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Facebook post written in Florida lands US man in United Arab Emirates jail

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Re: Facebook post written in Florida lands US man in United Arab Emirates jail

#51

Post by subliminalpanda »

level09 wrote: post #22
subliminalpanda wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Low cost of living, high salary and no income tax. My sister works as an attorney for a global law firm in Dubai, and the attitude that westerners have there is like they're exploiting a rainforest for its goods. You move there for 4 or 5 years, rack up a huge sum and head back to your country of origin with a huge chunk of change. Although I imagine for Americans this will be more difficult now with FACTA laws.

>Low cost of living Not really true http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings.jsp however, many companies offer housing as part of their packages.

Precisely. And for many western expats, their package deals also include schooling for their children as well if they have them, and a company car.

Besides food and utilities you're pocketing all the money you earn.

Re: Facebook post written in Florida lands US man in United Arab Emirates jail

#52

Post by subliminalpanda »

noonespecial wrote: post #29
TillE wrote: post #4

I really can't understand why well-off Westerners continue to work in or visit the UAE, Qatar, etc. You have a choice. Unless you're doing some kind of humanitarian or cultural work which actually requires you to be there, stay the hell away.

A friend of mine teaches at an international school in Abu Dhabi. He's fond of saying that its a thoroughly modern place but its not quite civilized . Don't mistake one for the other.

You have to make the distinction between modern amenities and governance.

You get a lot of glitz and luxuries, but you always have to keep in mind that the region is still ruled with a Bedouin mentality (I say this as an Omani national).

Re: Facebook post written in Florida lands US man in United Arab Emirates jail

#53

Post by level09 »

ghostly_s wrote: post #40
enraged_camel wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah. My cousin works in Qatar and while his salary is around $50,000, he lives in a 4-bedroom condo on the top floor that overlooks the ocean and his company pays for it.

50k (even cash) is not nearly enough for the tradeoff of life in a regime like UAE to be worth it.

Don't really think that guy was getting a 50K package.

The salary I can imagine for an American engineer working in Abu Dhabi would be a minimum of 100,000 - 180,000+ USD , and it is tax free (usually comes with additional benefits).

Abu Dhabi is a rich city (they got oil) and they usually pay more than Dubai.

Source: I live here, and run a startup and work with multiple companies and consultants.

Re: Facebook post written in Florida lands US man in United Arab Emirates jail

#54

Post by paulsutter »

> Ryan Pate ... is accused of slandering his employer, which is illegal in the Emirates... He wrote in December about his superiors at Global Aerospace Logistics being "backstabbers."

Slander is making /false/ defamatory statements. By reporting him to the police on his return trip, his superiors have proven themselves to be backstabbers.

Where's the slander?

Re: Facebook post written in Florida lands US man in United Arab Emirates jail

#56

Post by gaius »

asadlionpk wrote: post #10
Sanddancer wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, and you'll be working to train your replacement the entire time [1]. So maybe their complaint is going to be that they're not backstabbers, but that you're signing up to be gutted when you take the job. [1] http://www.gal.ae/emir.aspx

They are thinking good for their countrymen. I don't see why that is wrongdoing. Their non-Emirati employees do get paid for their work while they are there.

And they are honest and upfront about it, many Western companies aren't.

Re: Facebook post written in Florida lands US man in United Arab Emirates jail

#57

Post by marincounty »

_nedR wrote: post #27
b0sk wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Money and low taxes. Reason why thousands of people from Asia work in the middle-east despite piss-poor conditions. EDIT: Sorry, I didn't read "well-off". Still, more money is the answer.

>>Money and low taxes More like no taxes. From what i heard, they have no sales tax, or income tax (including companies). And a flat 5% duty on all duty (with that even exempted on certain goods such as computers).

I thought expats(American) were required to pay U.S. taxes?

https://americansabroad.org/issues/taxation/us-taxes-while-l...

Re: Facebook post written in Florida lands US man in United Arab Emirates jail

#58

Post by ilitirit »

I'm always amused by the typical comments posted after every story like this. Yes, many places in the ME do have some really archaic laws, but you're more likely to have to get arrested and forced to pay a bribe in places like Thailand, China, many African and South American countries etc. In Thailand you can get arrested for insulting the king (and I won't be surprised if they'd do that over a FaceBook post written in a different country). However, it's not often you hear people advise westerners against going there.

Re: Facebook post written in Florida lands US man in United Arab Emirates jail

#59

Post by realusername »

subliminalpanda wrote: post #21
TillE wrote: post #4

I really can't understand why well-off Westerners continue to work in or visit the UAE, Qatar, etc. You have a choice. Unless you're doing some kind of humanitarian or cultural work which actually requires you to be there, stay the hell away.

Low cost of living, high salary and no income tax. My sister works as an attorney for a global law firm in Dubai, and the attitude that westerners have there is like they're exploiting a rainforest for its goods. You move there for 4 or 5 years, rack up a huge sum and head back to your country of origin with a huge chunk of change. Although I imagine for Americans this will be more difficult now with FACTA laws.

High salary yes but until you get in a jail for a random reason and then it's just a number on your bank account.

Re: Facebook post written in Florida lands US man in United Arab Emirates jail

#60

Post by peterjancelis »

ilitirit wrote: post #58

I'm always amused by the typical comments posted after every story like this. Yes, many places in the ME do have some really archaic laws, but you're more likely to have to get arrested and forced to pay a bribe in places like Thailand, China, many African and South American countries etc. In Thailand you can get arrested for insulting the king (and I won't be surprised if they'd do that over a FaceBook post written…

The fact that you can pay it off with a bribe makes it much less threatening.
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