How to retire in Thailand

[sandrew33]

On 5/2/2024 at 10:07 PM, Gknrd said:

Not derogatory remarks, it is the truth..  ???  

People should know how bad it is.  Not just the good. 

Right now 40-44 C.  Air unbreathable. haha fact.  

Hence Shi$$ hole. 

A few months a year it is ok,

 

🙄 

[BusNo8]

My monthly rock bottom general spend living in central Bangkok is about 27.5k up from 22.5k due to inflation. Add another ten percent for holiday fund, medical dental. I need two dental implants so that comes out of another bucket.

 

Food is still cheap. Open market for veggies. Breakfast at home. Dishes with fried egg over rice b70. Having said that my wife will bring meals home which we'll both agree still have good value. B10 for a fried egg I'm not happy with and it's rarely fried for me but rather sitting about.

 

It's more expensive but I'm very happy I'm here and not in the US for a dozen reasons

[BusNo8]

On 4/24/2024 at 6:24 AM, KhunLA said:

Another BS vid, and stopped watching when said you can live in TH on ฿35k a month, but visa requirement is ฿65k a month.

 

Along with low cost of living, if you never use the AC, and live on ฿50-75 street food.  Wouldn't call that living.   As lunch today cost mw ฿300, and I'd call that a lite lunch.

 

If you want to live out of 1 room, eat street food and sweat your butt off, yea, retire here cheap, but you'll need to plop ฿800k in the bank, or ฿65k a month income.  The latter (65k) would provide a decent living, and quite comfy enough, location dependent.

 

Can have a simple life in Bangkok no less on 25 - 35k as a general monthly spend. Need to add holidays, incidentals to be fair. That's going to come from years of experience, knowing a bit of Thai and living local.

 

Just bc you and so many foreigners can't eat, don't like Thai food doesn't mean others can't live on the fantastic cuisine.

 

Nothing wrong with a small one bedroom in the right location.

 

You're obviously heavily biased against urban living in Thai food.

 

B300 for a meal. Thais don't eat like that.

[KhunLA]

2 hours ago, BusNo8 said:

 

Can have a simple life in Bangkok no less on 25 - 35k as a general monthly spend. Need to add holidays, incidentals to be fair. That's going to come from years of experience, knowing a bit of Thai and living local.

 

Just bc you and so many foreigners can't eat, don't like Thai food doesn't mean others can't live on the fantastic cuisine.

 

Nothing wrong with a small one bedroom in the right location.

 

You're obviously heavily biased against urban living in Thai food.

 

B300 for a meal. Thais don't eat like that.

Reading comprehension ... didn't state you can't 'live' here on less. 

 

The vid is very misleading BS ...

What visa would you qualify ?  No sense in talking about how inexpensive you can live on, if you can't qualify for a visa.

 

To live inexpensively here, you'd have to plop ฿400k or ฿800k in the bank to qualify for a visa.   ฿35k a month doesn't even qualify for a marriage visa.

 

I easily live on ฿10-15k a month, and I enjoy Thai food, thank you.

Edited May 31 by KhunLA

[Mike Teavee]

 

On 5/26/2024 at 6:41 AM, BusNo8 said:

My monthly rock bottom general spend living in central Bangkok is about 27.5k up from 22.5k due to inflation. Add another ten percent for holiday fund, medical dental. I need two dental implants so that comes out of another bucket.

 

Food is still cheap. Open market for veggies. Breakfast at home. Dishes with fried egg over rice b70. Having said that my wife will bring meals home which we'll both agree still have good value. B10 for a fried egg I'm not happy with and it's rarely fried for me but rather sitting about.

 

It's more expensive but I'm very happy I'm here and not in the US for a dozen reasons

 

I think the fact inflation has meant your monthly spends have gone up by roughly 20% should be ringing alarm bells for anybody planning on retiring to Thailand on that sort of Budget, especially somebody like a UK Pensioner living on a Frozen pension. 

 

Once retired, we've made our beds & have to live with it, but I would recommend to anybody considering the move to pick a number, double it & then add in a "Fudge Factor", I ended up working 1 more year in a job I hated so I had the "Fudge Factor" & am so glad I did as I realised that I needed to add an extra 25% to my budget to have the lifestyle that I wanted in retirement.

