garyk

35 minutes ago, darrenr said:

Thailand really needs to look at their complicated ‘jump through the hoops “ retirement visa system, many Latin American and some European destinations offer 90,180 and even 365 day tourist visa- dont need to show bank statements, don’t need to show insurance and some no onward ticket, making it easy to stay then visit another adjacent country and then come back . 
 

And then 90 day reporting standing in line , need to improve the 90 day online system 

What gripes me about Thailand  is that you cannot prove you have the funds they want your funds in their banks basically. In most latin American countries I can show funds in the bank and be granted a retirement visa. In Mexico where I am thinking of setting up a permanent retirement visa. I can show 150K in the bank and be issued a permanent visa. Here in Colombia it is dirt cheap, just showing the funds in the bank. In Thailand it is just a money scam IMHO.. They don't care if you have money or not. Don't care if you spend it to improve the lives of the Thai people, the government just wants it in the banks or being channeled in in 65K/mo. chunks. 

No offense, if they can get away with it then more power to them. I am not a fan of setting up and depositing large sums of money in a foreign country.

Look at Malaysia, how insane is that!  Another country that has gone off the deep end..

9 minutes ago, Scheduler said:

As with others on this thread I first visited Thailand some years ago, 2005.

I found the culture, the food and the diverse landscapes very pleasant.

Unfortunately over the years the overall mood, politics, visa requirements and costs of living here especially the medical to be deteriorating. 

I have a lovely partner/Thai wife and due to a rare eye disease that she has we must continue to live here for her medical care. 

Now in retirement for the past 2.5 years we have explored other countries and found Ecuador in South America to be our favorite. A great choice to for retirement and more especially so for Canadian and Americans.

My pipe dream is that Thailand will wake-up and adapt a more logical approach to foreigners/retirees.  

 

Same here, I am in Colombia at present. Scenery will take your breath away. Would love to expore Ecuador.. 

19 hours ago, andy said:

Made a few visits on a motorbike a long time ago - this was probably '03-'04-ish.  Preah Vihear temple, Koh Ker, Preah Khan.  Lots of forest still intact then.  I did a motorbike trip from Stung Treng to Tbeng Meanchey that was basically a trail through the jungle, one hell of an awesome experience.  It was about a 10 hour ride with breaks and thought I would have to sleep in the forest at one point.  Is there any forest left or is it totally wiped out?

Wow, bet that was a cool trip. Lived in Tbeng Meanchey birding about 3 years ago, the last time. Logging was out of control. While birding the logging goons came to pay me a visit to make sure I was not an activist.. Guns, the whole nine yards. Scared the <deleted> out of me. Slash and burn. I drove my truck from Thailand. All along that area all the way to the Vietnam border was horrible. There is still jungle but it is fading fast.. 

Anyone ever visit this area??  I lived there for a few months. Logging has decimated the area. A day late and a dollar short should be the headline for this story..

This is like going to a fortune teller at the lowest point in your life and the fortune teller says I predict things will get better in the next few months.. 

The people that run Thailand will never let it return. Insurance on arrival will increase, These guys run the government. Every hi-so with their hand in the kitty will make sure it is a nightmare to visit Thailand not to mention live there.

If this keeps up we may have a military coup in Thailand soon.

What a relief, I was thinking there would not be any action..

Got to hand it to Thailand,  they know how to keep a S.H. looking like a pink rose on the internet.

If there was a tourist olympic game, these guys would win every year.

Gold medal to TAT again. 

Of course they would have the Gold medal taken away for testing positive for drug use.

China has to be in love with this guy.

I certainly would not be hanging my hat there. 

Strange, I came to Colombia when it opened it borders and NO restrictions. Oddly enough when they opened the borders the cases were spiking like crazy. Now the cases are dropping like a rock and everything is fully open. The town I am in is so clean, the people are really taking it serious. All with masks and wiping everything down pronto after you leave. Not sure what the difference is but it seems to be working here.

6 hours ago, EricTh said:

So what's the best way to park our money?

 

If you have to have it in a Thai bank for your yearly extension,  just keep the minimum you need. The rest keep in your home country. That is what I would do. If you are living their full time the money in the bank for the extension is pretty much a write off anyway.

