19 hours ago, Hummin said:

I have done that for years now, but honestly, it gets tiresome having one foot in each country and nowhere really feeling like home or reflecting a whole life. Financially, it is also more expensive than just settling down in one place in Thailand, paying the tax, and keeping or transferring whatever your visa requires.

As long as you are mobile, it can work. But there comes a time when travelling becomes more of a hassle, especially if your health starts to decline. And if someone is already on a tight budget, six months here and six months there does not necessarily save much money anyway.

Good post, and I agree.

Many members posting on this thread are of the attitude, "No retirement visa in Vietnam, so can't live there, close the thread." 😂

They don't even want to contemplate the possibility Vietnam announces a Thailand style retirement visa in the near future. Or, a 1 year tourist visa, requiring one boarder run a year. Or, any type of visa that can be extended inside Vietnam. For example, a 3 month visa which can be extended, perpetually, which also doubles as reporting every 90 days for proof of life.

Thailand can have major crackdowns like the Thai company nominee crackdown, implement new laws for the deportation of foreigners etc etc, but no way will Vietnam ever have a long stay visa. 😂

Many are even unable, or unwilling, to even discuss what impact a long stay visa in Vietnam would have in Thailand, despite data showing tourism to Thailand is down 7% whilst tourism in Vietnam is up 15%.

Many believe they have the right to reside in Thailand, when that visa / extension is nothing more than a 1 year tourist visa.

I guess many can't look past their next bottle of Leo. 😂

19 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

I traveled for work most of my life. I had no interest traveling when I retired.

I still enjoy traveling, but traveling and visa runs are two different things.

19 hours ago, Hummin said:

Been living out of a bag my whole life too, so hopefully I will slow down as well. Right now, at least, my weight is more in Thailand than Europe. But just lately, new options have showed up, making the final decision harder to make.

At least you have allowed yourself options.

Many went "all in" on Thailand, now have to defend their decision by criticizing the option countries of others, despite never visiting those countries, even though some are quite near. There is a lot of psychology behind it.

Edited August 27Aug 27 by KhunHeineken

17 hours ago, KhunLA said:

With , that statement, 2 thoughts come to mind ...

... NO Retirement Visa at VN, so it's a moot point, TH wins

... then why are you talking about tourist numbers & attractions ?

Yawn.

Yes, I know it's too much for you to discuss the possibility Vietnam announces a Thailand style retirement visa in the near future. That's just too much crystal ball for you, but Thailand can change the laws, announce crackdowns etc etc and you except that change, but Vietnam make a change, no way, just can't happen. 😂

In relation to tourism, as I have said, it's tourism that advertises a country as a retirement destination for the next generation of retired expat. Most retired expats in Thailand first came to Thailand for a holiday. Tourism down in Thailand by 7%. Tourism up in Vietnam by 15%.

16 hours ago, JerryM said:

I remember walking into the United Airlines office Kowloon side Hong Kong and rep saying 'Nice to see you again, Mr. Jerry.'

A bit like walking into a bar or restaurant in Pattaya. 😂

9 hours ago, BayArea said:

I know you're a big time Thai apologist

I wonder if he has one big Buddha tattoo, or several small Buddha tattoos. 😂 😂

8 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Apologize for what, being a better country to retire in, vs VN ???

You haven't even been to Vietnam, so how would you know?

8 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Not beng Thai, why would I apologize for anything about TH,

It's because you are emotionally and financially invested in Thailand, and it shows in your posts.

8 hours ago, KhunLA said:

That you even search to correct me, speaks volumns. Don't let the hate eat you up.

It's not about hate, it's about the facts.

8 hours ago, KhunLA said:

If only TH had a long cable car, wouldn't that be amazing

The fact that Vietnam is progressing so quickly that they have a world record breaking cable car, yet Thailand, with decades longer tourism, and billions of more dollars from that tourism, doesn't invest in tourism infrastructure says a lot about Thailand.

4 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

Yawn.

