ReloTH

Thank you all, appreciate the advice. Notarising certainly seems a good business model here, a lot of ROI for very limited work! Wonder why there aren't more :)

All - need to get a number of documents notarised. Initial googling surprised by the cost in Bangkok. If anyone has any recommendations in Bangkok can you pls let me know? Sukhumvit if possible. Thank you in advance!

Appreciate the responses received so far, has already given me plenty of food for thought, thank you !

Thank you for both your responses. @Mike Lister good questions raised. Whilst it's very possible I may work overseas in the short to mid term, Thailand is at least the long term destination. Whatever happens with the proposed Thai Tax amendments next year it's given me pause for thought how fragile status quo is here & that taxing overseas income plausible at some point of time, even if not 2024. Therefore is it prudent to keep THB in Thailand & invest locally versus send overseas for investment & repatriate with intention to repatriate to Thailand in the future? I don't have an opinion on the direction of the THB so appreciate your input.

For those generating a THB income from their jobs & businesses etc I would be interested to know where & how are you investing that THB or alternatively Thai bank accounts that are paying the highest interest rates (am aware the % not comparable to the West by any means). Thanks in advance! (No doubt opening myself up for many water buffalo anecdotes but if we could pls keep this thread on topic!)

OP Here, appreciate the healthy discussion on an unhealthy topic folks, some good advice

Couple of queries on Bangkok pollution, particularly for those who've been on the ground for a long time so have seen it come & go. Q1) I feel like the last pollution 'season' was worse than usual but I don't have enough years in BKK to comment accurately, is that a fair assessment or was that quite typical? Q2) From memory December to April sees the worst of it. If you were able to leave the city for a month or two during the worst of it which months would you leave? Thank you in advance

OP here. Hadn't expected the query to provide such robust discussion! Really appreciate the insights folks, thank you.

New kindle user here! I note there is no Amazon TH country site. Default seems to be Amazon.com the US site but there are many country specific sites. Is there a cost differentiation or anything to be aware of between selecting which Amazon site to use when going to Kindle Books to purchase? Thank you!

Thank you for the replies & noted on the ability to quite easily shelter them from the razmataz. Otherwise based on your own experiences has been good to raising kids in the Pattaya / region?

Be curious to learn from families that have chosen to settle in the area as to how you find it? On one hand you have some great International schools, no shortage of beaches in the area (Jomtien, Wong Amat, Naklua, Tawaen, Tien etc), arguably the part of Thailand with access to the most kid friendly activities in driving distance ie the waterparks, theme parks etc, close proximity to islands (Koh Lan, Koh Samet) & all whilst still being a reasonable drive from Bangkok. On the other hand, well, it is Pattaya... First hand experiences appreciated!

All the best then! Just reread my earlier post shd have said Bkk Prep the more modern campus (only recently having been completed)

Oh and both schools have a 50% cap on Thais + given they're in similar neighbourhoods they'll feel the same from an ethnic diversity perspective (ie Japanese, Indian and British)

You may already have your answer to this question given you posted the query in February but in case you don't I'd say your child would be very fortunate to go to either... arguably the 2 best Bangkok schools in the upper middle price range. Nord Anglia is the more easily accessible given it's next to Ekkamai BTS whilst Bangkok Prep is located at T77 nr On Nut. But Nord Anglia has the more modern campus. Both have GCSE's. You might need to check for Alevels v IB if your kiddo will stay on that long. If you haven't already this Inside Look thread is invaluable, slightly dated but a great insight.

OP here (been travelling this weekend) pleased that so many forum members have taken the time to respond on this one, thank you! Interestingly given two members have mentioned the same - it was also Barclays & notice the account will close in August so sounds like some department with time on their hands there has been judicious. Said neighbour wasn't aware that a UK address was necessary btw so had provided them with a Thai address to which to correspond.. The modern banking system simply isn't designed with the overseas Octogenarian retiree in mind however I'll sit down with him and run through his alternatives. Thanks again!