mosan

57 minutes ago, Guderian said:

Yeah, the guy's right, they're so short of tourists that even the bigwig politicians are having to pretend they're loving it on the beach, lol.

 

OK let's address the elephant in the country. Many Thais have reached a level of prosperity where they may be asking themselves...Why are we still letting all these low-lives hang around our country?  Not everybody is missing the hordes of tourists like everyone on here makes it out to be.  I know a lot of people here that want their own countrymen to be able to come but do NOT want any Chinese, Indians, Arabs or Africans to show up here! Most on here are two-faced...look at the <deleted> going on in western nations against the above said people. Disclosure - I don't drink, but it hasn't kept me from partying hard. Most of you blowhards just want to return to the bar/gogo club/soapy massage/tail chasing days, but hide behind the Thais out of work and no tourists mantra that everyone likes to spout.  It's all B.S. and you know it. Man-up. Stop the Charade. Quit your pixxing and moaning. Still, I do like the fact that someone is willing to risk their neck to speak the truth - unlike some on this forum.

I win the lottery on the 1st and 3rd of every month! Been like that for a solid 25 years on the 1st day of each month, and a solid 6 years on the 3rd day of every month... 

1 hour ago, Acharn said:

I remember one year while I was stationed at the Pentagon, I took leave to come back and visit my wife, probably 1979 or 1980. My wife had sent her daughter to stay with some relatives or friends in Lop Buri and we went to pick her up to stay with us while I was here. Lop Buri was where  Special Forces had their base during training Thai Army people, but they were pulled out in 1975, and most of the people there had never seen a farang. Even when the SF were there they rarely went off base because Thais in those days had no bars or pubs -- they did their drinking in restaurants without entertainment. Anyway, the kids had never seen skin as white as mine, and one, maybe six or seven years old, was brave enough to come up and rub my forearm to see if the white came off. Yeah, there was much more opportunity for your average Thai in those days because of the deforesting of the Northeast opening up so much land. It was like the Wild West in many ways. The atmosphere was buoyant.

I don't know about Lop Buri, but back in '72 -'74 I was stationed in both Ubon Ratchathani and Udon Thani and had friends at NKP, U-Tapao and Korat and even out in the boonies 72 Kilometers away from the bases where most of our girlfriends really came from, there were bars for Thais We crashed the party and drank with them. Among us were White guys, African Americans, Mexican Americans, and one Asian American. We work traveled to the other bases and partied together and I don't remember too many Thais being head over heels with White, Black, Brown, or Yellow Airmen because we had at least one of each in the group. Heck even back then, even though most Thais in the Northeast were very brown, they still had very light and very dark skin people. Must have been very different with the Army...I'm just sayin'

1 hour ago, gordyg422 said:

I live in NAKHON PHANOM Province and I have previously seen other farangs in shopping malls etc I have attempted to say hello but they have just blanked me weirdos if you ask me.

After reading this entire thread, I feel a lot better about myself. I thought it was just me being scorned and feared. Now I know many people harbor these horrible thoughts and attitudes. There are many on here who I feared previously, have turned out to sound like decent people. Sadly, I'll probably never meet them or have a real conversation with them due to the overall state of affairs here. I'm still talkative and outgoing, but from now on, I'm just going to keep to myself... 

I've always known I was a fish out of water, but then that's true wherever I've lived, especially not being a "Farang"...though I am a foreigner. It's even worse now that I know being talkative and outgoing is a no-no!

17 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

I just did my 14th extension of stay based upon marriage using the 40k baht income option.

Putting together some extra paperwork and etc once a year does not bother me.

My wife normally goes to immigration to get my extension stamp at the end of the under consideration period.

I'll just add that not all of us are viewed as equals by those who work at immigrations. I have two very close associates (one quite wealthy) that will attest to that statement. As for me, I'll have to admit, I have not had one single problem in 20 years.

3 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Not until you current extension expires. A extension of stay based upon marriage remains valid until it expires if you wife passes away.

