I am Done With Thai Retirement Extensions - Relocating to Ecuador or Mexico on Permanent Residency

[Confuscious]

17 hours ago, Mike Teavee said:

I take it this was a typo & you meant annual extensions... 

 

I'm only in my 3rd year of doing extensions but I don't find them (or TM30/90 day reports) onerous as I just pay an agent to do it for me:-

• Annual Extension - 7,000 (Bangkok) - 8,000 (Pattaya) - NB If you don't meet the financial requirements it's 12,500 + an extra 2,500 if you're on a Non-Imm OA & don't meet the health insurance requirements either
• TM30 - Free, my Estate Agent did it for me
• 90 Day Report - Normally free (online) but have problems this year so 200 THB with an agent. 

I get that these requirements may change but in the past decade+ since I've been planning my retirement in Thailand, the only examples I can think of are the tightening up around the financial requirements (limits stayed the same) & the addition of Health Insurance for Non-Imm OA - (Which I acknowledge is a huge deal for some guys)

 

 

 

TBH If I was 65 & sick of dealing with annual extensions, I would get the 20 year Thai Elite Visa (1 Million)  before I would up-sticks & move 1/2 way across the world (though I get that it's a lot closer to the US for you). 

 

I have taken the same decision, returning to Europe, for personal reasons.
Can not find which benefit paying for a "20 year THAI Elite visa" could bring for me.

I am 68 years old and I have been staying more than 20 years in Thailand now.
Although I have been hospitalized in Thailand a few times, I always paid my bill without an expensive health insurance which would be worthless anyway.

I wear a Pacemaker and it will need to be exchanged by the end of next year.
Cost for the pacemaker on Thailand (without the surgery) is about 120KBaht.
In Europe it is FREE (I am an European citizen).

At my age, travelling back and forth to Europe for every heath issue, becomes a PITA.

Also, I did got already the (bad) news that I will for 90% sure be enrolled for DIALYSE (3 times a week).
DIALYSE  every 3 days will be very expensive.
In Europe, it is FREE.

 

And I don't talk about other benefits that I would get when I would return to EUROPE.

I don't see what taking an expensive 20 year visa or an expensive health care would benefit me.

And just like me, there are thousands of aging retirees in Thailand who will take sooner or later the same decision.

[NanaSomchai]

2 minutes ago, BusyB said:

Now I'm asking myself - in particular looking at this shambolic Thailand Ass hoop set - whether or not I really want to spend my retirement in a place that lives under that kind of a shadow. In particular when it manifests the way it has during the pandemic.

 

Anutin and his "we should kick the dirty foreigners" rhetoric last year really shown their true colors eh?

 

Damage is done.

[vandeventer]

17 hours ago, NanaSomchai said:

May I ask you which citizenships do you hold at the moment? I might have an easy for solution for you...

 

Edit: Also which languages are you fluent in?

Have you ever been to Mexico or anywhere in Central or South America? At 65 you are going to at least have to learn Spanish in that area , and to start all over again when covid is everywhere is a hard call. Good luck i hope it works out for you and your family.

[RafPinto]

Just now, vandeventer said:

Have you ever been to Mexico or anywhere in Central or South America? At 65 you are going to at least have to learn Spanish in that area , and to start all over again when covid is everywhere is a hard call. Good luck i hope it works out for you and your family.

Hey gringo, habla espanhol?

 

Yeah, mucho mucho.

[BusyB]

4 minutes ago, NanaSomchai said:

Anutin and his "we should kick the dirty foreigners" rhetoric last year really shown their true colors eh?

 

Damage is done.

My farang friends have told me that there has been a considerable uptick in xenophobia. That is also a consideration, but it's something I'd be more inclined to  check out for myself ...

 

Edited November 6, 2021 by BusyB

[NanaSomchai]

1 minute ago, Confuscious said:

I have taken the same decision, returning to Europe, for personal reasons.
Can not find which benefit paying for a "20 year THAI Elite visa" could bring for me.

