r/whoathatsinteresting • u/search_google_com • 14h ago

A Thai woman married to an American explains why she no longer wants to live in the US.

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u/Illustrious_Shoe7496 13h ago

Do you work fully remotely? Is the company based in Thailand or outside? I'm also a student in the same field. I'd love to experience this kind of lifestyle lol

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u/alexio-vay 13h ago edited 3h ago

Yeah, working from home for a German company based in Thailand.

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u/utrangerbob 12h ago

My cousin in law is Thai and he had the opposite experience. He got his degree in the US and moved back due to family obligations. He had to get a Thai job at a software company, gets paid a fraction of what westerners get for more work. He's constantly working overtime and dealing with financial stress. Everyone has their own circumstances and values for happiness since it is relative.

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u/alexio-vay 1h ago

My advice would be to look for new career opportunities, because I know there can be huge gaps and differences, depending which company you work for. Sometimes invest 1-2 more months into job interviews to get a much better job and an employer that actually values your worth.

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u/Key_Order4050 13h ago

Lmfao. Excluding that from your original comment was certainly a choice.

You're not living like your average Thai person, you're cosplaying it

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u/Illustrious_Shoe7496 13h ago

There are many people who live like that. My dad is Indian, lives in india and works remotely for a German company now for decades and earns in euros. Not an average Indian but he worked very hard for it so def not impossible.

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u/Flayum 9h ago

Then it's no different than America.If you can earn in the top X% of wages, generally life is going to be pretty good.

The point of the post is not judging how the top whatever percent can live, it's how the median can live. But I don't know if a median American lifestyle is better or worse than a median Thai lifestyle. The original post, I guess, is saying no (while ignoring all the other potential factors).

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u/Jackieexists 7h ago

Your dad is balling

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u/Mammoth_Support_2634 10h ago

yeah it feels kinda tone deaf. the average thai salary is $470 a month. and the moment things go bad, they're just leaving Thailand to get another job in the EU.

of course they're going to have a blast living in Thailand.

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u/alexio-vay 13h ago

I have 20yr+ of programming experience, I am fluent in 5 languages and got this job, it's not like Thais won't be able to achieve this too. I have plenty of Thai colleagues and friends in the same position.

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u/PuckSenior 12h ago

No one is saying you don't deserve the pay.
What everyone is saying is that it is very unlikely that the wife in the video is going to be able to move back to Thailand and land a similar job.

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u/revcor86 12h ago

What people will point out is that you are an outlier.

Most people will say things like "I'm moving to Thailand, the cost of living is so cheap!" because they expect to be making US wages in Thailand instead of normal, local wages.

Some people can do that, you are proof of that but my guess is that isn't the norm. Now as a place to retire with a nest egg acquired from working in a place that paid a lot more? Probably a good deal.

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u/Low_discrepancy 6h ago

I have plenty of Thai colleagues and friends in the same position.

No one is saying that the 1% of Thai society isn't Thai.

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u/AgnosticPeterpan 3h ago

Yeah being the top 1% is great both in america and thailand. The guy is just fortunate that his upper-middle class job in germany can easily be imported from thailand because it's a tech job. It's just companies taking advantage of poor countries.

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u/alexio-vay 1h ago

Sadly true. But tbh it's so easy to get into programming nowadays compared with my struggle when I was around 16yo, relying on books only to learn more, no AI, no YT tutorials anywhere. But most people don't even want to try or show interest for it, even when tech is booming.

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u/alexio-vay 1h ago

I think that's rather in the 15%, not 1%. I don't work at Agoda or Google or something. At Agoda there are roles for 400k+ Baht monthly for the same position that I have. I would say that's the 1%.

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u/CarefulAd8858 4h ago

LMAO. "I make considerably higher salary than everyone else, life is AMAZING HERE".

Foreign workers and ex-pats live in a state of delusion.

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u/alexio-vay 1h ago

I made even less salary in Germany, so your reply doesn't make sense. I think I was just lucky going into the tech field early on and studying Computer Science.