[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by LTAutoMad

Healthcare is NOT free in Australia - You pay 2% of your Income as Medicare levy.

Let me just mention UK in passing.

UK is famous for its National Health Service. Yes it is "free" (to UK residents) at the point of delivery, but you will find a deduction from your pay called National Insurance.

True, it pays for other aspects of what remains of Britain's welfare state as well, including state pension, but it has to be paid and it is not trivial.

[LTAutoMad]

Originally Posted by LTAutoMad

You are correct - it no longer makes any sense to migrate just for better salaries. The gap has narrowed substantially.
25 years ago, the starting salary for a graduate was AU$30-35k p.a., now it is AU$60-70K, so doubled in 25 years! Reason - Very low inflation.

For India, what would be the salary now compared to 25 years ago? 20x? 25x?

In Australia, salary growth is linked to CPI growth - salary increment is typically only 2-3% a year!

PPPwise, India is much better - in Australia tradesmen charge an arm & a leg - there is dignity of labour because most people get paid a similar amount - the salary spread between the lowest & highest is quite small; for e.g. a senior manager in a good company may earn only 2.5x the salary of a cleaner in that company and the manager will be paying heaps more tax while the cleaner would be getting govt subsidies! So not much difference in the net money in pocket! Australia is a capitalist socialist country!

Money aside, there are many intangibles like clean air, pristine environment, good infrastructure, easy access to good schools, excellent public healthcare, no corruption, general rule of law etc to which one can't put a price. Melbourne was ranked the world's most livable city for many years - the top 10 cities in that list are always Australian, Canadian & Swiss year after year.

There are positives & negatives to all options, whether one stays home in India, works temporarily in the Gulf, migrates permanently etc.

[Nav-i-gator]

I will be relocating to Bangkok,Thailand sometime in next 3-4 months with my family. Few things that I need suggestions on:

1. What would be a good salary in Bangkok for someone earning ~25L per annum (excl Variables) in India?
2. what about rent? Condo or apartments? and best locations to stay
3. School for my kid (will be going to 1st standard)
4. Any other thing?

[rdst_1]

Originally Posted by poloman

What is the pull for people to migrate if they are going to get same salary with 2-3 times higher cost of living?

Better living conditions can surely be a good enough reason to migrate, at least for me.
I migrated from Chandigarh, which is considered one of the better cities in India, to my village in Himachal. Now that I have lived over here for 5 years, I want to migrate to even more interior and rural Himachal so that I don't have to deal with the majority of the population who don't care enough about their surroundings and natural resources. Most of us Indian are filthy by nature and no amount of Swachh Abhiyan can cure this disease. If I am ever able to afford to do it, I would definitely migrate to a nice village in European Alps.
Mine might be an extreme case, but I hope you get the gist. There might be others like me who would rather give up some comforts, or work harder for a better living environment and better services from the government even if that means I might not have the same lifestyle (luxury) as in India.

[hothatchaway]

Originally Posted by Nav-i-gator

I will be relocating to Bangkok,Thailand sometime in next 3-4 months with my family. Few things that I need suggestions on:

1. What would be a good salary in Bangkok for someone earning ~25L per annum (excl Variables) in India?
2. what about rent? Condo or apartments? and best locations to stay
3. School for my kid (will be going to 1st standard)
4. Any other thing?

If you are being relocated by your company, it should be on an expat assignment given that Thailand is similar to India in terms of living standards. While I have holidayed in Thailand I have no idea about pay packages there, but that is why companies generally benchmark their pay to what one would need to live comfortably in commercial capitals like London, new York et al, even while sending the employee to Dhaka. That is because expenses like schools, healthcare etc may not be standardized in some of these developing countries and can cost a bomb for foreign Nationals who come temporarily.

If you are being sent by your employer, make sure you negotiate benefits like schooling, housing and healthcare. Many Thais are not fluent in English and kids will need time to settle in. If you are trying to emigrate on your own, it will be interesting to learn about your experience.
Good luck

[Nav-i-gator]

Originally Posted by hothatchaway

If you are being relocated by your company, it should be on an expat assignment given that Thailand is similar to India in terms of living standards.

If you are trying to emigrate on your own, it will be interesting to learn about your experience.
Good luck

Relocated by company (why else do a family man relocate to Bangkok ). Actually accepted because of the new role that would be very helpful in the long run for me. I have been to Bangkok many times for work purposes, and while it is no where near Singapore (or even KL), at least Bangkok is much better for living than Gurgaon (I may be wrong though).

My biggest worry right now is schooling, followed by accommodation (considering legendary traffic there).

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by Nav-i-gator

Relocated by company (why else do a family man relocate to Bangkok ). Actually accepted because of the new role that would be very helpful in the long run for me. I have been to Bangkok many times for work purposes, and while it is no where near Singapore (or even KL), at least Bangkok is much better for living than Gurgaon (I may be wrong though).

My biggest worry right now is schooling, followed by accommodation (considering legendary traffic there).

Congratulations! It is a wonderful country to live, and culturally very rich. It will be a good experience for your family. If company is paying, a good condo around Sukhumvit (Prong Phong, Soi Thong Lo, Ekkamai) should be a good bet - find somewhere closer to BTS so that you don't need to be in a traffic signal for an hour. Otherwise if your work location is in the outskirts, find some places around there; you will be able to find some good residential enclaves with easy access to international schools.

[hothatchaway]

Originally Posted by Nav-i-gator

Relocated by company (why else do a family man relocate to Bangkok ). Actually accepted because of the new role that would be very helpful in the long run for me. I have been to Bangkok many times for work purposes, and while it is no where near Singapore (or even KL), at least Bangkok is much better for living than Gurgaon (I may be wrong though).

