[00:00:00] Pierre: what I soon realized as well as to really get a job. In Bangkok, you had to be in Bangkok. and I think this is something we still see today, quite frankly, companies, appreciate people who are willing to move, but there’s a whole big difference between being on the ground and then, actually haven’t done it.
[00:00:18] Scott: Hi there, and welcome to Made It In Thailand, the podcast where we learn how to thrive in Thailand from top performers who have found success in the Kingdom. I’m your host, Scott Pressimone. Today, I’m speaking with Pierre Emmanuel Moll. Pierre is going to share his insights from his decade long experience living and working in Thailand.
He’ll explain how he found work in Bangkok and how he and his wife are preparing for parenthood. Without further ado, let’s jump into the interview.
thank you so much, Pierre, for joining me today
I thought of you, because given that you’ve been here for around the same amount of time I have, I think, has it been what 10 years or so for you that you’ve been living and working in Thailand?
[00:01:05] Pierre: Yeah, just, about 10 years, in October this year. So it’s been quite a trip.
[00:01:12] Scott: Nice. for those who don’t know you, can you give a rundown about who you are, what you do, what you were doing before coming to Thailand and just give your, the TLDR of, your story.
[00:01:24] Pierre: Yeah. I’ll see if I can be short. Cause it feels it’s been a very long trip and, lots of adventures. but to, start. just before my move to Southeast Asia, I was working in the DC area, working for a marketing strategy consulting firm and, My girlfriend at the time was now my wife, was also working, in the D.C. area, doing the D.C. lifestyle, we were having a great, great setup, reverse commuting to Bethesda, everything was great professionally and, and anyway, eventually she got the opportunity to, To work in a few projects that were based in Vietnam, and so she went there for the first time in April 2012, and she came back and she was like, This is awesome.
What do you think about moving there? And I was like, Wow. I hadn’t thought of that at all, but that sounds pretty awesome. I’ve never been to Vietnam, but I’ve lived in the, in Singapore before when I was a kid and, this is a part of the world I’d like to go back to. And it felt I was ready after being for five or so years in the DC area that I was ready to move on and, explore things a bit more professionally and just being another, region of the world.
yeah. In a nutshell, she said that, and then for a very long time, it felt like it was never going to happen. and then just when we thought it was not going to happen, last minute, we got the green light to go and move to, to Vietnam for her job. And we just decided to move there.
I didn’t have a job. It was like, oh, I guess I’ll just figure it out when I get there. and it, there’s a lot of, Uncertainty about moving to Vietnam first and then, figuring things out. But I talked to my company, they took it very well. They understood the opportunity that, I had been a good employee.
And so there were no hard feelings about me leaving at that time. We worked out as a remote work arrangement, which lasted for about six, for six months. obviously they wanted to hire someone full time, in, the U.S. Unfortunately, it couldn’t continue. For me, it was like a perfect gig, quite frankly, working remote, like that.
Yeah. And just move there and then, from there you start meeting a lot of people, making new connections and, there’s always a chance to make things happen. but so from Vietnam, and actually, Not, everything worked out right away either. I couldn’t quite find the right type of job for, that I was looking for.
and we were based in Hanoi, which I think is in a way similar to Washington D.C. It’s very much where the government is. So lots of. government related jobs, a lot of law firms and whatnot. and I was more already in the B2B tech space. and it was a less international country, especially, think about 10 years ago.
10 years ago, it was mostly motorcycles in the streets. And now when you go back to Hanoi, you can see a lot of cars, a lot of things have changed. they’re now even leading in electric cars, funnily enough. I was seeing that, one of their Vietnamese companies is trying to get started on, I think in the New York stock, exchange, then fast company.
I don’t know if you’ve heard of it, but it’s a really happening country. Very dynamic, but just like in the U.S. with D.C. And New York, the, business heart of the, country is really in the South and Ho Chi Minh. but what we ended up deciding is because we also had a connection with Bangkok.
we decided that we would rather move to Bangkok and start looking for a job from there.
[00:05:25] Scott: It sounds like, what you first tried, and I love the fact that you brought up that you were already working with a company that you liked. So just going to them and saying, Hey, how about I work remote? that, that’s an amazing opportunity because a lot of people don’t know that.
When you come to a place like Thailand or Vietnam and if you’re working for like a local company, then you’re working in their local currency and unfortunately, sometimes a more based around local salary. So if you can, carry over your US salary or your salary from your home country, that’s amazing.
