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.