Living In Pattaya Area

[David Barker]

My wife and I are are thinking of selling up in Spain and moving to Pattaya area as a retirement home.

Having been to Thailand a number of times we are not green to the system but would appreciate any advise from others particularly Brits on the best way to go about buying land, building a house, buying a car, the best way to arrange visas etc.

We would be looking at travelling to europe 2 or 3 times a year so multiple entry may be the best way but we are not sure how this would fit in with owning a property.

Also we would like to know about expat groups in the area.

Thanks for any assistance

David & Inge Barker

[bkk barney]

land or house buy in a company name, car buy in your own name or the company name, own names better if u want to cross borders.

visa if ur over 50 i believe with 800,000baht in a thai bank u can just get a yearly multi entry, loads of visa stuff in the visa section here

[Digger]

Id agree with BKK Barney - If you buy a house do it in company name, car is more difficult without long term visa's but could be held in company however not sure if there are complications there.

Having said that, not sure if buying is the best option for a retirement. Even high end property can be rented at by European standards very low prices - I saw a place on a very exclusive development going for 50,000 baht unfurnished on a long term contract - thats about GBP 650 pound a month for a 3 bedroom house, private pool, landscaped garden. Included in that is the pool and garden maintenance!! To buy something like that you would need around 6,000,000 baht +. No maintenance worries or headaches and they even allow you if you want furnished option to choose your own interior furnishings (from a range). This particular project is out by the resevoir - many other farang couples in the vicinity, 15 mins from Pattaya proper. Very secure project, first I have seen with TV cameras surrounding it as well as security guards. manager of the project is formerly front office manager at Grande Sheraton Sukhumvit so the developers are spending big bucks on the whole thing - even the gardners had t-shirts with the company name on it. Unfortunately little bit out of my price range but certainly the best development I have seen around Pattaya.

Hope this helps

[bkk barney]

now with car or bike u can register it in ur name even if ur on a tourist visa.

[astral]

The first thing to note is that you cannot own land here.

However you can buy a condominium, if it is new then it can also help you to gain a visa here. Read the section about Non Immgrant visas

Applying for a Non-Immigrant Visa is quite easy, if you are over 50 years old.

If you plan to spend most of your time here, then a single entry visa will be best.

You can get it extended here to cover one year.

For the one year extension you will need to show 800,000 baht in the bank here, or an income of 65,000 per month. I am not sure whether one sum will do for both of you, as a married couple? Hopefully one of the other contributers, like Lopburi or Dr PP can answer that.

Once you have the one year visa you can ask for a re-entry permit, allowing you to exit the country and return, all on the same visa.

If you want to own you own house then you will have to start a small company to own the house for you. The cost of the compnay is around 50,000 baht plus 15,000 per year in filing and tax charges. PM me if you want the name of a reliable lawyer to handle this.

I always say to people planning to invest here,

"Do not bring more money into the country, than you are prepared to walk away from".

We never know when the government will change the rules, impose exchange control, screw up the economy, etc.

20 years ago there were 25 baht to the US$, to day it is around 40,

I am not sure if property price increases would compensate for that.

Rental may be a safer option, or look at the money as write off, over a number of years, against rental.

Once you have a non-immigrant visa owning a car is also straight forward.

A quick search in the Thai Visa Section should give you all the answers. If not post again there.

Edited September 13, 2004 by astral

[bkk barney]

50,000baht for a company? i wouldnt use ur lawyer astral

[astral]

It may be cheaper, I really do not remember as me company has been in operation for several years.

You must also consider how reliable the lawyer is.

Prem has a good track record for these companies, over the last 25 years. The new guy may be here today and gone tomorrow, with your money!!

[bartender100]

My advice would be to rent for at least 1 year before you decide to buy,and have a really good look round,you don't even have to pay as mentioned above,most of the villages have pools,a very nice house would be B25/30k a month.

[bkk barney]

yeah prem is good, but i cant imagine he would have nearly doubled his prices just cos of moving from yodsak to thepasit, still i got to pick up some papers from him in the next couple of days so i shall get the price, if i remember correctly, which there is a good chance i dont, its about 20,000baht for a basic company and about 30,000baht for a 2 million baht registered company, ie if u need to apply for a work permit