From Thailand

[brianp]

Hello everyone,

For the past five years I have lived in Bangkok, Thailand. Prior to coming here, I was based in Hampshire / Gloucestershire, and still have a property in the Cotswolds. I earn a reasonable wage (I'm not an English teacher!) but for a long while now I've been thinking I'd like to do something different and run my own business. I guess for most of you living in Thailand is "something different" but I’d like a new challenge now.

Something that I would like to do is trying exporting small products from Thailand to the UK. I have some very good connections in Thailand, but obviously there’s a lot of work ahead of me yet. If anyone has any general questions about Thailand, please feel free to contact me. I speak, read, and write Thai if that is of any help to you.


Brian

 

[Paula Barrett]

Hi Brian, welcome to UKBF, I'm sure you'll find lots of ideas on here. What are you doing at the moment in Thailand? My friend has recently moved there - it looks like a beautiful place. I'm jealous!

Anyway, let me know if you have any questions regarding the forum.

All the best,
Paula

 

[brianp]

Hi Brian, welcome to UKBF, I'm sure you'll find lots of ideas on here. What are you doing at the moment in Thailand? My friend has recently moved there - it looks like a beautiful place. I'm jealous!

Anyway, let me know if you have any questions regarding the forum.

All the best,
Paula

Hi Paula,

Thanks for the friendly reply!

I'm working for a large private school, teaching ICT to high school students. If you know anyone who would like to teach here, there are many opportunities to do so, but it's best to stay away from teaching English in a language center or run-of-the-mill school.

I live in a fairly central area of Bangkok, not far from the main river and BTS Skytrain system. It's not a beautiful area by day, but the river looks very nice at night. Maybe I should post some photos if I get a chance.

Brian

 

[Ian @ Luna Flowers]

Sawadee Krap Brian

Very jellous, I hope to move out there later as my wife is Thai from Udon Thani.

I know they've been around for ages but good solid lines like Saa Paper products (photo albums mainly) and Bamboo vases etc seem to still do quite well in the uk as it doesn't seem to have been flooded with them.

Problem might be that you will be competing with the Thai wholesalers who I guess can live on a lower income that you might like. I'm sure you'll have spent a few hours wondering around Chatuchak market maybe find out a list of OTOP products and find out where they are made. Myself I would love to visit the people who make the stuff and do a bit of business directly with them.

Please feel free to pm me as I'm sure we could have a lot in common.

Chok Dee
Ian

 

[Melonline]

Hi Brian

Welcome to UKBF and good luck with your new project!

 

[brianp]

Sawadee Krap Brian

Very jellous, I hope to move out there later as my wife is Thai from Udon Thani.

I know they've been around for ages but good solid lines like Saa Paper products (photo albums mainly) and Bamboo vases etc seem to still do quite well in the uk as it doesn't seem to have been flooded with them.

Problem might be that you will be competing with the Thai wholesalers who I guess can live on a lower income that you might like. I'm sure you'll have spent a few hours wondering around Chatuchak market maybe find out a list of OTOP products and find out where they are made. Myself I would love to visit the people who make the stuff and do a bit of business directly with them.

Please feel free to pm me as I'm sure we could have a lot in common.

Chok Dee
Ian

Hi Ian,

Nice to hear from you. About three years ago I visited a paper "factory" with a friend, she was considering starting her own factory making a coarse grade of decorative paper from waste pineapple leaves. Although the raw materials were free and the cost of labor extremely low (150 THB per day - about 2 GBP per day) the idea was abandoned due to the extremely low value of the finished paper.

Have you tried selling any of those products you mentioned yourself? I would have thought the interest in bamboo vases would be very low. Some other handmade stuff could do well at craft fairs, but I have no contacts in that field.

ดูแลตัวเองให้ดีนะครับ (Take care)

Brian

 

[Ian @ Luna Flowers]

Nope never tried selling the stuff myself. I have a mate who does market stalls and does an ok trade on photo albums and carvings. He imported his goods a few years ago and looking around now when I'm in Bangkok the quality seems to have improved a lot since then.

Will pm you later when i've got a mo.

 

[Dany Boy]

Hi Brian welcome to the forums.... My dad's friend visits Thai every month to do business with Clothes wholesellers and he showed some photos of the place..... Looks great...
All the best with your ideas tho...

 

[onthedottyping]

Hi

Welcome to the forum - lovely to meet you

Samantha

 

[Boris]

i have been to the ''land of smiles'' many many times and am in love with the place, i hope you find something worthwhile to sell, i have always fancied doing what you are doing if i ever do move out there. My idea was to go to all the local markets and take pictures of all of the unusual bits that they do and put the on a site, that way you dont need any stock, when you get an order you just go any buy the thing and stick it in the post. Easy really but im still sat here in cold rainy london thinking about it.....BOOOO,lol.

on the other hand i have plenty of friends out there doing the same sort of thing and they are doing very well for themselves..thank you very much.... maybe they are doing things that they really shouldnt be but hay ho who cares they are there and im here still.

those bags and tee shirts are gereat sellers over here you know(wink wink) you know what i am saying dont you.....ebay is always good for that.


choc dee

Boris

PS ever been to my fav place in the whole wide world?



