phutoie2

Look mate! it seems to me that you have been given some pretty good advice by several well informed forum members on living in Thailand. Interpret it as you like.

I may have been a little harsh on saying jabber but believe me there is "no language barrier". You are "farang", get used to it!!, they will talk about you until the buff's come home.

If you choose to take your teerak back to UK and parade her around Tesco's and your local boozer, good on you!. If you want to stay here in the Kingdom make sure you have your act together when you visit the immigration. Try and not be Nak Pen Din and ignore any advice that comes out of Samui.

Mark, I too have being going through this 40k baht monthly income saga, on hindsight I should have married my girlfriend last year and put the 400,000k in the bank option.

Nethertheless I did 'nt and married early this year instead.

I am in the last few days of non-immigrant visa and are due to visit Suan Plu immigration next week for annual extension application due to marriage Thai wife etc.

The embassy sent my proof of income letter, though slow in the post!. It may be worth calling the British consulate Tel: 02 305 8333 ext 2334 and have a chat, they are friendly. On my application I just wrote a covering letter, included 3 bank statements and last years P60, however who really knows what proof they require, it is early days and this will be a nice money spinner for the consulate once everybody has to apply for a proof of income letter.

Good luck

Oh dear!, whats the matter? got up this morning and some dirt on the Fortuner?

Yes your experience's, fascinating stuff, perhaps it was your comments "on repectfully telling us that we are all way off the mark answering the original question" and "not understanding why we seem to be making it complicated"., that got up my chuff.

As for going away, in league with the mafia down there are we??

Another "Brit" Samui expert tells us he got married (local register office ??!!) congratulations, hardly a difficult process, though being able to understand some Thai is useful when they jabber about you in the Amphur.

The OP confuses us all when he talks about "marriage visa's", (no such thing!) he does not require to start transferring money for proof of income just to get married in Thailand.

His difficulties may occur when his non-immigrant O visa eventually expires and he wants to stay with his wife in Thailand and applies for extension of stay (TM7), at the immigration office. Thats when you need the proof of income.

If the OP wishes to go down this road, he can read the police order (606) on the pinned section of this forum.

Alternatively book a flight to Samui and park yourself in a Ban Rak bar where you can listen to such words of wisdom as " Visa's ! we don't bother with that, we have a friend, who has a friend in immigration"

It is all very simple.

UK farangs under 50 applying for a non immigrant visa as married to a Thai wife, requirements are the following:

1. 400,000 baht plus invested in a Thai bank.

2. An income from a business or employment a minimum of 40,000 baht per month for UK subjects.

It used to be simple!! but the new regulations came into force October 2006. For new applicants there is no need for 400,000 baht in the Thai bank account. Its a monthly income of not less than 40,000 baht (gross) per month from either party or both.

If your income is earned abroad you will need to provide evidence with a letter from your embassy plus immigration may ask you for any supporting doccuments (bank statements/ P60/letter from Pension company etc.

If you talk to the nice Thai ladies in the consulate section, BK British embassy, they will provide you with the income letter. You can do it all by mail. Send all evidence in the post (EMS) and include a postal order for 2488 baht (40 baht is for post), or alternatively you can visit the Consulate desk.

The 50 year age limit is now for retirement visa's and applicants/ parent of Thai child etc

I spent 5 months in Thailand and completely fell in love with the north, especially Chiang Mai (and some female, obviously).

Now i've been away for over 2 months and i'm desperate to get back there, and maybe make a few baht whilst there so i can stay for longer. I don't think i want to be there for the long haul but a couple of years would be nice.

Now i realise there are many many issues to consider, visas, thai business partners etc.

But for now all I want to know is how do you make your rice and curry?

Thanks

Life would be an absolute nightmare without setting yourself up properly. Recommend looking at all Chiangmai websites for job vacancies, do what you can to secure a job with a written guarantee of a work permit and salary agreed before you leave. Do not rely on board runs as you visa option. A Non Im-B visa required before leaving your home country with mulitple entry option. Good jobs in Chiangmai are few-and-far-between. Only go for teacher option if you are a qualified person and enjoy teaching, do not use it as a reason to set up camp. What is your area of expertise? Investment in any form of business would need a minimum of 3 million baht, this includes paid up capital, handling visa and work permits, cashflow to meet legal commitments etc and all working capital for basic 18 month running v. small business. Any less and you will probably kiss the whole lot good bye!! Cheers.

Hi, thanks.

I don't have an area of expertise yet, i'm waiting a few years till i'm 25 to decide what career i want to persue (23 now).

