Moving To Thailand For A Year With A View To Retiring There Later

[lollyk]

Hi All,

I am new to this forum and am sorry if you have been asked this question a million times already.

I am a 50 year old woman married to a 42 year old man. We are both from the UK.

We are aiming to spend a year in Thailand, moving around the country so see where (or if) we would like to settle there permenantly.

I realise that I can apply for a retirement visa, but would look to do that after the year is up, once we have decided if we want to stay on or not.

My question is whether I would be likely to be given a multi entry visa (Type O...?) as on the Hull website, it seems that these visas are given out if you are staying with friends or family. I do not have either in Thailand, so we would be renting houses wherever we go.

We would be able to show a UK bank statement with over £100,000 in it - do you think this would be sufficient to get this type of visa and show that we are solvent?

I am happy to travel up to Hull if necessary

Any advice given would be really helpful, as would any tips about living in Thailand. I have been there many times btw, and so I think that doing it this way is going to be the right way about it.

Many thanks in advance

[scorecard]

Hi lollyk,

Yes you are going about it the right way.

Holidaying, in any country, is vastly different, in many ways, from living in a country.

'Testing' first is a good move, especially if you rent for a while a bit away from the obvious tourist haunts, e.g. perhaps living in the depths of suburbia in Bangkok for a few months, and of course there are many other locations out of the city which could be good for 'the test'.

This webboard has it's clowns but overall you'll find the members are a fairly friendly lot and happy to share comments, information and suggestions. Actually living here will no doubt prompt a lot of questions, please don't hesitate to keep posting.

I can't answer your questions about visas, however the best of luck in your 'adventure'.

Kind regards.

[lopburi3]

I believe the only requirement at Hull is an address to put on the form so would suggest you contact them. It would be the best choice for your travel reasons.

[overhere]

I'm American, age 66, recently retired to Chiang Mai over 3 months ago on an type O non immigrant visa.   The American embassy has a financial disclosure form which I gave to the Thai immigration office in CM as testimony  of my financial solvency.  The form merely asks for monthly income and one has to take an oath before the consul staff to swear that the information is correct.  You should check with the British embassy to inquire if they have a similar financial disclosure form to give to the Thai immigration office.  The current monthly income requirement is $65,000 thai baht (approximately 2,060 USD at current exchange rates) or $800,000 thai baht in a Thai bank for 3 months prior to applying for the type O visa.  A guarantee of $100,000 British pounds in your possession is certainly more than sufficient to satisfy any Thai immigration official.     Other than the financial disclosure form, I did not have to provide any other information, except my passport and a current address.  Once the type O visa is approved, you have a year's visa but are required to check in with the immigration office every 90 days to inform them where you are staying.  It's pretty much a "rubber stamp" kind of operation if you have the financial disclosure form and a current address, which could be a hotel or bed & breakfast.   It does not matter if you're moving around or not and have different addresses within a 90 day period; you just have to report to the immigration office a few days before the 90 day period expires.  If, by chance you need to leave the the country within any 90 day period, be sure to get a re-entry visa before leaving; otherwise you will have to go through the whole entry procedure again, in which you to reapply for a type O visa.    If you are going to stay in Chiang Mai, I'd recommend BaanThai Resort and Spa (check Google for info).  They have a long stay villa with a monthly rate of $15,000-20,000 thai baht (20,000 baht is approximately $655 USD at current exchange rates).  Nice place with a swimming pool, free breakfast, close to downtown CM, night bazaar, etc.  If you want to rent a car to drive while in Thailand, you should get an international driver's permit prior to coming to the country.    Google AAA for info on international driver's permits.    By all means, explore Chiang Rai and the Northeast area.  Since you've visited Thailand before, I assume you're acquainted with the beach areas.   For a splurge, check out Anantura resort in Hua Hin and Villa Royalle in Phuket.    Villa Royalle is definitely worth a week's stay.   There are many ex-pat clubs and associations in CM, just google for more info.    <div><br></div><div>Best regards</div>

[somtampet]

Hi lolly,each to their own but i wouldnt dream of living in the depths of Bangkok why do that,not good help.My advice would be to travel TO the holiday haunts first,Hua HIN,Cha Am,Chiang Mai,Udon Thani,and maybe the outskirts of Pattaya,even though i love the place,not for everybody.My suggestion would be to visit Bangkok and make an assumption about the place,but for me the worst place in Thailand but only u can decide that,i find the place very air polluted and my eyes sting like mad within an hour then a bad headache.

