hi all,

i've just joint this forum and it seems packed full of great info for webmasters and software developers like myself.

i teach c++ programming in Thailand (not many people do), http://www.programminginparadise.com, and have a sofware download music teaching program called TabTrax - http://www.2112design.com.

TabTrax has been doing well for about 3 years so i gave up my miserable existance as a programmer in Silicon Valley, CA and moved to Ko Phangan Thailand, to make it on my own with my web businesses, and i've never looked back.

steve

Steve, it is a personal dream of mine to establish a steady flow of income via an online-business or an online service I provide from a nice bungalo/beach house in Thailand. Sounds like you are already there! I'd love to hear about your experiences sometime and what its like to live as a tech-person in thailand.

well, where do i start? the best thing about Thailand besides the girls (the girls are number 1 of course), is it's very cheap to live here, it's a reasonably technically advanced place (good internet connections, computer supplies, etc), stable government, safe, foreigner friendly and lot or ex-pats here (sometimes too many!).

the key point is cheap to live, i can get by on about $20US/day and that's for me, girlfriend and 2 kids. i have a shit load more expenses in the US by the way, but my cost of living in Thailand is very low so if you can make an internet buisness that nets $20-40/day, which shouldn't be hard, you can live here forever.

did you see my house pictures, pretty nice place to live eh?

i know a lot of people want to start internet business to be financially self sufficent and live in Thailand. that's why i stated http://www.programminginparadise.com. at Programming in Paradise i teach C++ programming and how to start and run a small internet business with low investment and overhead, just like I did for http://www.2112design.com. I'm "living the dream" so to speak and it really isn't that hard.

first you need a good idea for a product or service. but far more important than a good idea, you have to execute on it well. look at the customer testimonials at http://www.2112design.com, you can see how people love TabTrax, that's why it makes money, not marketting and advertising.

the next thing you need is the gonads to make it happen. i worked in a stready job in Silicon Valley for 20 years, nice steady pay check, secure future. i hated it, but i had commitments, mortgage, kids, etc. one day i said enough is enough, i'm getting divorced and moving to Thailand. a lot of people just can't do that, it's hard to give up everything you have known.

anyhow, hope this helps. if you are seriously interested in Thailand, please go to http://forum.thaivisa.com/. you will find discussions about the good and bad and everything else you could possibly know about thailand.

steve