Expats in Thailand considering moving to Latin America prompted by Thai visa changes

[Boomhauer]

16 minutes ago, balo said:

Regarding crime and safety I would think buddhist countries are more safe than countries with a different religion. That's just an observation. 

 

In countries where catholics are very dominant it's more crime and the safety levels goes down. The Phillippines is a good example. 

 

And compare that with S-America, I would probably not walk out late at night alone in any city there without worrying about my safety, like I can do here in Thailand.  

 

So this is actually a big issue if you consider to relocate. You need to prepare for a different life. 

 

 

Buenos Aires is perfectly safe to walk around at night time. As is Rio, Santiago, Cordoba, Medellin, Sao Paulo etc..

 

The only place I felt unsafe around that neck of the woods was the Dominican Republic.. Have to have your wits about you round there, especially Santo Domingo after dark.

[Jingthing]

Regarding crime and safety I would think buddhist countries are more safe than countries with a different religion. That's just an observation. 
 
In countries where catholics are very dominant it's more crime and the safety levels goes down. The Phillippines is a good example. 
 
And compare that with S-America, I would probably not walk out late at night alone in any city there without worrying about my safety, like I can do here in Thailand.  
 
So this is actually a big issue if you consider to relocate. You need to prepare for a different life. 
 
 

Nope. It really depends on the location.

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[Jingthing]

Buenos Aires is perfectly safe to walk around at night time. As is Rio, Santiago, Cordoba, Medellin, Sao Paulo etc..
 
The only place I felt unsafe around that neck of the woods was the Dominican Republic.. Have to have your wits about you round there, especially Santo Domingo after dark.

Santo Domingo can be intense in the daytime.

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[RoadWarrior371]

4 hours ago, watgate said:

I realize this is about Latin America but was wondering why American and Canadian and maybe some other expats from other countries haven't retired in Florida?

 

Florida = Pricey.

 

The game is to avoid all the overhead costs of living in the USA.  Inflated condo fees, property tax, expensive services and goods.  Florida is the wrong direction.

[CaptainJack]

No need to rehash why. I left my short first attempt at becoming an expatriate in Thailand on January 8, 2019, after 9 months.  On the way out, I stopped in the Philippines and visited a fellow retired police detective who moved there with his Philippines wife.  It was not for me.

 

A week break exploring Sydney and the Blue Mountains,  then 3 weeks on the south island of New Zealand, and back to the USA,  rest, recover, rethink and Monday I fly first to Mexico for a few weeks or month to see how it feels compared to 100's of trips and vacations there, now as a possible retirement place to call home.

 

Then to Costa Rica, Columbia and Panama.  I have researched the visa requirements, costs, hoops to jump through and I easily can meet them all. 

 

 I board my flight Monday, March 11th and fly to Merida, Mexico, my first stop.

 

I picked Mexico first because it is only a 7 hour flight with a connection in Houston.  That, and I get a 6 month tourist visa on arrival.   That is included in my airfare. I can fly direct to Costa Rica too.

 

As I explore the possibilities,  I'll drop in and report on anything I think is useful. 

 

Captain Jack.....

[Mike Teavee]

3 hours ago, CaptainJack said:

No need to rehash why. I left my short first attempt at becoming an expatriate in Thailand on January 8, 2019, after 9 months.  On the way out, I stopped in the Philippines and visited a fellow retired police detective who moved there with his Philippines wife.  It was not for me.

 

A week break exploring Sydney and the Blue Mountains,  then 3 weeks on the south island of New Zealand, and back to the USA,  rest, recover, rethink and Monday I fly first to Mexico for a few weeks or month to see how it feels compared to 100's of trips and vacations there, now as a possible retirement place to call home.

 

Then to Costa Rica, Columbia and Panama.  I have researched the visa requirements, costs, hoops to jump through and I easily can meet them all. 

 

 I board my flight Monday, March 11th and fly to Merida, Mexico, my first stop.

 

I picked Mexico first because it is only a 7 hour flight with a connection in Houston.  That, and I get a 6 month tourist visa on arrival.   That is included in my airfare. I can fly direct to Costa Rica too.

 

As I explore the possibilities,  I'll drop in and report on anything I think is useful. 