[moe666]

Kanchaniburi northwest of Bangkok is nice place for a visit and possible stay. Do the loop from Chiang Mai, Pai, Mae Hong Son, Mae Sairang, and Chiang Mai. If your into it there is a monastary one hour from Mae Hong Son called Wat Tam Wua where you can stay for a while it is on 1095.

Thailand is a great place to stay and travel around as I have over the years. I will be going back in Nov. for a few months.

As for Bangkok it is a great city, yes polluted but what big city isn't. There are great restrurants, and a lot to do. You could get a place to stay there in the outskirts and commute in when you feel like an adventure. Minburi is about 30 min. from city center by taxi and is a great little town.

Good luck on your adventure.

[bushwacker]

If you are planning on staying in thailand for 1 year then i would suggest that you apply for a retirement visa. It is not that hard to get and you could arrive in thailand knowing that there would be no problems for 1 year. You can report every 90 days to immigration and there is no need to leave the country. When i came over all you need was a police report, medical certificate and proof of enough money. You actually did not need to bring the money over in the first year. The money only needed to be in a thai bank account for 2 months if you were extending for the second year. So i came over thinking that i would stay but not sure. I arrived with under $10,000 US AETC. They wanted an address on the immigration application forms so I gave them the name and address of my first mansion (hotel). It was easy, quick and painless.

Hope this helps.

cheers

[lollyk]

Thanks Bushwacker, and to all who have replied.

I did think about a retirement visa, but was unwilling to put a large chunk into a Thai account at the moment due to the exchange rates. So by showing £100k in a UK account, you think they would give me a retirement visa??

My husband is not retirement age though, so would he only be given a type O visa and have to leave every 3 months anyway? If so, I would travel with him. I think the best way forward is to take a trip to Hull with all my paperwork and see what they recommend.

Anyone have further advice for me?

Thanks in advance

If you are planning on staying in thailand for 1 year then i would suggest that you apply for a retirement visa. It is not that hard to get and you could arrive in thailand knowing that there would be no problems for 1 year. You can report every 90 days to immigration and there is no need to leave the country. When i came over all you need was a police report, medical certificate and proof of enough money. You actually did not need to bring the money over in the first year. The money only needed to be in a thai bank account for 2 months if you were extending for the second year. So i came over thinking that i would stay but not sure. I arrived with under $10,000 US AETC. They wanted an address on the immigration application forms so I gave them the name and address of my first mansion (hotel). It was easy, quick and painless.

Hope this helps.

cheers

[moe666]

If you apply for a non oa visa in your home country, what many refer to as a retirement visa, you can keep the money in your home bank. But you need the police report, and health certificate, your husband should be able to piggy back on to your oa visa as a spouse, you may want to ask LopBuri about this one he is expert.

You will be spending money any way in Thailand why not drop the money into a Thai bank and when you go home you could make a little profit off exchange rate. I don't think the exchange rate is going to get better any time soon.

Get a double tourist visa will give you six months, maybe enough time to figure it out about Thailand.

Getting a O visa and then converting to a retirement extension in country is the easiest way to go and your husband can piggy back on to your retirement extension. No need for police report or health report, but you would need money in bank for 2 months which you can spend after obtaining extension.

[Sophon]

If you apply for a non oa visa in your home country, what many refer to as a retirement visa, you can keep the money in your home bank. But you need the police report, and health certificate, your husband should be able to piggy back on to your oa visa as a spouse, you may want to ask LopBuri about this one he is expert.

The spouse cannot piggy back on a Non OA Immigrant visa only on an extension made within Thailand.

If I was the OP I would go for the Hull 1 year multi entry Non Immigrant visa. It doesn't sounds like they have been travelling extensively to Thailand before, so they would probably enjoy trips to some of the neighbouring countries, who knows - maybe they decide to settle in one of those instead. If I wasn't sure I wanted to settle in Thailand I wouldn't transfer the required funds for a retirement extension to Thailand, they may decide after three or four months that Thailand is not for them. But yes, an extension is a possiblity.

Sophon