Pilotman

Some advice please. I will arrive in LOS in mid June on a O visa that I will use to enter and then get an extension based upon Retirement at the 90 day point. I have a list of things that I think I need to do, but I dont want to have to keep going back to various offices becuse I am doing them in the wrong order.  Open a bank account will be first and deposit the necessray funds for the extension at 90 days, but then the list is:

Get a yellow book

Get the medical cert for the extension sorted.

Get driving license for car and bike

Register at the new house we have bought ( we stay in a hotel for 3 days, then a villa for one month, then move to our new house)

Get a Thai pink ID

I have printed out all the relevant forms, but they are not easy to follow.

Any tips?

Its an interesting question. I am moving to LOS to retire in the next 3 weeks, at the age of 69. It has been in my thoughts certainly. I will no doubt grow older and probably die in Thailand, but I refuse point blank to worry about it, allow it to impact my thought in my new life, or make me pay the stupid insurance rates on offer for health cover. I am fit, probably very fit for my age, I look after myself and I will continue to do that as my part in the game of life. I do have sufficient funds for major health issues, but whether I use them or not is an issue for me. I guess I accepted that living in Thailand just means I never will have the medical cover that I had/have in the UK and I guess that's fine for me. Better that than live in a cold inhospitable climate with miserable people around me, just on the off chance that I will need the NHS sometime. 

1 hour ago, Phulublub said:

I used to use TransferWise - who do provide a useful and very competitive sewrvice - but have found a better method.

 

For those who can obtain a UK Credit Card, then the best rate for a pension paid into a UK account (or, indeed for absolulety every other transfer of GBP to THB)  is to be had by obtaining either an Aqua Card or the Halifax Clarity Card.

 

Neither of these cards do charge for foreign transactions, INCLUDING taking cash out.  You will get the interbank rate.  The danger is that  they will charge interest from the date of the transaction until it isd paid off - but by logging in to your UK bank online and transferring enough to cover the withdrawal, there are absolutely no costs at all.  Both Cards will also allow you to overpay so as to have a credit balance if you are worried that you might forget to transfer after taking cash out.

 

I have both and do this regularly to maintain my THB account balance.  I also charge as many purchases as I can to one or other (and paying off in full each month).  Way better than bringing a large fistful of high denomination GBP notes every time you travel, and a saving of the TransferWise fees every time you do a transfer.

 

Paul

On a similar theme, I use pre paid credit cards that can be loaded from your uk bank account using an online portal. I use the AA pre paid card or the Caxton card. No fees for loading and non for withdrawing. Obviously they make their money on exchange rate, but I have found them competitive. I have used both for many ye are to transfer smallish amounts to my in laws and my wife has her own pre paid card for holiday cash. Works well for us. 

IT depends how you leave the UK as to whether they know you have left. There are no exit checks so how can they tell? 

On 2017-5-11 at 3:02 PM, chickenrunCM said:

you don´t need your old passport in your home cThai ountry whether for enter or leaving it. You may need old passport may be only if you enter/leaving another country.

you need your old passport if Thai immigration tell you, you do!!

3 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

As you wrote she will show her Canadian passport to the airline to prove she doe not need a visa to enter Canada.

She will still have the old Thai passport after getting the new one. She could show both passports on departure from the country.

This is right. My wife renewed her Thai passport two years ago (she is also a UK Citizen) but she is required by Thai immigration to have both the old and the new passport with her when she enters and leaves Thailand, don't ask me why, it's just what they want. Makes you wonder why they issue a new passport in the first place. 

I hate to state the obvious but as you have asked , absolutely you should get the Oz passport. Why restrict your child for all of its life to a Thai passport that basically restricts travel to some but not all Asian countries. Sorry to be rather cutting, but this is a no brainier mate. 

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

OA visas are only issued as multiple entry visas. They will not issue a single entry OA visa.

Sorry to contradict you, but single entry OA is still available from the London Embassy. I have just applied and been granted a multi entry but a single entry was available for a reduced fee. As for the immigration first reporting, that is clear on the immigration website and I will just follow that once I arrive in Thailand. 

HI everyone

Do I need a work permit to personally trade on the markets from my home in LOS?  I intend only to trade on my own behalf, in my own name, pay all relevant taxes on returns,  both Thia and UK.  My visa will be either marriage to a Thai National, or retirement, haven't decided which yet.  I can't find any advice on this on the Thai websites.  I would assume from what I have found  that I don't need a WP for this kind of personal investment activity, but its best to check.

Thanks in anticipation.

On 16 April 2017 at 9:13 AM, sipi said:

I had the exact same issues with Western women.

Then I met and married a Thai and lived happily ever after.

Shit happens, get on with it.

I agree . Mostly cynics and Thai battered people will answer you here. I have been happily married for many years with a Thai wife and a 19 year old half Thai daughter. We support her widowed mother and I have never regretted the marriage, the family support or the differences in culture. Fine loyal Thai woman are our there, millions of them, so never lose the wish or the search and when you do find the right one, or many of them, just move as cautiously as anyone should, in Thailand or any other country. 

many thanks

The only person that can answer this is you. My 40 foot container is now on the high seas and on it's way to Thailand. In it are things that make my life bearable in any new location; my books, furniture made from high quality oak that I enjoy and give us both pleasure to see around the house. Bric a brac from 20 years of marriage and, for me, 45 years of adult living . Minimum of clothes, except for my Thai wife's 5 winter coats (dont ask, I just couldn't be bothered to argue). One bed that I know I can sleep on, bit of Military gear that I want to keep from those days and a few odds and sods to fill the container. Overall cost was £5k . For me, it wasn't about what I could replace in Thailand, it was about what I wanted around me while living there and the only person that could answer that question was me. I did find my wife packing some empty plastic ice cream containers, which I did stop!! 

