Recently seen a lot of posts about moving from Singapore to another country and thought I would share my own experiences about moving from Singapore to Bangkok and some pros and cons of each location.

Please kindly take note that this is all from my personal experience and knowledge and may not apply to everyone.

Background:

I (30M) first experienced living and working in Bangkok due to an internship. The internship was mandatory but the location was not specified. I chose Bangkok having never lived there before and ended up liking it so decided to do another internship in Bangkok the following year. After completion, I managed to land a full time job in Bangkok and have been living in Bangkok for 7.5 years now. I am in the hospitality industry.

Visa:

In order to stay legally in Thailand, you’ll need to be on the proper visa. You could come in on visa exemption and then do visa runs, but in the long run, it is not a viable option especially since immigration is cracking down on visa runs.

I have listed essentially the easiest visa’s to obtain to live in Thailand legally.

– Non-Immigrant B: Get hired by a company in Thailand, where they will issue you with a work permit and you are allowed to legally work in the role that is written in the work permit. The visa will be valid so long as you are employed.

– Non-Immigrant ED: Enroll into a language school to learn Thai or join a Muay Thai gym. Typically the visa lasts for a year. Working on this visa is illegal.

– Non-Immigrant O-A & O-X: Retirement visa, you need to be 50 years and above. Working on this visa is illegal.

– Non-Immigrant O (Thai Spouse): Get married to a Thai national. The visa is valid as long as you are legally married. Working on this visa is legal.

– Elite Visa: Essentially a paid visa that allows you to stay legally from 5 years up to 20 years. The price starts at THB 600K (one-time fee) up to THB 2M. Working on this visa is illegal.

Work Opportunities:

From the above mentioned visas, I only have experience with the Non-Immigrant B visa as I am employed in Bangkok. I may decide to change to the Non-Immigrant O (Thai Spouse) visa when I get married to my Thai partner next year.

Getting employed in Thailand is a route that a lot of people choose when first deciding to move to Thailand. There are essentially 2 options that someone could choose:

– Employee: Get hired by a Thai company. There are a list of prohibited jobs for foreigners in Thailand such as hairdresser, Thai massage, tour guide, legal services (you can be a consultant though). Legally there is also a minimum salary for foreigners to earn. For Singaporeans, the minimum salary / month is THB 45K however there are also loopholes in order for employees to avoid paying this much. This minimum salary does not apply to teaching. Some of the most popular jobs for foreigners are in education (teacher), tech, marketing, consulate / embassy, diving instructor, hospitality and work for an MNC.

– Business Owner: Opening your own business is another way to work in Thailand. The most popular registration choice for foreigners is to open a limited company. You will only have ownership of 49% of the company, and the remaining 51% needs to be owned by a Thai person. Many foreigners will put the 51% in their Thai spouse’s name. It is also possible to have 2 Thai’s own the 51% (25.5% each) so that the foreigner still has majority ownership. You can also then apply for a work permit however need to have four Thai workers per foreigner employed and THB 2 M in capital.

Salary & Income:

In general, the salary in Thailand is significantly lower than in Singapore, however the cost of living is also more expensive. My first salary in Bangkok was gross THB 45K / month, take home pay was around THB 38K. That is roughly S$1,500. I lived a mostly Thai lifestyle, with little to no savings each month. Thankfully I am now on a salary higher than if I was in the same position in Singapore. I would advise that a salary of THB 50K / month is the minimum that any Singaporean should be willing to take in order to move to Bangkok. Anything THB 100K / month and you’ll be able to live comfortably on a mixed of local + foreigner lifestyle so long as you have no kids or don’t intend to send them to international school.

The best is if you end up on an expat contract and you will have your basic salary (usually paid in USD) + housing allowance + yearly flight tickets back home + international school fees for your kids paid for. Obviously this is subject to the company but I have heard of people also getting transport allowance, grocery shopping allowance, company car and driver, live-in maid, etc.

Working Life:

Tasks in Singapore get done. And they get done fast. Singapore is efficient and as much as Singaporeans love queuing (for food), they also don’t like waiting. However, working in Singapore can be very competitive. The so called ‘rat race’ starts the moment you enter working life. Depending on the industry, overtime is often expected. The “kiasu” mentality in Singaporeans often causes the over-competitiveness at the workplace.

