bangkokburning

OOPS forgot - I need to be over 50 for that visa. I'm 491/2. Was hoping with some documentation from TGF that I could get six months non-o.

So, it's just the TR - thanks Mario

I'm here in Thailand but I like the option of making the visa in the US. I go home every year anyway.

...mainly because I can get a visa and not have it tied to a residence. I don't want to keep an apartment or have the cops show up at my girlfriends place when I won't even be there but 3-4 months a year as we are traveling (in/out of thailand).

I can just show my bank account and be done with it

I can get 15 months Plus There is technically no reporting requirement, I'm sure we will be in and out every 90 days.

I dont have to convert 25k US to THB as it slides into oblivion only to correct sharply when BOT wakes up.

I go home every year anyway. Plus - no hassles about having money in the bank for x months

*I think the paper at the embassy days are drawing to a close, just a hunch - as well

The extension is a real hassle for me and I really don't need it. My basis for being pissed at Thai immigration all I need is 3-4 TRs a year and I am happy. But with all the nonsense I am shoved into a visa class that only poses problems for me - primarily reporting and residence. I will definitely be out of the country a minimum of 4 mos a year and up to 6.

She may well be a mail order bride but she judging by her comments - far from it.

I can tell you that if she would have somehow got to the us shores and not had a visa she would not be threatened with a fine or jail. they would have simply put her on a plane and off shed go.

really poor form - but consider the source. Honestly, I don't know why people holiday here any more.

Hidden agenda - it is to laugh. Appears she is working or at least married and holds perm res status in the US. And the residence passport (US green) should matter at least to teh point she is not threatened to be tossed in jail like a common criminal.

Have name of a shop? sounds like a good idea.

My GF is dying for the full versions but I do not want to use my debit card w/ iTunes for many reasons most of all i hear many accts had been hacked recently. I've checked most of the disks at Fortune and can't find PopStar or Chuzzle.

title should read games not apps *

OK, she made a big mistake. That's what it is a mistake. She is perma resident of US and passport holder.

What was the kindness and courtesy extended to this holiday goer? Massive fines and jail time.

What the hel_l is wrong with this country?

It is truly looking more like the Philippines every day except my hunch is she would have been treated far more politely there.

Can the medical certificate be signed in Thailand?**

Letter from your bank - What is a satisfactory date on letterhead, the window between letter date and application submission?

Statement - All my stuff is online. Printed statement OK?

Criminal Check - State my license is issued adequate?

Thanks

The plan is to take a single and make a runner to Penang. The single in Indo will make 2 pieces of paper and 3 visas in my latest PP - no extentions. Penang is a total crap shoot and I would not use it except I will be in the South when my visa expires Jan1X. At that point, I would not need a double to make it to April1, Lao is pretty far from Similians.

I would like to save the Lao run for when I return from Nepal, I will the need to stay until Sept before returning to states where I will make a OA. Besides my return is to BKK so I'd have to not take the visa (75% reason for Indo trip) and do the runner to Lao. Trying to avoid the back to back thing.

PS: I should have stated a six month non-immigrant visa.

I will be flying in to Bali w/ my Thai girlfriend and staying together for ten days before I set off for another five weeks of travel.

I have the oppty to make a visa in Bali, it appears that only singles are allowed. Does anyone think that I might obtain a non-immigrant double with her ID and letter OR even a TR (double)?

Might I fare better in Jakarta?

I need a double to get us to early April when we will set off for Nepal.

Thanks

The thread seems to be divided into two camps:

The guys that love their families and the comforts of home.

The new arrivals who are fond of the weather, sights, sounds and even smells.

I wonder when the epiphany hits, the smells, sights and sounds become familiar - what these folks will leaving them warm and fuzzy. BTW, all these things the sights, sounds and smells can be found in all the neighboring countries as well. Thailand is hardly unique in this regard if one would venture out.

My love affair with Thailand has ended. Mostly due to visa hassles and the weak USD/strong THB. This year, I can apply for O extension or OA. I detest the reporting requirement as I love to travel.

If it were not for my gf, I'd be gone as Thailand has become such a poor value, many items are as expensive here as in US, even more so.

Still:

Transport via bus system and roads are quite good, best value in Asia.

BTS/MRT are too expensive by Thai standard, but good compared to West

Dental/Medical still good value, rapidly declining. RAPIDLY.

National Parks despite lack of wildlife

I do love the fruit, almost always in season

I do love the cheap delicious food

Two reasons I am staying on until the THB hits <26 are:

My girlfriend

A few beauty spots in the Andaman (one with lovely coral) I won't give up easily*

When the coral goes at my favorite spot - I will leave Thailand and not come back.

BTW: I do not think you can even get a standard NonO unless you are visiting Thai friends or relatives in the vast, vast majority of cases. I am visiting some farang friends in CM - highly doubtful. The business visa will be hugely problematic for you as well, a non starter. Real and only options are the OA and the TR. TR easiest to obtain and easiest to rationalize to a skeptical US bureaucrat...you went and had a look at job prospects. The economy is US is very sour and will remain weak IYO for years. OK.

