Is it better to apply for work in Thailand, or from home?
The answer to this one seems fairly obvious—surely any company would prefer to have their applicants in-country, ready and waiting to show up at the office to be looked over in-person before committing to employing them? And for many positions, that tends to be the case.
Unfortunately, it’s a little more complicated than that. Some companies and recruiters—particularly those offering higher-paid positions—prefer to cast the net a little wider and seek applicants abroad. A few point-blank refuse to even consider an applicant already based in Thailand. For many others, it’s not much of an issue either way, particularly in these days of online portfolios and Skype.
In his Thailand Starter Kit article “An Expat’s Guide to Finding Work in Thailand,” Patrick Limcaco considers a salary of 80,000 baht to be a reasonable cutoff point, with those offering positions that pay above generally seeking to hire outside of Thailand, and those offering positions that pay below preferring to advertise locally. 3
Another clear indicator of whether or not the applicant is seeking someone locally-based or not is where they advertise. Jobs advertised on sites like LinkedIn and JobsDB, which are generally aimed at an international audience, are almost certainly more likely to accept applications from abroad unless otherwise specified.
These differing attitudes can even apply to jobs within the same field—for example, in education, private and government schools and language centers almost always prefer to hire locally, whereas international schools are far more inclined to advertise abroad and at international job fairs.
In short, it’s best to consider what position you’re applying for first and to do the research beforehand.
Do I need to speak Thai?
Obviously a knowledge of Thai will be extremely helpful in day-to-day life, but it seems that it’s not a prerequisite for the vast majority of jobs available. It’s likely that if a company is seeking non-Thai staff then you’ll be working in a multicultural office environment in which the main language of communication will be English. A few employers in some fields like ESL are even insistent that their staff do not learn Thai, so as better to increase immersion in the classroom (although knowing a few key phrases in the local language—especially with younger or weaker students—can be extremely useful).
In his Thailand Starter Kit article, Patrick Limcaco points out that in a handful of cases foreigners with high Thai language skills could be an asset. Quoting Tom Sorensen, a partner at Grant Thornton, he states that “Foreigners who can communicate in Thai at business level will always find it easier. But note that I say business level—your Thai must be good enough to conduct business or staff meetings in Thai.”
So no, you do not need to speak Thai. However, if you’re willing to put the time in to develop your language skills, it could prove to be a valuable asset in your career development, particularly if you’re set on working in Thailand over the long haul.
Does it make a difference what nationality I am?
Unfortunately, yes it does.
International diplomacy being what it is, some passports carry more heft than others. What this translates to in real terms is that hiring the citizens of some countries requires significantly less paperwork or restrictions than others, which gives them a slight edge when it comes to considering which candidates to hire.
Patrick Limcaco gives the example of the Philippines, which restricts the number of Filipinos a foreign company can hire. Once the quota has been met, the company must then deal with some tedious and time-consuming bureaucracy in order to hire more, which will obviously affect their willingness to hire more Filipino staff than is necessary.
Certain fields also tend to prefer certain nationalities. Limcaco points to education and marketing as fields in which a Western passport carries more clout. Citizens of fellow Asian nations, on the other hand, have the edge when it comes to positions in hospitality and customer service and reception work.
Do I need to have worked in Thailand before?
No, but it certainly helps. Holding proof that you’re already familiar with the country and its customs will always be an extra string in your bow when it comes to your job application. Tom Sorensen, quoted by Limcaco, goes even further—“If a candidate has no work experience from Thailand, it is 99.9% sure that no [headhunting] client here will want to hire such a candidate. It is not enough that you have visited Thailand as a tourist and love the people and country.”
However, for first-timers in the country, not all hope is lost. Travis Byrd, a recruiter at Agoda, believes that the skills and experience you offer are much more important. Again quoted by Limcaco, he states that “Applicants from abroad definitely have a good chance at finding work in Thailand, assuming they bring the skills and mindset that the company in question is really looking for.”
Do I need to have worked abroad before?
Again, it isn’t 100% essential all of the time, but being able to show that you’re capable of sticking it out for the long-term in a radically different culture will definitely give you the edge during the application process.
The fact is, not everyone copes well outside of their comfort sphere. Limcaco quotes one recruiter who claims that an enormous 25% of applicants brought to work in Thailand quit within the first three to six months.
Any credible experience—a sabbatical, a few months spent volunteering, even a three- or four-month backpacking trip—can help reassure an employer that you won’t up and run at the first sight of a bowl of noodles.