I'm planning that our cat comes with us to LOS later this year from the UK.   Any advice on the process, bear traps, issues?  We intend to use a specialist pet export company to arrange stuff.  Any experience of such companies would be helpful.

I am also going to run a book on how long she lasts before a snake/dog/scorpion/millipede/ tropical parasite/Thai kid, gets her!!

Hi everyone

Simple question, I intend to retire to Thailand this year, my wife is a Thia/British citizen.   I know that there are a few options available to me to gain that initial visa to enter LOS and then do the necessary for a prolonged stay once I get to Thailand, but what advice do forum members have on that initial visa application?  Do I go for a  SETV, a METV, or a Non- Immigrant O visa; what has the least hassle attached? 

Many thanks in anticipation.  

3 hours ago, JAFO said:

Well Anotheruser, I think you know why I stay but for others here is a short list...

 

• I stay because I have a wonderful wife  and am quite happy and comfortable here.
• My quality of life is significantly better here then it was in the US due to financial pressures etc etc
• I enjoy my friends (Thai).
• I have an outstanding extended family (Small) .
• My BIl and Sil are working professionals. We speak both English and Thai(Albeit my Thai is marginal) but they are always willing to teach me.
• I love being in the position I can retire any time I want where as had I stayed in the US I would have to work until I die most likely.
• Our money really works for us here and I have zero debt. 
• I find Thai people (the ones I meet or have met) to be very friendly and pleasant.
• We own outright our a modest home on a few acres of land in Northern Thailand that is located near creature comforts should I desire to go to the movies, shopping or just walk around. 
• I live by a river so I can go fishing any time
• I can ride my mountain bike along the river trails
• There are incredibly good restaurants with good entertainment close by
• There is no traffic, congestion
• I love the weather in the North
• Traveling to secluded beach areas for getaways is easy  because I have a small airport not to far from us.
• Although I have not had to use it, we are near a very nice hospital

 

I could go on......

Absolutely correct. I would add one more; all my UK friends, live outside Thailand and visit and I specifically bought a house surrounded by Thai families with not a westerner  in sight . To some up, a more simple , less stressful and satisfying life than I would ever find in the UK. 

Of course there should be differential pricing so that Thais with lower  incomes can access facilities. Tourists should pay more and let's face it, the amounts hardly break the bank. Try a tourist attraction in the UK, where you pay hideous amounts of money the third rate attractions, and have anybof you gone to rip off  attractions in the US lately . 

I park at the Paragon and take the BTS 

8 hours ago, mcfish said:

Why the need for an autopsy if they have it on video?

Sent from my SC-01D using Tapatalk
 

They need to know if drugs or illness had an impact and made him trip

Connda, I understand your frustration. My wife ( Thai born and now a British Citizen) have started to see the down side of retiring to Thailand. The more I read about the carry on that the rest of my older life will be to maintain permission to live in Thailand the more unattractive it becomes. As to why, it goes to the Thai psychological attitude to the rest of the World, paranoia at ever being in the thrall of a foreign power, the essential selfishness of Buhidism in terms of its concentration on 'self' and the Thai class system, where the elite is even more afraid of the power of the common people than in almost any other country in the World. Put this all together and you can see why  we westerners are barely tolerated. 

Ive seen several examples of old Brit guys selling a story to some Young Thai girl and then she marries the old git and gets to the UK, she finds that he lives in a Council house, lives off his pension, lives in some seedy part of a town and hasn't got a pot to piss in. She can't go back and lose fa ce with her family, so she's stuck. IT happens a lot! 

I have been visiting Thailand for just about 50 years, having first come here with the Military. I am married to a Thai for the the past 20 years, although we have been in the UK for all that time. We are retiring in Thailand for a quieter and simpler life than we lead here. I don't like the UK weather, I don't particularly like the people, the pace of life is ludicrous , the roads and transport systems are terrible, the NHS is in meltdown, the politics drives you nuts. Summer is 2 months long if you are lucky, none existent if you are not. The rest is cold stinging rain , central heating and being bundled up in layers of clothes. Thailand has its down sides, as does everywhere, but growing old in the UK sucks . 

I have been a member of TV for many years as I plan my retirement in Sattahip, which will happen next year. The forum has been an enormously helpful source for me and for many other friends of mine and for that I am very grateful to other users and to the management of TV. I also hope that in a small way I have passed on information that has been useful to others. 

My one gripe and it's a rather big one, are the number of trolls on the forums who take any chance to be negative, about Thailand, about Thai females, about living in the place and about the people. They even gripe all the time about fellow Forum users. I'm not sure why this happens, maybe they are just sad lonely disappointed people who can't help themselves. I just wish they would stop! 

14 hours ago, sanemax said:

 

    Now, be honest, you wouldnt be extremely rich would you .

If you actually have, then you really need to stop listening to younger girls conversions .

If you spent all your time listening to the opinions of girls in pubs in central Newcastle you would get a very distorted view of the views of the whole of UK females.