BREAKING NEWS Foreigners now need to keep 800k in Thai bank for three months AFTER retirement extension is granted

[Bournville]

I can see a mass exodus from Thailand in the near future .  My guess is that there are a very large number of people who will find it difficult to qualify .  Thailand benefits enormously from a very large number of people supporting the internal economy ; having to maintain Bt800,000 static in an account will likely reduce their spending .

Correct. Not only difficult to deal with the ever changing immigration rules.. But also Thailand really isn't that fantastic. I'm outta here.. I have given Thailand six of my retired years to get thier act together. It got worse every year! 5555

Be happy

[moto77]

I can't believe people can live off this amount of money in retirement. But nonetheless, I can understand not wanting to keep your money in a Thai bank. If it disappears through fraud (like an ATM skimmer) you won't be reimbursed as you would be in the US. I'd never put money in a Thai bank. (My visa, when I had one, was based on income.)

I discontinued my retirement visa there about a year ago and just prefer to go in and out. I only stay the full 30 days about 1-2 times per year and often leave for months at a time so immigration doesn't give me any hassles. Spending more time in Bali, Boracay (amazing now since it reopened), Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Cambodia (and even Europe, Africa and the US) has been awesome. It was nice having the option to stay 45 days or more now and then, but certainly not worth the hassle anymore.

Nonetheless this constant changing of the rules is the hallmark of a banana republic that doesn't know what it's doing. Can you imagine the EU, UK or the US changing its visa rules every other month? It's ridiculous. They need to come up with a policy, put it in place all at once, and then just leave it alone for 5 years. I feel sorry for you guys that are still there full time and have to keep up with this incompetent nonsense happening all the time. 

In other news, I've heard the government there is spraying sugar water into the air to clear the pollution. Good luck with that. Must be the same guy that's responsible for the visa policies. 

Edited January 31, 2019 by moto77

[Genericnic]

4 minutes ago, Orton Rd said:

The only people this will concern are the ones without the legally required funds who resort to illegal means to stay here. I knew he would do this, he's no joke!

Hardly. I have sufficient funds to put and leave 800,000 baht in the bank year round and I have sufficient income to deposit more than 65,000 baht in a Thai bank every month. I choose not to do that for a number of reason:

 

First. As we have seen over the past few years, Thailand is still a marginally stable, third world country that could change in such a way that a very quick exit might be required. Getting the money out of Thailand in such a case might be "interesting."

 

Second. My money invested outside of Thailand provides a much higher return than having it sitting in a Thai bank account.

 

Third. Having my money in my home country (US) bank, makes accessing it much easier when I am traveling anywhere in the world. 

 

Fourth. My living expenses in Thailand are well below 65,000 baht per month (and I live well) and so bring in 65,000 baht per month would be a useless activity.

 

As we know, additional changes are possible - inevitable? - over the next few months. For that reason, I will not be making a firm decision to leave until the end of August, about 3 months before my current extension expires. I am not hopeful.

 

So, the "people this will concern are the ones without the legally required funds who resort to illegal means to stay here" is not correct.

 

David

 

[crazykopite]

It seems that bringing in 65,000 baht per month would be a lot easier . No need to have money tied up in a Thai bank account I would estimate that you would need around 950,000 baht on your renewal 800,000 locked in a bank 3 months before and 3 months after plus money to live on as you could not touch the 800k for that 6 month period . I have to question why Thailand have to make it so difficult for people to live here when many neighbouring countries are only to happy to welcome you to take up residency with little difficulty. I can see many foreigners now considering looking for pastures new I will be one of them I have enjoyed my 13 years in the Kingdom but all these new regulations have convinced me to sell up and move on . ☹️????☹️

[scubascuba3]

One consequence of this is if the income method fails for someone (missing Intl transfer etc) then they can't fall back to agent method

[champers]

Not wishing to complicate things further, but any changes now are down to the current regime. All could change after the election. How? Who knows?

[jmd8800]

[Lipoman]

Good.  Again, I plan on depositing my THB800k into a Thai bank.  Whatever interest it earns plus whatever I add to it, will definitely satisfy today's rule. 

 

Granted the rules may change in the future, but the 800k deposit is THE easiest method, for me. 

 

Like an earlier poster stated, to this effect, if the 800k method is too challenging for "retirees" then perhaps those individuals were not truly ready to retire in Thailand. 

 

I know I'm ready to retire from the workforce and retire in Thailand. ????

