Preparing In The Us To Move To Thailand

[Thaiquila]

I am dealing with all the details of leaving the US and moving (retiring) to Thailand. For those that have done this in the last few years (otherwise, you probably don't remember or don't want to think about it), what are the things you did in preparation that turned out to be mistakes, what worked out well, and how would you do things differently?

I am mostly talking about practical, mechanical details of things to do while still in the US. For example, I just opened up another US bank account with a bank that allows wire transfers by calling them and using a preset password. I am paranoid enough to want to have two bank accounts in the US in case there is a problem with one of them. Stuff like that. What worked. What failed. What failed so bad you had to fly back to the US to fix it?

Edited July 30, 2006 by Thaiquila

[The Skipper]

"What are the expensive mistakes you made?'

(1)Bringing my wife.

(2) Shipping my things here.

[udon]

Knowing Aviador's problems getting his bank to issue and send a new ATM card from his dinky US bank needs attention by any US citizen.

[Gary A]

I have only one US bank account with Citibank. I have had no problems that could not be corrected with a phone call. I do ALL my banking via the Internet and pay my credit cards with their free bill pay service. I have a Siam Commercial bank account that I always keep a few thousand dollars in to comfortably tide me over if I would have a major problem. My credit cards are for Internet purchases or a dire emergency. I have never had a dire emergency but one never knows.

The biggest mistake I made was to ship over junk that I didn't want to part with. It was expensive and a pain in the butt. Since I made the move three times I got smarter. Fortunately I have kids in the US so I was able to get rid of all that junk and not have to drag it around with me. The last time I made the move (permanent this time) I came with what would fit in my luggage. It's not easy to part with the many small things you have accumulated but it is the best thing to do. Three large garbage bags full of clothes that I KNEW I wouldn't wear went to the Vietnam vets organization.

[OldAsiaHand]

It is important to organize and maintain a US mailing address for things like your USD credit cards, American bank accounts, and frequent flyer statements. Yes, you can deal with almost everything online, but you would be surprised how many problems you will have if your accounts do not have a US mailing address regardless.

I have someone who simply collects my mail in the US and destroys it. Bank statements, frequent flyer statements, and credit card statements are all online, so who needs any of it it? Save yourself the forwarding costs.

[Thaiquila]

It is important to organize and maintain a US mailing address for things like your USD credit cards, American bank accounts, and frequent flyer statements. Yes, you can deal with almost everything online, but you would be surprised how many problems you will have if your accounts do not have a US mailing address regardless.

I have someone who simply collects my mail in the US and destroys it. Bank statements, frequent flyer statements, and credit card statements are all online, so who needs any of it it? Save yourself the forwarding costs.

Old Asia Hand, yes indeed, I agree with you, maintaining a "faux" real US address will probably prevent alot of problems. I am probably going to even have a "faux" US phone number with a Vonage phone. Not as vital, but easier to keep in contact with friends and family. Well, actually, you do probably have to have some US phone number to put down, but you don't need one that actually rings in Thailand as a US number, but its nice.

Edited July 30, 2006 by Thaiquila

[Heng]

Ditto maintaining your US mailing address, and your home(s) stateside as well for that matter. We had actually considered selling the house stateside that we weren't living in (our main house has off-the-boat Thai relatives living in it now). For the other house, $1100 a month rent @ 25 Baht in 1995 didn't seem like a big deal.... even years later it wasn't a big deal at 39-42 either (it's $1700 now as well), but it's nice to have a little hedge just in case the local economy/currency crashes and of course to have a place to move to instantly if the entire country crashes. Another way to look at it is, heck... it pays for groceries or gas each month.

I'd say more than two bank accounts. Myself I have eight. Double redundancy and all that. It doesn't cost you anything to have the backups.

Edited July 30, 2006 by Heng

[Gary A]

I don't have a US mailing address. I have changed my bank account address to Thailand as well as my credit card addresses. When my Visa card expired they sent a new one by express mail. My bank and Visa card both have paperless statements. My stockbroker still insists on sending monthly statements and I get them at my Thailand address. The airlines send my frequent flyer statements via email. I cancelled my US address because it was a problem. My friend was afraid to throw anything away and she refused to open my mail.

It is important to organize and maintain a US mailing address for things like your USD credit cards, American bank accounts, and frequent flyer statements. Yes, you can deal with almost everything online, but you would be surprised how many problems you will have if your accounts do not have a US mailing address regardless.

