I, like many who have visited and fell in love with Thailand, would like to find a way to earn a living and live there for more than just a week. Like all other nations on Earth, however, Thailand has its policies in place to protect jobs for the locals that makes a lot of jobs inaccessible to non-citizens. That is reasonable, because if a country doesn't take care of its own citizens, what would you expect it to do for foreigners like you and I?

That said, looking at the sheer number of farang, Japanese, Koreans and other non-Thais who seem to be living full-time there, it is not an impossible task. Just difficult. While a good number of these people are expatriates posted there by their parent companies, there are some who have settled there on there own terms and are thriving.

So, besides the more common ideas of opening bars and restaurants like so many of these entrepreneurs did, is there any other way? Are there any other businesses that I can go into?

Opening establishments like bars and restaurants takes quite a bit of start-up capital, and not everyone have that kind of money to do it. Gaining employment on Thai companies' terms is, of course, a lot harder since those jobs are usually meant for Thais. Besides, a lot of us cannot speak Thai that well, and would certainly find it hard to be employed. There have been a lucky few, but not that many.

One of the more common ways, beside the food and beverage route, is to teach English. Languages are usually most effectively taught be native speakers, and that is where English-speaking non-Thais have an advantage (I didn't say only farang because I consider Singaporeans, mostly composed of non-Caucasoid varieties, native English-speakers due to the country's education system). One good resource to look into for this option is TransitionsAbroad.com . In recent years, however, in an effort to filter out lousy fly-by-night teachers who are basically travelers out to make a quick buck to continue their journey, there is a law now that require English teachers to have a teaching certificate in order to be legally employed to teach in schools. Private schools like Wall Street Institute probably has more stringent policies in hiring teachers, so private schools might present a greater challenge if you want to work as an English teacher in those places. If you somehow get your foot into private schools, the pay is certainly more attractive than teaching in Thai government schools.

And, besides teaching English, there could also be options of teaching other languages like Chinese, German, Japanese and all that. But these are probably not as popular with the Thais since they are not international languages like English is, with which one can gain employment in multinational corporations where prospects are a lot better.

Theres is a very good article on teaching English in Thailand here if you are interested.

In an effort to jog my mind for more ideas for alternatives to making a living in Thailand, I have come across this book called Start Up and Stay Up in Thailand by Roy Tomizawa in Kinokuniya at Siam Paragon once, and after reading it, I was really glad I found it. It contains rich information about business laws in Thailand, as well as expert advices on how to get around them, and is packed with stories of entrepreneurs who have successfully established their businesses amid the jungle of red tape and local culture.

One other thing you can do is to visit Thaivisa.com. It has a comprehensive and informative forum community that covers everything from living in Thailand to jobs and economy, right down to news clippings on Thailand. There is a huge community of expats and other forum users who are either travelers or other forms of fellow Siamese Dreamers sharing their experiences, gripes and all things in between about the country they just cannot let go.

What Stickman, owner of StickmanBangkok.com, said is true. You don't want to retire in the prime of your life indulging in a retired life in Thailand just to look back in later years and ask yourself what have you done with your years. So, looking for a way to establish a career in the land you love is not just a mean to keep yourself alive while you are there, but a challenge to yourself to see what you can do with your life living in the place you love. That, at least, is the challenge for me.

What are your views on this? Do you have any ideas on establishing a career in Thailand you can share? You are welcome to leave your comments.