Working life in Thailand is quite the opposite of Singapore. Thai employees generally take things slower. Decisions that can be made in 1 day in Singapore, can take 1 month in Thailand. Many Thai workers just want to do their 8-10 hours a day, grab a beer after work, go home to sleep and then repeat the next day. Thai employees are also generally less competitive compared to Singaporeans, thus as a Singaporean working in Bangkok, I am able to stand out amongst my Thai colleagues and was able to progress much faster in my career compared to if I was working in the competitive Singaporean environment. In Thailand, “saving face” is very important especially at the management level. The practice of “saving face” is not something that many westerners understand and are used to, thus is often a disadvantage to them.

Condo, Apartments & Houses:

To be honest, I cannot speak about the Singapore property market and prices because I have no firsthand experience. I have never bought or rented any property in Singapore before. I can only share the prices in Bangkok for you guys to compare.

In Bangkok, a typical 1 bedroom condo (30 SQM to 35 SQM) can be found for THB 10K (S$388) to THB 15K (S$582) per month. These condos are typically within a 10 – 20 minute BTS/MRT ride into the city center. The further out you go, the cheaper condos are. Alternatively, the closer you are to the city center, the more expensive the condo’s get.

Local apartments are even cheaper and can be rented under THB10K per month. Some apartments even have rooms for rent that are THB 3000 (S$116) per month, however the room is usually quite small (20 SQM), has no kitchen, sometimes no hot water, sometimes no AC, and is in a very local area of Bangkok. It is literally a room with a bed and a bathroom inside.

There are also houses for rent in Bangkok. There are 2 major types of houses: the first are standalone houses and the second are called townhouses (essentially a house in a gated community). These can range from THB 25K (S$970) to more than THB 100K (S$3880) per month depending on the size, location, age, etc.

Alternatively, if you decide to, foreigners can also legally purchase condos under certain regulations. Every condo has a foreigner quota which essentially every condo need to be 51% majority owned by a Thai national. So if a condo has 100 units, minimum 51 units need to be owned by a Thai national. If the current condo only has 50 units owned by a Thai, then a foreigner is unable to purchase a unit in that condo project until 1 more unit is owned by a Thai. Condos can be bought starting from THB 1M (S$38.8K) to THB 100M (S$3.8M) depending on the size and location.

Owning land in Thailand by foreigners is not allowed. There are some ways and loopholes of getting around it such as setting up a business in Thailand. Lots of foreigners who marry a Thai national end up putting the land under their partners name and by getting a usufruct / right of superficies, it protects the foreigners in the sense that their partner would be unable to sell the land without the permission of the foreigner. It is honestly quite complicated and I personally went through this route.

The townhouse that I purchased cost around THB 12.5M (S$485K) and is roughly 250 SQM (2690 SQFT), with 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms, with a decent sized garden and garage large enough for 2 cars. It is in a good location (not in the city center) with a 20 minute drive into the city center. With S$485K, I am not sure if you could even buy a 2 or 3 bedroom HDB in a not so desired district in Singapore.

Food:

Singapore has hawker centers while Bangkok has street food. Street food in Bangkok is cheap, usually starting from THB 40. Singapore hawker centers are relatively affordable although there have been a significant increase in prices over the past couple of years. There are also a wide variety of eateries from food courts to Michelin Starred restaurants, with lots of different types of cuisines in both cities. Prices in both cities can range from cheap to crazy expensive, so it really depends on what kind of budget and lifestyle you have.

Cost Of Living:

It is well known that Singapore has an expensive cost of living, while the cost of living in Bangkok is cheaper. It is not S$1 for a one beer kind of cheap, but it’s definitely cheaper than Singapore. I have not lived in Singapore for the past 9 years so I am not in touch with the current prices in Singapore. So I will just share the prices in Bangkok.

Gym memberships in Bangkok are usually around THB 1000 (S$38) to THB 1500 (S$58) a month. A foot / Thai massage cost THB 250 (S$10) to THB 350 (S$13) per hour, a ticket in the cinema is about THB 250 (S$10). A drink in a bar is around THB 150 (S$6) to THB 250 (S$10) depending on the type of establishment. I could go on and on but in generally most things are cheaper in Bangkok than in Singapore.

Transport:

– Public Transport: Public transport in Singapore is reliable. Living in Singapore, it is generally convenient to take the bus and MRT for transport.

