Vietnam puts the kibosh on foreigners

[emptypockets]

On 2/1/2020 at 8:41 PM, sungod said:

Ha yes, they will be coming back in the the same droves they left in!!!!!!

I very much doubt that. They were broke when they left.

[emptypockets]

On 2/2/2020 at 10:17 AM, BritManToo said:

As far as I'm concerned, 'living it up' means having a younger woman press against me while I'm drinking a beer.

I manage that most days, without even having to leave my house.

 

What's your definition of 'living it up'?

Not imagining it, but actually doing it.

 

[emptypockets]

12 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Easy enough to find a local woman to marry, then you get a 5 year VISA for $50.

Until they also wake up to the scam. Which won't take long

 

[gk10002000]

 

1 hour ago, emptypockets said:

On 2/1/2020 at 5:46 AM, El Matador said:

Philippines have a very good retirement visa which is available from 35 years old.

Really? That's not what I've heard

If you read up in the Philippines visas you will see that for the long stays they require a significant amount of money on deposit to do things properly.  At least that is how I read it.

[emptypockets]

2 minutes ago, gk10002000 said:

 

If you read up in the Philippines visas you will see that for the long stays they require a significant amount of money on deposit to do things properly.  At least that is how I read it.

And read the laws there. Upset an official  

.your out. Try getting a girl...your out or in jail. All posted previously on this esteemed forum. Plus many more  non expat friendly stuff.

[El Matador]

39 minutes ago, gk10002000 said:

 

If you read up in the Philippines visas you will see that for the long stays they require a significant amount of money on deposit to do things properly.  At least that is how I read it.

50 000$ deposit I think if you are 35-49 ; 20 000 $ if you are over 50

Not for the broke obviously but that could work for people who have an online business for example and want a stable SEA base. Think about the equivalent of a Thai Elite visa but with a deposit instead of buying it.

[DaRoadrunner]

12 minutes ago, El Matador said:

50 000$ deposit I think if you are 35-49 ; 20 000 $ if you are over 50

Not for the broke obviously but that could work for people who have an online business for example and want a stable SEA base. Think about the equivalent of a Thai Elite visa but with a deposit instead of buying it.

I seem to recall those US$ have to be converted into Philippine Pesos.

 

At least there are a variety of visas to stay in Da Phils. You can also get a visa if you buy a condo.

 

The above info needs checking though as it has been a while since I was in Da Phils so things may have changed.

 

Roadrunner is more interested in Bali. Looks a paper chase and not cheap, but doable.

[Destiny1990]

3 hours ago, madmen said:

VN is now a no go so what is left.. Cambodia? Let's face it that place is an armpit but a better armpit compared to the other 3rd world <deleted> holes 

So that only leaves PI.. FLOODS, earthquakes, typhoons, machine guns, stabbed at the ATM, <deleted> food and a lunatic leader and the new visa proposals put forward last year are scary including deportation for paying for sex and disrespecting government officials 

 

Game over for big BWANA in SEA for those without $$$

How about you go to Wuhan !!

[elephant45]

I lived in Malaysia for 3 years, 10 years ago, bought a condo. Could buy them cheap back then but I could see it was falling apart. Sold it at a good profit right on time. Got robbed on the street at knife point middle of day, nobody stopped to help me, I was on a motorbike. Got hit from behind at high speed by a <deleted> off Chinese who I beeped my horn at who cut me off. They charged him with attempted murder but he paid me off and got out of it. Had a few other bad experiences with Chinese in Penang while there. High crime, locals, they steal everything.

 

Not the kind of place I like to live in. Food was great. Cheap to live.

[Destiny1990]

1 hour ago, elephant45 said:

I lived in Malaysia for 3 years, 10 years ago, bought a condo. Could buy them cheap back then but I could see it was falling apart. Sold it at a good profit right on time. Got robbed on the street at knife point middle of day, nobody stopped to help me, I was on a motorbike. Got hit from behind at high speed by a <deleted> off Chinese who I beeped my horn at who cut me off. They charged him with attempted murder but he paid me off and got out of it. Had a few other bad experiences with Chinese in Penang while there. High crime, locals, they steal everything.

 

Not the kind of place I like to live in. Food was great. Cheap to live.

And here that stuff doesn’t happen?

[HeijoshinCool]

On 1/30/2020 at 9:05 PM, YetAnother said:

pity, vietnam was going to be my bolt country; chatter has it cambodia may follow, next for me mexico

Lived in Mexico for years. Enjoyed it immensely. It has also changed immensely, to the point my Mexican friends warn me not to visit my old haunts. Too dangerous now, they say. 

