Pro musician (Drums) in USA wants to know about Scene in BK

Hello Andrew,

Welcome to Expat.com

I would suggest you browse our Artists, musicians in Bangkok section so you can find people with similar like.

You can also participate on the following forums below which can help you in regard to your query

>> Everyday life in Bangkok

The Living in Thailand guide will be handy to get a clear picture on the country.

What are the other Asian cities you have in mind?

Good luck with the search 

Cheers

Hello Andrew,

To widen your chances, you can drop an ad in the Classifieds section > Artists, musicians in Bangkok, it might be an easier way to make contact with them.

Feel free also to check the forum categories for topics such as, Everyday life in Bangkok.

Good Luck!
Marjorie

well, let me start by saying that the cost of living in BKK has increased dramatically.  its not as cheap as it used to be or as many think nowadays.
sure the US dollar used to exchanged for 45 baht but those days are gone; now the average is about 30 baht.

second, working in Thailand as an expat does require a work permit - artists etc are not excluded -

music scene: i never saw any western musicians around Thailand and im sure there is a good reason.  Bangkok is not exactly a hub for live music when compared to Phuket or Chiang Mai.  although there are a few western DJ's that perform regularly through out the year.
Chiang Mai is kind of an artistic hub for blues and jazz players, writers, designers etc. and there are plenty of "talented" Thai's playing all sorts of music genres.  generally they get paid between $30 to $60 a night for 3 to 5 hours of performance.

perhaps some Thai musicians would be interested in an expat tutor to sharpen their skills; that way you can get your foot in the door and start with a few gigs here and there and see how it goes.

Music and Entertainment industries are tough to break into Thailand. Although there are a fair number of musicians and English speaking DJs in Thailand, the available positions are not very high.

There are also hotels looking for talented musicians to perform for their cocktail bar, restaurant or lobby.  If you are good in guitar or keyboard and able to sing as well, you'll have good chances to be hired. Please note that there are mostly Filipinos working as musician entertainers in Thailand.

The only way to perform legally is to have the club hire you and provide you with a work permit. They must have 2 million baht in capital and 4 Thai employees in order to obtain a work permit.