Looking forward to my new job in Thailand this August and just wondering what things people would suggest are essential to bring over when you are uprooting your family. Also, what not to bother with!
Thanks in advance for your advice.
To ship or not to ship?
Re: To ship or not to ship?
Congrats on your job in Thailand. We loved it there. Here are some of the things we brought (not including clothes, etc).
Good towels and bed sheets- you can buy nice towels and sheets there, but very expensive.
Shoes: esp if you are a larger size (women over size 9 or so and men over 11 or 12), same for clothes if you are a bigger size.
Toys and baby products: enough to get you started
Basic medicines: but in Thailand you can get most everything without a perscription
Mexican spices
Kindle or books
laptops
Famiily photos and some things for the walls that made us feel at home, not a lot.
If you have a hobby, bring your things for that
You can get most everything in Thailand esp in BKK.
Good luck and enjoy.
Good towels and bed sheets- you can buy nice towels and sheets there, but very expensive.
Shoes: esp if you are a larger size (women over size 9 or so and men over 11 or 12), same for clothes if you are a bigger size.
Toys and baby products: enough to get you started
Basic medicines: but in Thailand you can get most everything without a perscription
Mexican spices
Kindle or books
laptops
Famiily photos and some things for the walls that made us feel at home, not a lot.
If you have a hobby, bring your things for that
You can get most everything in Thailand esp in BKK.
Good luck and enjoy.
Re: To ship or not to ship?
Good list from Mathgym. My must-takes were a down pillow (can't stand foam), all my shoes and most of my clothes as I'm tall and thin, and, like MG--stuff for Mexican food. The Old El Paso brand (for beans and some sauces) is one I have found in several countries, but specialty chiles and real tortillas traveled to other continents with me (much to the amusement of my favorite tortilla maker). Also, a supply of any toiletries that you don't want to compromise on (mine is Oil of Olay) until you can locate it locally.
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twoteachers
- Posts: 120
- Joined: Tue Dec 23, 2014 9:15 pm
Re: To ship or not to ship?
I've got my daughter asking to bring her bicycle to Malaysia. What do you think? My gut reaction is No way..... That should be easily replaceable right?
Re: To ship or not to ship?
Ha, Ha, we carried two kids' bikes to SE Asia over a decade ago and regretted it once we got there. Unless there is something special about it or its adapted to your daughter in some special way, I wouldn't. We were also told to bring the toothpaste you liked which at the time was Total and the first time we walked into a supermarket there was a whole display of it.
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twoteachers
- Posts: 120
- Joined: Tue Dec 23, 2014 9:15 pm
Re: To ship or not to ship?
Thank you!! I didn't want to waste shipping room for that. Lord knows my kids will have other items they can't live without.
Re: To ship or not to ship?
Unless someone else is paying for it, there's no need to ship anything at all. It's all there. As for Mexican spices - really, you must be joking - any upmarket western orientated supermarket will have them, although Thailand is no longer 'cheap' and those items will cost perhaps more than you'd pay at home. Or try a Mexican restaurant in Bkk. Shoes and clothes: have them made to measure when you arrive, quickly and easily. Bicycles - everything from cheap Walmart style shops to the most expensive mountain bikes available. Quite where you'd want to ride them on a regular basis, is the real problem.
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Vernacular
- Posts: 33
- Joined: Fri Mar 15, 2013 11:49 am
Re: To ship or not to ship?
Extremities. The best motorcycle helmet and socks you can afford. Anything in between, you can buy on arrival.
Response
I would pass on the bike, unless its something special or adopted for your daughter.
My suggestion list:
1) Medical: You dont know when your health insurance is going to kick in, when youll have a chance to see a doctor, and a lot of other factors. Generally medication is MUCH cheaper out of the states. Have your prescriptions written in their chemical/empirical formulation (Tylenol is not Acetaminophen its Paracetamol). Have your doctor write a letter listing all your medications, dosages, and what you take them for. Have your doctor stamp it with their department of health stamp. Have your optometrist do the same for your glasses/contact lens. If you use contacts research in advance whats available. Some of the newer lenses arent available yet in many places. Having that little white prescription slip, just isnt the same. Some places require a medical examination and blood work for a visa/work permit. Talk with your school about this in advance, some schools will want you to have it done in advance some schools will take you to a clinic when you arrive. Understand that many Asian countries will not admit you if you have HIV or TB (thats the reason for the blood work and chest x-ray). You might want to have a physical before you leave and a letter about any chronic or current medical conditions you have. Im on the fence about vaccinations. Im vaccinated against everything practically, but unless your teaching out in a very rural or undeveloped area (such as a jungle) about the only thing id really recommend is hep a and hep b. If your traveling to Africa you HAVE to have a yellow fever vaccination, even if the area isnt endemic now, you dont know how it will change.
