Nine Years as an Expat in Thailand | Firsthand Insights into Thai Life
I’m Liang, with over a decade of experience in international business development. Having spent eight years based in Thailand, I’ve expanded from the Thai market into Southeast Asia and beyond — sharing real-world insights on cross-border operations and market expansion.
Vietnam is a market full of potential, but it also comes with its own unique challenges.
When I first started preparing to enter Vietnam, I quickly realized that many of its regulations are much stricter than those in Thailand.
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Recently, I visited our Vietnam team. On the surface, everything seemed to be running smoothly—processes moving forward and weekly reports coming in on schedule. But after digging deeper, I realized that many issues had actually been simmering silently all along, just never openly confronted.
Besides Thailand, I believe all Southeast Asian countries are actually heading down a shared path:
the journey from developing nation to developed nation.
And the one most worth watching is the Indonesian market.
In recent years, Chinese and Taiwanese capital has flooded into Vietnam. Being able to speak Mandarin is a major competitive advantage whether you're job hunting or doing business, so finding Mandarin-speaking talent in Vietnam isn't difficult.
But setting up a company and building a team in Vietnam, it remains a big challenge for me.
Recently, we began collaborating with an Indonesian company,
which made me re-experience this country's business culture,
both conservative and pragmatic; both hospitable and highly skilled at negotiation.
Here are my real observations from doing business on the front lines in Indonesia.