Holidayed to Thailand in 1983, Moved to Thailand 1997, Left Thailand 2019,

[blazes]

1 hour ago, moe666 said:

I often wonder what immigration office many here apply at, nine years living here and I have never had the immigration experience people speak of. Have all my ducks in order give them the paper work, they shuffle thru it they may ask a few questions and I am done. I pay my money get my passport and go home. Yes the immigration officers are not what some would call friendly but I do not expect them to be, with a job that would kill most people from stress. Yes the new requirements can be a hassel especially if you were not meeting them in the first place. 

Not sure what people want or expect out of immigration I do not think most people here know. You are not in your home country you chose to move here, now deal with the rules that are in place, or move some place else you precieve as being easier.

The point is not whether the IOs smile or not!!!  Who gives a $hit whether they are nice or not.  That is not the crux of the matter.  

Yes, if you really really want to live here, no matter how you are treated or what the external circumstances may be, then you should not complain about all the hoops the Immigration Ministry makes you jump through.

BUT, once your Thai wife has obtained Permanent Residence in her new country, she is then accepted as an equal citizen....no visiting police stations every 90 days, no having to get an annual "extension" of her visa.  Once your Thai wife is in her new country, she is free to come and go as she pleases.

Compare that with the situation for expats in LoS.

But again, I repeat....if you really want to live in LoS, that is the price you should be prepared to pay.

[Saltire]

I am keeping may fingers crossed that the retirement extension criteria don't change too much for the worst. OK  am an optimist. Best advice I got before moving here was enter on a TV, change to non-imm then apply for annual extensions. Leave 800k in the bank and forget about it. So far this has been good advice and i have had minimal immigration issues.

 

What makes me shudder more is the thought of trying to re-settle in the UK. Before I left the UK in 2012 i deliberately bought a one bedroom flat for 3 reasons. 1) a bolt hole to return to ONLY if needed, 2) a source of income by renting it out through an agency and 3) an asset to sell if i needed to self fund a large medical bill. The only thing I miss from the UK is the National Health Service, which, even if i had to return for medical reasons, I understand it's not free for at least 6 months as you have to prove you're back permanently. Not much point in rushing home for serious treatment to have to pay anyway. I have insurance but who knows if they will pay or if I will be able to afford it in the next few years.

 

So far I have had a continuous tenancy of my flat but if I went back to live there i'd half my income after throwing my tenant out. I doubt if i'd be able to afford UK council tax, gas/electricity, insurances, or a car, not to mention climbing to the fourth floor! I just have to survive 2 more years so collect 2 pensions which should make life easier.

 

Thankfully my girlfriend has no desire to visit or live in Scotland. She has a blanket for watching TV as I have the air con on pretty much at 22 every night ???? (summer in Scotland).

[Schtrick]

Sorry to hear your'e leaving ol' son, all the best, about to make a move to LOS in a couple of years ourselves, certainly good insights, thanks for sharing your experiences. A few bad ones spoil it for the rest, I have noticed the agenda of making it more unpleasant for western expats in my eight years of travel back and forth, but it wont stop me going, guess if it gets too much I might do the same as you, again thanks and a great post, cheers.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

39 minutes ago, malibukid said:

agreed. recall the U.S. ambassador to Thailand.

 Sorry, none to recall...

 

No one's been re-appointed since Glyn Davies' tenure ended....

 

[smutcakes]

39 minutes ago, malibukid said:

you missed the point.  immigration is not interested in verifiable income. they are in collusion with the banks to demand that we deposit money into their banks.  my embassy will not do this. it would take a few extra minutes and i would be willing to pay a certified accountant to do this and have my embassy notorize the paper work.  immigration would still not take it. they want money into a Thai bank either monthly or a lump sum deposit. baloney. give us the money, do not show us the money. and btw, just keep spending while you are here.  so put money into bank for the privilege of spending big bucks here on top of that.   you got to be kidding. 

Dont be a complete wally!????

[natway09]

Born in 1960 ??    How old are you ?? not 69 for sure

[Ajarnbrian]

If you are older and live in another country, check health coverage. 

If you abandon your children, don`t expect them to help you when you are older.

If you live in a heavily expat area, don`t expect locals to have much concern for you.

The grass is not always greener!

