Advice on Relocation back to EU

[DudeInTheSun]

I am relocating back to the Netherlands, after working in Thailand for a couple of years. If any of you guys have experience or information from friends who did this before, I would appreciate any advice on the following topics:

•  Banking: Best ways to transfer money to a Dutch bank, any restrictions/limitations once you don't have a work permit anymore, and how to best keep an account active in Thailand to keep options open in future.
• Shipping : I need to ship some stuff to NL, like electronic appliances, clothing, books, etc. Not all that much, not nearly enough to fill a container. Also no urgent need to have it by a certain date. Options seems to be LCL or Air Freight. What are the limitations on excess cargo as part of my flight? Any experience with customs (both local/Thailand and NL)?
•  Mobile: It may be useful to keep my account active at least for a while, to allow e.g. mobile banking from Europe. I will just scale down to the cheapest package available. Thoughts?
•  Visa: I'm currently on a retirement visa (yep, that old!) so that I could extend my stay a bit. Although it may not be all that difficult to get a new visa again should that be necessary one day, what are the options to keep the current visa alive? Thinking in terms of remote 90-day notifications etc. (assuming I can meet all criteria like minimum bank account). 
• Car:  I currently still own a car, and have to sell it. New experience in Thailand. How to best do this to avoid issues, to ensure it is indeed off my name, etc.
• Any other thoughts (related to this topic ???? ) ..

Give a shout if anyone is by coincidence moving to the EU (NL, Denmark, Belgium, Germany, ..) in the March/April/May 2020 timeframe, and want to share costs.

Thanks!

[maprao]

Are you taking your Thai wife with you?

[emptypockets]

How are you working in Thailand on a retirement visa?

[treetops]

Quote

How are you working in Thailand on a retirement visa?

 

He said he doesn't have a work permit any more and got the retirement visa to extend his stay a bit.

 

OP.  1)  Transfer from your bank's website, Transferwise or Dee Money.  Leave a few hundred baht in the Thai account to keep it live.

2)  No idea off shipping companies, but how much is there and could you do it with a premium cabin luggage allowance when flying?

3)  Change to a prepay package and top it up to 1 year's validity.

4)  What type of visa are you on and when does it expire?

5)  No idea.

Edited March 3, 2020 by treetops

[Henryford]

I didn't think Transferwise did transfers OUT of Thailand.

[Peter Denis]

10 minutes ago, Henryford said:

I didn't think Transferwise did transfers OUT of Thailand.

That's correct.  TransferWise does not allow transfers OUT of Thailand.  But DEE money does.

[Peter Denis]

1. Banking > DEE money allows you to transfer funds out of Thailand.

2. Shipping > When I moved to Thailand from Belgium now 2 years ago, I made use of the Rotterdam based company Windmill to move my approx 5 cubic meter of stuff (books, TV, utensils, clothes, etc.).  They specialize in Far East (especially Thailand) relocations and used part of a container to move my stuff.  It took approx 3 months from packing at my Belgium home till delivery at my doorstep in rural Thailand.  They were by far the cheapest of all companies I contacted. and were excellent.  PM me if you are interested and would like their address/contact person.

4. Visa > Yes, you can keep the permission to stay from your present Non Imm O Visa alive when you exit Thailand with a Re-Entry Permit.  But that would be max 1 year as you need to do the 1-year extension of stay application in person.

 

Edited March 4, 2020 by Peter Denis

[DudeInTheSun]

On 3/3/2020 at 4:00 PM, maprao said:

Are you taking your Thai wife with you?

Nope. Don't have. Not sure this is a good or bad thing.