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What I learnt bootstrapping my startup from Thailand for six months

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Re: What I learnt bootstrapping my startup from Thailand for six months

#161

Post by gotrecruit »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #160
pieterhg wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Re: apartments, that's simply not true. A 1-br apartments in Bangkok is not $1300 - 2000 per month. You might be paying foreigner/expat prices and getting heavily scammed. I found a 1-br apartment 5 mins away from the BTS (public transport) for $300-$500. That's with a pool. And not uncommon. Same with the food, you might have been paying foreigner prices there too. I'd pay $7 for a table full of sushi for one person…

Thai grocery stores are more expensive than (or at least comparable) the states even for raw fruits and vegetables, or rice! And this is at bangkok supermarkets aimed at locals, not even the fancy ones. Americans just don't realize how food they have it. The problem is that Thai taxes are high and there are price supports for farmers so their living standards can improve; they also aren't as mechanized than in the st…

i believe the reason why thai supermarkets are so expensive is because the erm.. "real" thais buy their stuff from the street wet markets, rather than air-conditioned supermarkets. places like Tops are meant for expats, tourists, rich locals, etc.

Re: What I learnt bootstrapping my startup from Thailand for six months

#162

Post by moepstar »

mattront wrote: post #137

Education visa is a good option for staying long-term in Thailand. You just need to enrol into a course (usually 60 to 180 hour Thai language or English language course) and that will give you 15 months visa that can be extended for up to 5 years. Total cost for 15 months is around 1000 USD and you don't have to leave the country every couple of months. Just Google "thailand education visa". It's also a good way to l…

Does that have any limitations, though? Like an age limit?

Re: What I learnt bootstrapping my startup from Thailand for six months

#163

Post by pieterhg »

gotrecruit wrote: post #161
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thai grocery stores are more expensive than (or at least comparable) the states even for raw fruits and vegetables, or rice! And this is at bangkok supermarkets aimed at locals, not even the fancy ones. Americans just don't realize how food they have it. The problem is that Thai taxes are high and there are price supports for farmers so their living standards can improve; they also aren't as mechanized than in the st…

i believe the reason why thai supermarkets are so expensive is because the erm.. "real" thais buy their stuff from the street wet markets, rather than air-conditioned supermarkets. places like Tops are meant for expats, tourists, rich locals, etc.

Exactly. I'd pay 20 baht (USD 0.60 or EUR 0.40) for 4 bananas from a street vendor or market. I'd pay 10x that in the super market. Super markets here are for the high society, tourists and expats. It's not going to be cheap if you don't assimilate and start living like a local.

Re: What I learnt bootstrapping my startup from Thailand for six months

#164

Post by seanmcdirmid »

pieterhg wrote: post #163
gotrecruit wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i believe the reason why thai supermarkets are so expensive is because the erm.. "real" thais buy their stuff from the street wet markets, rather than air-conditioned supermarkets. places like Tops are meant for expats, tourists, rich locals, etc.

Exactly. I'd pay 20 baht (USD 0.60 or EUR 0.40) for 4 bananas from a street vendor or market. I'd pay 10x that in the super market. Super markets here are for the high society, tourists and expats. It's not going to be cheap if you don't assimilate and start living like a local.

I don't think the wet markets pay taxes or are subject to much gov interference. A lot of Thais buy groceries at Tescos, its not just a "foreigner" thing. You also can't buy everything in a farmer's market, and at any rate, you aren't quite sure what you are getting.

Living in china, we are more worried about safe food than cheap food, not sure if Thailand has similar problems. 便宜没好货，好货不便宜 as they say.

Re: What I learnt bootstrapping my startup from Thailand for six months

#165

Post by hauk1 »

gosukiwi wrote: post #144
hauk1 wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not north?

Well... In a nutshell the north is poor and south is rich and full of international tourism. It's something weird of Argentina as a country, 50% of the population lives only in the capital, Buenos Aires. The capital has always had a lot of power (they used to have access to the only port of the city, so they kept ALL the taxes money, while all other provinces received none and were not allowed to have a port). So, on…

Great thanks! Always wanted to go to Argentina.

