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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
There are three common myths
that expats in Thailand fall for.
And if you fall for any one of them,
it's likely to cost you time, money,
and probably even a bit of sanity.
Today, I'm gonna debunk all three
myths to save you from some of the
mistakes that I've made myself.
My name is Scott Pressimone and
I've been in Thailand since 2012,
but as I said, I made a ton of
mistakes when I first came here.
I came in with a bit of arrogance.
I thought I knew more than I knew.
And it took me quite a bit longer
before I realized how little I knew.
Myth number one is that
Thailand needs to be saved.
When you first get here, when
you're green, you're gonna
see a ton of opportunities.
You're gonna see problems, you're
gonna see maybe bad customer service or
inefficiencies, and you're gonna think,
I'm gonna be able to fix all this.
And you're gonna probably think that
if you take that Western mentality
and you apply it to Thailand,
then it's gonna solve the problem.
But here's the reality.
In Thailand, there is a bunch of wisdom
built into the way things operate here.
Because after all the businesses
that are international or Thai that
have worked and operated in Thailand
know the culture better than you do.
And so while there still might
be opportunities, it doesn't
mean that everything you see as
a problem is something that you
can fix or that Thais want to fix.
Now, myth number two is that
after being here for a few years,
that you understand Thailand.
I've typically seen this from
expats that have been here for a few
years, and they think they know so
much more than they actually know.
When these expats talk to
someone who's new here, they
speak with authority, right?
It's, I've been here for years.
I know this.
I know that that's not how it's done.
That's impossible to do here.
It's this kind of feeling of
they've already reached the
pinnacle, they already get it.
A term for this is called the Dunning
Kruger effect, and the path that
a lot of people go through is they
first know nothing, then they start
to know a bit, but they think they
know more than they actually know.
What you have to do is get past that
period and actually reach the point where
you know how little you actually know.
I found the most wise expats that
have been here will rightfully
admit how little they know.
They might speak fluent Thai.
They might have been here for 20 years,
but you'll first hear from them how they
still haven't fully adapted or they still
don't fully understand how things work.
As soon as you think you figured it out.
That's when you actually are gonna run
into more problems because you think
you know more than you actually know.
If you've gotten value outta this so
far, all that I ask is that you go
ahead and click the like button and
subscribe if you want information
about living and working in Thailand.
I promise I'll deliver the best
information that I can and I'll
respond to comments if you have
any other topic suggestions.
Now for myth number three.
This myth is that you have to
fully adapt to Thai culture.
If you believe that you have to fully
adapt to Thai culture, then you're
gonna fall into the trap of becoming
just like every other Thai company.
Now here's the reality.
You absolutely can create a hybrid
environment in Thailand where there's
a mix of your background or maybe
western culture along with Thai culture.
And when you merge those things
together and you strike that balance,
what you'll find is that you're gonna
have Thais that are gonna wanna work
for you because they like the culture
mix that you've created, and you're
not offending them in their culture.
So here are a few tips that I wanna share.
The first is to not prescribe a solution
until you take more time to understand it.
Because again, when you're new to
Thailand, you're gonna feel that
you just need to fix everything.
But take a step back, note
things down, but don't think
you have the answer right away.
The second tip is to maintain curiosity,
because if you think you understand
Thailand after just a few years,
you're not gonna continue to learn.
You need to continually learn and
act like a sponge so that you can
do better and better in Thailand.
And the third tip is to
not over adapt to Thailand.
You don't wanna go so far to the
other side where you're adapting to
become just another Thai business.
You have a competitive advantage in the
market if you have a different background
and so you wanna leverage that experience
to strike a balance between the two.
Alright, I hope you enjoyed this.
Since you made it to the end.
I, again, ask, please
go ahead and subscribe.
Click the like button to get
this out there to more people.
I really appreciate you and please
leave a comment down below if you
have any topic ideas or if there's
anything that I missed in this
video, go ahead and share down below.
Alright, I'll catch you on the next one.
Bye for now.