KO SAMET (dreaming now)


good luck

 

[telemax]

Nice one

Like you , I've done the emigration thing but not to Thailand but to Canada, so It's minus 30 degrees here instead of plus 30 but I'm still running a UK business. Feel free to ask if you need any advice.

What part of the Cotswolds is your place in?, and do you do short term rentals as we are thinking of coming back to the UK for an extended trip, the Cotswolds is our favourite area. Let me know

All the best

Jonathan

 

[TonyBurt51]

Hi Brian

I envy you living in Thailand. I used to spend a good deal of time there on business and love the place.

I'm dabbling with your idea of importing stuff from Thailand and have set up a small website selling hand forged Thai cutlery and silk place settings. The products are really nice but in all honesty we haven't sold a lot so far. One possible reason we have identified is that our range of products is too restricted so maybe we could team up on this if you can identify any complementary products we could add to ours?

 

[brianp]

i have been to the ''land of smiles'' many many times and am in love with the place, i hope you find something worthwhile to sell, i have always fancied doing what you are doing if i ever do move out there. My idea was to go to all the local markets and take pictures of all of the unusual bits that they do and put the on a site, that way you dont need any stock, when you get an order you just go any buy the thing and stick it in the post. Easy really but im still sat here in cold rainy london thinking about it.....BOOOO,lol.

on the other hand i have plenty of friends out there doing the same sort of thing and they are doing very well for themselves..thank you very much.... maybe they are doing things that they really shouldnt be but hay ho who cares they are there and im here still.

those bags and tee shirts are gereat sellers over here you know(wink wink) you know what i am saying dont you.....ebay is always good for that.


choc dee

Boris

PS ever been to my fav place in the whole wide world?



KO SAMET (dreaming now)


good luck

Hello Boris,

Nice to hear from you. Like you, I too have thought about photographing products and advertising them for sale before making any purchases. It's certainly an option, that's for sure. However, to my mind the biggest turnoff to any potential purchaser is the seller would be based in Thailand. If I were in England, I doubt that I'd be buying stuff from Thailand, especially on ebay.

You say that you have some friends here, who seem to be doing okay. I wonder how much money exactly they are making; some people who seem to be doing okay are in fact living off savings or putting away no money at all. You know, it's very easy to just tick over here on very little money. The rent and utilities for the place I live in costs only 70 pounds per month, and I can eat out for just 45 pence. Taxis, and travel in general, are very cheap too.

I know what you are saying about t-shirts and bags, but I'd prefer to stay away from selling fake goods on ebay. Also, fake or not, I wonder how people import them in any quantity. I suppose many people just load up their suitcases when they return home, but there's always a good chance of getting caught at customs.

Brian

 

[brianp]

Nice one

Like you , I've done the emigration thing but not to Thailand but to Canada, so It's minus 30 degrees here instead of plus 30 but I'm still running a UK business. Feel free to ask if you need any advice.

What part of the Cotswolds is your place in?, and do you do short term rentals as we are thinking of coming back to the UK for an extended trip, the Cotswolds is our favourite area. Let me know

All the best

Jonathan

Hi Jonathan,

Wow, 60 degrees difference, now that would be a shock to the system! I'm sitting at home right now, with the balcony door open and a fan blowing a gentle breeze through the room, and it's a very pleasant 31 degrees.

My house in the UK is in Cirencester. It's let out on an assured shorthold tenancy, and I have a long term tenant living there now. Sorry! At the moment I'm trying to weigh up the pros and cons of making a trip back to the UK and selling the house. House prices in the area are still relatively high, and I'd very much like to realize some of the capital gain before/if house prices drop. Of course, that's a very tricky decision to make.

Thanks for the offer of advice.

Brian

 

[brianp]

Hi Brian

I envy you living in Thailand. I used to spend a good deal of time there on business and love the place.

I'm dabbling with your idea of importing stuff from Thailand and have set up a small website selling hand forged Thai cutlery and silk place settings. The products are really nice but in all honesty we haven't sold a lot so far. One possible reason we have identified is that our range of products is too restricted so maybe we could team up on this if you can identify any complementary products we could add to ours?

Hello Tony,

On a first read of your message, I thought you were selling forged Thai products, in the usual sense of the word (for Asia). Anyway, I understand now.

I think I know the cutlery you mean. I've seen some myself and it looks very nice indeed. One thing that strikes me though, is that a complete set would be fairly weighty, and not something that could be posted without attracting the attention of UK customs. Are you making regular trips here, and just taking a set or two back with you each time, or are you importing them on a regular basis? I would be very interested to hear from someone with first-hand knowledge of importing from outside the EU into the UK.

Another thing, how are you selling (or trying to sell) your products? I'd guess that cutlery would best be sold via a high street shop or through personal contacts. I think they would sell well at craft fairs too. I'm dubious about how many sales of a decent price would be made though ebay. I was a fan of ebay a few years ago, prior to moving to Thailand, but nowadays it seems just full of unsold buy-it-now stuff that people just can't shift. Or am I wrong?

If I have something of interest, I will let you know. By the way, I'm likely to be in the UK next month (at least) and will be staying in Hampshire.

Brian