Moving to BKK with family

[kojis]

"I think you have to assess the reasons why you want to move. Are the reasons valid now or are you doing it to fulfill future ambitions ? Do you need to move, it sounds not. What family and friend network will your wife have in bangkok compared to Paris ? Who is the driving force behind the move ?"

 

 

some good questions to be asked here TN!

 

Just confused about antagonising "valid now" to " are you doing it to fulfill future ambitions "

 

If it's in harmony with longterm ambitions it should be considered valid now, wouldn't it?

 

You're right though I don't NEED to move at the moment and could prolly go on rather comfortably following the same routine based in Paris. And this is basically the winning feeling many times of the day, especially that we end up our fiscal year end of June and will have slighly more than doubled our sales over the former year - and improved our profits for almost as much, although last year was disappointing- and at 33 it's the first time I live so comfortably so moving again seems to require much more willpower.

 

For my wife it wouldn't hurt much her social circle as we're both newcomers in Paris and don't have that many friends there.

 

In BKK our professional scene is huge compared to the one in France and many important players are from chinese cantonese/chao zhou origins, same as my wife and she should do fine after picking up a bit of thai and some more english. Several people we deal with are still speaking chinese and she could go from there. she already hook up with business partners' wives when she came to Chantaburi so it should be at aleast as good as Paris in term of social circle.

 

So far she's pretty ambitious and OK with the move. I'm a bit afraid she softens with the kid but her mother is a very strong lady who brought up the family from rural misery to urban affluence( bunch of property, much cash, one daughter sent to France for studies...and younger family members likely to follow overseas, quite a improvement in 20years!) and hopefully the daughter will follow her mother's path. she actually sounds more motivated than I am sometimes.

 

 

 

"Sometimes you have to move forward to avoid slipping back because standing still is not an option. "

 

Sure.This is where motivation to move picks up , I can see my older colleagues in Paris and many seem to have softened up with the age, got a kid or a two, managed to buy an apartment or three, they work less, often complain about the business which logically is no longer growing yet they have a safe future and a life standard the large majority of the population would envy... nothing terrible but not quite a satisfactory horizon either...trying not to get trapped with the comfy furnitures and new baby...altough as a daily torture it's pretty sweet...

 

Who else here moved to Thailand for career purposes, and how did you feel about it?

 

 

[Nervous_Dog]

I have a family here, came here for work, but would love to move on to somewhere else. Bangkok sucks as a family destination compared to so many other cities in the region.

 

 

[ChristianTroy]

You know where you can find a guy with open arms and sweaty armpits that goes with you to the MCD Playground daily and helps you babysitting.

[Nervous_Dog]

I know a bloke like that, German, what else would you suspect!

[Nervous_Dog]

Thank goodness he doesn;t have a mate who has a clothes peg fetish is all I can say

[kojis]

@I have a family here, came here for work, but would love to move on to somewhere else.@

 

I'm afraid that's the feeling for many families. It wouldn't mean a life long move for us but sure can't say I' m overenthusiastic.

 

It seems I'll be preparing the move and aim our activity to Far East where it's a logical region to expand but we'll see if we settle there later on, definetely after we get a first taste of the baby in Paris.

 

PS: to be fair, for the last few days I've felt great in France and felt no mood to go anywhere else... but a couple of weeks ago in Shenzhen had such a blast I would have settled there immediately if given a decent oportunity although the city doesn't seem amazingly more atractive than BKK. Hence I guess that if business was going stronger in BKK and I didn't piss off the Missus too much we would be feeling great as well... a better base to later move to HKG or Shenzhen than Paris anyway...

[kojis]

@You know where you can find a guy with open arms and sweaty armpits that goes with you to the MCD Playground daily and helps you babysitting. @

 

I'm not quite sure what you mean here... what kind of joke it could be...I wouldn't want any sweaty guy anywhere near my family... I'd rather pay and get a good smelling female, preferably trimmed, to take care of the baby, which will prolly be the case anyway no matter where we live.

[Paillote]

The air pollution in Bangkok will certainly adversely affect the health of your family.

 

Very true. When I first settled in Bangkok I moved into a nice gated community with only villas and semi-detached houses. The biggest problem was the air, which although 3-400 meters away from traffic, made it possible to write your name on the garden furniture only days after cleaning. The other problem was opening the windows, which resulted in mosquitos flying in. Now I live on the top floor of a high rise, and the quality of the air is so much better. It is to high up for mosquitos and shitting pigeons as well. My advice is if you have to settle in central Bangkok, try to get an apartment as far as possible above the dust and pollution from the traffic at street level. You will get a nicer view as well... and a higher bill

 

Good luck,

Paillote

[shygye]

kojis,

 

What is your ultimate goal? Is it to make it big and retire to Paris?

 

Is there another path to expand your biz that would keep you based in Paris? Maybe through affiliates or partnerships? Will the changing biz regulations in Thailand impact your business?

[kojis]

Paillote,

 

totally agree with you about the apartment, that's exactly what we're planning to do rent if we do the move.

 

 

Shygye,

 

Where to retire is a bit too long term, but making it big is the main mid term motivation.

 

 

"Is there another path to expand your biz that would keep you based in Paris?"

 

Be sure I'm looking for a way...haven't quite found yet.

 

 

"Will the changing biz regulations in Thailand impact your business? "

 

So so...there will be ways... but sure will be more complicated to run as I'm definetely keeping the french office and attached company. Noticed that while many big players have several offices worldwide, the boss tends to stay in BKK. I'll likely need to spend a few years there. It looks like we'll keep as many options open as possible and I might move the family last minute if the thai company ever picks up. My family is hopeless when it comes to business and we'll possibly get more useful participation from my wife's side, so again the waves are taking us to the Far east.

 

Funny side note about expectations and Thailand that may concern a few posters...some of you may wonder if there's a future back in the West after spending a few years in Thailand that wouldn't really fit nicely in a work application letter...I left Thailand to set up a business in France with a few bucks more out of dire perspectives in Thailand rather than any mood to live again in Europe, planning to come back and work again from Thailand when I reach a financially sounder situation. 4 years later I've outreached my first goals and might NEED to come back to Thailand to grow bigger while I'd rather live in Paris... not easy to foresee where life will take one...