Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Working Remotely From A Tropical Island In Thailand

blog.mobilejazz.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

131–140 of 197 posts

Re: Working Remotely From A Tropical Island In Thailand

#131

Post by borgia »

needaremotegig wrote: post #129
hajrice wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> So I'm in a bit of a jam at the moment, and would like to ask for your help with finding a one-off or part-time gig to stay afloat. I've already tried most of the remote job sites [1]. >> My rate is $150 per hour, and is not negotiable. I can usually commit to 20 hours per week, but I will be available for full-time work (60 hours per week) over the next few weeks. So you're stuck in Thailand, turn to help on Hack…

I'm hoping to attract serious clients who value high-quality work. I do have a little bit of a buffer. My client's site is also profitable, so they'll be able to pay me in the next few weeks. But I'll have to ease back the hours with them, so am looking for some more projects.

A company in most states across the US and throughout the entirety of Europe could pay a full time staff member with the same skills and experience you have the same amount you want per week ($3k) to work full time for them with significantly less hassle involved.

I think it's obvious why you're finding demand to be so low when you've set your price so high.

The amount you want for 60 hours a week ($9k) could get two extremely experienced engineers and provide them with a massive bonus incentive on top of their salary almost anywhere in the world.

It comes across as a bit delusional.

Re: Working Remotely From A Tropical Island In Thailand

#132

Post by borgia »

wila wrote: post #109
namuol wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In general, it is legal to work remotely in Thailand, unless your clientele/employer are Thai. The purpose of the law [1] was to prevent foreign workers from displacing native Thai workers, and "digital nomads" do nothing of the sort. This becomes clear if you pay attention to the punishments imposed by the law; they concern Thai employers , not the alien workers, alone. [1]: http://www.thailandlawonline.com/translat…

It's OK to work while on holidays. Eg. you can check your email and do a bit of work to keep things going at home, it's not legal, but it is understood to happen and you'll be fine. Full time work however is NOT allowed without a working permit. Your link at [1] even confirms that at pretty much the first line. There is no specific exclusion for "remote work".

>Full time work however is NOT allowed without a working permit.

If you're being paid through an account back home and are working in a villa you've rented, it would be very hard for them to prove you're actually there working full time, would it not?

Re: Working Remotely From A Tropical Island In Thailand

#133

Post by [deleted] »

iolothebard wrote: post #28
eyeareque wrote: post #16

I worked remotely from Tahiti for a few months. It was an amazing experience that I'll always cherish. Now I just need to convince my new boss to let me do this again somewhere else. For those of you in the pacific time zone (sf bay). If you're interested in doing this, I recommend Tahiti or Hawaii. It's three hours off from pacific time during the summer months but only 2 hours off during winter. You can easily work…

Lol, 8am Pacific Time. If the developers I worked with were in by 10am scrum I was surprised. I called it CA time. Roll in at 10am, 1.5-2 hour lunch, surprisingly most everyone gone at 5pm because kids or something else. My coworkers would ask me how many hours I was working, to which I'd reply 40. How many are you working?

[deleted]

Re: Working Remotely From A Tropical Island In Thailand

#134

Post by needaremotegig »

borgia wrote: post #131
needaremotegig wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm hoping to attract serious clients who value high-quality work. I do have a little bit of a buffer. My client's site is also profitable, so they'll be able to pay me in the next few weeks. But I'll have to ease back the hours with them, so am looking for some more projects.

A company in most states across the US and throughout the entirety of Europe could pay a full time staff member with the same skills and experience you have the same amount you want per week ($3k) to work full time for them with significantly less hassle involved. I think it's obvious why you're finding demand to be so low when you've set your price so high. The amount you want for 60 hours a week ($9k) could get two…

I understand where you're coming from.

I've been working with my current client for the last 3 months. He brought me on at $150 per hour after he had to fire his previous contractors, and I've been cleaning up their mess ever since. I've heard of quite a few situations like this, but I'm sure that there are cheaper developers out there who are doing great work.

Demand for part-time + remote jobs seems to be pretty low in general, but I don't think my rate is the issue.

