Casual1

Thanks Jay, I'll ask my Vet what we should do about the rabies shot. did the BKK airport vet wave the wand checking for a chip? the older cat doesnt have one.

I don't see on the Thai AQS website where chips are required at all.

Just asked the wife and she said the Thai airport vet officer never asked/mentioned it. From my observation through the window, he checked the export and import docs, verified cat's shots were up to date, and visually checked the cat for general health appearance and disposition without removing cat from the travel cage. Honestly, the whole airport vet process seemed a fairly benign formality but it was nice to let my wife deal with them, I stayed outside guarding the suitcases on the cart.

J

Thanks for the info Jay, i"ll up date as i make progress.

Just to be clear, Charles Schwab Bank is different from the brokerage. You can use the bank for deposits and loans just like any other bank.

Link

Yep, this is correct, but I (only my experience, others experience my be different) had to open a brokerage account to open a checking account in the US. Still no fee or minimun balance to open either account in the US. unsure of the $10,000 minimum International because well, i'm not interenational.

A couple years ago i was overly disgusted with the ATM and FTF charges from my hometown bank, about $10-$13 for a 10K baht withdrawl (ATM charge and FTF). I did the research on Thaivisa , could never find the Aeon ATM in Patts. Charles Schwab, Capital One, USAA, and Statefarm made the cut as to research more. Statefarm and USAA only reimbursed a limited amount of ATM fees, cant remember what the FTF fee were, crossed them off the list . Charles and Cap One gives everything back and no FTF, CS has a visa debit card and CO has a mastercard debit. Visa card gives a better exchange rate over MC. Cap One has better interest rates for "holding" your money. Cap one is easier to set up transfers between bank accounts online (even non-cap one accounts), CS has you fill out paperwork with wet signatures to tranfer between accounts. so heres what I did:

• Opened Charles Schwab account for myself (checking and Brokerage, no money in the brokerage account, i'm in the USA, travel to Thailand 2-3 times a year) took about 2-3 weeks before the account and paperwork was all finished and normal banking routine were available to include transfers. I load up this account before i leave for LOS trips. Visa debit card, better exchange rate,
• Opened Charles Schwab joint account for me and the thai wife (checking and Brokerage, no money in the brokerage account) ,she lives full time thailand and was going to university at the time (told Schwab this over the phone). Got 2 AMT cards, sent one to her. when she needs money, i easily transfer money from my CS account to "her" CS account, she can withdrawl it instantly. CS refunds all ATM charges at the end of the month. if i'm quick and lucky, i move the refund amount back to my account as the wife see it as "her money" if its in her account.
• Chales Schwab has no banking or brokerage fee for having an account.

• Opened a Capital One checking and savings account online because they had better interest rates for "holding" my money over Charles Schwab. Mastercard debit, not as good as Visa exchange rate.
• Opened a Capital One credit card (MC) account because they offer cash back on charges and chasing airline miles and thier rules were getting ridiculous .
• Set up transfer to both Charles Schwab accounts, takes 3-4 business days when i move money to a CS account.
• NOTE--- when i set up the transfers between different bank accounts going thru Charles Schwab, they required paperwork and signatures, even the wifes sig on the joint account. When setting up transfers using Cap One, all can be done online with a routing and account number. all transfer currently work seemlessly between CS and CO and vise-versa, but takes 3-4 business days.
• Added wife to Capital One CC and gave her a card (able to put here photo on the card, she thinks its cute) for when she needs to buy something expensive or needs car work. BLAST AWAY, I'm not broke, she's calls and asks before she uses it.
• Capital One has no account fee.

