Leveraging the Chinese Community in Thailand
Maybe there is a benefit from being surrounded by Chinese speaking people in Thailand?
Mike’s blog 203
We are moving – AGAIN.
Can you believe this?
You’re saying – but you just moved to Thailand and are moving?
Well – still in Chiang Mai, still same school for the kids – here’s the story.
We love where we are living but it is far from the school. We knew the landlord, Fern, through a mutual friend Chris Gormley – and she was so helpful and accommodating. We told her it was bit far from the school and the school bus doesn’t go there – but she helped us find her dad’s friend to be our kid’s driver.
But that driver seems burnt out – wants to quit – for the past 2 weeks he has been waiting for us to find another option / another driver / etc. Luckily Fern has gotten him to keep doing it until we have another option – and she said she didn’t expect it to be this hard to find it.
Rent a car and drive the kids ourselves?
Well – I hate to drive. Since as far back as I can remember – I have avoided driving. Just stresses me out.
Plus, 20 minutes to drive there, 20 minutes back, twice a day – seems insane. (Maybe this is why the driver is quitting)
So – basically – we have to find a new place to live and we are leveraging Wendy’s Chinese WeChat groups of mommies. A whole bunch of rent direct from owner hookups came from it.
And we found one like 8 minutes from the school and at a lower price and a bigger place – more office style on the first floor as well (want to do closed member style meetups there).
Boom – so on the move again. The hustle doesn’t seem to stop. Kind of nerve racking to say the least – with the school, the kids hyper ness, the language of being surrounded by Chinese people in Thailand, negotiating with Thai landlords – what kind of world did I get myself into?
I’m just a visitor here – and trying to do my online business and have 2 kids live a happy life where they can learn multiple languages, get international exposure.
This isn’t as simple and straightforward as those Facebook ads about making money on the beach are cracked out to be.
But don’t give up – take life as it comes – the new place is awesome – the kids are happy – wife is happy (what is that saying – happy wife – happy life) and we are pushing forward.
Attitude is everything.
(wrote this twice by mistake, here is version 2 for records)
Leveraging The Chinese Community In Thailand (Wife Is Secret Weapon)
Who would have thought?
We are rocking and rolling here in Thailand 2 months already and – we are moving our house.
Insane, I know.
But it could be worse. We have a secret weapon.
Mike’s Blog 203
We are entering October here and things are heating up – to be honest – it does seem warmer then when we arrived in August.
But not just the temperature – but the family grind. We moved to a house a bit far from the school (the admissions department told us not to move that far) and the landlord helped us find a private driver. Things were somewhat smooth (some of you watching these saw me spend a week or so going to the school with the driver and kids, waiting all day, and driving back).
Well – the driver ended up – not liking it – or whatever (he won’t say). And quit. The landlord helped us ask him to keep doing it until we found another option – but really – no school bus, no one in the school lived nearby, etc.
So – Wendy started to apply for her driver’s license – but even if she got it – it isn’t sustainable as she has to go to China in a couple weeks to process her visa (need to do it from outside of Thailand) – and …I am not going to drive- I hate driving with a passion. I think it is from the road rage days in America or whatever – plus if I need to drive 20 minutes to the school, then 20 minutes back, work, drive back in afternoon for 20 minutes, then back – that is like hours of time from start to finish per day (maybe it is why the private driver quit!?).
Anyway, we have been leveraging Wendy’s secret weapon – a Chinese community in Thailand. Rented a new house from this network – got insights on her getting a driver’s license- but I have to admit – I feel a bit like a fish out of water with being surrounded by Chinese and Thai people most of my day. Try to think about the priceless experiences my kids will have growing up in such an international environment.