2) Documentation: Bring AND have uploaded a copy of your contract, work permit, airline itinerary, passport, drivers license (including international driving permit/IDP). You should also have copies of your kids birth certificates and your marriage certificate (as well as their passports and other documents).
If your planing on driving in your new country you might need an IDP. They are only good for a year, but Ive heard people get and pay for 2 of them and just have them dated for subsequent years. That said if your REALLY going to drive you need to get a local license at some point, try to AVOID giving them your USA drivers license as in some countries they find their way on the black market. Your passport is the most important document, and you should register with the nearest embassy/consulate in your area when you arrive. Avoid walking around with your passport, yes you can be asked for it anytime, but the only time you really HAVE to have it is when your going to the bank, checking into a hotel, going to the consulate and registering at the police/immigration office. The rest of the time carry a photo copy of the ID page and your visa page. If you ever get stopped and asked why you dont have the original tell them your very sorry, and you didnt know, but loosing your passport is a time consuming and expensive process, you have to replace the passport AND the visa. Once you get a PR/or alien registration card, carry that with you. Lastly have copies of important banking, including credit card numbers and checking account and routing (ISBN and SWIFT) numbers if you have bills back home to pay or plan on doing a wire transfer.
3) Personal care: So basically unless your really brand loyal to a certain product (shampoo, shaving cream, makeup, razor blade) you can most likely find a local available brand. If your happy with any shampoo for instance you will be fine. When you start getting picky thats when you have problems. Most stores will have one (maybe 2) international brands and unless you understand the language you will recognize them from their packaging. These tend to be the most expensive as well. Some things are just not available (if you use a new razor, you might not be able to find the blade refills), in which case you have to consider the cost of ordering them online or having someone back home send them to you, or switching. Its very impractical except for small things that have a long reuse time to bring enough of something for a whole year (things like soap, shampoo, mouthwash, etc). Ive had several ethnic coworkers who were very unhappy they couldnt get certain hair care products.
Personally, the two things i have trouble with finding are antiperspirant and contact lenses. I use to have a problem finding rubbing alchohol, but then i just bought a bottle of 180 proof grain alchohol and problem solved.
Woman have it harder, guys need like a dozen things tops woman seem to amass a never ending number of bath/beauty stuff (i had a teacher this year who couldnt find a ped egg, (i dont know what that is), but took her months to stop complaining about it). If you HAVE to have proactive or some other very specific bathroom thing, you need to find out if its available and then decide if its important enough to you to order and ship overseas. Lastly, if you ever need to find something the airport may have a shop that carries your specific item, and also try asking or checking at one of the international hotels in your area. Sometimes the concierge can direct you to a supplier, or you may find that a shop in the surrounding area has it. You may also be surprised what you can buy from a hotel directly. I had the hardest time finding frosted flakes and was at a hotel brunch once that had frosted flakes, and then talked to the restaurant manager who was happy to sell me boxes of it (though it was expensive).
On a side note hotels are AMAZING resources. Need to send an international fax, no problem. Need something translated, they can do that. Want to go for a swim, ask about a daily facility pass. Want a bottle of Moscatto, the wine steward can take care of you. Need a haircut with someone who understand English, they probably have a salon, and if they dont have it, they can tell you where to find it. Want to find a certain place, walk up to a hotels front desk and say your sorry but your trying to get to such and such place and they will write the name of the place down on the back of a business card in the local language then write the name of the place in English on the front and show the card to a cab driver.
4) Clothes: It should be no surprise, that you should find out the weather on your region and plan according, (you will not need a lot of sweaters in Singapore, but you will need a light jacket, sweater or wrap. Outside Singapore is hot and humid but INSIDE the air-con is set at 65-70). Some places have wet seasons where everyday you need an umbrella, dont bring one but buy one there. Check or ask about your schools dress code, some schools are fine with casual dress (khakis and shirt), some expect business attire (shirt/tie/jacket). As far as wardrobe stick with one or at max two themes. Blacks and neutrals work well for me., these type of overall themes are easy to adapt with accessories (Its easier to bring one black suit, and 5 ties, then 5 black suits and one tie). Woman have the hardest time with this because they have "outfits" that are composed of individual pieces that dont work with anything else in their wardrobe. Thats a lot of space for one days cloths. I think everyone should have one stunning piece and thats it. Understand that you may or may not have a washer and dryer. You will likely have access to a washer, but in a number of countries they dont use have dryer, you line dry your cloths. As such you should bring clothes that are machine washable, and anti wrinkle or no iron. Plan your wardrobe for longevity. There is little use in bringing 20 pairs of socks, socks are cheap and easy to find. Same thing with button down shirts and other "basics".
The only two things that are must haves are large sized shoes (above a 10) and large cupped bras (above a B) are next to impossible to find in a lot of asian countries. if your loyal (or your kids) are to "American" brand anything like A&F, Aeropostale, Hollister, etc, those brands are not likely to be available locally, or at very high (almost couture) prices.
