Thailand is a financially interesting destination for expats
If you want to work abroad and earn good money, you should go to Asia. Expats are the best paid in Singapore. On the list of financially interesting destinations Thailand on the second place.
That is the conclusion of a report by the bank HSBC Holdings among more than five thousand expats in a hundred countries.
The survey shows that 54% of expatriates in Singapore receive an annual income of more than $200.000. It also appears that 74 percent of expats in Singapore have acquired a better financial status after their arrival, while 80 percent also report that their disposable income has increased significantly. At 44 percent, coming to Singapore has increased disposable income by at least 50 percent, compared to a global average of just 19 percent.
Asia offers many benefits for expats
Three-quarters of the expats surveyed said that the quality of life has also increased due to the arrival in Asia. The main advantages are:
- Higher disposable income.
- More safety (also for children of expats).
- Faster career development.
- Increase quality of life.
The main problem is integration into the local community. Only 19% of the respondents were able to integrate into the local community, while 41% admit to having more contacts with other expats than with the local population.
Expats Thailand: more active social life
The researchers emphasize that Asia is becoming increasingly important in the expat world. Five of the most financially interesting destinations are located in Asia. Singapore is followed by Thailand, the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Hong Kong, Mexico, Switzerland, Malaysia, South Africa and China.
The expats in Asian countries also testify more often to lead a more active social life in their new location than before. Globally, 25 percent say they have a more active social life at their new location, but in Singapore that rises to 43 percent. In Hong Kong and Thailand, this rises even further to 52 percent and 60 percent respectively.
Piece gives more details about Singapore as about Thailand as a financially interesting destination for expats, where could you earn a lot of money as an expat in Thailand?
I'd like to know that too. But what about the work permit? I have the impression that it is not exactly easily provided.
In this context it concerns employees who are sent by their company. Think of Dutch people who work abroad for multinationals. But also employees who work in Asia by invitation. More and more young highly educated Europeans are being sought for positions in Asian companies.
Many pensioners also call themselves expats, which is not correct: An expatriate or expat for short is someone who temporarily lives in a country with a different culture than the one with which he grew up. They are usually sent out by their employer. They should not be confused with immigrants.
It is possible that the Dutch are being sent out, but from my own experience (worked at the largest dairy company in the Netherlands) I know that our man in Hong Kong really did not earn 200000 dollars. Who would get that amount in Thailand? Yes, a lot of extras, but such an amount, I have my doubts.
A Norwegian friend has been appointed CEO for Thailand by the company where he works. They make medicines for a Swiss company. He recently bought a house for 30 million baht, a condo in Pattaya with a whirlpool on the balcony and another house in Hua Hin. He is picked up daily by the driver in a big new Volvo and therefore has little to complain about financially.
Piece has a high scientific content that it says nothing in case you are interested in working in Thailand, for example.
Since I've been looking for years, but still not against the right people / yes in Pattaya I could become a tour guide but did not continue at the last minute) walked over to help me on my way. I am sorry that you do not indicate what the opportunities in Thailand are and where! Coincidentally I found out that the MAKRO is doing well in Thailand with expansion. I would also like to see that kind of information from your side. Thanks in advance.
Don't understand much of this story. Are they people who have been sent out by their company? Or are they people who may have managed to set up their own company. Of course, there are few or no people who are sent to the Cayman Islands or Bermuda, where only the tax-evading post office box companies are located. Only once have I encountered a foreigner who did something in IT and could barely get through the month, but that is of course not decisive. People sent again is a different story and just like Miek1, I would like to know where you can earn a lot of money as a foreigner in Thailand?
I myself have worked as an expat in Thailand (Bangkok).
The company in the Netherlands will then second you to Thailand.
You will remain liable to tax in the Netherlands for the first 6 months, whereby you can still deduct your mortgage interest.
After 6 months you are liable to pay tax in Thailand and you can no longer deduct your mortgage interest. You must then have yourself deregistered as a taxable person in the Netherlands.
AOW will no longer be accrued, WW and WIA entitlement will lapse. You can take out both voluntarily.