In Bangkok, if you live in the city center you will have no issue using only the BTS & MRT to get around. Buses are not reliable due to the sheer amount of traffic. Alternatively, using motorcycle taxis are also a viable option for short to medium distances. If you lived in the suburbs or even other provinces such as Chiang Mai & Phuket, you’ll either have to buy / rent a car or motorcycle, use Grab or a songthaew (shared pickup truck).

– Motorcycle Ownership: Purchasing your own motorcycle is also a popular option. A new Honda Click 150 can be bought for around THB 61K (S$2.3k).

– Car Ownership: The cheapest first hand car in Singapore is roughly around S$80,000 to S$90,000 (THB 2M to THB 2.3M). On top of that, Singapore’s COE in May (1st bidding) for CAT A closed at S$101,001 (THB 2.5M).

In Thailand, cars start around THB 500K. An entry level Mercedes Benz A-Class will cost around THB 1.9 M (S$74,000). Cheaper cars in Thailand do come with a price and that is the traffic in Bangkok. During peak period, expect your 15 minute car ride to extend to 1 hour or even more depending on your location within the city. Traffic in other provinces is generally much better compared to Bangkok.

Social Circle:

In Singapore, you generally already have a group of friends that you met since high school / university / army (for guys).

Unless you have family or friends already living in Thailand, you’ll need to start from scratch. The easiest way to make friends is usually from your workplace. Another popular option is to use apps such as Meetup.com and Tinder for dating. Some may find it hard at first to make friends with Thai people due to the language barrier if you do not speak Thai and they do not speak much English.

Language:

In Singapore, English is widely spoken. Mandarin Chinese, Tamil and Malay are also used. It is easy to communicate with 99% of the population.

In Thailand, English is not widely used by everyone especially in the areas where there are no/less tourists. Signs (food, road, etc) can often be only written in Thai.

Domestic Travel:

Unless you consider taking the MRT to Sentosa domestic travelling, Singapore does not offer much domestic travel. In Thailand, a 1.5 hour plane ride can take you to Chiang Mai, Phuket, Koh Samui, Khon Kaen, etc. While a 2 hour car drive can take you to Pattaya, Hua Hin, Kanchanaburi, Ayutthaya, etc for quick weekend getaways. Singapore however, is a major hub in Asia and many international flights use Changi Airport as a hub. I also personally prefer Singapore Airlines to Thai Airways.

Safety & Crime:

Singapore is generally extremely safe. Chances of you getting robbed by knife are slim to none. In Thailand, it is also generally safe. Be smart and do not put yourself into dangerous situations and you’ll generally be fine. I have never gotten pickpocketed or robbed or scammed or anything of similarity over my years of living here.

Government:

This is the topic that I prefer not to talk about. In short:

– The Singapore government is stable.

– I have no comment regarding the Thai government, except let’s see what happens in the next couple of months.

I recently experienced a terribly frustrating and unfair situation at work. I had requested a leave of absence which was approved by my manager.

but I was later old that I was going to be fired or have my leave cancelled unless I agreed to certain conditions.

Boss agreed

It all started when I applied for a leave of absence to take care of a family holiday. I was granted the leave for two weeks, which I thought was fair in the circumstances. Before I left, I made sure that all my work was up to date and that my absence wouldn’t disrupt any of my coworkers.

Change his mind

My boss suddenly text me this garbage and told me to go to work. At first, I was taken aback. I had already taken the leave, and I didn’t think it was fair for me to be asked to work extra hours or weekends when I had already taken the leave. I tried to explain my situation to him, but he was not sympathetic. He said that if I didn’t agree to his demands, then I would be fired.

 It’s been very difficult, as I’m often exhausted after working long hours and I’m not able to spend as much time with my family as I would like. I’m also worried that my boss might try to use this situation against me in the future.

What should I do?

Here are what netizens think:

• And it’s a win win, you don’t want to work for sometime like that.

• Unless you are making the absolute minimum wage unemployment pay is not a win for the majority of people.

• a wrongful termination suit as blatantly in the workers side as this would be such an easy case for any firm to take. If they live somewhere with wrongful termination laws this would be an easy win.

• Yeah, he should reply back with “ok”. Then show up on the 3rd and 4th. Not on the 5th-10th. Then show up again on the 11th.

