Anti-foreigner sentiment runs high

[Guest]

Since it appears to be safe to go back into the water now that Khun Sanuk has reigned in some of the more off the wall, and rather personal, comments and attacks that were flying around, I will respond to the interesting point raised about the local labour market.

 

 

 

In reply to:

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Competence is to be found in the local labour market, so why pay more for someone who has disadvantages when it comes to culture and language?

 

 

 

The farangs who will be left are some key personell with foreign companies and some with a competence which is not easily found. The market is bound to fade out when it comes to English teachers also.

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I have to disagree for several reasons. In my area at least (banking), it is very difficult to find qualified people for more senior positions. If we can find someone as qualified, or even almost as qualified as a Thai national, we always hire a Thai. Why would we do otherwise?

 

 

 

Bringing in an ex-pat involves considerable expense, risk and administrative inconvenience. A farang might decide he really doesn?t like Thailand after a year or so, and leave. (I know some of you here might find this surprising, but this is our biggest fear and problem when we hire ex-pats.) A farang will not know the local culture as well as a Thai and, of course, will not speak Thai. He will also require a work permit and often other approvals. In short, it doesn?t make economic sense to hire a farang if there is a Thai national who can do the job or even almost do the job.

 

 

 

Why then would we hire ex-pats? There is only one reason: we cannot find someone locally who is sufficiently qualified. It is that simple. We would quickly go out of business if we hired more expensive ex-pats to do jobs that locals can do. It is simple economics.

 

 

 

There are more qualified Thais than before, but the problem is that, with a globalized economy, the demand for skilled workers is even higher. The language of business is English. There are more English speakers than there were when I first came here eight years ago, but the demand for English speakers and peple who can write English properly (or at least intelligibly) is even greater. I suspect that the demand and need for skilled labour is increasing at twice the rate of the increase in the supply of such labour.

 

 

 

If you want tangible evidence, look at the increase in ex-pat workers here. This is not a Thai unique situation; it is happening all of over the world, at least in those countries that are developing and growing. The U.S. benefits tremendously from an influx of skilled labour, as do other countries, including Thailand. Whether they also suffer from an outflow of skilled labour is another question.

 

 

 

There is an increase in university graduates in Thailand, but many graduates of Thai universities are not qualified. Sorry, but this is true. It is probably true of the U.S. also, but the problems here are different. I am no social psychologist, but I suspect the problems here have a great deal to do with rote learning and the hierarchical nature of Thai society. In my transliteration of the Thai, the word is: ?sakdina?. (If anyone wants the word in Thai, I will provide it.) Because analytical skills are built on questioning basic assumptions, hierarchical societies are not good breeding grounds for analytical thinkers.

 

 

 

There is another problem, and this is the flip side of the benefits of mobile labour. This week?s The Economist has a fascinating article about how the emigration of the best and brightest from developing countries may harm the economies of those countries.

 

 

 

There is a brain drain here, and many who leave don?t want to come back. We recently tried to persuade a very bright Thai woman raised and educated in the U.S. to come back and work here. She was intrigued at first (returning to the country of her parents and what she thought was "her culture"), but after a few unpleasant local encounters, she decided she?ll stay in the U.S. She is not unique.

 

 

[Guest]

opposing to the other posters experience i know of some companies in the high tech and communication sector who do not hire expats anymore resulting from bad experiences in the past. maybe it is different with the banking sector.

 

 

 

 

 

>The thing which can be said to be unfair is that marriage to a Thai seems to give you few advantages.<

 

 

 

well that is a thing which is always in our back i guess, the worry that nothing is stable here. still though, for me the advantages outweight the worries in that aspect. and, it is nothing i have not known beforehand.

 

when i started living here, an oldtimer gave me the facts very clearly about those things.

 

what else can we do than hoping the best.

[Guest]

>Since it appears to be safe to go back into the water now that Khun Sanuk has reigned in some of the more off the wall, and rather personal, comments and attacks that were flying around, I will respond to the interesting point raised about the local labour market. <

 

 

 

just go a few months back, my friend, and remember who started going personal with us two. you accused me of lying in a thread where i said that i have been at countless crime scenes here in thailand. after several posters who know me personally verified my claims, after i have even offered to prove it, you still did not retract your accusation.

 

 

 

sorry for going away from the topic, but that is a point i want to make clear here.

 

lets go back to the topic.

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

sorry for being a bit aggressive to you.

 

no hard feelings please.

[Sukhumvit]

Liked your example of the retired farang starting a business and how it affects him. Overpriced permits for farangs is nothing short of racism. Yeah it's protectionist but there are more subtle ways to be protectionist rather than target a group.

 

 

 

I think your caution is sensible rather than paranoid. After all who would have thought that 2am closing would be a reality little more than 12 months ago?

[check_bin_krap]

Deep in this thread with people fearing restrictions on visas etc a serious reminder about a disaster which nobody thought would strike pops up:

 

 

 

"I think your caution is sensible rather than paranoid. After all who would have thought that 2am closing would be a reality little more than 12 months ago? "

 

 

 

Hehehe, I liked it

[Sukhumvit]

The cheque's in the post.

[pattaya127]

I read all the replies, and all i can say is that ever since I went, i met farangs doing business in thailand (tried a bit myself too, but not an expert), or merely staying that always pointed to the fact that things don't come their way often, and it may get worse anytime. That's plain TIT, was, is and will be. Which is why i always quote Thailand as a 3rd world country. Which in this context, ,means nothing is ever certain and the worse can certainly happen.

[Guest]

exactly!

 

expecting anything else is following an illusion, and will lead only to frustrations. what you say counts for anyone living here, thai or farang.

[Guest]

 

 

" still though, his posts concerning business restrictions are to some extend a bit misleading. the last time i have had a look at the list of protected profession, which was a while ago, most professions of that list were taxi driver, farmer, any profession concerning working with wood like woodcarver, carpenter etc., the only nonlabour profession as far as i can remember was lawyer, but there are certain loopholes around as i know several farang lawyers here who work with a workpermit i think in positions as consultants etc"

 

 

 

I checked in the business guide of Thailand(BH ed. I think).It was first published in 1998 so things may have changed but among the professions non available to foreigners, I found:

 

architectural work involving designing,drawing or estimating,as well as construction supervision or advisory work

 

Brokerage(except international business)

 

accountancy supervision,auditing or services in the accounting field(except occasional internal auditing)

 

Legal or litigation work

 

clerical or secretarial work

 

as well of lots of acticities ranging from shop attendant to construction work,passing by gem cutting,wich while probably not much interesting for the westerners migrants,may be quite attrative for people from poorer countries.