I use Capital One for all my banking in the US. load up money to MY Charles Schwab account for trips and to transfer cash to the wifes Charles Schwab. I set up another Capital One 360 (old ING bank) savings account because Capital One (yes, 2 different entities ) dropped their savings interest rate to 1/2 of what Capital One 360 is offering. Capital One 360 does offer a no fees checking account, same as Capital One, but i have everything setup and dont want to re-setup transfers and checks and ATM cards etc...

when i use my Capital One ATM card in LOS (not often), its a 50-50 percent chance that they refund the ATM fees automatically, a call at the end of the month with ATM reciepts in hand usually clears it up.

I will soon retire from the military and move to LOS full time. I will tell Charles Schwab and Capital One that i am being "reassigned", not retiring, to thailand and give them my contact info for thailand. or just give them a relatives address and a Magic Jack phone number.

Sorry its wordy, but didnt want to leave anything out. i did this all about 2 years ago, the rumors of "stopping the free stuff" was floating around back then also, but havent seen it yet. I recently set up a Roth IRA with Schwab and got a call from their broker who wanted to "chat" about my investment ideas. During our "chat", I ask why CS gave out free banking and how could they afford to keep people like me, who doesnt make them any money and actually COST them money by refunding my ATM fees, on the books? he said they always make money and have no intentions of dropping deadbeats like me because he said..."you've just opened an IRA, we'll make money off you now!!!"

Capital One CC cash back has already paid for one of my airline tickets to LOS .

Thanks Thiavisa and all the members who put out good info.

Thanks for the info Jay,

so now i'm at a bit of confusion as to what to do about the rabies vaccination. we dont have a huge rabies problem up here and so its been 3 years since their last booster. i plan on taking them in next month for a checkup, but dont want to have to take them back 2 weeks before we travel. was your rabies vac done within or outside of what the BKK airport vet said? was it a problem? did you happen to get a USDA certificate as someone mentioned/recommended?

good info about the critters, we got none of those creatures up here and i hope the cats adapt well. is frontline readily available in LOS? again fleas and ticks arent big here, but one of the cats did have earmits when she was a kitten (pound kitty). vet gave us i think frontline and cleared them out with no problems. never had to do anything else, no flea collars or dips or fronline, but i do want something when their over there.

the cats are too finicky, regular continuous dry food always set out, then in the evening i crack open a can of the wet stuff. i see they have falang cat food at tesco and big-c, but its alot more than the local stuff, they'll need to change their diet and hopefully lose a little of that alaska weight.

Again thanks for the info.

Airport vet officer did review all shot records and documents and noticed the cat's rabies shot was given 25 days before arriving in Thailand. Said it should be within 21 days of arrival, but close enough I guess, he let it go.

We came out of the middle east so not familiar with US/Euro requirements. Frankly, the airline was the pain in the neck while the Thai Government wasn't a problem at all.

Frontline readily available here. Where we live, ticks are common, always pulling them off the dogs but never had one on the cat (yet).

Thanks Jay, I'll ask my Vet what we should do about the rabies shot. did the BKK airport vet wave the wand checking for a chip? the older cat doesnt have one.

You must not read the forums very carefully...as no one here would advise using either the thai embassy or the LA consulate for anything visa related. Most would recommend the Portland or Houston consulates.

Good luck on your move in any case and hope your this marriage is more successful than your American one. Nice to read how my taxes are paying for your move too!

I did read about those Consulates, but from this website http://www.thaiembassy.org/main/ they didnt show Portland of Huston having a website. of the LA, NY and Chi consulates to chose from, all reaquired "certified Copies", only the DC Embassy list required documents as only copies.

Portland and Houston and both good honorary Thai consulates in the U.S., easy to deal with and members here report good experiences with them.

Here's Portland's website:

http://www.thai-or.com/visa-information/

They still do various kinds of visas including O's based on marriage to a Thai. Nothing mentioned about certified copies.

But the honorary consulates no longer will issue O-A retirement visas. You have to go thru the Embassy or consulates for those.

Thanks Jon, you are correct, I looked at their website and it says nothing about certified copies. Since i'm finished with my visa process, I will direct my friend to the portland HTC for his future visa requests. Maybe i had a fluke experience, but the emabssy in DC was pretty painless and expedient with my Multi O.