Do I need to know all that cultural stuff I read about in the Lonely Planet?
Absolutely yes, and then some.
If you’re even a little bit familiar with Thailand, you’re probably familiar with the oft-repeated cultural tropes that every traveller to the Kingdom is greeted with—don’t point at things with your feet, don’t touch people on the head, don’t believe the tuk-tuk driver when he claims he can offer you a tailor-made suit for fifty cents. If you’ve spent some time traveling here, you may even believe that you’re pretty clued-up on this whole cultural lark.
Well, you’re wrong. Working in Thailand, where you have status and a position in a local hierarchy (even if that position is novelty caucasian), requires a whole new attitude compared to blundering around from temple to temple trying not to show the soles of your feet to anyone. This goes double if you’re taking on a managerial position with Thai staff under you.
Used to being the big, pushy boss who gets results by screaming and bellowing at his staff? Good luck adjusting to an office environment in which everyone considers you a raving lunatic who can’t control his emotions. Proud of being assertive in meetings and offering plenty of constructive criticism to the boss’s more out-there ideas? Congratulations, you’ve committed another cultural faux pas—it simply isn’t done here to criticize a senior in front of their underlings, for fear of causing severe loss of face.
Thankfully, there is plenty of information out there that can help you navigate the cross-cultural minefield. A few good books to start with include Culture Shock! Thailand (Robert Cooper, Marshall Cavendish, 2012) and The Way Thais Lead: Face as Social Capital (Larry S. Persons, Silkworm Books 2016). There are also several Thailand Starter Kit articles offering insight into this subject, including “A Cross Cultural Management Guide to Thailand” and “How to Hire and Manage a Team of Rock Star Thai Employees,” both written by Karsten Aichholz. Later on in this chapter, we’ll deal with some of the larger cultural issues you may face in your first few months working on the job, too.
Of course, doing the research is no substitute for experience, and it won’t protect you from the occasional unintended faux pas. However, Thais are on the whole a forgiving lot, and they will bear your foreignness in mind if you do make the occasional slip-up.
Are there any must-have qualifications I need?
It largely depends on the field you’re planning on working in. However, a college degree is usually a safe bet for the majority of positions. Holding a degree makes the process of acquiring a work permit much smoother (and for many positions, such as teaching at a school, is essential).
Degrees in certain subjects will certainly give you an edge in seeking gainful employment. STEM subjects are always in demand, as are business degrees from recognized institutions. A degree in linguistics or English puts you in a good position for getting an ESL job at some of the better schools.
However, those without college degrees need not despair. NGOs, media companies, technology companies, and even a few schools (particularly language schools) are willing to forego the requirement of a college degree, provided the applicant is skilled enough to do the job.
How much money do I need to get started?
If you’re planning on seeking work in Thailand on your lonesome, without the benefits of a generous expat package behind you, you’ll need to budget for the first couple of months in the country, particularly if you don’t have a position already lined up for you.
First, the obvious things—airfare and accommodation. You should already have a rough idea of how much air fare will cost. Accommodation is a little trickier. Many newcomers are content to stay at a hotel or guest house for the first few months while they get settled in, particularly the cheap hostels in the Khao San/Samsen Road area, where there are a lot of fellow expats to make the process of adapting to a new culture a little easier. Monthly rent on guest house rooms are fairly cheap, and can be as low as 3,000 baht per month. For those seeking somewhere a little more comfortable (yet pricier), Airbnb has a number of condos and larger apartments available for month-by-month rent, usually beginning at 10,000 baht per month and rocketing up to over 100,000 baht per month.
It’s advisable not to start looking at apartments or condominiums until you’ve got the job you wanted. Many prefer to deal over the long term (e.g a 12-month lease) and often ask for a hefty deposit before handing over the keys (usually two months of rent plus the first month of rent up-front—so for a one bedroom condo at 12,000 baht per month, you’d be handing over 36,000 baht). The last thing you want is to be stuck in a condo miles away from your new place of work, caught between either sacrificing your deposit or commuting for hours every day.
For the daily cost of living, there is an enormous amount of data available online. The best first-stop source for number crunching is Numbeo, which aggregates data from a huge number of sources to give a fairly accurate breakdown of how much you can expect to spend on anything from a meal at McDonalds to a Volkswagen Golf. More info on Numbeo can be found on https://www.thailandstarterkit.com/tools-work. For more personal breakdowns, there’s the Thailand Starter Kit article “Cost of Living in Bangkok: How I Spend 80,658.52 Baht a Month” by Karsten Aichholz.