll see plenty of web sites about it. A good place to start is: http://www.beachpatong.com/gaypatong

 

You will not have a problem finding people who speak English. Phuket is a tourist city and just about everybody speaks at least a little bit of English and plenty of people speak English quite well.

 

Regarding a job, you have almost no chance. You cannot work in Thailand unless you are able to obtain a Thai work permit. I can't think of any job possibilities for you if you can't speak and/or read at least basic Thai. If you learn some Thai, you probably have a better chance of eventually finding a job at an international hospital then you would have at a resort. The resorts are going to hire Thais who speak English, not foreigners. International hospitals, however, often have a few foreigners on staff.

 

The Thai banks, depending on which one, do not pay any interest at all to accounts opened by foreigners, although I understand there are a few that pay a small interest. It's not enough to even consider unless you are banking huge amounts of money. I don't have any idea whether money transfers are guaranteed, but I can tell you that most foreigners living in Thailand have money transferred in on a regular basis and I have never met anyone who had any problems about it.

 

Cost of living is the most difficult question to answer. If you are coming to Thailand for a holiday, then I suggest having US $150 to $200 per day available if you want to stay in a good hotel, eat at good restaurants, and fully enjoy the gay life.

 

If you are coming to Thailand to live, then as a rule-of-thumb I would advise making sure you have a monthly income of a minimum of US $2000 and US $10,000 to start.

 

Since you are asking about jobs, then I am guessing you are considering coming to Thailand to live, and yet have never been to Thailand. I suggest first coming to Thailand for a holiday and stay as long as you can afford to stay. That way you will start to get an idea of what life can be like here. Then, if you think Thailand will be for you, I suggest planning a six month stay, saving your money until you have enough to do that, and leave yourself an escape route if you eventually decide living in Thailand is not going to work out for you.

 

If you are going to stay longer than thirty days, then you will need to get a tourist visa first. Also, you can find good furnished condos to rent, usually less than half the price of staying at a hotel. Most condos rent for a minimum of one month at a time.

 

As for learning to speak Thai, there are language schools and/or private lessons readily available.

[Guest pete1969]

I lived in Phuket for three months in 2006, and I loved it. I lived in the Paradise Complex (the gay neighborhood) at a gay hotel for 20,000 BT per month (included all utilities and daily maid service). I lived very well on 4K USD each month, but I tend to go out a lot, and I spend much more when I go out than the average expat in LOS. Without my entertainment expenses, I could have lived on half that and still had a nice life. Plus, I paid a goodly amount for housing, and it can be had much cheaper, even in expensive Phuket.

 

I worked for a company in the USA via the Internet and phone. It was a good situation for me, but most people don't have the luxury of importing their work from their home country. Your best bet for working in Thailand as a permanent resident is as an English teacher. To work for a resort, you would have to set that up beforehand, and mos of the expats I knew who worked at resorts were transfers from other properties.

 

I only speak English, and I had zero problems in Phuket with communication (a different story in the BF's town in Chiang Rai province where I couldn't communicate with anyone). I used Bank of America so did not use Thai banks (BOA has expensive fees and only allows one to withdraw $300 USD from the ATM each day which was at times a problem for me).

 

Patong Beach is a nice beach community but very touristy. I like the tourist areas as it gives one a never-ending group of people to meet. I also like the little gay village feel of Paradise. The Jung Ceylon mall is now open in Patong Beach, so I am sure that just adds to the amenities as one doesn't have to travel to Phuket Town for the Central Mall, the Lotus, and the movie theater. It is now all at your doorstep in Patong!

 

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

Pete