Working in Phuket

Many people come to Phuket on holiday and want to stay for longer. Unless you have independent means, this means that you will need to get a job.

Teaching English is an obvious option and is relatively easy to get into. You need to have a degree in most cases and English teaching qualifications such as TEFL and TESOL will definitely help. Pay is generally quite low, however, this is offset by the fact that you won’t be working a lot of hours, which will allow you to either have more time to enjoy your stay in Phuket or provide some private tuition to earn some extra cash. Teaching English is fine if you only plan to be here for a while but most people find it difficult to make a career out of.

If you want to find a fairly well-paid job it helps to have skills and work experience that are hard to find locally. There are a growing number of business operating out of Phuket and skills such as computer programming are in demand. Of course you won’t be paid anything like you could earn back home, but then the cost of living here is so much lower, not to mention the fact that Phuket is an island paradise.

Finding a Job

Newspapers

Thailand has 2 English language daily newspapers, the Nation and the Bangkok Post. Both have job sections in print and online. Phuket also has its very own English language weekly newspaper, the Phuket Gazette. There are quite a few jobs offered in their classified ads section, which is available in print and online.

• nationejobs.com
• Phuket Gazette Classifieds
• jobsDB.com
• jobtopgun.com

The vast majority of employment opportunities advertised in the national newspapers will be in Bangkok or elsewhere and you may have to sift through hundreds to find one in Phuket. The Phuket Gazette is probably your best bet. If you still can’t find something to suit you, why not try emailing your resumé to companies listed in our directory? They may not have known that they were looking for someone just like you. Good luck.