5) Electronics: Bring your laptop, tablet, etc. Make sure you brink the adapter and a plug convertor. Be wary of other computer devices, most of them will need transformers and things like hard drives could easily short or overload. Things like hard drives, scanners, printers, are affordable and readily available. Of course if you need the hard drive because of the data, then you need it.
Smart phones are a maybe, if you have a GSM phone and can get it unlocked then bring it. If your on Verizon, or Sprint or other CDMA carrier, know that most of the rest of the world uses GSM, and your phone isnt likely to work. Maybe if you have a high end SLR camera, and wont settle for a phone camera bring that (but thats a lot of bulk). Aside from that the only other thing id recommend are an electric razor (if its dual power). Hairdryers and other small electronics are generally inexpensive cheap.
DVD's are a maybe, on one hand you can watch them on your laptop, and there isnt likely to be a lot of English language or American programing. Everywhere Ive gone there has been only a couple channels. That said region 1 DVD (USA) probably wonk work in a foreign DVD player, and an American DVD player (NTSC) is not going to support a foreign video standards. In many asian countries DVDs can be DIRT cheap, like $.25-$.50 each (yeah they are counterfeit), but thats the way it is.
My suggestion list:
1) Medical: You dont know when your health insurance is going to kick in, when youll have a chance to see a doctor, and a lot of other factors. Generally medication is MUCH cheaper out of the states. Have your prescriptions written in their chemical/empirical formulation (Tylenol is not Acetaminophen its Paracetamol). Have your doctor write a letter listing all your medications, dosages, and what you take them for. Have your doctor stamp it with their department of health stamp. Have your optometrist do the same for your glasses/contact lens. If you use contacts research in advance whats available. Some of the newer lenses arent available yet in many places. Having that little white prescription slip, just isnt the same. Some places require a medical examination and blood work for a visa/work permit. Talk with your school about this in advance, some schools will want you to have it done in advance some schools will take you to a clinic when you arrive. Understand that many Asian countries will not admit you if you have HIV or TB (thats the reason for the blood work and chest x-ray). You might want to have a physical before you leave and a letter about any chronic or current medical conditions you have. Im on the fence about vaccinations. Im vaccinated against everything practically, but unless your teaching out in a very rural or undeveloped area (such as a jungle) about the only thing id really recommend is hep a and hep b. If your traveling to Africa you HAVE to have a yellow fever vaccination, even if the area isnt endemic now, you dont know how it will change.
2) Documentation: Bring AND have uploaded a copy of your contract, work permit, airline itinerary, passport, drivers license (including international driving permit/IDP). You should also have copies of your kids birth certificates and your marriage certificate (as well as their passports and other documents).
If your planing on driving in your new country you might need an IDP. They are only good for a year, but Ive heard people get and pay for 2 of them and just have them dated for subsequent years. That said if your REALLY going to drive you need to get a local license at some point, try to AVOID giving them your USA drivers license as in some countries they find their way on the black market. Your passport is the most important document, and you should register with the nearest embassy/consulate in your area when you arrive. Avoid walking around with your passport, yes you can be asked for it anytime, but the only time you really HAVE to have it is when your going to the bank, checking into a hotel, going to the consulate and registering at the police/immigration office. The rest of the time carry a photo copy of the ID page and your visa page. If you ever get stopped and asked why you dont have the original tell them your very sorry, and you didnt know, but loosing your passport is a time consuming and expensive process, you have to replace the passport AND the visa. Once you get a PR/or alien registration card, carry that with you. Lastly have copies of important banking, including credit card numbers and checking account and routing (ISBN and SWIFT) numbers if you have bills back home to pay or plan on doing a wire transfer.
3) Personal care: So basically unless your really brand loyal to a certain product (shampoo, shaving cream, makeup, razor blade) you can most likely find a local available brand. If your happy with any shampoo for instance you will be fine. When you start getting picky thats when you have problems. Most stores will have one (maybe 2) international brands and unless you understand the language you will recognize them from their packaging. These tend to be the most expensive as well. Some things are just not available (if you use a new razor, you might not be able to find the blade refills), in which case you have to consider the cost of ordering them online or having someone back home send them to you, or switching. Its very impractical except for small things that have a long reuse time to bring enough of something for a whole year (things like soap, shampoo, mouthwash, etc). Ive had several ethnic coworkers who were very unhappy they couldnt get certain hair care products.
Personally, the two things i have trouble with finding are antiperspirant and contact lenses. I use to have a problem finding rubbing alchohol, but then i just bought a bottle of 180 proof grain alchohol and problem solved.
