I am leaving very soon for good and taking my family with me.  While I can easily do the 800k in a Thai Bank or the income method, I choose to not keep my money here and have what I can or cannot spend dictated by the Thais.  Their country, their rules, but for me there are many other options that are much more attractive.  Personally I do not think they want retirees here at all.  I also think there is going to be continuing tightening of the rules in the short and long term.  So long and good luck

10 minutes ago, TunnelRat69 said:

I lived in Indonesia for 3 years and you are correct, there are several long term Visa's available, but the long term marraige visa is not open to all who do not convert to Islam, and are under the guidance of an Imam for a term not less than 222 days - where that comes from is beyond us..........I had four Americans working for me that married Indonesian ladies and it was not that easy, as it is in Thailand to get married.........I also know several expats that are single, happy and working in Indonesia as Stock Brokers..........the IDX stock market is better then the SET.

You don't have to convert to islam if your Indonesian wife is not muslim.  And there are plenty of non muslim ladies in certain parts of the archipelago. Bali is a relative example.

 

That said, if you want to marry a muslim girl converting to her faith is the SOP.  No different to here in Thailand either. A expat buddy of mine married a Thai muslim girl and converted to her faith.  He still drinks like a fish too.

8 hours ago, bojo said:

Well Egypt, that's a first for me coukld interestingly be a genuine topic for another day. After all, comparisons with the kingdom and Phillippines are wearing thin...

Another poster is recommending Tunisia (but not the capital city Tunis).

 

 

9 hours ago, Khaeng Mak said:

Expat retirees living in Thailand are currently under siege. Unfortunately many do not yet realize it.

I think many of them will be completely unaware of it and in for a big shock when they come round to arranging their extensions. 

4 hours ago, overherebc said:

UK for one.

Without the 800 or 400k

Enjoy!

3 hours ago, garyk said:

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....  ????

If you think it's better than Thailand, bon voyage.

I like to just come for a visit during the cold part of the year in my spot across the pond and forget about all the hoop jumping...so much easier and tons more fun.....????

I’m surprised...no...actually I’m quite shocked, that more people here don’t realize that governments around the world are beholden to big banking interests.

 

Fractional reserve lending.  Gotta love it.

 

https://www.ceicdata.com/en/indicator/thailand/reserve-requirement-ratio

 

6 hours ago, bwpage3 said:

And to think of all the personal bashing I took when my family and I decided to move back to the USA a few years ago.

 

Great, great life and do NOT have to be bothered by income laws, VISA's or anything else.

 

Peaceful and no stress, the way life should be.

 

 

So you're living in Paradise, CA, now, are you?

6 hours ago, tingtongtourist said:

 

but really, if you cant scrape up $30-35k now

then how can you support yourself in short term future or then at older age????

 

its been working out fine for the past 20 years so why

would that change ?

granted i've been robbed tricked and scammed along the way

of a few hundred thousands but above that i have 'adjusted'

to spend most/all carelessly and i cant re-adjust to save up the money in a few months.

the money i spent on visa runs would have covered the new requirement, and if i had been 'cheap' with the visa runs it

would also have covered the new requirement,

i just never saw the new requirement coming and spent my money recklessly, and due to some kind of inertia, i still do.

its going to take time to re-adjust and save up the requirement, but time is what i dont have in this case

I haven’t moved there yet. Just got all the paperwork together last week and was going to send it to the Los Angeles Thai Consulate but have decided to hold back for a few months. I am slightly over 70, have more income than the required 65K per month and really want to retire in Thailand but have concerns about possible unreasonable Immigration laws that might complicate my retirement there. It is their country and I will be a resident, happy to help the economy by purchasing necessities, services, and periodic spending ‘splurges’, and not deliberatly violating any rules, customs, or laws. I just do not want my life there to be complicated.

7 hours ago, marcusarelus said:

So you know of a business that does not want customers and raises prices to drive them out?  What business would that be?

Er, health insurance with older clients?

5 hours ago, giddyup said:

If you think it's better than Thailand, bon voyage.

Knew this was coming, exactly what I was talking about... 

Of course this is TV but most folks here never travel outside of this small area.