It sounds like that. Worked pretty well. Were there any challenges on your end for that? cause Vietnam is on the other side of the world. So was that challenging for you? Were you staying up late for those six months or so that you were working that way?
[00:06:06] Pierre: yeah. The way it worked is, I didn’t actually have to stay up too late. And so we just did everything remote. I, you know what, it’s been such a long time, but I really don’t even really remember getting on phone calls. I think that was pretty unique at the time I was working on doing sort of business analysis, on a new sort of solution that the company had come up with, analyzing like your social media IQ, And. I was one of the few people that had been trained on how to build that report and analysis. And that was something I could do remote. over time, like I mentioned, we they wanted to find someone in house and, just the time it took them to train someone in house, as the amount that it took six months.
And yeah, I think. It can be actually very easy to work remote. You will need to get on the occasional late night call. but it’s not always mandatory. and again, I think that will really depend on the company culture and whether the company already has this sort of global footprint or not.
[00:07:20] Scott: but I just, it’s important to also look at the fact that was 10 years ago. lot has changed since then in terms of people’s openness to working remote. But I still think it’s really important to do what you. Did just because sometimes people might say, you know what?
I’m going to take a sabbatical or I’m going to leave or whatever. And they might cut off ties with their employer at that moment. But even running that past as an option, the fact that you thought to do that, is huge because that must’ve given you a big leg up or at least given you like a lot of comfort that you knew for at least a few months.
you were going to continue to work on that project. so that’s fantastic.
[00:07:54] Pierre: Yeah, absolutely. I think the, Keeping a salary, even if it was already, half the salary that I used to get since I wasn’t for working full time at that point, was highly beneficial. And then as well, I think the company really appreciates it that, you’re not just, leaving overnight, that you’re helping them transition.
so it ends up being a win for everyone.
[00:08:19] Scott: That’s awesome. So to go back to your story then. So it sounds like you were in Vietnam. you’re in, Hanoi And, you and your girlfriend at the time, now your wife, decided to move to, Bangkok and that was, now you were still looking for a job as far as I understand at that point, but then your girlfriend, was she able to then transfer or how did, that work at the time?
[00:08:41] Pierre: Yeah, we were a bit in this, unique situation where she was able to just also move to Bangkok and start working remotely, herself. and she had another project I think that was based on Bangkok. That was also one of the reasons, but she had other projects in other places. so she was able to make it work.
in general, and, she works in international development. So generally she was already working for a company that’s used to having, global projects, people working out of different offices. so that helped out a lot. yeah. And when we moved to,
[00:09:24] Scott: How the transition you though?
[00:09:26] Pierre: yeah, for me, I had been to Bangkok.
the other thing is, my wife’s family, is based out of Bangkok. so we, we also had somewhere to land. and crash when we arrived. So that was super helpful. yeah. And I’d been to Bangkok before. Now I didn’t really know Bangkok that well, let’s be honest. so there’s still a lot to do and figure out building a network, really again, building a network from zero since, even though my wife had a connection to Bangkok, she was, not from Bangkok.
she’s not Thai either, so it’s still a lot to figure out. And, once we moved here,
[00:10:10] Scott: How would you compare the job market then? So, when you landed, it’s fantastic that you had a place stay. You weren’t really crashing in hotels and stuff like this, right? So you got here, did you start looking for a job right away? How was that? What were the differences between, Bangkok, and Vietnam?
Or was it a very different of market? what are your thoughts there?
[00:10:30] Pierre: yeah, I had actually started looking for jobs, in Bangkok before I moved here. what I soon realized as well as to really get a job. In Bangkok, you had to be in Bangkok. and I think this is something we still see today, quite frankly, companies, appreciate people who are willing to move, but there’s a whole big difference between being on the ground and then, actually haven’t done it.
and also there’s always, the concern that someone may move over and then realize, Hey, Bangkok is not for me. It’s not a city for everyone. I’ve met. A lot of expats that love Bangkok and want to stay here, see themselves, in the future, in Bangkok, but I’ve also met a lot of them were like, yeah, this was fun and this was great, but this was good for two or three years.
Or now we want to start a family and we prefer going back to Europe or being closer to, Or family, for whatever reason. Whereas other people, Like myself and my wife, we’re like, No, we want to stay here, there’s a ton of benefits in being here. You can get a great lifestyle. that you can get, Somewhere else,
[00:11:46] Scott: So you got down on the ground, you got settled. you were looking for jobs. I love that you pointed out the fact that a lot of people want to work in Thailand or in Asia, and they’ll oftentimes be sending their resume from their home country. And it’s not to say that they don’t have the skills needed, but it is a big risk.
there are so many people that come and go and it’s, really, the problem is even if someone like yourself who was already acclimated to Southeast Asia and Vietnam and other things, and you were comfortable, it sounds like being on the ground. So many people, it doesn’t last for, and it’s a huge risk for, these companies.
