Long-term foreigners - Staying or Leaving?

[Banana7]

Foreigners who have 1 year permission to stay now, what are your plans by your next visa or extension of stay renewal date?

[laowai1960]

I recall during the weeks leading up to Y2K, there were many doomsayers predicting all manner of disasters, including the possibility of planes falling out of the sky.

 

Likewise, in the weeks leading up to Brexit, there are many predicting financial ruin for the UK. In the event of a so-called 'hard exit', I suspect that there may well be a short term 'shock' but then life in UK will return to normal (and personally I think the UK will prosper).

 

As for the changes to the rules for extending 'retirement visas', I suspect that few foreigners will leave Thailand for that reason alone. I suspect that there will continue to be various processes through which extensions of stay can be acquired.

[ukrules]

20 minutes ago, laowai1960 said:

I recall during the weeks leading up to Y2K, there were many doomsayers predicting all manner of disasters, including the possibility of planes falling out of the sky.

There would have been major problems if action wasn't taken to avoid them.

 

Massive action was taken. A place where I used to work but left in around '98 had an old Unix system which was still in use at the end of 1999.

 

When they came back after the Christmas / New Year holiday at the start of January, 2000 this system completely failed.

 

They tried to contact me but I didn't get the message until a couple of months later, I never did find out what happened as the company went bankrupt at some point after that.

[Puchaiyank]

More concerned about mandatory healthcare insurance at my age...

[ivor bigun]

I think some will have to leave,others like me that have been married over 20 years have a son ,a home etc etc will stay until we are forced to leave if ever we are.

Sent from my SM-A720F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[garyk]

The new rules only affects the folks that can't leave. Whether financial or emotional. If you are financially able to leave, most all will leave. IMO, Thailand is a joke for a retirement destination.  

[JimmyJ]

I guess there's going to be a thread like this every other day.

 

I'm afraid of the smog, and the poisoned produce.

Those could get me to abandon my plans to live in Thailand.

I may end up living there for 6 months or so each year and finding another location for the rest.

[Puchaiyank]

16 minutes ago, garyk said:

The new rules only affects the folks that can't leave. Whether financial or emotional. If you are financially able to leave, most all will leave. IMO, Thailand is a joke for a retirement destination.  

If Thailand is a retirement joke destination...what countries merit serious consideration?  

[ezzra]

The bottom line really is that until there will be a BETTER alternative to Thailand, those who can withstand the ever changing rules and regulations of the immigration will stay, the rest will have to decide where to go from here...

[glegolo]

For me and the clear majority of the foreigners here in Thailand, we will use our income-letters and life will go on, and we will continue living here just as before. The few of you that can not access this income-letters any more, have some problems and we will probably see a lot of you leaving Thailand, due to the fact that you cannot anymore "live up" to the income you did "mention" earlier in the affadavit to your embassy.... 

 

glegolo

[dcnx]

I was already planning on leaving and am not retired. In the process of selling my business and a handful of properties. Hopefully by the end of the year I’ll be ready to go.

 

15 years is enough. Not interested in spending the rest of my life living in visa uncertainty, surrounded by some of the most uneducated people on the planet, and driving on literally some of the most deadly roads in the world. I’m done. Thankful to have never married or bred with a local. That would complicate everything.

 

And don’t get me started on the smog and pollution. That’s getting worse too.

 

From a survival standpoint, it doesn’t make sense anymore. I don’t want to be 75 and have them pull the rug from underneath me over a new visa policy because Somchai Whatevernakorn’s fortune teller told him to do that.

 

There are much better options out there. 

[dcnx]

2 hours ago, laowai1960 said:

I recall during the weeks leading up to Y2K, there were many doomsayers predicting all manner of disasters, including the possibility of planes falling out of the sky.

 

 

 

Likewise, in the weeks leading up to Brexit, there are many predicting financial ruin for the UK. In the event of a so-called 'hard exit', I suspect that there may well be a short term 'shock' but then life in UK will return to normal (and personally I think the UK will prosper).

 

 

 

As for the changes to the rules for extending 'retirement visas', I suspect that few foreigners will leave Thailand for that reason alone. I suspect that there will continue to be various processes through which extensions of stay can be acquired.

 

I’m not on a retirement visa and am still leaving.

 

Done with the pollution, deadly roads, 90 day reporting, changing visa regulations and uncertainty, double pricing, toxic produce, trash, incompetence, soi dogs, corruption, xenophobia, and on and on. 

