Falling Pound Affecting UK Ex-Pats

[whatproblem]

4 hours ago, ajarngreg said:

I hope the Brexit will have some more negative impacts. 

Prater 

[Sparkles]

1 hour ago, Suradit69 said:

"Rich guys in Poor guys out"

 

Surely most people saw the writing on the wall and topped their Thai bank accounts up to cover the Baht 800,000 bank balance requirement. You have to laugh at the people who purposely live month to month because they don't think it's safe to keep money in a Thai bank or because they're earning a couple percent more by keeping their money in a bank in Old Blighty or one of the shaky European banks.

 

In any event, I'm pretty sure most of us spend more than Baht 65,000 a month without being labelled "rich."  That's only about GBP 1500 a month or £18,000 a year.  If you can't muster that maybe you should return to the embrace of the nanny state. You could get on the waiting list for a council flat.

"Most of us spend 65,000 baht month" Well not me for one I don't have that luxury. Maybe you should factor in that the over 70's ,me included ,dont/can't get health insurance cover and cant return to our home country to get medical care even we paid a life time of tax. With a serious illnes you can burn up a few 100,000's of baht in no time at all.

"Go back to where you came from"     ......love your compassion.

[Thaidream]

As an American, I feel bad for any Brit that has to suffer under a pound decline. The strange thing is that the UK economy is solid and in better shape than the rest of  Europe which is swamped by immigrants. The pound has always been the currency of choice along with the dollar.  I am rather surprised the Bank of England does not raise interest rates to support the Pound just as the American Federal Bank will do shortly. I doubt the Thais will raise the 800K requirement at this point but if they do they should 'grandfather' everyone in at the 800K rate.

I fear the US  Presidential election. Should Trump win the US dollar will suffer a huge decline and we Americans will be in the same boat. No reason for anyone to gloat about another person's discomfort. Here's hoping for better times ahead for everyone.

[dave2]

8 minutes ago, sanemax said:

I have lost 20 % of my income recently .

 

 i know from the day i first got my pension in may 14

 

that ive lost over 7000 baht a month to the payment that

dropped in my bangkok bank in chiang mai  this morning :)

 

i can cover the loss no problem but its not going to be

so easy for some people !

 

dave2

[chiang mai]

6 minutes ago, Thaidream said:

As an American, I feel bad for any Brit that has to suffer under a pound decline. The strange thing is that the UK economy is solid and in better shape than the rest of  Europe which is swamped by immigrants. The pound has always been the currency of choice along with the dollar.  I am rather surprised the Bank of England does not raise interest rates to support the Pound just as the American Federal Bank will do shortly. I doubt the Thais will raise the 800K requirement at this point but if they do they should 'grandfather' everyone in at the 800K rate.

I fear the US  Presidential election. Should Trump win the US dollar will suffer a huge decline and we Americans will be in the same boat. No reason for anyone to gloat about another person's discomfort. Here's hoping for better times ahead for everyone.

 

Raising interest rates would be hugely dangerous, exports would suffer, already seriously strained consumer debt levels would be squeezed further, the current national debt (already seriously high) would become more expensive to service,  mortgage holders would start falling out of their debt laden trees and that means the banking mortgage loan books would suffer even more, and so on and so on.

[masuk]

2 hours ago, Suradit69 said:

"Rich guys in Poor guys out"

 

Surely most people saw the writing on the wall and topped their Thai bank accounts up to cover the Baht 800,000 bank balance requirement. You have to laugh at the people who purposely live month to month because they don't think it's safe to keep money in a Thai bank or because they're earning a couple percent more by keeping their money in a bank in Old Blighty or one of the shaky European banks.

 

In any event, I'm pretty sure most of us spend more than Baht 65,000 a month without being labelled "rich."  That's only about GBP 1500 a month or £18,000 a year.  If you can't muster that maybe you should return to the embrace of the nanny state. You could get on the waiting list for a council flat.

let's hope someone comes up with a reasonable health insurance premium for retirees, if this govt plans to copy the Malays and enforce compulsory insurance.

[chiang mai]

2 minutes ago, masuk said:

let's hope someone comes up with a reasonable health insurance premium for retirees, if this govt plans to copy the Malays and enforce compulsory insurance.

 

I hope but I'm not holding my breath, not the least of the problems with the idea of expat government health insurance is the fact that doctors at government hospitals don't like to deal with English speaking patients because they themselves are rarely proficient. This contrasts sharply with private hospitals where doctors are typically fluent in English, any government insurance however would be unlikely to include private treatment, I think.

[Naam]

36 minutes ago, Thaidream said:

As an American, I feel bad for any Brit that has to suffer under a pound decline. The strange thing is that the UK economy is solid and in better shape than the rest of  Europe which is swamped by immigrants. The pound has always been the currency of choice along with the dollar.

[lostinisaan]

Maybe I have The solution.

 

         What if Great Britain pays into the Clinton Funds? Problem solved and the Pound will get back to normal.

 

         Sorry,. but wasn't it clear that getting out of the European Community will have some negative impacts?

 

           And if there're too many problems from Britain now on other countries' shoulders, it's okay if the currency goes down more. 

