Raphael Hythlodaeus

It's an interesting dilemma.

A WILL by the wife can be "lost" or changed without the other party's knowledge.

A USUFRUCT agreement is written in Thai Law (I had one myself before foreigners could own condos), and gives you the right to do what you like with the property (except sell it), for the duration of the agreement. Worked for me. But might leave you open to harassment (or worse) by others to get you out.

I presume a 30-year LEASE could have similar problems.

I would be interested to know what a LAWYER advises in this situation.

Always preferred condo ownership myself to avoid these problems. Title deed in my name and I decide what happens as clearly stated in my WILL. 

For those who are elderly and prefer a house, I think RENTING is better in many respects.

10 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

I had indicated it in an earlier post and my comment to the other poster was just a post to indicate life is still good 15 years later.....looks like Salerno did not see it as such.  The new LTR visas are like the smart visas.  Elite Visa holders still do 90 day reports.

The most fatal question to ask in Thailand is "Why don't they . . ." 

But it does seem weird that LTR holders do not require the 90 day report, while those (say) who have stayed many years on a Retirement or Marriage extension do. Individually, it's not a big deal, but adding up all the time and money wasted by everyone on this must be considerable.

2 hours ago, Salerno said:

Because some people like purposefully leaving out pertinent info to wind people up. Re the house and condo, I read that as a separate issue in that it was just a mini-brag to highlight that he lives a very comfortable lifestyle here in response to the claim he was replying to.

Just seen that Ryan has an LTR visa that doesn't need 90 day reporting. Thanks for the clarification Ryan.

24 minutes ago, Salerno said:

Not necessarily incorrect, more, lacking in information. Couple of options to make it less "incorect" off the top of my head

1 Regularly take outside trips -  90 days resets every time you enter therefore, quite possible to not to need to do a 90 day report (not so easily done during the height of covid obviously).

2 Be on an elite visa and live in Bangkok - "technically" you don't have to physically do a 90 day report as they do it for you.

Yes, but Ryan seemed to indicate that he did not have to do the 90 day report since he owned a condo and house. Otherwise, why even mention it? Perhaps he can enlighten us further.

1 hour ago, ThailandRyan said:

Your view is incorrect....I don't need to report every 90 days. Own a condo and a house, retired and living a great life...

Incorrect info. Whether you own a condo (like me) or not is irrelevant. Congrats if IO have not latched on to you. I never bothered doing the 90 day for decades until they realised.

Also, you cannot own land here (unless you have 40 mil to invest) so any house you might own on the land us not 100% safe. Any measures like using a company to own land can be cancelled if you rub someone up the wrong way. Of course many do it anyway and good luck to them. I would prefer to go for a long term lease or Usufruct. Still does not alter the 90 day thing though.

1 hour ago, jacko45k said:

Not sure where you live, but if you have the required 800k sitting pretty, a retirement extension should be about 10,000 (as it is in Pattaya), and a free 90 report included. You would have to get your bank letter yourself.

Due to health issues I am unable to do it myself. Although I have and have always had the 800k in a separate bank account, the agent required nothing except any bank book, even with virtually nothing in it. That is the point, I did not have to get the usual bank letter myself, and everything was done by courier. 

Normally I do the 90 day report using the phone ap, no problem, but the visa extension uses a different address and I would have to go to an IO with a TM30 form to do it.

There must be many retirees in my position who would find it difficult to get the visa extension through normal channels. But I must say the agent service was excellent.

2 hours ago, jacko45k said:

I fear for those getting too infirmed to achieve this, but it is far from difficult. 

Good point. I am in that position. Had to pay 16k to an agent who did everything. Another 500 bht for the 90 day report.

3 hours ago, Mansell said:

They recently announced in Pattaya you just have to carry a photo of your passport and visa in your phone. Otherwise if they stop you you will be arrested and have to wait in a cell until somebody brings your passport to the police.

OK, I'll wait in the cell, no problem. Do they supply coffee and donuts? Highly unlikely to happen though -- at least in nearly 4 decades in Thailand never been asked for ID in public, except driving licenses.

Always found the RTP and IO people very polite. Speak to them nicely and they normally respond in kind.

I'm not a fan of the 90 day report, which doesn't appear to achieve anything. After 30+ years of not bothering reporting and no problems renewing the yearly visa, they finally caught up with me due to their computer systems. I made some feeble excuse about Covid, but the IO said very aplogetically that sorry, but they must fine me 2,000 baht. I sighed and said if you must it's OK, and of course thanked them and apolgised for any problem caused. I was a bit disheartened when a friend overstayed his 90 day report and they accepted 1,000 baht cash under the table. Favouritism!

The point is, don't take it too seriously. It's all about money, not catching criminals.

7 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Since the police never pull over vehicles and issue tickets, we have little to be worried about. 

Assuming you are not joking, this comment is total nonsense, as it seems are many of your other 22,000 posts, or the at least the few I've read.
Only recently I was in a car with a Thai driver who was pulled over for still having red number plates and given a ticket by a polite policeman, and "tea money" was not accepted. Happened to me several times over many decades as well. 

The original article says . . .

"All points deducted will be credited back to drivers’ accounts after one year. "

So it appears that the points are not accumulative over 1 year.

Most I've been caught in 1 year is twice, going over a continuous white line. How many points for that????