12 hours ago, Pravda said:

Yes, we know. You men mention it in just about every post.

Isn't that the point of the topic? 

11 hours ago, mokwit said:

If TAT is actively marketing Thailand as a "retirement" destination I think we should contact them and suggest they kindly stop as some kind of security of residence is required for people getting older. Changing the deal on people completely undermines that.

It's a "bait and switch" promotion, often happens with the massage shops here too. 

9 hours ago, kokesaat said:

I would think the new rules would affect people who are considering retiring to Thailand.....more so than those already here.

If I rolled the clock back 22 years and knew what I know today about immigration rules (through the internet....which I didn't have 22 years ago), I'd most likely not make the move.....even though money is not the problem.  

The problem is all the horror stories you hear about immigration......when, in fact, 22 years here and zero problems with immigration.  

If you could roll back the clock 22 years you'd be grandfathered in on pre 1998 rules. 200,000 in the bank, and if you were prescient enough to deposit the money and leave it there right after the Asian financial crisis, your 22 years of extensions could have cost as little as $4000 (or £2200) plus immigration fees.

10 hours ago, marcusarelus said:

To pay for emergencies you may have while in Thailand as opposed to the Thai government picking up the expenditures.  2% interest with the currency fluctuations of your own currency figured in is not too bad?  How much would you earn in a bank at home considering your currency to Thai baht value?

Unless you can point to something official from immigration saying so, this oft repeated line that the 800k is an insurance against medical emergencies is nothing more than urban myth. In fact the new rules from March make it clear that if you do dip into this deposit for any reason, you'll be in violation of the terms of your visa extension.

 

Incidentally, apologies if it's your real name, but if your username is referring to the Roman emperor philosopher, you're missing a couple of vowels. 

41 minutes ago, lamyai3 said:

grandfathered in on pre 1998 rules. 200,000 in the bank

 

Of the whole new requirements for baht in the bank this

part is the most odd to me....

 

I mean if Thailand Imm wants to weed out future problems at hospitals or expats without money/ medical insurance

or being a unfunded load on Thai hospitals then isn't this bone they are tossing to older expats going in the wrong direction?

 

Would seem folks who have lived here more than 20 years are older & more likely to need medical care.

(need more savings as medical insurance becomes harder to get after 65 in Thailand for many)

Also means they have likely not earned western wages in a long time or maybe have a smaller/older pension if any at all.

 

Thailand has a way of swallowing expats the longer they stay the more Thai many become financially.

So again this reduced requirement may be at the wrong end of the spectrum

 

 

9 hours ago, bwpage3 said:

And to think of all the personal bashing I took when my family and I decided to move back to the USA a few years ago.

 

Great, great life and do NOT have to be bothered by income laws, VISA's or anything else.

Married people from the USA must go and live in the USA for at least five years to make their spouses SS eligible. 

16 hours ago, wgdanson said:

Not if you highlighted say £1000 on a Transferwise statement on 1st Feb, and a deposit into your Bkk Bank for Bht 40xxx on 2nd Feb. Surely even an IO would understand that

But he isn't required to. He is required to see a minimum 65k deposit each month from overseas on a Thai Bank statement. You are writing your own requirements. 

I believe they have better understanding when seeing part of the fee an agent received from you!

10 hours ago, Sheryl said:

And through what mechanism does your creditor then get the money?  Through what mechanism is it "held hostage"?  What  prevents someone  from withdrawing it and leaving the country with it, bill still unpaid? Or just staying here and dodging their creditors?

 

I don't see it. There does not seem to be any mechanism in place that serves the purpose you mention. Meanwhile, having 400-800K of one's savings taken away will surely increase the frequency with which people here are unable to cover emergency costs, because everyone's financial cushion is going to go down by that amount.

 

Something like this could be designed as a surety bond,  but this has not been done that way.

 

When I was in the hospital the creditor (hospital) wheeled me (wheelchair and IV) to the ATM machine so I could make my daily withdrawal.  Or the creditor could put a hold on your account (I believe - maybe wrong check with others who know for sure.)

