What about us? Furious retirees/expats in Thailand slam proposals to attract wealthy foreigners

[Liverpool Lou]

Dear Thai Government,

 

I have been retired uselessly in Thailand for more than 20 years and reckon that I must have spent nearly B2,000,000 in that time, investing in myself and pretending to support the needy.  Can I please have long term visa and permission to own land also, and VIP treatment in general?

Thank you in advance.

 

Yours,

Wife-beater and scabby cargo shorts (Esq.).

[Thunglom]

so if the idea is EXCLUSIVE - it will probably onlyy image the Thai economy.

you need a wide range of incomes to attract foreigners - trying to rely on "rich" - is unlikely to provide extra income - it is just an unrearched idea by a few snobs.

[Jaxxper]

I wouldn’t get too worried. I don’t think the millionaires will be beating a path in their thousands to the sign up desk.

[Toby1947]

What about us ? They’ve never been interested in foreigners or ever will be wealthy or not. Gimme Gimme Gimme, is their philosophy due to lack of education, brainwashing, jealousy and greed. Expats you made your choices to live amongst it so suck it up and stop grumbling 

[Eric Loh]

I have a simple philosophy living and working in Thailand. It’s a privilege and not an entitlement. The government has legal obligation to accommodate me if I met the criteria set in the laws. If the law is unbearable, I just leave. 

[aussienam]

I believe most of us in Thailand hold no illusion that we, the majority of expats in the low to middle income recipients, are somehow appreciated and wanted by Thailand.  We are at best probably just tolerated.

 

We are visitors regardless of how long we have lived here.  There are no brownie points for spending millions of Baht over the years, supporting partners etc. and time spent. 

 

I don't know who really is ranting about these proposed incentives.  But it is the theme the world over that the wealthy are privileged and treated accordingly.  We the poorly do not have anything significant to offer, other than the relevance of our combined ccontributions.

 

If you muddle through years of comments on Thai Visa Forum posts, one will also find the wealthy expats amongst us wishing for the poorer expats to be pushed out of Thailand and that's regardless of how long you've spent here. 

We are not worthy of being present amongst our supreme self-entitled masters and definitely not worthy of any type of long term visa, property rights or easier reporting.  

 

Edited September 15, 2021 by aussienam

[dlclark97]

7 hours ago, mikebell said:

They are trotting out this hoary old chestnut more and more frequently now as desperation sets in.  The wealthy will not come to live in a place where there is no rule of law; no police force; dangerous roads AND a pandemic of corruption from the local cop up to the very highest in the land. Droughts and floods alternate regularly and then there are the dogs!

You forgot the poor money exchange rates.

[ericthai]

4 hours ago, jerrymahoney said:

Thank you.. As the NGO was under Royal Patronage of HMtK I routinely had lunch with the governor's staff and the local labor officials.

ok, but if you had no work permit so you were still working illegally, just because everyone turned a blind eye to it doesn't change the fact.

 

However we are talking 20 years ago so things were very very different. Immigration was relaxed, you could get a 1 year B visa with a simple letter from an employer. Go to immigration tell them you need to stay a few days longer, they would tell you to overstay. So easy back then. I'm surprised you did boarder runs, most guys I knew just used agents that would run the passports to the boarder to get it stamped. 

[StayinThailand2much]

6 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

everything looks like we are living in the 19th century... Falangs/foreigners /aliens or whatever we are named.. we are rich but in the 21st century we are not rich enough and we have to have more money to spend and live here for more priviliges...It is sad, that

Good riddance, Thailand. Mafia structures, scams, verbal abuse, and treated badly... I recently shifted a good part of my stock market investments to SE Asia; i.e. Vietnam.

Edited September 15, 2021 by StayinThailand2much

[3NUMBAS]

wishfull thinking ..well to do will be in monaco or the south of france not a banana republic with a junta in charge

[thaibeachlovers]

7 hours ago, Whale said:

All this time here was I thinking I was second class "citizen" in Thailand. Now I realise I am third.