You lost me @ubonjoe. My extension remains valid until expiration. An extension based on Marriage may offer the same, but I don't need a Thai wife to extend and the advantage of needing less money in the bank doesn't affect me either. However, doing the extra steps/photos/paperwork/ and extra visit to immigrations after 30 days does affect me...

42 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

You will need the 400k/40k insurance to renew an extension of stay from an initial OA ( retirement ).

 

Although, having said that, I renewed my extension ( OA retirement) a few days ago and immigration never even asked to look at the policy or certificate.

I am assuming that the insurance company LMG had put it into the database ??

 

@ubonjoe , I am assuming it is still required .( Ayutthaya IO )

Just to be clear, did you do your extension based on Retirement or Marriage to a Thai? It makes a difference. I extended a few days ago and the IO specifically advised me to go for Marriage as a reason of extension so as to dodge the 400/40 k insurance requirement. And yes, I'm on an O-A, but prefer Retirement as it's less hassle...particularly if your significant other passes away...

9 hours ago, bojo said:

.......................and at a cost....had some money sent, albeit a small amount from mum in Thailand to daughter in UK using Krungsri...............11400B less charges and commissions and fees etc etc..net hopefully gonna be received 10000b, no idea of the exchange rate either, lap of the gods there.....

You should look into Dee Money for sending money out of Thailand...could have saved you at least 1300 Baht...I may be off a little but close enough.

On 6/21/2021 at 3:42 AM, jerrymahoney said:

I am insured in Thailand via international insurance. I am exempt from Medicare Part B penalty so nothing is taken out of my SS check each month.

 

I have applied for what ever vaccine COVID options are available to me in Thailand hopefully starting soon or later this year.

You're exempt from Medicare Part B...how does that work? Or, did you mean to say you turned down Medicare Part B?

10 hours ago, Justtaste said:

I'm very interested, is this in bkk?

I will call you tomorrow around 12 to 1pm, my last 2 # are 66.

Ok, sounds good! Additionally, this is my cell phone number 063-756-4969.  The one above is my spouses' as she is fluent in English and Thai. 

100,000 Baht
3000 Kilometers
Green Book
Phone 089-627-0475 
Thai or English

On 3/23/2021 at 11:41 AM, KarenBravo said:

 

It says what you have to show immigration which is 800k. I know you can go down to 400k after three months of getting the extension, but, the next time you visit immigration is for your next renewal, which means you have to show again 800k.

Immigration will check to make sure that you didn't go below the 400k for the designated seven months during the renewal process.

If it is the first renewal, then there would be no 400k to check.

Therefore, my post is factually correct and the news article isn't.

I hate to be picky, but you forced my hand...renewal, by it's very definition means "the 2nd time"...so what you just said is not correct. And, I agree that your post was somewhat correct, but just like the article, seems like you both left out the other ways to qualify showing 800K - meaning the 65K per month method or a certification/affidavit letter from certain countries. 

Come to think of it, I do like to nit-pick????  

1 hour ago, KarenBravo said:

So much for accuracy. You need to show 800,000 Bt for a retirement extension.

 

"INN news reported that foreign nationals in Thailand need to show 400,000 baht in the bank or evidence of 65,000 baht coming in each month to get extensions on things like retirement visas".

The statement is technically correct, they just didn't cover all the bases - in the unlikely event you didn't know...

2 hours ago, Denim said:

Too much glass in the wall area will be more like living in a greenhouse than a house.

I made that mistake when purchasing a house in a moobaan in Ubon. The entire front of the house was glass with the exception of about 3 meters out of 13.5 total.  Additionally the lounge (living room) has two 1 meter windows on the side. Also, the kitchen area on the opposite side of the house had two large windows 2 meters and 1.5 meters wide respectively out of 7 meters of wall.  I subsequently removed the windows from the kitchen side wall, but that still left a 1.5 meter window in the front and a 2 meter window in the back.  Like you say total greenhouse.  Lastly, I bricked in 2/3 of the front of the house turning the 3 meter entrance and a parking space into a bedroom. That still left me with one parking space and a 1.5 meter window and entrance into the kitchen.  