Showing my age, but I was the 2nd graduating class at Bartlett. Before that went to West HS. As a kid, AK is great. But like you, I'd prefer Florida to AK now!

Yes, CM has issues during the height of the burning season. For a few months, it's unbearable for many. But smoke is a problem all over SE Asia. Unfortunately, smoke doesn't respect borders.

You should spend some time perusing the health sub forum. Or the insurance forum. Many good threads on health insurance. It's a touch subject here.

Sounds like you've got a good source of info for Tricare. Great stuff!

haha...sorry about the thug reference , its changed alot by Bartlett, got a whole new shopping center and VA center by the muldoon gate. anchorage is growing !! I've been looking around the forums about the insurance, havent seen any thats sparked my interest yet. we'll see how it goes.

Op. Sell the Harley in the States. Getting the bike into the country is just the first of your difficulties and expenses. Then you have to register the bike add another 140k baht (if it's even possible)

So my advice. Sell the bike in the States.

Sent from my phone with the app thingy.

Thanks Thaicbr,

I have it (and have had it) listed forsale, but no go for a couple years, and with it now being winter they're even harder to sell up here in the great white north. If it sells before they come pick up my house furniture, then great !!! but if not, then OMG's generous tax dollars will pay to have it shipped to thailand and then given to the thai government as a "white elephant gift". I'll smile everytime i see a BIB riding stylishly on such a bike! I've been reading reading reading...and more reading thanks to google and i think i can make it work. i know its not gonna be cheap and have a good chance of losing it, but if i lose it here or lose it there, then whats wrong with trying. I'm in contact with a guy that has made it happen, hopefully it'll work. knowing myself, "IF" it works out, I'll strut about on it for about a month or 2 in LOS, but then most likely leave it covered, sell it for a lose, or have it stolen.

Unleeeesssss...your in AK and looking for harley...cheap cheap, no copy !!

Welcome Casual1.

Try not spending/invest your $$ over here unless you are willing to part with them for good.

You got a nice pension which you should be able to live very comfortable on, including a nice rental house.

Are you sure you want to live in Pattaya? I am fed up with especially the traffic and the never stopping condo/house building, how many will they screzze in here??

Consider ChangMai up North, it's nice up there.

Or Banchang nice town beach front available at a reasonable price 40 min to Pattaya

Thanks Guzzi,

I hope its enough. i guess thats the questions many folks retireing are asking themselves. talking with my expat friends who have lived there for years, i should be ok with my monthly income. just have to convince the wife that "i no make big money same before".

after 29 years living in Alaska, i need to thaw out. orginally from south florida and really want to get back to the beach life. I will take the advise of renting for about 6 months to a year to make sure i make the transition from holiday maker to resident. Plan on staying in the darkside. i keep telling the wife to set up a 3-5 day trip to ChaingMai, "no have time, where you want stay?" is all the feedback i get. 1 day i'll make it up there.

It sounds like you haven't seen much of Thailand? Now when you retire is your change to see the whole Kingdom so start renting for sure, it would be a great mistake just come over here and buy and then 6 month down the road regret it because you found a very nice place elsewhere.

Buy a pick-up truck or suv and load it up and tell your wife to pack for 1 month and off you go. Hotels are cheap here especially outside the tourist spots.

Okay we have a nice big house ourselves we bought but since we got a kid together, I think it best that way. If something happens to me, my wife will have this asset and can good care of our boy. I know of more than 4-5 expats that despite being fully legal married lost the house(s) and the car and they were left with nothing expect their pensions. One was married to an alcoholic wife making his life miserable. 2One was married to a gambler and she lost so much they had to sell the house quickly in order not getting murdered. 3One decided that he was fed up with his wife and wanted out. She got so angry that he can hardly see his kids anymore and was afraid of getting murdered and moved 200km away she don't know about. 4One had a wife that absolute had to build this small 8 story condo in Jomtien at about 20mill baht but it quickly ended up costing 30 mill and his was broke and had to go back to his home country as a broke man. I told him not to build this condo project but he wouldn't listen and let the wife do it, crazy.