 

Captain Jack.....

Look forward to reading about your adventures Captain Jack... Bon Voyage 

 

 

[lipflipper]

Don't other looking any further than Equador. Mountains, beaches, low cost of living, good infrastructure, U. S. dollar is the currency and retiring there is easy.

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[marcusarelus]

2 hours ago, lipflipper said:

Don't other looking any further than Equador. Mountains, beaches, low cost of living, good infrastructure, U. S. dollar is the currency and retiring there is easy.

Sent from my CMR-AL19 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

Father Jose told me I'd be sorry I didn't pay attention in his Spanish class. 

[Jingthing]

3 hours ago, lipflipper said:

Don't other looking any further than Equador. Mountains, beaches, low cost of living, good infrastructure, U. S. dollar is the currency and retiring there is easy.

Sent from my CMR-AL19 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

Hi there.

Have you retired in Ecuador?

If so, did you do so after living in Thailand?

This is a really important part of the intention of this topic. 

Ecuador and most other Latin American nations will require a police report document if you've been living in Thailand. It has to be from an approved Thai source, it needs have an apostle, and it needs to be officially translated. I assume they would also probably require similar from your home country even if you haven't recently lived there.

This can be a major pain.

Specifics may be different for each nation.

I wonder if the Latin American nation's embassies in Thailand can assist (or you need them to assist) in some cases.

The intention of this thread is for it to last for months and years and for people that have recent reports of how they dealt SPECIFICALLY with the Thailand aspect of this (which as far as I know would only be about this police record document) in the cases where such a document is required.

These documents will all have TIME LIMITS.

For example -- six months.

If you're moving to a nation where the application can possibly take several months, you can see the potential problems there.

Also how do you get this report if you're no longer in Thailand?
Is it realistically possible?

Perhaps you failed to get it before leaving or the time runs out on the limits even if you did.

These Latin American nations do NOT kid around with these types of required apostle documents. Either you have them and they are exactly right for their requirements (which can change on you just like Thailand) or you'll have ZERO chance of getting approved. Make or break stuff. 

I understand you may not have lived in Thailand or Ecuador.

This post is meant to be a GENERAL message about the potential long term VALUE of this topic for people that have lived in Thailand that may want to move to Latin America.

We are not going to learn this THAILAND specific information on general websites or forums about these topics for the various countries.

I hope people understand what I am talking about here and the reason it can be very important for people to post specific reports as some MAY go through this process for the various nations over the years.

Thanks. 

Edited March 7, 2019 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

I want to add yet another item to the PRIORITIES list of things you might want to consider when choosing a destination in Latin America. 

 

That is -- dressing norms.

 

Latin American cities have dressing norms. They are usually more FORMAL than the norms you might be used to if you've been living in Pattaya or Phuket. People living in Bangkok will be closer to the norms.

 

The point is if you move to Latin America you are probably going to want to blend in somewhat and not present as a gringo tourist everyday. Sure tourists can dress everyday in shorts and sandals and be seen by all as foreign tourists. Living there, most people won't want that or it could even cause you problems if you do. 

 

So as far as the priorities, well, if being super casual with dress (and also saving time and money on maintaining a more formal wardrobe) is very important to you, you could choose a beach resort area in Latin America such as Cartagena Colombia, Puerto Vallarta Mexico, etc. Short of that you could choose a more working class provincial town or city where shorts everyday wouldn't be cool but you could still dress rather shabbily. 

 

This could be a bigger deal than you might think. I do own socks but they stay in my drawer. 

Edited March 7, 2019 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

10 hours ago, CaptainJack said:

No need to rehash why. I left my short first attempt at becoming an expatriate in Thailand on January 8, 2019, after 9 months.  On the way out, I stopped in the Philippines and visited a fellow retired police detective who moved there with his Philippines wife.  It was not for me.

 

A week break exploring Sydney and the Blue Mountains,  then 3 weeks on the south island of New Zealand, and back to the USA,  rest, recover, rethink and Monday I fly first to Mexico for a few weeks or month to see how it feels compared to 100's of trips and vacations there, now as a possible retirement place to call home.

 

Then to Costa Rica, Columbia and Panama.  I have researched the visa requirements, costs, hoops to jump through and I easily can meet them all. 

