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

[atyclb]

7 hours ago, Jingthing said:

That video should do wonders for the "viewership" here. Why is the host ignoring the models? 

 

 

host and guest designer are discussing and describing the outfits worn by each of the models while the models enter and depart. guess there is a camera in front of them for this and another camera or more filming the models.

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, atyclb said:

 

 

host and guest designer are discussing and describing the outfits worn by each of the models while the models enter and depart. guess there is a camera in front of them for this and another camera or more filming the models.

Ah! I'm only hearing the music so the video of the host looked kind of bizarre in that context. Sometimes with the hand gestures it looked like she might be talking about how to rebuild a car engine. Not that I'm an authority on such matters, but these Columbianas are freakin' beautiful, eh? Seems to me they are beating the Thai ladies on that measure.

[atyclb]

44 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

1 hour ago, atyclb said:

 

 

host and guest designer are discussing and describing the outfits worn by each of the models while the models enter and depart. guess there is a camera in front of them for this and another camera or more filming the models.

Ah! I'm only hearing the music so the video of the host looked kind of bizarre in that context. Sometimes with the hand gestures it looked like she might be talking about how to rebuild a car engine. Not that I'm an authority on such matters, but these Columbianas are freakin' beautiful, eh? Seems to me they are beating the Thai ladies on that measure.

 

" these Columbianas are freakin' beautiful, eh?"

 

that is the typical reaction of us/canadians even on arrival at the bogota airport. many have asked if they are really in a dream and and if so hope they dont wake soon. my frame of reference was colombia so when i first came to thailand i did not have the "wow feeling" many others did.  

 

seems video poster added music that obscured the talking.  below is same tv host moderating fashion but no added music. lingerie brand fyi is "besame" .  "kiss me"

 

 

ps; though these gals are models the country is overloaded with normal girls that look just as good  and often better.

Edited June 24, 2019 by atyclb

[Jingthing]

OMG. So sorry I misspelled Colombianas in the most horrible way.

Sent from my Lenovo A7020a48 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Jingthing]

Back to a more serious subject the Venezuelan crisis is getting worse. According to this article an ADDITIONAL one million refugees will be fleeing to Colombia by December of this year. While of course becoming an expat to Venezuela is a goal of almost nobody except journalists and aid workers, this worsening situation seems bound to damage the attractiveness of Colombia to more usual expats. It's too early to know whether this means that Colombia is headed towards Nicaragua (was promising and now isn't) territory but its definitely something to watch. I realize the tone of this post may sound callous to focus only on the interests of expats, but after all, that's what this topic is about. The pros and cons of various destinations in Latin America from the POV of potential expats, particularly those already in Thailand.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/the-venezuela-crisis-is-going-to-get-much-worse--and-trump-will-get-the-blame/2019/06/23/c430fc4c-9370-11e9-b570-6416efdc0803_story.html

[LivinLOS]

On 3/4/2019 at 10:12 AM, marcusarelus said:

Getting an O-A visa for Thailand works out to $100 dollars a year.  What Latin American countries are lower than that?

Thats cheap flights home and back... 

[atyclb]

3 hours ago, Jingthing said:

OMG. So sorry I misspelled Colombianas in the most horrible way.

Sent from my Lenovo A7020a48 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

 

most common misspelling maybe thinking about columbia university

[Jingthing]

 

most common misspelling maybe thinking about columbia university

Honestly I really know better!

Blame it on auto completion software.

 

https://i3.cpcache.com/product/975016654/its_colombia_not_columbia_flag_tshirt.jpg?side=Front&color=White&height=460&width=460&qv=90

 

Sent from my Lenovo A7020a48 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

 

 

[Jingthing]

Health insurance in Ecuador. People that have been following this thread can see the close similarities to the situation in Colombia. Like Colombia there is a buy in option for the public program. Like Colombia there is a grey area on the cost of that. A rule was passed there targeting expats to make them pay a percentage of income including pensions but the enforcement has been sketchy. Unlike Colombia there is a strict health insurance requirement for foreign residents. Like Colombia it is difficult or impossible to get private cover if too old and/or with preexisting conditions.

