BumGun

52 minutes ago, Tickatus said:

Thanks everybody for your help and your time! It's been really helpful!

 

To summarize:

-Go to the airport while avoiding being caught 

-bring 20 000 thai money and I negative covid test

-go to the immigration desk, pay the fine and come back to Austria.

-no lawyer needed

 

Btw he is not my friend but a relative -brother in law- (For everyone who called him my friend). But that's just a detail

 

Ps : he is not the guy that police caught today, his flight is next week 

 

Thanks again everybody ????????

Surely he will need a recent PCR test to get on the plane to Europe  ? Find out what airline he intends to travel on and see what their requirements are as well as the Thai and European immigration requirements.

7 hours ago, mikebell said:

 Why can't they see that the best investment is in retirees who live here permanently; adopt Thai children abandoned by their fathers; support the mothers/families and local companies all year round yet get treated as terrorists in every walk of Thai life.

No need to attract them or do anything more in that regard, they are already in Thailand and willing to stay apparently, I didn't, too many hoops to jump through. The ones with lots of $$$ who aren't there are the ones they want to attract.  As pointed out, people with money have "options" so they need to make it attractive to them, the guys living off their aged pension etc are already there.   Perhaps Thais think, why would people want to be anywhere else so no need to make it easier ? but then Australians think the same thing about their country as do many others about their country.

On 9/15/2021 at 12:29 PM, spidermike007 said:

I think ex-pats should be treated with the kind of respect and acknowledgement we deserve.

Why should they bother ? They give you the rough end of the pineapple now and you still come.... in droves. It's like some weird quasi sado/masochistic relationship ????

Seems to be common in here to make the point that immigrants (ex-pats) deserve to be treated with a little more dignity, why exactly should they bother ? More, why ? there are already plenty.

On 9/14/2021 at 8:36 PM, khunpa said:

Any “wealthy” person can just right now buy an Elite visa, if they want to

stay here. But it is a completely different thing and other factors that apply, if you want to invest in property or setup a company.

This is  true. I am looking to get a 20 yr Elite Visa (I certainly don't consider myself wealthy though) but that doesn't entitle me to much. It's really just a "travel" visa., 90 Day reporting still needed etc.  While I am a little circumspect about them sticking to it for 20 yrs, I am hoping they would just stop issuing them rather then reneging on the ones they have issued already.   It kind of suits me, as I wanted to move around ASEAN (albeit Myanmar is out)

I'd still be wary of purchasing land/house etc  if you have no path to residency, as they can kick you out when they like.

1 hour ago, bradiston said:

So any Vax program outside Europe and USA isn't recognised? That would appear to exclude billions of people. Asia, Far East, SE Asia, Middle East, South America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand. And all HGV drivers, I guess. 

That is also currently the situation here in Australia, AFAIK. They are working here to change that but who knows what that will look like.

.

The US does not recognise the Astra vaccine at all AFAIK.

On 9/5/2021 at 7:30 PM, georgegeorgia said:

i was reading a facebook post of this guy currently living in pattaya for the last 20years saying he is coming back so he can qualify leaving his thai wife to come back to australia

That's because he lived in Thailand for 20 years, well before he was eligible to apply for the aged pension. You need to be an Australian resident and old enough to qualify (and a few other hoops) , after you are deemed to qualify, then you can move.  Perhaps he was too busy having fun to pay attention ?

https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/services/centrelink/age-pension

The Australian Aged Pension is a little different to many countries, it's paid from general revenue and you don't make personal contributions i.e its not "yours" per se.  It's asset tested and needs based ie. if they think you have too much money or too many assets then you aren't entitled.

There is a private pension scheme called Superannuation but that's a separate thing (where you made personal contributions)

I am 54, I can't see me ever getting it. My age requirement is 67.

5 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Who is this ?? -

 

Brother #2

https://www.davidleelongstreath.com/brother-no-2.html

We didn't kill many and those we did kill were the bad ones - Noun Chea

You could take that speech and put it in the lips of nearly any US President.

23 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

i guess other things come to mind , about 2 years i accidently stared at a asian girl probaly in her 20's walking across the park here in Australia  power ,walking with tight leg trainers on and headphones 

,a lady standing next to me probaly in her 40's  waiting for the walk signal shook her head  at me in disgust, so i apologised to her for looking at the girl across the park,no idea why didnt even know her  but i did,then she said "please dont look at young girls anymore ", ...Sorry " i said back to her

before we got the green walk signal after that and she walked her separate way.

Apologies for what ?  I would have said to her, "you should apologise for being an ageist. or are you just jealous of her ?"

My f partner is bi, pulls no punches ????"<deleted>$k she is gorgeous" as some good looking girl walks past or "he's handsome" when a good looking guy walks past, same as she said she gets to eyeball a good looking female and I don't.

That said, i don't think PC has gone too far per se but times change and world views change and you either change or get left behind being grumpy. If some woman  doesn't like being called "darling" what in hell is wrong with respecting  that and not calling her darling ?

Jessica Valenti, I think it was commented once that the only thing worse then getting wolf whistles when not being whistled at and she blames men for not whistling at her as she now older.

2 hours ago, Benmart said:

In the past, there was another dark regime which required a symbol to be displayed on  clothing and "papers" marked to identify the holder as a "undesired class". What next for these transient decision makers who come up with these ideas? 

Overly dramatic ? Every nation state on the planet needs papers before you can travel. Have you tried to get into Australia wihtout a Passport ? Hell even Australians can't get into Australia at the moment. I can't even cross internal state borders in Australia without even more papers and being anointed as chosen, If you try and are caught you will be jailed, albeit not gassed.  No need to channel Nazi Germany, you can just point to Australia.