[NoshowJones]

2 hours ago, moe666 said:

I often wonder what immigration office many here apply at, nine years living here and I have never had the immigration experience people speak of. Have all my ducks in order give them the paper work, they shuffle thru it they may ask a few questions and I am done. I pay my money get my passport and go home. Yes the immigration officers are not what some would call friendly but I do not expect them to be, with a job that would kill most people from stress. Yes the new requirements can be a hassel especially if you were not meeting them in the first place. 

Not sure what people want or expect out of immigration I do not think most people here know. You are not in your home country you chose to move here, now deal with the rules that are in place, or move some place else you precieve as being easier.

Your last paragraph is a load of nonsense, what about the expats who moved here when all they had to do was  a 90 day border run? Some came here and took Thai families out of poverty, and you want people like that just to deal with the rules that are in place or move somewhere else.

That is just pure selfishness on your part.

[NoshowJones]

4 hours ago, blazes said:

An interesting summing-up.

For a decade, I was an expat for six months and a UK resident for the other six.  I no longer do the six months in Thailand part.

Why did I come to LoS in the first place?  (1) Much lower cost of living (2009), (2) beautiful younger women, and (3) warm weather between November and April.

My (Thai) wife is delightful and intelligent, the cost of living has shot up, and the pollution and heat are insufferable.

My three reasons for being in Thailand are now null and void.

 

I read ThaiVisa daily and the one thing above all that stands out as I read the headlines at the beginning is the almost universal fear people have of Thai immigration and its fatuous irrational changes to their money-spinning scam.  And Huckingfell's (great name by the way!) reference to this 800,000 baht con job sums up precisely the massive pain in the a$$ living in LoS has become.  (Not to mention the 90-day traipse to the office to prove you're a good boy and not a criminal moving from place to place.)

And compare how well your Thai wife is treated in UK or any other Western country and you can see, by comparison, the racism that dominates Thai society, from top to bottom.  Yes yes, we all know perfectly lovely and generous ("nam jai") Thai people, but if you go by the behaviour of Thai Immigration you would have to conclude that LoS is an intensely racist society.

 

 

Excellent post, I could not agree more.

[OJAS]

On 3/30/2019 at 7:30 PM, huckingfell said:

as my wife is Filipino we make a daily post of our time together, so that her family and friends in the Philippines can see what we are doing, the blog goes back literally every day, so anyone can visit restaurants, islands and shows we have visited in our time together in Thailand, and now of course our daily life in the UK,

So did you not consider the possibility of relocating to the Philippines? Definitely strikes me as the lesser of 2 evils when compared to a move back to the UK for someone in your position! And you would still have been able to receive annual State Pension increases there unlike in LOS!!

[Tuvoc]

Interesting post. We will retire to Thailand in the next 12-18 months. Getting old in Thailand is the big concern of course - Health insurance will become more expensive as time goes on, excesses will increase, and at some point it may not be possible to get it at all. My loving wife will take care of me as best she can, but we all die at some point and it may as well be Thailand. If I am well enough to travel then NZ rather than the UK would be the port of call for treatment, where I can stay with a brother or sister, but in reality you are rarely well enough to do that for something serious, so I accept the situation I will be facing.

 

Immigration requirements are painful for sure, but my guess is that you get used to the inconvenience. The UK type process of getting ILR and then citizenship off the back of marriage simply doesn't apply unfortunately.

[Sydebolle]

One should translate this and send hard copies to the jokers at immigration and to the government house for their reading pleasure.

I take it that any working alien here leaves a considerably thicker tay-payment-trail behind, employs people and treats them correctly. 

The writing is on the wall; I did precisely the same except moving back to my home country as it has been too long already.

Sold off my company and assets, living a peaceful quiet life along the Mekong where nobody takes note of me. 

[yogi100]

5 hours ago, blazes said:

An interesting summing-up.

For a decade, I was an expat for six months and a UK resident for the other six.  I no longer do the six months in Thailand part.

Why did I come to LoS in the first place?  (1) Much lower cost of living (2009), (2) beautiful younger women, and (3) warm weather between November and April.

My (Thai) wife is delightful and intelligent, the cost of living has shot up, and the pollution and heat are insufferable.

My three reasons for being in Thailand are now null and void.

 

I read ThaiVisa daily and the one thing above all that stands out as I read the headlines at the beginning is the almost universal fear people have of Thai immigration and its fatuous irrational changes to their money-spinning scam.  And Huckingfell's (great name by the way!) reference to this 800,000 baht con job sums up precisely the massive pain in the a$$ living in LoS has become.  (Not to mention the 90-day traipse to the office to prove you're a good boy and not a criminal moving from place to place.)

