News Forum - Record number of Thai people travelling abroad

[Thaiger]

Most tourism discussions in Thailand centre around incoming international travellers to the kingdom. But Thai people are also travelling abroad in record numbers, the highest in three years. In the last quarter of 2022, an average of 28,000 Thai people are travelling outbound each day to other countries. That average has already climbed a bit in the first 20 days of December to 28,800 per day. Over the 10-day peak New Year period, that total is predicted to jump up to 33,400 Thai people leaving the country each day. These are by far the highest figures outbound travel has seen […]

The story Record number of Thai people travelling abroad as seen on Thaiger News.

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[Soidog]

Who can blame them! 

[palooka]

27 minutes ago, Soidog said:

Who can blame them! 

The alternative: stay at home, have the 10% thugs harass you, watch your family slowly go down the gurgler.

OR make a break and try to fix it.  Bet 90% are females heading overseas. The men tend to hit the bottle or become a monk.

There is not a great deal of work in rural Thailand at the moment, everyone is "broke". 

See a lot of started projects that stopped, no money, see a few transport companies selling their trucks, (sugar season just kicking off) so things are bad.

Some growers say they will be lucky to break even this year.

Mother-in-law (owns the local store) complains daily about everything going up, but by 20%, so inflation is going to run rampant in this poorly fiscally run country, and the Govt will play hard ball and the populace will suffer.

Not a bright future I'm thinking, so escape OS is a great choice.

[Soidog]

58 minutes ago, palooka said:

The alternative: stay at home, have the 10% thugs harass you, watch your family slowly go down the gurgler.

OR make a break and try to fix it.  Bet 90% are females heading overseas. The men tend to hit the bottle or become a monk.

There is not a great deal of work in rural Thailand at the moment, everyone is "broke". 

See a lot of started projects that stopped, no money, see a few transport companies selling their trucks, (sugar season just kicking off) so things are bad.

Some growers say they will be lucky to break even this year.

Mother-in-law (owns the local store) complains daily about everything going up, but by 20%, so inflation is going to run rampant in this poorly fiscally run country, and the Govt will play hard ball and the populace will suffer.

Not a bright future I'm thinking, so escape OS is a great choice.

I simply do not believe the figures that come out of the Thai government. I’m sure they don’t have an independent organisation publishing fiscal data. In 2020 they claimed the GDP fell by just 8.2% compared to the U.K. which fell 10.4%. How can a country that relies so heavily on tourism 20% GDP (12% foreign and 8% domestic) claim only an 8.2% decline during 2020?

Im convinced Thailand massages its official data. What appear to be independent figures such as the IMF are largely based on data supplied by the government. Smoke and mirrors for sure.   The government are just hoping and praying nothing comes along that exposes the underlying mess.  

[Ramanathan.P]

Nearly 80% of those traveling abroad will not come back in the near future. They are looking for greener pasture for income. 

[Soidog]

4 minutes ago, Ramanathan.P said:

Nearly 80% of those traveling abroad will not come back in the near future. They are looking for greener pasture for income. 

I agree. I do hope they have the correct visas and don’t plan on overstaying for a few days. Wouldn’t want the local “Big Joke” to go after them and publish their names all over the media spreading fear of Thais in the local community. 

[socal]

On 12/25/2022 at 12:27 AM, Ramanathan.P said:

Nearly 80% of those traveling abroad will not come back in the near future. They are looking for greener pasture for income. 

They will soon find out that they are better off home. The romantic days of the 3rd world stiff making it big in the west is long gone. Their economies are catching up to ours while we catch down. 

 

What are they gonna do. Move to some place with a realestate hyper bubble along with 30+ year high inflation? 

[Faraday]

                     Nonsensical post removed

                                 Moderator

[Marc26]

15 hours ago, socal said:

They will soon find out that they are better off home. The romantic days of the 3rd world stiff making it big in the west is long gone. Their economies are catching up to ours while we catch down. 

What are they gonna do. Move to some place with a realestate hyper bubble along with 30+ year high inflation? 

