Goodbye TEFL
Posted: 29 Apr 2019, 09:06
Goodbye TEFL
Goodbye TEFL? Yes, having just turned 64 it’s back home to the UK to work and save up for my retirement at 66. I’ve just spent a year living off savings and confirmed what deep down I already knew – there is no legal work in Asia for the over 60s. Of course, there are some still working at that age, but I haven’t met anyone online who applied over 60 and got a job. In fact, having sent out over a hundred applications over the past year, I haven’t been refused I’ve just met a deafening wall of silence!
I recently applied for my annual marriage visa here in Thailand and was grilled about my income and from the required bank statements it was fairly obvious I have no income. My wife will stay here in the house we own, run her little business and I will go and earn four times what I can earn here with my previous skills as long as my health holds out. Hopefully, in the next two or three years I’ll return with enough savings to top up my UK state pension which should last my life out. Until then, a holiday here every year.
So, a warning for those already in their 50s in Thailand. Not only does finding work become more difficult, at 60 it stops and you better have a couple of million baht saved up by then, because immigration are tightening up everywhere – it’s all about money now. It doesn’t matter what ties you have here or the length of time you’ve been here, you’re out and it’s better to leave while you still have the required amount of 400K for the marriage visa, or 800K for the retirement visa in the bank to fall back on and take back with you, rather than try to struggle on and go back with nothing.
It will be strange returning after over a decade absence. Finding a place to live, updating my skills … a lot of work, but another challenge after the years I’ve spent away. Deep breath and away we go again. :)
Goodbye TEFL? Yes, having just turned 64 it’s back home to the UK to work and save up for my retirement at 66. I’ve just spent a year living off savings and confirmed what deep down I already knew – there is no legal work in Asia for the over 60s. Of course, there are some still working at that age, but I haven’t met anyone online who applied over 60 and got a job. In fact, having sent out over a hundred applications over the past year, I haven’t been refused I’ve just met a deafening wall of silence!
I recently applied for my annual marriage visa here in Thailand and was grilled about my income and from the required bank statements it was fairly obvious I have no income. My wife will stay here in the house we own, run her little business and I will go and earn four times what I can earn here with my previous skills as long as my health holds out. Hopefully, in the next two or three years I’ll return with enough savings to top up my UK state pension which should last my life out. Until then, a holiday here every year.
So, a warning for those already in their 50s in Thailand. Not only does finding work become more difficult, at 60 it stops and you better have a couple of million baht saved up by then, because immigration are tightening up everywhere – it’s all about money now. It doesn’t matter what ties you have here or the length of time you’ve been here, you’re out and it’s better to leave while you still have the required amount of 400K for the marriage visa, or 800K for the retirement visa in the bank to fall back on and take back with you, rather than try to struggle on and go back with nothing.
It will be strange returning after over a decade absence. Finding a place to live, updating my skills … a lot of work, but another challenge after the years I’ve spent away. Deep breath and away we go again. :)