 

Mexico is falling apart...

 

But latin women beckon me in my dreams.....

 

 

[Jingthing]

10 minutes ago, HeijoshinCool said:

Lived in Mexico for years. Enjoyed it immensely. It has also changed immensely, to the point my Mexican friends warn me not to visit my old haunts. Too dangerous now, they say. 

 

Mexico is falling apart...

 

But latin women beckon me in my dreams.....

 

 

Where specifically were you warned against in Mexico? Yes there are big problems there but my current info says there are still some relatively safer areas to live in. For examples, Merida Yucatan and Queretaro City Queretaro. 

[OffshoreMig]

If you are a citizen or resident of an APEC country (Which includes Thailand) and regularly travel in Asia Pacific Counties the best visa is an APEC Business Travel Card .  Allows up to 60 to 90 day visits. 

https://www.apec.org/Groups/Committee-on-Trade-and-Investment/Business-Mobility-Group/ABTC

[Vascoda]

23 hours ago, emptypockets said:

I very much doubt that. They were broke when they left.

Lots of poor people also had to leave when three embasies stopped "income letter" They did not have money to pay an agent also. Just scraping by in Thailand with home made rice and bin, 40 baht pork soup, and 30 baht noodle soup, living in a 6K dump, taking bangkok red buses for local transporation. 

[madmen]

10 hours ago, OffshoreMig said:

If you are a citizen or resident of an APEC country (Which includes Thailand) and regularly travel in Asia Pacific Counties the best visa is an APEC Business Travel Card .  Allows up to 60 to 90 day visits. 

https://www.apec.org/Groups/Committee-on-Trade-and-Investment/Business-Mobility-Group/ABTC

I had one for Oz years ago. All you needed was a registered company. Fantastic, no visa needed and fast track but now they actually want to see that company with a high real cash turnover or has that changed? 

[Traubert]

On 2/4/2020 at 11:02 PM, madmen said:

VN is now a no go so what is left.. Cambodia? Let's face it that place is an armpit but a better armpit compared to the other 3rd world <deleted> holes 

So that only leaves PI.. FLOODS, earthquakes, typhoons, machine guns, stabbed at the ATM, <deleted> food and a lunatic leader and the new visa proposals put forward last year are scary including deportation for paying for sex and disrespecting government officials 

 

Game over for big BWANA in SEA for those without $$$

Paaaarrrrtttttaaayyy! Viva Duterte!

 

Sounds like a blast, where do I sign up? ????

[Susco]

On 2/4/2020 at 10:02 PM, madmen said:

VN is now a no go

That was quick.

 

Only a few months ago it was flogged as the promised land on this forum.

 

On 2/4/2020 at 10:02 PM, madmen said:

so what is left.

 

Social security in their home country for those that kept their papers in order, because unless you are from Syria or Libya, no other country will welcome you without bringing in some hard dosh.

[Susco]

On 2/1/2020 at 3:24 PM, BritManToo said:

Still plenty of run-down Farm houses and farms in France for 12,000-20,000 Euros.

Sure but they cost a fortune to restore, because French construction workers don't work for 300 baht a day.

 

Better solution, plenty of bridges and forests in France, and cost nothing to stay ...........oh and forget of a lady jumping you as soon as you're free in France, or even get a <deleted> on the cheap.

[Roy Baht]

On 2/4/2020 at 7:46 PM, BritManToo said:

I knew loads of guys in Chiang Mai doing border runs to Mae Sai every 14 days. It didn't seem to bother them.

As for Vietnam, the Cambodian border is only a couple of hours ($6 bus) out from Saigon.

The round-trip distance for Saigon/Cambodia is about 140 km, while the distance for Danang/Laos is about 540 km (!). The border run from Saigon isn’t a big deal, just a little boring, and it wastes your day. It seems like the border run in Danang would be more grueling and waste a day, and probably require a day to recover. Other places, that Nha Trang you'd have to take an overnight bus to Saigon the night before, then go from Saigon (making it a two-day ordeal).  Of course, if you're rich, you can fly out once a month, but that still eats up at least a full day, and depending on the timing could interfere with other plans you might want to make.

It's definitely doable. But I wouldn't want to do it, particularly if I retired there and it meant doing it every month for the rest of my life.

[Roy Baht]

55 minutes ago, massMurderingSepo said:

On 1/31/2020 at 2:12 PM, Gweiloman said:

. They don’t want poor foreigners coming to live, competing for middle to lower class accommodation and driving rental prices up and not benefiting the economy. 