I am 68 years old and I have been staying more than 20 years in Thailand now.
Although I have been hospitalized in Thailand a few times, I always paid my bill without an expensive health insurance which would be worthless anyway.

I wear a Pacemaker and it will need to be exchanged by the end of next year.
Cost for the pacemaker on Thailand (without the surgery) is about 120KBaht.
In Europe it is FREE (I am an European citizen).

At my age, travelling back and forth to Europe for every heath issue, becomes a PITA.

Also, I did got already the (bad) news that I will for 90% sure be enrolled for DIALYSE (3 times a week).
DIALYSE  every 3 days will be very expensive.
In Europe, it is FREE.

 

And I don't talk about other benefits that I would get when I would return to EUROPE.

I don't see what taking an expensive 20 year visa or an expensive health care would benefit me.

And just like me, there are thousands of aging retirees in Thailand who will take sooner or later the same decision.

Hey old pal, may I kindly suggest you take a quick look at Nicosia or Limassol on your return?

 

You could get a very cheap condo with a view and warm weather all year around.

 

Sure it won't be as exotic as Thailand but at least you'd be back in good ole' Europe.

 

My hearts goes to you. Stay safe.

[Jingthing]

Just now, vandeventer said:

Have you ever been to Mexico or anywhere in Central or South America? At 65 you are going to at least have to learn Spanish in that area , and to start all over again when covid is everywhere is a hard call. Good luck i hope it works out for you and your family.

Not exactly. You can move to places like San Miguel de Allende, Lake Chapala, and Boquette and get by without Spanish.

[ChaiyaTH]

4 hours ago, NanaSomchai said:

Hope you enjoyed this read, do your own research.

 

If you just wrote 90 day visa on arrival aside of having 60 day extension based on wife or child everyone understood too.

 

Anyway, 20k a year agent cheaper and easier.

Edited November 6, 2021 by ChaiyaTH

[Lemsta69]

18 minutes ago, BusyB said:

This is very true. Despite my despair about entry procedures (Thailand Ass) and considering not going through all the bother of retiring in LOS, the truth is I fell in love with the country 18 years ago. And I mean the country not the bar girls. I've had enough girlfriends in my life anyway and TBH I find that whole scene extremely boring. I did actually have a pleasant thing going with a cute and lovable gogo girl, but she overplayed her hand and started to get manipulative. She was absolutely stunned when I finished with her - she wasn't used to farangs doing that. I had warned her however that I wasn't her usual customer 555. 

 

I've been back many many times, for months at a time, really snowbirded it for nearly two decades till the pandemic arrived. Went back for things like people, food, beaches, scenery, yes - the temples, people, food, beaches, weather ... and so on and on. So many lovely times.

 

But when I first went there it was a young democracy going through the throes of change and learning how to be a democracy. Learning how to remove a PM who had done much good yet tore the corruption ring even by Thai standards. The establishment put a stop to that and have shown time and again they don't want change or democracy and are willing to kill as many as need be to prevent it. A kind of prosperous Burma Lite.

 

Now I'm asking myself - in particular looking at this shambolic Thailand Ass hoop set - whether or not I really want to spend my retirement in a place that lives under that kind of a shadow. In particular when it manifests the way it has during the pandemic.

 

At this moment in time I try to look at the good things. I have dear friends there after all this time, and miss them deeply. I hope I'll be out there early next year after two cancelled trips over the last 18 months. But it's no longer set in stone I have to say. There really are alternatives for me, and I want above all tranquility and stability over the next few months, as I transition from 50 years of work to a place where I know what I want to do with the rest of my time on this pebble in the sky.

 

just did the Thailand Pass upload, it was a doddle.

[Peterphuket]

6 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Apart from all the horse poop.

 

Back to the OP,

With no tourists my extensions have never been easier.

Last year there was one person in front of me.

This year I just walked straight up to the counter and was served.