And that’s why it’s so important to have maybe two years or so of you’ve been in the country And then you’re a lot more, attractive to these employers. so that first job is sometimes the toughest one to get. So can you walk us through that? How did you end up, landing a job that was, aligned with, your skillset?
[00:12:40] Pierre: Yeah, so when I moved to Bangkok and I ended up finding a first job and let’s be honest that job did not work out it you know, I found it through just submitting resumes and whatnot and You know had a good chat with the owner and it was tied to Somewhat tied to the type of work I was doing back, in DC, where we had started doing some, market research on I.T. service providers working with big tech vendors. and essentially the. The company I was, hired by, they were trying to set up their own, MSPA, business, going from a more traditional break and fix and going more into managed services. And, so started there and it was just a, just culturally a very different, way of working.
And, without going into all the details, like it was not really my first choice. you have to start somewhere and sometimes you also need a job to get a job, ironically too. So decided, Hey, let’s just give it a go. Let’s see how it goes. And, but I was also lucky that actually through a connection of my wife, actually, I was introduced to another company, Pronto Marketing, where we both met and, started working.
over 10 years ago. and so it was actually through, a colleague of my wife who just happened to know, Tim, who was working at pronto and that’s how I got connected to Pronto and I submitted my, resume. resume, had an informal interview, at the time they were like, Hey, it’s great to meet you we don’t have a position open right away.
I was like, that’s okay. Let’s just stay in touch. I followed what the company was doing. They had a few events that I attended. And so that was a way to, get. To know people, connect. And then eventually I was lucky enough that a position opened and the timing was right. And so I didn’t stay in that first job too long, luckily.
And soon after that, I was able to transition to Pronto and, yeah, got a new job that really was. In line with sort of the type of work I was looking for in terms of B2B tech marketing, having the opportunity to lead my own projects and continue learning and expending on, a lot of what I’ve been working on in the States.
[00:15:18] Scott: Yeah, that’s really interesting. And I think it’s another good lesson there of when you’re networking or when you’re talking to people, you’re not always looking for your next employee, employer directly, you’re not always looking for the here and now, like I need a job right now. Sometimes it is just meet the company, meet a person, who then knows another person.
And I, cause again, I sometimes see people starting with an ask. Where they’re like, can I have a job or whatever? And it’s sometimes it’s just get to know them. Just, sometimes they’re friends, Sometimes that owner knows another owner who’s starting something that needs your skillset.
Right? and just knowing that does take time. And it goes back to the whole, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. So it sounds like you played it patiently. you started with some level of a connection, but then at the same time, you were patient about it. And then you waited for the right time.
And then you landed something that you, it sounds like you, you enjoyed.
[00:16:12] Pierre: Yeah. And I think it’s also a good testament for the power of attending events. I know we’re, coming out of two years of lockdown and whatnot. And, our companies, I’ve all gone working remote full time and don’t hear me wrong. I love working remote. and I still think that most of the time, 80 percent of the time working remote is the most productive way for me at the very least.
and when I go into the office, I love the time in the office, but I also feel like Geez, this is not like I didn’t get any deep work done. and our company is all about online marketing and helping people grow their business online. yet, even if you’re a small business in the U S or if you’re a company here in Thailand, you have to go to events, you have to build a network.
And that’s just become very apparent more and more, to me recently. And, when I think of some of the things, maybe. I didn’t continue doing enough of is perhaps that. I think life in Thailand can also get comfortable very quickly. so depending on, what kind of. Work you want to do and how you want to keep pushing yourself.
I think pushing yourself to, attending more of those events and continue to build that network. I think that’s true anywhere. but I think, it’s also very true in Thailand. it’s a very kind of, close knit community here. I think it’s, a lot of the business world is, located in Bangkok.
some Chiang Mai as well, but really. Most of it happens in Bangkok. So if you start meeting a few people, you can really get to know a lot of people very fast.
[00:17:57] Scott: Yeah. I love, that you brought up how, despite it being a large area, when you, compare, Bangkok to some other places, like there are a ton of businesses here, but you said close knit and I’ve just seen that time and time again, where, you know, you’ll, mention something, someone, and they will in fact know that person, they’ll know that business.
