Mike Teavee

5 minutes ago, overherebc said:

Non O multi, leave/enter one day before expiry get 90 days, then 60 days extension to stay issued locally ( 1900 baht ) makes 17 months give or take a few days.  

Ahhh... Sorry, I forgot to add the 60 day extension to the final 90 days stamp - you're absolutely right, 17 months it is ???? ... 

Ironically I'm also on a Non-O ME but am trying to get the extension as soon as I can (Not easy when you're in & out 1-2 times a month) so plan is to get stamped in (for 90 days) 3 weeks before the Visa expires, get a Re-Entry permit, carry on in/out 1-2 per month until 30 days before the permit expires, then get the extension 60 days after that. 

All this palaver because of people abusing the Visa Exempt set-up ???? 

14 minutes ago, overherebc said:

Not just wrong info' at entry points. I've been told that I can't be 'legal' in Thailand when I say each of my 1 year visas I can make last 17 months, by 'knowledgeable' ex-pats? 

If you're on a 1 year Visa then I'm assuming you're on a Non-OA which can be made to last 24 months, If you're on a 1 year Non-O ME then you can make this last 15 months (With Border hops every 90 days)

If you're actually on an 1 year Extension to a previous visa, then you can only make this last until the "Permission to Stay Until" date, as you can apply for the extension 30 days (even 45 in some places) early, then technically you can make it last 17 months, but really the 1st month is on the old extension/visa 

2 hours ago, jacko45k said:

14 hours ago, overherebc said:

Sort of related. Met a guy today who claims he was told by a female IO in swampy that they had stopped issuing 30 day extensions on a VE entry and he would have to go to his own country after 30 days and get a visa. His outbound ticket is dated 6 weeks from now.

No-one believes it but he is concerned about it.

Why would immigration officials at the airport be issuing Extensions?

It's not hard to believe that with the language differences & "Chinese Whispers" effect of a guy telling a guy, it could have been the IO on arrival told That One GUY that HE would not be able to get another Extension/ VE Entry but would need to go to his own country to get a Visa

In other words stopped just short of denying him entry this time which she would have been well within her rights to do as he didn't have an outbound ticket within the duration of his permission to stay (Another possibility is that she was warning him of this for next time he enters - I.e. If you're staying longer than 30 days you need to get a Visa).

On a semi-related point, I don't think I've ever come across a report where an IO has suggested going anywhere else but your country when it comes to getting a visa.

10 minutes ago, mstevens said:

Yes, that's what the script in Thai says - you can come, but only for 24 hours. Never heard of this before, it's almost like a minimal grace period so one can collect belongings / tidy affairs etc. Harsh, if Thailand has been your home for years.

Could understand it if it said not permitted to re-enter for 24 hours (if he'd been doing "Turn Around" style border hops) but very harsh to say he can come back but for only 24 hours - Never heard of that one before 

OP as has been mentioned, a land border might be your best option.

1 hour ago, Cryingdick said:

 

You also have to look at the motives involved in moving to these places. It is a poster looking to move somewhere so that the income disparity is higher and the national health care system takes care of them.

 

Now if the health care system is that good they are going to catch on sooner rather than later. It is slightly unethical to move to a country to exploit the entitlements meant for their citizens. In this sense it might last a little while but they will cut off the tit quickly if too many people take advantage.

 

The examples of what I have seen off this thread have very little to offer their new host country and seem predicated upon that which will only benefit themselves. I am sure Colombia and Mexico are settling of fireworks to welcome the new caravans in.

As a Brit I probably have a different view of national health care as it's all ways been there (though I've had Private Health care through my various jobs for the past 30+ years & renew my annual travel insurance each year) but again, I can see what you mean & know the UK is clamping down on foreigners "Abusing" it (having already "Clamped Down"on TAX/National Insurance paying citizens like myself because we choose to be not-ordinarily resident there).

But without getting dragged into a lengthy debate, just wanted to say that you could argue it's highly unethical of a country to attract Retirees then squeeze them until they can no longer stay (especially ones who have built a family & invested a large chunk of their wealth into the country) 

1 minute ago, Cryingdick said:

 

I guess I understand that but isn't the crux of the matter that laws change in such places like they did in Thailand? Do you really think Colombia or Honduras is some stable place where the laws are respected? 

