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Interviews with entrepreneurs and business leaders who’ve “made it” in Thailand. Real stories of ambition, setbacks, and strategic wins on the path to success. Built for founders and operators who want to win in Thailand.
Guests from the US, UK, Australia, and Thailand. Honest journeys and cross-cultural lessons. Inspiration for anyone building in the Thai market.
Apply to be a guest:
https://madeitinthailand.com/apply
Hosted by Scott Pressimone, a US expat based in Thailand for 13+ years and owner of Fractiond, a Thailand-based strategy consultancy.
#ThailandBusiness #ExpatSuccess #ThaiExpat
After a few years when I really
started to ride motorcycles more
in Thailand, I started to realize
that this is the real reason why I
want to continue living in Thailand.
It's a living community.
Even though you don't know the people
coming by, you just talk to people and
everyone is just sharing their passion.
You can get jobs, you can get
leads and you can get friends from
riding motorcycles in Thailand.
All right.
Welcome, Jimmy.
Thank you so much for joining
me on the podcast today.
Thank you very much.
Yeah, absolutely.
So I'm super excited to, speak with you
because I've gotten a lot of questions
around starting a business around
how to run a business in Thailand,
and you're someone who I think has
a lot of experience in this area.
But before we dive too deeply into
that, I'd love to get a brief background
from you and we'll go from there.
Alright, sure.
pleasure being here.
my name is Jimmy Bernberg.
I am a, Swedish citizen and I've
been working in Thailand since 2016.
yeah.
rough in nine years now.
And, I've been, focusing
basically on business development
throughout my whole career.
And, currently working as the senior
sales manager at Iglu, and I basically
help foreigners to get established
for remote work here in Thailand.
Excellent.
So let's hear a bit more
about your story then.
So were you always working for Iglu?
Did Iglu import you into Thailand
as like a expat package or did
you have a different pathway here?
Yeah, I had a different path.
I was, studying and living in Sweden
and then, when I was living there, I,
had, I've been to Thailand on vacation
a few times, and then I was applying
for a job in Thailand from Sweden.
And, I ended up, being one of the
lucky guys who actually got the job.
This was another company called DIAKRIT.
It's a international company with
Swedish founders based here in Thailand.
But they were, and they are
quite big here in Thailand still.
I think they have around
four or 500 employees.
And, I was working basically as a customer
coordinator, like sales support role.
And this was my first full-time
job ever, even in Sweden.
So I just moved here with some,
minor experience as part-time
jobs in, in my studies.
And, then I was working for these,
Swedish clients, in Bangkok.
And, did I think four
years in this company.
And, then after that, COVID came, but just
before COVID, I, I got another job in a,
different company as an account manager.
So I was basically, yeah, in January,
2020, I joined this company, which is like
a prop tech company, So like we had all
the setups for like good Slack channels.
We had the video meetings scheduled,
we had the project management
systems, everything web-based.
So wherever I were, we were able
to, work remotely, which back
then was like a unique perk.
nobody did it.
And I'm like, what can I really
work on Friday from home?
and I was able to do that And, We
continued to do that, like on a
hybrid level, mostly in the office.
And when COVID came, basically everyone
were working remotely, and that's when
I really loved living in Thailand.
And that's when I really felt like
this is the reason why I wanted
to live in Thailand to begin with.
I ride motorcycle on the private side and
I remember like Thailand was completely
closed down, but there was, you could
still drive like tour around the country
with no limitation, more or less.
Amazing time to be in Thailand.
Almost no tourists.
I remember take two paper one
cocktails in the rooftop bars.
It was the best place to be, I think.
And, when I was working for this
company, they were actually the ones
who, the owner of this company that
I was working for in this, time.
It was basically a foreign company.
And they basically hired me through
one of their partners or basically the
owner knew someone who, could hire me.
And then he found Iglu.
So I didn't actually join Iglu myself.
It was my boss at the time who said that,
like the company I partnered up with Iglu
and, we are considering to, to, employ
you as an Iglu consultant to work for
our business, with Iglu in Thailand.
So that's basically how
everything started with Iglu.
Long story short, or for
the other way around.
Some people come here and think that
there aren't any jobs in Thailand,
or you can't really work from
Thailand, or you can't start a business
in Thailand, and there's these.
I think there's a lot of
negativity around what's possible.
People are always complaining
about the visas, complaining
about the, registration process.
But I think you pointed out a few
things, like it's definitely possible.
And I think another thing that you
pointed out there is even from your
first experience working in Thailand
for an employer working remotely, right?
It's that you were not working as
a an English teacher in Thailand.
You, you were using your sales
or business development skills
or customer service skills.
And I think, I'd like to get your
opinion on this, but do you feel
that's maybe an underrepresented side
of some of the individuals that you
meet here in Thailand, that customer
service sales, some of these other
things exist and maybe not as many
people know those opportunities exist?
Yeah, I'm trying to preach for
those roles as much as possible.
that's my background, more or less sales.
And typically in the, like a few years
ago, I even myself, thought that you've
gotta be a developer to be able to
work remotely or something like that.
Or maybe an English teacher on site
working for schools in Thailand.
But there, nowadays there are
so many different choices.
Not only about what we said to get, but
companies what role you are allowed to do.
yeah.