Yes, I know it's too much for you to discuss the possibility Vietnam announces a Thailand style retirement visa in the near future. That's just too much crystal ball for you, but Thailand can change the laws, announce crackdowns etc etc and you except that change, but Vietnam make a change, no way, just can't happen. 😂

In relation to tourism, as I have said, it's tourism that advertises a country as a retirement destination for the next generation of retired expat. Most retired expats in Thailand first came to Thailand for a holiday. Tourism down in Thailand by 7%. Tourism up in Vietnam by 15%.

What if scenarios. Good luck with those. I guess they'll magically fix all the infrastructure issues also, at the same time. Along with the typhoons will redirect themselves also.

When tourist numbers are knocking on 40M a year, how much higher can they really go. More than half the Thai population, so not a good thing, and stresses the infrastructure, since most come in a 4 or 5 month period.

Flip side, when touirst numbers as so low (VN), then they can only go up. Surely many of those have visited TH many times, and welcome the slight change of scenery. It's not rocket science.

But the topic is 'retirement', so again, basically a moot subject since no RV. But please, keep beating the dead horse. Up to 127 (?) posts already ... ya going for 200 👍

Here's a 'what if' ... what if VN cracks down on the lax visa issuing that allows expats to stay long term, without leaving the country. Oh crap ... then what ?

Or what if TH issues 5 or 10 visas, without all the high end financials, and not 90 day pulse checks. Oh my, and about as likely as VN issuing RV any time soon.

Edited August 27Aug 27 by KhunLA

8 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Objectively Thailand is better than VN based on visas alone.

No argument from me. That case was close on the first page of this thread.

What amazes me is the reluctance of some members to even discuss the possibility Vietnam announces a Thailand style retirement visa in the near future, and what impact, if any, that would have on Thailand.

I've already posted links to show Vietnam's tourism is impacting Thailand, what about the impact of a retirement visa?

5 hours ago, BayArea said:

So your post was misleading and yet you still insist on putting down VN to prop up Thailand. talk about " hate" . 🤣

as far as hate, no such thing when comparing different countries for retirement. to each its own, but you are hell bent on LOS so enjoy your stay and let others say what they will on other options without your incessant bias on all things Thailand.

As I said, there is a lot of psychology around it.

Those invested financially and emotionally in Thailand feel the need to defend their decision, despite never being to the other suggested countries. They are Thai apologist, or as one member puts it, THai-ier than the next guy.

You can see it coming across in their posts. They are simply not subjective, but it is humorous. 🙂

.

Edited August 27Aug 27 by KhunHeineken

4 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

As I said, there is a lot of psychology around it.

Those invested financially and emotionally in Thailand feel the need to defend their decision, despite never being to the other suggested countries. They are Thai apologist, or as one member puts it, THai-ier than the next guy.

You can see it coming across in their posts. They are simply not subjective, but it is humorous. 🙂

.

Yes, right. But for people living here since many years it would be very difficult or even impossible to move to other countries and start new from scratch.

14 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

yet Thailand, with decades longer tourism, and billions of more dollars from that tourism, doesn't invest in tourism infrastructure says a lot about Thailand.

Wow, you really do need to get out more, maybe leave that 15 minute city of Patts some day.

Then you'd notice all the improvement TH has made over the past 25 yrs since I've been here. Then you might appreciate how further along they are over VN.

TH & VN ... same same, not that different. But the VN differences are not in a good way, IMHO

I don't need to visit to know that, as I can actually think for myself. VN is so great, yet, you don't live there

Edited August 27Aug 27 by KhunLA

5 hours ago, JerryM said:

As the chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer told Dick Cavett in a 1971 interview:

"I like to make them squirm".

The Thai government is making quite a few foreigners squirm at the moment.

43 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

A bit like walking into a bar or restaurant in Pattaya. 😂

Yes a bar with 747 Business C lass

28 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

No argument from me. That case was close on the first page of this thread.

What amazes me is the reluctance of some members to even discuss the possibility Vietnam announces a Thailand style retirement visa in the near future, and what impact, if any, that would have on Thailand.

