Griffo63

Brilliant response and very clearly explained. Thanks very much really appreciated. 5 or 10 year tourist visa seems to fit our needs and UK legislation best. Thanks again

Background

My girlfriend and I have lived together in Thailand for over 5 years. To all intents and purposes we are married - joint banking, shared lease agreement on condo in Bangkok etc.

We have visited the UK every year for the past 3 years - I am UK citizen and she got a 6 month tourist visa.

She has also passed English language tests required for spouse visa

I own a condo in the UK and am in the process of buying a condo here.

We plan to split our time in the future between the UK and here - maybe Spring and Summer in the UK and Autumn and Winter in Thailand

Question

What is the best visa to apply for to meet our situation and needs?

6 month Tourist Visa - easy to get but gives little flexibility for "ad hoc" trips

2 or 5 year Tourist Visa - Better than 6 month and likely to be successful but ......

Spouse/partner visa - preferred option - we may choose to settle more permanently in the UK in the future - but reading about it seems more appropriate to Thai joining family/partner/spouse in UK rather than our situation

Any guidance/advice based on personal experience or knowledge will be much appreciated.

I finally have the best yet, only, option of TOT Winet to the house. Is it worth it? Not cheap to install but no 3BB etc available. In Buriram. Close to the city. Only option is an aircard, which works well, but really is not adequate bandwidth and very expensive. Can't stream at all.

Can't speak for Buriram but we have a place in the middle of Sakon Nakhon province - but miles from anywhere you'd know. Had TOT winet installed for 3500 baht plus 1500 for modem. Monthly charge for 10 MBS download is 599 baht. Occasional problems but local call centre excellent get service back up again quickly. Highly recommended.

From Nakon Nowhere we've got TOT Smile 10 Mbs. It's usually very reliable and I'm able to watch 365 Sport without any buffering (nearly all of the time) and BBC iplayer via a VPN. Almost as good as the 20mbs service we get from True in BKK

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Let's give the taxi drivers a break. Taxi charges are dirt cheap and in most locations you can pick up a taxi at the 3rd or 4th attempt anyway. If the driver doesn't want the business or wants to work without a meter you can choose to use him or not. In most cases the difference between the meter price and the drivers demands is 50 - 100 baht. In UK term £1-£2. It's peanuts. Get over it !!!

Take a look around, we are not in the UK.

Well for me, I bring my money in from the UK to spend here - so the argument is very relevant. As I said you can choose or not to use the taxi without the meter - sometimes pigheadedness (not wanting to pay an extra few baht (£)) leads to frustration, anger, increased blood pressure, and losing or wasting time. Life too short (for me anyway)

Lost in transit are we?

Sorry - I'm missing your point.

Let's give the taxi drivers a break. Taxi charges are dirt cheap and in most locations you can pick up a taxi at the 3rd or 4th attempt anyway. If the driver doesn't want the business or wants to work without a meter you can choose to use him or not. In most cases the difference between the meter price and the drivers demands is 50 - 100 baht. In UK term £1-£2. It's peanuts. Get over it !!!

Take a look around, we are not in the UK.

Well for me, I bring my money in from the UK to spend here - so the argument is very relevant. As I said you can choose or not to use the taxi without the meter - sometimes pigheadedness (not wanting to pay an extra few baht (£)) leads to frustration, anger, increased blood pressure, and losing or wasting time. Life too short (for me anyway)

Let's give the taxi drivers a break. Taxi charges are dirt cheap and in most locations you can pick up a taxi at the 3rd or 4th attempt anyway. If the driver doesn't want the business or wants to work without a meter you can choose to use him or not. In most cases the difference between the meter price and the drivers demands is 50 - 100 baht. In UK term £1-£2. It's peanuts. Get over it !!!

Oh God...the ''fare converted to irrelevant foreign currency argument'' again.

And NO...let's NOT give the lazy bastards a break. There are plenty of decent taxi drivers around. Suspend the bad ones and those deserving of it will earn more money.

Well for me, I bring my money in from the UK to spend here - so the argument is very relevant. As I said you can choose or not to use the taxi without the meter - sometimes pigheadedness (not wanting to pay an extra few baht (£)) leads to frustration, anger, increased blood pressure, and losing or wasting time. Life too short (for me anyway)

Let's give the taxi drivers a break. Taxi charges are dirt cheap and in most locations you can pick up a taxi at the 3rd or 4th attempt anyway. If the driver doesn't want the business or wants to work without a meter you can choose to use him or not. In most cases the difference between the meter price and the drivers demands is 50 - 100 baht. In UK term £1-£2. It's peanuts. Get over it !!!

Decent accommodation in BKK Downtown - 2 beds, 2 baths about 35-40k baht per month. HS Internet 1k, electric 2k, eating out 20k, activity - good gym 2k, golf 2x per week 20k, female company ( not the bar scene) 25k , good medical cover 1.5k, mobile phone 0.75k, day today living (shopping etc) 10k

150k baht per month will give you a really good lifestyle in BKK - can't speak for other places

eating out 20k but sweating at home (electricity 2k)?

i prefer the other way round!

I live in a 2 bedroom house.Air-con is on all evening in the living room and most of the night in the bedroom. Use fans too. Never had a bill more than 2000 baht

Decent accommodation in BKK Downtown - 2 beds, 2 baths about 35-40k baht per month. HS Internet 1k, electric 2k, eating out 20k, activity - good gym 2k, golf 2x per week 20k, female company ( not the bar scene) 25k , good medical cover 1.5k, mobile phone 0.75k, day today living (shopping etc) 10k

150k baht per month will give you a really good lifestyle in BKK - can't speak for other places

Golf 20k ? Really ?