And compare how well your Thai wife is treated in UK or any other Western country and you can see, by comparison, the racism that dominates Thai society, from top to bottom.  Yes yes, we all know perfectly lovely and generous ("nam jai") Thai people, but if you go by the behaviour of Thai Immigration you would have to conclude that LoS is an intensely racist society.

 

 

An Aussie pal of mine spends most of his life in Pattaya with his Filipina wife who encounters the same amount of hostility as he does when dealing with the Thai immigration authorities.

 

To look at his wife you would think she was Thai as do other Thai people till it comes to language usage.

 

I'd say it's more a question of being nationalist than racist.

[yogi100]

5 hours ago, Gecko123 said:

Interesting and enjoyable post.

 

The OP describes being able to move to Thailand at the age of 46 without needing to sell his house to finance the adventure, while at the same time having been able to secure a UK based income stream over the past 23 years. I, for one, would be curious to know more details about how he was able to do this.

 

I had good paying jobs, and saved aggressively in order to retire to Thailand at age 50. But to do what you described would have been very difficult. Maybe if the house was very modest I might have been able to swing it. Looking at the OP's story, I see he was an early baby boomer who might have been able to get into the real estate market before it started to really take off, and he might have benefitted from moving to Thailand in 1997 at the height of the Asian Contagion financial crisis.

 

But I doubt doing what he did would be possible today for very many 46 year olds. He is to be commended for pointing out the hidden risks surrounding unplanned repatriation, but I don't think 'don't leave unless you have a house to return to' is necessarily the right message. Very few people can afford to eliminate that risk entirely, especially when they are still only in their mid-40's. It's just a risk that most will have to bear if they take the plunge.

Many people not just baby boomers come into inheritance. It's not impossible for a house in the UK especially London to be worth well upwards of a million pounds which is around 40 million baht. You can live like a Lord in the LOS on that sort of money even after inheritance tax.

 

A friend of mine was left two houses in Edgeware an expensive part of London when his parents died. His father was a building worker and they'd bought them when a working man could afford his own home. They'd bought the other one to rent out. Many fellows who live in the LOS have the same good fortune.

[Tuvoc]

36 minutes ago, yogi100 said:

Many people not just baby boomers come into inheritance. It's not impossible for a house in the UK especially London to be worth well upwards of a million pounds which is around 40 million baht. You can live like a Lord in the LOS on that sort of money even after inheritance tax.

 

 

Not uncommon for pension pots to be worth over a million quid as well.

Edited April 1, 2019 by Tuvoc

[huckingfell]

Huckingfell here,

        just a few things to point out, one of the reasons we choose the UK is that my wife prefers the UK to the Philippines, also I would prefer to be in the UK rather than the Philippines, it was just a personal choice that we both prefer the UK and as it happens she loves the cold! Regarding my name it was a close choice between two other names, Mucking Fuddle or Cupid Stunt.

       One point that many people seem to forget about, dying, in many cases it is not like switching off a light, a very dear friend of mine had a stroke, a bad one, she lingered on for 7 years, bedbound, paralyzed on one side, doubly incontinent, not knowing for most of the time her own husband or children, a fate that might befall myself or anyone, I did not wish to put my wife’s family in the Philippines through all of the emotional and financial hardships that would bring if I did indeed suffer a stroke whilst retired there. By the same token I over the years have heard the phrase, when Dad/Mum copes it I will inherit, the sad news is you may not, in the case of my father and ultimately my mother; the nursing home got it – all. Being that I am the only living family member left, there literally is no one to look after me, or indeed go back to if I needed to do so in the past.

          It is a lot more expensive here for us the UK for many things than Thailand, but we knew that before moving. Regarding where in Thailand we lived, as it happens we lived very near the land office in Pattaya if anyone living in Pattaya knows it, having the land office as a very near neighbor, things were nice and quiet, no discos, beer bars, motorcycle repair shops, etc, which is why I choose to live near it all of those years ago, the difference between then and now? A lot more cars in the street during the working day, as more house holders now have cars.