And that’s where it’s so important to not burn your bridges here because it’s like the two or three lines away. The people know each other like it’s With so that’s for better or for worse. be careful not to burn bridges basically and attend events like you said. what about cultural, cultural differences?
So again, it sounds like you, have a background of, living in the U. S. traveling. it sounds like you were pretty comfortable even in Vietnam. but was there any sort of culture shock that you experienced, either coming to Southeast Asia or to Thailand specifically, or any challenges that you still face, as cultural differences being here?
[00:18:55] Pierre: Yeah. it’s funny. I think my wife was more concerned about me moving here and just. maybe being a bit emotional and aggressive. I think as, as, a French person, you tend to be a bit more outspoken, you don’t really hide your emotions. You tend to be comfortable with showing them.
And that’s definitely the opposite of what things are like in Thailand. I think I’ve. At times I’ve definitely struggled with that, at work where I like to just be a lot more direct and not beat around the bush too much. I think that can be true in the U S as well, quite frankly, or I think people are a bit more measured.
I think sometimes those are things I’ve struggled with a bit. but I would say as well, there, I think plenty of other things that sort of embrace, like one of the things that’s very culturally different, is that, when you’re driving in Thailand, it may take you some time to realize that, but no one honks, real, you’ll hear the occasional honk.
If really something bad is happening. Or maybe if there’s an angry foreigner driving behind you. but one of the things that, I really embraced and I really, truly appreciate is there’s just no honking and you’ll get at this crazy intersections with cars coming from all directions and. You go through it, you’re this is going to be tough and whatnot, but you go through it and you’re like, wow, this is amazing.
No one honked and people just took their time and realized that there was a, a more positive way of going through it. and I think, Again, don’t hear me wrong. I definitely had some road rage in the past and, driving in the DC area. There are a lot of frustrating times.
I’m sure you can relate to that. but yeah, and this was also funny because I was in Vietnam just before that. And in Vietnam, essentially honking is just another language, especially when you’re driving a motorcycle. but just the same way I, really enjoy and appreciate the fact that there’s no honking.
And in Thailand, I actually appreciate a lot the, honking granted once it gets used to it, in Vietnam, and you just realize it’s Hey, I’m here. it’s not meant to be an aggressive in your face, like long honk, at you. It’s more it’s just a signal. and I think that’s the kind of thing as well, culturally that some people will really struggle with, like, why is the traffic crazy?
And so if you focus too much on. Why is this place crazy? I think you’re going to miss out or struggle enjoying the place because I think there’s, you’re not going to love everything. There’s some of the things you’re going to have to let go. and some things you just need to embrace and hopefully enjoy.
[00:21:52] Scott: Yeah, I love that example. just the fact that it’s different in the U. S. and it’s different in Vietnam and it’s different in Thailand, just in terms, it’s the same thing. It’s the honking a horn. In the U. S. it’s if you honk the horn, who knows, someone might be getting out of their car and ready to punch you, right?
it’s that is the road rage sort of situation. in Vietnam, it’s hey, I’m here, just letting you know, right? Because, There’s a little bit of a right of way sort of thing where rather than the whole person who’s in front has the right of way, it’s the person who goes first has the right.
It’s a little bit different. So I guess there’s a lot of. almost sonar going on. It’s Hey, I’m here. Hey, I’m here. Everyone gets the idea. Whereas in Thailand, it’s mostly silence. but, yeah, it’s, that’s, it’s a very interesting cultural difference for sure. now you, do you get around primarily through driving like your own car?
do you use things like the BTS? I know that you sometimes use, the motorcycle taxis. I, see you sometimes on the back of those. So, what’s your rundown of, your preferred way to get around?
[00:22:51] Pierre: Yeah, I didn’t have a car until, we started expecting a baby. that’s definitely been the driver for that. and, now that we have one, it’s oh, it’s going to be really hard to go back to not having a car, but I would still say, you really have to, when you’re in a big city like Bangkok, and once you get a sense of where you’re going and how crazy traffic is going to be, you start, Figuring out, okay, at this time I’m going this direction.
There’s going to be this amount of traffic. If I don’t take a motorcycle, grab, I’m not going to make it on time, or it’s just going to take me way more time than I want to spend in traffic. I’ve taken tons and tons of motorcycle taxis. And one thing we didn’t have when we first moved here, you and I, it was grab and all those apps that now allow you to Yeah, just get a motorcycle, just whenever you need it.