I think that we'll always meet people
in very interesting industries here.
But to your point, it's
not just developers.
It's not just people teaching
English for schools here in Thailand.
There are plenty of us expats here.
you have marketing people
like SEO consultants.
You have, like product managers
or people working and building
product for IT companies.
business consultants.
It's quite broad.
There are some restrictions though,
but, still there's a, whole, whole range
of scopes you could do for work here.
Whoa there.
Hold up for just one second.
I'm sorry to interrupt, but if you are
struggling with business operations,
cultural challenges, or growing your
business in Thailand, you are not alone.
This market is really tough to navigate.
I know because I've been here
since 2012 and I've experienced
a lot of these challenges myself.
That's why I founded Fractiond, a
Thailand-based consulting firm aimed at
helping businesses succeed in Thailand.
My Accenture experience from the US,
and our community of top consultants
from around the world, allow us
to deliver top tier strategy and
execution to businesses in Thailand.
If you wanna learn more, you can book
a free 15 minute discovery call to
see how we can help your business.
You can email us at podcast@fractiond.io.
Alright, back to the show.
And I wanna make sure I fully
understand your story here
of this transition you made.
So from my understanding, you're
working for an employer and.
They are handling or working with another
company of some sort to handle your
work permits and making sure you're
able to legally work in Thailand.
But then they came across Iglu, which is
an outsourcing company, which is providing
a solution to make that more seamless.
Where you're able to work
here in Thailand more easily.
And it sounds like that was
a benefit to the company.
So they were saying, we, we don't
have to do some of this stuff.
We can just hire a company
to help us with this.
Is that kind of what happened?
Yeah.
Especially when you are
working for companies who don't
have an entity in Thailand.
So the company that I was working
for was based out of Singapore,
and then I was just like, they
needed a really qualified sales
professional who, could work for them.
And I just happened to already be living
in Thailand, so instead of relocating
me to Singapore, they found a solution
for me to be able to legally work
here without establishing a company
presence of their own here in Thailand.
So there is a, there are a lot of
flexible solutions to, to get it.
Iglu is an outsourcing company, but
we basically provide the talent.
So Iglu decided to hire me to work on a
project for their client, which was the
company that I was actually working for.
It goes both ways.
Iglu, we do a lot of recruitment for
our own roles when we're trying to feel
like, if we need a even if we need a new
accountant or if we need, new HR person.
We recruit a lot for ourselves, but we
also have projects where we are looking
for sales salespeople or, developers.
But a lot of people, they, a lot of
companies comes to us because the
company clients are usually the one who
really values the legal compliance part.
So normal people who just want to be
in Thailand, they might not care much
about paying taxes at all anywhere.
But the company clients are the
one who actually takes legal
compliance usually really seriously.
So that's why we only sell our
services to companies, whether we
providing talents for companies or,
finding new talents for companies.
It's a really good point.
I have definitely experienced
this personally as well.
When you're just mentioning
the compliance side of things.
Because if you want to work, let's
say with a Thai company in Thailand
or even a Singaporean based company,
they're going to be asking for things
like tax IDs and things like this.
So if you're a consultant of sorts or
someone who's in it or some of these
other fields, as soon as close a deal
it's not fully over because now all of
a sudden you have to deal with, some of
these other, things like, like again,
invoicing and tax IDs and whatnot.
And what you don't wanna do is say, oh,
here, my company's not here and I'm not
really able to legally work in Thailand
because, there's all this stuff where
in order to work here for Thai companies
especially, you need a work permit.
And so there's the not good way to do it.
There's the under the radar way to do it,
which I certainly would not recommend.
And then there's the above board way to do
it, which would be to have a work permit,
pay taxes, and be legally employed here.
Yeah.
I'd say there are basically
three different ways to be
able to work in Thailand.
If you are considering
it, somewhat legal anyway.
So you could join any, apply for any
job for any company who are like A
BOI company who can employ foreigners
with a work permit and visa or who's
allowed to hire foreigners more or less.
Or you can join an outsourcing company
if you don't, if you are clients, don't
have any entities here in the country.
but there's also people like, joining a
friend's company or setting up their own
business in Thailand, or at least consider
setting up a business in Thailand just
to be able to get a visa and work permit.
So it's good that people
take this thing seriously.
and, legal compliance in Thailand,
especially in, in, in the digital
professional field, like people getting
thrown out of Thailand for not working
with a correct visa and stuff like this.
So it is something to
actually take seriously here.
But, we have a lot of people
that simply comes to us and,
I'm thinking about setting up my
own business here in Thailand.
And they go and they start checking
like, okay, I gotta register company.
I gotta pay the government fees.
I gonna do a BOI registration, I gonna,
all the reporting, auditing, financial
statement, account accounting services.
All the reporting say, gonna hire,
you're gonna set up your own office
to be able to all do all of this.
You're gonna have a director
that you actually pay a salary.
There's all kinds of hidden fees
that people don't really consider.
And then they realize that,
okay, maybe it's not so bad to
go with the outsourcing model.
Flexible, low, risk model, basically.
And, if you're setting up your own
company, even though that could
be cheaper, you're gonna, you're
gonna make sure that you have a
bunch of people who actually need,
work permit to make it worth it.
