How did you end up in Thailand ?

[LasseDK]

I know alot of you are living in Thailand today - whats your story ? how did you end up living what appears to be the dream for alot of people ? what do you do for a living ?

Or maybe you are close to doing it - or planning to do it - then share your plans to achieve it ?

( this is a thread not for those who was born and raised there )

[cherryberry]

born here, and love it

[yamahacrasher]

In -99, i was working in Hong Kong. On a flight home from HKG I wanted to stop a week in BKK, since i never been to Thailand before.

So i got off the plane in BKK, walked to the transfer desk for my airline. And that girl sitting there became my gf for the next 5 years, and the reason why i moved to Thailand.

Kinda silly huh, to fall for the first girl u see, on the first trip to Thailand. But we all learn from our mistakes...hopefully... sigh.

[Admin_2]

I know alot of you are living in Thailand today - whats your story ? how did you end up living what appears to be the dream for alot of people ? what do you do for a living ?

Or maybe you are close to doing it - or planning to do it - then share your plans to achieve it ?

( this is a thread not for those who was born and raised there )

Wasn't there a thread about this already?

Anyway, I quit my job at one of the few remaining US banks, and bought a one way ticket out here without a job or a clue as to what Thailand was all about (I'm still working on finding that clue). I was planning on getting some international finance experience for one year and then returning to the states to get my master's degree.

That last part never happened, but I did get my international finance experience by working for the Thai Ministry of Finance for a few years!

This may come as a surprise, but I really want to be a teacher. I did my undergraduate degree in child psychology, but then went right into finance when reality hit me regarding how poor I would be for the beginning of my career. Shallow, but realistic.

Ideally I'd like to have enough of a passive income to go into teaching and live comfortably. Still working on that goal.

[grezzzy_greer]

I was hired to come to BKK for 2 weeks to look after a TV post production facility while their chief engineer had a holiday...before I even got to the office on the first day it had gone to 6 weeks - by 9 weeks I told them I had to leave for a week for a job in Singapore, then back to BKK - after 11 weeks, I returned to Brisbane. Three days later they called and asked me to come back till Xmas (another two months), so I did, and they eventually offered me a permanent job. I stayed...and 17 years later, I am still here...and I still love it!

Greer

[Mister Moobs]

landed at Don Muang Int'l Airport

got a ride to Sukhumvit Road

[condotown]

I was recruited from abroad by a "top international school".

.... Just before the "financial crisis".

I stayed cuz it's my favorite country.

No place is utopia, but when I weigh all the positives and negatives, staying in Thailand is always the best option.

[juddie]

Split with my GF in UK after 5 years because she had suddenly found God and become ultra conservative ( hmmm don't know what that says about me) so thought i would do something ultra left wing, just to prove a point, and demonstrate that in reality atheists do care about the world, as a whole, more than her narrow minded freak-friends.

So im here earning next-no-******* money but love my life as i feel good about what i do and have enough money for beer.

OK...i have a new job starting next week....that..erm..pays me ******* well..and satisfies my liberal streak...

and keeps me in the country that i have totally fallen in love with... :wink:

[StevieJR]

Came here in 97 on my honeymoon and figured......well 'Thiiiiings can only get betteeeer'

So here i am

[digitalcat]

Originally was supposed to go here with a friend for Muay Thai practice... he flaked. Around the same time things between me and my gf of 6 years really started to go down hill... and I needed to get away from slowly crumbling matrix of dysfunction. My best friend who lives in Japan decided to go to Thailand for vacation, and invited me to join. I jumped on the opportunity. 3 months after I got here my ex got sick with non-Hodgkins lymphoma (cancer) and I went back to take care of her. After she recovered, I didn't want to stay around for the ugly side of breaking up - I also felt that I was not finished with the land of Thai just yet.

So here I am... trying to start a company. O_o

[Katoom]

Came here in 97 on my honeymoon and figured......well 'Thiiiiings can only get betteeeer'

So here i am

Now come on mate, that there leaves a lot left unexplained and we wanna know!

Chop chop...

[CiaranM]

went working for UK company in sri lanka supplying garments to M&S in 1997. in 2003 company wanted me to move back to ireland and manage a factory there, against my boss's wishes.

i didn't fancy that, got offered a job with an american company in lad krabang april 2003. been here ever since.

company in ireland went into voluntary liquidation about 4 or 5 months after i moved here !! lucky break or what !!!

[pluggy]

Worked in Thailand for a German company. After my divorcement in Germany there was no question to go to Thailand and to live there. Had a lot of nice Thai women. After I met the one and only... now there is the happy end. We have a sweet baby together...

