The Thailand expat forum for Travel, Lifestyle and Fun.

Loy Toy

Over the years living in Thailand I have made many friends and I must say of recent years most of my drinking buddies work in the very lucrative Oil and Gas industry.

They all seem very enthusiastic about their choice of employment although the job does take them far away from their families for sometimes months on end.

I personally could not take being away from my wife and children for that duration and I don't believe it would be easy for them either.

My question is, and the main purpose of this thread is to ask some of the lads here who work in this field is it really that easy in spite of the fact a lot of you make over 1,000 dollars a day?

If you can share your experience with us it may help others who are considering the same move (as there seems to be a lot of work available now) to make their decision based upon real life experience.

Thanks in advance for your honest replies.

Butterfly

it's good now because oil prices are high,

same with commodities, some of those miners in Australia are making more than 1000 USD per day,

I also know a lot of oil and mining guys living in Pattaya, it's lucrative but not as easy as it sounds, easy for them for doing it for so many years, not easy for beginners

pseudolus

If you;ve not been doing it for a while, you're not gonna get hired. Some of them are on a lot more than a grand a day by the way....

Butterfly

indeed, 300k or 400k USD per year is not unheard of

pseudolus

true - remember the day rater's though only get the cash when they are at work / off shore though

superman

What's money when your family life is .............. I'll be polite 'disrupted'.

pseudolus

My old man spent 30 years rotating offshore and I would argue that I saw a lot more of him than my friends saw of their dads who were working full time 9-5 in an office, especially when you add commuting into the mix.

Rural Surin

I would imagine that they are paid their worth....
Whatever the current market value is asking.

Good on 'em...!
Gas, oil, and mining work cannot be the easiest, yes?

Butterfly

it's still hardwork,

working on a platform can be dangerous, and fucking guys every night to empty your vigorous sexual energy can be slightly annoying after a few weeks, above all when you prefer women over hairy arses

Kurgen

Working offshore you get paid well but you work bloody hard for it.

Sometimes 8 weeks on, 3 weeks off (no off pay) 12 hour shifts and 7 days a week. BTW, too ill to work means sent home !

With my job I have a very hurried 15 min eat break half way through, apart from that I'm stuck in front of the panel.

The whole time away from your nearest and dearest and in this neck of the woods, sometimes you can't even get comms to them for days on end.

Yep it pays well but it sucks.

__________________
Kiss it

AntRobertson

My neighbor used to be something in oil and gas. I remember first time I meet him he would've been about 70 - 80kg, in reasonable shape. He progressively got fatter and fatter each time he went away because, as he put it, all he was doing was sitting there an eating junk food (not sure exactly what it was he did but it involved sitting at some control panel or other).

At the end he would've been 110kg+ easy. I say at the end because he suffered a massive heart attack and died few years back. Young too, early 40's.

Kurgen

And yes, the food is shite.

Begbie

Boon Mee must still be working thought he would have retired by now.

The money is good but the work is hard.

pseudolus

Oii Mod - why was my factual comment of "they have gyms offshore I think" deleted? what is the point of that? Matey OP is asking for factual information, and you delete a post saying It's not just work and eat chips and burgers? WTF?????

Chairman Mao

Slaves to the wage.

Saying goodbye to everyone and everything you love for 8 weeks... every 11 weeks... over and over again.

Not a job for me. Don't know how people do it tbh.

SpicyMartin

Most offshore crew these days work a 28/28 rotation, which is a piece of piss compared to the old ways. Which means you are working only half of the year, so your family is going to see a lot of you!

If you're busy and conditions are ok, 4 weeks flies by.

The facilities on new-builds would suprise a lot of you..... gymnasiums are standard now..... my new vessel has mens and ladies saunas, fer Chrissake!

Gone are 4 man cabins and every cabin has internet connection and a TV, sometimes a TV per bed, not just cabin!

And the food is NOT shite...... there are some terrific catering companies out there employing 4 and 5 star hotel standard chefs. I've worked with many.

And, last but not least..... some of us are not on thousands of $$$ a day..... there's a lot of contractors out there doing 12, 14 hour days, 28 days straight, for about 140,000 baht a month. Me!

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Chairman Mao

400b an hour?


Are you Indian?

SpicyMartin

^ Nope, and there's no need to take the piss. Some of us need the work and 140,000 baht a month and living a nice lifestyle in Thailand is preferable to a lot of other options.

AntRobertson

Bugger that!

Kurgen

You wouldn't get me out of bed for that.

SpicyMartin

^ That's because you are probably Direct Hire. The vast majority of companies have gone over to contract catering now, and crews are paid a pittance. They're treated like shite, but as I said earlier, some of us need the work. My Indo crew in Singapore were on, for Head Chef US$800 a month, and a Steward (room boy) US$200 a month. The Filipino's who work with me now in the North Sea are on US$700 a month. Go on...... ask your Camp Boss how much he's on......

AntRobertson

I'm quite surprised, I'd always just assumed it was very good money.

Chairman Mao

Sorry, not taking the piss, just greatly surprised at the low salary for off-shore shift work.

28 days on, 12+ hours a day, isn't a cakewalk I'm sure.

Dillinger

Thats not a bad wage, if he's getting 140k for the 28 days he is off too.

You could save a lot on them rigs, when theres nothing to spend it on.

I bet they all go fukkin nuts when theyre back on shore in Pattaya and in the company of Loy Toy et al

Loy Toy

Great input from my fellow members.

I know of a few lads pulling 1,500.00 Dollars a day and they never leave their office.

No wonder petrol is so expensive these days.