No... I absolutely agree with you that laws can & will change no matter where you go, but having PR feels a lot more secure than being on a year-by-year visa & I think the recent changes (plus "Scares" around mandatory Health Insurance) are making more people put PR higher up their priority list.

5 hours ago, Cryingdick said:

 

It seems some people are slow to learn. Leaving Thailand because of uncertainty over visas to go to another third world country where the rules can change anytime is a bit daft. Especially with the expenses that go with a move that is motivated by nothing more than desperation.

 

So what happens when the next place is the same and they now find themselves poorer than they were in Thailand?

 

I agree on the differences of the cheaper states in the USA not being much different. A few posts mention living in Chile on $3,000 a month. You can easily do that in the USA. One thing about the USA is you won't be able to have servants cheaply like in the more economically depressed countries on this list. However doing things for yourself costs nothing and is actually good for one's sense of self worth.

 

Also if you are an American you are taking a very large risk betting the dollar remains strong. The whole proposition seems like it isn't thought out very well. It doesn't look so far like Latin America is so promising that anybody is jumping ship. We had one poster that explored the tourist ghettos of Mexico briefly and found even that small adventure too stressful.

 

With the world how it is I think anybody that erodes the rest of their nest egg on a miscalculated move at an advanced age to another third world country is on a path to disaster. After 90+ pages the fact that there isn't a place anybody seems all that excited about should speak for itself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A large part of this thread (& the draw to moving to LATAM) is around options for getting Permanent Residency which for most of us stands at zero in Thailand. 

6 minutes ago, Farang99 said:

If you are talking about the UK you are no longer entitled to free health care if you have lived outside the UK/EU for a number of years.

Outside of the UK for 6 months (there was talk about making it 3 months) & you lose your entitlement to free health care (read somewhere that you needed to pay 150% of the cost so worse than never having it) 

HOWEVER if you're repatriating back to the UK you regain your entitlement to free health care the moment you land, I don't know how you prove you're repatriating (I guess having somewhere to live long term would do it).

2 hours ago, simon43 said:

Although I very much want to return to live in Andorra, there is one 'fly in the ointment'.  My online teaching starts each weekday at 8.00 am Beijing time, which equates to 2.00 am in Andorra.......  

 

As far as Brexit is concerned, I'm fortunate in that I can automatically get Irish (EU) citizenship - my grandfather and father were Irish.  I haven't formally applied because the easiest route is to use an agent to collate all the required documents (birth/marriage/death certificates etc), and to walk my application through.  The total admin cost is about $1,000.  I'll go down that route if needed.

The American bank I work for has it's main EMEA headquarters in Belfast and every one of the guys I work with on a day-2-day basis has gotten an Republic of Ireland passport to go along with their UK one.

To sum up their word... "I'm feeked if I'm going to have to stand in a queue with foreigners every time I want to travel"

Thanks @seasia just posting to make sure I have it in my feed, will comment when I've caught up on previous posts ????

15 hours ago, seasia said:

Hi Mike

 

There is a European alternatives thread but it is somewhat buried.

I started it, mostly because I am having thoughts of heading to Europe and also because on JT s excellent LATAM thread, a few posters  gave European options, interesting but JT wanted the thread to be about LATAM.

Colombia  sounds very interesting and viable.

 

Fair enough as he is the topic starter.

 

Portugal is certainly a popular choice amongst Brits, as well as Spain and France.

 

Next Sunday I head to Italy for a 4 month break from Thailand, longest ever stay away from Thailand in the last 10 years.

 

I will perhaps try to revive my thread with thoughts.

 

Some excellent replies on there, very pleasantly surprised at the high quality of responses.

 

Portugal gets a fair few mentions.

 

 

 

If you have not read it, could be of interest to you

Thanks for the update... 

Hi Mods: I only started this thread as I couldn't find a similar one, @seasia has highlighted one above, could you please post a link to it and close this one so we don't dilute the conversation.

Thanks

MTV

3 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Probably, but Malays and Indians also make up a large proportion of Singaporeans.

However, I doubt that being of Chinese descent makes Singaporean women culturally similar to actual Chinese in China.

So true... Singaporean (Nightmare, spoilt brats) women are nothing like (respectful, but you wouldn't want to cross them) Chinese women.