And that avoids a lot of issues trying to explain where you’re going. maybe you miss out a little bit on the fun of trying to explain yourself in, Thai or, in English. so maybe there’s a little bit of a fun loss there, but, that, those motorcycle taxis are super useful. and again, if BTS, yes, for sure.
Take the BTS. It’s safer. It’s air conditioned. foreigners love that. so yeah, for me until today, it’s always been a mix of, either taking motorcycle taxis, I had my own motor, scooter at some point and just drove that around. and then, taking taxis as well, all of that.
So lots of options.
[00:24:43] Scott: Yeah, it’s interesting. I was just talking with someone else about. motorcycles in, Thailand. And I didn’t recall that you had a scooter. That’s, that’s good to know. And, but one of the things that’s interesting about it is, yes, there’s a lot of accidents, there are a lot of things like this. However, I would say that people go a lot slower, especially in a lot of areas in town, where if you’re taking a motorcycle taxi, you’re not exactly speeding down the road.
A lot of times it’s you’re just going, down the way. down a soy or a road making a turn and then getting on a BTS or something like that. So it’s very, it’s not to say that it can’t be dangerous. It’s not to say that you’re having full protective gear on and stuff all the time. But, cars are not going crazy fast, in a lot of those areas.
Would you agree with that?
[00:25:24] Pierre: Yeah, no, exactly. I think if you’re taking a motorcycle taxi to. Do a short distance trip, then it’s most likely going to be very fine and safe and whatnot. that said, yeah, one of, one of the, the newly The new dads that, that I play football with, he was yeah, don’t take a scooter.
It’s, and he drives a scooter to, go from one part of town to where we play football. And so it’s actually quite a bit of distance and for sure, that’s when you start getting into the dangerous situations. Now, It’s the same as well, like what you were talking about in terms of the traffic actually being quite slow downtown.
I think the same is true with cars, right? At first, it’s very intimidating if you’ve never driven in this kind of crazy rush hour traffic with tons of people coming from tons of direction, plus you’re driving on the left side of the street and that’s new and you’re still trying to Orient yourself, through the city.
it’s very intimidating, but I do think you’re driving slow. And so actually, you have the time to see what’s going on. you learn to avoid the motorcycles, and the cars. it’s, I think a lot of it goes to try to think about what kind of trip you’re doing. And what’s going to be the best choice for that kind of trip.
If it’s a long trip and you’re going to be going over a highway, I’d definitely, I wouldn’t recommend, getting a motorcycle taxi for that, keeping motorcycle taxi trips, short, is for sure.
[00:27:07] Scott: Yeah, now you also just shared something that’s I think really interesting as well as having a child on the way So that’s a huge congrats. and when again is your wife expecting?
[00:27:21] Pierre: Yeah. And just, just a month, so end of September. So
End of
[00:27:26] Scott: Fantastic so I think something that might be surprising to people is just you know Having a kid as you both are not from Thailand. Your wife is not Thai. You’re not Thai, right? And you know You’re here. You’ve been here for years, and now you decided to have a child here.
I’m assuming that she’s going to be giving birth here in Bangkok, right? I’d love to hear about that. are you do you feel confident in the hospitals here? how is I’m sure a month away. You’re probably doing a lot of baby gear stuff and going to all that stuff. So how has that experience been for you?
Any surprises with that process so far?
[00:28:01] Pierre: yeah, it’s been, so far we’ve been very lucky that, the pregnancy has been going well and, there’s a lot of very modern hospitals here, that, where you get really good care. I think maybe you at times, maybe you’ll get more, better care than if you were back in the States or, in Europe and, you don’t have to wait very long to get appointments or to see the doctor.
And that’s always a big plus. we’re lucky enough to get, doctors who can communicate in English as well, which obviously is a very big thing. my wife speaks better Thai than I do, but, we, neither of us are, near fluent enough to have conversations and tie with a doctor. that’s been great.
One of the other things that I think people may, appreciate is that there’s also a very big expat community. And among this expat community there, there are a lot of doulas, and midwives who are here to help you. as well through the pregnancy before your child arrive. And, the added benefit of that is that they will help you choose, to a certain extent, the right hospital.
If you don’t know, and if you have questions, you you can work one on one with someone to help you with that, help you prepare generally, and, as you likely know, there’s, a lot of Facebook groups, where people can ask a ton of questions, and, About, what to expect when you’re expecting essentially, did you, I think you were on a few Facebook groups, right?
