blackcab

You do not need a Thai driving license to register a vehicle. In fact you do not need any driving license at all. This makes sense. Just because you are the legal owner of a motorbike, it does not mean you intend to ride it. I strongly suggest you register the bike in your name unless you are happy to gift the motorbike to your gf.

Do these things actually taste as revolting as they sound?? ???? Pleasant ladies, or the crisps?

@Sheryl is away for a few days. I have tagged this post so she can reply on her return.

If you are stranded in Thailand for Christmas, in the sun, surrounded by pleasant looking ladies then here is a reminder of what you might be missing in the UK:

You have to hold your investment for 3 years. After 3 years you can withdraw the investment money and retain the property.

Over

Yes, it is possible, however it is at the discretion of the lessor. As mentioned though it can often be to the lessor's benefit.

Decathlon normally sells rash guards. https://g.page/DecathlonPhuket?share 89 Chalermprakiat Ratchakan Thi 9 Road, Wichit, Mueang Phuket District, Phuket 83000, Thailand

@Crossy Any ideas about this please?

The land is specifically meant to be for a residence for the purchaser. I know where you are coming from about the lease, etc. In reality I can't see it being allowed, but stranger things have happened.

The land is for residential use only, so any kind of business or property scheme would not be allowed. That being said, there are 1 rai pieces of land in Bangkok routinely sold for hundreds of millions of baht.

The law is that you have to import the equivalent of 40 million baht of foreign currency and then convert it to Thai baht. You then have to invest that money into an approved government scheme. Once you have done that you can then purchase up to 1 rai in a specified area (not upcountry Isaan) for any price.

That's not the deal. The deal is you have to import the equivalent of 40 million baht of foreign currency into Thailand and exchange it into baht. That money then has to be invested in an approved government scheme. Once you have done that you can go and purchase up to 1 rai of land for any price that is available.

No, the 40 million does not come with any land at all. You have to invest the 40 million in a government approved scheme, and then once you have done that you need to import more foreign currency to pay for the land you want to purchase.

No, the 40 million doesn't even get you 1 square meter of land. You have to invest 40 million baht and then once that is done you have to pay for the land on top.

The first thing is that the property is not valued at 40 million baht. How the scheme works is that you must first import the equivalent of 40 million baht of foreign currency into Thailand and exchange that into Thai baht. You must then invest that 40 million baht into an approved investment. Once you have done that you then need to import and exchange more foreign currency to pay for the land purchase, which could be of any value. In terms of inheritance, this land would be dealt with in the same way that you mentioned, in that it could not be inherited by any non-Thai who did not qualify as a purchaser themselves. This means that in all likelihood, the land would have to be sold or bequeathed to a Thai citizen.

No, in this scheme 40 million baht buys you nothing. You must first import foreign currency in sufficient quantity and exchange it for Thai baht. You need at least 40 million baht. Once you have the 40 million baht you need to invest it all in a government approved scheme. Once you have done that you will be allowed to purchase the land, but to do that you will need to import more foreign currency equal to the purchase price and then exchange that to Thai baht to pay for the land purchase.

No, the 40 million must be invested in a government approved scheme. It doesn't buy you any land at all. Once you have invested the 40 million you then have to import more foreign currency and exchange it to Thai baht in order to pay for the land.

You can sell the land, but you can only sell it to either a Thai citizen or a non Thai citizen who themselves have imported 40 million baht and invested it in the same manner. As there will probably not be too many foreigners taking up this offer, in reality it means you would be much more likely to have to sell to a Thai citizen. A beneficiary can only inherit the land if they themselves invest 40 million in the same way we have been discussing. This means it is probable that the land would have to be sold by your estate upon your death as your non-Thai beneficiary either could not or would not want to qualify to inherit.

No, you have to put 40 million baht down before you start. You have to import 40 million baht of foreign currency and exchange it to Thai baht, and then invest that 40 million baht for 3 years in a government approved scheme. Once you have done that, you then need to pay more money to purchase the land. The initial 40 million baht does not buy you even 1 square meter.

Off topic posts and replies to them have been removed.

As the British Embassy do not advise on passport applications this topic has been moved to the UK forum.

Minimum wage is £19,760 per year (based on minimum wage of £9.50 per hour, with a full time contract of 40 hours per week).

I honestly don't know, but I'm fairly sure @theoldgit will be able to give us an answer on that.

I would second what has been said about the cost of living. Believe you me, 50 thousand pounds before tax with a wife and child will not go far. That is 42 thousand pounds a year net after tax and NI, based on you earning 30 thousand pounds (24,500 pounds net) and your wife earning 20 thousand pounds (17,500 pounds net). The average cost of running a basic home at the minute is 1,500 pounds a month, or 18,000 pounds a year. That's for rent, council tax, electric, gas, water, TV license, mobile phones and landline internet. Your food bill will be a minimum of 100 pounds a week, so that's another 5,000 pounds a year. In reality, if you are not careful, your food bill could easily double. Let's talk about fuel: 100 miles, at 25 miles per (UK) gallon with fuel at £1.62 a litre will cost £29.46 or 29.5 pence per mile. For just fuel. If you do 100 miles per week that is 1,500 pounds a year on fuel alone. It's easy to do that sort of mileage with a school run, commute, shopping, general running about, etc. We are already at 24,500 pounds, and that is your entire net salary from a gross of 30,000 pounds gone. So far you haven't purchased clothes, school uniforms, toiletries, household cleaning products, gone anywhere or done anything and there is no allowance for entertainment. No trips back to Thailand, no birthday presents, no cinema, no beer, no purchases or repairs of household goods, etc. No car tax, insurance, repairs, etc. Perhaps rent in your chosen area is a lot cheaper and you will find spare income that way. Clearly, the key to making it work is your wife getting employment. The money she earns will be buying everything else, so you need to make very very sure she understands this, and that her plan is not to save all her money for herself, or to send portions of it back to Thailand for her family. She will need to be totally committed to both working and putting all of her income into your UK life. Not having enough money for daily living can put a lot of pressure on a relationship, especially with a child involved. That's just the financial side of things to think about. You still need to research your school area and actually call the schools you have in mind and see if they are taking on new students. It's not like 30 plus years ago where finding a space was fairly easy. A lot of schools are quite dire, so the decent schools are hugely over-subscribed.