I’m trying to make a list of funny and absurd of annoying workplace experiences in Singapore. It can be anything about office pantry disasters, meeting mishaps, annoying bosses, annoying colleagues or any uniquely Singapore/general workplace moments.

I’ll start:

1. Receiving a text/call on the weekends.
2. Your boss scheduled a 1-1 with you in 10 mins with no agenda or explanation.
3. Due to budget cuts, everyone is expected to clean your own table and take turns to clean office.
4. When it’s 6pm but everyone appears to be busy because boss is still around.
5. The annoying person who sets up meeting at 9am
6.  I see people online on Teams at 10-11pm at night and emails being sent at wee hours at night. Sad life

Some positives ones

1. Your boss is out of town for 2 weeks.
2. Team dinner got cancelled
3. You’ve been told to WFH for a week
4. Free lunch today!

Here are what netizens think:

• From my ex-boss who begrudgingly gave us a day off (I assumed after receiving complaints from some colleagues, as we had been working many weekends consecutively for the past few months).“I give you all off ah, is out of goodwill hor. Not every time this will happen ok. You all can take one day off, but you all cannot go overseas, must stay in sg. If office calls, you all must be contactable and pick up hor.” She’s serious. Lol wtf, give until so unwilling and still wanna stipulate criteria on usage after we burnt many of our weekends for her. It’s not like our job is essential services that requires 24/7 standby some more 

• None of your examples are uniquely Singaporean though, could happen anywhere leh. How about: boss calls for team meeting to get everyone to help him beat DISTIC and secure Jacky Cheung concert tickets…

• my boss asking for help on his kid’s math homework in our office whatsapp group. and we all trying to solve it without algebra. the kid’s primary 3 so algrebra solutions are rejected lol.

• As a foreigner, having a client set up a project meeting starting at 5pm on a Friday was an eye-opener. In Australia organising a meeting after about 3pm on a Friday would be considered rude, unless it was an informal event with drinks and food.

So my husband was on a bachelor trip last weekend in Bangkok.

I woke up to his iPad going off at 2:30 from his friends trying to call and text him to find him in a strip club.

They didn’t know where he was. As a concerned wife, I went in his iPad to see what the fuss was about and I even sent the groom a picture of his location in the club. Turns out, he spent 6000 baht to go to a private room with a siam bu.

I am extremely mad about just this because we have a rule in our relationship that everything that happens in a strip has to be public. I don’t think his friends knew that he was in there and he wasn’t answering his phone or returning texts…

very sus I appreciate that he was honest with me about him booking a private room for himself, but he said all they did was “talk about life” while he had a beer.

I finally got a hold of him afterwards and he made no sense at all after drinking all night. He was trying to tell me white lies seeming like he was trying to cover something up.

He was also so drunk

I don’t know if it’s the same stripper or another one, but someone from the club was texting him and they were flirting and talking about hanging out.

He claims she wanted to hangout with all of the boys. The messages broke my heart to read and I still can’t imagine what actually happened in that room that he claims he did nothing with the stripper in. I have the girls number and I am so tempted to text her and ask if she knows anything so I can talk to him about it. I just have a gut feeling that he did something with this girl. He also has tried to kiss another girl while very drunk before while we were together, so I am having a hard time trusting him.

I want to contact her and ask what happened, but I want to just take his word for it and try to work through this anxiety. I know he has broken our trust already, but that would be crossing a huge line for me to pry like that.

 I never thought I’d say this, but ever since I got into a relationship, I find that more women flirt with me than ever before.

It’s like they can smell my newfound confidence and it draws them in.

At first, I was pretty taken aback when I started to notice the change. I had just started dating my girlfriend and I thought that I would be off-limits to other women. But, instead, I suddenly found myself in a situation where I was getting more attention from the ladies than I had ever before.

It started with compliments from friends and acquaintances. They would comment on my new-found happiness and how I seemed to be more confident in myself. But then I started to notice that women I didn’t even know were giving me more attention. I would be out with my girlfriend and women would come up to me and start talking, telling me how attractive I was and inviting me to hang out with them. I was so surprised – I had never experienced anything like it.

At first, I was a little worried that my girlfriend would be mad at me for getting so much attention from other women. But then I realized that this was a compliment to her too. After all, she was the one that had made me so happy and confident in the first place. She was the one that had made me attractive to other women. So, instead of feeling guilty, I embraced it.

