thailiban2

If i could sell my house i'd do it in a heart beat. I cannot meat the requirements and would literally do anything for 400k right now. I invested everything i had, mid last year, into my business and employ 4 Thais. I am slowly recovering the money but will not be enough for a couple of years.
The rural housing market is all but dead so before you comment use your dead brain ! I know 2 other westerners who have small business's and cannot come close to the new requirements. They will lose their families and home and are really scared right now, like many others i suspect.
It looks like only 2 options (realistically) are available, leave the Country and get a non 'O' or use and agent and take your chance's of not been caught. Both costly and time consuming but there's no other choice's i can see.

Thank you everyone for your comments!! The general consensus seems to be that there will be no problems working elsewhere as long as it's not within Thailand. The replies are exactly what i was hoping for. Thanks again!!

Hi All,

I am planning to resign from the work I do in Thailand, but want to stay here based on a retirement visa but still continue to do some work overseas on a consultant/contractor basis where needed. Probably 1-2 weeks in a month working Os and 2 weeks stay in Bangkok. I don't plan to bring in the work funds into Thailand. So the question I have is can I legally work outside of the country whilst technically retired in Thailand? Appreciate if you can share any insights on this topic. Thank you in advance.

 This is what I'm doing and wanted to suggest. But not only that, I joined a bitcoin pool, with which I'm actually mining bitcoin. This is a long term investment which also brings profit if the bitcoin would loose some of its value. Since it's "birth" however, Bitcoin is increasing in value. Expected is that it doubles every year it's value. Not a meager 4 or 7% but you're going to get over 100% of your investment. This, because you are not resting your money, but actually let it work for you.
The best of it all: nobody will be able to tax you on that, because only YOU will know how many bitcoins you earned! If you want to know more, just send a mail

Appreciate if you can share experiences of opening the account, depositing funds, any issues, pit falls etc. Any other helpful input... Thank you!!

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Have used ETrade in the US. No problems setting up by email, low transaction fees and no money transfer problems.


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I understand if you stay in Thailand for over 180 days, regardless of your visa type, you are technically considered a resident in Thailand for income tax purposes. Which means even with a retirement visa, the pension your receive from overseas or any other source of income you may receive to your Thai bank account is taxable. Can I ask experts in this forum if this is technically correct? And so, what is the best tax management approach in this regard? Thanking you in advance.

I don't understand why so many posters here are complaining when this category of visa is not really relevant to them. This is not a retirement visa, nor is it a visa for people who are married to Thai wives or people on very low income or low assets. This new visa is clearly spelled out: People who are over 50, income of over 100k p/m or 3m in asset. If you qualify, then you get 5+5 visa. It's just another category of visa, probably aimed at company type expats who are working in the country. The 100k monthly income or 3m asset or medical criteria for where this visa is aimed at is actually very fair, because even the lowest paid 'international company' expats can qualify. (100k/usd$2800 p/m would be on the very low end of salary scale) these folks all have free medical insurance coverage etc. Many have housing and car/driver paid for. So this visa category are targeting these people and the mid/senior management who are working in the country or high net wealth individuals. I think a lot of people here are trying to read in between the lines when it may not be too applicable for them.

Plenty for gogo bars, but not enough for high end gent clubs.

If you compare Bangkok against major cities in the world, it still represents good value. http://www.globalpropertyguide.com/most-expensive-cities

The place I currently rent sells for 4million + baht. I pay 19k a month. I can move to a different area, leave the country or basically go where I want with out really worrying. Since I have been I Thailand I have moved because of noise or other similar crap three times. If I would have bought my condo at the time I would have been stuck.

The way I look at it is that it would take 20 years and payments higher than what I am paying now to own the same condo I am living in now. I am not too old but there is a good chance I won't be around to even make my last payment. So... Why give up the freedom of moving, decrease my cash flow, give myself stress etc etc when I don't have to. If I was 30 years younger and had a family perhaps a different story.

Remember guys, you can't take it with you !

So simple to do the maths -- 4 million on deposit will pay about 20,000 a month on term deposit if you know where to look. By renting one keeps flexibility.

Hi, would you mind sharing where I can get 6% return for a term deposit? Many thanks!

I'm sure there are risks. My property is poorly built. When I asked the agents why people would pay 21m price for a poor property, they mentioned that selling for 150,000 Baht per square meter for a new property in Thonglor is still cheap compared to the newer developments going on now selling for 250,000 plus in the area. It could be that Thailand may have a property crash soon....but then again when I travel to Aust, Singapore, HK often and compare, BKK still seems like very good value for money. Also, when you buy in a good desirable location, I think the investment is safer. Being a condo I have freehold title. So in the worst case even if the market crashes, I can live here or can rent it out for high rent as this area appears to be in high demand.

I was renting a large townhouse in Thonglor for 65k baht a mth for past 10yrs. I felt all that money was wasted. 3yrs ago, I put down a deposit on a 12m condo and moved in last year. The exact condo one level up from me just sold for 21m last mth. Incidentally, the house I bought long time ago in Australia for a song is worth millions and returning thousands of dollars in rent. I regret following the advice I got when I first came to Thailand to stick with rental and not purchase. I guess each situation is different, but for me, the best value, capital gains and future security has come from property ownership.

Crooks