 

Wife left me years ago, kids grown and off abroad. Next one to leave is me. Enough is enough.

 

Its Cyprus or Greece for me.

Compared to LOS, IMO Cyprus is as exciting as watching grass grow.

Also, the nightlife sucks and the beaches are rubbish.

They do have some old ?Roman ruins though, if that sort of thing is a thrill.

 

[soalbundy]

I don't care.

[Tropposurfer]

7 hours ago, Bkk Brian said:

So why are they trying to attract a million more foreigners with huge incentives?

Money ... just as it is in the rest of the globe

 

[dlclark97]

Why attract more foreigners.  There are many thousands of expats/foreigners here.  A very many with incomes (even in retirement) that allows them to easily spend 3,000,000 to 5,000,000 baht annually.  Many, even singles would love to own their own homes and the land it sits on.  Of course they would want it to be passed on to their heirs either to come live in, rent out or just use as a holiday property.  And yes,  after a couple years of establishing themselves not having to continue with the 90 day reporting. 

[gvrixtel]

I think the lack of lines at the immigration department sums it up nicely: Within a few years there will almost no foreigners left in Thailand, no matter how hard they try to get them to come and stay here.

 

It also seems they do not care where you get your money, as long as you are spending it without hesitation.

[androokery]

I think this whole scheme or plan by the Thai government is the epitome of the financial model that Thailand is famous for - and for which we sometimes deride them. The idea that if there are fewer customers, whatever they are selling will become more expensive. The same applies here. If there are fewer foreigners spending money, each foreigner has to spend more.  

[thailand49]

Regardless of the pandemic this should not be of any surprise to any of us whether Expat or not? Instead of having a well rounded plan for tourist they focus on one thing the big pay day that never comes. What this pandemic has shown they will never learn you can't change some people strips they couldn't care less about the majority of their people who are poor so I wish it was different for us expats but in the end it isn't never will be!

[wprime]

9 minutes ago, ericthai said:

ok, but if you had no work permit so you were still working illegally, just because everyone turned a blind eye to it doesn't change the fact.

 

However we are talking 20 years ago so things were very very different. Immigration was relaxed, you could get a 1 year B visa with a simple letter from an employer. Go to immigration tell them you need to stay a few days longer, they would tell you to overstay. So easy back then. I'm surprised you did boarder runs, most guys I knew just used agents that would run the passports to the boarder to get it stamped. 

 

Not much has changed from that, just slightly more paperwork.

 

A letter from your employer now gets you either a 90 day B visa which you can extend into a year (or longer) after you arrive, or a multiple entry 90 day.

Going to immigration needing a few days will get you an extension after a small fee.

 

 

[ericthai]

3 hours ago, John Drake said:

Permanent Residence in the US comes with oodles of benefits. Free education for children K through 12. Discounted tuition for state universities in states of residence. Student loans. Free emergency medical care (including things such as kidney dialysis and organ transplants). Equal access to museums, national parks, and other federal and state sites. Medicare and Medicaid. Social Security benefits. Earned Income Tax Credits (which are a direct cash payment rather than a mere credit) for children, even if you pay nothing in taxes. When has anyone retired to Thailand received any benefit for doing so? Even if somebody pays a few hundred thousand to get US residency, they will get much, much more returned to them in a few years in the way of direct benefits.

 

I accept this situation, nonetheless. I am not angry at Thailand  for not giving me stuff. I don't expect it and knew it when I first was brought here to work. I prefer life here for a variety of reasons, including the change of pace, leisure to enjoy things more fully, and, yes, the much, much lower cost of living than back in the US. All of which reminds me, what am I doing wasting my time on this complaint board, rather than going back to enjoying myself? CU later.

Where do you get the idea that if you get PR you get free medical in the USA and the you automatically get Social security and Medicare.

Medicare part B and D you still have to pay for and if you dont work enough credits prior to enrolling in Medicare (which in most cases is only available at age 65)  then you have to pay for Part A too.

social security if you didn't pay into it,  then you dont get anything, unless you're a spouse so someone that has paid in then you can get a percentage of their SS amount. 

