Are expats being tempted by Thailand?

[tonray]

On 9/10/2021 at 3:49 PM, kwak250 said:

Are expats being tempted by Thailand?

 

Why what are they offering ?

 

Salted Egg Lays potato chips and Tom Yum flavored everything

Edited September 11, 2021 by tonray

[Mike Teavee]

1 hour ago, Joules said:

No matter how wealthy one might be, why would any reasonable person allow themselves to be compelled to tie up any amount of their wealth for the privilege of living in a country.  There are too many other choices around the world where this kind of nonsense is not required.   People that think that just because you have a lot of money, you'll be willing to have some of it locked up probably do not have any themselves.  Easy to spend somebody else's money!

Firstly... Name 1 country that you would actually live in where "This kind of nonsense" (by that I mean some kind of investment) "Is not required"

 

Secondly... People who have money tend to keep it in different "Invest Pots", very few of them will have it tied up yielding the maximum potential because to do so would put everything at risk.

 

If you do play it so every one of your assets are yielding >8% that others have quoted in this & similar threads then hats of to you, I'd rather keep a couple of years spends in the bank earning about 1% & sleep at night... 

 

 

 

[SW Happy]

On 9/10/2021 at 2:06 AM, ChipButty said:

They have got that much money they dont care about luxury tax, when you see the amount of BMW's Merc's around where I live, Last week a German guy rented one of my apartments he turned up a brand new Merc 250 coupe, it had Bangkok plates on it and I asked him did he drive here he said no he paid someone to drive it here for him. That Merc would be at least double the price of what it would be back in Berlin,

Hmm interesting regarding driving the Mercedes to Thailand,i often pondered doing that, please can you enlighten me more.

[SW Happy]

On 9/10/2021 at 3:10 AM, Walker88 said:

Funny you say 'invest'. If you mean literal investment, as in buying a company, the visa requirements ARE difficult.

 

They would be difficult even if tributes were not demanded in a most blatant fashion, but tributes are regularly demanded. As for the official requirements---not the ones enacted merely to enhance bureaucrats' income---a typical application is more than 100 pages. It requires everything from university and grad school transcripts, lots of data re owners and directors, pages of 'action photos' of the applicant pretending to work or mulling over business ideas, lots of photos at the place of business, with the address clearly visible and staff surrounding the applicant, and other such things, all of which must be signed by the applicant.

 

In a post I made a while back, I was told or contacted about others' experiences that included such things as 'declined for not wearing a business suit in the photos' or other silly things meant to extract a payment. In my first instance, sitting with my accountant who has years of experience navigating the system, the officer thumbed through the stack of docs without even looking at them, then announced something missing, but the oversight could be ignored for a special fee.

 

For this visa, the applicant is given an initial 3 month visa, then a second one, and a third trip yields the one-year. Each application requires the same onerous document stack, despite the fact this is redundant.

 

To most people, this system would be categorized as 'difficult'. It's also quite expensive when one factors in the agent fees, 'tributes', etc. I also think the size of the tribute is a function of the amount invested, as those who put more money into the country are viewed as capable of being more 'generous' with their tributes.

 

Now if you meant 'invest' as in an Elite Visa, perhaps the system is easier, as the Elite Staff apparently handle the 90-day reporting requirements.

And not helping the declining Rainforests with there vast paper trails??

[NanaSomchai]

4 hours ago, VBF said:

we Brits

There. Your problem lies right there.

 

Say Hi to Bojo "the nutcase" and Priti "the witch" for me next time you see them!

[SW Happy]

On 9/10/2021 at 10:05 AM, CM Dad said:

I have lived here for more than thirty years.  I think I have been to a beach once during that time.

Sad.

[JustAnotherHun]

3 hours ago, Joules said:

International foods such as Mexican, Italian, American, Japanese and Korean are difficult to find at best and completely unavailable in most places.  It is even difficult to find Chinese food here!  So, if you care about food variety, look elsewhere.  Plan on doing all your own cooking -- that's what I do.

You must be lving somewhere in the outback. Visit Bangkok or Pattya and enjoy any international food you can imagine.

You like to cook yourself? Youl'll find anything and at the same quality you could find in London, Paris or New York.