Woman have it harder, guys need like a dozen things tops woman seem to amass a never ending number of bath/beauty stuff (i had a teacher this year who couldnt find a ped egg, (i dont know what that is), but took her months to stop complaining about it). If you HAVE to have proactive or some other very specific bathroom thing, you need to find out if its available and then decide if its important enough to you to order and ship overseas. Lastly, if you ever need to find something the airport may have a shop that carries your specific item, and also try asking or checking at one of the international hotels in your area. Sometimes the concierge can direct you to a supplier, or you may find that a shop in the surrounding area has it. You may also be surprised what you can buy from a hotel directly. I had the hardest time finding frosted flakes and was at a hotel brunch once that had frosted flakes, and then talked to the restaurant manager who was happy to sell me boxes of it (though it was expensive).
On a side note hotels are AMAZING resources. Need to send an international fax, no problem. Need something translated, they can do that. Want to go for a swim, ask about a daily facility pass. Want a bottle of Moscatto, the wine steward can take care of you. Need a haircut with someone who understand English, they probably have a salon, and if they dont have it, they can tell you where to find it. Want to find a certain place, walk up to a hotels front desk and say your sorry but your trying to get to such and such place and they will write the name of the place down on the back of a business card in the local language then write the name of the place in English on the front and show the card to a cab driver.
4) Clothes: It should be no surprise, that you should find out the weather on your region and plan according, (you will not need a lot of sweaters in Singapore, but you will need a light jacket, sweater or wrap. Outside Singapore is hot and humid but INSIDE the air-con is set at 65-70). Some places have wet seasons where everyday you need an umbrella, dont bring one but buy one there. Check or ask about your schools dress code, some schools are fine with casual dress (khakis and shirt), some expect business attire (shirt/tie/jacket). As far as wardrobe stick with one or at max two themes. Blacks and neutrals work well for me., these type of overall themes are easy to adapt with accessories (Its easier to bring one black suit, and 5 ties, then 5 black suits and one tie). Woman have the hardest time with this because they have "outfits" that are composed of individual pieces that dont work with anything else in their wardrobe. Thats a lot of space for one days cloths. I think everyone should have one stunning piece and thats it. Understand that you may or may not have a washer and dryer. You will likely have access to a washer, but in a number of countries they dont use have dryer, you line dry your cloths. As such you should bring clothes that are machine washable, and anti wrinkle or no iron. Plan your wardrobe for longevity. There is little use in bringing 20 pairs of socks, socks are cheap and easy to find. Same thing with button down shirts and other "basics".
The only two things that are must haves are large sized shoes (above a 10) and large cupped bras (above a B) are next to impossible to find in a lot of asian countries. if your loyal (or your kids) are to "American" brand anything like A&F, Aeropostale, Hollister, etc, those brands are not likely to be available locally, or at very high (almost couture) prices.
5) Electronics: Bring your laptop, tablet, etc. Make sure you brink the adapter and a plug convertor. Be wary of other computer devices, most of them will need transformers and things like hard drives could easily short or overload. Things like hard drives, scanners, printers, are affordable and readily available. Of course if you need the hard drive because of the data, then you need it.
Smart phones are a maybe, if you have a GSM phone and can get it unlocked then bring it. If your on Verizon, or Sprint or other CDMA carrier, know that most of the rest of the world uses GSM, and your phone isnt likely to work. Maybe if you have a high end SLR camera, and wont settle for a phone camera bring that (but thats a lot of bulk). Aside from that the only other thing id recommend are an electric razor (if its dual power). Hairdryers and other small electronics are generally inexpensive cheap.
DVD's are a maybe, on one hand you can watch them on your laptop, and there isnt likely to be a lot of English language or American programing. Everywhere Ive gone there has been only a couple channels. That said region 1 DVD (USA) probably wonk work in a foreign DVD player, and an American DVD player (NTSC) is not going to support a foreign video standards. In many asian countries DVDs can be DIRT cheap, like $.25-$.50 each (yeah they are counterfeit), but thats the way it is.
Re: To ship or not to ship?
Wine. It's ludicrously expensive in Thailand.
Re: To ship or not to ship?
Congrats on your job Shmedz! Where will you be teaching? My time in Thailand showed me that most Westerners are waaay larger than Thais so bringing clothes or easy to follow directions to have clothes made are a good idea.
Re: To ship or not to ship?
Thank you everyone for your really comprehensive advice! This will really help when deciding what to sell/give to charity or bring with us.
Not actually going to be in BKK but on the eastern seaboard.
Very excited but a little overwhelmed by all the paperwork at the moment!
Not actually going to be in BKK but on the eastern seaboard.
Very excited but a little overwhelmed by all the paperwork at the moment!
Re: To ship or not to ship?
Hmm...not particularly helpful teacher. Is ISE a school or is your friend's opinion based on working in International School Education in general? I'm sure as all good teachers know, generalisations and stereotypes tend not to be the best information upon which to base considered opinion!