Moving To Thailand, Advice Sought.

[nmac1106]

Where do I start, you probably heard it all before! At 45 I'm tired of the 12-15 hour days 6 days a week ! day at home life of a long-distance truck driver based in Aberdeen, Scotland. My recent visit showed me there is a better way of life, the difficult part is how to fund it.

At 45 I'm too young (or not wealthy enough) to retire. Is £60k,(4,345,000THB) capital enough to buy/start-up business and settle in Thailand, I fear not?

The other option I can see is to work in the U.K. for 6-9 months then stay in Thailand for 3-6 months, and keep up private-pension payments untill such time I can afford to retire in Thailand. Does anyone know the situation regarding National Insurance payments under these circumstances?

From reading this forum I realise it is not a simple move to make, but a rewarding one if done right.

Any help, advice or suggestions from anyone who has or is going to do the same would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Neil

[Thaipwriter]

Where do I start, you probably heard it all before! At 45 I'm tired of the 12-15 hour days 6 days a week ! day at home life of a long-distance truck driver based in Aberdeen, Scotland. My recent visit showed me there is a better way of life, the difficult part is how to fund it.

At 45 I'm too young (or not wealthy enough) to retire. Is ฃ60k,(4,345,000THB) capital enough to buy/start-up business and settle in Thailand, I fear not?

The other option I can see is to work in the U.K. for 6-9 months then stay in Thailand for 3-6 months, and keep up private-pension payments untill such time I can afford to retire in Thailand. Does anyone know the situation regarding National Insurance payments under these circumstances?

From reading this forum I realise it is not a simple move to make, but a rewarding one if done right.

Any help, advice or suggestions from anyone who has or is going to do the same would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Neil

Hi Neil

yes 60 grand is plenty.

It all depends how you want to live in Thailand and where....

For example you can get a nice little bungalow in Isaan region for 13,000 GBP.

put the other 47,000 GBP in cahoot saving account at 5% interest.

this will give you about 15,000 baht per month income. (average Thai wage in NE Thailand is 5000 baht per month.) simple living...no mortgage no stress. 500 baht per day will feed and clothe you with beer money left over...you can dip into capital when you need to. ( these numbers ONLY apply to north east thailand)

I came her with about 60 grand GBP and i do the above. I'm 36. maybe i will have to go back to uk to work for 6 months evry couple of years...no big problem with that.

If you want to live in Phuket or Pattaya and go bonkers every night on the lash with women on either arm, your 60 grand will last 2 years tops.

Its all about lifestyle, how do you want to live?

Dont invest in business here...about 95% of people who have done so lost their money. a fool and his money are soon parted! forget about beer bars in Pattaya

Call the good folks at the Newcastle based Inland revenue office that deals with "non resident status" brits living abroad. its easy to pay NI each year and still collect the pension later whilst living here. i pay 200 quid per year to them.

welcome to the forum, you idea that living is thailand is better than UK is spot on, the path to realising you dream is a simple one but is is frought with danger if you dont educate yourself first. keep reading this forum...it is your bible for survival and will answer every question you will ever have about thailand. use the search function to research key words like "contributions" you will find all the answers...

Good Luck!

[nmac1106]

Thanks for advice and information,Thaipwriter, sometimes it all seems too good to be true! It's good to here from someone who is already doing what I'm intending to do possibly as soon as next year.

You are dead right about this forum, I have already gleaned a lot if information from here.

I'll be back in January, and will be visiting the Isaan region,yes a g/f is involved here, see how that develops, but I'll have good look aroung the area while we are there, it was my idea to go after all.

Thanks again Neil

[Firefan]

Nmac; very clever of you to come and check things out for yourself. Make the stay as long as possible and consider it a "test-retirement" - do the nos and see how it adds up.

One thing that comes to mind is that it might make more sense to rent rather than buy these days - when one adds in all the extras/maintenance/repairs Etc. it can be tough to come out better than the (safe) 5% from the high-interest account mentioned (I wish I got that on my USD account).

For most (Incl. me - but I like the city life) USD 100k is not enough to retiree to Thailand (unless other income/pension of course), but as Taipwriter pointed out; it is all a question of choices and adjusting ones lifestyle/setting priorities.

If you can continue to pay into your pension, and your pension is enuff at age 60, then the money you have now will only have to "cover the gap" untill pension sets in.

Best of luck! Cheers!

[Guest DragonStar]

... 36 - 45 and already retiring? Boy, the younger generation really knows how to take it easy, these days. One thing strikes me, you're both too young for a retirement visa - so what do you do? Monthly tourist visa runs the next 19 and 10 years?

As for not investing - don't skip that part right away. Eventual success might give more fun an a safer future. I don't know the statistics - but according to this thread 5 % succeedes. Take into considerations that about 95% of foreigners trying to establish a business around here are whimps, that gives up at the first appearence of something that looks as hard work. --- That means, if you don't belong to that 95 % kind of foreigners - you'll have 100 % chance of survival. The keyword here is 'hard work' - of course. Don't like it? - don't do it?. Go to the beach or remote country side.

[terdsak_12]

Good advise from Thaipwriter. However depending on your personality you may get bored shitless up in Issan living on 500 Baht a day.

Forget the business thing until you've been here at least 5 years and found your way around.

Rent a house, for year or two and see how you feel after a while.

Try to steer clear of your bird's family if possible.

Good luck.

[RAZZELL]

I think the £ is that strong at the moment, that the way way to go has to be a UK "work" / Thailand "live" split.

A few months in the UK of hard graft, in no matter what job, could pay for the other 9 (reasonably) sensible months.

It also has the added benfit of not burning your bridges in the UK.

Great advice is given on this forum...take notice and all the best!!!

