jayceenik

I've lived in LOS for some 30 years now.

A few years back I imported some money in view of buying a house for me and my TGF.

I wanted some interest for that money while it was waiting in the bank for the buy.

KrungThai would let me open a time deposit account as a simple retiree on stay extension but only if I gave them a Thai TIN and they sent me to get one to a Land Revenue office on Sukhumvit. There no problem to get it but I had to produce my studio rental contract.

This TIN is easy to deal with if you have no other income in Thailand outside bank account interest. And you'll get back from the tax office the excess tax taken by the bank on your interests. Excess because the total tax the bank has withdrawn applies to a bigger income level than yours.

Funny thing is that going recently through old personal papers I found that was already issued a Thai TIN some thirty years ago. Well, forgotten!!.

A military coup had taken place at the time and the new man in charge had decided that all foreigners who spent more than a stated amount of time a year in Thailand had to report their income (foreign and local) and be taxed on it. At the time I was working four weeks on/two weeks off in PNG (Port Moresby) and had to follow this new law if I wanted to keep spending my time off in Thailand so I duly reported a fake low income. I don't remember if I paid a tax on it. Anyway this coup was short lived. The King soon appointed the great Anand Panyarachun to clear the govt and everything went back to normal fast and I forgot about this pesky momentary TIN.

BTW A potential worrisome part of having a Thai TIN is that theoretically you have to notify the Land Revenue if you plan to leave Thailand for short or long time. 

I'm much older than the OP.

And my TGF (soon to be wife) is much younger than me. 

I'm a long time resident on retirement extensions in Thailand.

I have no family and thus made my TGF sole inheritor of my $$ four years ago already.

No possessions other than three bank accounts - Belgium, Thailand, Singapore.

I wrote a Belgian holograph will for my Belgian bank account.

To be sent to a designated Notary in Belgium at my death who will process it and send her the Euro on my bank account minus fees.

I made a Thai will with a Thai lawyer (THB 10000) for my Thai bank account.

She has a Thai Law degree so she'll know what to do.

I went to Singapore and made a will there with a SIN lawyer (USD 550) for my SIN bank account.

She'll have to go to SIN and get a lawyer (best to take the one who wrote my will) to help her process the will to get to my bank account.

I also made a declaration in Thai-French-English notarized at the Belgian Embassy in BKK (THB 800) to the effect that I have no relatives or anybody else to be notified of my death in Belgium or anywhere and that my TGF is thus free to deal with all formalities and inheritance. 

We're getting married now for several reasons.

A main one for her is that the three wills should be easier to deal with if she is my widow rather than a lambda Thai girl.

Same problem as OP.

We bought a house on plan in an all new subdivision in Ubon.

Middle class. Houses from 2.7 to 4.2 mib 

Behind us somebody bought a house and the adjacent plot without a house built on it.

Then they built a big shack on it. The whole width of the unbuilt plot.

A big family. Their business now is buying clothes by the bag and re-assorting them in the shack for detail resale.

Moderate truck traffic but always people outside talking in loud voices from morning to late at night.

The big annoyance is that this business has nothing to do in our peaceful, clean and tranquil moobaan.

It will certainly bring down the resale price of our house. TGF feels we have been cheated by the developer.

Indeed ome people on the street have already complained that way.

I'm surprised that the developer - a big and respected name in Ubon - has given it assent to this incongruity.

Should be worth a lawsuit but TGF and I have no appetite for one.

Thanks for the ECC info.

Good info. What is the "ECC" and where is it "near TSM" ?

24 minutes ago, cracker1 said:

Does anyone know where an eighty year old can buy medical insurance here in Thailand ?

Out of curiosity I checked Cigna Thailand for a quote for an 80yo male. 

They have a form that you just fill in quickly. No questions other than your age, email address and phone nr.

I chose the cheapest plan with a $7,500 deductible and premium paid a year in advance.

I was automatically quoted some THB 230,000 for one year.  ????

I love books but with my old age failing eyesight reading e-books on my very good but cheap Teclast 8" tablet is the way to go.

I do buy promotion-priced Kindle books on Amazon but I download most of my library on free PDF on the Internet.

I recommend using the website PDFDRIVE which collations all PDF freely available print on the Internet.

Also Gutenberg lists out of copyright books in several languages.

BTW I do recommend getting a tablet rather than the Amazon Kindle which restricts to only Amazon Kindle books.

Just download on your tablet the free Amazon Kindle app if you want to order and read Amazon e-books.

I'm planning to marry my long time TGF as soon as I can get my birth certificate copy from Belgium and then my Embassy's approval.

I'm living in LOS on a long string of Stay Permit Extensions for Retirement.