Although I agree with you with their economies are catching up and I do think there are good opportunities in Thailand(especially cheap entry into starting your own business)

People with limited education can still make boatloads more money in the West than they can in Thailand

(Actually let me correct that and add people with higher educations can still make way more money in the West than in Thailand)

 

My wife works at a small Thai restaurant(the owner has 4 of them) and she makes around 140-150k baht/mo

 

The chefs there went to culinary school in Thailand and both of them are now 25% owners and make well over 100k cad/year

[Soidog]

1 hour ago, Marc26 said:

Although I agree with you with their economies are catching up and I do think there are good opportunities in Thailand(especially cheap entry into starting your own business)

People with limited education can still make boatloads more money in the West than they can in Thailand

(Actually let me correct that and add people with higher educations can still make way more money in the West than in Thailand)

My wife works at a small Thai restaurant(the owner has 4 of them) and she makes around 140-150k baht/mo

The chefs there went to culinary school in Thailand and both of them are now 25% owners and make well over 100k cad/year

I agree. It’s all too easy for people who have already made their money and got their western financial safety net in place to think the home country is crap and being able to buy a coconut on the street makes Thailand heaven on earth. That’s not how Thais feel when it comes to the prosperity of they and their family. Sheer arrogance to think otherwise. So yes, totally agree. 

[Marc26]

46 minutes ago, Soidog said:

I agree. It’s all too easy for people who have already made their money and got their western financial safety net in place to think the home country is crap and being able to buy a coconut on the street makes Thailand heaven on earth. That’s not how Thais feel when it comes to the prosperity of they and their family. Sheer arrogance to think otherwise. So yes, totally agree. 

But further to @socal post, I do think it's not " the end all and be all" to come West, as well

Especially if you are educated.

So I do partly agree with his post

 

My stepson graduates next year.

He will come to US/or Canada to see his options but there is no guarantee he will stay

 

But I don't think staying in Thailand would put him at a disadvantage either.

I mentioned the low cost barrier of starting your own business

He will graduate with a Physical Therapy degree

I could see him working for 4-5 years, gaining experience and then possibly opening his own clinic, simply because the cost barrier would be so much lower to do so in Thailand

 

 

[Soidog]

45 minutes ago, Marc26 said:

But further to @socal post, I do think it's not " the end all and be all" to come West, as well

Especially if you are educated.

So I do partly agree with his post

My stepson graduates next year.

He will come to US/or Canada to see his options but there is no guarantee he will stay

But I don't think staying in Thailand would put him at a disadvantage either.

I mentioned the low cost barrier of starting your own business

He will graduate with a Physical Therapy degree

I could see him working for 4-5 years, gaining experience and then possibly opening his own clinic, simply because the cost barrier would be so much lower to do so in Thailand

Yes I agree with that. If you are lucky enough to have a stepfather who no doubt helped get him through a good university and gain a good degree as well as gain some valuable experience overseas, then he can return and have a good life. That’s not an option for many though. Hence going overseas to work as a labourer or in a factory is a good option. 

[Marc26]

20 minutes ago, Soidog said:

Yes I agree with that. If you are lucky enough to have a stepfather who no doubt helped get him through a good university and gain a good degree as well as gain some valuable experience overseas, then he can return and have a good life. That’s not an option for many though. Hence going overseas to work as a labourer or in a factory is a good option. 

For sure, it's a no brainer with people with less education(even a lot of times with higher education because they make a lot more as a waitress or hotel worker than professional job in Thailand

 

 

But, I would balk somewhat at the "stepfather" role

Yes, in our case it is 100% true

But you'd be surprised at how many students at these Universities are much more well off than myself, even with a very well paying job

 

My stepson is not even close to the "richest"

Although I suspect a lot of these "rich" Thais aren't as rich as how much they spoil their kids would indicate

 

I am more of "keep him lean" philosophy

I scraped by in college and he should to

He doesn't starve and has enough for beers a couple times per week...........that's more than enough

[socal]

47 minutes ago, Soidog said:

. Hence going overseas to work as a labourer or in a factory is a good option. 

For ppl near the bottom rung , that's always true. Whether it's a factory in Taiwan or working on the seas. They can see the world as they work.

But this discussion started about Thais who can afford to travel. Which means they are part of the middle class. For those ppl , moving from middle class Thailand to compete in the middle class in the west , is a downgrade. And not worth it.

[Marc26]

21 minutes ago, socal said:

 

But this discussion started about Thais who can afford to travel. Which means they are part of the middle class. For those ppl , moving from middle class Thailand to compete in the middle class in the west , is a downgrade. And not worth it.

Again I would disagree

Most of my wife's Thai friends in Vancouver come from middle to upper middle class families in Thailand

Most went to University in Thailand, a lot went to International high schools

 

And they make far more working at Thai restaurants here than they would as well compensated professional workers in Thailand

 

Now that doesn't mean they would have bad lifes staying in Thailand, most would be more than fine

But even with the higher costs, they make way more here and can save more than they would in Thailand

[Soidog]

1 hour ago, Marc26 said:

For sure, it's a no brainer with people with less education(even a lot of times with higher education because they make a lot more as a waitress or hotel worker than professional job in Thailand

But, I would balk somewhat at the "stepfather" role

Yes, in our case it is 100% true

But you'd be surprised at how many students at these Universities are much more well off than myself, even with a very well paying job

My stepson is not even close to the "richest"

Although I suspect a lot of these "rich" Thais aren't as rich as how much they spoil their kids would indicate

I am more of "keep him lean" philosophy

I scraped by in college and he should to

He doesn't starve and has enough for beers a couple times per week...........that's more than enough

Yes, I wasn’t meaning in comparison to other students at the same university. I was meaning those from Thai families who can’t afford to send their kids to university. Those kids have limited choice but to work abroad if they want to earn good money and support the family back home.  