 

 I board my flight Monday, March 11th and fly to Merida, Mexico, my first stop.

 

I picked Mexico first because it is only a 7 hour flight with a connection in Houston.  That, and I get a 6 month tourist visa on arrival.   That is included in my airfare. I can fly direct to Costa Rica too.

 

As I explore the possibilities,  I'll drop in and report on anything I think is useful. 

 

Captain Jack.....

Hi there Captain!

 

Great to hear about the beginning of your Latin American adventure!

 

Please keep us posted on your impressions of the specific locations that you visit. 

 

Merida is on my list for Mexico but I recently heard that the prices for things like restaurants are noticeably higher than interior cities like Queretaro, Guanajuato, and Guadalajara. I'm sure the food is wonderful there though. 

 

Where in Panama do you plan to go? Panama City I assume but where else? Same for Costa Rica.

 

In Colombia (don't spell it Columbia or the locals really might murder you) it's a fair guess that you'll be visiting Medellin, right?

 

Have you considered having a look at the COFFEE region (including Armenia, Pereira, Manizales, and the small touristic village of Salento)? Moving there you would be more of a pioneer than moving to Medellin, but great weather, cleaner air, lower costs, and beautiful scenery. But higher earthquake risk. 

 

As you did NOT live in Thailand for all that long and it can be argued that at well under a full year, your status was more like a long term TOURIST, I'm wondering if you can avoid the issues of getting a police report from Thailand for the nations that do require it of all nations applicants have been living in (typically for the last five years)? If so, that would be great. If not, you can be a case study for us in how to get it from Thailand if you move to a nation requiring it (see above post for more details).

Edited March 7, 2019 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

Something to add on the police record thing.

In case you'll need it for your home country too which I kind of assume it would be wise to get anyway if there is any uncertainty at all there will be scads of information already that you can find about how to do that for the USA and Canada. Other nations, probably not so much. So in this thread I'm suggesting a focus on the THAILAND related issues with getting required documents. 

[whitemouse]

On 3/4/2019 at 4:45 PM, onera1961 said:

It just boggles my mind why Europeans want to come all the way to Thailand. They have better options in Spain, Portugal and Malta. I have lived in Albuferia and Benidorm and liked it. But I can't stay more than 3-months. I have to spend my next trip for three months in Malta. 

 

 

 

It is a natural thing for Europeans to spend winters in Thailand.

 

People often mention Spain and Portugal here, but no one mentions that Barcelona is +7C from Dec to Feb, Porto, very nice  city in Portugal is even colder. is too cold in Europe  during winter, that is why we do not spend winters in Spain nor Portugal.

 

I'm thinking about next winter home in SA too, but it doesn't seem any country comes near, say, Vietnam  coastal towns, all things considered. The only acceptable place near SA is Forida, seriously! I would buy a camper van,  drive around, it is fun, I do it in Spain every summer.

Edited March 7, 2019 by whitemouse

[Jingthing]

29 minutes ago, whitemouse said:

 

It is a natural thing for Europeans to spend winters in Thailand.

 

People often mention Spain and Portugal here, but no one mentions that Barcelona is +7C from Dec to Feb, Porto, very nice  city in Portugal is even colder. is too cold in Europe  during winter, that is why we do not spend winters in Spain nor Portugal.

 

I'm thinking about next winter home in SA too, but it doesn't seem any country comes near, say, Vietnam  coastal towns, all things considered. The only acceptable place near SA is Forida, seriously! I would buy a camper van,  drive around, it is fun, I do it in Spain every summer.

Temporary winter stays are not really the topic here, certainly not in Europe or Asia. 

That said, have you tried the Pacific beach areas of Costa Rica (Central America) or the Caribbean coast towns in Mexico (North America)? Perhaps beach parts of northern Brazil or the Caribbean area of Colombia (Cartagena, Santa Marta, etc.) (South America)? I will concede that parts of Florida (North America) can be seen to be part of Latin America. Of course Americans don't need to expatriate to the U.S. and the U.S. offers no retirement visas to others but you can winter visit for six months if you want. 