 

One question though, if you are living on pretty modest means, why live in Bangkok? Why not live somewhere where your money goes a lot further? 

[noobexpat]

56 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Reading comprehension ... didn't state you can't 'live' here on less. 

 

The vid is very misleading BS ...

What visa would you qualify ?  No sense in talking about how inexpensive you can live on, if you can't qualify for a visa.

 

To live inexpensively here, you'd have to plop ฿400k or ฿800k in the bank to qualify for a visa.   ฿35k a month doesn't even qualify for a marriage visa.

 

I easily live on ฿10-15k a month, and I enjoy Thai food, thank you.

 

My visa has no qualifications. No capital or income requirements at all.

[KhunLA]

6 minutes ago, noobexpat said:

 

My visa has no qualifications. No capital or income requirements at all.

Really ... what type is that ?

[noobexpat]

14 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Really ... what type is that ?

 

Elite.

But neither do education visa's.

[KhunLA]

21 minutes ago, noobexpat said:

Elite.

But neither do education visa's.

That takes a bit more investment than basic retirement visa.  Not really for the CC, though definitely an option.   Although if can qualify for that, then a retirement visa should be easy, if old enough.  Just the membership (for 5 year one) is more than the 800k required for ret. visa.

 

Education visa doesn't allow you to stay 365 days a year, does it ?  I wouldn't consider the need to attend school a retirement dream.

 

The vid is about retirement ? So basically BS ... IMHO 

 

Love my daughter, but couldn't wait for her to finish high school, so I was free to 'retire' all year, and travel at will, instead of just 3 months a year.

 

That and the ability to leave Udon Thani.  Retirement to me, is freedom to do whatever, whenever.  Not tied to a schedule.  

 

After I divorced my 1st Thai wife, shortly after arriving @ 46 yrs old, I would have had to leave without my village orphan (daughter) and support of Thai national visa/ext of.  Held me over for couple years till I turned 50.

 

Didn't investigate any other visa options, since not needing to.

Edited May 31 by KhunLA

[noobexpat]

1 hour ago, KhunLA said:

That takes a bit more investment than basic retirement visa.  Not really for the CC, though definitely an option.   Although if can qualify for that, then a retirement visa should be easy, if old enough.  Just the membership (for 5 year one) is more than the 800k required for ret. visa.

 

Education visa doesn't allow you to stay 365 days a year, does it ?  I wouldn't consider the need to attend school a retirement dream.

 

The vid is about retirement ? So basically BS ... IMHO 

 

Love my daughter, but couldn't wait for her to finish high school, so I was free to 'retire' all year, and travel at will, instead of just 3 months a year.

 

That and the ability to leave Udon Thani.  Retirement to me, is freedom to do whatever, whenever.  Not tied to a schedule.  

 

After I divorced my 1st Thai wife, shortly after arriving @ 46 yrs old, I would have had to leave without my village orphan (daughter) and support of Thai national visa/ext of.  Held me over for couple years till I turned 50.

 

Didn't investigate any other visa options, since not needing to.

 

Have a mate who uses ed visa's. He doesn’t study, its just a blag to live here. Mainly for the <50's. Said he knows guys who have been doing them for years. He has to do a border run once per year i think.

 

As for budget, i spend far less than i thought i would. But i'm not funding a girls lifestyle and no desire to accumulate stuff of value either. I could live here incredibly cheap if i had too (i think i do 555) - folks love to nitpick over statements like this. But but but ...what about that triple heart bypass etc etc.

 

[Captain Monday]

On 4/28/2024 at 5:56 PM, Robert Paulson said:

I once ran into the bloke who cooks the dish I buy often at the market. He was shopping for the chicken he uses in his recipe. I forget the name of the dish I guess it’s just khao man gui but it has yellow rice with cinnamon. The reason I mention I saw him at the market was he was buying the stuff he makes fresh everyday, and I got to have a look at it all. And he was heading home to cook it all for that evenings sale.

 

40 baht for the dish. I’ve eaten it a hundred times never as much as an upset stomach (wish I could say that for my own cooking).

