Larkin

How many of you guys - especially Brits - have become non-resident for UK tax and how did you go about it? I'm particularly interested if you have assets like investments. pension, even property in the UK funding your retirement or stay in Thailand. It looks kinda complicated to me.

I get that BKK bank and presumably other banks have changed their policies in recent years. But surely that’s a reflection of two things: tightening rules on visas and a desire to get better long term expats rather than border runners, and also a tightening of banking regulations to reflect that. That seems a good thing to me. wouldn’t we want the same in our home countries?

Nobody. But isn't the point that it makes complete sense for banks to give accounts only to those with bona-fide long-term visas? If you're not on a long-term visa, why do you need a local bank account, especially in the days of Wise and Revolut? The rules are clear. For a bank account you need a long-term visa. if you dont have a long-term visa how can anyone complain if their accounts are being frozen?

Hasnt it been well established that if you have a long-term visa then there is no issue with accounts being frozen? Is that not the case?

I do. But i was scrolling through the Aviva app the day and saw an alert on the drawdown page saying something along the lines of 'contact us if you plan to retire abroad - the rules may be different.' Anyway - i emailed them this morning and since asking my question they say there are no issues with retiring in Thailand. So asked and answered.

I'm retiring over there next year, probably first quarter. I have a chunk of cash in UK private pensions - c£600k - and I'll likely put it into a flexible drawdown arrangement and pull a certain amount over monthly. I'm thinking around £2000-£2500 per month. My wife and I have a house already, and another property in the same village rented. I've read some reports of people retiring overseas having issues doing this. I can't see what issues there would be. I would have it paid into a Wise account and either transferred to a Thai account (or some of it) and use the Wise funds with their debit card. Am i making problems when there aren't any?

It most definitely isn't. And it's nothing to do with being overseas or having a Thai wife. She wouldn't get any share of your pension even if she were British and living in Wigan.

it is. She already has some good contacts at that Land Office, which helped drastically reduce the transfer fees (for a brown envelope of course) on both those purchases.

Thanks all. Very helpful. A supplementary question if I may: while I understand the usufruct gives me the ‘right to enjoy’ the property until my death, does that mean just the right to live or the right to benefit from also. There are two houses. One I will live in. I would hope to be able to rent the other if that’s legally possible.

Thanks. I’ll be in Jomtien so it makes sense to do it there.

Guys I've been married to a Thai for 20 years, although for work reasons I have been working in the UK for the last 6-7 years while she remained in Thailand. I will retire there in 2026-7. We own three properties in Thailand. One condo in Bkk in my name and two villages in Jomtien in her name. The condo and one villa is rented; she lives in the other. She proactively set up a will naming me sole beneficiary of the properties should she die first, so that's fine although it would be a pain in the arse to dispose of the properties within the year. She also wants to set up a usufruct, so I could live in the villas until my death. At that point, i would be more than happy to let her sister inherit the place. In this regard, I'm almost thinking i prefer the idea of a usufruct to a the will, particularly where it comes to property assets. Question: what would it cost to set up a usufruct via a lawyer? Roughly - anyone been through it? And: I've had it suggested that it's relatively easy to do yourself. Is that the case, and if so what's the process?