I am only telling you this as a gentle warning, there are also many having good relationships here.

sooo...dont turn in my flak vest??

your correct Guzzi, havent seen too much of the kingdom, but haven't only visited patts. i do "plan" to get out and about but . i know i know, gotta "live" in patts and not "holiday" in patts. the thai family wants us to move to Saraburi, or near Nakhonsawan, its ok to visit, but a little too primative for me. i am doing what many have suggested and rent for a bit before i hang my hat.

I hear what your saying about relationships, mine certainly hasnt been a fairytale and anyone who thinks marrying a thai its all rosey and peachy, well...take off the rose colored glass and come back to reality. issues do arise and its just like any marriage.

I do appreciate the info

(My mistake, only been in Alaska 19 years...its still freak'n cold!!!)

Nice to see the OP has all the wheels on his wagon so far, take your time and it will all fall into place. Having a rental home base on the dark side is excellent for checking out the other, more permanent options. Why not keep the AK place? Just in case things go pear-shaped in LOS... and I do NOT mean your relationship. The lunatics are in the asylum in Bangkok and the next 5 years are going to be pretty 'interesting' IMHO. If the mortgage isn't too onerous, maybe a fallback for yourself or even for the kids if your ex-wife has any misfortune back home?

Must be the weekend.

Thanks Nanlaew, soon i'll have plenty of "time"

Gonna sell the house here because whatever happens, i've had enough of: 3 months of fall 8 months winter 1 month of spring, somewhere in there folks call it summer, but i dont see it that way. IF i had to stay in the states, i would be moving back to Florida. i like the idea of having one set of tires, not having to plug the truck in at night, short sleave shirts and shorts, flippie-floppies, hope you get the idea.

Daughter will be off to college thanks to OMG's tax contributions , son's got 2 more years of HS, then off he goes. the kids extended familiy is from AK so "IF" the ex has a "misfortune" then they have many relatives here that would be more than willing to help out. all this was discussed and set up legally back before my last deployment, and hasnt changed, they both want to finish HS in AK. the daughter came with me on one trip, liked thailand as a vacation spot, but dont think she'd want to live here. both will come over for 2-3 weeks in june, plan to take them to the village where mama papa and grandmama live, i think there will be a mutiny, "how do they live without PC, FB, XBOX, highspeed internet??...", " there's bugs all over the place !!!!!", " sleep where !?!?". i give them 2-3 days max.

If they kick the the falang out of thailand, i really think i would seek someother SE asia location, i really enjoyed Cambo. america is too expensive for my taste (and retirement check), but i'm not burning any bridges...yet.

Thanks for the info Jay,

so now i'm at a bit of confusion as to what to do about the rabies vaccination. we dont have a huge rabies problem up here and so its been 3 years since their last booster. i plan on taking them in next month for a checkup, but dont want to have to take them back 2 weeks before we travel. was your rabies vac done within or outside of what the BKK airport vet said? was it a problem? did you happen to get a USDA certificate as someone mentioned/recommended?

good info about the critters, we got none of those creatures up here and i hope the cats adapt well. is frontline readily available in LOS? again fleas and ticks arent big here, but one of the cats did have earmits when she was a kitten (pound kitty). vet gave us i think frontline and cleared them out with no problems. never had to do anything else, no flea collars or dips or fronline, but i do want something when their over there.

the cats are too finicky, regular continuous dry food always set out, then in the evening i crack open a can of the wet stuff. i see they have falang cat food at tesco and big-c, but its alot more than the local stuff, they'll need to change their diet and hopefully lose a little of that alaska weight.

Again thanks for the info.