I had thought that I would  change my next 800k/400k-based Retirement Extension in November to a Marriage-based one. 

It'd nice to cut down the 800k to 400k but after reading brianthainess very informative posting above (thank you friend!) I'll just plan on the usual 800k/400k extension.

Mama mia!! The monster paperwork!! And must this be done again at next extension? 

I have no problem keeping 800k/400k in the bank so I'll just keep things simple as before!. ????

Last week Ubon Immigration said that the Insurance is not required to Stay Permit Extensions for Retirement.

My uninterrupted Extensions started in 1998 at the end of a 3-month Non-Imm O visa issued in Penang in November 1997 with entry in Thailand on 14 November 1997.

Thanks for the input, Bastos60.

I have contacted the Embassy and they have sent me the info I need to make my request and a 4-page form to complete.

They just ask for the names and addresses of two Belgians. Fortunately not their ID.

I have contacted my hometown in Belgium and asked that they send me a birth certificate copy. Waiting for it.

On 7/5/2019 at 1:34 PM, Mattd said:

Actually it is isn't that straightforward, it would depend on your age in October 1998, if you were 60 or above then, yes 200k, if you were 55 - 59 at that time though it would be 500k.

I don't remember that. You know/remember more than I do !!

I applied for Extension of Stay with my 14NOV97 Penang Non-Imm O in March 1998.

Extension of Stay approved to 13 November.

I was not 60 at that time.

I turned 60 on 8 October 1998. 

On 13 November Extension of Stay approved for one year to 13 November 1999.

So I take it that I just qualify for the Grandad 200k clause  ????

28 minutes ago, Mattd said:

I'd disagree, as he entered prior to the grandfathering date and has been on extensions of stay ever since, then he does qualify, the money in the bank bit would depend on how old he was in October 1998.

Yes. Of course. The requirement is straightforward. 800k or 200k for pre-1998 LOS "resident" grand-dads.

My bank account in BKK has been my main account ever since I came to live in LOS. 

It varies up and down but I made a point to never let it go down from 800k.

For safety and Extension I always have more than the extension-required min 800k.

And if i show up for Extension with a 2m bank letter, for example, the IO will certainly not expect me to have same amount next year.

Anyway, I plan to make my next extension in November marriage-based so I'll need to season only 400k.????

(I'll need some extra ca$h for the sinsod !! ????)

Thanks to all TVF members who post their info/opinions. 

It makes for an informative and entertaining forum !! 

3 minutes ago, fishtank said:

It looks as though you do not qualify.

Why not ?

On 7/4/2019 at 7:15 AM, fishtank said:

Yep. Those who qualify for this would already know about it as they will already be using it.

Yes I learned about this some time ago. I qualify for it but I don't use it.

The magic date is October 1998. I got my Non-Imm O visa from Penang in November 1997 and have been in LOS ever since (less the Exit-Reentry time-outs)

I've been reluctant to use this rule because I'm afraid that some IO are unaware of this grand dad clause and I'd have to argue (not something to do with an IO) to get it applied to me.

Nevertheless if I had some urgent need to dig into my 800k now it's nice to know that I could go down to 200k and even less if outside the seasoning period and still keep my Extension valid considering the new bank deposit rules.

6 hours ago, Apache704 said:

Sir, I am 73 years old and I also have to leave Thailand due to the ever increasing changes with Immigration and with no health insurance which I did have before the Army took over. Ecuador is my next destination with a minimal amount of money per month($800) US and for each dependent $100 more plus they have health care for less than $100 per month for a couple and a Senior have discounts on everything. The rents are cheap, also the food, the climate is better. Also you can own land there as a foreigner but they are a lot more expensive than Thailand. Cuenco has the largest expat population (up to 8000) with English being spoken almost everywhere compared to none elsewhere. There are plenty of restaurants that can cater to whomever. I'll be going there from Canada in November and staying 60 days in Cuenca. I'm sure that I can pick up Spanish a lot easier than Thai. Take a good look at getting a Pension Visa from Ecuador you won't have to go back to England for Health care. If you would like to e-mail me for more information I will gladly send it to you.

I've been living retired in Thailand for three decades now  I had a spacious studio rental in BKK and another one in Pattaya. Now living in Ubon in the house I bought for TGF. Everything was fine until this health insurance sucker punch.

Quite a few years back, before knowing present TGF,  I had come across an article in a foreign mag/paper about living/retiring in Ecuador. I was so fired up that I checked which airlines were flying there. KLM had a good flight from AMS. I was planning to go there for a few months to get established and than share my time between Thailand and Ecuador for a start and eventually move there. I speak Spanish. I didn't pursue this intention. Now I regret it.

