statman78

We sold everything in the US and moved to Thailand for my retirement. We have no regrets. We still have accounts in the US so it would not be difficult to go somewhere else. Definitely not back to the US. In order for that to happen they would need to drag me out of here. I love it here and since my wife is Thai she can stay and manage the rental properties we have here.

The limit is $10,000 per person or couple traveling together for undeclared cash. If you fill out the correct form the amount is almost unlimited. I’ve done this several times and carried well in excess of $10,000 USD from the US to Thailand

The politicians can talk about all of the agreements and constitutional rights they want but it won’t solve the problem unless laws are enforced. For those of us who live up north (I live in Chiang Rai) we can look forward to another year of deadly smog. At least this is a very small step forward, somebody in government is talking about it several months before the pollution hits.

That’s the place I go for photos for my annual extension and re-entry permit. It usually only takes a few minutes for them to print out as many copies as I need.

Didn’t feel a think here in Chiang Rai. Even the dogs slept through it

I lived in Wisconsin, USA for the majority of my life. When I was younger I loved the 4 seasons. As I aged I began to dislike the winter cold and the typical cloudy spring days. Been living in Thailand for over 5 years and love the weather. There are times during the winter here in Chiang Rai where I get bored with sunny day after warm sunny day. At those times I do a video call with friends back in Wisconsin when it’s freezing cold and a lot of snow. Those calls make me realize how lucky I am to be here.

I have a Thai wife so everything goes to her. I decided on the retirement extension instead of the marriage extension. Less work every year. Also, there is very little money in my account. Since I transfer the required amount every month we can spend it. We’ve been buying rental properties and land so that when I pass away my wife will have a source of income. No need to keep the 800k in the bank.

4 years ago I received my first Thai license and I did not need to take a test since I showed them my US license. I also received a motorcycle license since my US license was also valid for both auto and motorcycle. I needed to watch a video which was in English then a test where I had to identify the color of the light they flashed, red, yellow or green. I don’t think the person giving me the test understood English so I probably could have said 3 different colors and still passed. this was done in Chiang Rai

As the article states, the new gates will allow for a 33% increase in capacity. They will need to add more people at check-in, security, baggage handling and immigration. Hopefully it will be a manageable rate of increase in the number of passengers.

What a difference a couple of years make. As Covid basically killed tourism here in Thailand along with devastating the Thai economy, the “experts” were saying that the Thai economy needed to diversify away from their heavy reliance on tourism. Now, the “experts” say that the way to improve the Thai economy is to expand tourism. And, of course, let’s not forget the push to get “quality” tourists. I’m sure Thailand will get plenty of quality tourists by reducing or eliminating visa requirements.

The owner of his new place should have filed a TM 30. (Again more sarcasm by me). My point is that the TM 30 is useless in locating foreigners.

Why didn’t the police simply go his place of residence to arrest him? They should have that information on his TM 30, I ask sarcastically ????

I transfer funds that are more than 1 year old. The money comes from my IRA

Being a US citizen here in Thailand with a retirement extension I love the fact that I don’t need an income letter from my embassy. I simply go to my bank, get a 12 month statement, highlight the monthly transfers and present it to immigration along with a bank letter and a copy of my bank book. No issues and no need to travel to Bangkok or the consulate in Chiang Mai.

The full article has more details. If Thailand buys weapons from another country then that country will be required to import Thai goods. The example given shows that the other country must commit to import goods in excess of the value of the arms purchase. That is how it can help the thai economy.

Based on experience. When the country started to open up after Covid the airport was understaffed. There were hugh lines at immigration, extremely long lines to check in and at times over a hour wait to claim luggage. After living in Thailand for a number of years I see that the officials in Thailand are reactionary not proactive. Just look at how they handle the annual flooding and extreme air pollution. The government does star addressing issues until the start to happen. I hope this is not the case this time since I fly on a monthly basis. I always hope for the best but plan for the worst.

The new terminal may be ready to go but I doubt if they have enough people to handle an increase in passengers. They definitely need to add people at the check-in counters, immigration and baggage handlers. it will be nice if they eliminate the bus gates. I fly between Chiang Rai and Bangkok every month and 30-40% of the time I end up at a bus gate either upon arrival or departure.

We used A Solar. They have offices throughout Thailand. We contacted the office in Chiang Mai

Thanks for the correction on the number. in January both the Bangkok English newspaper and Reuters both reported that Prawit was selected as a candidate for prime minister for his party Www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/thailands-ruling-party-picks-veteran-kingmaker-prawit-pm-candidate-2023-01-27 It was also reported on April 5. www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/who-are-main-candidates-thailands-next-leader-2023-04-05/

I agree with you. Any party with a minimum number of elected members in the assembly (I think it’s 10) can nominate a person to be PM. During the first round of voting there were 188 votes against Pita. Add in the majority of senators and Prawit has enough votes. Things will get ugly then. If this happens I can see a vote of no confidence happening later this year which would probably pass. After that I’m not sure what happens

A passport type photo works. Chiang Rai immigration requires that a man has a shirt with a collar. No t-shirts.

As others have mentioned, the pool pump uses a lot of electricity. Our pool pump is on a time and we run it for a couple of hours in the morning and a couple in the afternoon and that is enough for us. We also added a solar panel system for our entire house. Our bills during the hot months were close to 6000 baht. Last month our bill was only 2100 baht. Well worth the money. Based on the savings we are seeing the system will pay for itself in about 7 years.

Thanks for the info. I’ll talk to them and see what type of visa they originally had when they entered Thailand. ballpoint, very good information. I did not know that a non-imm b could be extended but your experience proves that it can.

There is an American couple renting a house from us here in Thailand. Both currently have valid work permits. They would like to retire and stay in Thailand. I am thinking that they need to cancel their work permits and obtain a non-o visa here in Thailand. Then near the end of the 90 days they could apply for retirement extensions. They meet the age requirement. Since they have work permits now there is no problem for them to open bank accounts and deposit 800,000 baht. They told me that if each one needed an account with 800,000 they can do it. A couple of questions. 1. Do they need to leave Thailand and enter visa exempt or can they switch from the work permit to a non-o while staying in Thailand? 2. Does each person need an account with 800,000 baht or can one of them get the retirement extension and the other stay in Thailand as a spouse of a retiree? 3. Are there other options? Thanks in advance for your help