SURVEY: Will the new financial requirements force you to leave?

[flexomike]

1 hour ago, Lee65 said:

I could easily meet the new financial requirements but will not subject myself to even greater insult by the Thai authorities.  Lock up 400,000 baht in Thailand?  Never.  Jump through more hoops?  No.

 

Thailand, once cheap and interesting, has become ever less pleasant.  The traffic, pollution, noise, number of tourists, the cost of living, and many other issues, have all worsened markedly in the last decade.  These new regulations will be the final push for me to find a better, more hospitable place in which to spend my money.

First post great post,  don't let the door hit got in the ass

[giddyup]

6 hours ago, Mavideol said:

I am ok with the requirement, as some said above I also keep 800-900K at all times in the account, unfortunately other, no idea how many, may have a problem. 

Just come to realize, only rich retirees can retire in Thailand, some time ago all retirees, rich and not so rich could retire here and enjoy the left (long or short) years of life, all of a sudden it all changed

Define rich. If you mean being able to deposit 800K (or 400K) in a Thai bank to qualify for a retirement extension, that's hardly rich by any stretch.

[Rama]

I can stay, but will incur more monthly transfer expenses in moving money. Even have good health insurance coverage. But getting tired of the monthly changes to the rules in the grand pobah's never ending pronouncements. I can spend my more than 100,000 baht a month in another country. Starting to look at Vietnam as a Plan B.

[giddyup]

1 hour ago, Lee65 said:

I could easily meet the new financial requirements but will not subject myself to even greater insult by the Thai authorities.  Lock up 400,000 baht in Thailand?  Never.  Jump through more hoops?  No.

 

Thailand, once cheap and interesting, has become ever less pleasant.  The traffic, pollution, noise, number of tourists, the cost of living, and many other issues, have all worsened markedly in the last decade.  These new regulations will be the final push for me to find a better, more hospitable place in which to spend my money.

Let us know when you find a place that allows you to stay pretty much indefinitely and only asks that you deposit either 400K or 800K into a Thai bank. Oh, and front up to immigration 4 times for a 90 day report, what a hardship!

[Airalee]

3 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

Ring ring:

 

"Hello. This is big boss immigration."

"Hello.This is big boss of all Thai banks. Real Estate bubble burst soon. We need more foreign cash."

"OK. I will see what I can do. What do I get?"

"Platinum Visa with 50,000 reward points." 

I think you’ve nailed it.  With all the neg-am mortgages written in the last few years (seen many ads for condos with starting payments of ฿1000 per ฿1,000,000 borrowed), I have a feeling the day of reckoning is coming for both the borrowers and the banks.  What better way to shore up the banks than by pumping them full of foreign money that cannot be tapped into.

[overherebc]

19 minutes ago, flexomike said:

First post great post,  don't let the door hit got in the ass

I had been here 10 years or so before my first post so don't equate post numbers to experience..

The word 'assume' can be split and mean the ass is you (u) before me.

????????

[bkk6060]

17 minutes ago, giddyup said:

Let us know when you find a place that allows you to stay pretty much indefinitely and only asks that you deposit either 400K or 800K into a Thai bank. Oh, and front up to immigration 4 times for a 90 day report, what a hardship!

Yes, a true hardship for some. Mommy isn't there to do it for them so it is very very difficult...

[Airalee]

2 hours ago, puukao said:

800,000!!!!!!!!!  WOW!!!!  That is saving 80k a YEAR for 10 YEARS!!!

 

let's be real, it should be at least 1 million, and ramp up.....

 

if you are struggling to find 800k to keep in savings all year, then I really hope you relaxed your entire life......if i worked part-time during my life, this would be super easy.  i hardly worked at all, and this is super easy (but i'm not retirement age).  

Of course it’s easy for you with all the money you saved on your recent Timex purchase ????

[roo860]

Of course it’s easy for you with all the money you saved on your recent Timex purchase [emoji3]

Brilliant [emoji23]

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[overherebc]

31 minutes ago, giddyup said:

Define rich. If you mean being able to deposit 800K (or 400K) in a Thai bank to qualify for a retirement extension, that's hardly rich by any stretch.