I'm quite happy now spending my Golden Years here in Thailand with my TGF but Ecuador would have been a much better choice.

I will now marry my TGF ASAP so that I may be spared this mandatory health insurance which I cannot get because I'm 80.

Otherwise I'll have to go back to Belgium which I left 50 years ago.

I've lived a couple decades in Thailand on a visa extension and I had heard about the Yellow Book but never was asked for one or needed one. Lived in two rentals (BKK and Pattaya) so I guess then owners had reported me to Immigration.

But I'm finally getting married to my current TGF and thought the Yellow Book would be a facilitator getting the required documents at my Embassy and then going to the Amphoe. I've lived with her for three years now in the house I bought her in Ubon.

After reading this very informative thread I've decided I didn't want to go through the trouble to get one for very little benefit ... ????

Thanks to all guys who post good info on TVF. This thread and others.

Any Belgian who has married locally a TGF around in this TVF?

I've lived in Thailand for a long time and now I want to marry my TGF.

We have lived together for 8 years now and I'm totally happy with her.

It's mostly to facilitate her executing my Last Wills (and my Living Will) without administrative problems (she is 100% inheritor already) after I die.

Anyway, I don't seek marital advice here but rather have a Belgian tell me what experience with the Belgian Embassy in BKK he has had getting the required marriage documents.

I've checked their website and can see problems right away like have to give a "full, certified birth certificate". So I'll have to try to get that from Belgium. But what is a full certified birth certificate?

And then there is this requirement that I have to produce two Belgians, residing in Belgium (!!??) as having been notified of my impending marriage.

All this is very annoying.

How did a Belgian go around it when he got married?

For what it's worth here is what Thais have to say about this high THB ...

My Isaan TGF is most interested in this unwelcome THB rise against the Euro since she'll inherit my Euro savings in SIN when I die and we live with a Euro pension I get from Belgium so she is checking daily the Exchange rates on the Internet.

Not only farangs are complaining about this skyrocketing THB, Thais do to.

She says that Thais are now 50/50 predicting a strong THB down move.

She says many Thais are mad about this high THB because of export slowdowns.

1 hour ago, krabbyken said:

Went for my renewal on Wednesday.  Officer wanted copy of every single page of Passport and all signed in blue ink.

She would not accept my letter from bank on the 800,000, as she said it was dated the day before and I could have withdrawn the money.  Also wanted a copy of every page of my bank savings account book and the last page had to have current day's date. How could you ever go to immigration early in a.m., as banks do not open until 9 or 9:30? I think the only way you could do this is to find an ATM machine where you could make a deposit and then update your book.

90 day very easy now as only need passport and TM47 - took all of 3 minutes.  I usually mail mine in but had to go to immigration for my TM7...

Yes. This same day bank letter and book update is most annoying.

Back in the Suan Phlu days I had my bank letter done a couple days before the extension, no problem there, but after moving to CW they soon insisted on a same day letter.

In CW I'd get a queue number asap and than go downstairs  to my local bank branch for a deposit, an update and a letter. Than make photocopy.

Waiting times were such that I had time to do all that well before my number was called.

I live now in Ubon. No more CW mega crowds.

OK guys !! Thanks for the replies. 

I'll get some super fine sand paper and work on these naughty scratches ????

We have a nice coffee corner marble counter top in our living room. I unfortunately lightly scratched a small area by using a kitchen scrub pad to get rid of a small stain.

The stain is gone but the scratches remain. It's not very noticeable and TGF hasn't noticed it yet. I wish to get rid of the scratches before she does. I looked at the Internet but didn't see any specialized products readily available at Lazada. Anybody could name me a product I could find here? Could I use a car care scratch remover?

In March I close down my BKK rented studio.

I have a lot of personal stuff accumulated over the years that I want to bring to our new house in Ubon.

First GF thought of getting two pickups from Ubon (papa's and an aunt's) but that is now not possible.

When we moved from Pattaya (my other rented studio) she got a big truck because we had our two motocys to move.

Now it's books, clothes, TV, PC, microwave and maybe the refrigerator.

Anybody knows of a mover in Ubon or BKK that could provide that moving service ?

Do consider getting your visa extension in Ubon Immigration. Much quicker and painless.

I did mine in BKK for ages  - first Suan Phlu (no problems) then CW (no problems there at the beginning but now so many farang applicants that queues have become ginormous).

A couple years ago I moved to Ubon in my TGF's house. She did the TM30 with her Tabian Bhan.

Ubon Immigration is very accessible. I'm now on my first extension from here.

Concerning banks I suggest you try the banks that have branches at the Central shopping mall outside town.

It's where I opened a new account with Krung Thai.

Get your extension first and go there with your wife and whatever documentation both of you can have.