So i'll be moving my 2 cats over in Feb 2014, read alot on this forum, but its a little old so i'll try to update it a little. Moving from Alaska USA to Pattaya Thailand.

so far, i have made my airline reservations with 2 airlines, Alaska Air and EVA.

Alaska Air was pretty simple, called to confirm and reserve they have room for animals, i was told (or read) that only a certain amount of animals are allowed to travel per plane. I planned on having the 2 cats in the same carrier (a huge one for a large dog) but the Alaska Air agent said no, one adult pet per carrier. I'll have to collect them in Seattle and check them in at the EVA ticket counter. Cost for Alaska Airlines is $100 a piece.

EVA was a little more indepth. Glad i called them with 3 months before leaving. Eva agent said i needed to get a Taiwan transit permit for each pet, which i did not see on this or any other forum. they gave me the email address for further info. After doing a quick search, i found this website http://www.baphiq.gov.tw/public/Attachment/68161638571.pdf which had the correct contact email [email protected] i think maybe the agents accent and my hard of hear was the culprit of getting a few letters incorrect. So i drafted an email to Taiwan authorities asking how to obtain a transit permit. within a day they sent me back a form to fill out for both cats , asked when i would be traveling and on which airlines and flight number. i replied with the completed forms and info, they replied back with what breed of cats, i said "domestic short hair" and "domestic long hair", i got the permits back within 20 minutes. after thanking them and reviewing the permit, i noticed they put the year feb 2013 as my transit date, so i contacted them again and they corrected and sent a new permit within 20-30 minutes. Taiwan permit complete !!

Called EVA again and gave them all my info (cage size, weight, cat breed, Taiwan permit number), they asked if i made arrangements with Alaska Air, and that i had to re-check them in Seattle which i am aware of. they said i needed to make sure i contacted the thai authorities to follow their rules for importing pets, i assured them i will and they are now reserved on EVA from Seattle to BKK, via Taipie.

I'm setting up they're vet visit next week, one cat has a chip, the other doesnt (old ass cat). gonna bring the thai requirement list with me so the vet knows what needs to be done and how to fill out the certificate according to Thai requirements. EVA did not give me a price, but after reading the info on their website, it'll be about $350 per carrier. hope i get a free upgrade !!!

one bit of confusion i've seen on here is the rabbies vacination. someone said it needed to be give within 21 days of arrival. this mean to me that it its required from 1-21 days before they arrive in thailand. reading the thai import rules http://www.dld.go.th/webenglish/movec1.html it says "not less than 21 days" which would mean 21 days-365 days before arrival.

2nd, is the USDA certificate with raised seal required? i only found that requirement on this forum, not any where else.

the good info i found useful: I'm taking the advise of attaching pet photo, little note about the cats, and copies of all required documents to the carrier, gonna do the ice cube thing along with a large water bottle for each carrier. each carrier is a medium dog size carrier so they will have plenty of room. With EVA, i was gonna ship them together to save money (they charge by the carrier, not the pet), but at times they "scrap" and dont want someone in Taipie to freak out when they're stressed and start to "scrap". so alone they go. they can see each other again in thailand.

Anyone think i've missed something? i'll give an update after the vet visit.

thanks for your help

Wow! you did overdue it a bit, but welcome anyway. Im also on the dark side, and have ties to Alaska also, (Seldovia)

yeah, even though i like this forum and its helpful, i see alot of "you never thought this thru" "why do you think you have enough" "blah blah blah"... just thought i'ld lay out all the facts to weed out the bashing.

have a friend who grew up in seldovia, lost his number when i updated my iphone, tried to get him to come with me to thailand for a vacation when his wife fired him.

you ever go back to AK? i only "plan" on coming back for HS/College graduations and weddings, etc... i consider the summers cold and rainy up here. if i take a vacation to the US, it will be to NY, Chi and/or S.FL (relatives) and only during the summer months.

Welcome Casual1.

Try not spending/invest your $$ over here unless you are willing to part with them for good.

