31 Years Old With Passive Income Who Wish To Live In Thailand.

[F4UCorsair]

I ask the OP if there is a solid reason for Thailand? Is it possible to become a 'citizen of SE Asia' for a few years or indefinitely? It seems to me that foreigners are more welcome in some SE Asian countries than others, their $$ welcome in poor economies.

You could do a year in Thailand, six months in Laos, six months in Vietnam , etc., as visas permit. Since you don't intend buying property, moving even every six months is not a major imposition on anything but time.

Your impressions of a particular country gained as a tourist may be greatly different from what you will experience living there.

Another thing to consider is your own personality. I retired young, nothing like 31 of course, with a very good pension, and I'm approaching a move to Thailand/SE Asia with a degree of trepidation because I don't settle easily, but I am adventurous. I've lived in Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan and Fiji in the past ten years, but feel unsettled frequently. I'm also one who likes to be busy, and gardening can generally fill that need, at least for a few hours a day, and playing music for a couple as well, but there is nothing quite like boredom to kill one's enthusiasm for a place/project.

I envisage buying a traditional Thai teak house, new from here http://www.thailannahome.com/ or a couple of existing houses and having them moved, erected on leased land by a river/lake/watercourse, and establishing a magnificent garden over a couple of years. That's the project that will satisfy my desire to be busy, and one that will keep me away from the 'happy hour circuit'. It's a plan, and one must have plans. If it doesn't work for me, then I can have the teak house/s dismantled, put in containers and shipped to Australia and erect it/them in a rainforest setting with a water frontage in north Queensland. I frequently said, when working, that if you weren't planning for retirement 5-10 years prior, then you'd left it too late.

These are all points to consider.

[F4UCorsair]

I realize my post wasn't particularly helpful, or helpful at all, regarding visas and how to stay in Thailand, but I hopefully raised a few issues about which one should be thinking before making a big move such as you, and I, are contemplating.

[GreenSnapper]

I hope the people who are recommending Vietnam actually lived there. If not, let me be the one to say it: VIETNAM SUCKS. Beautiful place to visit (more interesting than Thailand), horrible place to live in. Three times more expensive and 100 times more primitive than Thailand. DONT DO IT.

I lived in Thailand for five years and have now been in Vietnam for six years. It has everything I could ever want from a country. Salary is higher than Thailand and cost of living is lower. They also understand that they can benefit from learning from westerners which is something that Thais don't seem to understand.

Not even Cambodia is 100 times more primitive than Thailand. What a stupid thing to write!

Correct! Vietnamese are clever people, quite refreshing compared to Thailand.

Even Malaysia is cheaper than Thailand in many areas these days. And they give you easily a 3 month hasslefree tourist stamp at the border. The OP may consider splitting his time between those countries if he can afford it.

Edited August 22, 2011 by GreenSnapper

[quandow]

I have been living in Jomtien for several years in a modest studio apartment in a gated community that satisfies my needs, and I spend about $500/month for ALL basics. Rent, utilities, internet, food, gas, the whole shebang. I am fortunate enough to qualify for a retirement visa that really simplified matters. When I first came to Thailand, I was 49 so I had to do the Tourist visa thing, with regular visa run nightmares. How I grew to detest those wastes of time and money. There was always at least one drunken bumbler on the bus to make our lives miserable. The biggest problem I found was that after several years of doing this, my passport was getting very full - Cambodia eats an entire page with each visit - and, as a result, Thai immigration made a mistake that I didn't understand and this negated my visa altogether! Immigration even admitted that it was their mistake but it was my fault for not catching it (!). That meant a trip back to good ol' USA where I found the Thai consulates are clamping down on visas. What used to be shoe-ins for visas are no longer accepting applications, or making it too difficult to make them cost-effective.

Others have written about Latin countries, that might be a viable option for you. I would highly recommend traveling to Dominican Republic, the Caribbean islands, then Central America. It seems you have time and finances to make other choices, and I personally would not want to go back to having anything other than my retirement visa which you are quite a ways off from getting.