No need to live on Mama soup or kao pat something. And by the way: There is excellent Thai food in Thailand, but maybe not in Nakhon Nowhere.

Edited September 11, 2021 by JustAnotherHun

[SW Happy]

On 9/10/2021 at 11:17 AM, Orinoco said:

I think this one is called,  Aqua world condo  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL.

Think the drain needs unblocking.

 

 

Taken from Riviera. ????

[garyk]

11 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Nearly every friend I have in the US is single. Why? Because for a man in the US, who is past the age of 50, unless he is willing to get with a woman at least his age, his prospects are dim for finding love, or companionship. Some guys like me, simply prefer younger women. Not kids, but women who are 10, 15, even 20 or 25 years younger than us. For a dozen very valid reasons. I could break them down, but why bother? The PC crew will jump on this and say it is not right. You should not be able to have this kind of life, without jumping over ridiculous hurdles! Means nothing to me. I do not do PC.

 

Why be with a woman our age, if we do not need to? Nothing wrong with it, if it works for you.

 

But It is virtually impossible for a 60 year old man in the US, Canada, the UK, most of Europe, OZ, or NZ, to hook up with a 36 year old woman, unless she is very fat or very ugly, or he is a centi millionaire, or is famous. Period. It just does not happen in this day and age.

Here it is possible. Granted he will likely get with a woman of lesser means, who needs a guy who can provide some financial stability. So what? Who cares? Most women want financial stability anywhere in the world, whether they admit it or not. The difference is here the women are more honest about their financial needs and desires. I know a lot of men who have engaged in relationships with lovely, kind, supportive, humorous, and sexy women here, who are no longer lonely. We have very good lives. Fulfilling lives. Lives we could never dream of having back in the US, Oz, NZ, UK, Canada, or Scandinavia.

Very true, Kinda funny though. In Asia pretty much any age goes I guess. I lived there for many years with a lovely lady..

Different countries definitely have different standards as far as dating goes.. And the difference in the dating scene in different countries is night and day.

Anyone here had a serious relationship in Asia, then moved to different countries and had relationships?

Say, Mexico, South America. My current stomping grounds.

 

Edited September 11, 2021 by garyk

[rabang]

13 hours ago, ThomasThBKK said:

 

You really think being a millionaire is anything special these days, u need help.

 

1 out of 6 american retirees is a millionaire....

8.8% of all americans are millionaires, that's 22 mio people alone from america.

There's over 5 mio millionaires in broke china, tiny germany has like 3 mio millionaires.

15% of all swiss are millionaires, there's around 60 mio millionaires in the world. 

 

But yeah, no one would ever go to and stay in Thailand. ridiculous.

 

 

 

 

 

Even Thailand itself has 90 000 thai millionaires... 

 

You are cute tho, typical broke person having fantasies of "millionaires" being anything special and living a different live while most of them are just everyday people you will never know about, shopping in the same Tesco supermarket as everyone else.

 

 

Who the hell retires in the maldives or seychelles? It's not a place to live, it's a place for a holiday but that's it. There's nothing to do.

 

 

 

 

Still waiting for a list of countries that tick those boxes i mentioned outside of Thailand, let's see and compare them.

 

 

 

 

It is true, the value of money has inflated. Having million dollars or euros now is not the same as in the 1980s. Besides it is not like that money is usually directly available in one's bank account but in assets like property and stocks.

Edited September 11, 2021 by rabang

[Jaxxper]

On balance when you look at the hoops that people need to jump through to get here , provide Covid insurance, and then do some sort of “quarantine” , with  several Covid tests during quarantine ( ignoring the fact that currently if they return to say the UK, they have more quarantine to put up with), added to the fact that many venues such as restaurants, bars and other entertainment venues have severe restrictions placed on their businesses, I’d have to say NO.

[josephbloggs]

21 minutes ago, Tanomazu said:

David Beckham owned a house in Samui.

 

https://www.horizonhomes-samui.com/beckhams-house-upsets-monks/

Yep, tons of rich and famous do.

Sven Goran Eriksson.    Robbie Fowler.  Joe Cole.  Robbie Williams.  Kimi Raikkonen.