 

That all said the most interesting thing to me about this video is the report of this expat that had a stroke, didn't have insurance (which is weird as it is required for residence, perhaps he meant he only had the public and didn't want to use it), and used what he described as a very high quality private hospital in Quito. Note the cost for that without insurance. It's my impression that such an incident in Thailand using a high quality private hospital without insurance these days would be much, much higher. 

 

 

[yogi100]

On 3/5/2019 at 1:38 PM, Jingthing said:

I hear you and my answer is no. Others are free to quote in Thai baht. I think for Latin America, it's more standard to quote in dollars. A number of the nations are even fully dollarized. 

How many Latin Americans read this forum.

 

Most English speaking falang visitors to the LOS and who read TV are British and Australian. 

 

Most other posters quote in baht out of courtesy to those who may be unfamiliar with the GBP or Australian Dollar. When do you see a condo advertised for rent in the LOS, or a house or car for sale in US $s

[marcusarelus]

9 minutes ago, yogi100 said:

How many Latin Americans read this forum.

 

Most English speaking falang visitors to the LOS and who read TV are British and Australian. 

 

Most other posters quote in baht out of courtesy to those who may be unfamiliar with the GBP or Australian Dollar. When do you see a condo advertised for rent in the LOS, or a house or car for sale in US $s

I thought I read somewhere the majority of ThaiVisa members were from North America.  Wasn't there a survey a while back?

 

https://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/thaivisa.com

Edited June 25, 2019 by marcusarelus

[Jingthing]

4 minutes ago, yogi100 said:

How many Latin Americans read this forum.

 

Most English speaking falang visitors to the LOS and who read TV are British and Australian. 

 

Most other posters quote in baht out of courtesy to those who may be unfamiliar with the GBP or Australian Dollar. When do you see a condo advertised for rent in the LOS, or a house or car for sale in US $s

 

 

Here you go --

 

https://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/convert/?Amount=1&From=USD&To=THB

 

 

 

[seasia]

Just now, yogi100 said:

How many Latin Americans read this forum.

 

Most English speaking falang visitors to the LOS and who read TV are British and Australian. 

 

Most other posters quote in baht out of courtesy to those who may be unfamiliar with the GBP or Australian Dollar. When do you see a condo advertised for rent in the LOS, or a house or car for sale in US $s

I think it might be British followed by Americans but could be wrong. A lot of Aussies here.

The topic is about Latin America as opposed to Thailand so it would seem fairly reasonable to mention prices in US $.

 

Like it or not the US $ is the number 1 currency in the world.

I use it for price comparisons/trades.

 

 

Sorry I am off topic here really.

[yogi100]

3 hours ago, seasia said:

I think it might be British followed by Americans but could be wrong. A lot of Aussies here.

The topic is about Latin America as opposed to Thailand so it would seem fairly reasonable to mention prices in US $.

 

Like it or not the US $ is the number 1 currency in the world.

I use it for price comparisons/trades.

 

 

Sorry I am off topic here really.

But surely it would be more considerate and practical and convenient for everybody if prices were quoted in the currency of the country around which this forum is based. It only takes just a few extra seconds.

 

The topic is addressed to those residing in Thailand contemplating a move to South America.

 

If someone says something costs 100 baht I immediately know it's value in my country's money as do natives of any other nation who are in the LOS and even vaguely familiar with their rate of exchange.

 

If someone says something costs 100 baht an American can just as easily convert it to dollars and cents. It should not be a problem for him or her.

 

Who wants to look up US exchange rates each time someone is too lazy or can't be bothered to put the price in baht as well as US dollars. Or any other currency for that matter.