 

I guess that’s my long way of saying I don’t think you necessarily get more quality the more money you spend on food. Although of course that can be the case.

For 40 baht I guess one of god-damn eggs is 5 baht extra.
 

I buck the trend and do not  want to have food with an egg on it. 

[BusNo8]

On 4/24/2024 at 7:37 AM, KhunLA said:

And they probably have Medicare if they get sick.   

 

My problem isn't that it can't be done, if planned correctly, it's that it's no problem living here on 35k a month, which doesn't even qualify for a retirement visa.  Assumes you'll be renting, need health insurance, and apparently living in a 15 minute city, as you won't own a car, unless a beater with minimal insurance.

 

We live on less than 35k, but a substantial investment for house, solar & EV, which eliminates most large monthly bills.  And a wife helps to make that possible.

 

If that's all one can muster up, is 35k a month, you need to stay in home country with your safety nets.  At retirement age, I would hope most planned their life a little bit better than living month to month on the cheap, without a safety net.

 

I totally disagree. If I had 35k income stream and had the opportunity to be here - but only in that amount. I would still do it in a heartbeat. Live in Pattaya and make the best of it. Live at the beach, make short one hour day trips to cleaner beaches. Far, far better than grinding it out in the west - doubly so in coming years.

[KhunLA]

30 minutes ago, BusNo8 said:

 

I totally disagree. If I had 35k income stream and had the opportunity to be here - but only in that amount. I would still do it in a heartbeat. Live in Pattaya and make the best of it. Live at the beach, make short one hour day trips to cleaner beaches. Far, far better than grinding it out in the west - doubly so in coming years.

What legal visa would you have that would allow you to stay in country?

 

Fine if 50 yrs old and got 800k to plop in bank account, then yea, no prob.  

[Captain Monday]

On 5/26/2024 at 8:41 AM, BusNo8 said:

My monthly rock bottom general spend living in central Bangkok is about 27.5k up from 22.5k due to inflation. Add another ten percent for holiday fund, medical dental. I need two dental implants so that comes out of another bucket.

 

Food is still cheap. Open market for veggies. Breakfast at home. Dishes with fried egg over rice b70. Having said that my wife will bring meals home which we'll both agree still have good value. B10 for a fried egg I'm not happy with and it's rarely fried for me but rather sitting about.

 

It's more expensive but I'm very happy I'm here and not in the US for a dozen reasons

I do not want a  god damned egg 

[BusNo8]

On 6/2/2024 at 4:06 PM, KhunLA said:

What legal visa would you have that would allow you to stay in country?

 

Fine if 50 yrs old and got 800k to plop in bank account, then yea, no prob.  

 

I don't know as I'm on O and had not need to worry about that for 15 years.

 

From early 90s to 2010 things were easy but after 2006 (coup?) much more difficult. I had a strategy that seemed to work well although I'd spend only about six months a year here - but every year.

[KhunLA]

9 minutes ago, BusNo8 said:

I don't know as I'm on O and had not need to worry about that for 15 years. ...  From early 90s to 2010 things were easy but after 2006 (coup?) much more difficult. I had a strategy that seemed to work well although I'd spend only about six months a year here - but every year.

A strategy that didn't allow you to stay in country all year, (assuming).

 

Now you have a legal visa.   And meet the requirement, or use an agent to skirt the rules.

 

Most people can not legally retire on 35k a month, on a long term visa that allows you to stay in country for 365 days.  That's retirement in my dictionary.   Voluntary leaving, yes, mandatory to leave ... no.

 

Barring being 50+ & 800k in bank when needed.

Or married and meeting the yearly financials, which just 35k income won't cut it.

Edited June 5 by KhunLA

[BusNo8]

On 5/31/2024 at 10:02 AM, Mike Teavee said:

he fact inflation has meant your monthly spends have gone up by roughly 20% should be ringing alarm bells for anybody planning on retiring to Thailand on that sort of Budget, especially somebody like a UK Pensioner living on a Frozen pension. 

 

I don't disagree but would add that prices in Thailand were long ready for a huge pop up. People are not especially productive but paying someone b400 for hard days labor is ridiculous.

