Advice Needed: Single Dad moving to Thailand

Hi Roberrt,
Firstly did you check under which type of visa you can stay 12 months in Thailand ( most of them have age and/or financial requirement )?

I suppose none of your kids will go in school or kindergarden.

Hi CThierryMK,

I intend to get a 6 months visa, then make a two week trip to Vietnam, return within another 6 month visa.

Regarding schooling, I am teaching the boys letters and numbers at the moment, not sure at what rate they will develop when they are a year older. However, private tutition had crossed my mind, perhaps put an ad in the forums when we are in Thailand for a retired teacher for some 1-on-2 tutition.

Thank you for your reply.

If you are talking about the new METV ( Multiple entries tourist visa ) which took effect last November 2015 : it is a 6 months visa but you can stay max 60 days each time, that mean you have to go out and in. This visa replace the old double entries tourist visa

The single entry visa will allow you to stay 60 days plus an extension of 30 days at immigration, max will be 90 days.

You can not stay under tourist visa in Thailand more than 180 days per year. Visa run is no more allowed, and immigration rules are stricter and change all the time.

I have kid in Thailand and there are excellent british international schools accredited CIE ( Cambridge International Examination ), you can check the list on their website : http://www.cie.org.uk/i-want-to/find-a- … ge-school/

The previous post from a member who ALWAYS criticize everything about Thailand, one day under the nicname thailand4me and another day under the nickname california4me are retired people with NO kids in Thailand

I will look into that at once, thank you.

So, it looks like the one year visa is our only choice then, £600 for the four of us does not seem bad at all.

@RobertOne want to come here for 6 - 12 month.
Hes kid age are pre school age (where i come from) 3.5 year age and 1 year old.
So really dont matter if school are good or bad at this point.

Thailand is safe country to live in, As long as one use once head.

Thai or Philippine maid are good, Take good care, As they know if they don´t take care, no more work.

I personally pick a  Philippine maid if it was me, Many of them Write, read, speak and understand Perfekt English..
Rent a place that have a spare room, And get a living in maid.

Not going to post price here, But very very very cheap...



@cthierrymk is 100% Correct about thailand4me / california4me.
All ways negative, Can´t be fun to be around him...


@RobertOne be sure to setup some kind of help, support where you going to live.
If you get sick, maybe need to go and stay at the hospital.
So you have someone to take care you kids...



I hope @RobertOne and kids, Have a great time here..
Kindly..

RobertOne wrote:

So, it looks like the one year visa is our only choice then, £600 for the four of us does not seem bad at all.

There is no 1 year tourist visa Robert, I am not sure where you get the information about 4 x 150 GBP = 600 GBP ( the most expensive 1 year visa is 125 GBP on Thai embassy in UK : http://thaiembassyuk.org.uk/?q=node/76 )

Regarding long stay visa, there is :

- "retirement" if you are over 50 years old ( OA visa )
- thai spouse ( O visa ) - there is also guardian visa but your kid must be in school and have ED visa, and from what I know it is 1 kid per parent
- work or business ( B visa )
- study/education ( ED visa ) - more difficult to get that one, and usually 3 months

or other solution explained in other forum is about Thailand Elite but it cost a lot from 500,000 THB to 2,000,000 THB ( you can google them )

Hi Robert, sounds like a great adventure. But there will be some problems. If you were planning to live in the North in Chiang Mai in a mostly foreigner compound you could probably pull it off a lot easier. biggest problem will be finding a maid that you can communicate and trust. One of the trust problems here is that kids basically look after themselves and Thai parents don't seem to have much of a clue about what is unsafe until something goes wrong. The previous advice about a Filipino maid is good but never seen one in Thailand available - so I think it is a no goer. If you want beach with Hospital nearby then only Sri Ratcha and Pattaya areas have international standard hospitals nearby. If you had a friend or relative to help you believe me it will be a lot easier and less stressful on you in the long run (and cheaper too).

I can help you for care giving services

Such a big move with young kids, different foods to adjust too,  such a different culture, language barriers and visa issues, authorites are clamping down big time with visas, just today one guy I know was sent out of the country with a few hours notice cos it was found he gave a fake address on an application form. They are now checking up on applications to make sure all is correct. I would consider singapore above Thailand under your circumstances with young kids and generally, its  a safer country. Thailand is a hard ass country to adjust to if you have never travelled before and with kids in tow as a solo parent, adjusting will make it all that more difficult.

BI have lived in Thailand for. 40 years. I am a American. Am presently in the U.S. Until September. I donate my time at the Pattaya Police Station as an interpeter (Thai/English). There is so much I could tell/. Help you on your endever. Basic steps to take.
1 Get a non Emigrant Visa for all. Easier to extend your stay.
2 have sufficent funds for your stay. Rent, Food,, pay for hired help. & Visa service.

