JB300

Bought mine at the AIS store in Central Festival, originally I was looking for the 50B “Social Media” SIM (parents only needed Data for WhatsApp) but they didn’t have any so went for that one.

That page quotes the mid-market rate (Barclays adds a margin on top of this). Comparing the numbers on Wise (https://wise.com/gb/send-money/send-money-to-thailand) sending £18,500 you’ll get approx 3,750 less with Barclays. Personally I’d still use Barclays in this instance, as you can do it in 1 transaction & guaranteed it will show up as FTT.

This was the package I got for my parents… Seems to still be available to purchase online… https://www.ais.th/en/consumers/package/prepaid/prepaid-sims/the-one-sim

Not a fan of period dramas but if it’s Sherlock Holmes I’ll watch it 👍🏻 As an aside this is my current go to sleep aid… I’m yet to get more than 15 minutes in 😊

If only using WIFI then you don’t need a SIM, but if you want “Data” then you’re going to need one. Depends on where you’re planning to travel but AIS is probably the safest bet, bought 2 for Mum & Dad when they visited in Feb, IIRC it was 50B (each) for the SIM card & I topped up 200B (each) which was more than enough for their 30 day stay (given most places have WIFI).

Due to “A system upgrade across banks in Thailand to enhance their security“ Wise has had to drop a number of Banks from the list you can send money to… https://wise.com/help/articles/2932335/guide-to-thb-transfers it is now limited to…. • Bangkok Bank Public Company Kasikorn Bank • Krung Thai Bank • Siam Commercial Bank • CIMB Thai Bank • Bank Of Ayudhya (Krungsri bank) • Kiatnakin Phatra Bank Starting on 6 May 2025, the following banks will no longer be supported due to payment system upgrades in Thailand: TMBThanachart Bank (011) Citibank (017) Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (018) Standard Chartered Bank (020) United Overseas Bank (024) The Government Savings Bank (030) HSBC (031) Deutsche Bank (032) The Government Housing Bank (033) Bank For Agriculture And Agricultural Cooperatives (034) Mizuho Corporate Bank (039) BNP Paribas (045) Bank Of China (052) Thanachart Bank (065) Islamic Bank Of Thailand (066) TISCO Bank (067) ICBC (070) The Thai Credit Retail Bank (071) Land And Houses Retail Bank (073) Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank (Thai) PCL (SMTB) (080) I believe these will come back once they get their security aligned to whatever standard is required for Wise to be able to transfer to them.

I might be mistaken but it sounds like the OP is asking about full implants (“All” on 4, 6 or 8 ) Dentist will pick the anchor points. But great point, I was warned about one of my implants about maybe not enough bone to do it, dentist was pretty blasé & said he could just “Fill It” ended up not being a problem…

I was 53 when I decided to work an extra year to do a full mouth restoration (5 implants & untold crowns & veneers) cost me 650,000 THB… best decision I ever made. As long as you’re taking care of your family, spend your money on making you happy… 78 is still young 😊

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.