I'm not looking to make any money at all, literally just enough to cover living costs, 500baht a day would do. I can make that playing poker online..... but then lose it of course.

There must be something i can do to make such a small amount of money.

I met quite a few folk running small export operations while i was there, would that still require such a large capital investment? I can't see how it would.

Regarding the embassy letter, I can report that it is not enough to satisfy immigration. ATM they want to see you transferring the same amount that is mentioned in your embassy letter, read my post regarding this earlier. To me it's obvious that they are increasing the requirements, but they are doing it step by step. My extension was rejected even though I'd transferred 1.5 mill. baht last year, and the reason: my embassy letter stated that I made more money then I

I hope I'm wrong but the signs are there.

Look I may be wrong here, but I am sure "Lopburi" mentioned that if your income is earned abroad and it meets the 40,000 baht per month criteria, and you have the embassy letter, plus evidence to back that up if the immigration ask for it, then that should be sufficient. I do not know of any requirement to monthly transfer 40k to a Thai bank account. That is not my reading of Police order 606/7.17 anyway.

On 22 May I am going to Soi Suanplu for annual extension armed with my recent embassy letter, so will let all know. Thanks

click2delete: You seem to know just about everything for someone with only 36 posts to your name? Overnight expert on Thai immigration are we?

Are you serious?Since when does having lots of posts mean anything?I have a few posts,but know bugger all about immigration.What about the people that have been here many years,but have just signed up????

Agreed, its taken years for me to save up for a computer!! & no internet cafe's around here

Thanks for the replies, I thought this may have been a much discussed topic in the past, I only bought a computer for the house in March so this forum is all new to me.

I generally do not like killing creatures too and much prefer to move them on, broom and bucket seems to work,, if found in the house a towel is good advice too, though I would be concerned as to how they get in.

During a long career in the British army (engineers) working mainly on construction sites, I used to encounter the occaisonal snakes, so they never really concerned me too much. The soldiers or local labourers used to chase them away with sticks in the morning before work started.

We always received good training on how to deal with the local wildlife before leaving UK. Most snakes will move on quickly when humans approach, but not all, Vipers in Cyprus, Fer de Lances in Belize & Arizona rattlesnakes were stuborn so & so's I recall.

The troops were very much careful in removing damaged sandbags, a favorite place for snakes to settle into.

Perhaps in Thailand I will just leave such matters to the wife, after all she is the "big boss"

noone saying living on low budget is demeaning. we just saying living in los wo money s u k ks.

All interesting stuff on a quiet Sunday morning! Also if you want to stay here on a permanent basis like myself and not work, its 40k per month to satisfy the immigration bods (Police law 606 etc) I live comfortably on 35k per month up country. A 37 year old friend of mine, who is teaching in Ayutthaya and well qualified is working hard to earn 37k per month. He wishes he was back on the beach in Samui!!, but he does not want to marry his gf or have a child, so its work for him. On recent visit he is so hacked off with the usual 50 kids to a class thing he now wants to look into buying a business! to make his dosh. I have warned him!!

Hello, this may be a perrenial topic but here goes: Now the rainy season seems to be upon us, its rained here every day for over 2 weeks now in south Petchabun.

The garden and concrete back yard attract a lot of frogs, which of course brings in the usual predators too. My wife was hand washing the clothes out back when I heard a very high pitched scream. On investigation, a 1 metre long all brown snake had crept up and parked itself a few feet from her washing bowls.

This reptile to me seemed pretty harmless and may have come in looking for a tasty frog, but the wife informed me that it was venomous and duly despatched it with a blow from a garden rake.

My question is what type of snake was this? and was it dangerous? as my wife claims. There were two others(same type, all brown/1m long) discovered in our Soi and both met the same fate at Thai hands.

Is there a safe way of removing such creatures ?, I usually move unwanted guests on (animals! that is, not my wife's relatives!) with a bucket or spade and dump them ouside the property on some waste ground.

All sensible advice preferred please!!

After reading many posts on swift transfers from the UK, I thought I would add my "two pence worth"

I sent off my completed swift transfer form together with a covering letter confirming where I lived, bank details and the reason for transfer, plus full contact address/e-mail/phone, to Nationwide Chaps department, head office Swindon (UK) on 18 April.

Yesterday after becoming a little concerned I telephoned NW number, its a call centre in Northampton, I later learnt that the "Swift" department do not take incoming calls.

Nationwide received my request on 27 April, but would not action it until they had personally spoken to me confirming some personal security questions.

On further probing they claim that they had tried to call me on my mobile number but without success etc.

