Retired With A Small Pension

[haroldc]

I'm 57 years old and have lived and worked in Thailand for the past 15 years. I was married to a Thai, but am now divorced. The divorce decree gave me sole custody of my 2 children, ages 13 and 14, who are Thai citizens.

My Thai employer has agreed to let me work until I'm 62. Then I will start getting a small government pension, about 30,000 baht per month. I have less than 10,000 baht in savings and no prospects of adding any appreciable amount to that over the next 5 years - maybe I could get it up to 100,000. What would my visa situation be when I stop working?

If I cannot work another 5 years because of ill health, I have a disability insurance policy that will pay me about 12,000 baht per month until the pension starts. It would be enough to live a simple life with my children upcountry . What would my visa situation be?

I know I'm talking about the future, and the law is today's law. But it would helpful to understand how I would be treated under the current regulations. There is no way that I and my children could go to live in my home country. I couldn't afford the plane fare, and even if I could, we'd arrive with no money and no place to live.

[lopburi3]

I don't believe any of us can give you a black and white answer. Advise would be to discuss this with your local immigration officers as they are the people who will have to make the decisions. There are a number of uncertainties that we face in living here but in general the laws are written broad enough to allow for more than the black or white decision. I would not let it keep you awake at night as life seems to work out somehow and there does not seem to be anything you can do about it now. Just try to save what you can. And it would not hurt to ask immigration for suggestions as to how to proceed; understanding that policy and laws may change.

Sorry, and this is not aimed at you, but hope that prospective new (young) arrivals take note of this and think twice and then again before making the move.

[wca01]

Speak with your Thai employer. If you are stop working, its possible for him to issue a confirmation that you get a monthly pension of Baht............ (whatever you tell him to write.) No problems or checks will arise. (We have one such case in our company and our "oldy" falang can renew his visa based on our confirmation).

In reality he don't get one Baht; in the confirmation he receives a pension of Baht 35,000 monthly.

WC

WC

[falong]

I'm 57 years old and have lived and worked in Thailand for the past 15 years. I was married to a Thai, but am now divorced. The divorce decree gave me sole custody of my 2 children, ages 13 and 14, who are Thai citizens.

My Thai employer has agreed to let me work until I'm 62. Then I will start getting a small government pension, about 30,000 baht per month. I have less than 10,000 baht in savings and no prospects of adding any appreciable amount to that over the next 5 years - maybe I could get it up to 100,000. What would my visa situation be when I stop working?

If I cannot work another 5 years because of ill health, I have a disability insurance policy that will pay me about 12,000 baht per month until the pension starts. It would be enough to live a simple life with my children upcountry . What would my visa situation be?

I know I'm talking about the future, and the law is today's law. But it would helpful to understand how I would be treated under the current regulations. There is no way that I and my children could go to live in my home country. I couldn't afford the plane fare, and even if I could, we'd arrive with no money and no place to live.

Arn't you entitled to years of service compensation? You should get a fair sized lump sum when you retire.

[astral]

I assume you have many years on your Non-Imm O.

Is there any way you can raise the money for the Residence Permit?

As a tax payer and father of Thai children you may get it, then you are safe after retirement.

[Artisi]

I go along with astral, with 2 Thai children I would go to Immigration NOW and ask about permanent residency - from my understanding you have a good case for real consideration and once you have P/R you are then set for life.

[ProThaiExpat]

OK gurus, here is a tough one.

Does Thailand have any provison whereby a Thai citizen can sponsor or otherwise support the visa application of a close relative, such as a father?

Australia allows immigration of close relatives of citizens. Does Thailand?

Haroldc, having adult children by the time he retires, may be in a unique situation?

If they can't sponsor his immigration, perhaps they can help augment his pension to meet the retiree's financial responsibility level of 65k Baht or as you suggested, and as the immigration department has said on their web page, that minimum might be lowered as a special case.

[Ajarn]

I have a number of friends in your financial condition, with thai kids...

When I recently asked at immigration in Chiang Mai about the visa issue, i.e., someone getting a pension, but not anywhere near the current requirements (2 friends support their Thai family on govt pensions of less than 20, 000 per month)

The officer I talked said the financial requirement was just for the one-year stamp. She said that if they could show a govt pension that's less than the requirements, they can still get a 90 day (or less) stamp from Immigration, meaning they would have to come back every 90 days (or less), but you wouldn't have to actually do a visa run...

It looks hopefull, but for sure you should be talking with immigration. ..

Good Luck...