What are the job prospects for senior foreign professionals in Thailand during the pandemic?

expat employment Thailand job market foreign professionals visa categories pandemic impact professional opportunities Thai language requirements Thailand work permits executive recruitment

May 31, 2021

4 years ago

Jack *********

ORIGINAL POSTER

Hello all,

Questions for the executive headhunters of this group:

1) What are the chances of a senior non-Thai professional with significant international, albeit non-Thailand, experience to make a career move to Thailand, considering the pandemic and its impact on the economy everywhere in the world?

2) If somebody is in Thailand on a Tourist or Elite Visa, would the companies consider this person more compared to those who are not in Thailand?

Thanks a million in advance.

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TLDR : Answer Summary

The post discusses the challenges and considerations for senior non-Thai professionals looking to work in Thailand during the pandemic. Key points include the need for significant advantages over Thai counterparts for senior positions, the minimal impact of location due to remote interviews, and the debate over the necessity of Thai language fluency for career success in Thailand. Some commenters highlight the age restrictions in job postings and the general reluctance of companies to hire foreign professionals not already in Thailand.

Greg ********

I was in Thailand on a retirement extension when the recruiter approached me through Linkedin. They actually thought I was in Singapore but then when it was known I was in Thailand it helped. I went into the office for 3 face to face interviews and one online from office to Singapore.

4 years ago

Bobby ********

Fluency in Thai would be the greatest skill for a senior executive position.

4 years ago

Greg ********

@Bobby *******

I have to disagree here. We have C-Suite, VP's, Directors here in Thailand and I am not aware of any being able to speak Thai. We have over 15,000 employees in the country. A Japanese MNC.

4 years ago

Bobby ********

Greg Bewick. I'll stand corrected on that as I know your knowledge on these matters far exceeds most if not all in this group. My only experience is with two acquaintances here (one from banking, one from insurance) both of whom received mega redundancy payouts some years back from very senior positions in their respective industries, retired to Thailand, and subsequently got bored and "fiddled" with the prospect of returning to work in Thailand. Both have failed, and have put it down to their lack of Thai speaking skills. But they're only two and the numbers you are quoting would be more representative of what's actually happening

4 years ago

Reply to

Bobby ********

Derek *******

Lots of Thai job ads in LinkedIn specifically say only for people under 35 (or 30), unfortunately for us. Even if it’s for a senior position, it will often say Thai only too (or at least must be fluent in Thai).

4 years ago

Michael ********

I would say it makes no difference where you are at the moment as companies are conducting interviews in zoom, teams etc because of the companies covid policies.

4 years ago

Garrett ***********

So there are many professions in Thailand that are restricted to Thais. For a senior level position that is open to Forigners, you need to have a significant advantage over the Thai counterpart with the cost, visa, workpermiting issues to deal with.

Most non teaching positions I see forigners in are in the tech space, SEO, software engineering, coding, ext.

#2 Depends on what they're looking for, teaching positions almost never get hired from abroad.

4 years ago

Reply to

Garrett ***********

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