And also then you're gonna consider also
like, how long are you gonna, are you
gonna commit to, to be operating 10 years
at least in Thailand to make it worth it?
Or if you are considering just working
in Thailand for a year to see how you
like, it makes no sense to, to invest
in, in setting up your own BOI company.
Now I want to take one quick step back
just to make sure I can understand this
flow of what happened with your career.
So it sounds like you were
working for this employer.
They then hooked you up with Iglu.
They were working on a project.
And Iglu is now being hired
to do a project, and you're
an employee of Iglu, right?
But then now, if you fast forward
a bit, you now have a role within
Iglu where it's you helping other
companies get set up within Iglu.
Is that right?
explain a little bit more of
how that transition happened and
Yeah, exactly.
is today.
So I joined a consultant working for one
of Iglus clients or working on a project,
managed by Iglu for Iglus clients.
And then Iglu was hiring for a sales
manager a couple of years ago, and
then I applied for that position.
So I basically just switched project.
So it's no real difference of,
internal, external like that.
But now I am, I'm in the management team.
And helping new clients do
business in Thailand and
providing talents for our clients.
And then I'm also managing the,
sales process within the team to
try to get more leads and try to
generate the business in general.
So yeah, that was a quite an interesting
transition, but I was still like, yeah,
it's totally different scope of work,
but still working for the same company
and, it was quite natural for me.
Especially coming from a key
account manage manager background.
leading sales teams was something
that I felt quite confident doing.
Excellent.
And that's how you and I met.
So full disclosure, I work with Iglu,
because I have my own consultancy and
just like you were mentioning this
path that firms can go down where they
say, do I wanna start my own company?
in my case, I'm American.
So I could have started a US Treaty
of Amity company or could have,
gone through the BOI process.
And I've known some companies
and, friends of mine that have
gone through that process.
So it seems like that's good options
and I don't wanna dissuade people
that are thinking long term and
have a ton of employees, they still
might wanna go down that path.
However, the way I looked at it,
having been here for over a decade.
Despite having history here, having
a family here and whatnot, the way I
look at it is a little bit more of a a
stepping stone that might actually be a
longer stepping stone for me, but it's
run a consultancy and I, until it, until
I have enough consultants and, have
enough employees and maybe that's 20
employees, whatever it didn't really make
sense for me to jump right to that step.
So I look at Iglu as a very interesting
step if you're, if again, if you,
depending on the size, depending on the
duration, depending on your circumstances.
But I see a lot of advantages and that's
obviously why I went down this path.
And that's how you and I met because we
had several calls to talk about all these,
So I think your, role is very interesting
because you don't seem to just be
pitching Iglu and all the benefits of it.
You're giving a really balanced view.
Of the benefits the tax
implications, the things like this.
I asked you a ton of questions before
I decided to continue with Iglu.
Yeah, I guess that you have a whole,
if you compare the setting up your own
company route versus, the outsourcing
model, eI mean, the outsourcing model
or Iglu model, honestly is not for
everyone, but it's for a lot of people.
And the main thing is
just that it's flexible.
You can just join and you can work
with us for as long as you need
to, without any real investments.
But, also, we have a really ni,
we have really nice offices.
And, a lot of people, they consider
setting up a business in Thailand and
they compare like, okay, how much does
it cost per employee to have an office
in Thong Lo for example, okay, maybe
then it's gonna be 15,000 baht per person
and we're gonna be five people, and then
you're gonna have this, HR team to handle
their visa applications and visa renewals,
and 90 day reporting, all of that.
For some people that's everything.
And for some people like, oh,
I don't need an office at all.
I'm just gonna set up my own company.
I can hire my wife and my cousin
and, her two friends, and then
I got two, four Thai people.
But then they're still gonna be on payroll
and get money and, maybe they get it back.
But I think that it's, I'm trying to,
as you say, keep it quite balanced
and not only focus on the, like the
Iglu model, but the outsourcing model
versus the setting up your own business.
Because it depends a little bit
of your personal and ambition,
but also like long-term plans.
Some people, they're just traveling
around and wanna work from anywhere.
And some people they are really
focusing on Hey, I wanna have a proper
business visa and a work permit.
I'm gonna stay long term in Thailand.
My plan is to get a permanent residency.
I wanna become a citizen after that.
And in that case, you're
gonna have the legit routes.
and, then it's not only Iglu who can
help you, but any proper BOI company,
any real employer in Thailand.
Maybe we should touch
on a couple of those.
Points like BOI, right?
Why is BOI important and why?
'Cause you can start a
just a Thai company, right?
And you mentioned starting that
and you can, a Thai company
can employ a foreigner, right?
But is there anything to do with the
employee and the foreigner ratio to Thais
that, BOI gives you something a little bit
different or what is the benefit of BOI.
The benefit of BOI is that you can,
very, you can work indefinitely in
Thailand, have a work permit and
visa, and you can basically hire, I
don't wanna say unlimited, but you can
hire a lot of foreign professionals
to work for your company here in
Thailand, without complications.
Obviously, as I said before, there
are some restrictions, some roles
that we are not, foreigners are not
really able to do at all, but, but
there are some tax advantages for the
companies who set up their BOI company.
so, for us, if anyone joins an
outsourcing company like Iglu.