My biggest worry right now is schooling, followed by accommodation (considering legendary traffic there).

I wish I worked for a company which relocates people to Thailand. Can you please refer me?!

I loved driving around the place, rarely seen a friendlier bunch of people. And yes, any place is better than living in gurgaon and breathing the poison.

The schooling must be negotiated me thinks. Getting around is easier using the metro and the mono rail. The traffic is congested even though road courtesy is first world.

[Nav-i-gator]

Originally Posted by vb-san

Congratulations! It is a wonderful country to live, and culturally very rich. It will be a good experience for your family. If company is paying, a good condo around Sukhumvit (Prong Phong, Soi Thong Lo, Ekkamai) should be a good bet - find somewhere closer to BTS so that you don't need to be in a traffic signal for an hour. Otherwise if your work location is in the outskirts, find some places around there; you will be able to find some good residential enclaves with easy access to international schools.

Thanks. Work place is in Ramakhaeng, so would like to stay nearby, provided I can get a good and not so expensive school there. Sukhumvit is not far from there, and I have lived there whenever I had gone on official tours. Looks like THE place to live.

Originally Posted by hothatchaway

I wish I worked for a company which relocates people to Thailand. Can you please refer me?!


The schooling must be negotiated me thinks. Getting around is easier using the metro and the mono rail. The traffic is congested even though road courtesy is first world.

Company I work in, do not relocate so easily, and not always to Thailand. But, thanks.

As for negotiating benefits, I'm still not there in terms of exact package and timeline of actual relocation. I'm expecting to relocate somewhere in March next year, but may get a bit late too. Let's see.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by Nav-i-gator

Thanks. Work place is in Ramakhaeng, so would like to stay nearby, provided I can get a good and not so expensive school there. Sukhumvit is not far from there, and I have lived there whenever I had gone on official tours. Looks like THE place to live.

Cool! from what I remember, that is a nice area to live and a bit away from the city traffic in Sukhumvit or Sathorn. And its kind of closer to the airport also right?

And Bangkok now has good international schools; may not be very cheap, but probably not as expensive as other international schools in the region.

[centaur]

Originally Posted by LTAutoMad

You are correct - it no longer makes any sense to migrate just for better salaries.

Bang on! Infact I have known people have a better and more luxurious life in India with the salaries they are drawing. Many of my friends have an international vacation from India in every few years but the number of people doing that from Canada is negligible. Forget international vacation, planning a visit to India is an issue and most of them dont visit India for 3-5 years at a stretch because of the burden on financials and the leaves they get there. However, if good infra, clean atmosphere etc. is the reason to immigrate, then that's a completely different discussion but purely for salary/savings - Nada.

[thesquaremile]

I am clueless about Australia or Canada, but here in the UK the range of income (salaried or contract-based) for a particular skillset or competency varies vastly, depending on the sector, the urgency of the role and the engagement model (permanent or contract).

A mid-senior IT role, say a development lead could range anywhere from £60-120K while the same role can be a limited-time (but extendible) contract between £400-600/day. There are a numbers of factors at play - location, economic climate, immigration, brexit etc. and as such i find drawing like-to-like comparisons a bit pointless, not just within salaries here and the rest-of-the-world but also just within the UK!

Savings is again subjective and unique to an individial. It could again vary vastly depending on how conservative or extravagant your lifetsyle is. As an example, the weekly grocery shop could range anywhere between £50-200 depending on where you chose to buy from, with options ranging from the cost-effective German supermarket chains (ALDI, LIDL) to the so called 'posh' British stores - Waitrose and the like. One could buy/rent at the absolute edge of suburban London to save on mortgage or rent, or chose to pay more and live where the action is. It all comes down to your unique preferences, appetite for risk and of course, the magnitude of work you are willing to throw-in.

[racer_ash]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Let me just mention UK in passing.

UK is famous for its National Health Service. Yes it is "free" (to UK residents) at the point of delivery, but you will find a deduction from your pay called National Insurance.

True, it pays for other aspects of what remains of Britain's welfare state as well, including state pension, but it has to be paid and it is not trivial.

Good old NHS!!

My wife had a lump in her throat detected via a scan in December 2015 while in India. Immediately after, we had to travel to UK for the second time. Since lumps are not a good sign, the first thing we did after arriving at Portsmouth was to book a doctor appointment which had close to a month waiting time (not the GP, but a specialist). This guys suggests another scan and some tests to investigate further. The test was carried out almost immediately but the scan was a different story. The first slot for the appointment was in February 2016 (2 months later). Around 2-3 days before the actual appointment, we get a apology letter from the Hospital saying the date cannot be honoured (that too via POST) and the next slot was a further 4 months away, , i.e in June 2016.

By the time we got the scan done in June, the bloody lump had disappeared

As a side note (and for relevance to this thread), we should be prepared to wait patiently for anything other than cough, fever, flu type treatments in the UK.

Australia is no different since I had the good fortune of working in Melbourne too for a couple of years. Even here, patients without any private insurance need to wait quite long for even simple procedures. Those with private insurance have no such issues though.

https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/...s-and-payments (see section Public health systems)

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by racer_ash

Good old NHS!!

I know, I know. Spent five years attending twice-a-year appointments with a chest specialist for a really foul cough. Eventually they put me on a CT scanner and discovered what had never shown up on the cheap X-rays.

To their credit, though, they had me on the operating table within a month.

[FrozeninTime]

I had dropped the idea of emigrating abroad to US due to the tedious process which involves getting right visa, writing exams, doing residency again and finally cost of all these. My advice to any doctor wishing to emigrate to US is that person then you should have completed requisite certification exams before they finish MBBS.

But overall I felt there is no job market for specialist doctor in UK,EU for non EU doctors even though they have shortage of doctors.