JB300

Shoulda woulda coulda are the last words of a fool. I consider myself as financial astute & am also ex-“Banker” (IT, Director level, but know nothing about banking) moved to Asia in 2007 and I had no idea that my state pension would be frozen . I was 41 at the time so didn’t really care, don’t really care now except I’m going to have to mess around with claiming the non increase from my real pension in 8 years 😳 Oh & I once was a bank teller in Nairobi… Not kidding, lots of problems with the IT system so I had to sit at the teller desk…Great way to meet really hot chicks 😊

Unfortunately mine came up for renewal at the same time I’d just got out of a 3.5 year “Discussion” with HMRC about me being Non-UK Tax resident (pay 12% tax in Singapore or 45% + NI in UK)… Don’t need to drive in Asia so I let it expire. As an aside it’s illegal to have a driving licence registered to any address other than your home address, no problem for me, long story short I still have my “Green” UK license registered to my “Home” (UK Parents) address in the UK & all the bills (including council tax) are in my name… But I haven’t driven for > 16 years & don’t plan on ever driving again 😊

I’m retired but yet to get any pension Income (private pension next year, State pension in 2033) & I pay nothing to HMRC on (Gross) >£36,000 income. I’ll worry about the frozen state pension when I get there but at the moment it’s a no-brainer for me to be Non-UK Resident (even if it meant I lost my UK driving licence)

The requirements for LTR visas are all listed in US$, even the 10Million THB investment requirement I mentioned is actually listed as $250K USD. I’m already on a Non-IMM O “Retirement” visa (9 years) so don’t need to find another visa but am attracted to the LTR for a few reasons so if possible would like to switch over to one, if I can’t then I’ll stick with my current visa.

It’s all about having “Reciprocal” agreements in place… Here’s the list from the UK Gov site… https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reciprocal-agreements/reciprocal-agreements

I worked for a UK Bank for 20 years (1986-2006) on a final salary (Defined Benefits) pension that gives me 1/40th for every year worked (so I’ll end up with roughly 1/3rd of my final salary adjusted for cost of living increases for 30 years until I take the pension next year ). Ended up back at the same bank for a short (18 months - 2007-2009) on a Defined Contribution pension which was also very generous so I have no idea how a former “Banker” only has State Pension as an income. NB I do think it’s wrong that State Pensions are frozen just think the guy in the original article is playing hard done by a bit too much. Edit: Just thought, I also worked for the same UK bank for 6.5 years in Singapore (+4.5 years for a US Bank) where at the end of the day you are responsible for your own pension (they hand it over to you when you leave the company) so I guess he could have been working overseas & not done anything to invest for his future retirement.

Thanks for all the comments, I maybe should have shared that my main reason for asking is I need to make a decision in the next 6 weeks about whether to take (up to 25% tax free) PCLS (Pension Commencement Lump Sum) out of my pension next year. If I can swing the LTR based on >$40 pa income past 2 years & a guarantee of another >$40K in pension then I won’t take any money, if I can’t then it’s 6 months outside of Thailand next year (Tax) & a $250K investment. Special thanks to the person who pointed out it’s $250K & not the 10Million THB I thought it was, makes a huge difference to my plans 👍🏻 Edit: Sorry, it’s 9 years on a Non-IMM O, I can remember watching the France Croatia World Cup final on the rooftop of Chulia Mansions whilst I waited for Banana Thai Visa agency to get me my Non-IMM O “Retirement” (1 year, multi-entry in those days 😊)

i think we’re done here@DrJack54

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not worth it…

I understood it to be that I if I couldn’t meet the $80K number, then I needed to invest 10Million THB if it’s $250K, then that’s more like 8.4 Million THB 👍🏻

I asked the question because as I said, other posters in the past (couple of years ago) said they were able to get an LTR with >$40k annual income & the promise of future pension income The official site suggests I need to have $80K passive income for at least 2 years hence me asking about investing 10Million options. I’ve done a lot of research, but there’s nothing better than real world examples. Here’s stupid me thinking that asking for advice like this is what this forum is for…

I already (> 10 years) have a Non-IMM O, don’t want to “downgrade” to an DTV? I want an LTR for Tax reasons… being polite, I don’t need any advice on any other visa options… I’m already sorted,👍🏻 But thanks for your post 👍🏻

Currently I “Earn” (Passive Income) approx $45K pa and would like to go for the LTR Visa. Feb next year I can add another $46K pa (Pension at 60) so would be able to meet the $80K income criteria but I don’t want to wait 2 years until I have all the paperwork in place. In the early days of the LTR I read reports of guys being in a similar situation & got their LTR based on previous income + future pension numbers rather than having “Earned” $80K for the past 2 years - is this true? If I can’t do that, what are my options for investing the 10Million I need to invest. I’ve got my eye on a Condo that’s 14.5 Million but that would have to be in the GF’s name (16.5 in my name) so pretty sure it wouldn’t count. Any thought on what my options are? I’ve seen another condo I can buy in “Foreign” name for 9M but what do I do for the other 1M?