I've already posted links to show Vietnam's tourism is impacting Thailand, what about the impact of a retirement visa?

I've discussed it

I don't think they will.

But if they do it will be at Malaysian high financial levels or more so acaddmic for most of us.

Edited August 27Aug 27 by Jingthing

2 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

The Thai government is making quite a few foreigners squirm at the moment.

As far as I know the Thai Government has not changed anything on the 2.22 retirement extension police order since their 2019 revision -- it is only mentioned incessantly on here.

Edited August 27Aug 27 by JerryM

5 hours ago, jacko45k said:

I suspect that will come, or some existing hoops will get a bit tighter!

So do I, and I have prepared for it. Things seem to be going that way here.

My point being, say things get tighter here, and say Vietnam announces a Thailand style retirement visa in the near future, I would say Vietnam becomes the choice of newly retired expats, and possibly many existing Thailand expats.

It's been suggested by one member that these two things are just too many hypotheticals for them to consider and discuss. 😂 😂

4 hours ago, JerryM said:

It is all right here. All they have to do is swap out the numbers including on (6) which is the 'grandfather' clause.

You know governments all around the world can repeal laws, in lieu of new updated laws, right?

In July, Thailand passed laws setting out the criteria for the deportation of foreigners. I posted a link to it in another thread.

Things are actually changing here, at the present time.

3 hours ago, NanLaew said:

That accusation caused me to take a quick look at your forum posting content. You aren't really what is casually labelled as a "Thai basher" but you're getting there.

I wouldn't quite call you a "Vietnam basher" but you're getting there. 🙂

3 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

In July, Thailand passed laws setting out the criteria for the deportation of foreigners. I posted a link to it in another thread.

Things are actually changing here, at the present time.

I don't care about things that don't affect me until they actually happen, if they do.

When they switched over to the 65K+ deposits in the bank from the embassy affidavit, I had already been doing it with a source of funds letter for 10 years.

2 hours ago, KhunLA said:

If having one, just not for me, and I point out why. No hate, as never visited, and it seems a lovely county.

Long stay visa aside, I would be interested in what you don't like about Vietnam on paper, since you have never actually been there. Serious question.

2 hours ago, KhunLA said:

if had to, I'd leave TH.

If you had to leave Thailand, and either could not, or did not want to return to the USA, where would you chose to move to? What would be your Plan B country?

1 hour ago, JerryM said:

They might decide to lower the numbers so more expats will be able to meet the genuine requirements and not have to pay bribes to IMM officials via a conduit to get around them.

I doubt it.

The amounts will rise, with the possibility of a serious ban on agents. It simply has to rise because of the higher costs of everything these days.

Just like the Thai company nominee issue has identified 47,000 suspected companies, foreigners using agents would be in the thousands as well. It's got out of hand, and I can see a day where they clean it up.

2 minutes ago, JerryM said:

I don't care about things that don't affect me until they actually happen, if they do.

When they switched over to the 65K+ deposits in the bank from the embassy affidavit, I had already been doing it with a source of funds letter for 10 years.

Agree. What ifs, are for paranoid people who enjoy living a stressful thought life. Why bother doing that to yourself.

Visas I've used haven't changed in 25 yrs, and I don't expect to, or not enough to matter, if ever they do.

Knowing myself and or my daughter needs a place to live, for about 16 yrs, means investing, buying in to a couple custom built houses for our comfort is always the best financial way to live ... RENT FREE.

When she was done high school and off to Uni, only then did I need to decide if TH was for me, as a place to retirment. Really too easy to decide, considering all the less favorable options out there. So just pick a spot, PKK, and simply build another custom built house for us to spend my remaining years. Again, RENT FREE.

No need to worry about things that probably won't happen, or will have much of an effect when they do. Enjoying life, instead of being scared of the future seems a more productive way to live.

Edited August 27Aug 27 by KhunLA

9 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

Long stay visa aside, I would be interested in what you don't like about Vietnam on paper, since you have never actually been there. Serious question.

If you had to leave Thailand, and either could not, or did not want to return to the USA, where would you chose to move to? What would be your Plan B country?

