Lannathaijohn

No such thing as invest and forget about it for 20 years unfortunately.

Best advice is to go through a financial advisor that is registered with the financial authorities. They will assess your situation with you and point you in the right direction.

Personally I invest through tracker funds and income generating investment trusts. These are spread to cover the UK, Europe, US , Japan and Far East. Yes equity risk but generating 3+% per annum year in - year out. Funds specializing in debt , such as government and company bonds are also available with lower risk profiles.

Websites such as Morningstar , Hargreaves Lansdowne and AJ Bell are all useful sources of information.

I have read some posts in the last 2 months of long delays at CMI  - this is my experience yesterday for my annual extension for retirement.

Arrived at 08.15 and joined the queue for a ticket - documents checked at 09.15 and issued with ticket number 73.

As they were processing number 15 , I left and returned at 13.30. My number was called as I arrived back and the extension issued after normal examination of my documents - completed at 14.15.

The application was based on funds above Baht 800,000 supported by a 12 month bank statement. Other than that all the other documents were the same as in previous years.

Now that some of the services have been relocated to Promenada it seems much quieter again - same as March last year.

CM Immigration has been good in the last year for many posters such as the OP.

My personal experience has also been very good for a retirement extension of stay, 90 day reporting and also TM30 ( at CM , required only after overseas trips , not local ). 

The CM Immigration offices are well run with plenty of seating in new air conditioned offices. Completely different experience to previous years.

Do what you would in your own country - arrange meetings with lawyers. The Google World makes this easy for you. 

Thanks , that is very interesting for us colour blind people. I am encouraged to go and try the test.

1 hour ago, phantomfiddler said:

Five and a half quid for a beer ! Bejazus, it was one and tuppence when I left those fair shores ???? I still cannot justify a rise in price whereby a beer now costs 94 times it,s old price in 66. Here in Thailand, in the last 38 years, prices are about 3 times what they were in 81. Why the disparity ? ????

High Inflation in the 1970’s is the main reason for the disparity - around 1976 it was 25% in the U.K. Taking  a base from 1981 you will find similar increases between the U.K. and Thailand.

Not all beer in the U.K. is over £5 a pint , average is around £ 4 outside of London

Royal Project Shop on Suthep Road.  It has a good variety of fruit & vegetables that are certified as organic.

On the first Thursdays/ Fridays of each month there is also a market at the same location.

I buy from M&S - they have loose tea and also a couple of varieties of tea bags. The Gold and extra strong ones make at least 2 cups of tea.

Surprisingly they are not much different in price to Liptons, considering their strength. 

 M&S often have heavy discounts in their food hall which make the tea even cheaper

I also had an extension of stay at CM immigration in late March by the Baht 800,000 in bank option as usual.

HOWEVER they did give me a paper to sign as acknowledgment of the new requirements passed into law ( this was in Thai and English) . Note that it only referred to the new regulations , not the actual contents. 

Hang Dong was easy for us in February 

the eligibilty to marry document is required to be certified by the MFA.  At Hang Dong the passport copy is not required to be certified, although we had them done in case.

seems Hang Dong Amphur office is used to foreigners getting married.

We used an agent , Star Visa, and they provided the 2 Thai witnesses and completed all the forms at the Amphur office for us to sign. Well worth their reasonable fee.

I have suffered from Gout for over 10 years - at first it was rally painful and kept recurring.

Doctors then prescribed Allorpurinal and nowadays I rarely suffer a gout attack - I take 300MG daily . It reduces the Uric acid and thus seems to prevent gout pain attacks

I am now able to have alcohol and also red meat , both in moderation - for me a flare up will come with any anchovies, fish sauce or herrings , mackerel etc. As already posted , it varies between sufferers - but you will find the gold standard treatment is Allorpurinal prescribed by a doctor.

Retirement extension in advance 

My retirement extension expires on 1st April and due to travel plans I went early this last Monday. They confirmed that a renewal can be done up to 45 days in advance in cases of being out of town ( note the air ticket confirming my planned absence is to Bangkok only )

Went  to Promenada at 07.15 and was 4th in queue. Completed and out by 10.15 with an extension to 1st April 2019.  Very quiet these days for retirement extensions as NancyL already noted. Other queues were much longer though.

Did my 90 day report by mail the week previous week - sent on Monday and received back on Saturday.

With regard to UK Inheritance Tax, it is worth noting that inheritances are exempt from tax if less than £325,000 or if left to your husband or wife as applicable.

My advice in all cases is to have cross referenced Wills (I now have 1 in each of Thailand, England & Wales and Dubai ) prepared and copies kept with your lawyers.

I would agree with Saladin's comments.

My experience in property ownership and renting in Chiang Mai, whilst not answering your question directly , may give you some insight.

1. Some 20 years ago, my wife and I started to buy properties in Chiang Mai and then let them out furnished. We eventually owned 5 town houses, 1 shop and 5 detached houses.