When, you were expecting probably still today,
[00:29:44] Scott: Yeah, you’re right. it is, there are a lot of meetup groups and stuff here. And then Facebook tends to be a good place for groups like Bangkok dads and, dads in Thailand things. and then I’m sure there’s plenty of them to support, wives or, women that are, going through this process, with support groups and stuff like that for them as well.
so yeah, there’s a lot of great communities for that. the, point that you noted about the hospitals being quite good here, I think there’s a pretty drastic difference between private and public here. and so I’m assuming that whole short wait line wasn’t coming from a, a public hospital, but the private hospitals, can be quite affordable.
And to your point, I’ve noticed that they are, like even the average private hospital here. I feel is better care than I would receive, in, in the U.S. So just from my experience, I’ve been really impressed by, a lot of the hospitals here and it sounds like you’ve, had a good experience with that as well.
[00:30:37] Pierre: yeah, for sure. and the one thing I’d say is one of the things you do learn going through the, this, process is you do learn that there are differences in practice and medical practices and that here, for whatever reason, C sections are a very big part of the medical culture. And so that’s definitely something you have to know before you deliver.
I think you’ll learn that fairly quickly one way or the other. And again, this is perhaps a good reason as well to work with. someone who has knowledge of kind of the hospitals and figure that out or just speaking with as many friends as possible to hear their stories on, how their delivery went, in Thailand.
I think I’ve also met people who had a plan C section and my buddy was like, you know what, this was like the best. It was planned. We went there. We were out. Everything went great. Their child is doing great. it’s not all bad. And, sometimes you do really need it.
but, depending on what you really feel strong about, yeah, you’ll need to be ready to advocate. And, there can also be a culture that’s fairly, top down, in terms of. doctor to patient relationship. I don’t know if that’s really too different from anywhere, quite frankly. I think doctors are going to be highly educated and, but it’s true that in Thailand there is a bit of an expectation to, oh, you should respect the more, the, older, highly educated person.
taking that into account and again, just something you have to work and navigate through.
[00:32:26] Scott: Yeah, no, it’s a great point. like you said, it’s not better or worse. It’s just something to be aware of is that you mentioned C sections being very common here. And who knows, maybe it’s like almost every, if almost everyone is getting a C section, yeah, you have to advocate and say, we might not want to do that, but it’s not even just related to birth.
It’s related to other surgeries. I think that, typically there’s more tendency to, to be pro surgery or pro intervention sooner in the process here. another thing I know with, with children, again, I’m not saying better or worse, but, in the U S. if your child is sick or if you’re sick, it would have to be pretty bad before you say, I’m going to check myself into a hospital.
Whereas here, I know my kids go to school and about every other day, one of the kids didn’t come to school because their parents checked them into the hospital for the cold, So, there’s, a big tendency to do that and, I guess it’s good to play it safe, but just be aware of that.
they’re going to push you towards a surgery most
[00:33:24] Pierre: Yeah.
And I, I think if it gets to getting a, serious surgery, one of the positive things is that, going to the doctor is a bit easier and cheaper, like we mentioned. So getting a second opinion, is also a bit easier to do. And sometimes that may be a good way to go about it. so I know people have done that and, I think that could be one way to as well, make sure you’re making the right decision.
[00:33:52] Scott: Yeah. Now, you had talked about how you go to networking events and how you’re active. You had also mentioned that, you have a father, a friend who’s a father, in one of your, groups, or one of your like, sports clubs. So I’d love to hear more about that because something about you, Pierre is, you’re quite a modest guy.
and I remember seeing you play, football or in America, soccer, at the first time. And I was like, wow, that’s cool. Oh my gosh. Like you’re, this isn’t something you do just casually. you’ve got some skills. is that, how have you found that transition? Are you able to get right into sports right when you got here?
Did it take you a while? Do you have any clubs or anything like that you, that you recommend for, anyone who’s, really good at football like yourself?
[00:34:38] Pierre: Yeah, I think that the great thing is that whether you’re in Vietnam or in Thailand or pretty much anywhere in the world, I think, you’re going to be able to find a football team or a soccer team, and that’s always been pretty easy. I think, either you go on, Facebook and you ask around, I think my first soccer group that I found in Thailand was through a colleague who was also playing.