Re: What I learnt bootstrapping my startup from Thailand for six months

#166

Post by mattront »

moepstar wrote: post #162
mattront wrote: post #137

Education visa is a good option for staying long-term in Thailand. You just need to enrol into a course (usually 60 to 180 hour Thai language or English language course) and that will give you 15 months visa that can be extended for up to 5 years. Total cost for 15 months is around 1000 USD and you don't have to leave the country every couple of months. Just Google "thailand education visa". It's also a good way to l…

Does that have any limitations, though? Like an age limit?

No age limit. Most courses are run by small private schools that are flexible with how and when you actually study. Education visa can be arranged before coming to Thailand, or for 500 USD you can change your tourist visa to EDU visa while in Thailand.

Re: What I learnt bootstrapping my startup from Thailand for six months

#167

Post by crucialfelix »

dxbydt wrote: post #74
crucialfelix wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$1000/mo in thailand is living WELL. truly paradise, gorgeous weather, go to nice clubs, best beaches in the world. no comparison with just passing time in a university town in the US. you could merely survive for much less in thailand

Am just pointing out that bootstrapping a startup in a university town on 1k USD is definitely doable. You don't have to go all the way to Thailand and flout visa rules(yeah most of those rules are not exactly enforced but they are still on the books)

True, I could even do it here in Berlin for €750. But it's going to be dark and cold soon. And the vitamin d and serotonin will slowly drain from my body. And my productivity and happiness will slowly plummet.

Accordingly, I will go to Bangalore, then further south.

Re: What I learnt bootstrapping my startup from Thailand for six months

#168

Post by saryant »

sasas wrote: post #150
saryant wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you sure about that with Japan? The visa-free entry (at least for Americans) allows business. > A visa is NOT necessary for US passport holders visiting Japan for a short-term stay of less than 90 days with the purpose of tourism and business. http://www.us.emb-japan.go.jp/english/html/travel_and_visa/t...

There appears to be a fine line between "business" (meetings etc) and actually doing productive work for a company entity based in Japan. I don't have clarification on this, and this is only second hand information. On a different note, they do check the frequency of re-entries (on a tourist visa) as I know of one peer who was put into a room at the airport and questioned after re-entering a few times in one year. So…

I'll take your word for, I've only ever entered Japan as a tourist and they really don't look that closely at Americans entering Japan for tourism.

Re: What I learnt bootstrapping my startup from Thailand for six months

#169

Post by Pinatubo »

parennoob wrote: post #123
Pinatubo wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you honestly believe those prostitutes enjoy sleeping with people like you?

If you think enjoyment is a prerequisite to doing a job, then there are several people working on crufty "enterprise" Java-based systems that would love to benefit from your crusade.

My question was in response to this post by the same person:

>"If you dont like sex tourism it is ur mental problem. Feel free to agitate in your europez but please leave my thailand as is. Every girl has a right to do anything and its not your business."

That seemed to imply that the prostitutes had willingly chosen their profession, which led to my question.

Re: What I learnt bootstrapping my startup from Thailand for six months

#170

Post by EarthLaunch »

phillc73 wrote: post #157
EarthLaunch wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The isolation is extreme when it's an unknown language and non-"western" culture. Though I would still consider Ukraine relatively western. I was in Luhans'k, an industrial city with a college district, located near the eastern border with Russia. I worked remotely from a euro-style ($1200/mo) flat. It was 4 years ago. I loved walking around the city in the snow, looking at shops and markets. The local tech scene was…

I believe even better chances in Lviv, in terms of not feeling so isolated. The West of Ukraine is more orientated to the European Union, than the East of Ukraine, which looks towards Russia and has a large ethnic Russian population. My, albeit brief, experience in Lviv was that enough people spoke at least basic English enabling me to communicate. Knowing German also helped in many cases, as did learning at least th…

I think you're right, and I'd love to visit Lviv someday! There is also a lot more art there.
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