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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

#31

Post by pieterhg »

robertlf wrote: post #25

Very informative post. I only have two questions. First, how difficult it is to get a good Internet connection there? Can you buy a "hotspot" device? Also, what about healthcare? If you get sick, can you get access to good medical care at a reasonable price?

You can get a 3G data card for $20/m from TRUE. That gives you fast 3G in all major city areas, and free ridiculously fast Wi-Fi all-over Bangkok. I'd upload 2GB videos for my YouTube channel daily on those connections. If there was no Wi-Fi, I'd tether my MBP to my iPhone's 3G connection. The network was always faster than I've ever experienced in Amsterdam.

I can not advice about your particular healthcare situation, but I'm a Dutch national on a standard Netherlands healthcare plan. That means I have worldwide coverage and all treatments are covered up to the price that the same treatment would cost at home. The Thai private hospitals are usually cheaper than those in my country while offering a ridiculously luxurious service. That means I pay nothing.

Fortunately, I haven't stayed there a lot. Only once, for food poisoning, when I visited Thailand a few years ago.

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

#32

Post by jamornh »

scheff wrote: post #22
jamornh wrote: post #17

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…

Any suggestions on how to avoid the 'tourist tax'? Are there westerners set up over there to help other westerners find cheap rentals, etc?

The "tourist tax" is quite difficult to circumvent. The best way is to make close local friends and get them to do all your ordering or negotiations for you. Normally food and drink prices are clearly written and are not over-priced unless you're at a tourist destination. Taxis are meant to always take meter so you should never take cabs unless they go by the meter. Some tourist-congested places are notorious for this (i.e. Platinum Shopping Center and Chatuchak Weekend Market), but it's quite easy to walk a little further from the main location and grab a meter cab. (At these places they also try to over charge locals, so it's not really just tourists :P)

Now, there will be instances where even local friends can't help. Such as entrance fees etc, if you look obviously foreign, you're going to be hit with a tax no matter what, but these places are usually tourist attractions and you're expecting to pay those anyways.

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

#33

Post by pieterhg »

maccman wrote: post #30
pieterhg wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks! The most I could get from the Thai embassy in Amsterdam was a double-entry visa. If I wanted a triple-entry visa (giving me 3x90 days or 9 months), they required me to have booked all my flights in and out of the country beforehand. That was a bit too much planning for me. I believe there's education visas if you study Thai at a school for a year, but that seems like too much of a distraction while starting u…

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.

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

#35

Post by jamornh »

stratosvoukel wrote: post #19

1000$ is supposed to be enough to live in lots of european countries as well. Eg. Estonia, Greece, Austria

I think that number is only if you're living very very comfortably. Personally, on a normal standard of living, I can get by with around $500 USD a month, and that's normal 3 meals a day with internet, phone, apartment (no pool or facilities.) Street food, normal portions are going around $1 to $1.5 USD so it's pretty cheap.

Now of course, you might be able to only afford to go to socialize at bars and restaurants once a month or else you'll blow that budget, but it's possible.

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

#36

Post by agilebyte »

scheff wrote: post #11

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.

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

#38

Post by hackerboos »

jamornh wrote: post #17

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 you deported, working in co-working spaces isn't exactly out of sight and a phone call to immigration would get you arrested, deported and blacklisted from the country.

Getting a work permit in Thailand is very very difficult. Foreign owned businesses have to employ Thai citizens and require silly amounts of registered capital deposited in Thai banks. It's marginally easier if you are an American.

Thailand is not worth the hassle and FFS research the law before you just up and go there!

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

#39

Post by oakaz »

digitalnalogika wrote: post #3

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?

Turkey. It's cheap, the variety and kinds of food is incredible and there is no racism at all since all western and asian cultures are mixed there. And the universities are completely free in Turkey, which leads the middle class grow faster and provide the companies dozen amount of engineers every year

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

#40

Post by kordless »

robertlf wrote: post #25

Very informative post. I only have two questions. First, how difficult it is to get a good Internet connection there? Can you buy a "hotspot" device? Also, what about healthcare? If you get sick, can you get access to good medical care at a reasonable price?

I went last December and bought a SIM for $30 for the month. We were getting about 10Mbps down most places, sometimes higher. As pieterhg mentions, there is wifi all over Bangkok. I wouldn't suggest spending a ton of time there though - much cooler places if you get out of the big city/tourist destinations.

I'll also add the Thai people are absolutely delightful. I've never met such positive happy people.

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