Under 30, self employed, RM1.3mil, Malaysia Citizen, NZ PR

[nzdpower]

Hi there,

 

I have done a few days of reading regarding ways of staying long term (2-5 years) in Thailand with the best value for money, and stumbled upon this forum so I want to ask for some input.

 

My circumstances are :

1) Aged below 30

2) male

3) Malaysian citizen

4) New Zealand permanent resident with option to get citizenship (but will have to hide it from Malaysian Customs)

5) Currently earning 3-7k NZD per month (fluctuates a lot)

6) Have RM1,300,000 in fix deposit Malaysia account, 4.1-4.3% interest. equal to about 10,000,000 THB.

 

Now i've so far thought of several strategies:

1) keep everything the same, and fly in and out every 30 days, or 60/90 if that's possible with extension.

2) buy elite visa card 500,000 THB, stay up to 5 years

3) Deposit 10,000,000 THB in Thai bank FD, stay up to forever

4) Attempt to get APEC card from Malaysia, stay up to 90 days

5) Get NZ Citizenship , then get APEC from NZ (NZ APEC seems easier than Malaysia from general research), stay up to 90 days

6) marry thai girl

 

option 1 is the least financially risky, but annoying

option 2 and 3 are very expensive and risky manoeuvres

option 4 seems like a long and unpredictable process, i have dealt with malaysian bureaucracy before and i don't want to do it again

option 5 seems the easiest and cheapest option to get at least 90 days stay, meaning 4 hops per year. The risk is that I need to enter/exit the countries in exact fashion or risk giving up my malaysia citizenship (I do not want to ever give this up)

option 6 is perhaps the most costly and risky, i don't think I will go that far

 

Are there any other methods that I haven't thought of?

[kannot]

I would say 2  is  the best and  not risky.

[Swiss1960]

Few comments, but good that you are thinking about all possible options:

1) will not carry you over 5 years, as sooner or later Thai Immigration will put you aside and question your multiple tourist visas and tell you that you are not a genuine tourist in their eyes and they will decline your entry.

2) is probably the best option (as kannot has said above) AND it will leave you enough of you 9.5 Mio Baht to enjoy your life here (as you will not be allowed to work on a Thai Elite Visa).

3) probably refers to the investor type Visa. Remember that this is given for 1 year only and has to be renewed and will not be renewed should your investment go below 10 Mio Baht, maybe due to market fluctuations or your need for cash... and how will you live here in Thailand? Investor Visa again does not qualify for a work permit.

4) and 5) I can not comment on, but not sure about how many times you can use it in a row to enter Thailand?

6) is definitely not the option to choose 

Good luck to you

[Thailand J]

7) Multi- Entry Tourist Visa.

 

 

Becareful 6 can be tricky . True love is  very expensive.

 

 

 

 

[ubonjoe]

48 minutes ago, Swiss1960 said:

3) probably refers to the investor type Visa. Remember that this is given for 1 year only and has to be renewed and will not be renewed should your investment go below 10 Mio Baht, maybe due to market fluctuations or your need for cash... and how will you live here in Thailand? Investor Visa again does not qualify for a work permit.

Actually not that bad of an option if he has the 10 million baht to put in a bank and/or government bonds and/or to buy a condo to meet the requirements for an extension of stay (not a visa).

He stated in the OP he does have an income to support himself.

It is possible to get a work permit with an extension based upon investment. Only the basic requirement would be needed to apply for it since he would not need to apply for an extension based upon working.

[ubonjoe]

2 hours ago, nzdpower said:

2) buy elite visa card 500,000 THB, stay up to 5 years

Also a good option. No need to worry about leaving and reentering the country for a new entry like some of the other options unless you want to.

There is also an option to spend another 500k baht baht and get a 20 year Thai elite membership.  

[buick]

i would use single entry tourist visas (SETV's) or multiple entry tourist visa's (METV) to stay for the first year or two.  you will have trouble making it 5 years using that method but can likely get by for a year or two.  then, if you really enjoy the life in thailand, you can buy the elite visa.  that is really the best option but not sure i'd buy that w/o having spent some time in the country (maybe you already have ?).

 

flying in/out using visa exempt entries isn't a good plan for more than a few months.  immigration likes to see entries with visas.

 

i don't have experience with the 10,000,000thb investor visa.  if that is put in a thai bank, is there some limitation on wiring that money out of thailand ?  i'm not sure i'd want to carry that cash out, even if declared.  that might be the one time you have an accident on the way to the airport and your taxi catches fire and burns up everything inside !!

Edited July 15, 2018 by buick

[lkv]

Mixture of SETVs or METVs for the first 2 years.

Change passport, repeat for another 2 years.

 

OR

 

When or if becomes too dodgy (it shouldn't), ED visa for another few years.

[ubonjoe]

59 minutes ago, buick said:

if that is put in a thai bank, is there some limitation on wiring that money out of thailand ?

Not a problem with proof it was transferred into Thailand or that it was legally earned here.

[nzdpower]

There are a lot of great strategies here. I get a bit confused all the different types of visa terminology and will need to study up on that more.

 

it seems like the safest and best value is to go for 1-2 years of a non commital tourist visa then decide on a long term method.

 

Doing the maths , at 500k per 5 years is about 8.5k THB per month, that is quite large expenditure as i dont consider myself "rich" so i will probably keep looking for alternative methods. Thats half a honda civic! Or 3 years of rent payments.

 

i read stories of foreign husbands losing property to the thai wife and have little recourse, this type of story gives me a bit of apprehension for tranferring such a large amount into Thailand. If it was another country like autralia then it would be another matter.

 

on a side note: does anyone know how i would be able to provide prove of funds is mine through inheritance? My dad transferred me the FD without a written will etc, we are a stoic type and dont talk about money or anything really

[lkv]

1 minute ago, nzdpower said:

There are a lot of great strategies here. I get a bit confused all the different types of visa terminology and will need to study up on that more.

 

it seems like the safest and best value is to go for 1-2 years of a non commital tourist visa then decide on a long term method.

 

Doing the maths , at 500k per 5 years is about 8.5k THB per month, that is quite large expenditure as i dont consider myself "rich" so i will probably keep looking for alternative methods. Thats half a honda civic! Or 3 years of rent payments.

 

i read stories of foreign husbands losing property to the thai wife and have little recourse, this type of story gives me a bit of apprehension for tranferring such a large amount into Thailand. If it was another country like autralia then it would be another matter.

 

on a side note: does anyone know how i would be able to provide prove of funds is mine through inheritance? My dad transferred me the FD without a written will etc, we are a stoic type and dont talk about money or anything really

My previous post was bit technical for people not aware of the terminology. Sorry about that.

 

SETV = Single Entry Tourist Visa

METV = Multiple Entry Tourist Visa

ED visa = Educational Visa

 

You are right, you should stay here for a period of time without too many commitments, see how that goes, then take it from there.