BumGun

Looks good, not being able to own it in my own name counts me out.

17 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

Do you find that the more years you spend in Thailand, the less you are able to read books?

I read multiple books a week, just none of them on paper. I have about 80 on my Kindle and a 12,000 book library on a USB thumb drive manged by Calibre.  Thailand perfectly suits reading books, that's the beauty, I can now read MORE books.

44 minutes ago, easydoor said:

When you have a look at the conditions I must say:: you have to be more than crazy  to do something like this. Only people with a lot of BLACK MONEY will something will do like this to whitewash they money.

Yeah but why would even they do it ? They can already get around it with the gray area of using a company and this new suggestion  still doesn't come with any surety of residency, so you own a place and they refuse entry at immigration ? while I would be interested, the bar they've set seems particularity onerous and appealing to no one ?

Also as others have mentioned, I think a little nod to reciprocity is in order as well. I know only wealthy Thais are buying places in London, Australia, Canada, Germany, US etc and they're not really competing with the poor in the those countries (way different market) but still

16 minutes ago, smutcakes said:

 I think in some quarters they are very worried about the Chinese and to a certain extent the Indians finding loop holes and unscrupulous officials to take advantage of this.

 

There is already the company route. Not really a loop hole as grey, as it wasn't designed for that but many do anyway. So it cant be for that reason, as many do already, there are plenty in here alone.

My speculation (worth 1/2 a tuppence)  is its a slippery slope thing, introduce it, show the xenophobes that not many people will to do it anyway with those onerous rules ( aside from the truly dedicated, especially with difficulties in getting residency.  Eventually they will  then relax the rules a little (!?) so the rich can sell development blocks to wealthy foreigners.  I also don't understand why they use USD and not THB but that's a separate issue.

12 hours ago, Geoffggi said:

Daylight come and me wanna go home .......LOL - Do the government really think we just got off a banana boat ????????????

11 hours ago, bob smith said:

This government hasnt got a bleedin. Clue!! How can anyone take this seriously? If you are stupid

enough to invest a million dollars here that is subject to a governmental review every 5 years you are an absolute tool! 

I suspect that review would prohibit new buyers but not "take your land off you".  Of course that raises the specter of whom to sell to if you wish to move on after say 10 years ???? locals only I guess ?

Well, that was a wide ride of a read !

I have never had a problem at immigration, so it's not surprising you haven't been asked either I guess ? 

I have been been asked about return tickets a few times at both OOL (Gold Coast when I used to go Gold Coast, KL, Phnom Penh on Air Asia) ) or BNE (Brisbane, various airlines) over the years, I'd say maybe asked 1 in 10 times ? In the old days I always said I was just traveling by bus across the border (been if I wasn't and a bit hard to use that excuse in The Philippines)  I haven't been back to SE Asia since Covid.  As suggested by others if you do get caught out and they insist, step away from the counter and buy a cheap fare OR an expansive one and get it refunded... if necessary. I have always just been polite and got around it the few times its happened.

4 hours ago, Swampy999 said:

Thailand has been on the US currency manipulation watch list for quite some time, I would assume they understand a lot more about currency manipulation than you ????????

That's naive...The biggest currency manipulator is the US. The list is political

Switzerland and Vietnam and China and...   and a host of others were on it but that was Trumps shenanigans, currently

https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/4/16/us-removes-vietnam-switzerland-from-currency-manipulator-list

In its semi-annual report to Congress on currency manipulation, the first under the Biden administration, the US Treasury Department said that no country currently meets the US criteria as a manipulator.

Does Gogoro plan on coming to Thailand ?

10 hours ago, Onerak said:

Still waiting for this visa availability. 50K USD insurance checked. 100K USD in a foreign bank checked. 80K USD annual income for the last two years checked. 10 year visa. When is it available?

Is that the suggested criteria ? I too would meet that (assuming it was multi entry) so I was wondering how to go about getting one and yet its not available ? or ??

Could be worse, you might be retired in the UK ????  can't even get easy access to Europe any more, even less reason to be there

Visa on arrival at SR as well as PP ? Thinking of Australia --> Singapore -->SR

Stay for a month or 3

Any other gotchas for someone who hasn't been back since 2017 ?

and any updates in Laos ?