Advice from Thais was to ignore the fines. Nothing happened on renewal of road tax.

1 hour ago, Chosenfew said:

Starlink, works great, fast, private, love it. A little pricey, but if you have the money, nothing in Thailand comes close to the service and speed…

When I check on the Starlink link above for Bangkok, Thailand, it says not approved here awaiting "regulatory approval " 

Are you referring to your home country, or how did you get it here, or are you a Musk fan boy blowing bubbles?

53 minutes ago, Mickeymaus said:

What do you need for it? How much is everything together and monthly? What speeds to you get? Which IP do you get - Thailand? 

 

See https://www.satelliteinternet.com/providers/starlink/

No thanks.

34 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

Rubbish, starlink absolute top speed is capped at 500 Mbps, (200 for home users)

I think Starlink slows down if there are a lot of users in a particular area. So for built up areas like cities it might not be so great. I guess that it might be OK in Thailand, but what for? Cable is faster and a lot cheaper, except if you live in the boondocks. Also, I wonder about the long term commercial aspect of Starlink since a certain percentage of their eventual thousands of satellites would have to be replaced each year. If I lived in North Korea it would be great though, except I would end up in some labour camp. The cost would have to come down a lot to perk my interest here.

I was in the same position with the ridiculous KYC requirements required by Santander Offshore.

So my UK pension is now paid into my WISE account, no problem.

I did not close the Santander account, but since there is no minimum balance required with them, I reduced the balance to just £1. If they ask for onerous KYC details I will just ignore them.

WISE also has the advantage that (if you wish) you can exchange the GBP to THB in the account and transfer the funds in THB to Thailand. In that way avoiding the incoming foreign exchange charge (up to THB 500) charged by Thai banks.

Of course, that option would only apply (I guess) if you do not need transfers in GBP to show the IO the income requirement to extend the Visa. I use the BHT 800k deposit method.

Interesting that the BRIC nations and now Thailand and others are moving away from the USD as the settlement currency. Not surprising since the US prints helicopter currency like there's no tomorrow so $1 in 1913 is now worth 3 cents. 

Has anyone successfully used a Thai PINK ID card to register with PayPal?

PayPal specifically exclude this and state . .

.
"You will initially need to provide your full legal name in English, and your Thai national ID number (other forms of identification which do not have a 13-digit Thai national ID number, such as a non-Thai passport, work permit, non-Thai Identification card (pink ID), or Thai Permanent Resident Permit cannot be accepted)."

However, my Thai PINK ID card DOES have a 13-digit number.
PayPal mistaken or what?

3 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

You are misinformed. This has nothing at all to do with PayPal. It has everything to do with new demands by the Thai government. PayPal is merely abiding by them, doing as it's told by the government. Do you really think that PayPal voluntarily wants to lose customers?

Are you sure about that? PayPal have given no clear explanation for the changes, and why they could not come to an agreement with the Thai government to use passport identification as other financial companies do.

IMO "globalization" is an excellent reason NOT to go ahead with this proposal. Klaus Schwab and the WEF -- "You'll own nothing. And you'll be happy." 

How about charging market rates for juice and let competition decide the price, rather than set a low price by government edict which always leads to shortages?

54 minutes ago, jesimps said:

Ok if you live in a province where the land office will issue a usufruct. I couldn't get one in Pattaya eight years back, even through a lawyer.

Did you mean REGISTER a Usufruct. Years ago I found that Usufruct Agreements were indeed written into Thai Law, so I don't see how, with a good lawyer, they could refuse to register it in Pattaya. Something else in play here.

Anyone else with experience with Usufructs?

7 hours ago, internationalism said:

they should simplify their entry requirements.

I don't remember anywhere in europe travellers being fingerprinted and photographed - passport scan and glance at passenger, 10 seconds procedure.

That thai procedure gives an impression of entering police state. Doesn't create holiday mood for tourists. 

Despite those and many other immigration measures, thailand is heaven for criminals. Their system doesn't work properly.

The main fault being probably manpower - unqualified, corrupted, unmotivated and lazy, bureaucratic. So many stories of immigration officers being biased and downright rude - just from my personal experience at border crossing and in immigration offices.

The second is probably poor digital data processing. Outdated systems, not integrated with world's security data. That's how travellers to and from thailand can use stolen/lost passports - that, as well as fake passports made in thailand itself.

 

Another story are visas from thai consulates. There were cases of fake visas being sold in Kuala Lumphur. That is not responsibility of immigration. But shows that thai police was not cooperating with ministry of foreign affairs to detect this scam

 

 

 

 

Not my experience with immigration officials at entry and at immigration offices over many decades in Thailand. Exactly the opposite in fact. But I have seen the behaviour of some farangs at that well known resort, and it would try the patience of a monk.

No problem with entry being over 70 so use the Prority channel.

58 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

 

That sounds like communist nonsense to me. No reciprocity between people with wealth disparities means the high and middle is dragged down the level of the bottom. When you go shopping do you adjust the prices to match the annual wage of the employee selling to you?

It may sound like "communist nonsense" to you, but I much prefer the nationalistic Thailand to the woke WEF globalist West. There you do have a socialist catastrophe and I despair over my own home country which I left decades ago. I don't agree with your shopping analogy within a country, when we are talking about different countries.