OA is a visa with the intention to long stay and is usually used to retirees. So that would be the presumption - you went to Thailand with intention to at the very least, have a long stay. Of course, if the bureaucrat is already digging this deep into the issue - you're finished anyway. My hunch is most public employees haven't a clue that countries even have visa classifications.

In California you must file paperwork that includes employers that you have submitted paperwork for employment prospects bi-weekly. Some states require your presence. It is no problem to get a benefit while traveling to another state, Cali in particular encourages it as it gets you off their payroll. You can though, stop your benefit and reapply (on your return) in California.

BUT...since you are not looking for work and looking for a six month++ holiday - I am certain that in any state you proposal is illegal.

You could in theory state you are looking for work here - but I you will have to document this potentially for the ongoing benefit and esp after assuming they might come after you. The state would have no idea about the type of visa you are here on and even if you were on a TR, you could leave and return on a business visa. non issue. Having said that - a TR is one thing, a "retirement visa" - really bad idea. I would think a business visa would be most plausible backed with paperwork - about 10 hospitals a week.

Still my question would be:

Do you have special skills Thailand wants/needs? If not, why did you go there?

Do you speak Thai? If not how can you work?

What job were you expecting to land given your standard skillset and lack of Thai?

Further, if you had feelers out to Thailand before you lost your job (email, documents, correspondence to hospitals, schools that would also show you had a real interest. This totally smacks of what it is - fraud.

If I were an auditor....I'd be thinking, theyre are PLENTY of nursing jobs in the US. If you don't like one in the USA, that will be on your dime. Hard to look at thousands of jobs out there and say with a straight face - you cant find work. Your inquiry already informs us that you are willing to move THOUSANDS of miles for work so that defense is shot down (not in my area).

Unemployment insurance is just that. Your inquiry strikes me as fraud and the fact that you whinge about the weather - well, here is the perfect opportunity to move to Florida or Cali or Az or Mid Atlantic.

See if you can stop your benefit Nov-Mar. No issues. Tell them you want to go abroad to look for work, then just take your holiday. No harm no foul. Make an anon call.

> I wish I had an RN or NP/PA. Biggest mistake of my life, going into IT and not medicine. Now at 50, that road is impossible, new nurse graduate at 55 - why bother.

Jim Rogers now lives in Singapore. He was pretty up on OZ till he visited. He wrote a scathing article on the country that focused on ownership rights but then swept into hassles to stay, visas and even racism. Was not a pretty picture from one of the worlds smartest people.

I've tried twice to find the article without luck.

Still just POMEs I guess

My friend was looking at Nicaragua.

I think the best way to look at retirement is to have a lace to go in summer and winter. You get the best of both seasons and very possibly can live on tourist visas.

US also require you to pay tax no matter where you are in the world, but...if retired and your only income is investments, that tax can be 15% AND the first 75k is not taxed at all.

Despite Nam's issues of not paying taxes to his country that afforded him the oppty to make those funds...

The US allows many very, very legal trusts to operate. These are not without costs such as giving away the assets often times. But LivinLOS is correct, very legal, SOP for many wealthy persons.

I think I am going to appy for OA at home. While the baht continues to appreciate and it's killing me, US26k can be invested. Money sitting in these banks earn nothing plus you have inflation. Then you have tax.

Pure folly really. You can buy a house in states clear (or maybe better now, rent?) and live in that house easily for that sum of money. Spend your winters here. For me, its a matter of time, Im sizing up the Pac NW and BC Canada as will as Mid Atlantic and select Florida,

In Thailand you cannot own land and under many terms of visas cannot even own a car - so what exactly are you spending that huge wad of cash on? Then you have the mystery that f married - you need half that amount to support no less than double (2) the people.

Its not about what makes sense, or right its about how high farang jump.

Of course its unsafe and has issues by western standards - doesnt mean its not delish and never makes me sick.

The people that will tell you not to eat it - dont eat Thai food anywhere, believe it. They cant handle the heat or the exotic tastes.

I get loose bowels from street food about once a year. BTW - I eat street food everywhere incl Myanmar, India, Cambodia and Indonesia,

Not eating street food is missing an entire dimension of the culture.

NOTE: While I often eat meat that has been sitting cold for hours, I often do not eat it. You have to eye up the vendor, use regulars and have a look at what your buying. Yesterday I nixed a buy on some gai thot. Sitting just toooo long.