Edited March 7, 2019 by Jingthing

[tutsiwarrior]

re: thai police reports for immigration purposes, I applied for a temp VN residence permit in Hanoi in 2010 and the thai embassy there was very helpful in assisting me in obtaining a police report from BKK for that purpose, hadta fill out a few forms that were sent to BKK...might wanna investigate to see if the same assistance is available from thai embassies in latin america...

 

I havta admit that the embassy staff in Hanoi were very eager to offer assistance that may be an anomaly as far as thai embassy staff go in general...one dude gave me his personal mobile number so that I could call him and check to see if the police report from BKK had arrived...

 

 

[Jingthing]

38 minutes ago, tutsiwarrior said:

re: thai police reports for immigration purposes, I applied for a temp VN residence permit in Hanoi in 2010 and the thai embassy there was very helpful in assisting me in obtaining a police report from BKK for that purpose, hadta fill out a few forms that were sent to BKK...might wanna investigate to see if the same assistance is available from thai embassies in latin america...

 

I havta admit that the embassy staff in Hanoi were very eager to offer assistance that may be an anomaly as far as thai embassy staff go in general...one dude gave me his personal mobile number so that I could call him and check to see if the police report from BKK had arrived...

 

 

Thanks for that and it's interesting and certainly may be very helpful for those moving to Vietnam, but I seriously doubt it would be relevant for applying in Latin America.

 

Here is the list of Apostille countries --

 

https://www.internationalapostille.com/hague-apostille-member-countries/

[Jingthing]

Gringo pricing.

Same same but different to Farang Pricing?

In the article, a former Thai expat is quoted saying it's even worse here!

 

Quote

Gringo prices, viveza criolla, and how to survive economically in the Latin culture

https://cuencahighlife.com/gringo-prices/

[fusion58]

On 3/4/2019 at 4:15 PM, EricTh said:

But I don't see any farang holding joss-sticks and regularly praying at the temples.  Neither do they know anything about Buddhist concepts nor believe in Buddhism.

The same could be said about most Thais.

[CaptainJack]

9 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Hi there.

Have you retired in Ecuador?

If so, did you do so after living in Thailand?

This is a really important part of the intention of this topic. 

Ecuador and most other Latin American nations will require a police report document if you've been living in Thailand. It has to be from an approved Thai source, it needs have an apostle, and it needs to be officially translated. I assume they would also probably require similar from your home country even if you haven't recently lived there.

This can be a major pain.

Specifics may be different for each nation.

I wonder if the Latin American nation's embassies in Thailand can assist (or you need them to assist) in some cases.

The intention of this thread is for it to last for months and years and for people that have recent reports of how they dealt SPECIFICALLY with the Thailand aspect of this (which as far as I know would only be about this police record document) in the cases where such a document is required.

These documents will all have TIME LIMITS.

For example -- six months.

If you're moving to a nation where the application can possibly take several months, you can see the potential problems there.

Also how do you get this report if you're no longer in Thailand?
Is it realistically possible?

Perhaps you failed to get it before leaving or the time runs out on the limits even if you did.

These Latin American nations do NOT kid around with these types of required apostle documents. Either you have them and they are exactly right for their requirements (which can change on you just like Thailand) or you'll have ZERO chance of getting approved. Make or break stuff. 

I understand you may not have lived in Thailand or Ecuador.

This post is meant to be a GENERAL message about the potential long term VALUE of this topic for people that have lived in Thailand that may want to move to Latin America.

We are not going to learn this THAILAND specific information on general websites or forums about these topics for the various countries.

I hope people understand what I am talking about here and the reason it can be very important for people to post specific reports as some MAY go through this process for the various nations over the years.

Thanks. 

You are absolutely correct.  In fact, if I decide I want to retire to almost any country in Latin America,  I'll have to repatriate to the USA for anywhere from two months to a year, often need to hire an attorney and wait.  Retirement to a Latin American country is not like Thailand or Cambodia. 

[CaptainJack]

9 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Hi there Captain!

 

Great to hear about the beginning of your Latin American adventure!

 

Please keep us posted on your impressions of the specific locations that you visit. 

 

Merida is on my list for Mexico but I recently heard that the prices for things like restaurants are noticeably higher than interior cities like Queretaro, Guanajuato, and Guadalajara. I'm sure the food is wonderful there though. 