The company in the Netherlands will then arrange a work permit.
This will only be awarded if the feature is not available in Thailand.
We often only see the tourist side of Thailand and underestimate that most positions can be filled by a Thai.
The most common arrangement in the Netherlands is that you keep your normal salary and receive an extra allowance of up to 30% on your salary.
Often there is an arrangement that your accommodation and expenses are reimbursed and a trip to the Netherlands twice a year.
The hotel industry often asks for foreign hotel managers.
Hardly anyone is in demand in the industry, only highly specialized positions.
Moreover, the Thai people are very nationalistic.
They'd rather see you go or take advantage of you right away.
Singapore is a different story.
There is plenty of work here.
Work permits are more readily available
Seems like the truth to me Jeffrey. I see Thailand mainly as a country where you can live as a retiree (still) so that you can have a rich life there with a wonderful AOW/pension from the Netherlands. Finding work as a Dutch person there is difficult. It is easier for a Thai to find work in the Netherlands. I know that there are many reactions to these types of articles, that there is enough work in Thailand for Dutch people. However, concrete information about vacancies is always lacking. For example, a Dutchman in Thailand once wrote to me that he would earn well, that my story about a poor income as a Dutchman would be nonsense. When I asked him for the address of the school where he worked so that I could apply for a job, there was suddenly silence. I tried to work as an English teacher in Thailand but could barely make ends meet and was uninsured. So, to all those who are now telling me that I am wrong, please, but please provide addresses and contacts and I will leave in a moment. My partner is Thai as expected.
Dear Jeffrey,
What about all those guys who start a bar, they probably don't all have +4 Thais working there. What if you want to start a Guesthouse? Do you also have to set up a Co ltd and also have and keep at least 4 Thais at work? These are the well-known examples. I myself am overflowing with ideas all I want is a door that gives me the entrance and the chance to enter Thailand.
What is not discussed here is that Thailand is a tax haven for retirees with a lot of money who then no longer pay tax on it, no tax on income and no tax on the size of their assets. The income must then come outside Thailand, while the money can, for example, remain tax-free in the Netherlands in the bank where you are no longer registered.
After ten years, for example, inheritance tax in the Netherlands also expires and there is more.
I think it was described in detail in a full-page article in the Saturday newspaper of De Televaf about 25 years ago. And it is still correct and unchanged.
@Erik, I also think that most of the foreigners living in Thailand will also be retirees. A large part of this can also be read daily on this forum, by the way I don't mean anything by this. I also think that in the future it will be difficult for many Dutch people to live in Thailand if you receive an AOW and/or pension, as so many do now. There is already soft talk about adapting the state pension to the country of residence, and in Thailand this will be less because the cost of living is significantly lower. This large number of retirees living outside the Netherlands will make it more difficult for future generations to do such a thing. In this time of austerity, pensioners will cut back on benefits they receive abroad. So back to the past when only a few rich can afford a nice life in warmer places after a life of not too hard work.
@Cu Chulain
What do you mean "after a life of not too hard work"?
There's a joke here that goes like this. How do you become a millionaire in Thiland as an expat? Answer: By entering the country as a multimillionaire. The above story about the favorable financial prospects in Thailand - in my experience - only applies to expats sent out, usually at management level. Incidentally, there are fewer and fewer because European companies in particular have replaced their expat managers for financial reasons (expats are simply much more expensive) with Thais and in the coming years (when the Asian Economic Community becomes a fact in 2015) with other Asians. If you work on a local contract (like me) you have a good life but not a luxurious life. You earn much less than in the Netherlands and the social provisions differ per company, while the government has virtually no provisions. However, the quality of life here is – in my humble opinion – better than in the Netherlands. But forget that – as an employee with a local contract – you will become rich here. Certainly not from the salary, besides the fact that you cannot own real estate here and that Thai partners (if you have or find one) use your salary to support the whole family. And by family I mean father, mother, brothers and sisters and also uncles and aunts (if necessary).
Tjamuk,
you forget that we can also pay for the parents who passed away 20 years ago.
I assume that you have also made a financial contribution for a party in honor of the deceased parents.