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Posted

Hi guys!

 

I’m french, and in 5 years, I’ll be turning 64 years old. My project is to retire in Thailand.

 

I have almost no family left in France, and I don’t enjoy living here. I traveled twice to Thailand, and have stayed there for around 3 months altogether. I’ve traveled a lot during my life, and always feel better outside my country. I believe I could feel alright in Thailand.

 

I’d like to ask you a question about RETIREMENT VISAS, etc.
Have some of you retired in Thailand?

 

How’s it going? I’ve heard that’s pretty easy to get to stay for one year as a retiree but… how hard is it to renew year after year? I believe I’d like to stay there long term so it’d be really nice to get feedback from you, guys.  I’m worried about being able to stay there long-term.

 

Frank

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Posted
8 minutes ago, VinnieK said:

Suddenly, France is on the other side of the world and you are stuck in a Thai hospital with no friends/family ????

Yes, that reminds me of the father of a friend who might move to a home for old people in Thailand.

Under normal conditions they can take care of him. But if he has a big medial problem, then what?

That is a real problem. 

Posted
28 minutes ago, LOG54 said:

Hello

We are french and retired here for nearly 10 years..We had before spent 5 years in Thailand from 2000 and 2005..

We also stayed in other countries ..India..South America and to tell the truth, even if it is not perfect here (which country is ?)  we enjoy it here..

First of all, go for a O visa (not for OA visa as this would require an expensive health thai insurance)

As a health insurance go for CFE (caisse francais de l etranger) and subscribe at least before 3 months after leaving France)..

Then choose where you would like to live... Islands are nice for holiday, but for long term not so much..Phuket, climate seems to us quite humid "tropical"..Chiang Mai, cold in winter + no sea + haze issues

...so we are happy with Pattaya choice..we live a bit outside, right on the beach, climate is good, all types of restaurants to go out, not far from airport or Bangkok, good hospitals and close to Bangkok if you still need better ones..

We understand your wish to leave France, as we wouldn't like to go back at any cost

Have a great day

I would also recommend giving Pattaya a look.  It checks all the boxes for me.

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Posted

I've never had a problem getting annual extensions.  The original visa was much more work than the extensions in Thailand.

 

I would say to avoid getting an O-A visa so you don't have to worry about the extra insurance requirement.  There are thread on the forum here about how to apply for an O visa after you arrive in Thailand.  The hardest part with that seems to be opening a Thai bank account which you will need to get extensions.  If you already have a Thai bank account great.

 

I also find it easier to just leave 800,000 baht in a separate account to use just for immigration.

 

Also you do need to think about medical insurance here.  If you don't have any pre existing conditions right now it would be best to have insurance already.  All the insurance companies here will try to exclude everything they can.  It also gets quite more expensive the older you get.

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Posted
6 minutes ago, Yme said:

You might also look at Cambodia. The only requirement is be agd 55+ and not working. 
No minimum bank balance required
No 90-day reporting
No reentry visa requirement
Get 8% pa interest paid monthly on your savings in USD or KHR on 12 mth TDs. 
 

Sounds way better

Except its Cambodia

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Posted

The retirement visa is easy to get. If you have enough money in the bank it is inexpensive. If you do not, you pay an agent a fee of 15,000 to 30,000 baht per year, and all is handled for you.

 

My question is why wait? I presume you must still be working and earning money needed to retire? Who knows what the world will be like in 5 years, but for now many of us enjoy very good lives here. Lives we could only dream about back in our native countries.

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Posted

Been here 21 years. Had retirement and thai wife visas and extensions Never used a agent. No problem.  Dress respectfully and be polite.

 

That said, having a GOOD Thai wife makes life easier. 

 

Health insurance or sufficient funds is essential.  Can't get health insurance in Thai at reasonable cost 65 and up.  Good luck! 

 

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Posted
12 hours ago, HappyExpat57 said:

Prepare yourself by learning basic Thai phrases. It's a difficult language, but I've found the locals appreciate the attempt.

 

Also, don't burn any bridges. Many of us love living here (almost 18 years now for me) but Thailand is not for everybody.

35 years for me, worked here over 25 years, now retired and living with my Thai son, his wife and 4 Thai grand children. My work sitution set me up for Thai Permanent Residency (PR) but without longer-term legal work PR is not available. 

 

As other have mentioned the so called Retirement Visa not all that difficult.

 

For me best decision I ever made, but as others have said, Thailand is not for everybody and same for every country.

 

As eluded to, good idea to use the gap years to learn Thai, some preety good web sites nowadays.

 

Good luck. 

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Posted

Baiting, bickering posts and replies removed.

 

Also removed is a link to an unapproved site.  

 

 

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Posted

As mentioned earlier avoid a Non "OA" visa due to the medical insurance requirement.  Don't get me wrong it's not a bad thing to have medical insurance....it's just Thai immigration basically requires a person with a Non OA visa to have very specific medical insurance from a select group of "Thai" insurance companies....the insurance is expensive and the coverage is weak....full of exclusions.  Thailand makes it pretty much impossible to use a foreign insurance policy to initially get or extend a Non OA visa.   Even though you may have outstanding home country medical insurance that provides worldwide coverage it would not be accepted for annual extensions of your Non OA visa.  Up until 2019 the Non OA visa was VERY popular...had been for many years....but the medical insurance requirement that began in 2019 turned it into a visa to avoid.

 

If going with a 1 year type visa go with the Non O visa...no medical insurance required to get the visa or annual extensions.  Annual extensions will cost Bt1,900.  See the Thai Embassy in Paris webpage at the bottom of this post for details. 

 

And if you meet the requirements and want to avoid 1 year extensions consider a 10 year Long Term Resident (LTR) visa....probably the LTR Pensioner visa if you meet the requirements.   This LTR visa is really a 5 year plus 5 year visa totaling 10 years...although issued for 10 years you only initially get a 5 year permitted to stay and just before that 5 years is up you apply for an LTR extension to get the remaining 5 years of the 10 year visa.  Cost of a 10 year LTR is Bt50K (averages out to Bt5K/year)....no fee for the 2nd 5 year extension. Full details at the BoI LTR website and also the Thai Embassy Paris website.

 

Thai Embassy Paris....Non O over 50 visa

http://www.thaiembassy.fr/fr/visa-rdv/les-types-de-visa-et-les-documents-necessaires/visa-non-immigrant-o/

 

Non-immigrant visa O

Non-immigrant visa O

 

image.png.ade1ce6db7398320d8a7bf0ac304bf30.png

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Posted
16 hours ago, VinnieK said:

.Georgia, E Europe,, Turkey, Egypt maybe 

Their culture, food etc is way closer to us than Thailand.

Not to mention the cheese and the wines, etc.  BUT (drum rolls please) it is not as easy finding "life" partners in your grandchildren age range...in abundance and you don't have to be a millionaire. That's the elephant in the room, mon cher.

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Posted
1 hour ago, Pib said:

it's just Thai immigration basically requires a person with a Non OA visa to have very specific medical insurance from a select group of "Thai" insurance companies....

That previously was the case.

Thinking that has changed and allows non Thai insurance companies.

Thinking that change occured Sept last year? 

When there was change in required coverage 

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