[Isaan sailor]

Who wants to marry a millionaire?  Apparently loads of Thai girls endeavour to do just that.  

Edited September 12, 2021 by Isaan sailor

[spidermike007]

2 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

Yep, tons of rich and famous do.

Sven Goran Eriksson.    Robbie Fowler.  Joe Cole.  Robbie Williams.  Kimi Raikkonen.

Owning a home somewhere, and living here as an ex-pat are two very different things. A guy like Beckham can afford to have homes all over the world. Some genius advisor may have talked him into the investment angle, long ago. Does not mean much. Nobody that I know has ever seen Beckham on the island. How often does he visit Thailand? Is it even amongst his favorite ten spots in the world? Has he spent a month here, in the past five years? Why does he not come more often? Has he tried to sell his house? Has he sold it already? 

 

Many wealthy people come here, stay a while, and realize there are so many issues that make Thailand less that what it appears to be, at first glance. 

[Tanomazu]

There are plenty of rich people who live in Thailand. You just have to search for properties in Ko Samui. Prices of 100 to 200 million Baht for houses are not rare. It's not the poor who own those houses. And those houses are all to the European standard, European kitchens etc.

[Charlie Halliday]

On 9/10/2021 at 8:39 PM, Maha Sarakham said:

Most expats looking to Thailand for a better retirement are operating off of far less than 2 to 5 MILLION dollars.  If you converted that figure to THB you might be more on track with the reality of the situation.  If you have money, everything that Thailand offers can be found better elsewhere.

USD2m retirement in Europe wouldn't last long. Thailand is a great place to retire if, like I said earlier, you have a good Thai marriage, which means bypassing most of the red tape, and take no notice of the politics and other bizarre behavior under the feudal system of the so called Thai Elites. Its gross we know but we don't have to be a part of it. On balance Thailand offers everything you pay a lot more for in Europe. 

[spidermike007]

2 hours ago, Tanomazu said:

There are plenty of rich people who live in Thailand. You just have to search for properties in Ko Samui. Prices of 100 to 200 million Baht for houses are not rare. It's not the poor who own those houses. And those houses are all to the European standard, European kitchens etc.

And real estate broker friends of mine tell me it takes many years to sell those high end villas on Samui and then only at large price reductions. 

 

Hundreds of villas were custom built on Samui on a  speculative basis, hoping for a quick flip. Most have been on the rental market for years now. 

 

And back to the original point. Very few people who can afford a hundred mil baht, or more for a property in Thailand, live here for more than a few months of the year, or would describe themselves as a resident of Thailand, for anything other than tax purposes. 

Edited September 12, 2021 by spidermike007

[GrandPapillon]

41 minutes ago, Charlie Halliday said:

USD2m retirement in Europe wouldn't last long. Thailand is a great place to retire if, like I said earlier, you have a good Thai marriage, which means bypassing most of the red tape, and take no notice of the politics and other bizarre behavior under the feudal system of the so called Thai Elites. Its gross we know but we don't have to be a part of it. On balance Thailand offers everything you pay a lot more for in Europe. 

actually, 2M USD retirement in Europe would last much longer and better value than any comparable place in Thailand in terms of value.

 

Thailand is a binary value now with no 50 shades of grey in between ????  

 

live poor like a local, and it's great value

 

or live like a super rich and have a ton of slaves (including farangs) at your feet

[Rookiescot]

8 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

Yep, tons of rich and famous do.

Sven Goran Eriksson.    Robbie Fowler.  Joe Cole.  Robbie Williams.  Kimi Raikkonen.

Are any of them still here?

[josephbloggs]

3 hours ago, Rookiescot said:

Are any of them still here?

I have absolutely no idea, nor do I care.

Not sure why you are so hung up on this or refusing to admit you are wrong.

[Dalewhatdale]

On 9/10/2021 at 9:24 AM, Tanomazu said:

I know a millionaire with a house in the Cayman Islands. He doesn't live there because he got bored to death. The Caribbean Islands are generally small with nothing going on, limited food choices, no shopping to speak of.

 

Spain and Portugal have dying villages, the cities are overrun with crime, Romanians, Africans. Younger women will not look at you.

