Retirement visa and being rich

[observer90210]

Say you bring in around 12'000 $ in cash, to cover expenses for a 6 month stay,  change it at SuperRich to get the best rate and put in the account (with the 800k) ? could that be satisfying to the immigration that you have your expenses taken care of for the 6 month winter escape retirement stay ?  The receipt of the money changing could be a proof that the grub came in from abroad ?

Edited October 23, 2018 by observer90210

[namatjira]

1 hour ago, observer90210 said:

Say you bring in around 12'000 $ in cash, to cover expenses for a 6 month stay,  change it at SuperRich to get the best rate and put in the account (with the 800k) ? could that be satisfying to the immigration that you have your expenses taken care of for the 6 month winter escape retirement stay ?  The receipt of the money changing could be a proof that the grub came in from abroad ?

Could potentially be a problem.......

this from thai customs regarding bringing in cash.

Local currency (Baht-THB): up to THB 50,000.- per person or THB 100,000.- per family holding one passport. Foreign currencies: unlimited. However, amounts of foreign currency exceeding USD 20,000.- (or equivalent) must be declared to a Customs Officer upon arrival by all travelers.

Edited October 23, 2018 by namatjira

[Phuket Man]

8 hours ago, Sheryl said:

  They do not in the least care whether pension, interest, savings etc. just the amount and that it is brought in from abroad.

They don't care about that either.

[gk10002000]

8 hours ago, Sheryl said:

The 65 a month does not have to be income. Just 65,000 a month coming in from abroad - you could transfer that amount in from savings each month, if desired. Though if you have that much savings, simpler and easier to do the 800,000 method.

 

 

Well, that is up to debate given the current income verification letter policy changes.  I think it won't be long before the Thais realize that just because somebody transfers in money for 3 months, that does not mean they really have sufficient steady income.  Obviously many people will try to shortcut this, and just transfer in money for 3 or 4 months which could be a cash burn down, a loan, etc.   It is hardly proof of steady income.  And if the Thais do mandate one show transfers in every month, that will not go over well with many.  I would not set up any sort of automatic or manual transfer every month.  I would bring in 10k USD on a trip, and maybe ATM more as needed before I fly out and back in again.  Will the Thais accept 3 months of 65k transferred once every 3 months?  many people think they would, but no written policy exists about that. 

[observer90210]

2 hours ago, namatjira said:

Could potentially be a problem.......

this from thai customs regarding bringing in cash.

Local currency (Baht-THB): up to THB 50,000.- per person or THB 100,000.- per family holding one passport. Foreign currencies: unlimited. However, amounts of foreign currency exceeding USD 20,000.- (or equivalent) must be declared to a Customs Officer upon arrival by all travelers.

thanks for your response. but then if the amount does not exceed 20'000 $ one could still declare it to customs on arrival and if they do give a slip or a document, it could serve as proof to immigration that the funds came in from abroad for the 6 month stay ? .. or am I missing something ?

[KittenKong]

8 hours ago, wgdanson said:

If you had USD 100M in the bank, why would you want to retire in Thailand?

One possible reason could be Thailand's generous treatment of income arising overseas.

 

That's certainly a primary reason why I'm here (even if I'm a bit shy of USD100M).

 

Of course, being retired here would not stop anyone from doing a lot of travelling outside of Thailand, so maybe there are more people with USD100M technically living here than one might expect.

[sweatalot]

I read somewhere that they accept if you can prove a monthly income above 65.000 for the last year by bank certificate. But I did not find it anywhere else. Anybody experience with this?

For me this would be much easier than staying above 800.000 Baht for 3 months.

 

Btw. They dont accept money in a fixed deposit account. It as to be available any time

[elviajero]

9 minutes ago, sweatalot said:

I read somewhere that they accept if you can prove a monthly income above 65.000 for the last year by bank certificate. But I did not find it anywhere else. Anybody experience with this?

For me this would be much easier than staying above 800.000 Baht for 3 months.

 

Btw. They dont accept money in a fixed deposit account. It as to be available any time

They won’t accept a bank certificate to prove income, currently, they only accept affidavits/letters from the applicants Embassy.

