Work in BKK?

[Guest]

I really don't understand why a person in the age of 25-35 with a good job in the west would move to thailand in order to work there. If you live sober , safe a hell lot of money you will be able to live in thailand from your investments within a few years. And then find a part-time job as an English teacher or whatever. Result: a relax life with sufficient money.

At least that is my plan, (although I have to go to thailand on a holiday at least twice a year, in order to avoid a depression )

mischa.

[Guest]

rictic--

Your post has an excellent point. A lot of major multi-national companies (UPS included) have very tough "return" penalities if you "break" and return home.

For example, with few exceptions, all non North American UPS employee contracts are written for a period of sixty moths.. 5 years.. no less. If, for some non-qualified reason, you want to return, you've virtually put a stamp in your personnel file that reads "UNRELIABLE"

Being sent overseas with a major multi-national does have excellent benefits (pay, perks, etc.) but it also comes with, in many cases, some really tough restrictions. If you can successfully complete it, then great! If you're not sure, I'd do some real soul searching first.

I know more than a few fellow UPSer's who took overseas postings (in Brazil, Indonesia, Cairo and Osaka) and later requested a "early return"... well before the contracted time frame...

Now each of them are more or less relegated to being on the "slow" or "no" upward career ladder..

Just a thought.

--UPSer

[ February 10, 2002: Message edited by: UPSer ]

[Guest]

Lately, the trend of multi-nationals is shorter term assignments (less than 11 months).

The theory is, it is a short enough period that relocation of home, families is not required.

There are also some significant evidence to indicate a long term employee is more subject to corruptive influences of the host country. For example, expense padding/falsifying is 62% greater in foreign rather than domestic locations (1998 compilation by my last employer)

BTW: If a multinational has a branch/division in the country you want to live, some have sought employment or transfer as a local hire at the home country and handles their own relocation upon employment agreement.

Typically, local employment agreements are open ended, with a 6 month probation period before becoming a permanent employee. The interesting thing is that it is very difficult to fire a local employee, since labor laws are usually very tough and a very rigid set of circumstances have to be documented to get rid of someone.

For example, caught a driver in conspiracy with a gas station putting less gas and padding the bill. The Philippine Labor Department insisted the employee be re-instated with back pay, since he might have been influenced by the gas station, rather than his own greed.

[Guest]

The problem with short term contracts is that by the time the guy has found his way around the system in the foreign country it is time for him to leave, thereby you never have anyone that knows there way around the local system, unless you employ someone to show him the ropes in countery for his first 3-4 months which then means you need a full time employ that is going to babysit this person and his successors..

[ThaiHome]

Feel like I have to step in here in defense of the Multinational expats.

In my company, it is not unusual to be required to move fairly often, even if you are in US. Moving to a foreign assignment is considered a career enhancement, since only the "A" players are supposedly considered.

The problem we have found with the local expats (mainly found in Thailand and Philippines) is there is no company loyalty, a very meaningful concept with my company. Just 2 months ago, we had a local expat, very good at his job, that was asked to move to China, but refused, since he is tied to Thailand, not the company. He resigned and took a job with one of our competitors, taking with him a lot of inside knowledge of our company.

Local Expats are cheap, and often very skilled, but lack loyalty and cannot be trusted.

[Guest]

rictic--

From what I hear with my employer, that's the exactly the overseas contracts were changed back in 1990 from 36 months (3yrs) to sixty months (5yrs)..

I guess the got tired of getting someone "up and running" just to have them leave due to contract expiration.

 

THAIHOME--

My company is the same as well. If you successfully complete an overseas assignment and then want to return to the US (versus take another overseas post), you'll have such a strong "index rating" that you're pretty much a shoe-in for any job in your job area/ job class systemwide.

--UPSer

[ February 11, 2002: Message edited by: UPSer ]

[Guest]

UPSer

I did say short term contracts, ie the 11 month contracts that were spoken about by Philltravels.

 

Thaihome said

Local Expats are cheap, and often very skilled, but lack loyalty and cannot be trusted.

If you look at what I said earlier, one of my companies competitors tried to Head hunt me, I refused and gave my loyalty to the company that gave me my current break.

Loyalty and trust is a 2 way thing though

I know one guy from Singapore, his company was bought out, the new owners then offered him a Job in Thailand, he agreed to it, but had to sign a new contract with them, six months later they asked him to resign. No compensation, if he hadn't been so stupid as to sign a new contract he would have been entitled to 23 years severance pay.

[ThaiHome]

I did not mean to hijack this thread with a discussion about local expat vs. multinational.

The question was asked if there is anything else besides posting by a multinational or English teacher and I think there has been a good discussion on that.

All I can further say is when I go out on Saturday afternoon to have a few beers, it seems like half the people I talk to are unemployed local expats (engineers and sales) wondering how long they can last. Last week a collection was taken up to buy someone a ticket back to UK because the guy was broke and his visa was expiring.

It can be pretty sad.

[Long Gun]

quote:

---

Originally posted by kane:

YES, to anyone who has made a successfull move from the West to Thailand, I would love to hear your story. I am a 28 year old architect/photographer/artist/web/multi-media designer. IN short... a jack of all trades and master of none

---

One possibility which you might want to consider, given your age and versatility, is retraining as a 'proper' teacher and looking for work in the growing international school market, teaching other people how to do all that stuff. Decent salary and benefits, more respect from the locals than you would ever get back home, good resources, keen, talented students, finish work mid-afternoons and get 16 weeks paid holiday to fully enjoy the Kingdom and the rest of the region.

LG

[Bembaman]

There are generalisations, exagerations but then there's THAIHOME.

Whilst you may meet a lot of unemployed sales and engineering people whilst 'drinking' on a saturday afternoon (got nothing better to do in the afternoon or are you as bad as them?)I would describe them as simply unemployed. Most local expats I know (and I am one) are pretty good people who put up with a great deal of shit people from MNC's might not and are not expected or asked to. Ultimately, if i am pissed off I have a choice, eat shit or go home to almost certain lengthy unemployment and a huge career blip. It is not very easy these days to switch jobs as a local expat. Work permits are a damned site easier to get if you are from a MNC investing millions here than working for local companies as many local expats have to. I would love to work for a MNC here.

Has it occurred to you that the guy you cite as joining another company was simply looking after his own ass or perhaps he was offered a better deal. Perhaps however he truly was disloyal as you say. All that says is that he is a disloyal person per se and I cannot see what relevance his 'status' is. What about the vast number of people who come here with MNC's, fall in love with Thailand and then stay, marry a Thai girl and set up their own business etc. I suppose it is OK for them as they are 'fulfilling their dreams'. Are the ex VN Vets all disloyal to the US for staying in SE Asia after the war?

It is pretty offensive to a lot of people on this board to simply deem all local expats as not trustworthy. I personally am working for a local company that is struggling badly and I have not been paid for 3 months. I have a choice: walk out (justifiable as i am broke)and be deemed unreliable or disloyal and probably not desireable to the next employer. Alternatively, I can eat shit as stated before and try and tough it out and hope for a break.

However, I have got to say, if another company ofdfers me a job now, I am going to take it. What an asshole I am, how disloyal and untrustworthy! how selfish of me to put my partner's future first ahead of some company who would fire me whenever they wanted!

Get real. Some of you people in MNC's are blinded by your own company's bullshit and glossy brochures.