with the current economy crisis throughout the world why government officials are not forcing foreigner who receive work permit to received it tougher and recruit thai worker more for the same job where currently there are many thais with the qualification but no chance against foreigner. this problem in thailand of seeing foreigner better in working than thai is growing fast and scary. if this keeps going on sooner or later especially thais graduates will have to keep studying to reach higher education degree than foreigner to have a glimps of the offer but on the other hand foreigner is not required a very high education for the same job. another out rage thing is the salary for foreigner are so high but for thai holding same position is so low? most of the high end resort in Phuket is owned by foreigner and run by foreigner. is this still illegal? last i check every company with foreign partner must not hold more than 49 percent in it. this is something the government should have a look in

Posted by Anonymous on December 19, 2008 22:03

with the current economy crisis throughout the world why government officials are not forcing foreigner who receive work permit to received it tougher and recruit thai worker more for the same job where currently there are many thais with the qualification but no chance against foreigner. this problem in thailand of seeing foreigner better in working than thai is growing fast and scary. if this keeps going on sooner or later especially thais graduates will have to keep studying to reach higher education degree than foreigner to have a glimps of the offer but on the other hand foreigner is not required a very high education for the same job. another out rage thing is the salary for foreigner are so high but for thai holding same position is so low? most of the high end resort in Phuket is owned by foreigner and run by foreigner...cut...

The reason is very very simple: to do the same job as 1 foreign...thai need 4/5 people (and still not sure about good result)......I have a restaurant. My restaurant manager (foreign) can handle 5 table plus control the full sala (14 table) also he speak english, italian, french and russian (for the other 9 table I have 4 thais: they speak only few english words and every night they make some mistakes). I try (before the actual manager)to find a thai manager: if you are very lucky you can find one (graduate) that speak good english (and only english) but refuse to do any manual work like take to the table a dish or even a glass......

Posted by george on December 20, 2008 10:27

@Anonymous
My goodness, so many things wrong to address. Hard to know where to being, so we offer only the following two:
1. Why do foreigners generally get paid more? Because (in general, not universally, of course) Thais do not compare in skills, abstract thinking, diligence, and responsibility. Ask any employer how often their Thai staff fail to show up for work without even a phone call. Or how often a Thai staffmember will simply avoid a problem rather than fix it?
Of course, there are many stupid, lazy, lying foreigners (too many). And there are many excellent, clear-thinking, diligent Thais, but they are very difficult to find, especially here in Phuket.
2. Fairness? Oh, yeah, Thailand is really unfair to the Thais in favor of the foreigners. Like the restrictions on foreigner land ownership; the ever-increasing requirements for visas of ever-decreasing length; the mind-numbing administrative requirements for foreign businesses; the differential pricing that is so common it barely warrants mention.
Yep, the foreigners sure get an easy ride here.

Posted by D on December 20, 2008 10:49

...another out rage thing is the salary for foreigner are so high but for thai holding same position is so low?

Yes, outrage, I agree.
I think, therefore, you should lobby your government to eliminate the minimum wage requirements for foreign nationals. I've never heard of a place where foreigners are required - BY LAW - to be paid at minimum levels higher than its citizens.
A Canadian, for example must be paid 60,000 baht minimum, regardless of the job (except maybe teaching?). And what's the Thai minimum wage? Something like 120 baht a day, or less than 4000 baht/month. Yep, unfair.

Posted by LW on December 20, 2008 15:32

As one 'overpaid' foreigner who has worked here and helped shape the hotel business for nearly 20 years let me tell you this: Individual owners form the majority of hotel owners in Thailand. If these owners, who are always looking to save a satang here and there, felt that foreigners were useless, overpaid and not knowledgeable do you suppose they would still continue to employ them? Overpaid foreign workers are gladly assisted by locals in reducing their bank balances by cheating, overcharging, even the government is party to this by charging foreigners 10 to 20 times more for entry to national parks which would be illegal in the West as it is based on colour!

In my country legal and illegal Thai workers do their business and there is no major fuss about it, and if there were it would immediately be called discrimination.

Posted by Foreigner on January 6, 2009 14:01

Och D and LW well said. I concur with yur comments. If Thai requirements were anything to go by, they don't want foreigners here at all, only their money. We are seen as walking and er hem ATM machines. Och that's about to change hey ?

Posted by Macmousie on January 6, 2009 18:39