 

For me the same experience with the only exception that the official was an hour late.

[Longwood50]

40 minutes ago, gearbox said:

Last year I was stuck in Goa

Two years ago I took a cruise and one of the ports was GOA.  We almost did not get off the ship because at first India was charging $100 USD for a visa and I didn't think the $200 for both of us was worth it added to the cost of a shore excursion.  The price for online dropped to $25 and we purchased the visa's.  Should have stayed on the ship.  I don't know what other parts of GOA look like but I can tell you the port area is a slum.  Closest tourist thing was about a 1 hour tuk tuk ride to some place where they made spices.  If I wanted to look at how spices are made I would have taken a tour of the McCormick factory back in the USA.  

[NanaSomchai]

16 minutes ago, ChaiyaTH said:

If you just wrote 90 day visa on arrival aside of having 60 day extension based on wife or child everyone understood too.

 

Anyway, 20k a year agent cheaper and easier.

Using my "guidance" that's a total of 90+60=150x2=300 out of 365 days in Thailand per year is pretty solid.

 

In my personal case, I only had to spend 381 days in Brazil until I went from being a stranger to the country to having the full citizenship and a BR passport in my hand.

 

Since then:

 

- I never pay any fees at any Thai embassies or consulates around the World,

- I have zero contact with them even,

- I don't need to call them,

- I don't need to email them,

- I don't pay any visa fees or give them a single dime,

- I don't have the hassle of mailing my passport and waiting for days to get it back, my passport is mine and stays with me 24/7,

- I don't have to overpay dodgy agents,

- I don't have to worry about having a fake stamp in my passport,

- I don't bribe immigration officers,

- I don't have to worry about the TM30 (as I have to go in person anyway to get my extensions),

- I don't have to contract an insurance (pre-COVID era),

- I don't need to make the same copies of the same paperwork year after year,

- I don't need to open a Thai bank account and "lock" either 400k or 800k or (soon to be) even more in for an useless visa,

- I don't have to follow all the new changes and regulations regarding the immigration laws,

- I am not at the mercy of the Thai immigration bureaucracy and it's constant changes,

 

So, respectfully are you sure paying 20k every year a dodgy agent is "cheaper" and "easier" let alone "safer"?

 

I think not.

 

However: I do pay 3800 baht a year for two 2 months extensions, that is literally it.

Edited November 6, 2021 by NanaSomchai

[Toby1947]

Should have kept your roots and property, 6 months about is ideal for most people your age. And the British Spring and Summer are unbeatable. Best of luck in the two dogholes you have mentioned 

[TKDfella]

I wish the OP luck in his new future. However, changing locations doesn't mean no problems. You will leave one set in exchange for other,probably different, problems.

[BusyB]

20 minutes ago, Lemsta69 said:

just did the Thailand Pass upload, it was a doddle.

Glad it worked out for you.

I'm hoping it'll be the same for me I'm pretty savvy with these kinda things - but I haven't heard whether or not it functions with MacOS or with any other email than Google ...

We'll see ..

[BusyB]

15 minutes ago, Toby1947 said:

Should have kept your roots and property, 6 months about is ideal for most people your age. And the British Spring and Summer are unbeatable. Best of luck in the two dogholes you have mentioned 

Snowbirding has been an unbeatable lifestyle for me for almost 2 decades ....

[MRToMRT]

I find it interesting that when someone comes out and tells you he has had enough, so many seem to feel its a personal attack on their own way of life here.

 

I think its undeniable at this point that it's not really getting any better here for a retiree without a current "wife".  Whether it's better/worse elsewhere is irrelevant.

 

Thailand is little more than a more acceptable form of Burma at the moment. Its corruption and incompetence incarnate.

 

It's sunny, some of the time, but too hot and sweaty for many retirees I feel, we don't work in airconditioning 40 hours a week. 

 

It's a great lifestyle for some but for others its becoming a concrete, garbage ridden monstrosity. 