I am not that tall at 185cm and never had an issue, quite the opposite when catching trains MRT etc and standing up I can see over peoples heads ???? only issue is aircraft in cattle class , sit like a frog but the worst of that was in the US decades ago.

Well that sucks Simon, reading you reports on Laos as well as a friend who spent some time there years ago suggesting I'd like it, I wanted to go and some some time there (months or a year at least)  assuming we are ever allowed back in post Covid.

It was interesting you mentioned you had never been bothered by any official and now all you are getting is bother  ????

Hope it all works out for you without too much issue, all the best and good luck

On 8/3/2021 at 9:41 PM, In Full Agreement said:

 

 

You would be a brave man indeed to drive from the USA to either Central America or South America.   Not saying it hasn't been done but what a drive that'd be.

 

 

If you go to the https://advrider.com/ web site you will find trip reports on numerous people who have done it over the decades. From Alaska down the the bottom of South America

On 7/31/2021 at 11:14 PM, HeijoshinCool said:

Might as well hunker down, stock up, because things are only going to get worse. Our lives, as we have known and enjoyed them, are over. That's not pessimism, it's realism. Sad but true.

While this is true, if you don't have or can't get actual permanent residency you have the issue of sovereign risk.  Look to those in Malaysia with the pivot on changes  the Malaysian MM2H in a thread in here, mostly simply can't afford the new requirements, so when their visa runs out that's it.  I'd suggest Euro citizens have it best, they have a plethora of countries to choose from if they run into issues in other countries where they are at the whim of government. Which is why I don't understand the citizens of the UK citizens cutting off their nose.

I am liking the sounds of Laos, albeit I have only lived in Thailand and Cambodia and getting to old for the shenanigans other countries impose.  Maybe I won't like it, but if I never go, I'll never know and I'll keep my place here in Australia as bolt hole.

All of this for me is of course is pie in the sky until something is sorted out with Covid.

On 8/21/2021 at 12:01 AM, Jingthing said:

This is a grand example of why retirement programs that offer no path whatsoever to permanent residence security are very real potential quicksand for all participants.

 

I think that's an important point we should all remember, I am guilty of forgetting it as well.  Until then, you are just a guest and can be turfed out when they see fit.

That said, of all the ASEAN Nations I have spent time in, Malaysia is the one I liked least and would never consider living in.

I will always want to keep a place here in my own country as a backstop against these rule changes, if I couldn't, I don't think I could move, i'd be forever concerned about sovereign shenanigans if I invested in a place and hell, I change my mind about where to be on a fortnightly basis anyway ????.

On 8/21/2021 at 12:01 AM, Jingthing said:

This is a grand example of why retirement programs that offer no path whatsoever to permanent residence security are very real potential quicksand for all participants.

 

I think that's an important point we should all remember, I am guilty of forgetting it as well.  Until then, you are just a guest and can be turfed out when they see fit.

That said, of all the ASEAN Nations I have spent time in, Malaysia is the one I liked least and would never consider living in.

I will always want to keep a place here in my own country as a backstop against these rule changes, if I couldn't, I don't think I could move, i'd be forever concerned about sovereign shenanigans if I invested in a place and hell, I chnage my mind about where to be on a fortnightly basis anyway ????.

Depends what you are looking for, you live in Sydney so perhaps a bigger city ? in Manila, Makati and BGC are good places to start. If you want smaller coastal place then the nation is full of likely locations, many have been listed here already or off the beaten track there is that as well.

I like Tagagtay there is the on going issue of the Taal volcano though, the time i spent there was prior to the initial eruption.  Its a little cooler, not to far from Manila & Batangas and you can get across to Puerta Galera easily from Batangas via Ferry. 

Angeles is an ok place, it's inland (if you prefer the Coast and can get HOT (think Penrith) in summer.

Lot of expats around Cebu, Mactan Island area.  I haven't spend much time there. I here good things about Davao but have not been.

English is much better then in Thailand. Petty scams are rife, so if you find that annoying be aware.

Getting around the Philippines is tricker then Thailand as there are so many islands but that's what makes the place interesting.

Typhoons are an issue (not so much for a short holiday but if you thought of living there) as is geological instability (earthquakes, volcanoes etc)

My perspective: Aussie, living on the Gold Coast, 54. I prefer Philippines to Thailand.

3 hours ago, aussienam said:

For a large percentage of condos in places like Pattaya, they are overpriced and a depreciating asset. 

Every time I used to go to Pattaya (with my Aussie gf, who loves the place more then I do) I used to think of buying a condo there ... Never did but instead invested it in a range of shares in the US and Australia and thought to use the income from those investments to rent in Thailand, an example I purchased some Moderna way back and that's gone insanely high, its ridiculous how much its grown.   OF course the difference being I don't live there, am not looking to launder money,  nor have any roots there but it would be nice to stay for months instead of weeks, and being able to have a place of your own has an appeal.  The Thai authorities just make it way to hard to stay there for me

5 hours ago, rupert the bear said:

there are many other better options,many countries you live a few yrs you have residency

Can you list them ?

What did I get out of the Olympics ? Further reinforcement that this tu3d sandwich of a ridiculous spectacle should be confined to the annals of history as the embarrassment it is.

Nano

https://nano.org/

I own that and ETH

5 hours ago, Asquith Production said:

Thanks Ive just finished Chickenhawk which is about a Huey pilot in Vietnam

In that vein, One Crowded Hour seems to be highly recommend, I have not read it though.  It's about a an acclaimed Aussie Vietnam War camerman, who was later killed in Thailand during one of the numerous coups.

Just about everyone will have seen his video footage of Vietnam and not know who took it.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/418780.One_Crowded_Hour

Neil Davis was the subject of the book

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Davis_(cameraman)