what does the future hold for falangs?

[Guest]

Perhaps something better discussed in the living in Thailand section, but you can get permanent residency status here. You need to work here for at least three years, have a decent salary (where you are paying taxes to the Thai government) and pass a written and spoken Thai language test, which, I was told, requires at least a third grade reading level. There is also a quota of no more than 100 per nationality.

 

I have had PR status for several years now. It allows you stay here permanently, but it does not allow you to work. Getting a work permit is entirely separate, which, of course, doesn't make any sense, but this is Thailand.

 

I was at an AMCHAM meeting once where someone asked the Director-General of the Immigration Department about this obvious disconnect, and he said he didn't know because he wasn't responsible for work permits - responsibility for work permits rest with the Labour Department. When a senior officer from the Labour Department spoke several months and was asked about the obvious disconnect in rules, this response was: "it's a policy decision", which, of course, explains nothing.

[chilli13]

good on you gadfly & the logic of those residency & work right policies seem to fit right in with the usual thai logic

 

actually it's not that unfair I guess e.g. the language requirements, which is common in many european countries also.

while permanent residency is 1 thing the initial temporary residence & work permit is what most struggle with & what partly keeps me at bay still overhere...

 

I as anyone just would like it to be easier to setup life in the country of our partner & heart simple as that.

[Guest]

I think development and pricing will eventually bring the house of cards down. There's ample precedent: Taiwan, Korea and Hong Kong once were known for the inexpensive women, after all.

 

To get a read on consumer prices in 10 or so years, check out Malaysia today. It's not an apples-apples comparison, but KL health-club costs are probably where BKK short-times will be in 5-10 years, sooner if the economy hits an 8-9 percent stride.

 

If you still want to ante up you'll have to do so with the knowledge that some other place (Philippines? Cambodia? Vietnam? Indonesia?) still has the costs that LOS USED to have and are remembered so fondly. In other words, you'll have to choose between the special charms of LOS and the lower cost elsewhere.

 

Could be that a similar situation is developing in Costa Rica, which could be a bellwether.

 

BTW, for a fascinating read, check out "The Dream at the End of the World : Paul Bowles and the Literary

Renegades in Tangiers" by Michelle Green. The factors that drew the people to Tangiers in the early 50s are uncannily similar to those with Thailand (especially Pattaya), and the progression of events is also eerily familiar. Government crackdowns in the mid-50s didn't chase everyone away right away, but with 5 or so more years of hindsight they had proved to be a turning point, and the party just wasn't the same.

[Nervous_Dog]

Ploughman , are you basedd here or a visitor?

 

I liked the literary referance,

 

DOG