They would have a whole accounting
team to assist with everything in terms
of billing and, invoicing and, salary
payments, payroll tax reporting filings.
All of that is basically
an all-inclusive service.
And then also a full HR team who
will assist you and remind you with
your 90 day reporting or do them
for you, and they make sure that,
your visa is always up to date.
Extend them when it's needed.
I'm not too sure about the exact
differences or, the benefits compared to
a normal company in Thailand versus BOI,
but these are basically the, benefits.
Yeah, my understanding of this is that.
Not every industry is eligible
to be under the B-O-I.
BOI is Board of Investment.
And the Board of investment Office.
It's a different immigration office.
So when you're dealing with things
like work permits and whatnot,
you're not going to Chaengwattana.
You're going
to a different office, which is
inside of a mall basically, and
you're getting this VIP treatment.
But really it's about
investing in Thailand.
So the Board of Investment
wants companies.
Who are investing in Thailand e
employing Thais providing value.
And that's why I think a lot of the
industries that are eligible for
BOI tend to be technology focused
companies or things like this that
are again, bringing value to Thailand.
And so I really love BOI.
But the thing to note is that, again,
not everyone can start a BOI company.
You do have things like capital
expenditure and all these other
the documentation you have to
provide to demonstrate that you're
providing that value to Thailand
to be able to start a BOI company.
And so there are just some extra things
that people need to be aware of there.
But the main thing is that you
mentioned being able to employ more
foreigners is that a Thai company I
believe has to typically have the four
to one ratios of Thai to foreigners.
Whereas my understanding is that the
BOI companies can employ foreigners a
little bit easier because they don't
have to adhere to the same ratios.
they all, they will always, they
could ask Hey, why would you
hire a foreigner for this role?
So it always gonna make sense.
So for an example.
My first job in Thailand before Iglu
and everything, when I came here,
when I did this sales support, like
customer coordinator role all my
customers were Swedish, and it's a
sales job where I'm speaking Swedish.
So even in my job description and
in my visa, it's I'm, working for a
Swedish client and that's the main
reason with my application to approve
this, is because we need some Swedish
speaking guy based here in Thailand to
coordinate with the Swedish clients.
There's no question that a Thai person
can do this job, so then it's quite easy.
So when you are writing job
descriptions to apply for new job
titles with, in the BOI, we still make
sure that it makes sense before we
proceed and so that everyone we hire
actually has qualifications for it.
Which are quite low anyway, if, most of
the people that we hire are generally
speaking quite senior, but the minimum
requirements for a business visa and
work permit is only like with a bachelor
degree and two years work experience.
So even I managed to qualify when
I was 23 years old and get a work
permit with only part-time jobs.
So it's not really tough to get it.
It's quite easy.
And there is no quote that
to consider as you say.
No, but it's always good to be
thinking from the perspective of the
government, what are they trying to do?
And as I said, I have nothing but
good things to say about the BOI
Office Board of Investment offices.
That they they really do wanna provide
value and they're not really seemingly
trying to restrict foreigners a
lot, but they wanna make sure that
you're at least making that case.
Maybe it's your degree, but you need to at
least prove that you're providing value.
and it's a role that a
foreigner should be employed.
Yeah.
I, feel, like they're quite sympathetic
and, quite easy to deal with.
I'm always in and out there very
quickly when I do my renewals.
I always say to new people joining
that is more or less take a photo once
a year in the BOI office, and, then
more or less extended, but per default.
Obviously it's a lot more work in
it, done by the HR teams, but, yeah.
I feel like as long as they're
hiring people who actually want to
work legally in Thailand and pay
taxes in Thailand who are qualified,
there's no real no, no real reason
for them to make things hard for us.
Absolutely.
And that ties into another interesting
topic, which is visas, right?
So we're talking about you need
a work permit, to be working
in Thailand legally, right?
And you need a visa.
Now there are some newer visas now, like
the destination Thailand visa, and my
understanding is how that's working right
now is that it, you could run a small
operation from Thailand where you are
working with clients outside of Thailand,
under the destination Thailand visa.
So I know some people that are doing
this where they might be serving
the Southeast Asian region, but
not specifically Thailand, and they
don't have any clients in Thailand
and they can work from Thailand and
run their small operation that way,
or their SaaS, business or whatever.
However.
destination Thailand Visa is, still
effectively a tourist, like a long-term
tourist visa to a certain extent.
It's not a pathway to
any other type of visa.
It's not a pathway to citizenship.
It's not a pathway to permanent residency.
You're essentially not paying taxes in
Thailand in hopes of demonstrating the
value you're providing to Thailand.
Whereas when you're employed in Thailand
and have a visa and a work permit here
and are paying those taxes then from
my understanding is that you can then
go down some of these other routes,
whether it be a long-term resident visa
or whether it be permanent residence.
Is that correct?
Yeah, so Iglu, I think we have 10
or possibly 11 people on the highly
skilled professional LTR Visa, which
has some other tax benefits as well.
But it's only for some highly
qualified professionals who have
a high income, more or less.
and then they have this.
Smart visa, which seems to not
be, it's gonna be discontinued
because I don't think they even
issue it anymore in the BOI.
