ChiangraiTony

I greatly appreciate all the valuable feedback, this is most helpful.

Thank you for your suggestion. I will try Turbo Tax.

I'm residing in Chiang Mai on a visa for retirement purposes. I do not work but during 2013, I traveled to USA and transferred a large sum of money to Thailand. Theses funds were from an IRA. That was all the income for the year but it is reportable. Now, before April 15th. I have to prepare the appropriate tax forms and file with the US government. My question is: where can I get this done in Chiang Mai?

Any assistance in this area would be appreciated. thank you!

Has there been any discussion on the likelihood of immigration office shutdown as a result of what the PDRC is planning. If the immigration offices close then the foreigner may have to pay overstay fees right?

I visited the Royal Thai Consulate-General HongKong website to review the requirements for retirement in Thailand and I observed something I had never seen before. Can anyone clarify if this is accurate and does this apply when trying to stay in Thailand on a retirement visa. I am referringto the section that says "or property deed" which is inferring thatin lieu of the 800,000 Baht or income requirement.A copyy.A copy of bank statement showing a deposit ofthe amount equal to and not less than 800,000 Baht or an income certificate (anoriginal copy) or property deed. The applicants need to prove ordemonstrate adequate income documents or assets to support their living inthe country. http://www.thai-consulate.org.hk/web/3015.php?s=4264

Tony are you in Thailand now or the states

Asia

THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH! You are all very kind to take the time to respond to my questions. I am very happy and excited with what the requirements are. I love Thailand and I expect to live there soon.

Hi, do not forget where ever you apply you will need a police background report and when presented to immigration it must not be more than 30 days old, you do not need a nation wide report a state check will do, I had mine done in CA I think it cost around 15 bucks, for myself I applied in Thailand and it was very easy, you also need a medical report which will be much cheaper to get in Thailand and I mean much cheaper, this also must not be more than 30 days old. Good luck.

To clarify this a bit, you DO need the medical form and police report for 0-A applications done in your home country. Neither are required for retirement extensions IN Thailand, and many people never bother with an O-A, so technically NOT required at all for retirement in Thailand.

As far as Thai embassies abroad accepting medical reports from Thailand, I am doubtful they would usually be accepted. In any case, I would definitely ASK them first.

Thank you very much. Can you please make it more clear to me as to your statement of "Neither are required for retirement extensions IN Thailand, and many people never bother with an O-A, so technically NOT required at all for retirement in Thailand". What do you mean O-A is not technically required at all for retirement in Thailand? Does that mean that I can get a different visa and stay in Thailand without applying for "retirement status?" Can you explain please.

I am a US citizen over 50 and wish to apply for a "retirement" Visa. My two questions:

1) Do I have to apply in the US or can I apply if I am in Thailand?

2) Once I obtain the "retirement" Visa, after 1-year do I have to go back to the US to apply (reapply) again or can I reapply in Thailand?

Thank you

Personally, I would elect option #1. First, I do not believe it is illegal. Secondly, if you are lucky enough to relocate to Thailand maybe your Buddha is right for you. If you let it go, maybe luck can change. Take it and believe...Good luck!

Why would the possession of a statue affect your luck or lack thereof?

Why do you think there are more Buddha images in Thailand then there are people? Why do you think Buddist pray or meditate and have the Buddha image? Buddha images are also made from incence ashes, why do you think that is? If you do not know the answer to these questions then maybe you should just donate your Buddha. Best of luck to you!

Personally, I would elect option #1. First, I do not believe it is illegal. Secondly, if you are lucky enough to relocate to Thailand maybe your Buddha is right for you. If you let it go, maybe luck can change. Take it and believe...Good luck!

Why would the possession of a statue affect your luck or lack thereof?

Personally, I would elect option #1. First, I do not believe it is illegal. Secondly, if you are lucky enough to relocate to Thailand maybe your Buddha is right for you. If you let it go, maybe luck can change. Take it and believe...Good luck!

Sometime within the next few months I will be moving to Thailand for my retirement. Here in the States I have a Buddha statue (yes, I am Buddhist) that I acquired in Thailand. As I plan my move, I have to make some decisions about what to bring to Thailand and what to leave behind. What should I do with my Buddha statue? It is probably the average size that most Thais would have in their home, so while not huge, it is rather bulky. Options I have thought of include:

1. Packing it up and taking it back to Thailand.

2. Taking it to a Thai temple here in the States.

3. Advertising on Craigs List to give it to someone deserving for free.

4. Other ideas?

Thanks!