 

Where in Panama do you plan to go? Panama City I assume but where else? Same for Costa Rica.

 

In Colombia (don't spell it Columbia or the locals really might murder you) it's a fair guess that you'll be visiting Medellin, right?

 

Have you considered having a look at the COFFEE region (including Armenia, Pereira, Manizales, and the small touristic village of Salento)? Moving there you would be more of a pioneer than moving to Medellin, but great weather, cleaner air, lower costs, and beautiful scenery. But higher earthquake risk. 

 

As you did NOT live in Thailand for all that long and it can be argued that at well under a full year, your status was more like a long term TOURIST, I'm wondering if you can avoid the issues of getting a police report from Thailand for the nations that do require it of all nations applicants have been living in (typically for the last five years)? If so, that would be great. If not, you can be a case study for us in how to get it from Thailand if you move to a nation requiring it (see above post for more details).

Because I kept a physical address in Texas, I'll make no mention of living in Thailand.  A long vacation I'll call it. I'm really just getting started,  so my ability to contribute will be in short segments. 

[CaptainJack]

9 hours ago, Jingthing said:

I want to add yet another item to the PRIORITIES list of things you might want to consider when choosing a destination in Latin America. 

 

That is -- dressing norms.

 

Latin American cities have dressing norms. They are usually more FORMAL than the norms you might be used to if you've been living in Pattaya or Phuket. People living in Bangkok will be closer to the norms.

 

The point is if you move to Latin America you are probably going to want to blend in somewhat and not present as a gringo tourist everyday. Sure tourists can dress everyday in shorts and sandals and be seen by all as foreign tourists. Living there, most people won't want that or it could even cause you problems if you do. 

 

So as far as the priorities, well, if being super casual with dress (and also saving time and money on maintaining a more formal wardrobe) is very important to you, you could choose a beach resort area in Latin America such as Cartagena Colombia, Puerto Vallarta Mexico, etc. Short of that you could choose a more working class provincial town or city where shorts everyday wouldn't be cool but you could still dress rather shabbily. 

 

This could be a bigger deal than you might think. I do own socks but they stay in my drawer. 

Agreed. Don't even think of wearing shorts to a government office or anything even semi formal. 

[CaptainJack]

8 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Something to add on the police record thing.

In case you'll need it for your home country too which I kind of assume it would be wise to get anyway if there is any uncertainty at all there will be scads of information already that you can find about how to do that for the USA and Canada. Other nations, probably not so much. So in this thread I'm suggesting a focus on the THAILAND related issues with getting required documents. 

I've already read some requirements for police reports.  It will be common to have to produce police reports from both your home country and Thailand. 

[Jingthing]

You are absolutely correct.  In fact, if I decide I want to retire to almost any country in Latin America,  I'll have to repatriate to the USA for anywhere from two months to a year, often need to hire an attorney and wait.  Retirement to a Latin American country is not like Thailand or Cambodia. 

It really depends. When you decide on a country please post. You don't always need a lawyer and you don't always need to start in the home country.

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[Jingthing]

Because I kept a physical address in Texas, I'll make no mention of living in Thailand.  A long vacation I'll call it. I'm really just getting started,  so my ability to contribute will be in short segments. 

Great. What kind of Thailand visa stamps do you have in your passport though?

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[Jingthing]

I've already read some requirements for police reports.  It will be common to have to produce police reports from both your home country and Thailand. 

Yes usually. But for Latin America they will need to have an apostle and translated. When you choose a country please post and share the exact procedures and what is working and what is not working. As you say you won't need it from Thailand you won't be sharing that part.

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[CaptainJack]

2 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

It really depends. When you decide on a country please post. You don't always need a lawyer and you don't always need to start in the home country.

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True. Mexico is one you have to apply from your home country consulate,  get your initial stamp, all your documents and then go to Mexico,  submit everything to be apostlized and wait.  Every country is different. 

[CaptainJack]

5 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Great. What kind of Thailand visa stamps do you have in your passport though?

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Non immigrant o retirement.  That may or may not be an issue.  I'll find out. 

[CaptainJack]

By the way. When it comes to tourist visa runs from one Central American country to another,  you cannot simply land cross or fly to an adjacent country.   They all formed a pack and share via a computer system where you have been.  If in a Central American country for 90 days, you have to leave Central America for at least 3 days, where South America or North America.  

