khunPer

Unfortunately not any more, things have changed a lot. My friends back home says that I shall be happy that I left. I follow closely what is happening in my Danish home country – my half Thai daughter is studying there at the moment – and even with the "back door" that one can always travel back again, it's not attractive for me any more. I however can afford to buy a home there again, if I'm forced to move out of Thailand, but the public service level is not that good anymore, and for retirees it can be rather bad. I'm better off in Thailand and can afford to buy help here – if ever needed – that would be difficult in my home country. Furthermore "happiness" is a very important factor – more important than money, even you need some money – happiness seems also to be important for health ang longevity. We are all different and have different preferences – mine are here and I fell happy being here.

Excellent decision, because I'm not going back – and are you aware of Scandinavia property taxes and how much it costs to heat...😟 – I've changed to have property here and live here...

All my work-life I've been working hard, and actually had no intention of stop working just because I reached the age of 70, the old time retirement age in my Scandinavian home country. When a friend finally convinced me to take 10 days off from work at age 52 and joining him on a trip to a small tropical island in Gulf of Thailand – he actually had bought a ticket for me and called saying I owed him money for a ticket to Bangkok, as we had talked about a trip to Thailand for several years, but it never materialized – I began to rethink the purpose of working, when staying of this island's Bounty-style beach... Two and a half years later I bought a small plot of land on the very same beach, as my friend had introduced me to, realizing that it was not worth to work hard – even I by working many more years could make little extra savings for later, after paying more than 50 percent income tax – instead I began planning on early retirement and to enjoy life, while I was still fit for joyful living, rather than having plenty of fund later at old age, but not being able to use them due to age and physically worn-out conditions. When is enough, enough? At age 56 I was able to stop working for money, got rid of my small business and sold my property in my home country. That was probably the best decision I ever made, and now 18 years after I don't regret it; I'm sitting under same palm trees on the same beach as in 2001 and are still capable of fully enjoying my life....

As I mentioned before to you, everything under one month is "short time" when it comes to Airbnb; it's different compared to what the girls that you find in bars and other exciting nightlife events means, when they talks about "short time"...

Many thanks for your detailed reply; I however didn't say "permanent residency", just residency (registered address).

No.

You only need the three month statement, that the Bangkok Bank can give you on the spot together with their stand letter for retirement-application. It's when you needs more than a six months statement the print has to be made by the head office and takes around a week. Some immigration offices require photocopy of all pages in the bank book. Ask you local immigration office about their requirements, they might have a list of which documentation they need for an extension based on retirement, so you can prepare all paperwork; they might also wish a printed Google-map with your home and a copy of your TM30-registration. I've been staying based on retirement for almost 18 years now. I use a separate account for my 800k baht deposit – fixed account for best interest, which I withdraw annually – so it easy for both the immigration officer and you, instead of account mixed with daily transactions. If you not already have a special deposit account, then be aware of the two month maturing period before application, and three month after extension of stay is granted; move your deposit funds to a separate account during the remaining around half a year, so you haven't touched the required deposit.

There are many quiet clean beaches, especially in the southern part. Google Street View often includes images, some even 360 degree, or actually street view-walk on some of the beaches, so you can see if they are quiet and clean. Mind the different monsoon-seasons in the southern part – south western monsoon (May-October) on the Andaman side, and north eastern monsoon (November-January) on the gulf side – apart from rain and wind the beaches can be not-so-clean, right after a monsoon-storm.

As I understands it, citizenship it's not aimed on retirees. You need residency and work income.

To my knowledge it's been on larger companies in property business that have been scrutinized; I've never heard about a "crack down" on a small legally correct set up company holding a single property, rented out to a foreigner. By "legally correct set up" means that there are no nominate shareholders in the company, which is where the authorities can step in and claim corrections. Do you have any references to that small companies being "crack down"?

Crime seems to be (much) worse now in my Danish home country than where I live in Thailand; when I left it 20 years ago crime was increasing in my home country but still not a major problem as now.

I looked at it, but it seems not to be for our annual non-O extensions based on marriage or retirement, we still have to visit the local immigration office.