 

One way I avoid price rises is I only buy foreign food on sale and don't eat in restaurants either. Order a pizza every 6-8 weeks

[BusNo8]

16 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

A strategy that didn't allow you to stay in country all year, (assuming).

 

Now you have a legal visa.   And meet the requirement, or use an agent to skirt the rules.

 

Most people can not legally retire on 35k a month, on a long term visa that allows you to stay in country for 365 days.  That's retirement in my dictionary.   Voluntary leaving, yes, mandatory to leave ... no.

 

Barring being 50+ & 800k in bank when needed.

Or married and meeting the yearly financials, which just 35k income won't cut it.

 

No, I didn't stay all year and that was fine with me. I know all the surrounding ASEAN countries well, travel to India, Japan. I should have gone to Africa. Life in SEA too easy.

 

I love traveling, adventure, history and culture. TTers have zero interest. Even those that are not the Bangkok TTrs you're actually backpacking have very little to show in their vlogs of Thailand. It's all 711 food, a beach, blah blah

 

I was very much proto global nomad.

 

35k pm won't qualify for visa, correct again. As we both know just bc 400 800k is extension requirement doesn't mean you need spend it although if you are not stationary life gets costly fast.

 

The new breed arriving will just have to learn to navigate it. Education visas don't really allow for travel so the kids essentially stuck in Thailand forever. That seems to be okay with them sadly. Tiktokers love Thailand bc it's such a lazy travel. It was always just sort of RnR for me. Many even proclaim after a few weeks, on visa not even extension that they are now *living in Thailand*.

 

Many have already learned and TT I'd seen a few months ago proclaiming they are living in Thailand yet are now randomly floating around countries in a very haphazard and seemingly wasteful way. my guess is they've already been given warnings via immigration

 

I say wasteful because what they discuss and report on and show on camera I find very unimaginative, dull and random.

Many bolted to Bali of all inane places was a go to. That place was lost 25 years ago.

 

Vietnam another hotspot. This lot should be packing into Vietnam in and - yet they go for the soft living of Thailand.

 

The real crime will come when they obtain B visas and enter a classroom

 

EDITED

Edited June 5 by BusNo8
Typo, clarification

[wozzlegummich]

Does the ฿800K in the bank requirement for retirement visa have to be a Thai bank? I would like to leave it inmy Super Fund.

[BusNo8]

31 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

A strategy that didn't allow you to stay in country all year, (assuming).

 

Now you have a legal visa.   And meet the requirement, or use an agent to skirt the rules.

 

Most people can not legally retire on 35k a month, on a long term visa that allows you to stay in country for 365 days.  That's retirement in my dictionary.   Voluntary leaving, yes, mandatory to leave ... no.

 

Barring being 50+ & 800k in bank when needed.

Or married and meeting the yearly financials, which just 35k income won't cut it.

 

So, just like decades ago the the noobs have to find their way.

 

The first massive mistake the Sukhumvit tiktokers made was anchoring themselves to Thailand. They came in clueless proclaiming their vast, superior knowledge of Thailand and I see it as huge embarrassment as they are now aimlessly floating about SEA and as far afield as south Asia.

 

Anyone with half a brain knows they cannot stay indefinitely in a country on a tourist visa. There will be issues and the person will need to have additional plans whether that's back home in the basement, Philippines, Vietnam or wherever.

 

That was clear to me 35 years ago I don't know why it wouldn't be clear as a bell today.

[KhunLA]

32 minutes ago, wozzlegummich said:

Does the ฿800K in the bank requirement for retirement visa have to be a Thai bank? I would like to leave it inmy Super Fund.

yes

 

https://www.mfa.go.th/en/page/types-of-visa?menu=5e1ff6d757b01e00965d1682

Edited June 5 by KhunLA

[KannikaP]

58 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Most people can not legally retire on 35k a month, on a long term visa that allows you to stay in country for 365 days.

If you are in a place which allows the Combination Method you can. I import 35k per month, via Wise so FTT, which is 420k per year. I have 450k in a Bkk Bank account. Total being 870. My IO says that if the total is over 800k, then here's your retirement extension. Done it for years.