[WorriedNoodle]

If I read the o/p it says 

>>(4) At least 2 months prior to filing date, and at least 3 months after being granted permission, 

 

and  says nothing about those of us who have been doing it correctly with 800k in bank 3 months prior each year. The o/p also isn't clear whether this applies to just new first timer retirement extensions or all of us extending repeatedly each year?? So which is it? Surely it cannot apply to the genuine folk who have been doing correctly all this time - why should we get hit as well? Can it?

[notamember]

15 minutes ago, Bournville said:

Yes... But do they have access to that sort of capital? That's a LOT of cash in the bank for a long time!

Be happy
 

its not in the bank now for 3 months prior and its accepted for a fee

it will not be in the bank for 3 months after and will be accepted for a fee

 

[jmd8800]

[zydeco]

1 minute ago, Lipoman said:

Good.  Again, I plan on depositing my THB800k into a Thai bank.  Whatever interest it earns plus whatever I add to it, will definitely satisfy today's rule. 

 

Granted the rules may change in the future, but the 800k deposit is THE easiest method, for me. 

 

Like an earlier poster stated, to this effect, if the 800k method is too challenging for "retirees" then perhaps those individuals were not truly ready to retire in Thailand. 

 

I know I'm ready to retire from the workforce and retire in Thailand. ????

Reading from your post, then, you are not already retired, here, and you haven't even come here yet. So, you don't know what you're talking about, do you?

[billsmart]

So, besides a letter from your embassy, what will Immigrations accept as proof of...

(3)  Must have evidence of having income of no less than THB 65,000 or; ???

Just a bank statement showing monthly deposits of THB 65K or more?

 

[Mavideol]

40 minutes ago, yellowboat said:

More will leave.  Few will come

not sure about that,..... first,  we retirees are not important for them, we are chronic complainers second, the news today said the Indians are coming, they already have the Chinese, who needs us

[onera1961]

7 minutes ago, moto77 said:

Can you imagine the EU, UK or the US changing its visa rules every other month? It's ridiculous.

When did Thailand change its visa policy? May be a decade ago. They don't change every month. 

[moto77]

2 minutes ago, Genericnic said:

Hardly. I have sufficient funds to put and leave 800,000 baht in the bank year round and I have sufficient income to deposit more than 65,000 baht in a Thai bank every month. I choose not to do that for a number of reason:

 

First. As we have seen over the past few years, Thailand is still a marginally stable, third world country that could change in such a way that a very quick exit might be required. Getting the money out of Thailand in such a case might be "interesting."

 

Second. My money invested outside of Thailand provides a much higher return than having it sitting in a Thai bank account.

 

Third. Having my money in my home country (US) bank, makes accessing it much easier when I am traveling anywhere in the world. 

 

Fourth. My living expenses in Thailand are well below 65,000 baht per month (and I live well) and so bring in 65,000 baht per month would be a useless activity.

 

As we know, additional changes are possible - inevitable? - over the next few months. For that reason, I will not be making a firm decision to leave until the end of August, about 3 months before my current extension expires. I am not hopeful.

 

So, the "people this will concern are the ones without the legally required funds who resort to illegal means to stay here" is not correct.

 

David

 

Exactly! Who in their right mind would invest money at 1% interest in a bank with a government run by a military junta that's instigated countless coups unless they had no other option? Don't let the current stability fool you and be glad you didn't retire in Venezuela 5 years ago. 

[NE1]

Is this just for retirement , or marriage ext. also ?

[madmen]

In Vietnam they always tighten up requirements before an election. After the election its party time again. Feel sorry for those who bought into condos if the policy continues.

You serious? What nonsense. You think those that paid 5 to 10 million baht for condos in cash won't have 800k?

It's those that don't have property like your self that need to worry. Not easy to save 800k from a 30k a month pension.. Right?

[jackdd]

4 minutes ago, WorriedNoodle said:

and  says nothing about those of us who have been doing it correctly with 800k in bank 3 months prior each year. The o/p also isn't clear whether this applies to just new first timer retirement extensions or all of us extending repeatedly each year?? So which is it? Surely it cannot apply to the genuine folk who have been doing correctly all this time - why should we get hit as well? Can it? 

Applies to everybody, you are only exempt if you fall under point 6

[gamini]

1 hour ago, DrTuner said:

800k might be ok, but committing to living in Thailand is something one should avoid at all costs. You never know when some event makes it inhabitable. 