Genuine question - I play a bit of golf and always wondered what the cost was in BKK area.

Oh well I'll add it to the evergrowing list of things that are more expensive in Thailand than England (yesterday I discovered grapes are 3 times the price here than UK....!)

I play twice a week. Midweek golf is about 2000 baht - green fee, caddy fee and caddy tip; weekend golf is about 3000 baht - green fees more expensive. You can join golf clubs in BKK which will bring the cost down but there isn't the same amount of organised social golf in these clubs. There are several societies in Bangkok with weekend and mid week which offer competitive and social golf, handicaps and some weekends away. I think golf in Pattaya is cheaper btw

Decent accommodation in BKK Downtown - 2 beds, 2 baths about 35-40k baht per month. HS Internet 1k, electric 2k, eating out 20k, activity - good gym 2k, golf 2x per week 20k, female company ( not the bar scene) 25k , good medical cover 1.5k, mobile phone 0.75k, day today living (shopping etc) 10k

150k baht per month will give you a really good lifestyle in BKK - can't speak for other places

Don't waste anymore time - go and see a doctor

Much talk about the Deposit Protection Scheme. In 2016 this will be 1,000,000 baht only not the 50,000,000 quoted elsewhere. Thai banks safe as houses - not

On the contrary. The advice is very sound - don't invest in Thailand.

Your post offers no help at all, only choosing to criticize posters looking to help.

What's your advice then - share your experience/ font of knowledge - if you have any.

I presume that post is directed at me.

There's absolutely no reason not to invest in Thailand provided you know what you're getting into. The banks here are financially secure - much more so than many in the UK. (Look at the dire state of RBS and Coop. And consider that Mervyn King recently said that British banks are too weak to weather another financial crisis) Furthermore, bank deposits are currently protected here up to 50 million Baht (just over a million pounds). UK banks only have depositor protection for the first £85,000.

My post helps the OP by pointing out that those posters who are looking to help are giving seriously flawed advice because they are totally ignoring exchange rate risk. If the OP had a lot of money this would be less of an issue, but apparently he doesn't.

And I shared my advice back on the first page. http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/805166-help-investment-advice-please/#entry9139317

So your advice is put your money into Thai banks where the interest rate gets no where near covering the effect of rising inflation. And if you really believe that the government will indemnify losses in the case of a bank failing then you have much more confidence than me. The vast majority of posters suggest avoiding direct investment in Thailand due to the volatile nature of the economy and government. Currency fluctuation has to be managed I do agree but if, for what ever reason, you need to return 'home' urgently or quickly having your funds in Thailand leaves you massively exposed to being penniless.

On the contrary. The advice is very sound - don't invest in Thailand.

Your post offers no help at all, only choosing to criticize posters looking to help.

What's your advice then - share your experience/ font of knowledge - if you have any.

Select an area you know and buy 4 one bedroom purpose built flats (no conversions) with £50k deposit on each.

The £ is awful against the baht leave your money in the UK

...I wouldn't invest a penny in Thailand......leave it in the UK.

Keep your money in the MAINLAND UK

So many people willing to offer advice either without reading/understanding the OP's situation (he needs income in THB, not GBP), or are utterly clueless about the real risks associated with exchange rate fluctuations.

Still, at least free advice is worth what you pay for it.

I was in a similar position to you at the same age. I bought buy to let properties with about 60% gearing. Select an area you know and buy 4 one bedroom purpose built flats (no conversions) with £50k deposit on each. That'll give you a property portfolio of about £500k with a rental income net of mortgages of about £18k pa. At just 5% flat (not compound) growth your property will be worth £750k in 10 years time with a higher income. There are some pitfalls but multiple ownership will overcome most of them. Send me a personal message for more insight. It worked perfectly for me

Can anyone recommend a company in Bangkok to design, supply and fit wardrobes. Recommendations from personal experience most valuable. Thanks in advance.

Why not instal the bars inside?

I always use GiffGaff. They send you a free SIM to a UK address and you can choose from a series of packages called GoodyBags. I use a £10 GoodyBag which gives me 500 minutes, unlimited texts and 1GB of internet. A GoodyBag lasts a month and you can retain the number if you wish to use if you go to the UK again. Send me a PM and I'll send you a link which will give you some discount. It's on offshoot of O2 so it has fantastic coverage.

Dear all, many thanks for all your posts - particularly the Fat Controller and MiKT.

As I bank with Bangkok Bank I also spoke to their HO - foreign currency dept. They said I could bring in £ at their published TT rate less 500 baht OR transfer in Baht from a UK bank. In both cases they said they would issue the Foreign Exchange Transfer documents. The BB TT rate yesterday day was 49.17 which was very competitive against the UK interbank rate.

For further information I use a Foreign Exchange specialist company. I transfer to them at no charge from my UK bank, agree a rate of exchange over the phone and they send to my BB branch for a charge of £6.50.

So thanks again to all I think I've got a complete picture now.

Rabid old goat - i asked a reasonable question and with the exception of you everyone gave me very helpful answers . Still I suppose your non de plume says it all. Enjoy your life

Rabid old goat you need to get out more!

if you know so much why are you asking stupid questions. dont bother answering we know the answer already

Rabid old goat you need to get out more!

I spoke with BB today and they confirmed for transfers it's the TT rate on their website (49.17 today) plus maximum 500 baht