[whitemouse]

7 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Temporary winter stays are not really the topic here, certainly not in Europe or Asia. 

 

I will concede that parts of Florida (North America) can be seen to be part of Latin America. Of course Americans don't need to expatriate to the U.S. and the U.S. offers no retirement visas to others but you can winter visit for six months if you want. 

I realize this is offtopic. You will be mad, Jingting. But we can't discuss exodus, there are simply handful of countries on Earth, that are viable. Forgive my thoughts, please!

 

We are discussing where to move, since Thailand has engaged "get the F out, long term expats. I don't mean just latest blow to expats and retirement extension rule changes. Squeezing foreigners has been going on 3-4 years, it is hard to stay 7 months winter here now. 

 

Truth is, Thailand is unstable, 3rd world country (in a good way), and becoming terrible place to retire, and invest. It isn't just income requirements, it is felt on every encounter with authorities, immigration in particular. 30 days extension for TR has become mission impossible. Thailand is hostile to foreigners, long term foreigners especially.

 

Discussion that you started is very timely, alas you insist limiting discussion to strictly  Latin America. Don't!

 

Thing is, we have about 10 countries to consider. Maybe you can tolerate mentions of Southern Europe, and even southern USA. There simply isn't many countries to choose from to us. You are narrowing choices to basically 3 nations in Latin America. Not enough to sustain an active, informative thread with useful information. 

 

We should consider all the 10 or so  liveble nations, you have a great, helpful thread, consider allowing us breaking strict rule of yours, and diviate from  Latin America. We can afford to limit our options to 3 Latin America nations, doesn't make sense.

 

 Florida is not a bad option even for European like me. It is not expensive.

For Americans there is irs income tax, that alone will understandably keep away many.

But FL has no State income tax, that is big plus for Euros and Canadians like me.

 

FL can be had for very cheap, I'd love to argue that point, Jingthing, if you find time.. as a Canadian/Euro citizen FL seems doable. What are your counter arguments against Florida?

 

I have travelled SA, and just like  everyone says, personal security, petty street crime is the main issue in SA, at least in tourist towns, and those are the town's I'd consider staying in, never able to become full native in isolated, rural areas. 

 

Another offtopic, forgive me, not far from Thailand is Vietnam, I've spent 2 months in different coastal towns in Vietnam these past 6 months, knowing that Thailand for me is history (under 50, TR visa). Extremely easy, extremely cheap, unexpectedly friendly. 3 months Viet multi entry TR visa filled online, no embassy visits, no agents, no bribes,  Canadian passport, all done within minutes online.

 

US passport holders still 1 year visa, so far.

 

Since Cambodia is completely out of the picture for past 2 years (Kampot is the last viable option, but it is truly the very last livable town in the country, and I doubt for long), Viet is the only viable, non nasty,  non openly immigrant hostile option in the region.

 

Again, mentioning Vietnam is severely offtopic.

But Jingthing, I have a good excuse, as I said earlier, we do not have much to choose from, I can only list less than 5 countries, that could be painless alternative to Thailand. Latin America has 3 countries on offer, and you have ranked them already, and nothing attracts me. None of them great.

 

Anyways, these are my thoughts, I spend 6-7 months every year in Thailand since 2003, last 2 years I'm not even able to travel in region without DM airport IO asking me questions, trying to find dirty trick to deny entry. Mind you, I have 2 TR in my passport, maybe 1 visa waiver stamp. 

 

The way it looks now, we are all told to GTFO, over 50, or under 50. 

 

Sell your condo while you can, get out!

[Jingthing]

16 minutes ago, CaptainJack said:

Non immigrant o retirement.  That may or may not be an issue.  I'll find out. 

Possibly. You present an interesting case with that. As you're out of Thailand already I suppose the best idea is to apply without the Thailand document and hope for the best. Then if they push it back then you can help us find out if/how you can get the proper document (with apostille and translated) when you are no longer in Thailand for the specific nation you will be applying to.

I'm hoping over time (years even) we can gather multiple current reports from people that have lived in Thailand and are moving to the specific Latin American nations.