
moto77
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Posts posted by moto77
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18 minutes ago, Lacessit said:
You can't be skimmed on a savings passbook. It's only the people who have debit/credit cards with a Thai bank who get scammed.
Thanks for clarifying that option.
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2 minutes ago, sirineou said:
The way I understand it, after 2008 there was a deposit insurance program implemented, If I understand it correctly For the first year deposits up to 25 million bht are protected , the second year only only 15 million reduced progressively until after five years only 1 million bht is covered.
Not sure if it has being changed, I don't keep more than a couple of million in Thai banks so I have not really paid much attention and I am now out of the country to check.
I would appreciate the input of someone who knows more about this than me.
The last one I knew of lost the money in 2015.
The program seems to apply to bank defaults, not fraud. -
On 2/2/2019 at 2:08 AM, sirineou said:
Why would I lose the 800K?
As far as I know Thai banks are pretty safe. I agree that there is a small chance that for whatever reason I might lose the 800k but I guaranty you are not getting your elite visa money back.
That's not true. I've personally known people who lost their funds (likely because of skimmers). Thai banks did nothing. If they'd kept the money in a US bank they'd have gotten it back.
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19 minutes ago, moto77 said:
Get on Kayak, choose "Sousse, Tunisia" (or wherever, but not Tunis) and select something like March 1 - March 30 and check the "all inclusive" box. You can find beachfront places for 50K-60K (baht).
If someone needs a cheap option, the retirement requirements in Tunisia are really minimal. Fly in and apply. No minimum bank balance. You need 400 euro (less than 15,000 baht) per month in incoming transfers (which tells you how cheap it is to live there).
Once you are on the spot, you will have to apply for a visa and resident card at the Tunisian Ministry of Internal Affairs The following documents are to be produced:
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a lease contract
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a copy of your passport
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two passport-size identity photos (it is best to get these done in Tunisia according to local standards)
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2 tax stamps (costing 10 dinars each)
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proof of regular deposits on your Tunisian bank account.
Note that these documents have to be certified in Tunisia.
You are advised to open a dinar account in a Tunisian bank. Moreover, it is best to keep your bank account in your home country open so that you can make bank transfers. A minimum bank transfer of 400 euros per month is required.
https://www.expat.com/en/guide/africa/tunisia/14302-retiring-in-tunisia.html-
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5 minutes ago, gentlemanjackdarby said:
I've dug into all the options in SE Asia and, IN MY OPINION, there's no question that the PI REALLY WANTS Western retirees, so my plan is to pick up an SRRV Courtesy, which as a U.S. vet costs essentially nothing, and simply be a tourist in Thailand.
Yep. I agree.
I spend more time there than Thailand now (in fact I mostly only go to Thailand when I need to go for business). -
18 minutes ago, Golden Triangle said:
If that's true I may have to consider relocating, I have sufficient funds to get the 800K and leave it in a bank account, but why the F should I, I have spent a hell of a lot of money here, looked after more than just my GF of 8 nearly 9 years this just smells of xenophobia, a bad day for all of us honest but not mega rich retirees.
Get on Kayak, choose "Sousse, Tunisia" (or wherever, but not Tunis) and select something like March 1 - March 30 and check the "all inclusive" box. You can find beachfront places for 50K-60K (baht).
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1 minute ago, Accidental Tourist said:What will be next? After 23 years in Thailand I am leaving... tired of the changes every year. South Europe will be fine and the winter in Egypt or Tunisia no hassle and easy leaving.
Plus Thailand is not a inexpensive country anymore, even Germany now is cheaper.
Tunisia is great and cheap as long as you stay out of Tunis. You can live in a 4 star hotel with meals and drinks (including alcoholic) included for about 50K baht per month.
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6 minutes ago, ocddave said:
My wife asked me if I had ever been to Thailand (and been to Pattaya) when we started dating in the US, if I said I ever went to Pattaya she would have dropped me quick. I think her and her friends/family look at Pattaya like a cesspool that attracts the "bad guys" that Immigration wants out of the country.
It kinda is, yet they haven't closed walking street yet.
What do they call it when you're running a brothel and complain about how many customers turn up? LOL-
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34 minutes ago, BestB said:
I would keep away from thinking, It is not your forte
...says the clueless dude. ????
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21 minutes ago, BestB said:
Food is crap and every girl thanks god while being screwed. Otherwise all good ????