 

They do accept fixed deposit accounts as long as the money is available. You can often still withdraw from a fixed deposit account early with loss of interest.

[andux]

5 hours ago, KittenKong said:

One possible reason could be Thailand's generous treatment of income arising overseas.

 

That's certainly a primary reason why I'm here (even if I'm a bit shy of USD100M).

 

Of course, being retired here would not stop anyone from doing a lot of travelling outside of Thailand, so maybe there are more people with USD100M technically living here than one might expect.

 

Excellent response. Some here may be surprised at the amount of really wealthy people living in Thailand. I don't see how the Caribbean beats Thailand, but maybe someone can enlighten me.

 

For starters, Thailand is way safer than any island of the Caribbean. And then Thailand has some other perks: better weather, food, excellent beaches as well, better-looking girls (at least for my taste), and it's close to other great destinations to live the high life (Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, China, Malaysia, etc).

 

And last, most rich people are not rich because they won the lottery... They understand the value of the money they worked to obtain, and while they might not be trying to save by eating noodle soup, they may still be investing in properties or other businesses, which in Thailand are great value.

Edited October 23, 2018 by andux

[overherebc]

No need to talk 100 mil dollars just a tidy sum of a few million baht into Thailand would be fine until you want to take it out again. That's when it becomes complicated.

One guy around my way after a few years sold up house/cars etc and was going back to Oz. Ended up having to transfer everything/cash about 23,000,000 baht, most earned tax paid in Thailand and Asia, to his Thai wife and the bank then allowed her to transfer it. No way could he do it himself.

Edited October 24, 2018 by overherebc

[wgdanson]

3 hours ago, andux said:

they may still be investing in properties or other businesses, which in Thailand are great value.

Which a) they cannot own and b) must have a 51% Thai partner. If you had USD 100M, why would the distance between other destinations to 'live the high life' matter. You would probably have your own jet, and also live in one of the high life places.

[mikebell]

19 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

If you had 100 million dollars, you may choose to consider other Visa's

in countries that made you feel welcome and allowed you to own a house.

[smotherb]

18 hours ago, wgdanson said:

If you had USD 100M in the bank, why would you want to retire in Thailand?

Why, is Thailand only for those who cannot afford to live elsewhere?

[RichardColeman]

19 hours ago, djdubuque said:

my question is if your wealth let's say you have an account with 100 million USD in it cause you won the lottery.  Do these requirements still apply?

Why would you want to live full time in Thailand if you had 100 million dollars ? 

[BritManToo]

4 minutes ago, smotherb said:

Why, is Thailand only for those who cannot afford to live elsewhere?

Pretty much.

If I were ($100M) rich I'd be living in the USA and Canada.

Edited October 24, 2018 by BritManToo

[wgdanson]

6 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Pretty much.

If I were ($100M) rich I'd be living in the USA and Canada.

Especially CANADA now !

[wgdanson]

12 hours ago, namatjira said:

However, amounts of foreign currency exceeding USD 20,000.- (or equivalent) must be declared to a Customs Officer upon arrival by all travelers.

observer said USD 12000, which in my book, is not more than USD 20,000.

[steven2018]

I am going to be anally specific - I am a newbie and confused by this: example, U.S. Citizen uses Bangkok Bank New York to do a direct deposit of Social Security, then funds the associated Bangkok Bank in Thailand with the difference to equal the required 65K month / 800K annually (ie, SS $1500 monthly and $10,000 cash in the Thai Bank account). Does this look doable as a combination of funds, or does a lump sum of 800K baht ($25,000) have to be in a Thai bank account (during the seasoning periods).

 

 

[overherebc]

9 minutes ago, steven2018 said:

I am going to be anally specific - I am a newbie and confused by this: example, U.S. Citizen uses Bangkok Bank New York to do a direct deposit of Social Security, then funds the associated Bangkok Bank in Thailand with the difference to equal the required 65K month / 800K annually (ie, SS $1500 monthly and $10,000 cash in the Thai Bank account). Does this look doable as a combination of funds, or does a lump sum of 800K baht ($25,000) have to be in a Thai bank account (during the seasoning periods).