 

One leg out the door with plan B,C and D in the pocket is the way to go.

Maybe for a few people like you ,but most of us have the sense to have enough money before retiring to any country. The new rules are because too many farangs have abused the system by using phoney visa agents. 

[ocddave]

3 minutes ago, crazykopite said:

It seems that bringing in 65,000 baht per month would be a lot easier . No need to have money tied up in a Thai bank account I would estimate that you would need around 950,000 baht on your renewal 800,000 locked in a bank 3 months before and 3 months after plus money to live on as you could not touch the 800k for that 6 month period . I have to question why Thailand have to make it so difficult for people to live here when many neighbouring countries are only to happy to welcome you to take up residency with little difficulty. I can see many foreigners now considering looking for pastures new I will be one of them I have enjoyed my 13 years in the Kingdom but all these new regulations have convinced me to sell up and move on . ☹️????☹️

I think they just want Westerners out of the country, because most of this seems like its done for no other purpose but to create hassles on foreigners. Maybe they have taken enough Western money now, that they would just rather have tourist only, and not full-time residents, meaning forget about retiring here going forward. I have no other choice but to stay and support my daughter and wife, so I just have to deal with the hassles, unless enough Thai wives complain about the treatment. But hey, this may all change if the Junta is kicked out of government soon, so who knows.

[alex8912]

34 minutes ago, laislica said:

 

I keep more than the 800k in a Thai bank and go for the retirement ext.

However, I have always spent less than half a year /year in Thailand.

Now at 77, the journey is getting to be a bore and the advantage of being in Thailand less and less.

Thus I'll spend less than 90 days in Thailand/year.

If they stop accepting my money in the bank method, it will give me the excuse to never visit Thailand again.

After all, I really only visit so my wife can see her family and friends.....

 

Just get a METV in your home country once a year. With extensions in Thailand you would have to leave one time after your fist 60 days + one 30 day extension. Then do the same again and go home after 6 months. Very easy and if you want to leave the country anytime you get 60 days over again. 

[Pattaya46]

9 minutes ago, moto77 said:

Can you imagine the EU, UK or the US changing its visa rules every other month? It's ridiculous.

These rules had not change for at least 4 years before the UK/US embassies forced TI to add an option this year. 

[notamember]

13 minutes ago, onera1961 said:

They don't want agent services to be stopped but they can certify the agents and allow only certified agents to submit valid applications, just like in all other countries, for example Portugal's golden visa or USA's E5 visa. 

it may well weed out the agents who do not have the 800,000 baht or units of it to spread around their clients on a daily basis

that will be good for the professional agents who are often undercut by those who are happy to work for a bowl of rice to just bribe an IO with 10,000 just to make the renewal stamp with no evidence of a bank book or anything else

 

[moto77]

1 minute ago, onera1961 said:

When did Thailand change its visa policy? May be a decade ago. They don't change every month. 

You're implying that the new requirement is not yet another a policy change? If you don't think so, I'm not going to argue about it, but from my perspective the rules change constantly. 

[sawadeeken]

14 minutes ago, Bournville said:

Correct. Not only difficult to deal with the ever changing immigration rules.. But also Thailand really isn't that fantastic. I'm outta here.. I have given Thailand six of my retired years to get thier act together. It got worse every year! 5555

Be happy
 

I am with YOU................

[Mavideol]

37 minutes ago, Toscano said:

Thailand benefits enormously from a very large number of people supporting the internal economy

most here have a wife and kids, not to mention supporting the relatives as well......I see a lot of broken families and divorces as well

[mlkik]

2 minutes ago, gamini said:

Maybe for a few people like you ,but most of us have the sense to have enough money before retiring to any country. The new rules are because too many farangs have abused the system by using phoney visa agents. 

Exactly ! I moved here at 49 and at 50 got my non o and then retirement extention. I do not get access to my local government pension until I am 55 but have more than enough in savings. My state pension is not until I am 67 so it is a good while away.

Planning is everything!

[Lipoman]

Zydeco, I said it all in my first paragraph.  Your insult is petty.  I'm presuming you chose to not deposit 800k in a Thai bank.  And how is that decision working for you? Enlighten me with your wisdom regarding this topic. 

[alphason]

6 minutes ago, NE1 said:

Is this just for retirement , or marriage ext. also ?

I have the same question, looks like its just retirement??