I am able to charge this much because of my experience with startups, and my open source contributions. I was an early engineer at a startup which is now worth over $500 million, and I'm currently the CTO at my own startup.

Obviously networking is one of my major weaknesses, and I need to work on that.

Re: Working Remotely From A Tropical Island In Thailand

#135

Post by b1twise »

I work remote, and worked even more remotely for a year. Yeah, this was just a 2mo bit of fun. Great. But longer stays in Thailand quickly run into immigration law.

If you're having power outages or brownouts, you want voltage regulators and UPS'. Bad power will wreck your electronics. It's good to have a backup internet connection as well. I've had outages lasting up to 3 weeks, and what are you really going to do about it to motivate a telephone company to work faster?

The 37signals people created a short book about working remotely. At about the same time as I was having problems with someone not overlapping their hours with the rest of the team, their book pointed out the same issue. If you don't overlap, people will become isolated in a very bad way. If you hire someone you just have to clarify the expected hours upfront.

Re: Working Remotely From A Tropical Island In Thailand

#136

Post by namenotrequired »

eyeareque wrote: post #16

I worked remotely from Tahiti for a few months. It was an amazing experience that I'll always cherish. Now I just need to convince my new boss to let me do this again somewhere else. For those of you in the pacific time zone (sf bay). If you're interested in doing this, I recommend Tahiti or Hawaii. It's three hours off from pacific time during the summer months but only 2 hours off during winter. You can easily work…

I have a similar story. My contact was about to run out, and they offered me a better one. I said, I'd love to stay but I've already booked two months in Brazil.

I knew they didn't like having remote workers, but for a contract extension they were willing to do it. So I spent two months working from beautiful Brazil and had a raise waiting for me when I came back.

Moral of the story - there might be a way to work from a distance for a while after all even with employers that don't normally allow it.

Re: Working Remotely From A Tropical Island In Thailand

#137

Post by knob »

ben_pr wrote: post #8

I'm in Puerto Rico, moved here from the states two years ago. There are a number of tax incentives for people wanting to start tech companies here. Google Puerto Rico Act 20. Short version: "Act 20 offers a four (4)% corporate tax rate for Puerto Rican businesses providing services for exportation, 100% tax-exempt dividends from earnings and profits derived from the export services income of eligible businesses, and…

Hey ben, Would like to ask you a couple of questions from PR. Any email I can contact you at?

Re: Working Remotely From A Tropical Island In Thailand

#138

Post by ximi »

borgia wrote: post #132
wila wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's OK to work while on holidays. Eg. you can check your email and do a bit of work to keep things going at home, it's not legal, but it is understood to happen and you'll be fine. Full time work however is NOT allowed without a working permit. Your link at [1] even confirms that at pretty much the first line. There is no specific exclusion for "remote work".

>Full time work however is NOT allowed without a working permit. If you're being paid through an account back home and are working in a villa you've rented, it would be very hard for them to prove you're actually there working full time, would it not?

Doesn't make it any more or less legal though.

Re: Working Remotely From A Tropical Island In Thailand

#139

Post by ben_pr »

knob wrote: post #137
ben_pr wrote: post #8

I'm in Puerto Rico, moved here from the states two years ago. There are a number of tax incentives for people wanting to start tech companies here. Google Puerto Rico Act 20. Short version: "Act 20 offers a four (4)% corporate tax rate for Puerto Rican businesses providing services for exportation, 100% tax-exempt dividends from earnings and profits derived from the export services income of eligible businesses, and…

Hey ben, Would like to ask you a couple of questions from PR. Any email I can contact you at?

Try ben roadrunner io.

Add the @ and . in the above.

Domain for one of my future micro services frameworks projects.

Re: Working Remotely From A Tropical Island In Thailand

#140

Post by dustingetz »

franrull wrote: post #115
[deleted] wrote: post #66

[deleted]

For a person trying to make a point about having a legal business in Thailand (sorry for the fortune spent) and hiring local people, you're actually being quite offensive calling them local retards. I'm sure those "retards" are not so much retarded if you actually funded a profitable company there, dou *bag. Or was it just because your charming personality?

-1 his post furthered the discussion, yours does not
Post reply on HN