Looking for a job in Thailand

[ChristianPFC]

Looking for a job in Thailand

 

If I understood correctly, a few members on these forums are working in Thailand. How did you get the job in Thailand?

 

I want to find work in Thailand as a chemist, in academia or better industry, preferrably synthetic organic chemistry or fragrance and flavor or research and development or industrial chemistry or analytical chemistry or process development or gas and petrol or chemical engineering or medicinal chemistry or specialty chemicals.

 

I have been looking for a job in Thailand on the following websites: www.jobbkk.com www.jobthai.com www.jobsdb.com . There is information on www.ajarn.com and www.thaivisa.com as well. Unfortunately, there is not much that fits my education and career goals. There are jobs in chemistry, but most require only a Bachelor, I have a PhD. There is a lot of chemical industry in Thailand, but the jobs offered are for technicians, managing, sales people, lower personnel, nothing that fits my education and career goals. And I assume that when the job offer is in Thai and good English is required, the job is aimed at Thai nationals even if this is not directly said. I didn’t even get replies on my inquiries if a work visa is offered for the job and what level of Thai is required.

 

They have strange age brackets: e.g. they are looking for 22-27 year olds, or not above 30 years old, or at least 35 years, in addition often male or female is required. All this is unheard of in Europe.

 

I could do other jobs as well, everything that is legal, preferrably with a work visa and full social insurance. As long as the job does not involve driving a car or motorcycle, singing or dancing or teaching English. (I’m not a native English speaker, I have no interest in teaching and my attitude towards students is: “How nice would university be if there were no students”). In general, I am not good in communicating with people, so I can’t take any job in sales, teaching or management. I would even do jobs that do not require a brain. But you can get others to do them much cheaper.

 

Mininum monthly net salary would be 60,000 Baht. I know I sell myself under value, but this is just to set foot in Thailand in a job that does not exactly fit my education as a lateral career move. And I can have the same standard of living in Thailand for 20,000 Baht less per month than in Europe. And going from a two two-week sex marathons per year to catch up for six months of forced celibacy in Europe to a normal sex life? Priceless.

 

Of course I can’t give this as a reason in job interviews for my desire to relocate to Thailand. The official version is that I like Thai culture and would like to make a contribution to deepen the Thai-German friendship and to increase mutual cultural understanding.

 

And the job should be CV-compatible. Should I ever get bored or fed up with Thailand, I want to be able to return to Europe without any disadvantage to my career.

 

My Thai is basic to intermediate. I can’t take a job that requires fluency in Thai. I think I can become fluent in Thai in a few years if I were living and working in Thailand.

 

Any suggestions or job offers?

[Guest]

Have you searched for German or Swiss companies operating in your sector in Thailand?

 

Perhaps starting off in Europe, with a declared interest in a move to Thailand could work.

[kokopelli]

I agree with z909, working for a European company with offices or affiliations in Thailand or neighboring countries would be ideal for someone with your language skills and educational background.

[Guest fountainhall]

Christian - I assume from your post that you have applied directly to companies here in Thailand. May I suggest that you change the format of your letter and resume - and then send them directly to the Executives in charge of Personnel/Human Resources at the Head Offices in Germany of those companies with branches here. Do this with every company. Do your research and make sure you write to an individual and address him by name. General "Dear Sir/Madam" letters almost always end up in the trash can. Say you realise there may be no jobs presently available, but that you hope you will be considered when one does arise.

 

And frankly, I would omit the parts about contributing to deepening Thai-German friendship and increasing mutual cultural understanding. Corporate executives consider that crap - unless you are working for a government agency.

 

I say this because in the case of major companies they are likely to pass your letters on to their counterparts in Thailand, almost certainly with a note along the lines, "This guy looks interesting" or "This guy has good qualifications and can speak decent Thai". With such a note from Head Office, the local branch here has to pay attention. Hopefully it will act on it. At the very least, your letter will be retained on file. There may be no jobs, but you will have got their attention as someone with excellent qualifications, excellent skills and who has shown a desire to work here.

 

When I worked in Japan, I did not actually apply for any job. I had joined a US-based company with a branch in Tokyo. Since I knew more about the country than most of their US and UK executives, I was asked to help set up and be part of a recruitment team to find a director for a Department, similar to the one I was at that time heading in Hong Kong. Even though we found a couple of good candidates, the senior executives had by then learned of the depth of my contacts and my interest in the country. And so I was surprised but delighted when they offered the job to me!

 

Somehow get yourself on their radar - and then make sure you stay on it!

[Rogie]

Language problems aside, what would concern me if I was working in any foreign country would be my relationship with my co-workers, my boss(es) and those outside the company I interracted with as a part of my job. I could make a rough guess that the more different the culture, social upbringing and 'open-ness' of the people, the more difficult it would be to advance (i.e. fair salary, equal opportunities, promoted on merit etc) your job on a level playing field. I cannot get out of my mind some of the stories we read about Thailand (as this is a Thai-centric Forum), Working with other Thais may be perfectly fine, but I would be very concerned about the competance and fairness of the higher-ups - the bosses. So, unless you were lucky enough to work for a company or other body entirely staffed with westerners, I would not be keen to do that. Hopefully my fears are ungrounded, I just raise them because in your shoes that's what I'd be thinking. FH has experience of working in Hong Kong and Japan and may cut away my reservations with a scythe.

[Guest fountainhall]

No, Khun Rogie, your reservations should certainly be expressed. But I believe Christian is much younger than both of us, and having spent quite a few visits in Thailand, I am sure he has weighed up the pros and cons. When I came to Asia, it was on a 2-year contract, and my view was always that if I didn't like the job, I'd do my best to enjoy what Asia could offer. I get the feeling that Christian has the same view.