       Speaking of Pattaya here are a couple of questions for anyone living in Pattaya, do you remember hugely noisy Harley Davidson motorcycles roaring around town? And have you noticed there are now none? One small reason that I did not drive around town, is the now constant number of police stops that we encounter whether I am driving my small step through Honda or drive my truck, everything is in order, driving license, tax, insurance, etc. but it was a pain being stopped so often, Going back to the Harley riders and speaking to some of them, it appears that a small ‘fine’ would take care of the noise, but the fines became so high and often the HD riders agreed amongst themselves now never to ride in Pattaya or nearby, when they go out on a cruise to another province they all leave at 05.00AM or before, and return at the same time, it appears in other provinces the noise is tolerated, and in Pattaya the BIB do not get up early, so it is not only myself that has noticed the increase number of times that we were being stopped by the roadside for a tea.

 

       It was indeed a trial getting a visa for my wife, on two occasions during the application we received an email from the UK Home office, both times promising a decision in 15 working days, both times the Home office broke their word for each promised 15 working days, but there it is, we applied for the visa on 22^nd June and received the visa 2^nd November, the Home office guideline is 12 weeks, still we made it in the end.

        I do not know if Eagle delivers to or from the USA, also remember the price we paid is already way out of date as they kept to a quote they gave us months before.

        Not that I need to explain but one commenter seems to miss a valuable point, if you do decided to move out and leave your home in the in UK, or any where else for that matter, unsold and empty you lose a valuable income source, rent your now empty house out, which is exactly what I did, the trick is to find a reliable agent that you trust to work in your best interest, and as it happens I own a shop that gives me a small income in the form of a rent, moving back of course we have now lost the income from our home, but we are still comfortable with the rent from the shop, the state pension and a small annuity, I never got on the housing ladder, I bought my home in the UK in mid 1970s and have never resold or bought another since then.

           I should say it is not a fear of immigration, it is just that at anyone’s whim there is a chance that every 90 days your world could, and I stress only could, be turned upside down, there is no reason on earth that it should happen to us, far from it, but the thought is always there that someone on a bad day could say, ‘the computer says no’. I hope that answers most questions, back to us here, we are both so happy we made the move, we will of course be dropping into Thailand on our way to the Philippines every few years, wishing you all the best, Huckingfell.

[Letseng]

6 hours ago, wotsdermatter said:

Having lived in quite successfully in Thailand since 1996, I found many good points and some not so good in this screed, along with many grammatical errors which sometimes made it difficult to understand.  Having said that, I finally left Thailand in 2018 because I realised there were soon going to be many unsurmountable problems stemming from the government especially with changes to the immigration and visa policies and regulations, including, and especially the requirements needed for obtaining a visa, which is becoming more expensive.  Plus, on top of that, the increase of violent actions against us, for example, 4-5 against 1 for no acceptable reason and the flood of other nationalities entering the country without having the same restrictions and visa controls enforced upon them, and the reduced currency exchange rate led to my decision to say goodbye to a country that is no longer the Land of Smiles.   Now I will visit other countries to add to my already compilation of 43 or so that I have been to.  I can enjoy a cheap lifestyle in places like Spain where it is warm and has good cheap food and plenty of very good wine at reasonable prices and no gauging by government employees, such as immigration, the police, etc., no reporting every 90 days, no harassment by these officials and freedom to come and go without restrictions and that includes my being able to start a business without all of the BS that we get in Thailand.

'nuf sed.

If you are British, consider what a no deal Brexit will do to your life in Spain. Free movement will be over.

[Leaver]

5 hours ago, smutcakes said:

Dont be a complete wally!????

Don't be completely naive.  ????

[Tuvoc]

38 minutes ago, huckingfell said:

       One point that many people seem to forget about, dying, in many cases it is not like switching off a light, a very dear friend of mine had a stroke, a bad one, she lingered on for 7 years, bedbound, paralyzed on one side, doubly incontinent, not knowing for most of the time her own husband or children, a fate that might befall myself or anyone, 

 

Yes I think most of us know that sort of thing can happen, and strokes are unfortunately very common. But how would that be better to happen in the UK say rather than Thailand ?

 

Agreed on the inheritance bit - my dad lost everything but the house in paying nursing home fees for my mother. Only once his funds were exhausted would the state step in and pay the fees, but she passed away pretty much at that point.

 

[4MyEgo]

On 3/31/2019 at 4:30 PM, jakestevernson said:

Thanks for the post, a good read. Keeping a property in the West World gives you a good safety net - sound advice.