[Bruce551]

I arrived to Thailand by sailboat, landing at Phi Phi Island in 1997. Eventually, sold the boat and decide to live in Chiang Mai.

[Admin_2]

I arrived to Thailand by sailboat, landing at Phi Phi Island in 1997. Eventually, sold the boat and decide to live in Chiang Mai.

Cool...not the usual mode of transport.

Where did you sail in from?

[Bruce551]

I built the boat (catamaran) in Cebu, Philippines, (2 years) then sailed down the coast of Borneo stopping at Kota Kenabalu, Brunai, Kuching (6months), and then crossover to Singapore, and sailed up the Malacca Straight stopping Penang and Langkawi Islands and finally arriving at Phi Phi. Classic "Lord Jim" kind of trip, all kinds of things happened, ran out money, almost got run over by a ship, for a while I developed a fear of sailing by myself and I thought, I must be completely nuts trying to do this sailing thing. In the end, I happy that I tried to live out a my sailing dream.

[digitalcat]

I built the boat (catamaran) in Cebu, Philippines, (2 years) then sailed down the coast of Borneo stopping at Kota Kenabalu, Brunai, Kuching (6months), and then crossover to Singapore, and sailed up the Malacca Straight stopping Penang and Langkawi Islands and finally arriving at Phi Phi. Classic "Lord Jim" kind of trip, all kinds of things happened, ran out money, almost got run over by a ship, for a while I developed a fear of sailing by myself and I thought, I must be completely nuts trying to do this sailing thing. In the end, I happy that I tried to live out a my sailing dream.

sounds really cool! i thought motorcycling across Thailand was nuts, you topped me here.

[hbkbkk]

Did a couple of hits for the hong kong mafia. Thailand is the official ground for hits and run...

The boss told me to hide out and stay low for a while..

I wonder if posting on TF consider staying low...? :roll:

[GoodKarma]

Did a couple of hits for the hong kong mafia. Thailand is the official ground for hits and run...

The boss told me to hide out and stay low for a while..

I wonder if posting on TF consider staying low...? :roll:

dayum that's pretty gangsta dude :? I hope it wasn't as bad as nick cage's

bangkok dangerous :wink:

[beej]

I came here on a Visa run from Indonesia, and went down to Koh Phangan in 1997, Haad Rin felt like Paradise then, hard to imagine now.

Stayed there on and off for 5 years then didn't like what I was becoming so moved to the City to make my millions....

[Neo]

I

Stayed there on and off for 5 years then didn't like what I was becoming

What were you becoming? (if you don't mind me asking)

[beej]

I

Stayed there on and off for 5 years then didn't like what I was becoming

What were you becoming? (if you don't mind me asking)

A drug fulled twisted skin cancer diving instructor drop out with no future.

[CiaranM]

Stayed there on and off for 5 years then didn't like what I was becoming

What were you becoming? (if you don't mind me asking)

A drug fulled twisted skin cancer diving instructor drop out with no future.

:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: and what's there not to like about that ??

well apart from the skin cancer bit

[beej]

Stayed there on and off for 5 years then didn't like what I was becoming

What were you becoming? (if you don't mind me asking)

A drug fulled twisted skin cancer diving instructor drop out with no future.

:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: and what's there not to like about that ??

well apart from the skin cancer bit

Go look at them, its scary, speedos, flappy skin, a good night out is 6 big Loes from 7-11, they live in skanky huts and end up getting stabbed by some irate local normally.

Out of the 8 of us in that old shop, only 2 of us are still here...... freaky ****.

[funky_house]

Stayed there on and off for 5 years then didn't like what I was becoming

What were you becoming? (if you don't mind me asking)

A drug fulled twisted skin cancer diving instructor drop out with no future.

:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: and what's there not to like about that ??

well apart from the skin cancer bit

Go look at them, its scary, speedos, flappy skin, a good night out is 6 big Loes from 7-11, they live in skanky huts and end up getting stabbed by some irate local normally.

Out of the 8 of us in that old shop, only 2 of us are still here...... freaky sh*t.

A guy I knew, named Richard that ran a dive shop there, died after doing too much gear about eight or nine years ago. Lunatic nearly killed me while giving me a lift on his motorbike while high as a kite in Samui.

[zeusbheld]

i wanted to go somewhere and do something (vague plan, i know). i was supposed to be going to prague to collaborate on a project, but it fell through.

after that, i was aiming for beijing. i missed.