 

 

The 800,000 can be lump sum, or income equal to 800,000 or combination. eg 400,000 lump sum and income 400,000 per year so total 800,000 or however you do it to total 800,000 a year.

[wgdanson]

5 minutes ago, overherebc said:

or income equal to 800,000

Which has to be verified/affidavit/oath, by your embassy.

[ubonjoe]

10 minutes ago, overherebc said:

or income equal to 800,000

It is actually 780k baht annual income since the requirement is a income equal to 65k baht per month.

 

6 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

Which has to be verified/affidavit/oath, by your embassy.

Only the monthly income needs to be proven not an annual income.

[overherebc]

20 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

Which has to be verified/affidavit/oath, by your embassy.

Therein lies the rub.

[steven2018]

Therein lies the rub.

Just supply 12 months of Thai Bank statements showing the direct deposits and the added cash difference ?

[Pedrogaz]

20 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

Perhaps but that income would also require showing tax payments and tax returns. It cannot be proven by a income letter.

I have one of my pensions paid into Bangkok bank......as luck would have it it is around 65K per month. I have other income and so do not spend this money but rather let it build up so there is always 800K in there for the visa extension each year. You have raised the issue of taxation and I read somewhere that the Thai government consider pensions paid here as taxable? Do you know anything about this? If the Thai government want to tax it I will stop having it paid here.

[wgdanson]

19 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Only the monthly income needs to be proven not an annual income.

Please explain. On my 'application form' to the BE, a couple of the payments were six monthly ones, January and July. They accepted that. Surely on the form to the BE, you only put an ANNUAL TOTAL no matter how it comes into your UK bank, and that is then divided by 12 to give a monthly AVERAGE.

[overherebc]

9 minutes ago, steven2018 said:

16 minutes ago, overherebc said:

Therein lies the rub.

Just supply 12 months of Thai Bank statements showing the direct deposits and the added cash difference ?

For your 2nd year that's possible. How can you show it for your first retirement/married extension?

[Lacessit]

16 hours ago, djdubuque said:

This was only hypothetical, but if I did have the 100M, I would live in Thailand and take my Thai girl anywhere she wanted to go.  I have been to more than 60 counties for work so I would only be going to help my girl understand the way the other parts of the world live.  As she only recently has gone outside Thailand with me.

IMHO there are some Thais who are curious about the world outside Thailand. My Thai GF loves travel to other countries. In contrast, her father had never been outside his home village until recently.

Culture shock works both ways. She achieved a long-held dream when she got to hand-feed wallabies at a Victorian sanctuary. She was puzzled by the absence of any police checkpoints or army personnel in Australia. When we travelled between Wilcannia and Broken Hill, a fairly barren stretch, she kept asking why there were no houses or villages.

After a month in Australia, I think she was quite homesick.

[tgeezer]

If you are asking about not needing endorsement by your embassy I don’t think that making a standing order to the bank makes any difference. As I see it your plan is a combination of cash in hand for the coming year plus a promise of income making a total of 800,000Baht. This seems to be giving Immigration a problem, probably because it isn’t comparable to 800,000B cash or in hand as fulfilling the condition for extending your stay. The ‘seasoning’ appears to be an attempt to minimise the number of applicants who could pool their funds to make a total of 800,000B and may or may not apply to the cash component of your plan.




Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect

[ubonjoe]

17 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

Please explain. On my 'application form' to the BE, a couple of the payments were six monthly ones, January and July. They accepted that. Surely on the form to the BE, you only put an ANNUAL TOTAL no matter how it comes into your UK bank, and that is then divided by 12 to give a monthly AVERAGE.

Not sure why they do it showing annual income. You would have to ask them about that.

You can do the average income yourself to get the monthly income required yourself. Other embassies only need your monthly income to do your proof of income document.

[HAKAPALITA]

If you have ever flown wit a party of Thai Ladies you always remember the Cheer when they land back home in Thailand.Yet they dont when they land on Alien Soil, unlike Europeans Girls who cheer when landing in Spain or similar, and have a face like a Slapped Arse when flying going home.