Mine is Chinese by virtue of the fact that she was born there & lived there until she moved to Singapore when she was 18 - Married a local guy & took the passport (In Singapore you cannot have dual citizenship)

Good example of how "Chinese" she is, she still has her ex in-laws living with her (Filial duty), gets a little bit uncomfortable when I stay over but her ex father in law has learnt to make himself scarce when I come over (Not being funny but his style of speaking to women, including his wife, doesn't sit right with me - When he talks to A like that, I tend to speak my mind).

On 6/7/2019 at 9:54 AM, Mike Teavee said:

Edit: For the avoidance of doubt, I don't give any of my FWBs money (all 3 work, 3rd being a 42 yo Singaporean) but I do like to take them out for a good time which costs money (e.g. the Cinema seats alone cost s$84 which is approx 2,000 THB  which could get you a nice service provider at least for a short time) 

Funny enough posting this has made me think a lot deeper about what I'm doing in life & have decided (have already) binned off Thai (31) & Filipina (36) chicks to focus on a relationship with my 42 yo Singaporean (FWIW I would never date a Singaporean again, but she's Chinese, moved to Singapore when she was 18 & took citizenship so figure I get the best of both worlds :))

6 hours ago, Boricua67 said:

Do these guys have any friends? Someone needs to try and talk these guys out of doing these dumb things.

Seriously, there is no way I'd try to interfere in any of my mates "relationships" (makes things worse), just have to be there if (When) things go tits up.

My best mate ended up marrying a girl that I grew up with & knew wasn't right for him (She had zero ambition & he wanted to go places) I spoke to him about it but he was adamant he was happy, I was even best man at their wedding...

10 years later he's getting divorced & a flight to Singapore to stay with me for a few weeks... 3 weeks in Singapore (broke up with trips to Angeles City & Bangkok) he now works/lives in Bangkok and is happier than a pig in mud ????

14 hours ago, Mike Teavee said:

Apologies.. Friday night (Pub) Maths... at 30 years service assuming a UK FInal Salary scheme basis, he would get 1/2 of his final salary... 150k pm.. still no problem meeting Immigration requirements or spending 3k pn in a bar.

 

 

 

@tomahawk reacted SAD to this & my previous post.

Please expand, is it because of what I posted or the fact that it doesn't fit your narrative?

YES.. There are people who work hard all of their lives & can expect (deserve) a decent pension when they retire... or is that SAD as well?

<deleted>... 

1 hour ago, SooKee said:

13 hours ago, Mike Teavee said:

Back to John Wick... Who did he kill on "Company Grounds" (Might be in JW2 but I can't be bothered to go back watch it as that wasn't great either) & Who is the lady (played by Halle Berry)'s daughter?
 
Feel like I missed a JW 2.5 or something OR Maybe I watched it & my brain chose to forget it.
 

IIRC he killed the guy whose marker he refused to honour and who then blew up his house. No idea about Halle Berry.

I remember he killed the sister (or she killed herself) of the guy who had a marker on him but that's about it...

Seriously... No back story how he had the marker for JW2

No story at all for JW3

Worse than Taken (One of my favourite movies) 2 & 3... 

1 hour ago, bristolgeoff said:

you have joined the list of idiots who were conned of everything they own.why not listen to people who live there or post on social media about what happened.you now can post on social media and how you were conned  and lost all your money

Please be sure to broadcast such from your mum's basement... 

Do you even have a passport? Have you even been on a plane? 

Back to John Wick... Who did he kill on "Company Grounds" (Might be in JW2 but I can't be bothered to go back watch it as that wasn't great either) & Who is the lady (played by Halle Berry)'s daughter?

Feel like I missed a JW 2.5 or something OR Maybe I watched it & my brain chose to forget it.

33 minutes ago, Mike Teavee said:

You don't say where you're from, but 300K is approx 3 x the average Gross salary in the UK (£29,000 THB or ¬96K per month), pretty sure there are not too many "Construction workers with mud on their boots" earning £90,000 pa.

 

For those guys going on about him staying in Thailand, according to the OP he was 49 when he moved there, if we assume he worked for 30 years with a final salary of 300K, on a Final Salary Scheme (I confess, I have no idea how Swiss pensions work) he'd get 2/3rds of his final salary, 200K a month... no problem spending 3,000 THB+ in a bar every night of the week 

 

Apologies.. Friday night (Pub) Maths... at 30 years service assuming a UK FInal Salary scheme basis, he would get 1/2 of his final salary... 150k pm.. still no problem meeting Immigration requirements or spending 3k pn in a bar.