Best of luck to you!

[Briggsy]

Back to the OP's question

I think you are getting overly worried about visas. On this thread, many solutions have been posted: ED visa, have a lawyer set up a business, multiple-entry O, tourist visas, etc.

A small amount of research, 1 or 2 hours or possibly days' trip to immigration or another country every 90 days and a small fee will keep you here.

I believe your real enemy is inflation. If your income is not index-linked in some way, you will begin to struggle financially at some stage.

[dotx]

I hope the people who are recommending Vietnam actually lived there. If not, let me be the one to say it: VIETNAM SUCKS. Beautiful place to visit (more interesting than Thailand), horrible place to live in. Three times more expensive and 100 times more primitive than Thailand. DONT DO IT.

I lived in Thailand for five years and have now been in Vietnam for six years. It has everything I could ever want from a country. Salary is higher than Thailand and cost of living is lower. They also understand that they can benefit from learning from westerners which is something that Thais don't seem to understand.

Not even Cambodia is 100 times more primitive than Thailand. What a stupid thing to write!

How is living in Vietnam cheaper than living in Thailand? There's no way. Where do you live? And what kind of life? Rents are three times more expensive in Vietnam for a house that's much worse. I don't get it.

Edited August 28, 2011 by dotx

[ljerams]

"Three times more expensive" doesn't actually convey the real costs or what type of property you are comparing?

I feel it would be much better to quote typical prices for similar properties (if possible) so that readers will gain a better understanding of the comparisons that are being made.

[NealeGoldingay]

After wading through the latest "Stricter Tourist Visa Thread" I happened on this one which is exactly who I am....

With the exception that I'm 16 years older, earn less and I have been in Thailand for the last 15 months...

Their are some good suggestions in this thread for people under 50 who have a residual income, some of which I thank you for and will take to heart..

"dont accumulate anything you cant afford to just leave were it is and write off" great advice!

"check out multiple places before choosing somewhere "I did this, unfortunately just in Thailand and Malaysia though..

"keep busy" Its easy to stay on holiday..

Even though many visa options do exist in Thailand non are an exact fit for the younger person living solely off passive income from the web "with little capital" even though Thailand is the perfect fit on all other levels.

Sure their are a many ways of obtaining another type of visa if your prepared to do one of the things suggested in the previous posts...

For myself non fit for one reason or another the only thing that comes close to fitting is a tourist visa, after many hours of thought I found a solution for myself and it is simpler than I thought .. and was helped by the above two suggestions.

Maintain a small presence here "one that I can drop in a moment and afford even if I'm not here for months on end" Then go off and explore all these surrounding countries at leisure returning to Thailand on a somewhat regular basis for 30 days or less each time. I seriously doubt flying in with an outbound ticket for 30 days later, the necessary cash requirements, and the hotel / accommodation requirements will pose a problem as you will then have all that is required.

I'm surprised that so many posters seemingly fairly well read and who have obviously worked hard to get some capital together and have then managed to survive off it, are so unaware of the fact that thousands upon thousands of youngsters have created inflation proof revenue streams from the web. I personally see increases of 10% a year even if I do nothing and go live on a mountain with no internet or electric or phone.. times are changing :-) The original poster is not that young at 31 I'm just old period. The average age to get to this place is about 25 years old with no need to ever work again "need" been the optimum word as most of us continue on at a leisurely pace seeing increases around 30-50% we are tourists most of the year going where we want and can afford.

[devaram]

If you are thinking of living in Thailand you should first visit a psychologist to find out if you are crazy. I have noticed that most foreigners here are crazy.

