3 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

It's you that will need the luck.

Nah, just head off to Danang, its calling you. Over the time here my wife and I have built a good life. Nice house here in Don Muang. A nice plot of land we have an organic garden on as well. 2 condo's for passive income. Our daughters went to university in the states. One now working for K2 Space the other for Google. One lives in La Jolla Ca, and their house has a room for us always there, as does the one in Sausalito Ca. Neither of us is a worrier and we have had a nice life here. What you think about daily never crosses our minds. Enough talk we are on different planets. Have a good one.

To me its obvious that OVERALL it's a provable fact that the premise here is a fact

Thailand is making it harder for foreigners

So the psychology of so many people getting emotional and even abusive in service of denial of that fact is quite interesting.

11 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

No grandfathering,

My apologies. I was just looking to explain to anyone the mechanics of the previous 2014 and 2008 grandfather structures.

I didn't realize you were lobbying against it.

Just now, marin said:

Nah, just head off to Danang, its calling you.

Why? I still like it here.

2 minutes ago, marin said:

What you think about daily never crosses our minds.

Ignorance is bliss.

"Change is the only constant in life."

Why do you think you are not part of the large demographic living here on a retirement visa / extension?

The rest of your post was simply irrelevant.

It's interesting you constantly refer to "us" and "we." Your wife is Thai, she has a right to live here, you do not. Also, how do you know what crosses here mind, or does not? Very strange.

25 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Yes. It is quite obvious that the officials do not want us to here, they tolerate us but they certainly don't make our lives any easier, and the entire immigration process is quite silly especially for marriage visas.

A few years back I returned from immigration, after renewing my marriage visa. The upside to this visa, is that only 400,000 is needed as a deposit, and it does not have to stay in the bank, once your visa is granted. The downsides are:

The hurdles you need to jump over, in order to get a marriage visa are stupid, ridiculous, unnecessary, draconian, wasteful, and silly. I understand the need for them to verify that you are a legitimate couple. Upon the first application. But, the dumb requirements should not relate to renewals. You should not be required to show fresh images of the house each time, copies of the marriage papers, the house documents, either come with a local Thai witness, or bring a signed affidavit from a local Thai each time, provide new maps to the house, and dozens of other requirements.

I just do not even know what to say about the process. I felt like a street dog by the time I left. After hours of paperwork, copy after copy after copy, each page having to be signed, and then being grilling by the surly officer, I literally felt like a street dog. The level of disrespect that immigration shows married couples here, and foreigners in general, is totally uncalled for, beyond the pale, and inane. The copy woman, the guy sorting our papers, they were all nice. But, the officers? Such sourpusses. The woman who was helping us was so difficult to work with, when she finally rejected us over the tiniest thing she did not like, after nearly an hour of reviewing every document with a microscope, so to speak, and said no, I responded by saying yes. YES, you are going to do this. Yes, you are going to do this right now. YES, you are going to stop saying NO to me right now. This ends now. She looked at me and did not know what to say. I asked for the manager. The top brass came over, and we had it sorted in 30 minutes. Took nearly 3 hours. And as usual, it will be a month, until I have final approval. Is it worth it? NO. It is my last marriage visa. I will go back to a retirement visa next year, or leave the country, before I subject myself to that abuse one more time.

Frankly, I think at least some of this comes from the rather extreme level of xenophobia and the toxic racism of the army. It filters down throughout the government. I do not think they want us here. And making these procedures difficult is one way of expressing that. 

 

Fortunately, I feel very little of that sentiment from the non governmental Thai people. 

 

I still love it here. But, if I had the required cash, I would likely spend 6 months a year in Italy and elsewhere, a few months traveling, a month in the US (family and work), and maybe two months a year here. 

Sorry to hear about your unpleasant experience at immigration, but it is totally contrary to my experiences, I have never experienced anything like that in any immigration office, admittedly I have never visited any offices in bangkok or Pattaya, but I have been to plenty of others , the worst I have experienced is a kind of sullen, sober professionalism, but generally I have always found them polite. Here in Surin I have always found them to be exceptionally pleasant and helpful, some of the requirements do seem a bit pointless, but thats not their fault, the hardest thing I have to do is assemble and photocopy a few documents , long may it remain so

44 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Residence security

There should be a path to permanent residency from retirement.

Whether I stay or go is none of your business. I obviously want to stay though.

I understand Thailand will never offer residence security based on retirement.

I fully agree. Retired individuals have very limited Citizenship options.

You can seek "Permanent Residency" and then citizenship but you need to have a work permit for 3 years from internet sources.