[ChristianPFC]

Thanks for the advice.

 

And frankly, I would omit the parts about contributing to deepening Thai-German friendship and increasing mutual cultural understanding. Corporate executives consider that crap - unless you are working for a government agency.

 

That was one of my jokes - typical sociologist/politician/manager/... speak, things I as a scientist would never say!

 

But the problem remains: how do I justify my desire to go to Thailand without telling the truth and without lying? There is more to Thailand than sex, but everything else I can get elsewhere. (E.g. in Italy there is warm weather, food I like, interesting history and architecture, the language is easier to learn for a European, it's less developed than Germany, but there are no boys!)

[Rogie]

. . . in Italy there is warm weather, food I like, interesting history and architecture, the language is easier to learn for a European, it's less developed than Germany, but there are no boys!)

 

Check these guys out Christian!

 

http://www.dolcegabbana.com/dg/books/uomini/

 

http://www.dolcegabbana.com/dg/perfumes/the-one-sport/man/

 

The guy featured in the second of my links appeared on a full page advertisement in today's Telegraph newspaper. That's a traditional broadsheet size, 54 x 35 cm. Quite an impact!

[Guest fountainhall]

the problem remains: how do I justify my desire to go to Thailand without telling the truth and without lying?

 

If you are truly not prepared to tell a little lie or two about your real reason for wanting to live in Thailand, I think you'd better be prepared to be stuck in Europe! No-one is going to give you a job if you tell them your real motivation is to get laid by Thai guys every night

 

There was some useful advice on another forum. Don't restrict yourself to Thailand. China has lots of opportunities for foreigners with specific skills - and pays handsomely compared to Thailand. I have one friend who is a teacher in central China. He has a Chinese boyfriend who lives far away but flies to be with him every week-end, and they have an apartment in Bangkok - all on a teacher's salary! The tentacles of low cost airlines are expanding fast into many corners of the region, making travel to BKK very affordable.

 

And there are lots of Thai guys working around the region!

[ChristianPFC]

Check these guys out Christian!

You can have both, not my type.

 

Yes, I will look around Thailand, especially Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China. There must be jobs in industry that require my skills and are better paid than in Thailand (it seems in Thailand is mainly production and little research and development).

 

I cannot see myself teaching or working self-employed.

 

Japan is off my list, I have been working with a Spaniard who spent over a year in Japan and with a Japanese, and both agree: cold winters with insufficient heating in houses and at university, work really long hours, little holiday, the occasional earthquake or tsunami.

[Guest fountainhall]

Japan is off my list . . . cold winters with insufficient heating in houses and at university, work really long hours, little holiday, the occasional earthquake or tsunami.

 

Tsunamis are not that common in Japan, but earthquakes are - about one every six weeks or so. But you get used to these! (Taiwan is the same, by the way. It sits right on an earthquake zone). And yes, Japan is cold in winter and very hot and more humid than Thailand in summer. But many apartments have air conditioning/heating on timers so you come back home to a nice temperature. if you work for an overseas company, the chances are you will get an allowance for housing. On the other hand, the culture takes a lot of getting used to if you have not experienced in before. So, good idea not to consider it.

[Rogie]

Rogie, on 27 July 2012 - 12:05 AM, said: Check these guys out Christian!

 

You can have both, not my type.

 

That was one of my jokes -

 

. . .and one of mine.

[Guest]

Of course Italy will have big hairy Europeans, which is fine if you like that sort of thing, but not all of us do. So that wouldn't work for Christian or any of us who like Asians.

 

Japan is better than implied above. Certainly in the Tokyo region, the winters are shorter and warmer than those in say the UK or Germany. Even December can have some quite mild days when you could just wear a T-shirt. The summers are tolerable, particularly if you set the aircon temp to about 26 C in the room, so going outside is only a small temperature shock. The boys are very cute. Of course there is a minor earthquake risk -well actually, a very high earthquake frequency, but a low risk of you actually getting injured. Working hours are long.

[Guest thaiworthy]

Japan is off my list, I have been working with a Spaniard who spent over a year in Japan and with a Japanese, and both agree: cold winters with insufficient heating in houses and at university, work really long hours, little holiday, the occasional earthquake or tsunami.

 

Also, isn't Japan (or at least Tokyo?) prohibitively expensive?

 

Mininum monthly net salary would be 60,000 Baht.

 

If you settled for that, how would you afford any Thai boys?

[kokopelli]

Christian; I have a friend now in Thailand who fell in love with Asians at a young age and did everything to make his dream come true. At first he gravitated to the Taiwan, the Philippines and Hong Kong but now lives in Thailand and enjoys what you enjoy on a daily basis. All I can say is that he is an entrepreneur of sorts. If you don't try you will never succeed.

[Guest]

The strategy should always be to earn somewhat more than you plan to spend. Then if you suddenly want to do something different in a few years time, there should be some capital to help make things happen.

 

But the problem remains: how do I justify my desire to go to Thailand without telling the truth and without lying? There is more to Thailand than sex, but everything else I can get elsewhere.

I also consider honesty to be very important & avoid lying. However, it's perfectly OK to exercise your right to privacy and just not declare many of your personal objectives. After all, you never sign up to tell the "whole truth"in an interview.

Just think of all the things you like about Thailand & then select the ones which are appropriate for job applications. Who you sleep with is not the business of the interviewer.

What they need to know is can you do the job & are you the best candidate?