Keeping a property in the west doesn't necessarily give you a good safety net, for example, in Sydney where I owned my principal place of residency before I sold it in 2016, if I held onto it, I would have to pay 32.5c tax for every $ earned as rent, add to that, council rates, water rates, agents fees, maintenance, vacancy factor, insurance, tenant insurance, foreign resident land tax and your at about a 50/50 split, add to the that capital gains tax when you sell up, noting the government has had its eye on trying to pass legislation to charge capital gains tax, not from the date you left the country, but from the date you purchased the property.

 

So as you can see, if you are dependent on the income from the rent to survive in Thailand, you wouldn't, after all of the above.

 

For me, weighing up selling it or keeping it, was pretty simple, i.e. I couldn't survive on 50% of the income, that said, the market has dropped 15%-20% since I sold it, money invested in the stock market as risky as it is, has provided me with a far better return without any of the above outgoings and tax, i.e. there is none to pay, nor is there any capital gains tax to pay, and I am 50/50 in, the other 50 is in the bank, where I pay 10% foreign residents tax on the interest.

 

If I ever had to return to Sydney, I would rent well out of town, down or up the coast, far cheaper than Sydney as I would be paying about 12,000 per week for a similar place to the place I sold, which is 4 times smaller than the place I built here, for 1/10th of the price I would have had to pay to build in Sydney, so I am here to stay, well that is until my private health cover gets ridiculous in about 10 years, but then again, I have the option to go back and apply for the old age pension in 8 years time.

 

I never say never, but would imagine I am good to remain here for the long run, hopefully.

[Khaeng Mak]

 

1 hour ago, 4MyEgo said:

Keeping a property in the west doesn't necessarily give you a good safety net, for example, in Sydney where I owned my principal place of residency before I sold it in 2016, if I held onto it, I would have to pay 32.5c tax for every $ earned as rent, add to that, council rates, water rates, agents fees, maintenance, vacancy factor, insurance, tenant insurance, foreign resident land tax and your at about a 50/50 split, add to the that capital gains tax when you sell up, noting the government has had its eye on trying to pass legislation to charge capital gains tax, not from the date you left the country, but from the date you purchased the property.

 

So as you can see, if you are dependent on the income from the rent to survive in Thailand, you wouldn't, after all of the above.

 

For me, weighing up selling it or keeping it, was pretty simple, i.e. I couldn't survive on 50% of the income, that said, the market has dropped 15%-20% since I sold it, money invested in the stock market as risky as it is, has provided me with a far better return without any of the above outgoings and tax, i.e. there is none to pay, nor is there any capital gains tax to pay, and I am 50/50 in, the other 50 is in the bank, where I pay 10% foreign residents tax on the interest.

 

If I ever had to return to Sydney, I would rent well out of town, down or up the coast, far cheaper than Sydney as I would be paying about 12,000 per week for a similar place to the place I sold, which is 4 times smaller than the place I built here, for 1/10th of the price I would have had to pay to build in Sydney, so I am here to stay, well that is until my private health cover gets ridiculous in about 10 years, but then again, I have the option to go back and apply for the old age pension in 8 years time.

 

I never say never, but would imagine I am good to remain here for the long run, hopefully.

Your rent in Sydney was $12,000 per week.  Did you live in the Opera House?

 

[richard_smith237]

9 minutes ago, Khaeng Mak said:

 

Your rent in Sydney was $12,000 per week.  Did you live in the Opera House?

 

 

....when you make an assumption you make an.... 

 

.... you assumed it was in $ (US or AUS?) when 4MyEgo could have been referring to costs in Thai Baht....

[4MyEgo]

8 hours ago, Khaeng Mak said:

 

Your rent in Sydney was $12,000 per week.  Did you live in the Opera House?

 

baht ????

 

[OJAS]

14 hours ago, huckingfell said:

one of the reasons we choose the UK is that my wife prefers the UK to the Philippines, also I would prefer to be in the UK rather than the Philippines, it was just a personal choice that we both prefer the UK and as it happens she loves the cold!

I trust that, prior to the move, your wife was suitably braced for the heightened anti-foreigner sentiment in the UK. Could turn out to be a case of jumping from the frying-pan into the fire.

[yogi100]

14 hours ago, Khaeng Mak said:

 

Your rent in Sydney was $12,000 per week.  Did you live in the Opera House?

 

As this is a Thai centred forum it's more than possible he is referring to Thai Baht so the rest of us who don't use dollars know what he's taking about.

[yogi100]

3 hours ago, OJAS said:

I trust that, prior to the move, your wife was suitably braced for the heightened anti-foreigner sentiment in the UK. Could turn out to be a case of jumping from the frying-pan into the fire.