Came back from visiting family in the UK for a couple of weeks & after arriving back to my condo (Wongamat) I noticed my water smells “Weird” (sort of a metallic smell). At 1st I put it down to it not being used for 2 weeks but after 3 days of running it, the water seems to go ok for a while & then smells weird (metallic) again. Anybody had any similar experiences and/or know of anywhere I can go to get the water tested (we only use bottled water for cooking / cleaning teeth but I’d rather not be showering in it if it’s not clean).

Sorry, when you said the IO said nothing about the unused Non-O I assumed you had a sticker in your passport that he’d see (I also assumed that if you were entering on the DTV then you wouldn’t have volunteered the Non-0 eVisa). I honestly believe that when you got your DTV they would have cancelled any existing Visas you had on their system - I’m basing this on the fact that I was told they would cancel my Non-O if I were to switch to an Elite Visa rather than any official links I can point to.

Back to Topic… I “misspoke” when I said the OP’s Elite Visa would be cancelled, it wouldn’t be valid for the duration of the DTV but when that finished they should still be able to use the remaining years on their Elite Visa. E.g somebody has a 20 year Elite Visa, has used 1 year then gets a 5 year DTV, when the DTV finishes they should still have 14 years left on their Elite Visa.

Yes & no. Technically it is possible to end up with 2 Visas as you’ve shown (though if you’d had a an unused non-IMM O visa in your passport & got a Non-IMM B before using it I’m pretty sure they would have cancelled the Non-IMM O before issuing it - could be different with the DTV as I understand it’s not a “Visa” in the traditional sense of a sticker in your passport) but only 1 of them can be valid & (technically) the last one you got cancelled the 1st. i can’t point you to a definitive link that says you cannot have 2 valid visas but searching for “can i have 2 different valid visas at the same time thailand” will bring you a the AI result that says… ”No, you cannot hold two different valid visas for Thailand simultaneously; you can only hold one visa at a time” I am curious as to why you decided not to use your Non-IMM O & get a DTV instead, personally I think the Non-IMM O is a much better option if you’re living in Thailand full time & don’t want to worry about doing border runs etc… OT but does anybody know of anybody who’s managed to get an extension on a DTV yet or is it still too soon for somebody to have tried?

That’s a different scenario, whilst you had a valid Non-IMM O visa you hadn’t used it so are free to apply for whatever Visa you want to use instead, the Visa is only “Active” when it’s been used. If you’d have had a Non-IMM O Multi-Entry Visa & used it to enter Thailand then you would have had to cancel it before getting the DTV. The OP is asking about an Elite Visa (presumably already used to enter Thailand so is “Live”) & looking to get an DTV in addition to it which isn’t possible.

No I do mean Visas… The OP is asking whether somebody could have an Elite Visa in their passport & get a DTV visa at the same time.

#1 No it is not possible to have 2 “Active” visas at the same time - to get a DTV he would somehow need to lose his TE Visa (easier said than done, though you can do it if you’re moving to a Non-IMM B visa). But my question would be why would he want to do that? The Elite visa is a far superior visa to the DTV & if his work is truly remote work, then he’s not breaking any Thai employment laws.

There’s a comparison tool on the Wise site that suggests your right for transfers up to 2Million (Wise doesn’t have an option to send more than this)…https://wise.com/gb/compare/barclays-gbp-to-thb You’ll note that the Barclays rate changes depending on how much you’re sending… (big difference in rate between sending £1,000 & £17,500). Interesting perk of being Ex-Bank staff, I can remember when I worked for Barclays we used to be able to buy our holiday currency at the Bank’s Buy rate rather than the Sell rate 😊

Large Swift transfers usually end up being more cost effective than Wise due to the charges involved (+ you usually get a better exchange rate on larger transfers). No idea where the “swing” point is but would guess that somebody doing a one off transfer of 780K (using the suggested amount for retirees) for their annual living costs would find it more cost effective to do it via Swift. Edit: Just did a test on Wise & the fees for sending £17,500 are £103.98… Swift is typically £9.99

I thought the TM6 had been scrapped? is it back now?

That was sort of my point (albeit not expressed well) Its just the Idiots on here who try to claim that because there’s not some law change & somebody hasn’t knocked on their door to give them a gilt envelope that they get a pass from filing a return. How about being a mature adult & when you move to another country, learn the rules