 

you are talking <deleted>, trying to support some hidden agenda,

you imply that you dont stay in these accomodations yet say you know all about the price.

recently did a swing through SEA. prices have stayed the same for at least the last decade in the budget to low class accomodation i frequent on my well below 1000 baht a day expenditure.

one eatery i frequent in a high farang traffic area in bangkok had put their prices up by 5 baht, first price rise in two decades
so rice with one topping now costs 35 baht whereas it was previously 30 baht for 2 decades at least

There's no "hidden" agenda. It's as clear as the light of day. The Thai government does not want poor foreigners living here. And they changed the visa rules--and their enforcement--accordingly. The poster you are replying to is correct: "They don’t want poor foreigners coming to live, competing for middle to lower class accommodation and driving rental prices up and not benefiting the economy." That's a plain fact. And in your case, living on 1000 baht a day, eating 35 baht bowls of rice, you don't even qualify as middle class. Thailand already has plenty of poor people Why would they want to import people like you?

 

 

 

[Traubert]

39 minutes ago, Susco said:

That was quick.

 

Only a few months ago it was flogged as the promised land on this forum.

 

I did say at the time that all the anti-Chinese Americans had forgotten or overlooked it was a communist country. Their changes happen five minutes after the Politburo have adjourned for tiffin.

 

But you can't tell them anything, they know better. Or decided that they'd engineer a change there because they were wanted. Fanciful to say the least.

 

I also said it was a scruffy, dirty, corrupt, hell hole with decent coffee and grub but that met the usual shower of abuse too. Quid pro quo.

[Number 6]

My guess is most of you will end up in the Philippines. You'll come to hate the place, people and your life. The desperate, seedy nature of daily life. The lack of intelligence with everyone you encounter. Shopping and eating in cages. Despite being a nation of islands there is a lack of good beaches. The food is horrible and any ingedients you buy to cook for yourself will go off in days. Your fellow expatriates will be largely drunks and sex mongers. Nothing is of any quality, cheap Chinese junk made for the interior of China. Hotels are 25% more than locals pay, no joke. Incessant power cuts in 21st century, East Asia. The bar/fine system is nothing short of indentured servitude. The violence, oh the violence. Entire cities are nothing but slums but hey enjoy your retirement and the balance of your life.

 

90% of the women are unattractive after they hit 23 or have a baby, whichever comes first. In the RP the baby is at 16. The only thing the people have to do is sleep, fkuc and waste money in karaoke.

 

If you think Thai men have fragile egos, wide berth to Filipinos.

 

The people are dumb as a box of rocks so you'll run into all sorts of problems and tribulations great and small. Ten percent of the country has left for jobs the nation cannot produce. Duarte makes Trump look calm and measured. It's Africa not E Asia.

 

Enjoy hahahaha

 

 

[madmen]

16 minutes ago, Number 6 said:

My guess is most of you will end up in the Philippines. You'll come to hate the place, people and your life. The desperate, seedy nature of daily life. The lack of intelligence with everyone you encounter. Shopping and eating in cages. Despite being a nation of islands there is a lack of good beaches. The food is horrible and any ingedients you buy to cook for yourself will go off in days. Your fellow expatriates will be largely drunks and sex mongers. Nothing is of any quality, cheap Chinese junk made for the interior of China. Hotels are 25% more than locals pay, no joke. Incessant power cuts in 21st century, East Asia. The bar/fine system is nothing short of indentured servitude. The violence, oh the violence. Entire cities are nothing but slums but hey enjoy your retirement and the balance of your life.

 

90% of the women are unattractive after they hit 23 or have a baby, whichever comes first. In the RP the baby is at 16. The only thing the people have to do is sleep, fkuc and waste money in karaoke.

 

If you think Thai men have fragile egos, wide berth to Filipinos.

 

The people are dumb as a box of rocks so you'll run into all sorts of problems and tribulations great and small. Ten percent of the country has left for jobs the nation cannot produce. Duarte makes Trump look calm and measured. It's Africa not E Asia.

 

Enjoy hahahaha

 

 

Should be pinned!

[madmen]

The best thing for all expats effected by the embassy shut downs is to go home and establish residency under respective social security umbrellas and not worry about insurance and health issues. 

Give it a few years and see what your currency is doing. 