2. The rental market was good, showing net annual rental income of around 6% until around 8 years ago when rents dropped due to the ever increasing supply of new houses coming onto the market.

3. Around five years ago we decided to sell the properties and expected to complete this in 1 - 2 years and also make a capital return on the investment.

4. Well , it has taken 5 years to sell all the properties ( the last one is being transferred this month) - it has taken this length of time to find interested buyers 

5. All buyers were Thai and there  was a mixture of those buying for their own residence and a few for renting out.

6. Most of them arranged for a bank loan in the region of 50- 70% of the price 

7. All properties were refurbished to a good standard prior to advertising through estate agents

8. The sales prices were on average  only 20% higher than the original purchase price -    This is an insignificant capital gain over a period of 10-20 years

9. The reason for not achieving higher resale prices was due to the extremely limited market for resale properties. 

I would point out that this is my actual experience in Chiang Mai only and also only with houses - although It is just as bad, if not worse, with condominiums where there are hundreds of vacant properties. Why the over supply? Cheap loans for developers in the last few years with numerous new construction companies entering the housing market.

To the OP - I realise my business  is not exactly what you have in mind but the underlying issues may still be relevant to you. 

I understand the 90 day reporting on line is no longer available - however making this report by mail is not a great inconvenience - just pop in to the Post Office to register the envelope enclosing the form and copies as required, the same as going in person. This is ONLY  4 times a year and less frequently if having left the country during that time.

I agree with the sentiments of  YeahSiam that the reporting is not too onerous a requirement . 

John

In response to Jip99

I have my UK pension paid into a UK bank account which has been maintained over many years.

However when I applied for the pension it was very clear in the documentation that a false declaration is an illegal act - such as what you are proposing to state a UK address whilst living in Thailand.

the DWP also make it clear that it is your responsibility to notify of any changes , such as change of address. Also they request, from time to time, for a " Life Certificate" so as to ensure you are alive and payments should continue - note this has to be signed by designated persons who are also certifying the correctness of where you live -

my strong advice to all concerned is that it is better to provide the truth in all such matters, and not make a false declaration so as to secure a financial gain-  also note that you will be caught out sooner than you may be thinking with appropriate penalties imposed , irrespective of what Jip99 is suggesting

lannathaijohn

I sent my 90 day report documents by mail on 10 August and the Receipt of Notification arrived back on the 17th. Good service from CM immigration at the airport location.

Also enclosed was a TM 47 form for my next report , but nothing regarding the new Foreign Information Form.

for information 

John 

To Wandasloan,

I am assuming you are partly serious in your comment, as that is what is done in wheat producing countries ( pasta for example )

Thai noodles are  of course not NOT packed with gluten - the rice noodles are packed with rice - we should all be aware that rice is abundant and cheap in Thailand. There are no significant wheat crops in Thailand - wheat flour is imported for the bakeries and for some food production and is an expensive substitute for rice and thus is not used in this way.

The egg noodles, or yellow noodles do contain wheat flour and you will find that a substantial number of these are imported.

I am not including the instant pot noodles in the foregoing as I do not even look at these - I am referring to noodles that are bought dry or served in restaurants and noodle shops.

I have celiac disease and have to be extremely careful on what I eat , even here in Thailand where so much food is rice based.

To the OP, the glass noodles are gluten free as already posted. My experience with rice noodles has been good , with no cross contamination, both in restaurants and noodle shops - just make sure they only boil rice noodles in the pot and not other food which may be wheat based.

So called egg noodles, are full of wheat flour so have to be avoided.

 Be aware that most soy sauce contains wheat so anything with soy sauce as an ingredient , such as fish sauce also have to be avoided.

I have celiac disease and have to be extremely careful on what I eat , even here in Thailand where so much food is rice based.

To the OP, the glass noodles are gluten free as already posted. My experience with rice noodles has been good , with no cross contamination, both in restaurants and noodle shops - just make sure they only boil rice noodles in the pot and not other food which may be wheat based.

So called egg noodles, are full of wheat flour so have to be avoided.

 Be aware that most soy sauce contains wheat so anything with soy sauce as an ingredient , such as fish sauce also have to be avoided.

90 day reporting at CM promenada

Went yesterday for the 90 day reporting at 2.00pm - documents checked at desk outside, handed number 135 and was called within minutes. Whole process took less than 20 minutes.

As reported previously, this month is a ' slow period ' for 90 day reports

John

Just to add regarding documents:

I handed over a copy of my TM28 receipt of notification of address ( filed by my landlord after a recent visit outside of Thailand) which the officer returned without looking at the details and saying " not needed " when I queried this

He also handed back copies of the bank book pages ( I provided copies of last 12 months ) except for the last 3 months - again he stated these were not needed

They did not even ask for my lease contract copy, unlike previous years

This was today's experience but as others have often pointed out, this can vary between officers and thus I believe it is best to go prepared