Bangkok Job and Accommodations
I know I’m a bit behind, but I do want to get you all caught up on what’s been going on in our lives since arriving in Bangkok on June 7th. So far you’ve had the story of the arrival and the first night and that’s it, but I promise I’ll pick up the pace a bit and hopefully by the end of this week I’ll be current once more.
If you’ve made the trip to Thailand recently I’m sure you remember exactly what the jet lag felt like. Combine that with a jet-lagged and grumpy 13 month old in a new city and you’ve got a recipe for stress like you wouldn’t believe. Honestly though, Alivia wasn’t too bad with the exception of thinking that 3:30 in the morning was time to wake up for the day. That pattern lasted for a few days and she gradually started sleeping later. By the following week she was going to bed at a normal time and sleeping until around 7 or 8 in the morning, not bad by all accounts.
During that week of exhaustion we gave ourselves no break though. We had an agenda and wanted (needed?) to find a job for Golf and a place to live as quickly as possible. We gave ourselves 1 week to accomplish both tasks and somehow, even with the lack of sleep and traveling around Bangkok with a baby in a stroller (or our arms) we did what we set out to do.
Even though we only arrived at 17:30 on a Wednesday evening, Golf was out the next day at 9am for her first job interview. That day and the next she had 5 interviews (a task in itself in Bangkok thanks to the traffic) and out of the 5 interviews she had 5 job offers. Pretty damn good if you ask me and nothing like trying to find work in the U.S.
Having the job search in the bag we began our apartment/condo search on the morning of Saturday June 10th, less than 3 days after arriving and still jet lagged. We started out looking on our own from web classifieds to signs noticed down side soi’s throughout Bangkok. We realized by the end of the day on Saturday that this method wouldn’t work for us. We didn’t have enough time to explore the city well enough, Golf’s Thai friends were no help as they really didn’t understand what we were looking for in a decent place to live and moving around for 10 hours a day in the heat of Bangkok with a baby, stroller and diaper bag were just too much. We needed help.
Thankfully help arrived in the form of Justin Taylor from RentCondosBangkok.com as well as Bill from EasyHomes.tv. Both gentlemen went WAY out of their way to help us locate the perfect place very very quickly. By Monday we were signing a contract on a place that had just what we needed; 10-15 minutes from Golf’s workplace (by motocy), 15 minutes walk to the BTS (less than 5 minutes by motocy), central to everything we needed, small garden and pool on the property and large enough for Alivia to have room to roam inside.
Even though the job was found and the contract was signed on the apartment we weren’t even close to settling down. The apartment had just been vacated and they wanted 10 days to renovate and make it perfect for us. And we were ready to head off to Golf’s parents in Tak the following morning. No rest for the weary yet as they say.
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So why is the Mrs the one that has to find a job.. what are you doing you lazy git?
Nothing wrong with the Mrs. working. I contribute 2x what she makes through my investment income. And I am taking care of the household and spending loads of great time with my 15 month old daughter which is absolutely priceless. I think I deserve the bit of a break after working 7 days a week for the past 5 years :p Plus there is the whole working papers in Thailand thing. I imagine if I get bored (which I very well may eventually) I’ll look for something to keep me busy…maybe once the baby is older and starts going to school.
There are CALLS IN QUEUE. What’s the deal?!
LOL…that’s not my problem anymore Bobby…DEAL WITH IT!
Hi Steve,
Looks like you folks are “Getting it Done” It is fun to read through this, as it is an advnture, where you have to think on your feet and make adjustments as needed.
Great Job,
Ivan
Hi Ivan,
Thanks for that. We were indeed “Getting it Done” at a vicious pace during our first weeks in Thailand. Thankfully things have quieted down and we are more settled at this point. I’m glad you’re enjoying the story and hope my future posts are as entertaining and interesting as well.