If you could contact me by phone, I could cover more areas and, answer your questions deeper.
My Name is Keith Burr U.S. Ph#***

4 Be causous of everyone you don't know beforehand.

     Lots of luck. K. Burr

I do hope that you have already spent a lot of time in Thailand yourself before considering bringing children here. Not a good plan. It will be very stressful.

People don't plan to fail, they fail to plan.

Hey Dad, you are in for a world of hurt unless.....
1. You can speak Thai, now, not pick it up later.  Otherwise you have NO ONE to trust to translate for you and interface with anything in Thailand.
2.  You do not rapidly find a live-in housekeeper, child care person, maybe two.   Thailand has so close to full employment that you are unlikely to find a Thai to take the job;  also the person(s) must "live in" to care for the kids during that inevitable late nite sick spell and other more obvious reasons.  Thai like their family and are loath to move away from them.  So you will need to find a Burmese, most likely young and inexperienced, to hire (how find?  ha ha) and then process the Thai paperwork to legally employ them.

I can not imagine a single person with little ones that young who could do the child care, run a home, have a job, and get acclimated.  I suggest it is impossible to do well.   You mention a beach;  if you get an hour a week at a beach you will be one amazing person.  This move is not for you.

Thailand is a beautiful country and I think you and your kids will love it here. My kids and I have been traveling since Dec 2015 to present and are back in Thailand for the next few months or so. You are a brave dad to be bringing 3 young children overseas alone. My kids are 20, 12, and 8. Anyway, I think you will enjoy it a lot. The good is great and the cost of living is really affordable. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

Have you changed your mind yet? You will need an income of a few thousand dollars a month to support your family, no matter how cheap people tell you it is.

Being under 50 you have very few visa options to live here, marry a Thai show 800,000 Baht in a Thai bank.  Get a legitimate job with the proper visa and Work Permit, then who will take care of the kids. Over 50 you could live here on a Non O visa for retirement purposes, showing a minimum of 65,000 Baht a month coming into a bank account, not necessarily in Thailand.

Insurance for you and the kids at least a grand a year for you plus more for the kids.

Research, research,  I do not think that your wishes can become a reality at this point.

I am not being negative, just truthful.

I'm here with my kids but they are much older and I have my 20 year old daughter helping me with the younger ones. I think it would be hard due to how young your kids are and not having childcare. You can't just trust just anyone to care for your kids and that is the main concern in my mind. If you were a stay at home dad with your kids all the time then it would work but not if you wanted to work full time and leave your kids in someone else's care while in Thailand.

Hi, the thread is already 1/2 year old, so don't know Robert already come to Thailand or not.
Would be nice to hear which way you used.
It look for your long time staying that you may think to work here. Be careful, things become much more restricted since the new government took over.
I can confirm that visa could be the biggest hassel. I needed also half year to get finally a one year business visa as employee in a small company, while the work permit took only some weeks all together. In Malaysia and Singapore it was in opposite, apply first the visa with showing the contract and then get the Workpermit or at least together.
This is the same for a maid or foreign domain helper. They usually get their workpermit as an dependence one and self apply will be impossible if you can't read/write speak Thai.
Better choose a local one. There are offers from companies in the internet. These companiesregister their employees. It might be more expensive, but I guess more safe if you don't want come home to an empty room one day.
I also don't want speak only bad about Thailand. I moved myself to here finally with my Thai wife this year after a longer stop in Malaysia.
But special Immigration is a big minus, even if you do all legal with good endorsement.
If I compare how other easy can stay especially as owner of red light business. I don't want talk about their possible ways here, but think everybody here can confirm that things go easier if you know the right Thai people.
I don't support that way!

hi
my name is michelle, i am a young 46 year old women, worked within the fashion industry for many years, i have three adult children who have flew the nest, i now find myself wanting to change my career and life style, i travelled round thailand with one of my daughters last year and thought it would be great for me to seek employment and a home there for some time of my life, would you consider me to be your nanny, i have three children and have successfully taught them the good values in life along the way they have all grown into successful working adults with such beautiful kind personalities, they all have great qualities of which i personally installed haha, i do hope your travel with your children is a great one.
many thanks for your time
kind regards michelle
***

You need to get a trusted person here to interview and set up your child care people before you arrive or you come over by self to do that because your YOUNG ones need feeling of care immediately upon landing.  I dont know how to do that but am sure.

You can start with a "serviced apartment" but that will not be enough service, of course.
Good Luck !

A thought for child care; I live in Chiang Mai. There is at least one christian organization that has reach out services. For one they help coordinate a maid service and they help train and employ Burmese or whomever for house work services. I know there are couples coming and going when it comes to these groups. That would mean that there might be a spouse available who could use the activity and a little extract income. The sectarian issues would be something to discuss with those people. In the mean time it's an idea for a resource, plus so good information with your transition.

Are you hiring a housekeeper or housemaid?

House Keeper, Caretaker. Please send Salary Requirements.