Anyway all sorted now, but after keeping a "cool heart" I can understand Nationwides caution as far as Thailand is concerned. In the UK you have to present some form photo ID with your swift application at the bank counter, and when I was doing some work in Ramkhamhaeng, Bangkok in 2005 some nice person used my Nationwide credit card details to buy themselves a mobile phone!

So I will now always follow up a swift application with a telephone call, but to my local branch instead of a call centre. That call cost many baht!!

I hope this is of some use to any forum NW building society members.

phutoei2 do you know how much they are selling for? as im getting closer to purchasing one.

Clipped, this is from a price list I got from a Nissan showroom in Samur Thot (Petchabun) in early April 07.

King Cab (2 door utility cab)

SE Model (basic) 560,000 BAHT

SE 4 X4 669,000

LE Manual transmission 619,000

LE Automatic 659,000

LE 4X4 729,000

Double Cab (4 DOOR)

SE Model Manual transmission 649,OOO Baht

SE 4X4 749,000 Baht

LE Model Manual transmission 699,000

LE Model Automatic 739,000

LE 4X4 Manual transmission 809,000

LE 4X4 Automatic 849,000

I think from looking at the glossy brochure the SE is standard equipment and LE may be Luxury equipment. The differencence is airbags/ABS/EBD. You can also have cloth or leather seats, plus there is a range of goodies to tart it up!

The brochure was in Thai script (obviously) but I managed to read all the tech details. I am sure you can get a discount with some negotiation.

A friend of mine just bought a new Ford Ranger truck and the dealer added all the extras for no extra price.

Good luck, & if you are a Brit the exchange is still around 69 baht to GBP. (Nationwide BS)

i find myself very attracted to the new nissan trucks....had a look inside one of them and was pleased to find that it was very nice indeed. The interior was nicer than i had assumed...do to seeing online pictures, but the real thing is very nice and plush.....anyone else considering this truck?

I too was very impressed with the new Navara, and recently test drove the 4X4 version, powerful performance and good build quality. Though due to costs I will possibly go for the 4x2 and I prefer the utility cab, however wife wants the 4 door version!

Costs difference here about 80,000baht. Thats a lot of "Leo"

With the utility cab,the back end will easily accomodate the motorscooter,(do'nt ask why!) which we have to take with us on the long trips away to the folks up country. The 4 door obviously has a much reduced carrying ability (only14 inches) so will have to see if we can squeeze the old Honda in.

The Toyota Vigo (which everyone seems to own around here) is also an impressive machine, I have only sat in models in the showrooms, but out on the roads many hammer past me so they seem to go well.

My current 5 year old Nissan is a reliable truck, its a non turbo plodder, so very slow away from traffice lights, but its cheap to run, insure and service and its paid for , so why purchase a new one??

Answer: The all black 4 door, darkened windows Navara that flashed by me yesterday!!

I am in a similar position to the OP, however I am due to visit Bangkok immigration in May and apply for an extension of stay due to marriage to Thai wife. I am ex HM forces and receive a monthly pension that I hope will satisfy the 40k per month required. The British embassy should send my letter back with proof of income letter soon, I hope. Due to living in Petchabun province, I thought it would be easier to send by post!.

Like the OP I was under the impression that you had to have this 400k deposited in the bank and went through a troublesome loop of opening a bank account and transferring money from UK etc.

Perhaps I should have been reading the forums much earlier!! for info.

I could not find anything on the Thai immigration website about the 40k income.

Isn't Swift every month expensive, better to open a nationwide account? Unless you need to show income for retirement visa i suppose.

Bangkok Bank NY charges $5.00 to SWIFT it from NY to Thailand. When it gets to Thailand, Bangkok Bank on Silom Road charges 200 baht to convert it.

I too have been a Nationwide account holder for several years now and both the debit cards and credit cards are commision free for use overseas, however I believe for cash credit card withdrawals there is a 1.67% handling fee.

On moving to Thailand this year on a more permanent basis, I transferred a largish amount of cash by "swift" to my Bangkok Bank account and was charged 20 GB pounds by NW and another 20 GBP by Bangkok bank in London.

I have only been in Thailand 6 weeks and tried to open account with non-immigrant visa with Bangkok Bank in Sri Thep, Petchaboon. No joy!! Had to go to British embassy for letter (1700 baht) plus expense of staying overnight/travel etc. to Bangkok.

Visited same bank following week and opened two accounts and now just collected ATM card. Branch manager very friendly after all done correctly.

If you want some real fun try and open a post office box number in local post office!! Had to get Thai wife of another Brit friend to open, cost 500 baht.