You can go the "Marriage" route but hit that same hurdle of needing employment within Thailand for about 3 years. According to Internet.

Regarding the "Work Permit" most sources indicated it was a need to prove "Contributions" to Thai taxes and Thai Society. A way to show integration I assume.

7 hours ago, simon43 said:

Anyone who says that they are a vlogger should (with very few exceptions, eg Bangkok Pat), be thrown out of the country :)

Agree he's good, though he'd have no problem regarding immigration anyway, he's British with a Thai mum.

41 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

I don't need luck. I have nothing here I can't walk away from in a heart beat, and that's by design. I have my Plan B, and it's Danang - Vietnam. I have even chosen the condo block there. It's you that will need the luck.

Vietnam doesn't have the 800K in the bank requirement? But you still do not get permanent residency and will need to sort out medical emergencies.

And does Vietnam even have a retirement visa?

Bank requirements are there to protect you so you don't get deluded as you get older and older than you can survive without emergency money.

The Philippines offers a good alternative to the Thai retirement visa. You could base yourself there and you don't have to even live in the typhoon and earthquake prone, terrible internet hell hole.

Edited 8 hours ago8 hr by Cameroni

20 minutes ago, J Branche said:

I fully agree. Retired individuals have very limited Citizenship options.

You can seek "Permanent Residency" and then citizenship but you need to have a work permit for 3 years from internet sources.

You can go the "Marriage" route but hit that same hurdle of needing employment within Thailand for about 3 years. According to Internet.

Regarding the "Work Permit" most sources indicated it was a need to prove "Contributions" to Thai taxes and Thai Society. A way to show integration I assume.

I've you wanted citizenship, one should have picked a country to retire in that easily offered it.

Amazing how folks chose to live here, know what was expected, but complaine about it. Planes leave every hour, all day long. UP2U, as nobody is forcing anyone to stay.

17 hours ago, harvardgrad said:

The only thing I said that might not be true is you being able to live on mars if you're old. Otherwise all correct and fair game since you are the one who put this in political soapbox. I like it Xtra soapy

It might not be true, today.

Yet, it will be true....SOMEDAY.....

16 hours ago, Peter Crow said:

Maybe there is no word for compassion in Thai?

There is.

There's probably also an idiom for being "trapped and skint."

Back on topic, there's been a swing to nationalist protectionism across the planet, with many countries making immigration tougher, alien residence harder, while some are even discriminating among their own.

As for Thailand, when I first "settled" here over forty years ago, the notion that they only put up with us for our money was already front and center of many expat debates.

I don't see it as getting tougher inasmuch as it is increased enforcement of the laws, rules and regulations that have always been there, but casually ignored, sometimes for a small financial consideration.

PS: No, I haven't watched the video.

39 minutes ago, J Branche said:

I fully agree. Retired individuals have very limited Citizenship options.

You can seek "Permanent Residency" and then citizenship but you need to have a work permit for 3 years from internet sources.

You can go the "Marriage" route but hit that same hurdle of needing employment within Thailand for about 3 years. According to Internet.

Regarding the "Work Permit" most sources indicated it was a need to prove "Contributions" to Thai taxes and Thai Society. A way to show integration I assume.

Your first sentence is correct.

2nd and 3rd not correct. Suggest you research these more.

1 hour ago, save the frogs said:

It's only "affordable" if you stay single and avoid medical emergencies and eat street food all the time.

It's as expensive as back home when all is factored in, maybe even more.

I've run the numbers many times in a spreadsheet. For me it's 35% cheaper than the US.

"Street Food". I can still buy delicious restaurant food for 80 baht or more.

In US a Chicken Pad Thai is $16 or 537 baht.

I'll share my spreadsheet if you share yours. There is zero chance it's as expensive as the US or Europe.

I'm a positive, look at the bright side type of guy so maybe my perspective is distorted.

1 minute ago, J Branche said:

I'll share my spreadsheet if you share yours. There is zero chance it's as expensive as the US or Europe.

I don't use a spreadsheet.

But I probably should start.

4 minutes ago, couchpotato said:

Your first sentence is correct.

2nd and 3rd not correct. Suggest you research these more.

False, check Siam Legal and all the other Thai legal websites

Quote

"Have a stable occupation with a work permit/work certificate issued by the Office of Work Permit or Provincial Employment Office with the minimum income as follows"

OK, since the OP has chastised several for not doing so, I watched the video before but I bailed out before the end. That's 7:31 of my life that I won't get back.