Do I really need to repeat myself, yet again, as if 15-20 times wasn't enough. Shot answer for VN: poor infrastructure & weather.

No other option for me, if leaving, than USA. Can't think of a better place to spend my remaining years, uncomplicated & stress free. No other Plan B country for me.

1 hour ago, fredwiggy said:

To hide for some reason, far away from a country that might be looking for them perhaps?

Do you mean they could be on the run from police? Plenty of them here.

1 hour ago, fredwiggy said:

Some here do hate their own kind, which is strange but easy to understand if they were outcasts in their native country, possibly blaming their own kind for the way their life turned out.

Interesting comment.

I certainly don't hate "my own kind" but when one of them kills a 17 year old Thai prostitute and puts her body in a suitcase and dumps it, there is a sense of the individual's actions giving all "my own kind" a bad reputation here.

Of course you can't judge a whole nation of people by the actions of an individual from that nation, but some people do.

1 hour ago, fredwiggy said:

So they come to a country where they don't need to communicate, hiding away in a village with a young wife who also doesn't understand them, using their money to blend in and remain anonymous.

Sure, it's possible, but most of the time I would say the guy is lead by the nose, like a buffalo, to the village in Issan.

Image working all your life, then aspiring to retire to Thailand towards the end of your career, only to end up in a village in Issan, where you will see out the rest of your days and die, like a prison sentence.

Maybe some guys enjoy being "the big chief" of the village, due to their money. 😂

7 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

I doubt it.

Well good. When they ask you what they should do, you can tell them.

And they don't have to 'ban' agents -- what agents do already on 'covering' the 800K baht is illegal under the Penal Code.

49 minutes ago, JerryM said:

As far as I know the Thai Government has not changed anything on the 2.22 retirement extension police order since their 2019 revision -- it is only mentioned incessantly on here.

How many on the current visa "own" a property through a Thai company with nominees? Regardless of visa, are they not squirming now? That's how quickly things can change here.

9 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

No need to worry about things that probably won't happen, or will have much of an effect when they do. Enjoying life, instead of being scared of the future seems a more productive way to live.

From Orson Welles' Citizen Kane 1941:

Kane: You're right, I did lose a million dollars last year.

I expect to lose a million dollars this year.

I expect to lose a million dollars next year.

You know, Mr. Thatcher, at the rate of a million dollars a year, I'll have to close this place in... sixty years.

2 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

How many on the current visa "own" a property through a Thai company with nominees? Regardless of visa, are they not squirming now? That's how quickly things can change here.

Not really, as they can simply transfer the property to wife, GF or BF. Or have a fire sale, if not having, though unlikely, since usually having one or the other, and why they used a 'company' in the first place. Unless buying a bunch for investment & rental, short or long term. And why they've cracked down on the company owned investing scheme. As it prices Thai out of the houseing market.

I would suspect very few go the 'company nominee' route, as many can't afford to buy in, or smart enough not to, considering their circumstance.

Edited August 27Aug 27 by KhunLA

12 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

Do you mean they could be on the run from police? Plenty of them here.

Interesting comment.

I certainly don't hate "my own kind" but when one of them kills a 17 year old Thai prostitute and puts her body in a suitcase and dumps it, there is a sense of the individual's actions giving all "my own kind" a bad reputation here.

Of course you can't judge a whole nation of people by the actions of an individual from that nation, but some people do.

Sure, it's possible, but most of the time I would say the guy is lead by the nose, like a buffalo, to the village in Issan.

Image working all your life, then aspiring to retire to Thailand towards the end of your career, only to end up in a village in Issan, where you will see out the rest of your days and die, like a prison sentence.

Maybe some guys enjoy being "the big chief" of the village, due to their money. 😂

Thailand has never been home to me, and I'll be bringing my daughter back to the US early next year so she will have a better life with a better future. yes, I'm sure there are some here hiding away from their home countries, but dislike of your home country seems weird to me, even if it wasn't the best as far as weather or economics. If Thailand feels like home, it is home. The US is home to me.