And then you have the non b
business visa with the work permits.
So these are basically the three options.
if you're talking about employment visas.
And as you say, the DTV Visa is
not an employment visa at all.
It's also a problem because you cannot
have a work permit on the DTV Visa because
it's not allowed to work for title.
You're not allowed to
work for Thai companies.
So then you have this problem
with the financial side as well.
you might be able to open a bank account
in some shop, but you're not supposed to.
And most of the banks simply
don't allow you to open a bank
account without a work permit.
Some people might have a work, bank
account since before and they might
not close that down, but there
is all kinds of complications.
It's a lot of limitations.
So there is no real benefit to the DTV
Visa apart from being able to be in
Thailand and do your, bill your clients
abroad and have, pay your taxes in
other countries and stuff like that.
So many people still come to Thailand
to be employed in Thailand, have your
income in Thailand, because even though
things are not as cheap as it used to be.
It's not cheap in Europe either anymore.
And the tax rates in Thailand
are considerably lower than
in Europe for an example.
although it's not super, low
taxes here, it's still much lower
than, in Sweden for an example.
Yeah, it's a good point.
And I think a lot of people know here in
Thailand that you can make it as cheap
or as expensive as you want it to be.
So you can get by on very little here.
But you would be living a
very simple life, right?
And so you can live a very
simple life, live like a local,
Thai or lower income Thai.
And, you can, again, I think
live still good, enjoy yourself.
But I do feel like when you start
having a, you grow a family and o
other things and you want to have
foreign food and all this other stuff,
it does get a bit more expensive.
But to your point, it's all relative.
Jimmy?
You change what you do, right?
So for me, I really love Thailand and
living in Thailand, not only having good
food, exploring the country, driving
around, going up the mountains, going,
riding motorcycles somewhere, also,
like to other countries like Korea
and other countries around Thailand.
Yeah, let's touch on that because one
thing that you had mentioned to me in a
prior conversation, Jimmy, was that number
one you like motorcycle riding and racing.
I, and then number two, that there
is a great race track, in Thailand,
which I was completely unfamiliar with.
I've heard of the the tracks for
cars, but I didn't know there
was some great motorcycle racing.
So maybe you could share where that
is in which you recommend there.
And the third thing I'd love for you
to touch on is you're the networking
sort of opportunity and the other
expats and whatnot that you meet
because you being in sales, it's very
interesting that you're able to meet
some very interesting people where
that might turn into business later on.
That might just turn into friendships,
but that's another side of it that I
think people might not be aware of.
So could you touch on some
of those things for us?
Yeah.
So yeah, as motorcycle is a huge part
of my life and, I think I, maybe this
wasn't the, real purpose from the
beginning, but after a few years when
I really started to ride motorcycles
more in Thailand, I started to realize
that this is the real reason why I
want to continue living in Thailand.
' cause I can ride motorcycles not
only like cruise around and touring.
But also racing.
So for an example, in Buri Ram, which
is like Isaan, mid country, they
have a big football team as well.
but next to the football stadium
there is a huge motorcycle track
and this is a motor GP track.
once a year, there's
motor GP being racing.
They have huge, like people
in the whole city, these fully
booked hotels everywhere.
It's a real, real fest.
Like it's a huge event.
really fun to go to.
Although I never been to that
specific Moto GP event yet.
But on that track, so a moto GP track,
that's where I go racing usually in
Buri Ram and I go mostly with, Honda.
They organize really good events, Honda,
Thailand, so that if you buy a big bike in
Thailand from Honda, they can provide you
with access to these events, track days.
And also Honda, the championship
competitions, usually every third month
or something, they have a real event.
and there is a huge expat community
racing motorcycles in the same group.
So we have, like Americans, we have
British people, we have French people,
we have Italians, Belgians, like all
the, all the random nationalities
with different backgrounds.
And a lot of these people are
actually made, like quite close
friends now, we have the same
hobby meet them up both in Bangkok.
People live like down on the islands or.
Anywhere, literally.
And, everyone just transports their
bike and go racing and, enjoy.
And this, most of them are
quite senior executives.
A lot of them have their own businesses.
And some of them even sends me leads like,
hey Jimmy, this is, one of my friends.
He's also, living in Thailand.
He has a business, blah, blah, blah.
do you think you can help him?
and then, yeah, I get leads this way too.
So quite interesting.
But also like riding motorcycles.
Apart from being on the track and racing.
If I'm cruising around on the street,
let's say on the mountains in Chiang Mai
or my hometown, then stopping by in a
cafe in a really nice scenic route, and
then you're just sitting there having
a coffee by the side of the road and
really enjoying your life already, but
then you got five other bikes, parking
outside, and everyone is just so nice.
This, it's a living community.
Even though you don't know the people
coming by, you just talk to people and
everyone is just sharing their passion.
oh, what is this bike?
What?
What kind of exhaust is this?
Ah, yeah.
Did an ECU flash on it as well.
And you're sitting there and talking
about like nerdy motorcycle things.
And for me, I can talk quite
a lot about motorcycles.
This is how I got a hold of,
my current manager who is the
deputy CEO of Iglu right now.
