BumGun

A visa isn't entitled right, so what happens if they don't renew ? How long do you have to leave he country if you can only renew the day before ?

On 5/20/2023 at 4:55 PM, BritTim said:

If money in the bank is not a problem, the easy solution is for your mother to enter with a tourist visa, establish a bank account in her name, deposit 800,000 baht, and get a Non O visa and subsequent extensions based on retirement.

 

 

Short of offering a bribe (ie use an agent"" to get around the rules) I have never been able to do that.  I am just not ok with offering bribes so I never pursued it.   The three trips I have been on where I tired to open an account across multiple banks in multiple locations I was always refused and was informed  I needed a Non O retirement visa BEFORE they would open an account.  How ?  I needed to get the correct Visa in my home country (Australia) then arrive and open an account.

perhaps things have changed ?

8 hours ago, flexomike said:

u must have at least 15 days left on your visa exempt entry plus 800,000 baht in the bank on the day of application

Which is always  the Catch 22 for me, the banks wont open an account until I have the "Retirement VIsa", I can't get said visa because I don't have a bank account to put the Baht in... ( i tried this several times when I visited pre covid running around to banks people said would open an account with a 30 Day visa waiver who when in there would not open an account)

I am fine with some paperwork and back and forth but after 5 banks I gave up. Of course I can apply in my home country (Australia) and get the visa that way and arrive and open a bank account presumably...but when I get back to Aus that never seems of interest ????

3 hours ago, John Drake said:

As this story and so many similar ones we see constantly on AN indicate, this is overwhelmingly a problem for young tourists. But when the calls for mandatory insurance pop up, it's always for retirement visas. From all these anecdotal events, it seems to me that retirees are a lot less likely to run up and then run out on giant hospital bills in Thailand than are the unprepared young tourists. 

He had insurance they're just not paying up because he didn't wear a helmet apparently.  Insurance rarely pays when you are breaking the law eg fleeing the scene of a crime on your scooter and crash,  insurance won't be paying up. You'd have to change it to a no fault system and that would need to be funded by a tax on entry for all tourist visas or VOAs presumably, if you want that to change but even then, people taking the p!ss on overstays would likely not be covered... so...

3 hours ago, Pib said:

 

Now if a person is apply for a LTR Pensioner visa (which is the most popular LTR visa type right now) then income requirement is at least 80K USD/year in pension/fixed income....or if having 40K-80K USD/year in pension/fixed income then a 250K USD investment in Thailand is also required.  And that 250K USD investment can be something like a condo/house that was bought years ago....does not have to be a recent buy.  But the value will be based on what the land department shows your originally paid for the residence and not its current value.  

 

The Pensioner one doesn't seem to be particularly onerous ? 80K USD p/a and > 50 yrs old ? I meet that BUT I am not officially drawing any pensions though, just don't like work and earn investment income. Am I reading it right that those are those the only two requirements ? I am very reluctant to own property in Thailand as there is no residency option so am not particularly interested in going down that path.

13 hours ago, Black Ops said:

the bar owner only identified as Ms. Jane

Riding a Stutz Bear Cat, Jim
ya know, those were different times
all the poets studied rules of verse
and those ladies they rolled their eyes

Sweet Jane

16 hours ago, RAZZELL said:

Thai passport holders exempt ????

Bit hard to exempt citizens of the country from entry wouldn't you say ? Up to the countries who receive them when they leave Thailand  if they want proof of vaccination..  I guess they could insist Thai citizens are vaccinated before leaving  but the usual suspects in here would bang on about discrimination if it wasn't applied to foreigners I guess.  

As a precedent, Australia and New Zealand did ban their own citizens from arriving during the height of Covid, , with unfortunately very broad support from locals who were already home.

10 hours ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

Theres got to be something wrong in Finland if the people need to drink so much 

A border with Russia, i'd be nervous as well.  That and looooong winters,

Jokes aside, they're not even in the top 20 according to this list, in fact #33

https://www.statista.com/forecasts/1148811/per-capita-alcohol-consumption-by-country

Police facing too much competition ?

On 12/17/2022 at 10:59 PM, BusyB said:

I was always far too far into progressive rock from Zep to Purple, King Crimson etc to be anything except revolted by glam rock ????

A quick segue, I am  a huge fan of Slade, they sort of defined Glam, they transitioned into it (defined it ?) and then away.  Te likes of Ozzy Osbourne, Suzzie Quttro, Noel Gallager etc saying Noddy had the best voice in Rock 'n Roll, impacted the likes of Kiss and a bunch of others.

Looks like they just want to be like the UK ?

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/apr/19/sewage-island-how-britain-spews-untreated-waste-rivers-sea

I don't even understand the question, how do you think you got the right to vote ?

People who are treated badly often push back, some people support them, or at the very least their right to push back.

That the have to push back is something that perhaps needs more discussion on. 

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.