And then from there, you start meeting, one person who plays. And then, usually, people that are really into it will even play into a few different groups. And so once you start meeting one person, you can meet another person and Eventually you can get connected to a team.
our team even has a Facebook and Instagram page, and we use that at a time to try to recruit new people. we’re definitely not professionals, but, we play in the Bangkok casuals league, so it’s still a casual league, but, we do try to keep it competitive or, and, balance both the social element of, Trying to be a team have some drinks and beers after the game, but also compete and, and have fun.
[00:35:55] Scott: Nice. So is that the main sport that you play then you play a lot of soccer or is there anything else that you do for fitness and exercise and stuff here?
[00:36:03] Pierre: yeah, these days soccer is really my main sport. I played a lot of tennis growing up and, a lot of people are getting into tennis as well as, they’re getting older and pickleball is, starting to be a big thing. Some of my. Even some of my friends who are anti Pickleball because they’re tennis players like me and, I fall in that category.
I know I will end up playing Pickleball at some point. I’m just delaying it. I know that’s becoming a big trend here, in Thailand. And if you want to go rock climbing, I have friends that go rock climbing, which I think would be a ton of fun. It’s just, sometimes you’ve got to choose what you can do or not do.
but yeah, lots of options here.
[00:36:48] Scott: For sure. And then what about with leisure? I know you’re, quite hard at work most of the time, but then, do you ever get out of the city? I know it’s harder to do now, obviously, with the child on the way, but prior to that, did you go out of the city a lot? Were there any sort of islands or, any places that you really like and recommend?
[00:37:07] Pierre: Yeah, maybe I’ll start with not an island. So to be, not too cliche. one of, one of the places I really liked was going all the way North to, to Pi, PAI, and just a bit Northwest of, Chiang Mai. And we went there actually when COVID was starting out. So we got really lucky that, it was not too busy.
It was also at, around New Year’s time. And while Thailand is always, a very warm country, lots of beaches and all that. The north of the country can actually get cooler, to the point where you start wearing sweaters, I think it can snow potentially at night, maybe somewhere, maybe even a bit more north in Chiang Rai.
so I don’t expect to see snow in Pai, but it can go down to, 15 degrees Celsius, 40, 40, 50 Fahrenheit, something like that. And so it, if you’re trying to have a sort of more Christmassy environment, that’s, a fine thing to do. It’ll still be 30 degrees during the day.
Don’t, hear me wrong. But, we were there, around New Year’s time, like I said, and just driving a scooter around. just the countryside was amazing. And, yeah, just a really good way to get away from the hustle and bustle of Bangkok. bumped into, a restaurant where this American guy was doing a homestay with his Thai wife and they had a, a garden as well, a little bit outside of the city and there’s just, living the life there.
yeah. And so just some really cool little town, but it’s, I think it’s been on, the circuit for a very long time, especially for people who backpack all the way to, to Burma. I
[00:39:05] Scott: Oh, absolutely. Yeah. The North can be really beautiful and farmstays are amazing. there’s, there are quite a nice, quite a few nice farm stays all throughout the country. And, you get a nice compromise where you get to be next to the rice patty fields and all that, but then you still get to go back to your air conditioning, assuming it’s not the cooler weather that you referenced.
no, that’s really cool. Now, what about things that you might miss? Because you had mentioned, that. You used to play tennis and things like that. There are probably some sports that are a little bit less common in Thailand. for instance, American football. I would love if people were playing in your real American football here.
I haven’t found that yet. but are there, is there anything else, whether it be sports, foods, anything like that? foods that you can get from France that you certainly can’t get here. Anything like that that you miss?
[00:39:53] Pierre: mean, one, one thing I haven’t done a really good job at and that we used to do a lot more of in. is just going to the theater or going to more cultural events. we were also very lucky because we were living in downtown DC and there was like theaters down the street. So going to like the theater was very easy and there were some really good ones going to woolly mammoth and just like fine, fun types of plays as well that are more modern, not just like old school theater.
so I think. That’s been a little bit harder, to, to find, there are comedy clubs. There is actually one of the pubs that’s pretty nearby my place where they do have a comedy club, that isn’t necessarily as active as a comedy club would be in the U S and, obviously it’s a bit more dependent on the local expat scene.
but there, there are, bigger names as well that, that come, to Bangkok now and then, So I think that’s one of the things that I’ve missed. And I guess as well, if you like going to smaller, more independent concerts and, see more smaller bands or different types of, music, maybe there’s a little bit less of an opportunity to do that, or you just have to be just, looking, for a bit more than, you would.
I do know that, people that are really into music still find a way to do all those things. but then it’s more oh, this is really far away from my house. And then you start getting a bit lazy and you’re like, oh, I’ve got all this work to do and now I’ve got to go across town.