So I went to a few Facebook, there was
a Facebook group called Expat Bikers,
and we went to, on a day trip, meet in
this gas station at six o'clock in the
morning and we go to, we have lunch
there and then we go back to Bangkok.
yeah, you can get jobs, you can get
leads and you can get friends from
riding motorcycles in Thailand.
No, that's amazing.
Now, how many motorcycles
do you have then?
I got four, which is plenty
enough for me at the moment.
So it's, some people call me a little
crazy and especially my soon to be wife.
But yeah, I got one dedicated race
machine only for the track and then I
got another big bike for the streets.
And then I got, two scooters, so 1 3 50
A DV and one little ano seven 11 bike.
So yeah, as I said, biking
is a part of my life.
Definitely.
The reason I really liked you
explaining all that is because.
Number one, it plays to the point
that everyone can find their
community here in Thailand, right?
If you are really big into car racing,
if you're really big into motorcycles,
really big into rock climbing, right?
We have a mutual friend who's really big
into that, there's just these different
places and you, I think too often people
give up on Thailand because they live
in, on one soi and they don't like that
they're getting ripped off or whatever.
'cause they haven't learned
any Thai or anything like this.
And
it's no, you have to realize that there
are all these different communities
out there and there are opportunities.
And the, other reason I think this is
really important, Jimmy, is because.
I, attend a decent number of networking
events and I sometimes meet these
people and they just want to give
out their business cards, right?
And I, that's a pet peeve of mine.
I really dislike that.
'cause to me
it's all about making actual connections,
not like LinkedIn connections.
Make actual connections, right?
And that means that you might actually
wanna hang out with the person.
You might actually like the
person you might wanna actually
know about their business, right?
You might wanna know what they're doing.
And so that's where, when
you find your community.
Then it's not that you're finding the
community in hopes of getting business.
It's a little bit more of
it's a side effect, isn't it?
yeah, definitely.
when I go to these, track days
in Buri Ram, everyone is walking
around with a big fat smile on their
face and everyone is talking and
saying hi to each other, everyone.
Everyone knows.
you have people that love the same
thing hanging out together basically.
So of course you're gonna have fun.
And I think that's what makes it
like you don't go there to sell.
And this is really not the case.
But at some point in the evening
after the you, you're in a swimming
pool with five or 10, friends.
having some beers, after a full day
on the track, and they're like, Hey,
Jimmy, what do you do for a living?
By the way, I had no idea what you do.
How long you have you been in Thailand?
Oh, I do this and that.
Okay, actually, I, might
actually be interested in some,
assistance further down the road.
So it becomes much more natural.
This, this relationships.
You get to know the persons first and
you get to, to, you actually like them.
And then if you like someone, you
also wanna do business with 'em.
Absolutely.
now you've mentioned that you've
been here for several years.
Are there any other things that you like
about Thailand, or maybe this ties into,
are there any reasons that companies
tend to want to do business in Thailand
that make this a good regional hub?
Yeah, so there are, for me personally, I
think that is, the motorcycle community
also, to be able to have the weather
where you can ride motorcycle basically
all year round with different bikes.
But for companies, first of all,
you can get access to really senior
skilled talents because remote work
in general, or working in Thailand,
it attracts quite a lot of senior, or
le, let's say, highly skilled people.
But also there's huge like infrastructure
for remote work here, full of really
luxurious and nice coworking spaces.
You can rent offices very cheaply.
You have the good time zones, so you
can work with the European time zones
while based in Thailand, but also tap
into like other time zones, not too
far away from Dubai, not too far away
from some parts of the US at least.
you can work with multiple time
zones quite efficient from here.
And, then of course you have the cost
of living, which is the main thing.
And, yeah, weather and quality of
life in general, because most of the
people I know that you spoke about,
the trap of getting a low paid job
only because you are in Thailand.
But, most of the people that I deal
with are more senior professionals
or entrepreneurs who, wants to
continue working for their projects
that are paying a lot of money,
but then somehow get a high income.
While living in a low cost country.
And that's the dream, right?
Yeah, and I, again, I wanna reinforce
that it's entirely possible.
Yeah, for me, that's what changed with
Iglu, that I realized that wow, some
people make a lot of money here even.
Yeah.
It is true, there's quite a
wealth gap here, and I think
I've seen plenty of people caught on the
hamster wheel where they're basically
anchored to local Thai salaries.
But it all comes down to
what skillset you have.
And there absolutely are people that are
much higher paid than I am living here and
living a very good a life where it's very
high income and very low cost of living.
And it's possible.
But if you just are looking to just
land here in Thailand and get a
well-paying job with all these great
benefits, I think that's less likely.
And, that sort of ties us to
something else Jimmy, I wanted to
ask you about is workforce trends.
Over the years that you've been here or
that you've been in this sort of industry,
have you seen any trends in the types
of people that are able to more easily
get a job or the trends of people that
are more remotely working from Thailand?
Anything that you can share that
you're seeing in how companies are
structuring differently than they did
in the past or anything like that?
I think some company they use
Thailand or remote in general as
a business or company perk, right?
They're trying to make it really
sexy to work in this specific company
only because you are able to work
remotely or to be based in Thailand.
So that's one thing.
and I think also a lot of companies,
they there are more senior talents
working in Thailand than junior ones.
