It seems like most of these people are transfered from their native countries companies on an expat package to live and work here for specific period of time. They don't seem to actually come here and get these jobs.

Is there any central place to look for decent jobs, or is it all just luck/networking? If it's networking, are there any good places to network for computer/business types?

I guess it's a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation, as people with well-paying jobs in business typically don't quit to go and live in Thailand. So it's probably more common to meet people who were transferred here by their company than it is to meet sea-changers who applied for their jobs while already in Thailand.

Typically the people applying for the professional jobs would be applying while still working in their home country, and then only making the move out if they got the job. And even then, that sort of a move is only attractive to a very small percentage of people, since moving to a different country is a pain in the ass for people with wives/kids/mortgages etc, and the salaries often aren't that great.

Like anywhere else, most companies now go through recruiting companies and industry-specific publications. There are a heap of recruiting companies that specialise in recruiting expats. You would have to be more specific as to what kind of job you were looking for, maybe I can find some for you. But here's one which has a few IT vacancies: http://www.kticonsultants.com/Vacancies.aspx

Found this job ad there:
http://www.kticonsultants.com/Vacanc...px?job_id=1062

Obviously though the vast majority of real jobs are going to be in Bangkok because very few companies have their headquarters anywhere else. Most of the jobs require a degree also, since Thailand requires one to grant the work visa.

Another agency here: http://www.monroeconsulting.com/jobs/Thailand
BTW most Thai recruiting companies seem to quote salaries in THB/Month, which is different to what I'm used to seeing.

As for networking, try Linkedin. I wouldn't really know.

Ran out of time to edit this, but for DC_Pub, if I was in your position and wanted to find a real job in Thailand (and actually had any relevant qualifications and experience), I guess the first step would be to find as many recruiting companies as you could and get them a copy of your CV.

Check the bangkok post classifieds for jobs. There are some random jobs that pop up that pay alright. JobsDB is another place to look.

Then there is obviously teaching english...

You will have more success if you include useful things like: when you are going, how long you are staying for, what games/stakes you play etc.

rather than "I like to party" - everyone likes to party.

You can just rent a place on your own and join in the social stuff with people in Phuket, its all based in a pretty small area.

I was just looking through loads of jobs in my profession out of interest, and there are plenty. I'm left scratching my head as to how I could actually get or do one of these jobs without speaking Thai to an extremely hight level.

Here's a job for a native English speaker. The link doesn't take you straight to the job only the page its on, look down to 'proof reader' job

http://th.jobsdb.com/TH/jobs/educati...on/1?JSSRC=JFB

Wow, that's a horrible salary, considering the amount of experience and skill required for the job... It seems almost insulting

you know that's a very high salary for thailand, right?

Yeah the salary is rubbish, and I think he's been looking for a while. The guy in question is looking to have a hotel reception database built for his chain of hotels, and is counting on the fact that it's in Samui and he's willing to offer a work visa to someone with no degree to get it done cheaply. Most of the skills required aren't that difficult to learn, many web hobbyists can pick up PHP, MySQL and HTML by way of online tutorials.

There are a few Farang businessmen around that are well aware of how many busto Farangs there are in Thailand trying to live the dream, and are pretty willing to take advantage of that. That said, it's still double what an English teacher makes, and you don't need a degree, so would be a pretty reasonable option for a serious hobbyist.

Not for an Expat.

I just opened the page without reading Pokerspivs post and I thought if it was in USD a year it'd be ok but in THB/month it's terrible.

A friend of mine tried to get me to do a very similar job in Holland and that would be at least 3k euro a month and I have minimal working experience. It baffles me why a western guy would want to do a high level job like that for such ****ty pay. Even in a nice place like Samui.

Edit: Actually now that I think about it more it isn't too bad. If I take into account taxes and cost of living differences I think I'd prefer the Samui job over the Dutch job I mentioned.

Some people just don't want to leave Thailand, and would do anything to make that happen. See Sandviper23...

I actually know quite a few Farang guys in Samui who are qualified tradesmen (e.g. painters, plumbers, bricklayers etc) who could be earning really good money at home but instead work (illegally) for less than $10-15/hour in Thailand because they don't want to leave. They have Thai wives/kids who do not want to leave Thailand either.

Not everyone has the ability to make money playing poker, or run a successful business. Sometimes we forget how uniquely lucky we are to be able to do that here.

Yes I edited to reflect this and on second thought I agree.

why would anyone work for the same salary in europe if they could (and wanted to) do that same in thailand?

i guess you guys covered that already. i are too slow

anyone get a education visa from a cooking school?

hows everyone liking the flood? would be in bkk in 3 weeks to share the joy... Early songkran!?!

^The streets are dry right now in central BKK, there's a lot of conflicting info, no one seems for sure how bad it's going to get, apparently it'll become clear this weekend tho'.

But if you're arriving 3 weeks from now it'll hopefully all be fine by then anyway

Except, if you have the skills in question, you can easily make $50+ an hour by freelancing online (thus working from anywhere).

Freelancing requires additional skills that some web developers don't have, i.e. marketing yourself and maintaining extensive lists of contacts. And you've also got 100 million Indians willing to do the same job for less money to worry about.

You would think so, but no. Most people from western countries prefer to deal with other westerners, and are willing to pay significantly more.

There was a guy on one of my visa runs who ran a web design business from Thailand.

He would email businesses in Holland pretending to be a web design student then outsource the work he got to a team of developers he had in India.

It just seemed so pathetic.

and don forget to include: where are you come from?, where you go? How long you stay thailand?

There are some legit jobs advertised on Thai craigslist, amidst a bunch of spam and scams.

Example - 'editor' for commercial real estate clients $1600/month http://bangkok.craigslist.co.th/wri/2669109494.html

Quite a few foreign-run boiler-rooms pop up in the news

http://www.thailandnews.co/2011/04/2...ler-room-scam/
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...wn-679135.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYaZ57Bn4pQ