So just, the geography of things, as you may know, living in, in, North Bangkok is sometimes perhaps a bit challenging too.
[00:41:41] Scott: Yeah. I think it’s also nice to point out though that you are also in a good location where I guess a lot of those things like the comedy clubs and stuff are maybe walking distance or at least pretty, easy to get to whether it be through a BTS. So what about the regions? what area do you live and what areas do you tend to like, when it comes to, to, to living or housing or things like that?
[00:42:02] Pierre: Yeah. I live in the downtown area of Bangkok, where a lot of, foreigners and expats, it’s the, Japanese kind of area, but also a lot of, Westerners, live where I live, which is in Phrom Phong. very close to big, BTS stations that do also allow you to cope different directions fairly quickly.
so yeah, I’ve been. based in that area the whole time. then again, I think there, there were maybe personal reasons for my wife and I to be in that area. And, had we, had different situation, I think that there are a lot of other areas that are great to live in.
And so I think, I wouldn’t say that’s the only one. And I think over time is, over the past 10 years, more and more foreigners have gone into different. neighborhoods as well. So if you have more, foreign friends, then, you can still have that kind of network and, live in different areas.
[00:43:11] Scott: Yeah, for sure. yeah, I think it’s a great area that you live in, though. And like you say, it’s like you can find the areas that you like, whether it’s a there’s gonna be bars nearby, there’s gonna be comedy clubs nearby, or you can certainly get a little bit more in the outskirts if you prefer more silent area or whatever.
So there’s a something for everyone. And luckily, since the BTS runs through a lot of the city. Good areas. You can easily pretty easily live a little on the outskirts and get into the city, as well. Now, one of the kind of closing questions I have for you, Pierre, is, future plans. so you’re, as you said, like the 10 year anniversary for being here.
You’ve accomplished a lot since you’ve been here. What are your ideas and plans for the future?
[00:43:52] Pierre: Yeah. with a baby, showing up in a month, I think being a dad and being a good dad is definitely going to be a big part of my focus. and then, professionally, I think, our company is going through a lot of changes and, trying to continue going up market. And I think that’s a very interesting, opportunity, for the company, but also for myself to push, push myself and Doing more interesting work and creating more partnerships, especially with, different agencies that are located in the U.
S. or overseas, continue to build our reseller program with, I. T. companies that are based out of the U. S. And I think what we’re seeing is that. This is where we’re really good at and when we work with other local firm, firms and so building a reseller and partner program, that, really, enables those different companies to scale and faster, is going to be a big focus of mine.
And I think that there’s a lot of opportunity there, that I’m looking to double down on.
[00:45:06] Scott: Oh, fantastic. And, last question. If there’s, someone, let’s say that they’re someone who’s French and they come into Thailand and they say, I don’t know, I need to talk to another French person about where I can get a good croissant, Or something like this, where, what is the best way to get in touch with you or to, or contact you if it’s either, About, about yourself or, maybe even, on the company side of things professionally, like you mentioned, since Pronto works in marketing and, helps a lot of, SMBs, in that area.
What are the best ways to get in touch?
[00:45:38] Pierre: Yeah. Sure thing. I’d say the best way is just, go on LinkedIn, look up Pierre-Emmanuel Mol and you’ll, easily find me. There’s not a lot of Pierre Emmanuel’s and, I don’t have a very common last name for a French person. So that combination, should show up and yeah, just feel free to send me a message and go from there.
[00:46:01] Scott: I can’t recommend that enough. I’ve, seen some people reach out to me and probably you as well, Pierre on LinkedIn, where it’s just Hey, I’m from this area too. it would be great to connect and sometimes doing that ahead of time, sometimes before even moving to Thailand, or, it’s just a great way to, to get in touch with people, ahead of time.
Anyway, I really appreciate the time, Pierre. I think you’ve accomplished a huge amount here. and not only that, going through the next chapter, as being a dad, here in, in Thailand is going to be a fantastic, fantastic thing for you. but thanks so much for taking the time and, and we’ll chat soon.
[00:46:33] Pierre: Yeah. Thanks a lot, Scott. really enjoyed our chat and yeah, let’s see each other soon.
[00:46:38] Scott: Well, there you have it. Pierre emphasized the power of patience and persistence. His strong network and positive mindset has undoubtedly played a pivotal role in his success story here in Bangkok.
I hope you learned something, and I’ll catch you on the next one.