But, just a few years ago we only
had this TESOL license with A BOI.
So just a few years ago, Iglu was
only able to hire IT professionals,
more or less, or people
working in any IT related role.
But, then we saw a shift that we had a
lot more projects requesting, customer
services or like a these kind of more
like business process outsourcing roles.
So then we actually expanded
the scope of our BOI license.
So we got this IBPO license as well,
enabling us to hire people in sales
roles and, more simple customer service
roles for clients outside Thailand.
And, now we are expanding a lot.
there is, there are more and more people,
joining us with these, let's say normal
roles, not only the entrepreneurs and
not only the the, senior IT experts.
So I think that, customer service jobs
for tech companies or like sales job, like
tech sales jobs is getting more and more
in Thailand maybe not only in Thailand,
probably everywhere, but these are roles
that are quite easy now to do remotely.
And just to play on the more senior
roles that are operating here.
To your point, they could just be someone,
like it's a people manager of some sort.
It could be entrepreneurs that have
their own companies and whatnot.
But I'm just curious if
you're also seeing that.
Some of these highly skilled professionals
are more often going independent or
more often doing these things where
they're looking for more flexibility
to maybe work with multiple clients.
Things like this, because I, know
there's the more traditional go through
the corporate ladder, become part of
the C-suite and then stay at that job.
But from what I'm seeing is like
not as many people are sticking
around a company for 20 years and
getting, collecting their pension.
I'm seeing honestly, a lot of the.
The really talented people not jump
ship, but just change the work style
or the way that they're working.
Yeah, that, and also a lot of, let's
say, overqualified people doing more
simple jobs only because they're
able to be in Thailand, right?
So that if you are quite professional,
I think that you get higher quality
candidates applying for a job that is
based in Thailand when they're just
looking for a fluent English speaker.
Let's say you're gonna do a customer
support job for a CRM system, like
a Salesforce or HubSpot or whatever.
Everything you're gonna do is to be
available for meetings online and then
be on available on email and chat.
So as long as you can do that.
Usually people just want to have all this
convenience of, employment by a company
in Thailand who can provide you with
a work permit, a visa pay your social
security, provide all that you need to
be able to work legally in Thailand.
And then you get a lot of like
overqualified people who can accept
a lower salary than they maybe could
in their home country, only because
they get to do the job from here.
So I would say it's a lot more
competition for the roles and, I think
this is probably the main reason why
we hire a lot of senior professionals.
Also, companies benefit from lower,
as you say, maybe not, most people
don't stay 20 years, but Iglu have
a few people stayed 10 years now.
we did, and many, at least for five years.
you have, lower, you increase staff
retention and, the employees are probably
a little bit happier being able to do
their job in Thailand than anywhere else.
Speaking of staff retention, I'm just
imagining in a case that there is a
company with five or 10 employees, let's
say that would be working from Thailand.
Okay.
Now, in that case, you are now trying to
make sure that those people stay happy.
And planning events, like doing all the
stuff, whether it be taxes, it seems
like there's the clerical side of it,
but then you touched on the other side,
which is the happiness side of it.
So I'm curious if you could touch
on anything that Iglu does to
help, individuals that are pursuing
Iglu as an outsource provider.
And is there anything that you do
to keep employees happy or to keep
people engaging with one another?
We have a quite vibrant community.
so we are over 200 foreigners,
I believe at the moment.
Almost 40 different nationalities.
So it's very multinational.
everyone is quite qualified
and, quite senior I'd say.
We of course, have, normal roles as
well, but it's quite interesting.
So once a month we have one event in
all our offices, maybe beer and pizza
in the office or something like this.
And, almost everyone works
remotely with Iglu, but these.
Office days makes people want to
come in to meet their p meet their
colleagues and have a pizza, and
have a couple of beers after work.
and also once a year we have a
completely free, outing trip.
So we have been to Pai
with the whole company.
We have been in Pattaya,
with the whole company.
So basically we rent out the whole
resort and we invite everyone,
including their families to join
us for a get together once a year.
Provide a really nice, we have a buffet
dinner for everyone, paid for by Iglu.
We have the hotel room paid for everyone.
And, just get together over a long
weekend to just hang out and get to know
each other and, have some activities.
Last year we rented a yacht boat in
Pattaya, had a party on that, and
then everyone is having dinner in
the evening and just having a good
time and getting to know each other.
And this makes it really nice
when you come to the office
after these outings that's.
People really get to know each
other because of It sparks a lot of
conversations like, oh yeah, how are you?
And they're like, where
did you go after that?
Like you can see people get to
know each other because of it.
And that's quite nice.
Even for myself, I came in
relatively new in the, into Iglu
when I became the sales manager.
So naturally I wanted to get no,
as the sales manager, when I'm in
charge of basically hiring people.
I wanna make sure that I have a
good connection with not only the
legal team, but also the HR and
accounting teams and all the internal
colleagues, So that helped a lot.
And yeah, even on my first months, I was
talking to some like Iglu accountants and
I'm, sitting and talking to her and she
is after a while she like, who are you?
I'm like, Hey, it's me, Jimmy.
I worked here for two months.
Hello.
It's you.
So it's good to have this
get togethers sometimes.