 

Turkey, that's just madness. Mexico? If you want to die maybe. Canary Islands again is where people go to be bored to death.

Not sure how long ago you last visited Spain, how long have you spent in the country altogether, and how many cities your visit(s) included, but saying that "cities are overrun with crime" is wildly inaccurate. As for the Romanians and Africans, it's such a blatantly racist statement that it's hardly worth delving into it.

 

In fact, Spain has a pretty low crime rate by most measures (see here, for instance), lower than France, the UK and Thailand, since we're talking about Thailand. The same goes for violent crime (here), and this also applies to Portugal, btw.

 

You're right about younger women (just like everywhere else in the West, though) and there's a fair amount of dying villages but also a growing push to bring them back to life, and plenty of bargains to be had if you fancy living in the countryside.

[Dalewhatdale]

8 hours ago, Charlie Halliday said:

USD2m retirement in Europe wouldn't last long. Thailand is a great place to retire if, like I said earlier, you have a good Thai marriage, which means bypassing most of the red tape, and take no notice of the politics and other bizarre behavior under the feudal system of the so called Thai Elites. Its gross we know but we don't have to be a part of it. On balance Thailand offers everything you pay a lot more for in Europe. 

Dude, no way. In countries like Spain and Portugal you can have a positively lavish retirement on 2 million bucks. Add to that cheaper alcohol and coffee, far better roads and public services, and so on.

[meechai]

1 hour ago, Dalewhatdale said:

Dude, no way. In countries like Spain and Portugal you can have a positively lavish retirement on 2 million bucks. Add to that cheaper alcohol and coffee, far better roads and public services, and so on.

Agreed I have seen many nice deals on offer from Spain over recent years

 

Also if I had my choice to start over I think I would love to have built in Andorra years ago. Beautiful!

It is also a spot that has many living training in the same sport I love

Edited September 12, 2021 by meechai

[meechai]

On 9/10/2021 at 6:44 PM, spidermike007 said:

Why be with a woman our age, if we do not need to? Nothing wrong with it, if it works for you.

 

But It is virtually impossible for a 60 year old man in the US, Canada, the UK, most of Europe, OZ, or NZ, to hook up with a 36 year old woman, unless she is very fat or very ugly, or he is a centi millionaire, or is famous. Period. It just does not happen in this day and age.

Here it is possible. Granted he will likely get with a woman of lesser means, who needs a guy who can provide some financial stability. So what? Who cares? Most women want financial stability anywhere in the world, whether they admit it or not. The difference is here the women are more honest about their financial needs and desires.

Of course I do not disagree that for most it is preferable to be with younger attractive person but again this is just one facet of life. If we spend our whole life ruled by the desire of our lowest energy center well then that basically makes us no different than the puppies we see in public that like to hump a leg ????

 

That aside & on to the second part about "Here it is possible. Granted he will likely get with a woman of lesser means" 

 

Yes that is also true & should but do not try to compare or explain it as "all want financial stability" Instead in poor countries it is more of a robin hood self sacrifice they make to help family & yes themselves too.

 

But do not try to paint is as equally beneficial anymore than you falling on hard times take to being with a woman 25+ years your senior because well it provides financial stability for you yes? But of course your more than happy to lay & perform sex acts with this 25+ year older woman...yes?

 

It is what it is & call a spade a spade ????  You live in a poor country & can buy a youthful sex partner & that is all it is by any name

Edited September 12, 2021 by meechai

[jacko45k]

19 hours ago, Isaan sailor said:

Who wants to marry a millionaire?  Apparently loads of Thai girls endeavour to do just that.  

And if at first, you don't succeed...... I say that as I knew a couple who moved on to millionaires after getting a new passport by marrying one who wasn't....

[TooMuchTime]

Who wants to visit a closed down country with strict movement tracking and quarantine requirements?

[thaibeachlovers]

On 9/10/2021 at 10:01 PM, Dogmatix said:

always at the whim of surly and corrupt immigration officers to renew visas. 

I read a lot of posts about that, but personally I never experienced that at all. In every case I was treated respectfully, and in some cases the IO was helpful.