11 minutes ago, simon43 said:

Mike, happy to contribute to this thread.  I recently considered moving to Laos or Cambodia, but finally decided that if I have to make a move (which I do!), then it will be back to Europe.  I'm planning to relocate back to the tiny country of Andorra, between France and Spain, where I briefly lived in the 1990's.

 

As mentioned in my thread running in the Pub sub-forum, Andorra is not just for the 'rich'.  It welcomes those with a modest income/savings as well.  I've done a spreadsheet of my monthly costs to rent an apartment, pay utility bills, eat food, pay for private health care etc and the total is only about $1,000 USD per month!

Thanks for the post...

I once spent 2.5 days in Andorra (fractured my right elbow 1st day snowboarding & couldn't fly back for 2 days)... so would really appreciate it if you could share a link to your thread, I for 1 would love to read more...

Despite the stupid injury (caused by me being "Goofy" (Lefty) & making a mistake with the bindings), I really loved the place.

Very pleasantly surprised (Shocked) that you can live there on $1K USD pm, obviously I was there on a short winter sport trip & it would have been very expensive (IIRC £500 for 5 days my mates mum got us a deal, I actually got almost £700 back from his insurance) so have never looked at the cost of living there   

18 minutes ago, SiSePuede419 said:

He used to earn at least 300,000 baht a month in Switzerland running a building extension firm. The company employed 50 people.

 

Translation: He was a construction worker with mud on his boots who spent his money on tattoos and Pattaya bar girls that he thought would magically change once he married one and gave her a house.

 

Yeah, he probably did bring 10M Baht into Thailand from an inheritance that he burned through.

 

If you're spending 3000B+ in a bar every night, that ain't gonna last forever, darling.

 

Sorry you had to find out the hard way, you take a bar girl out of a bar, but you can't change the fact she's damaged goods.

 

 

You don't say where you're from, but 300K is approx 3 x the average Gross salary in the UK (£29,000 THB or ¬96K per month), pretty sure there are not too many "Construction workers with mud on their boots" earning £90,000 pa.

For those guys going on about him staying in Thailand, according to the OP he was 49 when he moved there, if we assume he worked for 30 years with a final salary of 300K, on a Final Salary Scheme (I confess, I have no idea how Swiss pensions work) he'd get 2/3rds of his final salary, 200K a month... no problem spending 3,000 THB+ in a bar every night of the week 

JT, apologies if you've already covered this but for some reason updates to this thread don't show in my "Content that I've Posted in" feed so I missed the updates... 

Could you please share the negative changes to the Columbia visa

Thx

MTV

Apologies for a 2nd negative post, but I haven't seen "Good Omen" mentioned & being a T.P. fan, thought it was pretty poor, could have been done in 1/2 the time for 10 times the enjoyment ... 

On a Positive note, I am really enjoying a few "Real Life" type shows (Aussie Gold Hunters has a newish season, Civil war gold is warming up & the lost gold of world war 2 (Philippines) ended on a high) + [as Recommended on here] hooked on Bing Bang Theory, Jane the Virgin & iZombie 

Could do with a really good Elementary style detective series though... any recommendations? 

On 5/28/2019 at 1:26 AM, chrisinth said:

I told myself that I wasn't going to, at least until a proper copy was available, watch John Wick 3. But a bad lapse in concentration and I ended up downloading an HD CAM release. I thought it was a good watch.

 

If someone happened to be on TPB for instance, they should look for the 1.17GB CAM released by ETRG (John Wick 3 2019 HDCAM x264 AC3-ETRG); not the greatest of quality but the best I have seen to date.

I also told myself that I wasn't going to watch it until I could find time to go to the cinema, then realized on Wednesday (Public Holiday in SG) that it was probably my last chance to watch it in "Gold Class", so s$84 SGD (approx 3,650 THB) for the 2 of us to watch the biggest load of <deleted> that I have had the misfortune to have to sit through... 

It was just a none-storied series of p1$$-poorly choreographed, laughable (I wish) "Fight" scenes... absolute tosh & I'll be making a point to not pay a single cent to watch JW4 (Which this movie basically was made to build up to) 

Good job I got laid after it or it would have been a total waste of money ????