 

I loved my many years working here, loved it to bits. But as a divorced, now single man whose kids have grown up and gone, I am sort of regretting retiring here as well.

 

 

[Lemsta69]

10 minutes ago, BusyB said:

Glad it worked out for you.

I'm hoping it'll be the same for me I'm pretty savvy with these kinda things - but I haven't heard whether or not it functions with MacOS or with any other email than Google ...

We'll see ..

I used my Android phone to take screenshots of all the pdf files sent to me by the insurance scammers, the airline, and my govt (vax certificate). I used the crop function to remove all the background "noise". did the same cropping thing to grab just the QR code from the vax certificate. Aussie boy here and the nanny-state provides us with a nice little QR code that contains all of our personal information. thanks Nan!

 

I used Brave browser (Chrome-based) on Windows 10 to do the actual upload.

 

I got an email saying they accepted it, 7 days blah blah blah. if they come back and want more stuff then I'll just crack another tinnie and figure it out ????

[seedy]

1 hour ago, ChaiyaTH said:

Anyway, 20k a year agent cheaper and easier.

Expensive

[Thingamabob]

2 hours ago, Gandtee said:

But then you haven't mentioned insurance which has nothing to do with extensions, but is unobtainable for those over 75 and means they will be unable to return to Thailand should they venture out to visit relatives, maybe. In effect, kept captive.

Captive is fine by me.

[robertson468]

Eventually, perhaps, Thailand Immigration will go fully IT and devise a form that asks questions like, "have you applied for a ...............Visa before and if so what is the number of your Visa.  This, together with your full name should immediately log you on and all you have to do is go through (in the majority of cases) a YES/NO questionaire, then produce an updated bank statement to support the application.  90% of the questions could be answered this way and submitted online.  Not only would this save 1,000s of trees, but would reduce the cost of staff.  Oh, sorry this is Thailand!

[Jen65]

18 hours ago, CHEYENNE5668 said:

I've heard good things about Panama's expat friendly Pensionado visa. A friend recently relocated there. I'll let him be my canary in the coal mine so to speak before I make any rash decisions. Good luck to you... 

yes, Panama was my alternative and I wish I had taken it now !!

[ChaiyaTH]

12 minutes ago, seedy said:

Expensive

If you consider 20k expensive for a yearly extension including multi entry, 90 day report and tm30 care.

 

I earn 40k back just on using the money, in a poor year. Most times more towards 80k. The difference gets reinvested too so by now i almost doubled the initial amount.

 

I live here since age 19, cant afford to let money rot in a bank account. 

Edited November 6, 2021 by ChaiyaTH

[itsari]

4 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Jesus...whereabouts do you live? 

 

I've got no yapping soi dogs, rubbish isn't dumped on the roadside except by arrangement with the BMA whose workers collect it every day, there's no racket from temples neither is there any racket from vendors and there's no more whiff from the drains than there is from any drain anywhere else.

Are you sure you are not in Liverpool ?

[Liverpool Lou]

7 minutes ago, itsari said:

Are you sure you are not in Liverpool ?

Positive.

[itsari]

Just now, Liverpool Lou said:

Positive.

Excellent news .

Dogs and cats all over where i live . Extremely annoying with there daily deposits

[Tom89]

So what does it take financially to retire to Ecuador?

[MrJ2U]

Mexico, interesting.

 

I'd pick any other country other than Mexico.

 

Equador hands down better.

 

Mexican women tend to eat large amounts of lard.

It goes straight to there beer belly's.

 

Nothing compares to the svelt Thai women though.

 

[Chad3000]

13 hours ago, Captain Monday said:

who don't have a reasonable path to PR or citizenship

need to work on pla

PR is 200k there is no reasonable path.

 

For not doing 90 day reports, extensions? That's just good money after bad.

[Jingthing]

16 minutes ago, Tom89 said:

So what does it take financially to retire to Ecuador?

800 dollars a month pension.