1 hour ago, Yumthai said:

Need to well understand that the $100K will have to be locked (money can't be used and account balance cannot fall 1 cent below $100K) over the entire visa duration or at least until the 5-year mark renewal being approved. To me, that's a no-no.

Thanks for the heads up about the balance not falling below $100k. I will put some extra money in the acct, and make sure not to touch it for the length of my 10-year visa. The money will be part of my wife's inheritance, so I won't be using it for anything else. 

45 minutes ago, JohnnyBD said:

I will put some extra money in the acct, and make sure not to touch it for the length of my 10-year visa. The money will be part of my wife's inheritance, so I won't be using it for anything else. 

Good for you that you are able to forget $100K for 10 years, not even needing to touch it in case of emergency.

22 minutes ago, Yumthai said:

Good for you that you are able to forget $100K for 10 years, not even needing to touch it in case of emergency.

 

"Good for you"  is exactly the words I also use ... and IMHO it applies appropriately to the fortunate who are wealthy enough that such is the case.  

 

Some i suspect even have more than $100k in bank accounts, in cash, ... which for them is not an issue as they have both a large pension/dividend income and also much much massively larger equity position that make the $100k relatively small.   For some, the "Wealthy" in "LTR-Wealthy Pensioner" or "LTR-Wealthy Global Citizen" actually fits.   

 

Also the $100k US$ equivalent need not be in Thai baht. It need not be in a Thai bank.  And it can be in an appropriate overseas account earning 4%. Sure not the 15% or so from a reasonable stock market portfolio, but presumably said individuals have a much larger stock market portfolio.

 

Fortunately as well, Thailand has a number of visas, where the Type-O visa is an excellent visa for those who do not meet the BoI definition of 'wealthy'.

.

1 hour ago, oldcpu said:

"Good for you"  is exactly the words I also use ... and IMHO it applies appropriately to the fortunate who are wealthy enough that such is the case.  

 

Some i suspect even have more than $100k in bank accounts, in cash, ... which for them is not an issue as they have both a large pension/dividend income and also much much massively larger equity position that make the $100k relatively small.   For some, the "Wealthy" in "LTR-Wealthy Pensioner" or "LTR-Wealthy Global Citizen" actually fits. 

It may surprise some, but I found there are quite a few wealthy retired expats in Thailand who can easily afford to lock up $100k in a bank, and self-insure for their LTR visas. I think I read that you are self-insuring also. If so, I just wanted to say "Good for you" too.

 

By the way, I enjoy reading your posts, Take care, and have a great day!

7 hours ago, JohnnyBD said:

I fully understand your situation. Healthcare in Thailand is so affordable, it's really a waste of money to buy insurance. Fortunately, I can use the $100k in the bank method going forward. I always keep at least $100k on hand for the wife in case something should happen to me, but last year when I applied for my LTR-WP visa, I bought the insurance because I needed to use my cash to purchase some real estate. Since then, I have been able to save up $100k, so when my insurance policy expires, I can put $100k in a high-yield savings acct and self-insure so I don't have to buy the LTR insurance anymore.

Exactly - why pay 20K for absolute rubbish just to get the paperwork, or 50K-100K PA (and upwards) for a decent policy for 10 years, when you have over 1 million in bank accounts here (between Wife and I). It is like paying rent long term when you can afford to buy - makes no sense after 2-3 years (unless done for tax reasons).

 

Sounds like a good plan - it is obvious that anyone who meets the financial requirements to get the LTR has more than enough money to self-insure.  As I said before, BOI took the 10 year O-X Visa and changed it - but left in the health insurance khrapp.  Be careful about how you 'invest' the 100K - when I asked about an 'on call' cash management or an investment bank account, the BOI said no - they said it must be a standard savings account - cash/ATM card. Probably a good idea to check with them before doing what you said to confirm whatever account you plan to use is acceptable.    

4 hours ago, Yumthai said:

Need to well understand that the $100K will have to be locked (money can't be used and account balance cannot fall 1 cent below $100K) over the entire visa duration or at least until the 5-year mark renewal being approved. To me, that's a no-no.

Good point. But perhaps there are overseas bank accounts that BOI will accept that do provide a reasonable interest return on the money 'invested'.    

24 minutes ago, TroubleandGrumpy said:

why pay 20K for absolute rubbish just to get the paperwork, or 50K-100K PA (and upwards) for a decent policy for 10 years, when you have over 1 million in bank accounts here (between Wife and I). It is like paying rent long term when you can afford to buy - makes no sense after 2-3 years (unless done for tax reasons).

You are so right. I wish I didn't have to buy the insurance when I got my LTR visa last year, but the cash I had was earmarked for our new condos, which we closed on in June, and are now enjoying. At least I was able to save up, and now have $100k again, so I can self-insure going forward when my insurance policy expires.

24 minutes ago, TroubleandGrumpy said:

Good point. But perhaps there are overseas bank accounts that BOI will accept that do provide a reasonable interest return on the money 'invested'.    

 

Capital One in the US is paying 3.5% on their high-yield savings acct right now. They were paying 3.9% but rates have been falling. My Fidelity brokerage acct money market funds are paying 3.97%, but I cannot use those to self-insure.

On 9/9/2025 at 9:01 AM, scoutman360 said:

 I didn't have this problem. Try a different browser. Turn off all popup blockers, ad blockers, etc. That is the only thing I could suggest. I had to do this for other websites to work. 

Entries previously made did not show when logging on the next time. This happened to me both on my Windows desktop and on my iPad. After the filing was accepted, I called BOI, and they said that the missing entries were there even though they don't show on draft copies that I saved under the "check status" tab.

On 9/8/2025 at 6:52 PM, JohnnyBD said:

I wonder if pensions from prviate US companies remitted to Thailand are tax exempt in Thailand if the person is a tax resident. The law you refer to seems to refer to Government pensions. It doesn't say anything about private US company pensions. It may be better for me to go back to the tax forum rather than this new LTR thread to get the correct answer.

Pensions, Social Security Payments, Annuities, Alimony and Child Support

Article 20 covers four types of payments which share the trait that they are typically paid or received by individuals as “personal” items. Pensions, social security payments, annuities, alimony and child support payments paid to the resident of a contracting state shall be taxable only in the state where they arise.⁽³⁹⁾

Government Service

Remuneration paid by a contracting state or a political subdivision of that contracting state shall be taxable in that state.

The technical explanation of the treaty provided by USG/IRS states: "Article 20 deals with the taxation of private (i.e., non-government) pensions, annuities,
social security, and similar benefits". https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/thaitech.pdf

On 9/7/2025 at 2:11 PM, TroubleandGrumpy said:

Best to ask BOI those questions - they are good and will answer via email within a day or two (want the business). Go to their website and contact section - fill-in the online enquiry form and 'send'. They dont like receiving emails, so if you have follow ups you need to do that via the online website way again. 

1) After filing I was able to call them, and they confirm that there are only file size limits on the photo of applicant (2 MB).

2) I got an Apple pencil and was able to sign the application after opening it on my iPad.

3) After filing I was able to get through to BOI. They confirmed that the entries not showing in saved drafts were in fact showing in the application that they received.

4) I did not ask BOI about this.

5) I forgot to ask BOI about this question. Anyway, it was moot since I was able to find last year's daily activity online, so I could state the last 365 days of income.