Yeah, I think we all
crave that a little bit.
I think like I, like you was working
remotely long before COVID and I loved
it and I enjoyed it and it was a very
smooth transition for me 'cause I
was already doing everything online.
But you fast forward a few years
after everyone was forced to be only
online, and then a few years more.
And then you start to say,
huh, okay, I kind of wish.
I could shake hands with people meet
in, meat space, more frequently.
And so doing the occasional like
monthly lunch or annual event,
I think goes a really long way.
Because not only that, to your point
with your colleagues and people, in
the accounting department, whatever
else, it's like, it's really good for
people to see that you're human, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
I totally agree.
And another perk that we have that is.
It's, it is these small things
that doesn't necessarily cost
a lot of money for the company,
but that is quite appreciated.
So Iglu actually has free Thai
lessons for all employees.
So obviously we have IT scan, we
have it, online with a Zoom call.
So obviously it's up to, depending on
what time slot works for you with your
work and your projects and everything.
But, for me it's there is no reason
for me to not join a free type
class at work, like in working hours
scheduled in my Google calendar.
So now, almost two years after
I can read and write Thai.
But I learned more since I joined Iglu
two years ago, than I, Then I did the
remain and the other seven years combined.
So now I'm out driving my car and
driving around and actually can speak
to people in Thai and read and oh
no, this does, this means next week.
Nothing.
it's, quite nice to be able to read.
And I can see oh, here says max
occupancy, 20 people on the pier.
oh, I understood that.
It's nice.
So this helps me, with my path towards PR.
Absolutely.
And that, again, I know I touched
on that briefly, but when you're
working for a company paying taxes
and whatnot, then you can go in that
pathway towards permanent residency.
And as you pointed out, you do
then need to speak some Thai.
I just went through that process.
I'll speak about that more
in the channel down the road.
But basically you definitely have to
have some language ability to be able
to go in front and make your case.
As to why you need pr.
And so that, yeah, that Thai
language classes sound like a great
way to set you on the right track.
Now, Jimmy, is there anything
that you wish I would've asked you
about that we didn't discuss yet?
Not really.
Not really.
we've been focusing a lot about work
and, the business side of everything.
I think that's.
In general, people who are interested to
come to Thailand and live here long term.
I think that there are
so many ways of doing it.
And if you, the main thing is just
to have work, whether you, if you
have a client willing to pay for
your services, then it's possible.
If you have an employer who wanna pay you
money to do some work that's a main thing.
Which Visa you get, or
which company joins.
That's the second questions.
But if you have some kind of connection,
you can just come to Thailand.
Also there are, full of business
events like, all kinds of, like the,
for me, Swedish, Thai Chamber of
Commerce, the Finnish Thai Chamber
of Commerce, the Norwegian Thai
Chamber of Commerce, the British
Thai Chamber of Commerce Singapore.
there's basically every country have
one, and they have events all the time.
They have, it's full of like
international business leaders.
So if you're really trying to get
new clients or projects or just,
find new employees for your own
business, there is a huge international
community in Thailand especially.
Especially Bangkok.
That's a great point.
And what I will say too is it's
relatively close knit in this sense
that you definitely are gonna know
someone who knows someone, right?
So you certainly don't wanna
burn your bridges here.
It's amazing how, again.
And Jimmy, you and I were just talking
and we're like, oh, Nick, I know Nick.
it is this sort of thing.
it's always just one step removed here.
you're gonna know someone
who knows someone.
And so.
It's a big country, but there i it is
like a little pot in the middle where
all the foreigners are mixed into.
So like Bangkok is big.
It's a lot of people.
But then again, it's only a small
part of, Bangkok where literally
everyone is in, I feel like.
Absolutely.
Now I want to make a handoff to, if people
want to get in touch with you, Jimmy, what
is the best way to get in touch to either
learn, let's say that they are they.
Or, one of a few different
categories, right?
If they're a case where they're an
employer and they're thinking about, they
have some people asking them about working
from Thailand or working in thailand,
or they already have some, a regional
office, but they're thinking about maybe
expanding into Thailand, so they're the
business side, or if they're on more
the kind of consulting, like they have
a small practice or something like that,
and they're just trying to make sure that
they can go down the right path for that.
How should they reach out to you?
I think the easiest way is just
to go into Iglu.net/contact, and
that's spelled Iglu.net/contact.
and then send me, send
us a message from there.
we usually reply within 24 7.
it's 24 hours.
sorry.
or you can send me an email if you
just have some general questions, which
is, Jimmy, jimmy@Iglu.net and, that's
probably the, best way to get ahold of us.
We also have some open
jobs on Iglu.net/jobs.
Excellent, Jimmy.
And I'll also add another option is
that if someone wants to hear from
me about my experience using Iglu,
then you can certainly ask or give my
unbiased opinion on what it's all been
like, the goods, the bads, everything.
I'll speak bad about Jimmy behind
his back a little bit if I have to.
Now, but definitely you can
reach out to me as well.
I'll put my, email in
the description as well.
But with that, I just wanna thank you,
Jimmy for spending the time with us today.
Yeah.
Thanks.
Good to be here.
Alright.
I'll catch you on the next one
and talk to you soon, Jimmy.
Bye.
Alright, thanks.