In many parts of the UK especially London you can hear more foreign languages or accents in use than you do our native tongue.

[baansgr]

On 4/1/2019 at 11:33 AM, robertson468 said:

Sorry, I don't see how you come to the conclusion "Thai immigration and its fatuous irrational changes to their money-spinning scam".  The original issue was that many of the Embassies were not checking the sources of income submitted by ex-pats.  Immigration became aware of this and asked them the pointed question, "do you check the sources of income submitted by individuals to you?"  The nearly universal answer was NO.  Therefore and not surprisingly they were told to check.  Some Embassies decided that could/would not do this and stopped issueing the letters to individuals for submission to Immigrations. 

 

Sadly many are "didn't know this, or don't want to know this" and lay the blame at the door of Thai Immigration, which I feel is unfair.  As a retired ex-pat, I have to go through the same system myself and yes, given the option, I could do without it, but this is not my Country of origin and if i would like the privilege to live here, I have to toe the party line.  Have you had a look at the hoops Asians have to go through to get a UK Visa. 

 

Last couple of years I have returned to visit Family and sorry to say that UK has very little attraction for me to up sticks and go back, but I respect those who do, because everyone's circumstances are very different.  Fortunately we have a Thai Doctor in the Family, who is my medical insurance policy, but if it gets too bad, I will ask her to "put me quietly down".

Depends what kind of Dr and very much doubt would be able to carry out major surgery on you alone and in your bedroom so you really have no health cover whatsoever and is one of the OPs major reasons for returning...health cover cost

[Khaeng Mak]

8 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

baht ????

 

12,000 baht is about 530AUD. Jeezus your place must have been a dump.  You cant rent a dog kennel in Sydney for 500 bucks a week.  Or by Sydney do you actually mean Mt Druitt, Gosford, or Lithgow?

[4MyEgo]

2 hours ago, Khaeng Mak said:

12,000 baht is about 530AUD. Jeezus your place must have been a dump.  You cant rent a dog kennel in Sydney for 500 bucks a week.  Or by Sydney do you actually mean Mt Druitt, Gosford, or Lithgow?

I was receiving $550 per week in 2016 prior to selling it.

 

It was located in Bexley about 14km south of the Sydney CBD, St George area.

 

It was a 3 bedroom 1 bathroom 1 car garage villa in a small complex of 10 and was completely renovated in 2015, size was 80m2 internally.

 

Mt Druitt, Gosford or Lithgow are greater Sydney areas, you wouldn't see me there for quids, I like the eastern suburbs beaches, bays of the south and being close to the airport.

 

If you went up the road to Wolli Creek you would get a one bedroom unit in a modern complex for the same money, go figure.

[Leaver]

21 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

Keeping a property in the west doesn't necessarily give you a good safety net, for example, in Sydney where I owned my principal place of residency before I sold it in 2016, if I held onto it, I would have to pay 32.5c tax for every $ earned as rent, add to that, council rates, water rates, agents fees, maintenance, vacancy factor, insurance, tenant insurance, foreign resident land tax and your at about a 50/50 split, add to the that capital gains tax when you sell up, noting the government has had its eye on trying to pass legislation to charge capital gains tax, not from the date you left the country, but from the date you purchased the property.

 

So as you can see, if you are dependent on the income from the rent to survive in Thailand, you wouldn't, after all of the above.

 

For me, weighing up selling it or keeping it, was pretty simple, i.e. I couldn't survive on 50% of the income, that said, the market has dropped 15%-20% since I sold it, money invested in the stock market as risky as it is, has provided me with a far better return without any of the above outgoings and tax, i.e. there is none to pay, nor is there any capital gains tax to pay, and I am 50/50 in, the other 50 is in the bank, where I pay 10% foreign residents tax on the interest.

 

If I ever had to return to Sydney, I would rent well out of town, down or up the coast, far cheaper than Sydney as I would be paying about 12,000 per week for a similar place to the place I sold, which is 4 times smaller than the place I built here, for 1/10th of the price I would have had to pay to build in Sydney, so I am here to stay, well that is until my private health cover gets ridiculous in about 10 years, but then again, I have the option to go back and apply for the old age pension in 8 years time.

 

I never say never, but would imagine I am good to remain here for the long run, hopefully.

You may wish to Google, "not resident for taxation purposes  Australia."