The food in Phils is getting better. You do need to know where to eat though. You won't be as lucky as in Thailand if you just choose a place randomly, but if you do a bit of research or have some experience, the food is excellent.
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17 minutes ago, Genericnic said:
And they [Philippines] have a president that is even crazier than ours.
David
You must be an American then. ????
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6 minutes ago, Khaeng Mak said:
Hmmm
So I have 800K in the bank and a valid retirement extension in my passport.
But I am fed up with Thai immigration and decide to move to Vietnam.
I therefore transfer my 800K back to my bank in my home country.
I then grab a taxi to the airport to leave Thailand once and for all.
But I am arrested for overstay at the airport and put in the IDC because my extension is no longer valid (Because I don't have 800K or even 400K in a Thai bank).
Am I missing something?
This is kinda silly. You wouldn't be arrested for overstay if your visa was still valid when you left. Immigration isn't going to check your bank account balance. LOL.
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5 minutes ago, Wake Up said:
Good guys in, bad and broke guys out.
Immigrants should have IMO 25,000 USA dollars worth of baht in savings if they are retired. Or 65 K baht a month.
Doubt seriously the guys screaming they are leaving will be missed. Some exceptions exists but you should not be able to live here if you can’t pay for yourself and any medical bills you may incur.
Not meaning to judge others but this is not your country and they don’t owe you a cheap retired life. Retirement is something you work for and save money for or obtain a decent retirement pension.
I kind of agree. The problem is the constantly changing rules and the requirements to keep the money in the country and the reporting all the time (which is silly--I never had to do it as I never stayed more than 90 days, but I'm sure it must be annoying). Why does the money need to be in a Thai bank if the income is sufficient? This seems like corruption in cahoots with the banking industry.
I dropped my visa about a year ago before the new rules were even announced so this is not sour grapes. But when I used to have a retirement visa there, the officer doing mine paused and asked me if the amount on my income verification form was per month or per year (it was per month, but it would have been enough either way, and apparently she was curious). Based on her reaction, it must be enough that they don't see it very often (and it was at Chang Wattana, not somewhere in Issan). Nonetheless, if I still wanted a retirement visa I wouldn't be eligible under the new requirements. -
3 minutes ago, MrPatrickThai said:
Could you repeat that in a comprehensible way? Are you talking about International Unis here? One of my sons went to ABAC. My other kids went to Unis in the UK.
I think he doesn't know that international universities and foreign universities are two different things.
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1 minute ago, BestB said:
Thailand has foreign university? which one?
A foreign university by definition would be one that is outside Thailand.
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3 minutes ago, ttrd said:You seems to have forgotten the other side of the coin - the food, the terrorism, the criminality, the unstable leader Duterte with his instant killing of drug dealers, the environmental destruction, earthquakes, typhoons and terrible infrastructure to mention some ....
Some truth there, and I used to think like this, but after spending more time there lately, it's not as bad as you make it out to be.
Boracay is AWESOME now. And clean! There is no beach in Thailand that comes close to the combination on offer there. I can explain why if need be, but I'll leave it there for now.
People are generally easier to relate to--and not only for language reasons.
The terrorism happens in Thailand too--did you forget about all of the bombings a few years back? Are you sure that won't happen again?
Duterte is a nut, but the government is stable. It's still a democracy--so far.
Environmental destruction? Have you taken a whiff of the air in Bangkok?
Bottom line is there are pros and cons.-
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1 minute ago, MrPatrickThai said:
Do you think it is easier for Thai pensioners to live in your country?
The US requires a $1,000,000 investment for any similar visa treatment.
But if you have that, there are no reports or anything else and you get permanent residency. -
22 minutes ago, ocddave said:
All I know is that when my wife came to the USA for 5 years to gain her PHD, she didn't have to do anything but enjoy her time there on her Visa, no hassling every year or 90 days. So Like I stated, we should hammer the Thai's back with tit-for-tat immigration hassles, maybe then we will get better treatment. Enough of them head to the US to further their education, and even military travel there to visit, or train with our military.....hammer them with hassles, then see how quickly things change.
So... that means the US would have to completely stop requiring visas of Thais coming for tourism. I'd love to hear what the orange idiot in chief thinks about that idea.
Thailand has been pushing for being on the VWP for years... I think the US will have to start there and then see what it can negotiate. But for now, the US isn't even matching tourist visa policy so you really can't complain.-
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41 minutes ago, unamazedloso said:
let retirees work then no strings attached. All my thai neighbours sit around all day and have nothing to show for it. seems farangs bank interest is the only possible reason for this lunacy. Is Thailand actually poor and so lazy they can only put farangs to work without actually being allowed to....?