[Jingthing]

I have been living in Jomtien for several years in a modest studio apartment in a gated community that satisfies my needs, and I spend about $500/month for ALL basics. Rent, utilities, internet, food, gas, the whole shebang. I am fortunate enough to qualify for a retirement visa that really simplified matters. When I first came to Thailand, I was 49 so I had to do the Tourist visa thing, with regular visa run nightmares. How I grew to detest those wastes of time and money. There was always at least one drunken bumbler on the bus to make our lives miserable. The biggest problem I found was that after several years of doing this, my passport was getting very full - Cambodia eats an entire page with each visit - and, as a result, Thai immigration made a mistake that I didn't understand and this negated my visa altogether! Immigration even admitted that it was their mistake but it was my fault for not catching it (!). That meant a trip back to good ol' USA where I found the Thai consulates are clamping down on visas. What used to be shoe-ins for visas are no longer accepting applications, or making it too difficult to make them cost-effective.

Others have written about Latin countries, that might be a viable option for you. I would highly recommend traveling to Dominican Republic, the Caribbean islands, then Central America. It seems you have time and finances to make other choices, and I personally would not want to go back to having anything other than my retirement visa which you are quite a ways off from getting.

Best of luck to you!

If you are qualified for retirement extensions, there is no need to go to the USA.

You can even convert to an O visa on a 30 day stamp! Then do the extension as the second step.

I like your post but don't want people to get false information about retirement extensions problems that don't actually exist!

[Arkady]

After wading through the latest "Stricter Tourist Visa Thread" I happened on this one which is exactly who I am....

With the exception that I'm 16 years older, earn less and I have been in Thailand for the last 15 months...

Their are some good suggestions in this thread for people under 50 who have a residual income, some of which I thank you for and will take to heart..

"dont accumulate anything you cant afford to just leave were it is and write off" great advice!

"check out multiple places before choosing somewhere "I did this, unfortunately just in Thailand and Malaysia though..

"keep busy" Its easy to stay on holiday..

Even though many visa options do exist in Thailand non are an exact fit for the younger person living solely off passive income from the web "with little capital" even though Thailand is the perfect fit on all other levels.

Sure their are a many ways of obtaining another type of visa if your prepared to do one of the things suggested in the previous posts...

For myself non fit for one reason or another the only thing that comes close to fitting is a tourist visa, after many hours of thought I found a solution for myself and it is simpler than I thought .. and was helped by the above two suggestions.

Maintain a small presence here "one that I can drop in a moment and afford even if I'm not here for months on end" Then go off and explore all these surrounding countries at leisure returning to Thailand on a somewhat regular basis for 30 days or less each time. I seriously doubt flying in with an outbound ticket for 30 days later, the necessary cash requirements, and the hotel / accommodation requirements will pose a problem as you will then have all that is required.

I'm surprised that so many posters seemingly fairly well read and who have obviously worked hard to get some capital together and have then managed to survive off it, are so unaware of the fact that thousands upon thousands of youngsters have created inflation proof revenue streams from the web. I personally see increases of 10% a year even if I do nothing and go live on a mountain with no internet or electric or phone.. times are changing :-) The original poster is not that young at 31 I'm just old period. The average age to get to this place is about 25 years old with no need to ever work again "need" been the optimum word as most of us continue on at a leisurely pace seeing increases around 30-50% we are tourists most of the year going where we want and can afford.

Can you give us some tips about how to generate this inflation proof income from the web?

[lopburi3]

Troll post removed.

[lazygourmet]

Planning to settle in Thailand permanently at 31 with an income like that, not based on investments, doesn't seem like a viable long term strategy. It is quite likely that inflation will erode the value of this income over time and it doesn't sound like this type of income stream is sustainable indefinitely anyway. Visa rules also change over time and tend to get stricter and stricter. By the time you are 50, it is almost a certainty that the retirement visa will no longer be available on the same easy dirt cheap terms it is today. If you really want to stay here permanently, your only viable long term option is to find a job with a work permit and have a long term career in Thailand. You will have to accept that any other solution is only temporary and be prepared to move on with short notice when the time comes that Thailand no longer wants you.

Each person is different...

But the majority of us, here in Thailand, are permanently living into temporary.

Personally, I moved to South-East Asia 20 years ago and I was 25...

Being lucky that I was born on the right side of the fence, work has always been -and is still- for me only a pleasure.

And regarding retirement... we'll talk about that within the next 20 years