You got a nice pension which you should be able to live very comfortable on, including a nice rental house.

Are you sure you want to live in Pattaya? I am fed up with especially the traffic and the never stopping condo/house building, how many will they screzze in here??

Consider ChangMai up North, it's nice up there.

Thanks Guzzi,

I hope its enough. i guess thats the questions many folks retireing are asking themselves. talking with my expat friends who have lived there for years, i should be ok with my monthly income. just have to convince the wife that "i no make big money same before".

after 29 years living in Alaska, i need to thaw out. orginally from south florida and really want to get back to the beach life. I will take the advise of renting for about 6 months to a year to make sure i make the transition from holiday maker to resident. Plan on staying in the darkside. i keep telling the wife to set up a 3-5 day trip to ChaingMai, "no have time, where you want stay?" is all the feedback i get. 1 day i'll make it up there.

The import tax on your Harley will be astronomical.

It's a midlife crisis thing...that and the new wifey 5555

Wife hates it, said its too loud. guess i'll be riding ALONE

The import tax on your Harley will be astronomical.

Yep, i'm figuring as much.

So its a 2003 nighttrain, 3600 miles on it (riding season is short in alaska), little bit of custom work done. pretty much flawless except for a little rock chip on rear fender.

According to this website http://www.customs.go.th/wps/wcm/connect/custen/individuals/importing+personal+vehicle/importingpersonalvehicle it will cost about $4200-4500 in taxes.someone with a better math grade might come up with a different number. Hope a little tea money will ease the process.

I am the original owner. Hard to sell it here, I've tried. If i dont use it much, I can always sell it over there for a profit. Looking at used harleys there, they're going for double what they cost here.

You must not read the forums very carefully...as no one here would advise using either the thai embassy or the LA consulate for anything visa related. Most would recommend the Portland or Houston consulates.

Good luck on your move in any case and hope your this marriage is more successful than your American one. Nice to read how my taxes are paying for your move too!

I did read about those Consulates, but from this website http://www.thaiembassy.org/main/ they didnt show Portland of Huston having a website. of the LA, NY and Chi consulates to chose from, all reaquired "certified Copies", only the DC Embassy list required documents as only copies.

Taxes, funny how those things work. I'll try to keep my moving expenses low so the rest can go to Obamacare..."Obamacare"

Update, my friend did get his Tourist visa after 2 1/2 weeks, said the LA consulate was backlogged and working hard to get the visa's processed... "working hard"

what is your shoes size ? Iphone - which one (1,2,3....)? social security number ? eye colour ? size of underwear ... so many questions ... cheers

i have "a friend" in Nigeria who asked the same thing !!!

So the first thing i'll post is my experience with getting my Multi Non-Immigrant O visa. I was just in Thailand with tilac for 3 weeks in sept, did some forum reading and web search before i came back to the ice pack. before i left thailand, i got:

• copy of wifes thai passport (non certified)
• copy of our thai marriage certificate (non certified)

once back in Alaska, i took a self photo with my Iphone for the 2x2 inch picture, printed it on my old ass printer on "photo" paper. printed 3 months worth of bank statements (i have an internet bank). got a money order from the USPS for $200.

I went with the multi O as oppsed to the single entry O because i have to come back to Alaska in March for a month, and then back again in May for my daughters HS graduation, not sure if i will apply for my extention of stay based on marriage in Feb, so i wanted my options open...and i didn't know how long it would take to get the O visa (could have went the tourist stamp route, but i want to set somethings up in Feb that i couldn't do with just a tourist stamp. i.e. thai bank account, thai drivers licence, etc...).

Sooo...

I drafted a nice letter :

Royal Thai Embassy,

I am applying for a Non-Immigrant O multi entry visa to visit my wife and establish a residence before I make an “extension of stay” application this summer when I finish my military obligations. Enclosed you will find my application for a multi entry visa, along with the following:

-Copy of my thai marriage certificate.

