KittenKong

On 4/20/2019 at 12:24 AM, Beggar said:

I also was told that no bank letter is needed. Just an updated bank book showing the 800.000 balance on this date. 

With my bank it is impossible to update the book unless I make an extra fixed deposit or a withdrawal, and partial withdrawals are not possible. When I do my extension my book is never up to date for this reason. Jomtien Immigration seem to understand this and they happily rely on the bank letter which of course is up to date.

So I wonder if I will need to get a second bank letter about 90 days after my next extension?

The whole thing is made even more stupid by the fact that my 800kB is on time deposit for 2 years and this is clearly marked in the book. So as long as the book does not show a withdrawal the full amount is still there.

39 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

I've only visited the Philippines but I had some good food there, but the street type food was appalling.

This is true. You need to stay away from street stalls in the RP. No such problem in restaurants though.

3 hours ago, JaiLai said:

Interesting, do they speak English?

I've worked with guys from Sri Lanka and they were genuinely decent people.

Yes, just about anyone who is educated speaks English there. You have to get used to their way of speaking it though.

They are nice people and I would not mind living there.

2 hours ago, Destiny1990 said:

Seems nowadays a dangerous place they just blew up several churches there and attacked 5 star hotels hundreds of death.

I remember a bomb at the Erawan shrine in the middle of Bangkok a few years ago. And there was a big one in a Brighton hotel in '84. Did either stop me going anywhere? No.

1 hour ago, Destiny1990 said:

Why don't u try out the capital of Sri Lanka?

Actually Sri Lanka would be a reasonable alternative for me, though probably not Colombo the capital. The local food is fantastic: streets ahead of Thai food. The people are nice and speak a fair bit of English. The scenery is great and it has hill stations which for me at least offer a much more satisfactory climate than anywhere in Thailand. It is much less touristy than Thailand, and much less busy generally.

Long-term retirement visa options are not so good though.

1 hour ago, Destiny1990 said:

If u are satisfied   with the Thai retirement visa procedures all together then by all means simply stay.

This thread is more for folks unhappy with these procedures looking at other destinations visa deal offers elsewhere.

The retirement extension here works well for me and I find it easy and cheap.

But that isnt to say that I wouldn't want to live elsewhere, if elsewhere offered a similar easy retirement visa and similar overall costs of living (tax included). But as far as I know elsewhere doesnt. If anyone does know of somewhere that is a similar then I would like to hear about it.

1 hour ago, AtoZ said:

Once you pull your head out of your arse you will find out PI has amazing western food available everywhere for 50% of the cost in Thailand.

 

Only the local food sux, but what can you expect for the price? Sushi and caviar?

Local food isnt that bad in the RP. They just dont use much spice. Apart from that they basically eat the same things as here.

1 hour ago, Destiny1990 said:

For Europeans actually Spain may be the least complicated and least expensive option imho.

Portugal would get my vote over Spain. In fact all other things being equal (which they arent) I would be in Portugal right now.

3 hours ago, manchega said:

Any thoughts on who else I can get on board, I feel I am getting nowhere but a well documented campaign highlighting how damaging these things would really help the case 

There are some Thai organisations that work for this, but as usual here in the end most Thais seem to be only interested in money and just give lip-service to the idea of changing things.

A very worthwhile cause though.

10 minutes ago, Destiny1990 said:

U know very well they have all sort of visa deals Monthly, yearly ect.

But nothing like the Thai retirement extension, as far as I know.

On 4/19/2019 at 3:05 PM, Destiny1990 said:

What are popular towns for expats in Vietnam?

i heard about Dah Nang at the beach

Ho tja min City and Saigon or am i mixing it up.

3 months visa for 5000 bht sounds excellent for me.

If you only stay for 3 months you are hardly an "ex-pat". For me to consider living somewhere I would need easy access to as many one-year visas as I like. Thailand offers that but as far as I can see Vietnam is just a temporary holiday destination (albeit a nice one).

4 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Not worth doing anything for 0.9%.

Up2U.

On 4/20/2019 at 3:42 AM, swissie said:

Plenty of Brits have retired in Spain. After the depreciation of the £, many are forced to live a very "humble-life" in Spain these days. After Brexit: Visa-Issues will surface.

Unlikely to be any visa issues for retired Brits in Spain or Portugal or France etc. Those countries are very keen to retain British retirees and will go out of their way to make it easy for them to stay.

As for general costs, depending on how you live Spain or Portugal could easily be cheaper than Thailand for many people. It all depends on your way of life. Income tax also comes into the question and for me that is the main aspect of it.

4 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

You can get 8% in Cambodia in a USD account.

I only get 1.6% in Thailand in my TMB account.

USD in Cambodia? Not for me, I'm afraid.

If your Thai bank only pays 1.6% then you should look for another bank. My TD here pays 2.5%, tax-free.

On 4/19/2019 at 2:22 PM, Kaoboi Bebobp said:

I live in Vietnam. Longer term Vietnam visas are getting harder to get and are becoming more expensive. There no retirement visas or extensions. My current 6-month multi-entry Business cost $350US/11,000 baht. Had a one-year Business visa before that that also cost me $350. In effect, it doubled in price. The 2-year Temporary Residence Card has gone through the roof at $1600US/50,000 baht late last year. Was half that in mid-2018 and half of that again in 2017. 

 

Most people run on 3-month single entry visas, doing border runs to Cambodia.

My retirement extension in Thailand costs me 2000B per year, all-in. It takes me under one hour to obtain at an office that is a 10 minute walk from my condo (which I own outright with no limitations) and requires no special paperwork of any type. If I like I can stay here indefinitely without ever leaving, or if I prefer I can leave as often as I like for a total extra cost of 3900B.

Someone please let me know when any other SE Asian country even comes close to that.

22 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Thai retirement VISA (for a Brit) 800k lost interest @ 5% = 40k, then add the VISA price 2k = 42k (around $1,400)

How much more do you think it will cost?

I would like to know where you can get 5% interest in the UK on a secure deposit. I'm actually getting very slightly more on my 800kB here (2.5%) than I would get for a similar deposit in the UK (2.4%).

On 4/19/2019 at 2:25 PM, Darkside Gray said:

Don't know about Puerto Rico but Mexico is great and lots of fun.

I went there once and could not leave fast enough. I actually changed my return flight date it was so bad.

^^^^ Sorry, thought I read it elsewhere.

Actually I thought that your original post was an April fool. I was going there anyway so it was a big surprise to me when I saw the 0B bill.

.

Every time I go to Retox now I never get black pudding. Do you have to ask for it or something?

Apart from that, definitely the best value breakfast in Pattaya, even if one does pay more than 0B.

On 3/28/2019 at 11:31 PM, Tomtomtom69 said:

Thailand will probably always remain the jewel of mainland SE Asia

If this is the jewel I dread to think what the other places must be like.

8 hours ago, swissie said:

70 years ago, they used to speak softly and carry a big stick. These days they speak loudly and carry a small stick.

Some of us have no stick at all. ????

I like to have my documents prepared before I need them, and I hate doing things at the last minute, so I always get my RE permit at Jomtien months in advance of my trip. It costs me exactly 1000B with no extra fee and usually takes around 15 minutes. The photos I have done in bulk and the form is already completed on my PC, ready for printing, dating and signing.

Then at the airport I can walk peacefully straight from passport control to the airline lounge, without any extra hassle or queueing. This is also handy if ever I were to arrive with little time to spare before my flight.

1 minute ago, JackThompson said:

If you did need it, you could deposit 100 Baht, then update your passbook, then get the bank-letter done.  That way, the balance matches.

No, I cant do that. It's a time deposit.