[Guest DragonStar]

At 45 I'm too young (or not wealthy enough) to retire. Is £60k,(4,345,000THB) capital enough to buy/start-up business and settle in Thailand, I fear not?

Neil

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

... yes, it is even more than enough, - but Thailand has no safety net ...

[WhiteShiva]

At 45 I'm too young (or not wealthy enough) to retire. Is £60k,(4,345,000THB) capital enough to buy/start-up business and settle in Thailand, I fear not?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well it may work, but it is a he11 of a risk to take. IMHO. You will be able to live a life on the interest, but it is not the kind of life i'd like to experience for the rest of my life.

If you were, say 20 or 25, I'd say give it a shot - if it doesn't work out in a year or two, you can always go back to work. When you are 45, I'd be a lot more careful with my savings.

The other option I can see is to work in the U.K. for 6-9 months then stay in Thailand for 3-6 months, and keep up private-pension payments untill such time I can afford to retire in Thailand.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This option seems a lot more sensible to me.

[GuestHouse]

The problem is not how to live in Thailand right now, or in the next three of four years.

The problem is you are probably looking at another 30+ years of living, over which time you need to be able to provide for yourself, not just day to day living expenses but health care and income for when you are too old to work. Add to that the family that you will almost certainly pick up on the way and you are looking at some serious income requirements.

You say you have a private pension, that is good news and something that you need to look at continuing. Next year the pension laws change and you will be able to have more flexibility with when and how you take your private pension.

For now I'd advise you to keep building capital, work in the UK during the summers and take time in Thailand during the winters.

I really would caution against starting a business, unless as someone above says, you've had a few years experience of living in Thailand (Find out what the failure rates are before you invest your savings).

The two biggest financial problems faced by farangs setting up in Thailand are being under capitalized and failing to provide for a future income.

[iwan]

i guess there is no sure-fire, one size fits all way to survive in LOS. Each one has to find his/her own way overtime.

To me 1/2 of it lies in mixing with the right people, especially the gf. Forget abt business unless you have got a real niche, expertise, cost structure and marketing finesse, depending on what you are trying to do.

Cheers to this forum which i found awesome to start with, then cherry pick through the advice and test out what works for you.

Good luck!

[galt67]

Their are THREE major decisions anyone should THOROUGHLY consider before moving to Thailand:

1) Where are you going to live?

2) Do have enough GUARANTEED income to live on while in the Kingdom?

3) WHAT are you going to do after you're here? It can be a VERY boring without stimulation (work, etc) in your life.

[britmaveric]

Personally I think you are better off - working until you retire. Then sod off to Thailand. You'll be better off financially and remember you can always do your holidays here and it will give you time to sort things out properly then jumping with two feet into the unknown.

[nmac1106]

Thanks guys,

Some great information here and some harsh truths also.

I do worry about burning my bridges in U.K. and as DragonStar says there is no safety-net in Thailand.

About the monthly visa runs, I worry about that too, could tha Thai's change the rules and make that more difficult?

Now I need to do some serious thinking about what to do next. After all "It's up to me".

Thanks again for your input and help.

[cobra]

3)  .. WHAT are you going to do after you're here? It can be a VERY boring without stimulation (work, etc) in your life.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Exactly,

This is the wildcard that stumps many,

A life living on a bar stool will last only about as long as your liver can take it,

Think about what a realistic daily routine is going to be like, like previous posters mentioned, come over on holidays, or 30 day stints and try it on for size, knowledge is power.

[naka]

At 45 and with limited capital I would suggest you go the part time route.

Your previous experience as a truck driver will be of little value to you here

should you decide to start a company of sorts.

Rent, don't buy since you never know if you can always return on a tourist visa.

The immigration officer doesn't give a hoot that you have a house in Thailand.

Bottom line, don't come here to live full time untill you're certain you can

afford to, and will never need to go back to work.

Edited November 7, 2005 by naka

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Thanks guys,

Some great information here and some harsh truths also.

I do worry about burning my bridges in U.K. and as DragonStar says there is no safety-net in Thailand.

About the monthly visa runs, I worry about that too, could tha Thai's change the rules and make that more difficult?

Now I need to do some serious thinking about what to do next. After all "It's up to me".

Thanks again for your input and help.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Get a multiple entry Non-Immigrant from a Thai Consulate in the UK. That'll cut the visa runs to 90 days each time.

[Guest DragonStar]

... Good thinking, Neil..

Whatever you decide to do... The stupidiest thing you could do would be to do it without sending out a "probe" into this forum.

Good luck, basically you are at where I were, not so long time ago. You've got some quite good money. In my horizon, your first and prominent step should be: get sure of your gf and family. Assuming she speaks English, nit noi, and assuming you didn't meet her in some remote Isaan village - she've seen: Bright lights - Big Cities.

Most definately: you won't get a happy family life with any Thai woman, who've watched TV, for 15,000 Baht/month to cover daily expences + spouse allowance + family gifts + etc.

[Buff-horns]

my pal sold up and took 250,000 with him 10 years ago and he has got thru a large part of it . you go spend crazy in LOS thats the trouble . its too boring living in the sticks on a meagre sum of money . most farangs cant do it. then you swing to the other extreme and go girl crazy and then thats the end . beer belly and brewers droop ,its a sad way to go. but i guess aberdeen can be boring in winter too.

[barryofthailand]

Good advise is to keep working in your home country, invest your money so it grows in your home country, and then holiday three to four times a year in thailand. When you get ready to retire your nest egg will be large, and you can live good. True it's cheaper to live in Thailand, but don't be fooled. their are expenses, and unless you have the funds to live here without working, i would take my advise. You can;t make money in Thailand.

Barry