I have someone who simply collects my mail in the US and destroys it. Bank statements, frequent flyer statements, and credit card statements are all online, so who needs any of it it? Save yourself the forwarding costs.

[barryofthailand]

It is important to organize and maintain a US mailing address for things like your USD credit cards, American bank accounts, and frequent flyer statements. Yes, you can deal with almost everything online, but you would be surprised how many problems you will have if your accounts do not have a US mailing address regardless.

I have someone who simply collects my mail in the US and destroys it. Bank statements, frequent flyer statements, and credit card statements are all online, so who needs any of it it? Save yourself the forwarding costs.

I moved to Thailand over three years ago from California. I do not maintain a stateside address.

I changed everything to my Thai address, and have no problems receiving credit card renewals, atm renewals etc.

I do all my banking over the internet.

What you need to do is to ask your financial instituton about transfering money, if you need any forms to fax etc.

You also might want to get a criminal background check from your local police dept. before you leave.

Barry

[barryofthailand]

Also the U.S. postal service will now forward mail to your Thai address.

Barry

[PeaceBlondie]

You may have to use your ATM card a lot, and if it breaks (as mine did, in about 17 months), it took a while to replace. So ask for new cards, with long expiration dates.

Somebody stole my newest ATM bank debit card, 16 hours after I used it the first time. Took a week to get here by EMS, but 10 minutes to cancel by long distance phone.

Bring lots of patience.

[OldAsiaHand]

It is important to organize and maintain a US mailing address for things like your USD credit cards, American bank accounts, and frequent flyer statements. Yes, you can deal with almost everything online, but you would be surprised how many problems you will have if your accounts do not have a US mailing address regardless.

I have someone who simply collects my mail in the US and destroys it. Bank statements, frequent flyer statements, and credit card statements are all online, so who needs any of it it? Save yourself the forwarding costs.

Old Asia Hand, yes indeed, I agree with you, maintaining a "faux" real US address will probably prevent alot of problems. I am probably going to even have a "faux" US phone number with a Vonage phone. Not as vital, but easier to keep in contact with friends and family. Well, actually, you do probably have to have some US phone number to put down, but you don't need one that actually rings in Thailand as a US number, but its nice.

A good point I had forgotten. Frequently you are asked to put down a telephone number to go with the faux address (I like that term) and frequently what telephone number you used is one of the security questions if you have to inquire about an account over the telephone. Having a US number to rattle off, once again, makes life easier on the whole.

An easy way to maintain a US telephone is to buy a prepaid Cingular account. A $100 purchase each year (which can be done over the net after the account is open) keeps the account going for a full 12 months and keeps your number working. If and when you are back in the US then, you stick the Cingular SIM into your Thai GSM phone and you have a local US number to use. Easily worth $100 a year.

[GuestHouse]

With the exception of moving out of the US property market too soon, I think the real expensive mistakes most people make are made in Thailand.

The classic is buying property in anyone else's name, followed in a decending order by buying anything else, cars etc, in someone else's name.

I've even read of cases where guys have put their life's savings into a bank account in someone else's name.

All these can avoided by understanding the importance of looking after your capital, many people move into retirement not yet understanding the difference between capital that will keep them and their life long ability to earn a living - For some it takes a while to sink in.

Follow the golden rule of not moving any money to Thailand that you can't afford to loose, and you'll not go wrong.

[Pakboong]

A second bank debit card is a big one. My dog chewed my wallet and destroyed my Debit card. Getting another was time consuming. Good idea to have debit cards from more than one bank. I have 2 US banks and one Thai. Keep a US residense address in a state that has no state income tax.

Don't ship your stuff. You won't need it. If you have any particular non-perishable food items that you really enjoy, it is a good idea to bring some with you.

[Ijustwannateach]

They will really try to cash in on shipping customs. If possible, have your stuff shipped to a Thai address to a Thai friend, or even a business. Little-by-little is better for purposes of being stung by customs, but all-at-once is cheaper on the whole. Especially avoid anything that looks brand-new- use it or scuff it a bit, and for god's sake don't leave it in the box with price tags on it. That won't stop certain officials, though, from trying to charge you 2000B for a box of USED clothing, as has happened to a friend of mine here.

Really, really know the visa laws and what the stamps in your passport mean. Misunderstanding the system (or allowing a Thai customs official to "misunderstand" for you!) can really cost you! (though fortunately, these are mistakes that the clever visitor will not make more than once).