Can come back anytime, Thailand will still be here 

[mike787]

3 hours ago, Number 6 said:

My guess is most of you will end up in the Philippines. You'll come to hate the place, people and your life. The desperate, seedy nature of daily life. The lack of intelligence with everyone you encounter. Shopping and eating in cages. Despite being a nation of islands there is a lack of good beaches. The food is horrible and any ingedients you buy to cook for yourself will go off in days. Your fellow expatriates will be largely drunks and sex mongers. Nothing is of any quality, cheap Chinese junk made for the interior of China. Hotels are 25% more than locals pay, no joke. Incessant power cuts in 21st century, East Asia. The bar/fine system is nothing short of indentured servitude. The violence, oh the violence. Entire cities are nothing but slums but hey enjoy your retirement and the balance of your life.

 

90% of the women are unattractive after they hit 23 or have a baby, whichever comes first. In the RP the baby is at 16. The only thing the people have to do is sleep, fkuc and waste money in karaoke.

 

If you think Thai men have fragile egos, wide berth to Filipinos.

 

The people are dumb as a box of rocks so you'll run into all sorts of problems and tribulations great and small. Ten percent of the country has left for jobs the nation cannot produce. Duarte makes Trump look calm and measured. It's Africa not E Asia.

 

Enjoy hahahaha

 

 

How to did learn all that...i'm serious...i'm impressed.  No sarcasm intended.  Your description is accurate...unfortunately.

[saengd]

3 hours ago, Number 6 said:

My guess is most of you will end up in the Philippines. You'll come to hate the place, people and your life. The desperate, seedy nature of daily life. The lack of intelligence with everyone you encounter. Shopping and eating in cages. Despite being a nation of islands there is a lack of good beaches. The food is horrible and any ingedients you buy to cook for yourself will go off in days. Your fellow expatriates will be largely drunks and sex mongers. Nothing is of any quality, cheap Chinese junk made for the interior of China. Hotels are 25% more than locals pay, no joke. Incessant power cuts in 21st century, East Asia. The bar/fine system is nothing short of indentured servitude. The violence, oh the violence. Entire cities are nothing but slums but hey enjoy your retirement and the balance of your life.

 

90% of the women are unattractive after they hit 23 or have a baby, whichever comes first. In the RP the baby is at 16. The only thing the people have to do is sleep, fkuc and waste money in karaoke.

 

If you think Thai men have fragile egos, wide berth to Filipinos.

 

The people are dumb as a box of rocks so you'll run into all sorts of problems and tribulations great and small. Ten percent of the country has left for jobs the nation cannot produce. Duarte makes Trump look calm and measured. It's Africa not E Asia.

 

Enjoy hahahaha

 

 

That's an excellent description and a great post, it should, as others have said, be pinned!

 

For those people thinking of making a move to the PI, I might add to your description:

- enjoy getting from A to B in the PI, always pack a lunch and carry a pillow! There is no easy safe way to get around the country, everything is convoluted and time consuming, dangerous or both, infrastructure is appalling.

- don't get too sick to the point of needing specialist health care outside of Manila, even then, best to have a deep insurance policy from a a very caring and understanding provider.

- wear belts with plastic buckles so as not to set off the metal detectors at the malls, you'll soon adjust to the hundreds of signs everywhere that tell you to "deposit your firearms here before entering".

 

 

 

[thedemon]

5 hours ago, madmen said:

I had one for Oz years ago. All you needed was a registered company. Fantastic, no visa needed and fast track but now they actually want to see that company with a high real cash turnover or has that changed? 

Yes, there are a host of minimum requirements for both the applicant and the company doing business in the APEC economies. Also Australia explicitly prohibits using the card to live in another APEC member country and now if the applicant doesn't live in Australia he/she needs to prove right of abode in their residence country.

 

I think that anyone who qualifies for an APEC card would likely have the resources to live legally in Thailand. For a Thai or Vietnamese citizen the bar is set even higher.

 

Also it isn't true that a residents of an APEC country can apply in that country. You need to be a citizen of that country. The only exception is Hong Kong where permanent residence status is required.

[BritManToo]

6 hours ago, Roy Baht said:

There's no "hidden" agenda. It's as clear as the light of day. The Thai government does not want poor foreigners living here.

I think you're wrong.

The Thai government doesn't want white men living here, giving their peasants ideas about freedom and democracy.

They don't give a damn about poor foreigners living here, the countries full of poor Cambodians and Burmese, and Laotians. 

[BritManToo]

5 hours ago, Number 6 said:

You'll come to hate the place, people and your life. The desperate, seedy nature of daily life. The lack of intelligence with everyone you encounter.

Sounds like every country I've ever lived or visited.

[BritManToo]

6 hours ago, Susco said:

Only a few months ago it was flogged as the promised land on this forum.

Not from me, I've always clearly stated Cambodia and the Philippines as the easiest places to retire.

I've only ever considered Vietnam a nice holiday destination, unless you marry a local.