BadSpottedDog

I've lived in Thailand for 10 years and been to all of those places. Considering Thailand's trash problems, air quality, electric spaghetti, dodgy construction standards, sink holes, etc .... I stand by my belief that high end tourists don't find this attractive. I do find it odd though, that you are posting the timeshare website concept along with a link (which doesn't even apply to my post) as a response to many comments. Are you selling something? I'm not sure if that's even allowed here.

Thai govt keeps aiming for the "wealthy", but they are completely missing the mark. Considering the dodgy Thai infrastructure and the lack of higher end of places to stay or live, (which normally do not come close to what foreigners consider high end), the truly wealthy can and will stay elsewhere. Most "resorts" in Thailand are not resorts, and most homes do not measure up. So, why would the super wealthy stay? Thai govt should look at retirees on a more limited budget and make the whole retirement visa process easier and more attractive. I think the 800k sitting in a Thai bank is not helpful, and for them to approve the 65k per month is not guaranteed. They also need to enforce their criteria without "leaving it up to the officer's discretion". This policy creates a system that is wrought with fraud and payoffs. I do agree with a mandate for foreigners to be required to have health insurance, because I've seen too many cases of expats with high hospital bills they can't pay. But requiring 800k baht per person, sitting in a bank makes no sense. Especially if the foreigner has insurance. I was trying to find numbers of retirees in Thailand, but apparently, Thailand doesn't track this accurately. There are so many possibilities to encourage retired foreigners while making the system even better for Thailand, but they are not even thinking of best solutions. They're still stuck on nonsensical, massive amounts of paperwork, and rules that are difficult to accomplish (like getting a Thai bank account before you can extend your visa, BUT you can't get an account without the visa!). They are shooting themselves in the foot.

I have a Thai friend who owns a small hotel here. She is getting cancelations from foreigners because of all the unrealistic and bizarre changes on laws, visas, etc. The current nonsense is hurting the Thai economy. Make it easy for foreigners to come here and keep laws sensible. Which brings me to my second point. The laws that DO exist are not policed. Like drunk driving or even serious traffic violations. It's like the govt makes laws and pick which ones they will enforce and which ones they ignore.

The locals DO want them here, but the govt doesn't care about the locals. It's a conundrum

The 65k per month would be fine, but immigration requires it to be exactly the same amount every month on exactly the same day every month. We got turned down for that option because one payment was late coming in, and another payment was a different amount.

Yes. With that, they almost got it right, but I think the cost is too high to attract retirees and people who do mobile work. Most retirees that I know don't get 80,000 USD per year! For example, Americans' Social Security is quite a bit lower. As long as they have health insurance, I can't see why they would need to earn over 80k.

"Favorable visa program" is the key here. I don't know what Portugal's laws are, but I cannot imagine anything much worse than Thailand's antiquated and over the top paperwork visa requirements! Security IS a main factor in choosing a retirement location, but being stressed over the ability to stay, with ever changing requirements here, takes away a resident's security! Imagine allowing every immigration officer to interpret the immigration laws as they want!? Immigration visits are so incredibly stressful! Been here for 10 years, while always following the law and contributing to this country, and headaches are all the thanks we get. Additionally, the online platforms that are supposed to "help" with the massive amount of paperwork, is terrible. Not helpful. They need to bring in experienced and talented developers. Whoever built these platforms were trying to force a paper solution into a digital framework. Shameful. Rant over. Carry on

It's just unfathomable that a person with his history was allowed to run the show at all, and then to let him leave? What could possibly go wrong? 🙄

From an outsider (farang) looking in, it is painfully obvious what is going on here. Yes. The word begins with a C. The PM that was elected by the people in a landslide, was thwarted over a non issue that was spun into an actual problem, and afterwards, the whole party was to be deported (not sure if that actually happened). Suspiciously, this occurred in the same year that Thaksin returned from exile in 2023. Then someone who was NOT chosen by the people just steps in and takes over, and to make it worse, "they" oust that guy and install yet a second person who is conveniently Thaksin's daughter! The elections and subsequent "selections" are super hinky. Even to someone like me who is not that knowledgeable about Thai politics. Nah ... nothing to see here folks.

100% correct! I commented similar on another post like this. You can make any law(s) you want, but they are worthless unless enforced. If this (and other accidents) had been in a western country, all who were involved would be going to jail immediately. So, in addition to consistent enforcement, the court system needs to be overhauled as well. There are minimal consequences for offenders, and everyone knows it. The justice system here is lengthy and complicated. The whole system needs to be trashed and started over. But sadly, that might never happen.

There are SO many things to be changed to prevent child road deaths! But I will say that no matter how many rules and regulations you put forth, NONE of it will matter unless the police actively enforce the laws and policies! During the entire decade I've lived here, I have not once seen an officer pull someone over (unless at a checkpoint). I have heard that a few people have seen them pull people over in Pattaya and Phuket, but never seen it myself. We all see the families on a motorbike with kids, and talking on cell phones at the same time. Or the kids riding motorbikes that can't be older than 10. They can even drive right past police, and the cops do nothing. We see people driving lorries or other vehicles at top speed passing every car. We've also seen vehicles pull out into traffic without even looking. We've also seen vehicles overtaking on blind curves or hills. And let's not forget that (to my knowledge), there is only one training video required to get a license, and the people who are supposed to be watching it are sleeping or on their cell phones. So, no proper training and no active enforcement spells disaster.

The bus driver ran!?? What a cowardly thing to do! This is so tragic and could have been avoided. RIP little ones.

Not surprising at all. We have tried 2 avenues to open a business here. We applied for, and finally were approved for a legit BOI company, which was unbelievably hard and took almost a year to do! However, when we tried to add employees, it was impossible. Long story, but a new hire would leave the country to get a temporary non B, and when they came back, BOI office kept sending the employee addition request back with more and more questions (sometimes the same questions multiple times). This process took months, and the employee would run out of time on the temp Non B. We abandoned ship with that effort, and went with a traditional business. This was also more work than it was worth. Requiring ridiculous amounts of senseless paperwork, and protocol, that showed us again just how difficult this would be going forward. Again. Not worth it. The system is archaic, clunky, and the people making decisions have zero clues about various industries that are applying. I have so many "face palm" stories about our dead end journey, it's mind numbing.

Just curious. Are you American? Do you have family living in the US?

I disagree with you.