joni08

8 hours ago, nickmondo said:

last time i was in Spain i did a price comparison.

Thailand rents, fuel, electric, water, cheaper

Eating in nice restaurants, about the same price

Supermarkets, Spain cheaper

Spain does not offer the choice of cheap eating joints as in Thailand however.

Toiletries, Spain much cheaper, by a long way.

All in all, I did a comprehensive comparison, and Spain worked out cheaper, except for the items listed in sentence 2 above.

Standard of living, healthy climate, pollution levels, driving abilities, etc......Spain wins by a landslide.

Portugal same. And if you dont go to Lisbon or Porto still can find attractive rentals (cheap ones i mean).

I compared my life in Leiria (center of Portugal) vs Sathorn/Bang Sue bkk and Chiang Mai (Thailand) and at the end get the same cost. Thailand cheaper for rental but much smaller condos/houses.
Portugal have a lot of supermarket brands cheap food and everything else and probably with better quality.

Portugal is more expensive:

Transportation (public and private)

Pets

Rentals (but they re bigger in average)

Restaurants (but in my opinion better food and not so much expensive, worth it)

Im from there and i dont like live there but is a great place to live ???? (safe, good food, weather ok part of the year, cheap for travel around europe)

I paid for elite visa here (so +500k for 5years cost of living) probably at portugal non of you need to worry so much about visa as here in thailand. (Have easy business visa and passive income/retired visa - D7 visa)

Im here on Elite Visa, im 27. I lived in thailand 2 years on tourist and ED but same as you i didnt want to marry or keep study so i apply for the 5 years elite - best decision ever... i moved out of bangkok so i lost little bit benefices as elite service and limo but its ok, no hassle. I do my 90 days report online (when is working.. lol);

I keep pay my tax in Portugal (home country). Since i cant provide a document saying im paying tax another country i cannot take advantage of living outside of Portugal for tax purpose. So living here and paying tax there (quite bad, but its ok for now). I manage a foreigner business outside of thailand so its ok about thailand tax as well, dont have any kind of thai income.

For any kind of official docs, letters and everything else i keep my adress as my parents portuguese adress and always keep my portugal sim card on.

Bank accounts i have Portugal, Thailand and transferwise (digital).. Better option is always choose the most digital hassle free bank accounts from any country.

Not working again? I did the last 2 90 days report online without problem, but im trying for a week and just show up to go directly to local immigration. Bad luck

RELAX:
If you guys dont mind about the lack of western restaurants, shopping mall, night life and a little bit of wind i recommend to check Laem Mae Phim Beach (Klaeng, Rayong) now is the time of the best weather and without tourists around dispite the little sweedish and german community around the block.  Rents are +- ok, food +- cheap and you have a beautiful beach. Personaly i avoid weekends but during the week is perfect.


But yeah, getting expensive.. Few days in my home country - Portugal - and you realize that Thailand is expensive. Unfortunately Portugal hot weather is just few months a year.

8 hours ago, lupin said:

you do understand you cannot work in any way shape or form in Thailand on the Elite Visa right? It falls under the classification of a tourist visa and specifically states this on application/terms and conditions and on their website faq. You can apply for a NON -B and a work permit... and your PE MEMBERSHIP will remain valid, but you cannot use the visa or renew the extension until the NON-B (and work permit) is canceled.

Thats it... Im on Elive visa and the staff anwser me exactly that.

RIP

10 hours ago, SunsetT said:

Did u notice that there is also no charge from the receiving 'Kasikorn' bank? Unlike all other transfer methods I have previously used.

I using SCB and if im not wrong they dont charge.

Im 24 from Portugal and i just got my 500k elite visa easy access 2 days ago... I was living in Thailand while study.. 2 ED Visa on the last years and finaly i just gave up from study and tried these one. I realy enjoy the idea of hassle free visa.

First impression was really good. After everything approved (take around 5 days) and scheduled (more 4 days) i went to Chaeng Watthana, there was a lady waiting for me, she just ask me for my passport and ask me to wait for few minutes... 30/40 minutes later i got my passport back with 5 year PE and she even did the 90 days report for me at the same time.

Now lets see what happen these 5 years.. :)

My gf cousin is engineer and work for some big builder around Bkk/Nonthaburi and he earn 34k.. his wife with less years experience and working at the same company in the same position earn around 25k.

No doubt transferwise is the best option. Im using it for few months.