[Soidog]

43 minutes ago, socal said:

But this discussion started about Thais who can afford to travel. Which means they are part of the middle class. For those ppl , moving from middle class Thailand to compete in the middle class in the west , is a downgrade. And not worth it.

I disagree. I know many Thais who come from poor rice farming backgrounds who simply saved enough for a one way ticket to South Korea or even Europe and simply work illegally. In South Korea these Thais are known as ”Little Ghosts”.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/special-reports/1760634/plight-of-little-ghosts-in-south-korea

[socal]

20 minutes ago, Marc26 said:

Again I would disagree

Most of my wife's Thai friends in Vancouver come from middle to upper middle class families in Thailand

Most went to University in Thailand, a lot went to International high schools

And they make far more working at Thai restaurants here than they would as well compensated professional workers in Thailand

Now that doesn't mean they would have bad lifes staying in Thailand, most would be more than fine

But even with the higher costs, they make way more here and can save more than they would in Thailand

Those times have passed. 

The official average price to rent a 1 bedroom condo in Vancouver is $2500. https://www.zumper.com/rent-research/vancouver-bc

The average salary is $45,600. 

I live here and have lived in Edmonton too. Edmonton is one of the last places that is still maybe worth it. I know everyone thinks it sucks but it liked it.

Even Calgary has Vancouver vibes now. Overly competitive , expensive and saturated.

[Bluesofa]

On 12/24/2022 at 4:23 PM, Thaiger said:

Record number of Thai people travelling abroad

Won't someone be getting in trouble with the police? According to an earlier news article:
'Police ordered not to name nationalities' - unless it's not a crime to travel abroad.
https://talk.thethaiger.com/topic/20264-news-forum-police-ordered-not-to-name-nationalities-arrest-swedish-man-with-gun-and-meth/ 

 

[Marc26]

5 hours ago, Soidog said:

Yes, I wasn’t meaning in comparison to other students at the same university. I was meaning those from Thai families who can’t afford to send their kids to university. Those kids have limited choice but to work abroad if they want to earn good money and support the family back home.  

Yes kids that can afford University are far outnumbered by 100x than kids that can 

 

We took about 9 kids out for BBQ his freshman year and all but him had to drop out because of finances

And Public University i osnly around 80-100k/

 

Where if you don't get into one of the better public universities you have to pay a whole lot more for private 

[Marc26]

4 hours ago, socal said:

Those times have passed. 

The official average price to rent a 1 bedroom condo in Vancouver is $2500. https://www.zumper.com/rent-research/vancouver-bc

The average salary is $45,600. 

I live here and have lived in Edmonton too. Edmonton is one of the last places that is still maybe worth it. I know everyone thinks it sucks but it liked it.

Even Calgary has Vancouver vibes now. Overly competitive , expensive and saturated.

I personally know 50+ who currently do it from one restaurant group now

 

And my wife make about only 60% of what she used to make(and could make) when she worked in a proper sit down Thai restaurant 

 

X's that by the 100 Thai restaurants all over Vancouver 

 

X's that by the hotel workers or the Uber Eats drivers

 

It hasn't passed, I'm living in that world now 

[Marc26]

5 hours ago, socal said:

Those times have passed. 

The official average price to rent a 1 bedroom condo in Vancouver is $2500. https://www.zumper.com/rent-research/vancouver-bc

The average salary is $45,600. 

I live here and have lived in Edmonton too. Edmonton is one of the last places that is still maybe worth it. I know everyone thinks it sucks but it liked it.

Even Calgary has Vancouver vibes now. Overly competitive , expensive and saturated.

 But that living experience is not your average Thai workers experience and expenses 

 

As you would know, most Thais share living spaces

 

With the exception of the girl's that are married to farangs, all the other Thais are living with other Thais

And they are making more than enough with shared rental expenses to save plenty of money 

 

But your figures are absolutely correct for everyday people in Vancouver 

I honestly don't know how a "regular joe" gets by

Well most do by being in relationships with 2 partners earning money, I'd assume