I guess I'll pile on...Used OLT.com  (On Line Taxes)  Finished at 10 am  the 10th of Feb. Received and accepted email from OLT approximate 1 hour later.  Direct deposit received sometime early morning on the 17th of Feb. Done and Dusted.

Here is an what I do. Close the reader/app. Then upon reopening, remove said book or document. Done and dusted.

May I ask why you're selling?

3 hours ago, KannikaP said:

That's OK, but IF the THB is very high at the time you do your annual Transferwise, then you get a lousy rate for the whole 400k. IMO better to do 50-60k per month to live off,  and leave the 800k alone.

I've been doing the monthly income method and quite frankly, to me at least, it's way better than locking up money here in a Thai bank.  I've had no trouble getting the annual statement and letter from the bank, and the interest I make on investments in the US far outweigh the $360 per year in costs to bring the money in every month.  I don't need all the money I bring in, I mostly give to my wife and she takes care of all our expenses here in Thailand. I just live and spend whenever I want something. 

58 minutes ago, Inala said:

Peter, in your reply, you mentioned that-

 

"When you are over 50 years of age (and meet the financial and other requirements) you are eligible to apply at the Thai Embassy/Consulate of your home-country for

- a 1-year Non Imm O-A Visa

- a 5-year Non Imm O-X Visa

In some countries you can also apply for a 90-days Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement, but that is not possible in e.g. USA or Australia (there you can only apply for such a 90-day Non Imm O Visa for Family reasons)"

 

My question is- why would anybody apply for a 90-days Non Imm O visa for reason of retirement, when you can just go ahead anyway and apply for a 1 year Non Imm O-A Visa? So, if you can already get 1 year, why bother with wasting time doing an application for only 90 days??

 

In all this time since your original post, you haven't done any research.  It's all about the money. Many may qualify for a 90 day Non-Immigrant O  but not necessarily qualify for a Non-Immigrant O-A. There is a big difference in requirements.  Additionally, one must have family ties here in the Kingdom to qualify for a Non-Imm O from most countries - not so with the Non-Imm O-A. With the O-A VISA one can apply for reason of "retirement"...family ties not needed.   

I suggest you go back to the embassy website from your home country and study the requirements in their entirety. Try to grasp the nuanced differences between visas. What works for one person may not work for another...

4 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

Why would you want to tie up 3 million baht here in a savings account making less than a half of a percent interest.  If you have that kind of money it is best left in an instrument where it makes you money, not the bank using it for what they want and making more off of it then what they are giving you.  It was bad enough having to put 800,000 baht in a fixed deposit account earning pennies just to ensure an extension of stay, versus leaving it in the CD I had to liquidate in the states that was making a paltry 2.75% interest, but it had to be done.  No one wants to tie there money up where it is not working for them.  

No, no one wants to tie up money. But are you telling me (you or someone) has spent almost $1,000,000 (USD) on property here in Thailand and you think $90,000 is big money?  I have to tell you, that's chump change.  I would spend that kind of money only in my home country.  If you (or whomever you are talking about) are not a resident or citizen of Thailand, then the plot has been lost.  Just like those who claim they own a house, car/truck and have family here and cry about not being able to get back to "their home"...note to you guys, this is not your permanent home. You're just a visitor and this is evidenced by the fact you have to "ask" to be allowed to stay each and every year.  

2 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Yes, just more silliness from this Government.  So you own a 25 million Baht piece of property, a nice condo, or whatever, and yet you still need to have 3 million baht in the bank.

I don't know, but it sounds like a check and balance thing to me.  If a person actually owns a 23 million Baht property in Thailand ($800,000 US) then chances are, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch for them to have 3 million baht in a Thai bank and maybe even another 500K ($16K US) sitting in your home country bank...  I'm just saying.