Thread: Touching down in September - Questions!

hi mat welcome, im over to BKK next week. I will hopefully check out a few places and write some documentation with pics and stuff. Wish you well mate.


as for hostels "hi sukhimvit" near thong lor is great. its not full of trashy backpackers, and in the heart of BKK. around £6 a night.

Originally Posted by Matt 247

1) Is it best to try and fix myself up a job before I go, or wait until I arrive and then start making phone calls / knocking on doors?

2) If the latter, should I find an apartment as soon as possible, or hang tight in a hostel/hotel and look for a job first? (any hostel recommendations?)

3) I'm not sure yet where I want to situate myself - can somebody recommend somewhere that's not party central, but somewhere close which is a bit quieter? Somewhere close to public transport too, ideally the BTS?

4) It looks like 10,000 is a good amount for a decent one bedroom apartment, is this right? I've been looking on MrRoomFinder, is there anywhere else I should be looking or is there a better way of going about apartment-hunting once I arrive?

5) I believe I should be applying for a double-entry tourist visa, extending it if need be with a border run, then once I get a job my employers will sort a working visa? Correct me if I'm wrong.

6) Taking into account the above information, can I expect to find a job with a salary of 50,000 a month, or should I accept something lower?

7) And lastly (as I can't remember the other questions I wanted to ask), do you know of any great restaurants within a close vicinity of Suvarnambhumi Airport?

1) Land and look. Watch the job board until then to see the who, where and how much for jobs.
2) Find your apartment AFTER you find your job (unless long and expensive commutes are part of your game plan).
3) Not Su-cum-vit soi 4.
4) More likely a one room rather than 1 bedroom but it will depend a lot on the where.
5) More or less correct. Double entry tourist and change to a non-b after you get here. Depending on the employer you may have to do the legwork yourself rather than depend on your employer.
6) newbie, green as grass and fresh off the plane... 30-40k is more likely. After you figure out which way is up you should be able to "suppliment" that by 10-20k per month.
7) 17 minutes by train (BTS red line) into central BKK... why would you want something out by the airport? Le Normandie restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel is quite nice.

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thanks for the advice. especially that hostel recommendation; checked it out, looks great.

Hi Matt,

Just to let you know, I'm going to be haunting your thread and stealing the helpful hints people give you to all the questions I haven't even't started thinking about yet - hope you don't mind!

PS/ I'm a noob as well, and a couple of months behind you in the planning stages of my trip except that I'm planning on doing the CELTA when I'm out there.

PPS/ Have you got any advice about the course?

no worries bud. well seems to have run dry a little earlier than expected, but thanks anyway for all the responses.

best advice i can give you about the course is be prepared to work your butt off. its not exactly difficult, mentally-straining work - more just the amount of it. also prepare yourself for a truckload of worksheets and documentation - i still have a pile of all the paper my tutors gave me sitting in my room. it reaches above my ankle! one day it'll get sorted... maybe.

thanks for that, hollow. especially the advice about lumpini park - that looks ideal for me.