What a long, strange trip it's been
The downsides and the 'rewards' of living life as an independent expatriate
Becoming an "independent" expatriate requires far more self-reliance and ability to adapt than does staying in your home surrounded by family and friends or being a traditional expatriate and being supported by an organizational structure that usually spans both the home country and new location.
A dream lifestyle in Thailand
Does Chiang Mai offer the perfect place to live and work? Well, live anyway
I'll put my hands up and admit I've been somewhat unkind to Chiang Mai in past blogs. On past visits, I've usually had the job of playing tour guide to my ageing parents and a couple of their friends. It's never easy to move a group of elderly folk around a sizeable Asian city without having every tout and unofficial tour operator descending on you from miles around
Yet another list of Bangkok annoyances
We all love a good moan now and again don't we?
Here’s a list of my own things that drive me crazy about living in Bangkok. Hopefully some of them you’ve never even thought about.
Some solutions to the challenges of teaching in Thailand
Some ideas on how to make life easier for yourself
Don’t take complaints or awkward suggestions to your local head. Go to them with easy to understand positive solutions instead. And don’t push your case or demand an immediate response.
English teachers and other independent expatriates
Successfully working in a different cultural environment is a skill
While digging through hundreds of articles, both academic and otherwise, while doing background research for a book on expatriates in Asia, I found most writers and researchers made four key assumptions about expatriates.
You're moving to where?
People's reactions on hearing that you're Thailand-bound
Leigh-Anne Hunter has found out that people fall into three distinct groups when you let them know of your ridiculous plans to move to Thailand. How do you know you'll like it if you've never been? Isn't that where the tsunami was? I guess these people mean well.
Thailand on 30K a month
Is it feast or famine?
With many teaching positions on the ajarn jobs page paying 30,000 baht a month (some even less) forum member Hollow has decided to put things to the test and record his daily spend. Many employers tell us that 30,000 baht a month is enough to live a very comfortable lifestyle - even in Bangkok. I've heard Thai people describe that kind of dough as 'luxury' Then again perhaps that's a load of old tosh. So does 30K a month enable you to lord it up right until the last day of the month or are you going to be stumbling through the final week on a diet of pot noodles and tap water? OK Hollow. Pencil? Notebook? Let's begin.
Making The Move
How to prepare yourself for life in Thailand
In this month's article, I'll address some issues that may worry adventurers pondering a move to Thailand to become an English teacher and give some practical advice that might come in handy either before or after the move.
Copland
Joining the Thai tourist police
So with a 5am alarm call, I set off to Sukhumvit soi 5, wondering what I would learn from the boys in brown. The hotel venue itself was very decent, if nothing special. I was ushered into a large conference hall and presented with an information pack.
Nonthaburi Oh Nonthaburi
Is it truly 'the teacher's graveyard'?
Someone said to me the other day that if you're too old, too unqualified, and you're sick of constant interview rejection.....there is always Nonthaburi.