1 hour ago, lamyai3 said:

Unless you can point to something official from immigration saying so, this oft repeated line that the 800k is an insurance against medical emergencies is nothing more than urban myth. In fact the new rules from March make it clear that if you do dip into this deposit for any reason, you'll be in violation of the terms of your visa extension.

 

Incidentally, apologies if it's your real name, but if your username is referring to the Roman emperor philosopher, you're missing a couple of vowels. 

To what point?  Thai Immigration wants you to have 800/400 in the bank for whatever reason __________ insert your own reason.  Urban myth or not makes little difference in the fact - the why is irrelevant to the issue.  

 

I don't respond to grammar issues.   

18 hours ago, ozmeldo said:

Philippines is sketchy as hell. Armed guards everywhere. Open shops are caged in. It's one step from open civil war and food riots. Most subsisting on 2-3 dollar a day.

 

Expat scams around. You'll have a target on your back the moment you step off the plane.

It sounds as if you have never lived there. I don't mean visit, I mean lived there. 

17 hours ago, BritManToo said:

I haven't had any cash in a Thai bank since the coup.

Seemed a bit too risky.

Which one?

most people in the usa don't have 2000$ in a bank account. So basically immigration and the banks here have a few drinks and say "hey farang come put money in bank and die, we get money". I get the general feeling that white males are hard,y wanted anywhere in the world anymore.

14 hours 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.

Oh Gawd... yet another self-proclaimed top 1 percenter with the, "If you can't afford it..." sermon.

 

There's a surprising amount of people who think that their savings are broadly similar to everyone elses savings. They bolster this fallacy with the notion that their lifestyle and expenditures similarly mirror that of everyone else.

 

They don't so stop it.

20 hours ago, zydeco said:

I selected "jeopardized" not because I cannot meet the new requirements but because I think we're being squeezed, that new rules are coming, and I'm tired of it all. I just want to go to some place that will leave me in peace. 

In this interactive world we live in, it is becoming more and more challenging to live in isolation. There is no guarantee that other countries and even your own country will leave you in peace. This incident is a wake up call to those who think otherwise. 

1 hour ago, Longcut said:

It sounds as if you have never lived there. I don't mean visit, I mean lived there. 

Maybe it did not relate to you but after years of traveling in high security risks countries like Papua New Guinea, Jakarta, Manila in Asia, looking at their high security fences, barred windows, it gave you an idea of the general level of security in that area. Nobody would barred and fenced their home in such a way if there is not a general lack of security . And everybody knows that farangs are rich and wouldn’t miss a couple of dollars. Xenophobia is alive and well too. When you scam a farang, whole village is in on the scam. Only person unaware is the farang. 

29 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

Oh Gawd... yet another self-proclaimed top 1 percenter with the, "If you can't afford it..." sermon.

 

There's a surprising amount of people who think that their savings are broadly similar to everyone elses savings. They bolster this fallacy with the notion that their lifestyle and expenditures similarly mirror that of everyone else.

 

They don't so stop it.

So, you do think that being able to deposit 800K makes you rich? Everyone knows what the criteria is to remain in Thailand for a retirement extension, and yet they seem to think the rules should be changed for them because of their lack of financial resources.

4 minutes ago, Ctkong said:

Maybe it did not relate to you but after years of traveling in high security risks countries like Papua New Guinea, Jakarta, Manila in Asia, looking at their high security fences, barred windows, it gave you an idea of the general level of security in that area. Nobody would barred and fenced their home in such a way if there is not a general lack of security . And everybody knows that farangs are rich and wouldn’t miss a couple of dollars. Xenophobia is alive and well too. When you scam a farang, whole village is in on the scam. Only person unaware is the farang. 

While I will agree, Manila can be a very challenging place for a foreigner. I have lived in areas of the PI that are considered very safe. Beautiful, friendly and very accommodating. The locals are more friendly than many Thais I have known and I have never been charged double for just being a foreigner. Plus the language barrier is much lower. My wife and I lived there for a couple of years and are seriously considering moving back. It was much easier as she is also an American citizen. (dual citizenship). The exchange rate has never been better and the new SRRV visa makes living there so much better. No reentry visas. Come and go as you please.