From my reading, Malaysia is way easier but requires 50K (and easy property ownership), the RP requires = funds as Thailand, but can stay for years on a tourist visa as Cambodia. India will give 10yrs to Americans and 5 years to Brits without financial requirements. Indonesia I hear is about 30k in paperwork per year, no doubt graft - doubtful reporting requirements. Things have changed in C/S America but 90 used to be common on entry and you could jump the border for another 90. Many counties in this region also allow tax free importation of personal property incl autos and allow property ownership.

homeless - Thailand is perhaps one of the easiest of 215 nations, but drill down on retirement destinations and I could not agree at all. All the above are easier. In fact every country you cite is easier, way easier.

EU gives 90 days come and go as you see fit as well. I'm sure Africa is wide open (Seychelles? Mauritius?) also.

Canada -

USA -

As Thailand becomes more expensive, many other countries come into play.

Thanks. Pardon my ignorance here, doctors working at hospitals also have private practice and offices outside? I have a contact already will email and inquire.

Ulysses G - I think a bit of selective memory. Although you had to do a number of visa runs, even those living on TRs were assured of re-entry. Visas flowed like wine.Triples were common in Penang as they were in L.A. and D.C. Years ago it was a far better game for someone to live on TRs esp compared to a marriage visa. Visas could also be had in Myanmar and Cambodia. Thailand had very few living on retirement visas (I recall a NYT article), fewest in most/all countries for US expat and this they surmised was for the hasles of the retirement visa and ease of the TR.

Studying the retirement extension, I just see a new set of hassles every month. After you pay for all the periperal costs, its not even that much cheaper than doing a visa run (if you know how to do it) The system is wholly inflexible - its all about what Thai immigration wants and nothing about what a retiree might need, As jing stated - just a leash. Then there is the whim and arbitrariness of the person deciding your case. Whether their ignorance of their own convoluted laws or just money grubbing. What about the guys with kids that get told - no you can't live here any more and immigration to another country is not an option for wifey and kids?

Honestly, if you state that getting a retirement extension is now easier - who am I to say it is not, but the above is my perception. Also, appears you are pretty "settled". What about guys that want to move around the country and travel, that live in the sticks, That as even you mention in another thread, remember 1997 and have 2nd thoughts about Thai banks.

I cold live very cheaply in the US, the sticking point might be medical. Depends how you want to live. I would love to have a garden and embrace the Simplicity / Green movement. If you need a house with a/c and a big car and ,,,, well perhaps no, but thatis partly what got the US in the place that it is in,

I think prices are about parity on many, many things ..alcohol, supermarket items, rent (you pay less and get less space) -list is endless. Thailand is no longer a good value. You can have a small house, veggie garden and live very nicely. The only thing I see that is cheaper here off the top of my head is: street food, medical (higher end services), fruit and veggies not supermarket bought, meat. Bus transport remains a bargain for Thailand and throughout Asia (best/cheapest). On balance it is still cheaper - on balance, but that balance will change and bear in mind there are other costs for many of us - like me going home to visit my elderly parents each year.

No way I would come to Thailand on a holiday now. Airfare + costs of a package you could have a stellar holiday in the states. In fact, if I were from a western country I would take the oppty! US has a lot of very great natural beauty - Thailand is an overfished, polluted sprawl. It's had its day.

Many of us are just in the "what next" moment - it will take a lot to get us to move/change be it back to our home countries or another place. The stalwarts are the guys that have grown roots, families and are just too old and/or lazy - and have the resources to eek it out.

A person with the amount of cash required to stay in this country (not tied down by relationship or property they cant unload) on retirement extension, well, ...the world is their oyster,

PS: both you and Nam think things are easier, maybe that is your personal situation but I have read many, many times on this board of posters stating that their paperwork each year just gets thicker and thicker.

My friend programmed a great one (standalone). He put up a link on TV as I told him to -and was admonished for it. Link was immeditely taken down (in Tech thread perhaps)

If the mods want this great program with variable dates - someone can pm me but they must at his request, stick it to the site. Its free to TV,, he just likes programming. Send me an email and I can send you either the prog or the link. He's outside Thailand for another few weeks.

Yes, Samitivej. NO not cheap, but last check-up at PraRam9 was OK for lab but physical was real disappointment. Dr did not really address my concerns of my BP or my girlfriends cholesterol issues. Real medical mill.

That is three recommendations for SL (1 in pm), perhaps I will have a better look there. Not interested in gov't hospitals for a variety of reasons, but thx.

Thanks very much.

Where do you get that songteaw?? Any landmarks for the stop?

Man, that station is really mafia now days.

I have walked that into town many times in the middle of the night. They want like B70, yeah right.

My physicals are haphazard as the quality. I want to get a doctor/hospital and stick with them. The medicine seems to be effective (and cheap) but is old. I am mainly worried because w/o it, my BP is very high and concerned over coronary issues. My tests are pretty good - but its the heart and arteries I'm worried about. Like to have this checked. I've made about all the lifestyle changes I am willing to or able (Thai food loaded w/ salt and MSG and I love it).

Unless someone can recommend better, I will have a look at Sami next physical exam.

Thanks.