-Copy of my wife’s Thai passport.

-My US passport.

-My US bank statements.

-2 passport size photo’s

-Money order for $200 USD

The reason for a multi entry visa instead of a single entry visa is that I plan to visit in February for 30 days, return to America, and visit again in April for 30 days, at which time I will apply for my extension of stay.

I have tried in the past to establish a bank account and get a Thai drivers license, only to be denied as I was informed that I could not accomplish this on a 30 day tourist stamp. In February 2014, I plan to establish the requirements for an extension of stay based on family and deposit the required amount in a Thai bank account and obtain a Thai drivers license.

I can be reached by phone at XXX-XXX-XXXX, or

(My Name)

(My Address)

Thank you,

(My Name)

Got the self addressed Express Mail return envelope, postage paid (by stamp, not meter) as directed from the Royal Thai Embassy Washington DC website http://63.76.233.50/consular/VISA/Non-Img.aspx

I sent all the items using USPS Priority Flate Rate envelope (28 Oct 2014). I chose the DC Embassy location as the Thai Consulates said "Certified copies of spose passport and Marriage certificate", which i didnt have, only had non-certified xerox copies and didnt want to wait for the wife to get "certified" copies, when the Embassy website doesnt ask for "certified" copies.

I got a call about 5 days later from a DC phone number (didnt answer it as i was busy and thought it was work related and it could wait). when i played the message, it was from the Thai Embassy and i was thinking they were calling to inform me i needed "certified" copies of the marriage certificate and wife's passport, but... they were informing me that my application was approved and i should be receiving my passport with multi O visa in a few days. Sure enough, i got it in the mail (had to go to the PO to sign for it) 2 days later.

To note, got a friend here in Alaska, married to a Thai, who sent for a 60 day tourist visa same week as i sent for my O. as of last monday (11 Nov 2014), he still hasnt recieved his visa and passport, he is due to leave 20 something of this month (Nov 2014). he sent his application and info to the consulate in California (not sure where it is, LA or San Fran i think).

Hope this helps for anyone looking to get a Multi Non-Imm O visa.

Ive attached a template embassy letter for those that would like to use it.Royal Thai Embassy Visa letter.docx

Hello Thaivisa members.

I've been a follower for the last 7 years, this site and the forum has been helpful in soo many ways. I'm finishing up here in Alaska and headed to Pattaya for retirement starting Feb 14.

some quick stats:

I'm 46, retiring from the military with about $3300 a month pension, maybe a little more with VA disability.

Will have 200K from savings and house sale.

Got about 100K in IRA's.

Only have a house mortgage, no CC balance, no car payments, etc... not gonna keep the house, so no debt when i move over.

Married to a Thai for 6 years. got her a green card, she hated alaska, sent her back to go to school in thailand. she's graduated and working and taking "proper english" classes.

Got 2 kids from pervious marriage, 1 graduating HS this year, 1 a sophmore in HS, 50/50 custody, they'll be living with their mother and wont be making the move. Gave them my GI bill for college. made an agreement with ex-wife and wont be paying child support anymore (shes remarried and doing well, we remained civil throught the years after the divorce...Gents going thru the process, DO THIS...REMAIN CIVIL...IT HELPS IN THE LONG RUN !!!!!).

Bring my 2 cats with me, dont want to pawn them off on someone else.

US Gov is paying for my final move of household goods and harley.

Got a 1 year multi entry visa.

Tilak has a small rental 2 br house on the darkside, nice village though. gonna settle there for a bit until we find something bigger/better.

I'm not really looking for advise with this post (but i welcome it), but decided i would write about my experiences with this whole process.

I'll try to answer any questions to the best of my ability and give advise as "this is how i did it"...and have my hockey pads on for the ones that want to take shots at my advise.

Thanks again for all the advise i've found on this forum and on this site.

See you in paradise !!!

Casual1