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Earlier quoted context omitted.
Or Saigon - had a great time there. http://blog.alexmaccaw.com/traveling-writing-and-programming
I'm actually in Saigon right now! Do you have any recommendations for spaces to work? I am trying SaigonHUB on Monday.
Thanks for the post, I now feel like I want to do similar thing sometime in my life. Is there any other interesting, safe, cheap place where you could live comfortably using at most $1000/month?
Any language barrier issues in Thailand? "English is a mandatory school subject, but the number of fluent speakers remains very low, especially outside the cities." - Wikipedia.
I got by well though, by learning some basic Thai phrases and lots of hand gesturing and pointing.
Any language barrier issues in Thailand? "English is a mandatory school subject, but the number of fluent speakers remains very low, especially outside the cities." - Wikipedia.
In the startup community and the white collar working population, we understand English well enough to understand what you're saying but maybe not converse with you fluently 100% of the time.
EDIT: I'm only referring to Bangkok in this case.
Great write up! I'm thinking of doing the exact same thing. A couple of questions - Why the limitation to being able to only do 6 months? Do they stop renewing your visa after that? Have you looked at other neighbouring countries like Laos, Burma and Cambodia for a similar arrangement?
Presumably also because working somewhere for more than 6 months usually means you are tax resident and the visa is a tourist and not a work visa? Not that it is probably enforced in Thailand.
Thai national here, and as a fellow bootstrapper I would have to agree with most of the points of the OP. The reason why I left my well-paid job in Singapore and come back to Thailand to bootstrap my startup is due to the much lower cost of living and un-tapped talent pool. I'd like to add that the quoted figure of $1,000 USD a month is rather high. Most Thais can get by with $500 USD. That is the current starting sa…
>EDIT: Of course, I'm not exactly familiar with the visa situation since I don't actually need it. Based on the OP, it seems pretty complicated, but still worth the hassle. I lived in Thailand for several years and 'bootstrapping' your business there as a foreigner without a work permit is breaking the law. You need a work permit to do ANY type of work in Thailand and although working out of sight is unlikely to get…
As hackerboos mentioned, it is illegal to "work" here without a work permit. As I understand it, even with a work permit, you're only allowed to "work" at the place that is specified on your work permit and no where else. If you are caught working outside your permitted working location, you can be deported.
It all sounds very harsh but I assume that this is often the way labor laws for foreigners are written by most countries; the main goal is to protect the local work force from unfair outside competition... that's just how it is.
Any advice, from anyone here who knows SF/SV, or has done something like this, about the above, or about what I could do returning to an ungodly housing market, in terms of the time it will take to find something as well as the price, with myself not likely having more than a couple thousand in the bank? And let's say I have ~ $13k now, so maybe I could return with a good enough cushion...
Thai national here, and as a fellow bootstrapper I would have to agree with most of the points of the OP. The reason why I left my well-paid job in Singapore and come back to Thailand to bootstrap my startup is due to the much lower cost of living and un-tapped talent pool. I'd like to add that the quoted figure of $1,000 USD a month is rather high. Most Thais can get by with $500 USD. That is the current starting sa…
>EDIT: Of course, I'm not exactly familiar with the visa situation since I don't actually need it. Based on the OP, it seems pretty complicated, but still worth the hassle. I lived in Thailand for several years and 'bootstrapping' your business there as a foreigner without a work permit is breaking the law. You need a work permit to do ANY type of work in Thailand and although working out of sight is unlikely to get…
2. You can do business meetings from a co-work office.
Now please tell me how being in a co-work office, working for a company incorporated abroad and not accepting local payments, can get one arrested.
Thanks for the post, I now feel like I want to do similar thing sometime in my life. Is there any other interesting, safe, cheap place where you could live comfortably using at most $1000/month?
Props to the OP for being open to exploring a whole different continent. But frankly, there are plenty of university towns right here in the USA that'll fit the OP's 1000 USD budget very well. As a TA in a CS grad program, I made $800 per month. With that money, I lived in a comfortable studio & had everything the OP describes & when I graduated in 2 years, in addition to my Masters degree, I had managed to save $500…
you could merely survive for much less in thailand
Ah, I'm so on the verge of doing this. I quit my programming day job a few weeks ago and really want to make this happen. However... I'm terrified of the SF real estate market when I return. I'm also torn about whether to give up my apartment or find someone to sublet (or AirBnB it?) to have something to return to. Any advice, from anyone here who knows SF/SV, or has done something like this, about the above, or abou…