It might not be that easy to apply for Thai citizenship; a Permanent Residence might help, but to my knowledge you need to have been working for some year and paid income tax. There are some excellent threads with advice in the forum. Opening bank account is not a problem, if you have a long-stay visa, which you easily can obtain from your home country or a visa run to a nearby country, and an address i Thailand. You can invest in property without being citizen, if you open a Thai company limited, for example together with your future wife, as you can only hold 49 percent shares of the registered capital. With the right set-up – which an experienced business lawyer can do for you – you can secure your ownership pretty well. Investing in luxury end pool villas can be good business, especially if you use an agent to take care of rentals and service. If you do it yourself, it will require a lot of work, which you to my knowledge cannot do yourself without a proper work permit; i.e. you might need to employ or pay someone to do it for you. Airbnb rent needs to be for a month or longer, and when changing renter the villa(s) need to cleaned and serviced. If becoming a Thai citizen you will be eligible for government health care, but you might still prefer a private hospital, so either a health-insurance or enough funds for self insurance is needed in both cases. Having a non-immigrant visa you can stay with annual extensions based on either marriage to a Thai – which makes you eligible for a work permit – or as retiree, where work will not be allowed, but you can still own shares and be CEO on board member level in a company limited. If you wish to invest seriously in Thailand, there are other visas available, one of them also makes you eligible to own 1 rai of land. I'm not British, so I don't know about UK health care, but fin my European home country we loose our health care when settling abroad. We can keep dual nationality and keep both government and private retirement pensions. Brits' government pension will however be frozen at the level upon when settling abroad. As it seems like you have enough fund for investments – attractive pool villas in tourists areas are not cheap – then in my view and experience, it's important to consider if investment inside Thailand is better than offshore investments.

You country of primary residence is your present home country. If you travel abroad, you can be eligible for a travel insurance with repatriation. A primary question to ask oneself is also: Am I prepared to die in the country of my primary residence? If you are elder – or have illness or difficulties, which might makes you not eligible for air transport – you should seriously consider, if you should leave your original home country, if you are not prepared to end your life abroad. If you don't have some savings beyond a relative small government retirement pension, you should think twice about settling abroad. A good plan B often is that if something goes seriously wrong when living in Thailand, one can return to the home country of birth, but in some cases it might not be possible. Therefore the above question are important to ask oneself and make clear before settling abroad.

If you don't have some level of extra savings beyond a government retirement pension, you shall think twice about moving to Thailand; and it's worse for Brits that got their pension frozen.

Yes, the old terminal was charming, but way too small to handle the increasing tourism and arrivals in general. Some "good old time" flash back from a sunny day in Big Buddha Airport; screen short from one of my 2002-videos... Airport entrance... Departure terminal... Check-in counters... Departure terminal with check-in seen from walkway to gates... Refreshment corner... International departure gates and tax-free... Domestic departure gates... Domestic gates viewed from runway-side with carts to transport passenger to the airplanes parking space... Passenger carts on their way to an arriving airplane... Luggage band in arrival terminal... Arrival area with waiting minibusses...

Easy peasy, you should consider opening a TikTok-profile and also share the stuff here in this forum, so we can follow your success...

Thank you, because I'm glad to see that you found a small pile for good tourist promotion, instead of sharing the real stuff piled up on the Ring Road...

We need "quality tourists" that can pay more...

Yes they can, foreigners can be registered in a Yellow House Book for aliens, but not in the Blue House Book. I don't have PR, but I'm registered in my Yellow House Book, and I also have a pink ID-card for aliens.

Thanks for your explanation. It seems like you have been reopening an account. Opening a new account without a long stay-visa has been mentioned, to be difficult by now. It's especially a problem for those entering visa exempt or on a tourist visa that wish to apply for a non-immigrant visa domestically and therefore needs a Thai bank deposit. The common advice is to shop around between bank branches, as there can be difference in what they accept.

Thanks for your info. Recently or when?

At the moment there is a lot we don't know about details for the new income taxation of foreign funds, transferred into Thailand. In principle, so far, yes, all foreign income is income taxable if not covered by a double taxation agreement. However, savings from before 2024 – i.e., until 31st December 2023 – are free from income tax, but you need to prove that the money is savings. Details about how, has to my knowledge not yet been published.

A non-immigrant O-visa (called "non-O") as retiree and extension of stay based on retirement might be the best for you. This is the easiest paperwork and you are not dependant of being married to a Thai. A retirement extension requires that you have 800,000 baht in a Thai bank deposit or not less than 65,000 baht in monthly transfers into Thailand. You might be able to apply for a non-O visa domestically, but you'll need a Thai bank account in your name with 800,000 baht (monthly transfer cannot be used here). It might be easier to get a non-O visa abroad and enter on that, it will give you 90 days of stay and with a long stay-visa it might be easier to open a Thai bank account, which you shall do immediately after entering Thailand. Your deposit needs to mature for two month before you can apply for extension of stay based on retirement – or you need two monthly transfers of not less than 65,000 baht each – which you preferably shall do two weeks before the end of the 90-days stay. I'm using the retirement extension-method and 800,000 baht bank deposit, it's the easiest way to stay in Thailand.

Normally yes, for the land under the house – a foreigner can own a house, but not the land under it – but mind you that nominee shareholders are not allowed, so you only own 49 percent of your company, which is modest 980,000 baht, some Thai(s) have to come up with 1.02 million baht in cash...😉