 

[garyk]

On 3/4/2019 at 2:12 AM, Jingthing said:

Here is my priority list --

 

Visa issues -- as easy and quick a process as possible

Visa financial levels -- obtainable based on my lower level U.S. social security pension (happily multiple choices for that) and/or another method that I could use (such as Mexico which has a "show money" outside of Mexico option

Residency issues -- either permanent residence on initial application or a path to permanent residence in a reasonably number of years

Citizenship -- nice to have that choice but not important to me

Beach? -- I don't need it

Urban, rural, etc. -- Prefer a smaller city, from a large town to a smaller big city

Weather -- Looking for year round mild weather

Altitude -- Hopefully not super high up there

Language -- Would prefer a place that you can "get by" with English at least for a while, but considering Spanish is not that hard, not the highest priority

Cost of living -- As low as possible but not willing to live super locally, still want my first world comforts in housing. To be more specific cost to rent something decent between 250 and 500 USD monthly. 

Transport -- Possible to live in the new place without a car high priority

Buying or renting? -- Open to buying only if it appears to be an especially good deal based on the local market and exchange rate. OK to rent indefinitely. 

Pollution -- A city with lots of traffic congestion / air pollution would be a strong negative
Food -- Interesting food, healthy food, international choices but I could compromise for other positive factors

Crime and safety -- As safe as possible. My gauge is if a place is comparably safe to a typical U.S. big city, meaning many many places in Latin America can meet that test

Health care -- Best if there is a buy in to a national system. Possibilities to get not horribly expensive coverage for older people with preexisting conditions in the local market. And/or a retail cost level that would be acceptable without insurance.

 

I just saw this thread.

I have been in Mexico now for about a week. Maybe you will be interested in my experience so far. But, I been in Mexico before.

I am in Toluca, south west of Mexico City.  I am living in a small house here. The rent is in line with Thailand prices IMO, Western style homes here. Two bedroom home unfurnished 240/mo. Wifi fast and reliable so far. 25 dollars a month that includes a television channel. 

 

I have a pickup here but today I road a first class bus, MUCHHHHH better than anything I have ever been on in Thailand for 73 pesos, 3.5 dollars. each way. Mexico City is safe and at the museums and food are right down my alley.

 

So far I am really enjoying my time and hope to stay for a few months before moving on to Merida.

 

Walmart is right down the road, all the conveniences of Texas. 

I am heading out to get some groceries, when I get back I will post some pics of the house and keep posting my experiences with pics. 

 

All the best.

[Jingthing]

6 hours ago, garyk said:

I just saw this thread.

I have been in Mexico now for about a week. Maybe you will be interested in my experience so far. But, I been in Mexico before.

I am in Toluca, south west of Mexico City.  I am living in a small house here. The rent is in line with Thailand prices IMO, Western style homes here. Two bedroom home unfurnished 240/mo. Wifi fast and reliable so far. 25 dollars a month that includes a television channel. 

 

I have a pickup here but today I road a first class bus, MUCHHHHH better than anything I have ever been on in Thailand for 73 pesos, 3.5 dollars. each way. Mexico City is safe and at the museums and food are right down my alley.

 

So far I am really enjoying my time and hope to stay for a few months before moving on to Merida.

 

Walmart is right down the road, all the conveniences of Texas. 

I am heading out to get some groceries, when I get back I will post some pics of the house and keep posting my experiences with pics. 

 

All the best.

Thanks for checking in here. Of course people currently visiting or living in nations in Latin America are strongly encouraged to join this topic.

Toluca, eh? 

A place not on my radar and yet I see it has the 5th largest population in Mexico.

Safety is a top concern for many, so what is your impression of the safety level there?

As far as Merida, the extremely hot and humid weather for a large part of the year (even very hot and humid by Thailand standards) isn't an issue for you?
Personally I have rejected Merida just based on that.

As I see you're open to non-beach destinations (which I think is wise) do you have any interest in two places that I've identified as promising in the interior, Puebla/Cholula and Queretaro?

As far as visas I'm assuming you're on a six month tourist visa.

My info says you can't live indefinitely on those these days.

Are you considering a more permanent stay?
If you get to that point, your report about the process for either a temporary residence or permanent residence application would be of great interest.

If you've been living in Thailand, I'm not even clear as yet if Mexico will require an apostille police record report from Thailand (as well as your passport country). 

[Jingthing]

How about a little comedic relief in a small tangential detour? This new show explores gringo stereotypes about Latin culture. Sure there are some grains of truth in such stereotypes but they hardly tell the whole story. While this show is set in the U.S., people visiting or moving to Latin America come there with certain baggage in their heads about what the cultures are there. So you're dealing not only with the new cultures but your own preconceptions.

