There is a very high chance if you move to Thailand and need to make money to live here, you are going to end up going broke.
Expats come with all kinds of wild business ideas.
For everyone that is successful, 1,000 others fail.
There is a serious high failure rate in everything from business to farming to online sales.
How do you get rich in Thailand?
Come with US $1,000,000 and leave with $100,000 is a joke you hear all the time, but there is some truth in that.
Just read about one expat goat farmer going bankrupt due to the govt changing the rules on exporting goat meat. Some I am sure he never could have thought could happen but it did. Stuck having to feed 80+ goats with no income.
Many bars, restaurants and cafes are losing battles unless right smack in the middle of a Walking Street somewhere.
Sorting out work permits and hiring Thais, other unplanned expenses and events like flooding or govt rule changes can sink the business very fast.
The other thing is, to make as little as US $1,000 a month (which is a bare minimum to live), at 40 baht PROFIT (not selling price) a dish of food, you would have to sell 850 dishes to make US $1,000. Now add in the cost of doing business, rent, utilities, insurance, materials etc. and find out just make that same US $1,000 profit you may need to sell 2000+ dishes a month the rest of your life. For 30 days, that works out to 50+ dishes a day.
Most places cannot find that kind of traffic in an everyday location outside of a busy food area. So the business goes bust.
Farm prices are so low, I have seen pineapples for 5 baht a kilo. No way at that price you will ever break even or make anything at all.
I know, we have 26 rai of rice and never ever break even, just use the rice to feed an extended family each year.
Thailand is extremely difficult to do business because of the low prices most Thai people spend money on.
It is best instead of thinking you will make money, to think you won’t make money.
That is why the majority of expats are retired and have a pension that funds their stay in Thailand.
Never just start a business on a wild idea with no sound proof via a business plan proving it has a chance to be successful or you will end up in a really bad situation.
Many expats are forced to leave their Thai wives and kids and go back by themselves and work in their home countries.
That puts a lot of pressure and stress on the family.