[Tropposurfer]

7 hours ago, Bkk Brian said:

So why are they trying to attract a million more foreigners with huge incentives?

Money ... just as it is in the rest of the globe

 

[ericthai]

1 minute ago, wprime said:

 

Not much has changed from that, just slightly more paperwork.

 

A letter from your employer now gets you either a 90 day B visa which you can extend into a year (or longer) after you arrive, or a multiple entry 90 day.

Going to immigration needing a few days will get you an extension after a small fee.

 

 

What??? allot has changed, you cant get a 1 year multi entry B visa anymore, as you stated its only 90 days and you also need complete company documents, letter from minister of labor etc. Like i said it used to so simple. our company would get a letter from the company in Thailand submit to the local Thai consultant and get a 1 year multi entry B visa. No checking company documents.

[overt2016]

6 hours ago, Neeranam said:

I looked into OZ citizenship when I was younger but it was much harder than in Thailand, unless I married a local. 

I think you are barking up the wrong tree there, mate.

What is your nationality, so we can compare apples to apple?

[no deal]

i live in America for 25 years , i have a green card,i live in thailand i am maried, own a house, have a  son, have two cars, my income about 150.000tb every month,but still on a mariage visa...i think the thai governement should do better for us, i live in thailand for 15 years,i never live thailand my home is there.

[hansnl]

7 hours ago, TooMuchTime said:

Thailand is for Thais.

Always amazes me that people here think a country should just welcome and appreciate you.  Sorry this isn't hippy land America.

Thailand is for Thais?

Really?

You could fool me.

I think Thailand will slowly but surely be bought up by China.

Edited September 15, 2021 by hansnl

[olfu]

My point is if Thailand laws not to your liking normal people do not complain--they do something--for example they start revolution. 

[wprime]

35 minutes ago, uksmdh said:

I assume those high flying earners with untold wealth to spend are intelligent people.  Ok so they are lured here to spend their billions.  Who will they talk to and socialise with.  The wealthy Thais - I think not as they will still be up their own, xenophobic behinds.  Good luck.

 

Most upper class Thai people are foreign educated, many of them grew up overseas. Culturally they're more similar to upper class westerners than they are to the average Thai person. They have no problems socialising with foreigners, race doesn't even come into the picture.

 

[kangaloowest]

7 hours ago, Neeranam said:

Most foreigners don't know their place. 

They are not even on the bottom rung of the Thai hierarchical social ladder, and make no effort at all to reach it. 

Sounds like someone is pro-Thai looking down

[Tanomazu]

1 hour ago, perconrad said:

Not in Denmark. But taxes I think are close to world record.

That's actually not correct. Denmark too is forced to go to the capital markets to pay its day to day expenses.

 

The Bank of Denmark is just dishonest when calculating national debt. It only counts central government debt, however, in Denmark the local governments in fact take up substantial amounts of debt. If both are accounted for you get a much higher figure for national debt than the Bank of Denmark provides, the OECD for instance has the figure at 51% of GDP, rather than the 18% the Bank of Denmark says it is.

 

https://commodity.com/data/denmark/debt-clock/

 

If Denmark borrows 900,589,787,931 kr I'm assuming it's not for entertainment costs. Even Denmark's extraordinarily high taxation is not enough to pay for the services its citizens claim. The state still has to borrow.

 

 

 

 

[Blumpie]

I like how Malaysia does it - they call it your second home.  And at least they are being honest.

In Thailand it is not your home, it will never be your home, you are a visitor even if you have retired there.  

[VBF]

7 hours ago, Pravda said:

Meanwhile in Bali.....

 

https://www.traveloffpath.com/indonesian-minister-backpackers-are-not-welcome-in-bali-upon-reopening/

Except that, that article points to it being a good ides by linking to   Thailand Plans To Reopen Popular Destinations Including Bangkok In October which, as discussed here is somewhat in doubt.