 

 

[Morakot]

19 hours ago, marcusarelus said:

I thought I read somewhere the majority of ThaiVisa members were from North America.  Wasn't there a survey a while back?

 

https://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/thaivisa.com

 

Not really, these are mostly false positives caused by crawlers with Silicon Valley IP addresses.

 

¿Entiende usted? 

[Jingthing]

Enough already. Look, people are free to quote prices in Latin America in any currency that they want. Anyone that has followed the English language expat press about these destinations knows that it's normal and usual to quote in U.S. dollars. For lots of reasons -- the dominance of the U.S. dollar internationally, the proximity of Latin America to the USA, the strong interest in the U.S. and Canada (but the U.S. has a much bigger population) in this region, the fact that some Latin American nations are LITERALLY dollarized and that doesn't mean Australian dollars. It's also fairly common to quote in the LOCAL currency such as Colombian Pesos which is probably less useful in the context of this thread. On the other hand sometimes it really is MORE useful to refer to the local currency. For example the financial visa requirements will generally be based on the local currency so you really need to know that as the exchange rate changes. So if you want to quote in Thai baht or you want to be silly and quote in something like Polish zloty about prices in Latin America, nobody is stopping you! I will continue to post using U.S. dollars, and I'm certain the vast majority of article and video links that I've already posted and hope to post later will be quoting in U.S. dollars. It's really not that big a deal either way. As expats we should be well versed in how to do any kind of conversion.

 

Cheers.

Edited June 26, 2019 by Jingthing

[garyk]

_{I have had a retirement visa in Thailand for years.} 

Personally I will not be going back. I still have 9 months left on my visa in Thailand.

 

Here are a few pics of the house I rent in Mexico. This is a lower middle income housing project.

240 US dollars a month.

 

IMG_20190626_082406.jpg.download.zip

[garyk]

My SS check is enough for the retirement visa in Mexico. Very easy it looks like.

When I get back to Texas I will contact the Mexican embassy and start the process.

 

I travel allot,  I lived in Colombia in the coffee region for a few months. I also read the comments made earlier in this thread.  And I will have to say it is mostly bull shit as far as I am concerned.

If you are considering Colombia my suggestion is to live there for a few months and see if you like it. 

 

I can post a few pics of where I lived in Cartago Colombia, and many of the towns around it. If interested? I stayed in Bogota, Cali, and down threw the coffee region.

 

 

 

[SiamAndy]

32 minutes ago, garyk said:

_{I have had a retirement visa in Thailand for years.} 

Personally I will not be going back. I still have 9 months left on my visa in Thailand.

 

Here are a few pics of the house I rent in Mexico. This is a lower middle income housing project.

240 US dollars a month.

 

IMG_20190626_082406.jpg.download.zip 5.48 MB · 0 downloads

 

What town in Mexico is this? 240 is a good deal.

[Jingthing]

20 minutes ago, SiamAndy said:

 

What town in Mexico is this? 240 is a good deal.

Toluca. Apparently the 5th largest population in Mexico and I had barely heard of it before.

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, garyk said:

_{I have had a retirement visa in Thailand for years.} 

Personally I will not be going back. I still have 9 months left on my visa in Thailand.

 

Here are a few pics of the house I rent in Mexico. This is a lower middle income housing project.

240 US dollars a month.

 

IMG_20190626_082406.jpg.download.zip 5.48 MB · 0 downloads

I am so happy that you're posting here!

For a number of reasons. 

You are real person that has the real life perspective of having lived in Latin America before, having lived long term in Thailand, and now moving again to Latin America, namely Mexico. 

 

Please keep posting here as your new Mexican "adventure" continues. 

 

As far as your house rental in Toluca, yes I think your description sounds about right, lower middle class. I'm sure people will notice the bars on the windows. Are there good neighborhood amenities nearby (shops, services, parks, etc.) or not?

Edited June 26, 2019 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, garyk said:

My SS check is enough for the retirement visa in Mexico. Very easy it looks like.