I AM READING THIS AND IT'S GETTING FUNNIER ALL THE TIME.

I have been stabbed in the chest and hit in the head with a baseball bat. I have had thirteen broken bones (not counting fingers and toes) and seven trauma operations. I have had over a thousand stitches in my body.

You'll get bored in Chiang Mai. Have you considered Iraq?

To be honest you would always be struggling to meet the visa requirements, finance-wise, should you retire to Thailand

Putting it bluntly (and i'm sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings here) you are borderline now. Just think to what it will be like should the Baht continue its slow, but steady climb back up to what it was pre 1997

Could you meet the financial requirements at an exchange rate of say, 25 TBH to the Dollar?

Would you be able to meet any increases the Thai authorities impose on the requirements....say to a million Baht a year for a retirement visa?

Only you can answer those questions, but, if you are honest with yourself, i think your answer will be "no"

So, in all honesty, i wouldnt consider retiring to LOS..........better to see it as a nice place for a few weeks/months per year, with no looking over your shoulder, waiting for the day the hammer falls, and you will be forced to either look elsewhere in the region (cheaper) or to return home to US

Its OK flying by the seat of your pants, when you are in your 20's, 30's and early 40's, but not at an age when all you want to do is potter about.

What i suppose i am saying is we all have to cut our coat according to our cloth, and, to be brutally frank, you seem to not have enough cloth to have a comfortable retirement in LOS

Penkoprod

<br />I opened an account with Bangkok Bank 5 years ago, using just my passport (including Non Imm-B Visa).<br />What I couldn't do was get ATM access because I had opened a joint account (as part of my "evidence of support" category for my wife's Australian Visa application).<br />I ended up closing the account about 2 years ago, not knowing how hard it would be to open another in the future.<br /><br />I will try again in years to come, when I feel I need another Thai Bank Account.<br />

It sounds like there are many variations of what works and what doesn't from reading through the postings. The next time I am there (in Bangkok) I will try different banks. This same bank where I have been exchanging my money for years has always refused me when asked if I could open a bank account. When I exchange US dollars for Thai baht they also ask for my passport and with the 100.00 bills they always inspect them. However, when I went up Country to Chaingmai and exchanged my US 100 bills they didn't even ask for my passport. How do you figure that?

YES. i got one after going toabout 18 different ones. others seem to say the same same.

Thanks very much! I'm kicking myself for not ever trying different banks and only taking the word from one bank that I visit each year. Next time I visit Thailand I will make it my goal to visit several.

you seriously spend weeks looking for money that meets thai criteria.............lol.

ive never had a thai exchange person decline my money and my dollars are not what you call pristine. they do look closely at the hundred dollar bills some which they might not accept.

if you spend weeks looking for acceptable bills then you know the process of getting a thai bank account. just keep going to different branches till one opens one for you.

Thanks for your reply and I'm glad that someone got a laugh from it but truthfully I do spend weeks obtaining good bills so they will not be declined in Thailand. Now to the main point, are you saying that I should be ale to open a bank account in Thailand even if I do not live there? Are you suggesting that maybe it's that one particular bank branch that will not allow an account to be open and maybe I sould try other banks within Thailand?

Seeking advice from those in the know: I do not live in Thailand but when I traveled there I went into the bank and tried to open an account and was told that I could not. My intentions for opening an account are simply that if I decide to purchase a Condo in Thailand I want to establish credit worthiness and have funds in Thailand to complete the purchase or for example I would like to transfer money from my home country to a Thai bank account so when I travel there I have the funds needed to vacation. I never purchase Travelers Checks and many times when trying to exchange money the bank refuses because the currency that I have from my home country has a blemish, pencil or pen mark, or a small tear and the Thai banks refuse to exchange the currency. This leaves me frustrated when I cannot obtain Thai baht. So I end up spending weeks in my country going from bank to bank sorting through currency to make sure it meets Thailand requirements. Bottom line is that I simply want to open an account. What is the big deal and what will I have to do to accomplish this? Your advice is being requested.