You should google harry enfield and the hotel owner, really.

[roo860]

Will go home and work for 6 months, then come back to my home here, done this for the last 21yrs, retirement extension for the last 5yrs, new rules will make no difference to me.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[overherebc]

35 minutes ago, giddyup said:

Let us know when you find a place that allows you to stay pretty much indefinitely and only asks that you deposit either 400K or 800K into a Thai bank. Oh, and front up to immigration 4 times for a 90 day report, what a hardship!

UK for one.

Without the 800 or 400k

Edited February 3, 2019 by overherebc

[mokwit]

37 minutes ago, giddyup said:

Define rich. If you mean being able to deposit 800K (or 400K) in a Thai bank to qualify for a retirement extension, that's hardly rich by any stretch.

Most of us here on TV built up a huge conglomerate which we sold to Warren Buffet and are now retired in Thailand, rather than somewhere more expensive, because we are naturally  thrifty. We are married to Hi So Thai Chinese women with a Masters degree from prestigious US university and skin so white it makes Titaniium Dioxide look yellow. We have a huge house in our Hi So Thai Chinese wife's Isaan village. Brother in Law is a Colonel in immigration and keeps us informed of developments. HTH

[dcnx]

40 minutes ago, giddyup said:

Let us know when you find a place that allows you to stay pretty much indefinitely and only asks that you deposit either 400K or 800K into a Thai bank. Oh, and front up to immigration 4 times for a 90 day report, what a hardship!

For just a little more you can stay in Ecuador who will give you 7% on that money, zero check ins, and can easily apply for residency after a couple of years. You can also own your home and land. Other Latin American countries offer similar programs.

 

It’s a big world with a lot of options. 

[SCOTT FITZGERSLD]

7 hours ago, gamini said:

If you are a permanent resident, you don't have to deposit any money in the bank or get a visa

how can one be "premanent resident" without the proper visa? YOU are confusing between two terms.

[XzytePattaya]

Thailand is no different from EU countries.

You as an EU member wants to stay in another country as where you are born, you need:

Proof income (minimum social)

Get a job within 3 months

Open a company

Bank account with enough to can stay 

 

Otherwise the immigration from that EU country ask you to leave.

 

Thailand is protecting itself same as the EU does.

[overherebc]

23 minutes ago, mokwit said:

Most of us here on TV built up a huge conglomerate which we sold to Warren Buffet and are now retired in Thailand, rather than somewhere more expensive, because we are naturally  thrifty. We are married to Hi So Thai Chinese women with a Masters degree from prestigious US university and skin so white it makes Titaniium Dioxide look yellow. We have a huge house in our Hi So Thai Chinese wife's Isaan village. Brother in Law is a Colonel in immigration and keeps us informed of developments. HTH

It was the ridiculous gas bills for the ancestral pile that made me move here.

[NoshowJones]

3 hours ago, Retiredandhappyhere said:

I am 77 and currently meet all the requirements, but I do feel uneasy about all the constant changes, which do not always seem to have been thought through carefully by the Authorities.  They often announce changes in such a way that confusion reigns for weeks, if not months, before the regulations are either clarified bit by bit, or substantially amended. 

 

Retirement is supposed to be a time in one's life for peace and quiet after around 50 years of working life, but although many things in Thailand are just great compared to our own countries, these constant badly announced changes mainly by Immigration are worrying, particularly to oldies like me, for whom alternative options are fading fast.

 

It does just seem that Thailand prefers short-stay tourists to long-stay ex-pats who spend money everyday of the year while here and not for a few weeks. In addition to that, they want substantial deposits in Thai bank accounts all year round and reports every 90 days.  Why not just say that we have to report a change of address within (say) 48 hours, under penalty of perhaps 10000 bahts for non-compliance.  Surely that would achieve the same objective without creating work for Immigration and inconvenience for us?

 

Do we feel welcome nowadays .....not at all!

Your post is far to sensible for the Thai authorities.