I started to feel like I was more attractive and I enjoyed the attention I was getting from the ladies. It felt good to be able to turn heads and have people look at me differently. I started to feel like I was more desirable and that I had something to offer.

But then I started to think a little more deeply about why I was getting so much attention from other women. After some reflection, I realized that it was because of my newfound confidence. I had been in a relationship and I had grown to love and accept myself more. I was happier and more comfortable with who I was and this made me more attractive to others.

I also started to realize that the attention I was getting from other women wasn’t a bad thing. It wasn’t a sign that I was cheating on my girlfriend or that I was looking for something else. Instead, it was a sign that I was doing something right.

I was radiating confidence and it was attracting other women to me.

I’m not saying that I encourage people to go out and get into relationships just so they can get more attention from the ladies. But I do think that if you find yourself in a happy, healthy relationship, you should embrace the attention that comes with it. It’s a sign that you’re doing something right and that you’re more attractive and desirable than ever before.

….Or become a Shopee Seller and “get rich quick” (if your ethics allow).

Here’s what happened to me:

– Bought item with a 6-month warranty stated in listing. I screenshot it before purchasing.

– Item malfunctioned at 4 months, seller changed warranty in listing to 3 months.

– Presented proof of original ad that stated 6-month warranty, Seller agreed to fix it without cost. Thus I sent item to seller to fix. I had to pay for the delivery btw.

– After chasing for 2 months, seller “fixed” item and demanded $95 repair fee + shipping. Went silent when confronted.

– Contacted Shopee for assistance, it took Shopee an additional 2 months and over 20 emails before informing me that the shop agreed to a “compromise” of $15 Repair fee.

– Told Shopee I should not be responsible for any payment as the item is under warranty and I have provided all evidence numerous times. The so-called “compromise” is not valid at all.

– Asked Shopee what happens if Seller sends back a faulty replacement if I did actually pay the $15, given that it has already been held hostage by the Seller for more than 4 months. Shopee shrugged it off as “not our taiji” as its a “buyer-seller” matter.

As the scammer seller, your profit is as follows:

1. Keep the initial payment made by the victim to purchase the item.
2. Retain possession of the item when the victim sends it back for “repair”.
3. Have the opportunity to send a faulty junk back to the victim and potentially receive additional money under the pretense of a “repair fee”.
4. Avoid receiving a negative rating on the product since the rating window would have expired by the time the item malfunctions.
5. Minimum time required, may even work as a side hustle because its the victim who has to spend time chasing Shopee for justice, not you.

This process can be repeated for multiple products without facing any penalties from Shopee. #profittt

The Police are investigating five men and two women, aged between 24 and 59, for their suspected involvement in a series of holiday travel package scams.

Between March to May 2023, the Police received multiple reports from victims who had purportedly been cheated by an online travel agency for what appears to be sham travel packages. After receiving the payments via money transfers, the company did not fulfil the agreed service and became uncontactable. At least 48 victims were cheated of a total sum amounting to at least $1.7 million.

Through follow-up investigations, officers from Woodlands Police Division established the identities of seven suspects and commenced investigations against them.

Out of the 7 suspects, a 29-year-old man was charged in court on 26 May 2023 for his suspected involvement in unauthorised disclosure of access code under Section 8(1) of the Computer Misuse Act 1993. The offence carries a fine not exceeding $10,000, an imprisonment term not exceeding three years, or both, for first-time offenders; and a fine not exceeding $20,000, an imprisonment term not exceeding five years, or both, for subsequent convictions.

The Police would like to advise members of the public to take the following precautions when engaging online services:

1. Check with the Singapore Tourism Board and the National Association of Travel Agents whether a vendor is an accredited travel agent, and buy air tickets only from authorised sellers or reputable sources.
   
2. If the price is too good to be true, it probably is. Purchase from authorised sellers or reputable sources.
   
3. Whenever possible, avoid making advance payments or direct bank transfers to the service providers.
   
4. Scammers may entice buyers to make deposits before the services are provided, and they may also use a local bank account or provide a copy of a NRIC/driver’s licence to make you believe that they are genuine sellers. Do not fall for it!

For more information on scams, members of the public can visit scamalert.sg or call the Anti-Scam Hotline at 1800-722-6688. Anyone with information on such scams may call the Police hotline at 1800-255 0000 or submit information online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness.