Working in Bangkok

As Thailand's capital and centre of commerce and industry, Bangkok holds the most job opportunities for expats in the country. There are several international companies with offices in Bangkok, and there are also specific opportunities such as English language teaching, and I.T. training that can be good jobs for expats in the city.

Prominent job industries 

Bangkok is known for its relatively low cost of living, compared with other cities, such as London and New York. Skilled and experienced expats could be typically found in the industries of finance, and logistics, most foreign people have discovered that teaching the English language is the easiest and the most common way of living in the Thailand Capital.

Job Economy

At a glance, Bangkok shouldn’t be a great place for an expat to live and find work in. The threat of political instability is the highest in the region, right next to Indonesia. The neighbours continue to outshine the Thai economy. The projections of the economy’s growth have been revised to a downward slope due to the anticipation of sales exports that are falling. And in August 2015, a bomb at the “Erawan Shrine” in the central killed 20 and injured more than 120 people.

But in all of the commotion and unpleasant happenings in the city, Bangkok boasts a healthy condominium market; wherein prices climbed in a whopping 14% last year, and this is all according to the Bank of Thailand. The cost of the average rent to a one-bedroom flat in the centre of Bangkok is 21,000 baht, according to Numbeo, the world's largest database of user contributed data about cities and countries worldwide. To buy a similar apartment would cost about 14,000 baht per square foot.

Work Culture

The work culture in Bangkok will not be very strange for foreign expats as the city and most of its residents are familiar with the global workforce culture. Minor things that expats should bare in mind is the form of greeting for Thai workers. The local greeting in the city is with palms pressed together and a slight bow, however, as most locals are aware that expats may not be aware of this, this type of greeting is not strictly observed, but they are appreciated.

Work hours are usually between 8am to 6pm and banks are usually open from 8am to 4pm. The regular work week is from Monday to Friday, and some companies may require a half day work for Saturdays.