Well, what a wild ride this thread was ????

7 hours ago, Flink said:

I think you misunderstand the OP's point. It's not that he doesn't like foreigners. What, I believe, the OP is getting at is how foreigners arriving in their home country are changing it in ways that are not necessarily for the better.

While not the person you are responding to,  if that is the case then I understand their point perfectly, its repugnant and seems an odd thing to even state on a forum for ...' immigrants..  That aside I am a big believer in people having the freedom to go where they want. I expect that for myself, so I would grant the right to other people to enjoy the same privileges I expect.  If I find a place I am at is no longer to mu liking, and I don't want to be there, then I can move. I have .. for most of my life.

13 hours ago, webfact said:

, where he had an offer of a 1-year visa there for $450

How does one go about getting said Visa ? I am a "slow-mad", so 3 months to a year would suit me.

1 hour ago, Hummin said:

The freedom of living on a big land without neighbors, with a garage and enough space to store things is priceless.

Sure but you don't own the place, someone else does, security of tenure is also worth it for some people. Of course, renting is a different thing but my belongings for a year can fit in a large suit case and then I typically like to move on, so storage has never been an issue. No need for a car for example when I can walk downstairs to get or go where I want.

14 hours ago, TonySn0 said:

 

We are eagerly awaiting the “digital nomad visa” Thai government has promised to roll out this year

I'd not be "relying" on that coming any time soon

14 hours ago, TonySn0 said:

Are there any other  options

Yeah, stop trying to be dodgy .  Just live some place where you can do so properly, rather then trying to do it on the down low and hoping for a change in visa scenario.

Leave and see if the new visa is introduced and then reassess if things change in the future and give the kid some stability !

12 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

No need for an agent it you have the 800k baht in the bank.

Every time I try and open (last two times I was there on Visa Exempt) a bank account, the folks at the bank tell me I have to get the non-o visa first before I can open a bank account, I tell them I can't get the non-o visa until I have money in the bank.. and ... around I go.  I assume the only way around this (sans an agent doing something dodgy , I say dodgy because I am seemingly unable to do it myself if I follow the rules) is to get it in my home country, then open a bank account when I arrive and proceed from there

On 3/22/2022 at 9:41 AM, vandeventer said:

We are still better than China I think? As they dump most of their raw sewage in the waters all around us.

Like the UK ?  https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-60040162

I am interested in Laos when it reopens, not so much rubbish I hear ?  Rwanda has a compulsory pick up rubbish day once a month for all citizens.  Perhaps Cambodia, Thailand etal could learn from this ?

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/07/18/628364015/how-rwanda-tidied-up-its-streets-and-the-rest-of-the-country-too

Quote

 

This is "Umuganda," a community cleanup held on the last Saturday of every month. It's one reason that Rwanda is renowned in Africa for its cleanliness.

It's not a volunteer project. Police monitor the streets and can stop Rwandans who aren't participating and make them clean up on the spot. Rwandans who don't participate in the cleanup can be fined 5,000 francs, nearly $6, not a small sum when average income is about $150 a month.

 

19 hours ago, Screaming said:

The word happiness is very subjective and I would think impossible to measure.

I agree, it's like most the livable cities, I look at them and the top #10 are never appealing. So subjective to be useless better to allow you to click a few thinks you place importance on and then a ranking pops out for you, rather then some bland thing that suits no one.

It's also tricky, corruption is one mentioned but the most corrupt nation to my mind is the UK, it depends who is defining what corruption is I guess  ? Some cop soliciting tea money so you don't have to pay for not wearing a helmet,  compared to the fine you'd get in Australia for the same thing and yet one is seen as corrupt and the other isn't ?

I also not sure what they are measuring ? An example,  NZ is #10 for example and has the highest youth suicide rate in the the OECD.  So the 70 yr old who has paid off there home and in a pension, with allowances may be happy in NZ< but the 17 yr old who sees nothing but a lifetime of debt for a poorly built house and terrible wages not so much ?

Good people can disagree endlessly over this but as long as we can make our own choices and go where we want that's an acceptable solution to me.