Keep enough in your home country for another round of extensions if Thailand is home.

And hope the goal posts don't change. 

1 hour ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

BTW, for those with an interest in this, you also have to be careful to ensure that your Thai bank accounts are NOT classified as "non-resident baht accounts."  Because, those are NOT covered by the DPA act and its protections.

 

https://www.dpa.or.th/en/articles/view/who-is-protected

 

“Non-Resident Baht Accounts” as defined in the Exchange Control Act B.E. 2485 (1942) are not protected.

 

Remark:

A “Non-Resident Baht Account” is a special type of deposit account denominated in Thai baht that is used solely for transactions as specified in the Exchange Control Act. A “Non-Resident” means:

...
4)  Natural persons not of Thai nationalities and not having alien identity or residence permits."

 

 

Wow, it that is the case, there will be thousands of expats scrambling to get 800K in another bank pronto before their yearly extension.

On 8/9/2021 at 4:52 PM, DaveSamutP said:

Unless they want vaccines or jobs, of course. ????

Funny, My Mexican friends from Mexico are heading to the US by the droves. 

Before the US wanted a covid-19 test I know several that made the trip..

800K for me to stay in Thailand if I wanted to. If the bank failed, as a foreigner I would be skeptical at best of getting a dime back.

What a mess, Nothing will change in Thailand.

Wow, Thailand is getting hit hard. 

I flew into Colombia about 10 days ago, Population is about 50 million. Running average here is 7000/day in the last week.

You can see the spike when there was civil unrest, not it is dropping like a rock.

Colombia opened the doors to tourists. I had to fill out a MIG doc online. If fully vaccinated no quarantine, No restrictions.

All the places I visit here are extremely clean. and all wear the masks.  

Not sure the problem, but with all the hype the government put out that Thailand was containing the virus?

I expected it to be fully open by now.

29 minutes ago, iian23 said:

More like the the US don't use AZ because big pharma in the US can't make a profit from it. We sell the AZ vaccine at cost whilst Pfizer etc  are making billions from the worlds misery.

Maybe, but you can walk into your local pharmacy without an appointment and get a free jab in the US. Hell, I can walk into my local grocery store that has a pharmacy and get the vaccine.   Pfizer

Since Asia is not open, I came to Colombia for a few months and even here the locals have access to it. FREE.   Pfizer

I have a friend in Mexico which I like to travel to some time and they got their free jab several months ago. Pfizer

Not sure why Asia is having such a hard time getting the vaccine?

I really don't understand the problem, I consider Thailand to be better off financially than Colombia, even Mexico to some degree. But, it seems the vaccine is not available there?

29 minutes ago, Caldera said:

In practical terms, that simply means that you prefer to have your body deal with a novel coronavirus it isn't familiar with, if and when you get infected.

 

Considering how virulent recent strains are, it's almost inevitable that you subject your body to one (by choice) or the other (by accident) in due course.

 

I think the "experimental vaccine" is at the very least safer than facing the real thing unprepared, but as they say, up to you!

Yeah, my next door neighbor thought the same way. 2 months later he died in the hospital of the virus. He was a preacher and said god would protect him. ugggg

I thought I would give a update on prices here.

This is lunch I had delivered to the condo I am staying in. I did not feel like going out.

Honey chicken breast with cheese and a small piece of ham in the middle. Beans , rice, Potatoes, A nice soup and salad, and a drink. The cost delivered was 2.80 dollars and I gave a 1 dollar tip.. Total 3.80.

Here is my condo, I rented for one month. Fully furnished with a washer and air. Very good and fast internet. Total 470 for the apartment. This is in town in a very secure building. I am not liking it really, I want to move up to a better place with a pool and gym. So If I can find one next month I will post pics and prices. This was last minute.

6 minutes ago, internationalism said:

no, because thai government wanted to save money and ordered only 3mln doses per month.

At the same time they are sponsoring thai sangha to the tune of 50% of it's budget, some 5bln every single year. But that money do pacyfy population very well

If I understand you correctly, you are saying they do not have the vaccine?  So the government does not want to vaccinate the Thai people?