No country in their right mind would do that without a substantial investment on the part of the foreigner. That's all Thailand needs is a lot of poor guys showing up to drive Grab cars, etc.
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2 minutes ago, connda said:I just got it from the horse's mouth.
Told the Thai wife about the new rules. Her comment:
"There many bad foreigner do no good for Thailand."There it is. That's what must be being spread around by Thai media and then Thai social media. "Foreigner" equals "Bad".
I asked her, "How do you think this ends for you? I've been supporting you and your family for 12 years, 11 of that married. Your government keeps up the "All Foreigner Bad" routine until we're forced out of the country. Then what do you and the family do? Go back to work at 60 years old?"
The last thing I heard from her was a Thai reference to me being 'male genitalia'. We won't be talking for awhile.So there it is: "All foreigner bad." Best of luck in the future everyone.
THIS.
Is why I'm single. GF's are much less likely to act like this in my experience.
I'd be serving the divorce papers tomorrow, dude. There are better ways to spend your money.
Good luck.-
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10 minutes ago, zydeco said:
Reading from your post, then, you are not already retired, here, and you haven't even come here yet. So, you don't know what you're talking about, do you?
You don't know that. Maybe he was using the embassy letter method in the past as I did.
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1 minute ago, onera1961 said:When did Thailand change its visa policy? May be a decade ago. They don't change every month.
You're implying that the new requirement is not yet another a policy change? If you don't think so, I'm not going to argue about it, but from my perspective the rules change constantly.
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2 minutes ago, Genericnic said:Hardly. I have sufficient funds to put and leave 800,000 baht in the bank year round and I have sufficient income to deposit more than 65,000 baht in a Thai bank every month. I choose not to do that for a number of reason:
First. As we have seen over the past few years, Thailand is still a marginally stable, third world country that could change in such a way that a very quick exit might be required. Getting the money out of Thailand in such a case might be "interesting."
Second. My money invested outside of Thailand provides a much higher return than having it sitting in a Thai bank account.
Third. Having my money in my home country (US) bank, makes accessing it much easier when I am traveling anywhere in the world.
Fourth. My living expenses in Thailand are well below 65,000 baht per month (and I live well) and so bring in 65,000 baht per month would be a useless activity.
As we know, additional changes are possible - inevitable? - over the next few months. For that reason, I will not be making a firm decision to leave until the end of August, about 3 months before my current extension expires. I am not hopeful.
So, the "people this will concern are the ones without the legally required funds who resort to illegal means to stay here" is not correct.
David
Exactly! Who in their right mind would invest money at 1% interest in a bank with a government run by a military junta that's instigated countless coups unless they had no other option? Don't let the current stability fool you and be glad you didn't retire in Venezuela 5 years ago.
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I can't believe people can live off this amount of money in retirement. But nonetheless, I can understand not wanting to keep your money in a Thai bank. If it disappears through fraud (like an ATM skimmer) you won't be reimbursed as you would be in the US. I'd never put money in a Thai bank. (My visa, when I had one, was based on income.)
I discontinued my retirement visa there about a year ago and just prefer to go in and out. I only stay the full 30 days about 1-2 times per year and often leave for months at a time so immigration doesn't give me any hassles. Spending more time in Bali, Boracay (amazing now since it reopened), Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Cambodia (and even Europe, Africa and the US) has been awesome. It was nice having the option to stay 45 days or more now and then, but certainly not worth the hassle anymore.
Nonetheless this constant changing of the rules is the hallmark of a banana republic that doesn't know what it's doing. Can you imagine the EU, UK or the US changing its visa rules every other month? It's ridiculous. They need to come up with a policy, put it in place all at once, and then just leave it alone for 5 years. I feel sorry for you guys that are still there full time and have to keep up with this incompetent nonsense happening all the time.
In other news, I've heard the government there is spraying sugar water into the air to clear the pollution. Good luck with that. Must be the same guy that's responsible for the visa policies.-
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Death of 17-year-old British tourist: Patong bike rental shop fined Bt2000
in Phuket News
Posted
Nah. If the bike had been defective in some way, I could see a larger fine. But that's the fine for renting to an unlicensed driver. What that driver does afterward is on the driver. I agree with the fine in this case.