 

That’s simply no way to live out the rest of your days, especially since there are options. It’s not even that cheap here anymore.

[brokenbone]

i'd like to move to a place with permanent residency,

or citizenship

[Puchaiyank]

5 minutes ago, brokenbone said:

i'd like to move to a place with permanent residency,

or citizenship

Have you considered returning to your home country?

[lamyai3]

Given that immigration has pledged to show "leniency" in 2019, I'm guessing a lot of people would suck it and see for the next extension (that would have been my option if it was in the poll).

 

There's a number of other considerations which might push people into deciding Thailand's no longer worth the candle. One is if they do indeed treat retirement extensions with a high level of scrutiny and inconsistency, and start rejecting people on the basis of one or two of the year's income deposits having an incorrect coding or trying to do their own pension letter verifications. Other possibilities in the medium term are the introduction of mandatory health insurance, a hiking of the income and deposit amounts, further strengthening of the baht coupled with further weakening of home country currencies.

 

There's other issues that might make folks reconsider too... ongoing worsening of the smog in the capital and nationwide, 24 hour reporting countrywide following out of province trips, tightening of internet freedoms (such as the new cybersecurity bill that's gone through, the CCA, the ongoing push for a single internet gateway etc). Even the new points system they're pushing through for foreign drivers sounds like it could piss a lot of people off. The general direction the country is moving in looks less and less like the Thailand of old, and everyone has their breaking point, though the deciding factor would be different depending on individual circumstances. 

[Neeranam]

2 hours ago, Puchaiyank said:

More concerned about mandatory healthcare insurance at my age...

Isn't that a good thing to have?

[Neeranam]

1 hour ago, garyk said:

Thailand is a joke for a retirement destination. 

I would like to retire to the Hawaii for 7 months a year. I believe I have to invest 20 million baht in a US company. 

That's what I call a joke.

Thailand is very accommodating to foreign retirees.

[LomSak27]

I’ll be here for next year and a couple after that at least right now. However, because I do have options I will be looking at the political, social and economic situation of the country and people that live here. If Thailand bottoms out why would I bother staying? The fact that Leo might be cheaper is not a major consideration for me.

 

I will continue to watch the game of blaming foreigners, farangs. While governments might find it an easy deflection for the populace. To me it raises alarms. This could really be the trip line that causes a move.   

[brokenbone]

25 minutes ago, Puchaiyank said:

Have you considered returning to your home country?

hilarious as it may sound, yes, it did cross my mind, but if my body can handle that, i have better/warmer/less painful options

[brokenbone]

9 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Isn't that a good thing to have?

not for anyone with pre-existing conditions

[Neeranam]

5 minutes ago, brokenbone said:

not for anyone with pre-existing conditions

Do those come with serious medical issues and no insurance?

Would make sense if they come from uncivilized countries where medical costs are high.

Maybe the Thai government are tired of subsidizing foreigners' medical bills.

 

[Gecko123]

I was already complying with the new 800K rule , and it is in no way a hardship for me to comply with this requirement. But the high-handed and cavalier way this announcement was made with almost no lead in time for people to prepare or adjust to these changes has left me with the distinct impression of unfriendliness from immigration.

 

The TM-30 requirement that says even though you report your address every 90 days, and report your address on the TM-6 when you arrive, and had to apply for a re-entry visa to leave the country, that you still have to report/confirm your address within 24 hours upon your return, and in some provinces have to report if you stay overnight in another province, has left me with the distinct impression that immigration is trying to make life as difficult as possible for retirees.

 

These changes, coupled with many of the concerns cited above about living in Thailand, have, reluctantly, but decidedly, nudged me towards the door. Plan B is looking more and more like Plan A. No immediate plans to leave - gonna wait and see what changes if any next month's elections bring - but no longer think I want to live in Thailand till the end of my life, and have a tentative exit plan in place to be executed within next 4 years.

 

 

 

 

[Sticky Wicket]

2 hours ago, garyk said:

The new rules only affects the folks that can't leave. Whether financial or emotional. If you are financially able to leave, most all will leave. IMO, Thailand is a joke for a retirement destination.  

Even if people can afford to stay (with fx rates and new requirements), there is definitely an overall feeling that the squeeze is on and we are unwanted long term. Not going to get any better with another 20 years of Richard Tater in charge

[Sticky Wicket]

5 minutes ago, Gecko123 said:

I was already complying with the new 800K rule , and it is in no way a hardship for me to comply with this requirement. But the high-handed and cavalier way this announcement was made with almost no lead in time for people to prepare or adjust to these changes has left me with the distinct impression of unfriendliness from immigration.

