Possible relocation to Georgetown, Penang

[Genericnic]

Hi all. 

 

I'm from the US, am 69 years old, in basic good health. With the recent changes to the immigration rules for maintaining a retirement visa in Thailand, there is about a 95% chance I will be leaving when my current extension of stay expires in December. And before you ask, I have enough monthly income to meet the 65,000 baht/month income requirement or to deposit 8000,000 baht in a Thai bank account. For a number of reasons, I prefer not to do either.

 

So, the question is about long term relocation to Malaysia, specifically Georgetown, Penang. There has been a lot of information about Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Philippines, and Malaysia in general but I haven't found anything about the Georgetown area. 

 

I'd be interested in hearing about the pros and cons of living there from someone currently living there or someone that has lived there in the past 5 years or so. I have been there a number of times over the past 8 years but only for a week or 10 days at a time. 

 

Any information appreciated.

 

David

 

[genobkk]

U could have Avida issues in Malaysia. I have heard that leaving every 3 months could cause issues over the long term, but I do not have any updated information on that.  I do like Penang I have been many times, a nice relaxing place 

[madmen]

There is good reason why Malaysia is hardly ever mentioned as an alternative to Thailand.
Probably George Town might be ok and certainly many of us are familiar with it through visa runs but overall Malaysia is no alternative to Thailand they are poles apart.
We are talking Islam here with 20 million Muslims that practice sharia law

[Stocky]

12 minutes ago, madmen said:

There is good reason why Malaysia is hardly ever mentioned as an alternative to Thailand.
Probably George Town might be ok and certainly many of us are familiar with it through visa runs but overall Malaysia is no alternative to Thailand they are poles apart.
We are talking Islam here with 20 million Muslims that practice sharia law
 

 

Certainly Malaysia and Thailand are different, and yes 70% of the population are Malay Muslim, true there is a dual system of law, but the Syariah Courts plays a fairly minor role, limited largely to civil matters, primarily marriage, inheritance and apostasy, most importantly Syariah law only applies to Muslims.

 

Malaysia has a 10 year long stay visa under the Malaysia My Second Home programme. For someone over 50 to qualify they need to show financial proof of RM350,000 in liquid assets and off-shore income of RM10,000 per month.

 

http://www.mm2h.gov.my/index.php/en/

[marcusarelus]

As I see this one needs a pension of about $2,500 per month and $250,000 in liquid assets in a bank somewhere and $85,000 on permanent deposit in Malaysia.  I using figures that people predict will be accurate next year.  Pretty steep.  Does one have to get a mm2h visa or are there alternatives?