[garyk]

18 minutes ago, dcnx said:

For just a little more you can stay in Ecuador who will give you 7% on that money, zero check ins, and can easily apply for residency after a couple of years. You can also own your home and land. Other Latin American countries offer similar programs.

 

It’s a big world with a lot of options. 

Don't bring up anything better than Thailand, you will be nailed to the cross here.  haha

Don't you know Thailand is the best retirement destination in the world....  ????

[baansgr]

I think force is the wrong word, very few would be forced, however, many will "decide" to leave

[marcusarelus]

1 hour ago, Rama said:

I can stay, but will incur more monthly transfer expenses in moving money. Even have good health insurance coverage. But getting tired of the monthly changes to the rules in the grand pobah's never ending pronouncements. I can spend my more than 100,000 baht a month in another country. Starting to look at Vietnam as a Plan B.

2 changes in ten years.  You tire easily.  How much does it cost you to transfer 800,000 once?

[madmitch]

5 hours ago, Sheryl said:

The more I think about this, the harder it is to understand what these new rules re 800K are expected to achieve.

 

If the problem is foreigners living here without adequate means to support themselves (and I agree that happens and is a concern), how does tying up people's money so they can't spend it under any circumstance help with that? On the contrary I would say that by requiring what amounts to a 400K bond, all you do is deplete people's savings by 400K thereby likely increasing the numbers of people without adequate financial buffer to fall back on.

 

If the problem is illegal extensions being granted, nothing in this law addresses that.  Agents abetted by corrupt IOs will get around these new requirements just as easily as they did the old.

Spot on Sheryl.

 

I bring in my 800,000 baht, as I've done for the past six years, and I spend it. I'll have to bring in a bit extra around the time of my next renewal to avoid going under 800k for three months but then I'll have to curb my expenditure for a year.

 

Yes, I have savings but I really don't want my money converted to Thai baht whilst the rate is so unfavourable. If there's a devaluation then I'll reconsider.

 

So I will be spending less. No doubt others in the same situation will also be spending less. I'm sure this wouldn't have been in the thinking when these new rules were in the planning stage.

[marcusarelus]

1 hour ago, Airalee said:

I think you’ve nailed it.  With all the neg-am mortgages written in the last few years (seen many ads for condos with starting payments of ฿1000 per ฿1,000,000 borrowed), I have a feeling the day of reckoning is coming for both the borrowers and the banks.  What better way to shore up the banks than by pumping them full of foreign money that cannot be tapped into.

How much money will be put in banks as a result of these changes in a percent of bank deposits? 

[overherebc]

16 minutes ago, XzytePattaya said:

Thailand is no different from EU countries.

You as an EU member wants to stay in another country as where you are born, you need:

Proof income (minimum social)

Get a job within 3 months

Open a company

Bank account with enough to can stay 

 

Otherwise the immigration from that EU country ask you to leave.

 

Thailand is protecting itself same as the EU does.

So I can't go home to UK?

That's a bummer.

[Ahab]

I think the people that are following the rules will not have an issue, but those that are currently barely meeting (or slightly fudging) the fiscal requirements are the ones that will be having an issue.

[Lacessit]

No

[marcusarelus]

29 minutes ago, SCOTT FITZGERSLD said:

how can one be "premanent resident" without the proper visa? YOU are confusing between two terms.

No, you are confused.  A Thai permanent resident does not need a visa.

[Scott]

A post linking to a Bangkok Post article has been removed.  

 

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[guzzi850m2]

So roughly 1/3 of the votors so far will be having problems staying with the new rule.

 

I feel very sorry for the those guys, some very likely well settled here and now some will be forced to leave.

 

Since I am still working, I can afford the new rule and prepare for it when I eventually retire but for a retired person, not always possible.

 

 

[Psimbo]

Can we have an 'I am completely unaffected by this but will continue to wail, beat my chest and rip my clothes asunder' option please. ????

 

Seriously, I wonder how many of the countless people who have commented on this issue over numerous threads ARE actually affected by it either way.

 

I would suggest that the number is probably in the low hundreds at most.

 

Edit: the stats of the poll so far seem to back this up

Edited February 3, 2019 by Psimbo