persimmon

Excellent system . I only have an Android phone so cant` use a digital wallet . I might try to manage risk by keeping most of the funds in the Wise deposit ( interest bearing ) section , and only transfer small amounts as required into the balance from which the card payments are taken .

Better make sure I don`t lose my card then !

I just had a look at the Wise site , but can`t find any info. about spending limits using the card via chip + pin or contactless . I`ve used contactless in the UK for a £ 75 purchase which went through ok . Will contactless work in say , big C Thailand , and is there a limit ?

Nongkhai has that market which seems to be mainly tourist tat , then there`s quite a nice walk along the river side . Apart from that , what is there ? It seemed quite quiet when I was there .

With all this talk of bank accounts being difficult to open , and the risk of being closed , is there a better way of getting Thai baht than using the ATM and paying the extortionate fee ? For those with a Wise card , would it be possible to ask for cash over the counter inside the bank ? Or maybe use the Wise card for most significant purchases and just use cash for smaller items ?

If you use $ to pay the visa fee to get into Laos ( $ 40 ) , make sure the notes are perfect and without any marks or blemishes , otherwise they might reject them .

Last time I went in to the bank I only gave them a photocopy of my PP ...so they couldn`t check anything . No problems .

Maybe buying the insurance would be cheaper than maintaining $ 100 k ( or equivalent ) as cash - if invested , that amount could generate a 6 % return ( $ 6 K ) , as opposed to cash which might only be ~ 3 % vs.so a $ 3 K difference. The insurance might be a fair bit less than that .

I`m at least a couple of years away from applying , but just wondering about the insurance part . Presumably I would pay for 1 years insurance cover in advance to meet the requirements of the LTR . Is there any requirement to keep the policy going for the full 5 / 10 years ? What`s to stop someone cancelling the policy after the 1st year ?

Pros and cons .... pros - cheap land so it`s affordable to build a house to live in Nice weather Oct - March , warm and dry with no wind relaxed lifestyle quiet Cons - not much to do , particularly if a long way from the nearest town Evenings are particularly dull - at least in Patts you can go for a walk round in the evening . Bad air quality during the burning season .

So , if your address changed from say the UK to Thailand , would that be a problem for Wise ?

Visas might be his biggest problem . Maybe they have enough cash to last them a few years - even in Mansfield the average house is probably worth £ 170 k . Maybe they have an inheritance also ? maybe a lottery win ? We don`t know the full story . Whatever happens it should be an experience and an education in itself for the kids to experience another culture .

Does this mean I could enter Thailand visa exempt , and before the 60 days is up , apply for a non O ( retirement ) with just proof of 800 k Bt in a UK bank account ? This might be easier than getting the non-O in the UK , doing 90 days , leaving the country , and re-entering for the 60 days VEE .

I think some people make the mistake of thinking that because their Thai GF /wife is a " good girl " and never worked in a bar , that they will be different . Often , they want the same thing - financial support and money to change their life ie. new house ,new car and some land . With bar ladies , it`s more upfront and obvious . They needed money ( for whatever reason ) and rather than work in a factory job , they decided to try their luck in the nightlife industry - a wellworn path in Thailand , historically , when options for the young from the rural areas were limited to work in the fields or " Kai tua " in the streets / bars.

What about Cyprus ? Lots of people are leaving the UK because of Labour`s tax raids and heading there partly due to tax reasons .