[KhunLA]

27 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

If you are in a place which allows the Combination Method you can. I import 35k per month, via Wise so FTT, which is 420k per year. I have 450k in a Bkk Bank account. Total being 870. My IO says that if the total is over 800k, then here's your retirement extension. Done it for years.

Big if ... why I stated 'most'.  You're the first that has mentioned actually doing that.   I don't think allowed at Udon Thani, Nong Khai or Prachuap, though I may be mistaken.  Prachuap Khiri Khan might, but has to remain in all year, as recall thinking, why bother, since married, just put in for 2 months (for marriage ext), and I can take it when and if, I want/need.

 

Wish people would post which provinces actually allow that rule.

Edited June 5 by KhunLA

[KannikaP]

3 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Big if ... why I stated 'most'.  You're the first that has mentioned actually doing that.   I don't think allowed at Udon Thani, Nong Khai or Prachuap, though I may be mistaken.  Prachuap Khiri Khan might, but has to remain in all year, as recall thinking, why bother, since married, just put in for 2 months (for marriage ext), and I can take it when and if, I want/need.

 

Wish people would post which provinces actually allow that rule.

Phitsanulok. Not married. Did not ask if I could knock the 420k down by 50% for seven months as you can with 800k.

 

Edited June 5 by KannikaP

[Angus55]

On 4/24/2024 at 7:23 AM, fredwiggy said:

I'm guessing you're not taking into account there are hundreds of thousands of people living in the US on 65K a month, or less. The average Thai lives okay at 15K a month, but of course they expect foreigners to spend more, even though a foreigner could live here fairly well on less than 40K a month, as long as they weren't huge drinkers, ate food at home, and didn't spend more than necessary on eating out.

 

Like BritmanToo said, you can eat easily on less than 100 baht a meal, even for two. Street food is as good as much Thai restaurant food. Amazon coffee is as good as Starbucks. You can get pizzas for less than 250 baht, hamburgers for less than 200 baht and other western food for less than 300 also.

 

Some westerners need AC all day long, and rarely go out, so living here is just like anywhere else, besides the fact you can get women and rent cheaper here. After your house is built, if you have one and don't rent, the only expenses could be electricity, if you have a well. Add water and it's still not much. Paying for a car if you have one is another expense that can be less than 10K a month. Of course there are foreigners that made money in their countries raping the earth or swindling others, and they have money to burn, but the average  retiree makes enough every month, around $1781 USD,and that makes living here easy, as long as you're not throwing money away to show off.

The maximum UK pension is about £800 or 37000 baht. That is plenty to live well here if you know what your doing. A lot of farangs havent a clue how to live in Thailand ,taking taxis everywhere burning AC all day etc...

[fredwiggy]

3 minutes ago, Angus55 said:

The maximum UK pension is about £800 or 37000 baht. That is plenty to live well here if you know what your doing. A lot of farangs havent a clue how to live in Thailand ,taking taxis everywhere burning AC all day etc...

A lot of people move here because of the girls they can be with that are younger, notwithstanding all that comes along with that. Most foreigners I've talked to here hate the heat. I came from Texas, so I'm used to it, but I had a lot more things to do there that I can't do here. It sure is cheaper here, and that's why some stay, because back home it's a lot more expensive to live, although I'll take that  because I can do more there, and my daughter will have a much better life back there. Staying in a bar or your house all day long because of the heat gets old.

[georgegeorgia]

7 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

A lot of people move here because of the girls they can be with that are younger, notwithstanding all that comes along with that. Most foreigners I've talked to here hate the heat. I came from Texas, so I'm used to it, but I had a lot more things to do there that I can't do here. It sure is cheaper here, and that's why some stay, because back home it's a lot more expensive to live, although I'll take that  because I can do more there, and my daughter will have a much better life back there. Staying in a bar or your house all day long because of the heat gets old.

Did you say you moved back to the USA?

[fredwiggy]

2 minutes ago, georgegeorgia said:

Did you say you moved back to the USA?

Most likely in less than 2 years, maybe sooner.

[Somrak]

Only very schort. :-(