The problem with immigration IMO is that people higher up than those I had contact with are trying to make things difficult by inventing new and in some cases ludicrous requirements every year. The stupidity about the colour of the photo background and the colour of the pen are just 2 examples.

[GinBoy2]

6 hours ago, meechai said:

Of course I do not disagree that for most it is preferable to be with younger attractive person but again this is just one facet of life. If we spend our whole life ruled by the desire of our lowest energy center well then that basically makes us no different than the puppies we see in public that like to hump a leg ????

 

That aside & on to the second part about "Here it is possible. Granted he will likely get with a woman of lesser means" 

 

Yes that is also true & should but do not try to compare or explain it as "all want financial stability" Instead in poor countries it is more of a robin hood self sacrifice they make to help family & yes themselves too.

 

But do not try to paint is as equally beneficial anymore than you falling on hard times take to being with a woman 25+ years your senior because well it provides financial stability for you yes? But of course your more than happy to lay & perform sex acts with this 25+ year older woman...yes?

 

It is what it is & call a spade a spade ????  You live in a poor country & can buy a youthful sex partner & that is all it is by any name

First time I ever went to Pattaya I was horrified by the sight of 60ish guys with 20ish women.

 

My always pragmatic wife just shrugged her shoulders and said; "They are poor no education, they have to earn a living and if sleeping with old guys pays the bills and provides for family, so be it"

[Tanomazu]

15 hours ago, Dalewhatdale said:

Not sure how long ago you last visited Spain, how long have you spent in the country altogether, and how many cities your visit(s) included, but saying that "cities are overrun with crime" is wildly inaccurate. As for the Romanians and Africans, it's such a blatantly racist statement that it's hardly worth delving into it.

 

In fact, Spain has a pretty low crime rate by most measures (see here, for instance), lower than France, the UK and Thailand, since we're talking about Thailand. The same goes for violent crime (here), and this also applies to Portugal, btw.

 

You're right about younger women (just like everywhere else in the West, though) and there's a fair amount of dying villages but also a growing push to bring them back to life, and plenty of bargains to be had if you fancy living in the countryside.

I spent 8 years living in Spain, and was there last in 2014. Just had a visitor from Spain. If you look at the crime index I link below you will see that crime in Barcelona, Spain is worse than in Prague, Berlin, Sydney, with only New York, London and New Delhi with higher crime.

 

However, I actually expected it to be much worse, and I take your point that violent crime is not disproportionately high. It's just I've had countless reports of people having had their wallets stolen, and a close relative was a victim of organised burglary by an East European gang operating in Spain. The high unemployment in Spain also results in a highly degraded urban environment with so-called "Gamberros" perpetrating hooligan and petty crime, graffiti is an issue. That's from my own experience.

 

It's not racist to say that Romanian and African crime gangs operate in Spain, they do, and as the statement makes clear it's both whites and blacks, I fail to see how it's racist. I know woke accusations are the fashion, but watch your tone when you interact with me.

 

I would not want to live in the country side in Spain. The Spanish people are fanstastic, I have travelled all over Spain from the very north in Asturias to Madrid and the Baleriac Islands. I've lived there almost a decade. I know the area and people well. However, there are almost no facilities in the isolated rural areas in Spain. Living costs are actually high. Unemployment is high, crime in the sense of theft, graffiti and hooligan crime, if not violent crime or murder, is a problem. The winters are clammy and unpleasant. I see no reason to trade Thailand for Spain, and I think Spain is a long way away from Thailand in terms of culinary options, massage quality, shopping and the climate in Thailand is better, as winters are not clammy. Thailand is a lot better than Spain for an expat who likes a more interesting life. Spain is a bit too boring.

 

 

https://www.numbeo.com/crime/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Spain&city1=Barcelona&country2=Germany&city2=Berlin

Edited September 13, 2021 by Tanomazu

[Tanomazu]

Direct comparison between Bangkok and Barcelona also shows crime is significantly worse in Barcelona. Also note how the increasing crime rate in Barcelona is categorised as "High".

 

https://www.numbeo.com/crime/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Thailand&country2=Spain&city1=Bangkok&city2=Barcelona