Unfortunately (IMHO), Thailand regards the value of a foreigner by the size of their wallet, and not by the size of their contribution to Thai society. It's for this reason that I'm considered a 'Cheap Charlie', because I prefer to live modestly and not to throw my money around on beer and bargirls :)

Edited 8 hours ago8 hr by simon43

1 minute ago, NanLaew said:

OK, since the OP has chastised several for not doing so, I watched the video before but I bailed out before the end. That's 7:31 of my life that I won't get back.

I looked at it CC caption as I do most any news type youtube.

Personally , I think it has gotten easier ,years ago I had to get up at 4 in the morning to get

in a queue to be able to do my retirement extension ,the paperwork is still the same ,other

requirements are the same , did my last extension earlier this year took just over an hour,

the officer even said as your old ,I am 80 just come straight up to the counter next time ,we will deal

with you.

90 day done online in max 10 mins ,try and open a bank account in any Western countries

on a tourist Visa ..impossible the guy in the video is always putting propaganda out on how

bad Thailand and now The Philippines is , going on about Farangs that have lost all their money

here ,how does he get all these stories ,don't know maybe AI ,

regards worgeordie

The main extension issue for me is, in moving to a different province, Immigration and bank on BOTH sides said initially That's not the way we do it.

But things have calmed down.

12 hours ago, Cameroni said:

Jinghting has a point:

1) Taxing income earned outside Thailand

2) No criminal certificate for driver's licence now

3) No more visa waiver on a long term basis

Basically Thailand is becoming like, well, our own countries.

For most civilized countries, you are not taxed in both countries. I understand the concern for those who are taxed twice, or who are at risk of it.

49 minutes ago, J Branche said:

I've run the numbers many times in a spreadsheet. For me it's 35% cheaper than the US.

For us, we live here comfy on $1k USD / ~฿30k THB, a month, IF owning home in USA, as I do here, TH, it would be much more.

Just the RE Taxes and monthly utility bills alone would exceed that $1000 in the USA. Solar would cost 3X what our system cost here, along with BEV would be more expensive, crap warranty, and crap charging network.

Add another ~$200 for Medicare Plan B, and healthcare for the wife, 50 yrs old, and they don't cover much till you spend $15-20k out of pocket, before it kicks in, or so I read.

Along with Q'ing how long to see a GP, to get referal for specialist, paying the copayment, probably more than seeing a doc here, then Q'up at hospital to have something done, sometime in the future, for how much ???, even if insured. Thank You Obama.

Then we have to feed ourselves, and not to mention the cost and extreme hassle (?) my wife would have, to simply get a visa and maybe Green Card for USA.

Yea, Thailand is so terrible and unfair. As if USA, AU/NZ, UK/EU is friendly to foreigners. I'd have better life if I crossed the border, went to Calif, and said 'No habla ingles, asylum por favor'. Free housing, food & medical, or so I read.

Edited 7 hours ago7 hr by KhunLA

"Do you agree that Thailand is making it harder for foreigners?"

No.

3 hours ago, Cameroni said:

The girls are making it harder for me on TF now. The proliferation of freelancers means it's almost impossible to spot real harem potential anymore. And when they do reply they disappear after five exchanges. I'm sure it was a lot easier 40 years ago.

Plus the allowance fees keep going up.

Am fairly certain TF did not exist 40yrs ago!

3 hours ago, Cameroni said:

The girls are making it harder for me on TF now. The proliferation of freelancers means it's almost impossible to spot real harem potential anymore. And when they do reply they disappear after five exchanges. I'm sure it was a lot easier 40 years ago.

Plus the allowance fees keep going up.

Lol, missed that comment.

You're back on Thai Friendly?

Time to revive your old thread?

2 hours ago, couchpotato said:

Your first sentence is correct.

2nd and 3rd not correct. Suggest you research these more.

Could you elaborate, as I can't see what's wrong, in the 2nd statement particularly.

Not that I am too much interested, as I don't want the tax exposure resulting from PR or citizenship. And I don't speak the lingo, nor can I sing 😅.

Edited 6 hours ago6 hr by Peter Crow

V

1 hour ago, youreavinalaff said:

"Do you agree that Thailand is making it harder for foreigners?"

No.

Did you watch the video?

23 minutes ago, Peter Crow said:

Could you elaborate, as I can't see what's wrong, in the 2nd statement particularly.

Not that I am too much interested, as I don't want the tax exposure resulting from PR or citizenship. And I don't speak the lingo, nor can I sing 😅.

Tax resident same exposure.

25 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Tax resident same exposure.

Not with an LTR visa, which exempts income remitted to Thailand, as per RD. 743.

Edited 5 hours ago5 hr by Peter Crow