When I get back to Texas I will contact the Mexican embassy and start the process.

 

I travel allot,  I lived in Colombia in the coffee region for a few months. I also read the comments made earlier in this thread.  And I will have to say it is mostly bull shit as far as I am concerned.

If you are considering Colombia my suggestion is to live there for a few months and see if you like it. 

 

I can post a few pics of where I lived in Cartago Colombia, and many of the towns around it. If interested? I stayed in Bogota, Cali, and down threw the coffee region.

 

 

 

That sounds great for you that your S.S. check will cover it. I think because of the strong dollar vs. weak peso that probably includes a lot more Americans (and others) that can qualify on pension alone.

 

As you're from Texas, I assume you meant going to a Mexican CONSULATE, not the embassy in D.C. I know enough about this to be able to say there is no need to approach the embassy. You can definitely handle this through a consulate in Texas.

 

I am still unclear on whether you will need apostille police reports (for the USA and Thailand) or not for the retirement based temporary or permanent residence.

 

Do you think you'll start with the temporary option?

 

---

 

Second part -- Colombia.

That's great that you have experience living in the coffee region in Colombia. 

If what you've read here strikes you as total B.S. if you feel up to it, please say what you mean more specifically. I personally won't be insulted if it's about stuff that I've posted. Having lived there you obviously have much much more credibility.

 

Cartago another place I haven't heard of. Looking it up I see it's a town not too far from Pereira. I see it's lower elevation than Armenia and Pereira and much lower than Manizales, so of course the weather is WARMER. Sure, of course, I would definitely like to see pictures and info about your experiences living in the coffee region.

 

Did you spend any time in Armenia Colombia? I'm particularly interested in the more "upscale" North Side there.

Of course, it's not rocket science you can't really know a place unless you spend a decent amount of time there. Exploratory trips are different than tourism trips. Reading between your lines and that you left and aren't going back, I'm going to guess that you may have some seriously negative things to say about Colombia and/or the coffee region (or perhaps only Cartago?).

 

--

Currencies

 

At this time at least against the U.S. dollar both Mexico and Colombia offer very attractive exchange rates.

 

Compare to Thailand where the baht has strengthened so dramatically. 

Perhaps yet another reason that more expats in Thailand may sooner or later be considering destinations in Latin America.

Edited June 26, 2019 by Jingthing

[JimmyJ]

5 hours ago, garyk said:

I travel allot,  I lived in Colombia in the coffee region for a few months. I also read the comments made earlier in this thread.  And I will have to say it is mostly bull shit as far as I am concerned.

 

 

 

I don't recall all the earlier comments - are you saying that Colombia is better than what some stated, or worse?

[bttao]

5 hours ago, Jingthing said:

I am so happy that you're posting here!

For a number of reasons. 

You are real person that has the real life perspective of having lived in Latin America before, having lived long term in Thailand, and now moving again to Latin America, namely Mexico. 

 

Please keep posting here as your new Mexican "adventure" continues. 

 

As far as your house rental in Toluca, yes I think your description sounds about right, lower middle class. I'm sure people will notice the bars on the windows. Are there good neighborhood amenities nearby (shops, services, parks, etc.) or not?

Bars on windows is so common in most old world countries ( practice which Mexico /Latin America kept ).... it has nothing to do with today's crime.

In the US we have dogs for security...

 

Edited June 26, 2019 by bttao

[grifbel]

who will be the lucky poster who bumps this inane thread to the 100 page mark.  Stay tuned folks!

[grifbel]

8 hours ago, garyk said:

_{I have had a retirement visa in Thailand for years.} 

Personally I will not be going back. I still have 9 months left on my visa in Thailand.

 

Here are a few pics of the house I rent in Mexico. This is a lower middle income housing project.

240 US dollars a month.

 

IMG_20190626_082406.jpg.download.zip 5.48 MB · 1 download

Looks a bit sketchy to say the least

[garyk]

A specialty store. All kind of delicious cheeses. Meat's. And look at the prices. Amazing assortment.  I thought this might interest some thinking of a change.