 

The TM-30 requirement that says even though you report your address every 90 days, and report your address on the TM-6 when you arrive, and had to apply for a re-entry visa to leave the country, that you still have to report/confirm your address within 24 hours upon your return, and in some provinces have to report if you stay overnight in another province, has left me with the distinct impression that immigration is trying to make life as difficult as possible for retirees.

 

These changes, coupled with many of the concerns cited above about living in Thailand, have, reluctantly, but decidedly, nudged me towards the door. Plan B is looking more and more like Plan A. No immediate plans to leave - gonna wait and see what changes if any next month's elections bring - but no longer think I want to live in Thailand till the end of my life, and have a tentative exit plan in place to be executed within next 4 years.

 

 

 

Yeh I know people who are now petrified of going to immigration. They need a dozen diazepam to get them through it!! 

Immigration seem to enjoy making people sweat, and take immense pleasure from finding a piece of documentation with a tiny error.

[Sticky Wicket]

27 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

I would like to retire to the Hawaii for 7 months a year. I believe I have to invest 20 million baht in a US company. 

That's what I call a joke.

Thailand is very accommodating to foreign retirees.

You are comparing 3rd world and 1st world . Incomparable due to services and welfare etc.

Plus Hawaii is a relatively small island of 1.5 million so needs to be proactive so as not to be overrun. 

Compare that to the islands here where they couldn't give a shit and the  are becoming unsustainable 

[KiChakayan]

2 hours ago, Puchaiyank said:

If Thailand is a retirement joke destination...what countries merit serious consideration?  

Portugal

[neeray]

14 minutes ago, Sticky Wicket said:

It's not, the changes since Richard Tater got in 5 years ago are immense

Let's wait and see if Richard Tater actually gets his wishes. Things are heating up now. Anything is possible. While many foreigners think the outcome of the election is inevitable, I do not see it as a foregone conclusion.

A "sea change" in Thai politics could drastically alter and smooth out the current wrinkles.

 

Let's wait for the "fat lady .........."

[metisdead]

Some troll posts and the replies have been removed. 

[Gecko123]

24 minutes ago, Sticky Wicket said:

Yeh I know people who are now petrified of going to immigration. They need a dozen diazepam to get them through it!! 

Immigration seem to enjoy making people sweat, and take immense pleasure from finding a piece of documentation with a tiny error.

Historically, I have never had a problem with my provincial immigration office. In fact I always felt like a quasi-celebrity because of my Thai language skills. But my last visit was a nightmare. Literally, I'm still suffering from PTSD one month later.

 

First, the confirmation of funds from the bank was rejected because it was 7 days old, even though I had been told in the past that the letter could be used up to 7 days after issuance. Turns out Immigration counts the day the letter is issued as day one, the next day as day two, so six days later - not 7 days - the letter is no longer valid. Then I was told, just go back to the bank and update the passbook (no need to get a new letter), which I did, but when I came back, they said, no-no-no, you need to get the letter updated as well. I know, I know, I just didn't understand the officer, and maybe my Thai skills aren't as good as I think they are, but I'm about 99.99% certain that the officer forgot to tell me that the letter needed to be updated after she initially told me just the passbook needed to be updated. So back to the bank I had to go for a second time.

 

Then, I was told that a re-entry visa that I already had and was valid until Feb 22 when my old visa would have expired, was no longer valid because I had renewed my visa for another year. Then, when I presented the TM-30 form for the first time, they started asking me for all these supplemental documents for the housemaster that I'm 100% positive they didn't tell me would be needed when they originally gave me the form to be filled out. And then they gleefully proceeded to explain to me that every time I left the country or stayed overnight in a different province, I'd need to have the TM-30 form re-filed within 24 hours of my return home. So I'm like, are you guys [deleted] me? What would happen if I had to go down to Bangkok and stay overnight in the hospital for a chronic illness all the time? Would I have to refile the TM-30? And they were like, 'yupp.'

 

So, yeah, I'm not a real happy camper these day.

 

 

[BritManToo]

34 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Maybe the Thai government are tired of subsidizing foreigners' medical bills.

I thought Thailand wanted to become a medical hub?

And don't they charge foreigners x5?