 

                 Britain's decision is causing a lot of problems for many other countries, especially for Sweden Denmark and Finland.

   

          And the problems are already so huge that nobody can really foresee what will happen in the near future.

 

Germany is again screwed and has to pay more and more and more. How can that not affect the Pound? 

 

           

            

Edited October 7, 2016 by lostinisaan

[lostinisaan]

33 minutes ago, Naam said:

 

 + 1  That's why Brits prefer to drive German cars.......

[lostinisaan]

41 minutes ago, chiang mai said:

 

I hope but I'm not holding my breath, not the least of the problems with the idea of expat government health insurance is the fact that doctors at government hospitals don't like to deal with English speaking patients because they themselves are rarely proficient. This contrasts sharply with private hospitals where doctors are typically fluent in English, any government insurance however would be unlikely to include private treatment, I think.

 

 

Arrai wa? I prefer a superb a doctor who can't speak a word of English to one who's fluent in making promises in English, but doesn't know how to hold a scalpel. 

[MaxiMaxi]

2 hours ago, The Dark Lord said:

Currently diving to 43.3 oh joy!

 

dont forget those who have to also suffer from the obscene FX rates that the banks charge along with their commission for transferring your money out here.

 

sadly Europe is in the hands of the greedy money grabbing parasites ( read banks) which was one of the primary reasons why I left those shores myself. Yes the FX rate hurts us all but it does give us an opportunity to lose weight by maybe drinking one less beer or eating less . It's called tightening our belts.

 

according to the world bank or some such nonsensical bunch of clowns the pound will strengthen by early 2017 just in time to renew my visa.

 

off for a beer now!

Ha ha yes u r right...!!

€uro Is In same conditions and central bank has devaluated suddenly from 42 to 34 to grow slowly back to 38 but with big loss.

We are all In the same boat drowen by politicians controlled by bankers.....

[HullyGully]

I read yesterday that the GBP would return to the BAHT 50 level in around 2 years

 

That's what the financial pundits said

[chiang mai]

28 minutes ago, HullyGully said:

I read yesterday that the GBP would return to the BAHT 50 level in around 2 years

 

That's what the financial pundits said

 

Do you have a link for that please?

[HullyGully]

Sorry No

 

I read Telegraph, Daily Mail and Yahoo Finance, probably one of those

 

It said moving to 1.40 ish against the USD then slowly up

 

I guess the next 12/18 months will be turbulent

 

Good, if you sold up and move back, should make money on any property sold??

[Naam]

2 minutes ago, chiang mai said:

 

Do you have a link for that please?

 

Quote

31 minutes ago, HullyGully said:

I read yesterday that the GBP would return to the BAHT 50 level in around 2 years

 

That's what the financial pundits said

 

Soi Cowboy, name of the bar "The Financial Bandit".

[beavenlen]

i see that us under financed cave dwellers are in the firing line again,,,sorry i don't post on here often, but seems to me all you hi so expats down south and in cm like to think you can not live here on a state pension,, frankly i and my wife live very comfortable thank you and i am sure  many others do also,,,,,,,,,,,,,of subject if anyone can tell me the xmas new year holiday dates at savanakhet this year i would be grateful,,,,,perhaps ubonjoe may be able to oblidge thank you in advance.

[stament]

2 hours ago, sanemax said:

I have lost 20 % of my income recently .

I completely gave up drinking .

I used to spend 40 % of my income on alcohol .

I m 20 % better off and 6 kilos lighter .

And healthier and happier

Only 40% on alcohol? What on earth were you spending all the rest on????

[JB300]

"Most of us spend 65,000 baht month" Well not me for one I don't have that luxury. Maybe you should factor in that the over 70's ,me included ,dont/can't get health insurance cover and cant return to our home country to get medical care even we paid a life time of tax. With a serious illnes you can burn up a few 100,000's of baht in no time at all.

"Go back to where you came from"     ......love your compassion.

Though in-delicately put, he does raise a valid point & some Brits struggling to meet living/health care costs (possibly even before Brexit) could do worse than at least consider moving back to blighty where you can get NHS treatment from the moment you land if you can show evidence of moving back long term as opposed to Health Care tourism (e.g. Staying with family/Long term rental contract Vs a few days in a hotel... a return ticket to Thailand would probably be a bad idea).

Hopefully that wasn't (too) in-delicately put & I wouldn't wish that on anybody (especially guys with families) but reality is that there are people in that situation & I'd hope they'd head back home rather than off a balcony somewhere.

I know not everybody has the option of moving back home, feel for anybody who is in that position & hope GBP recovers soon [emoji106]

Incidentally, today's drop is being blamed on a computer algo http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37582150 so will hopefully correct itself next week.

[kanderson]

4 hours ago, Suradit69 said:

"Rich guys in Poor guys out"

 

Surely most people saw the writing on the wall and topped their Thai bank accounts up to cover the Baht 800,000 bank balance requirement. You have to laugh at the people who purposely live month to month because they don't think it's safe to keep money in a Thai bank or because they're earning a couple percent more by keeping their money in a bank in Old Blighty or one of the shaky European banks.

 

In any event, I'm pretty sure most of us spend more than Baht 65,000 a month without being labelled "rich."  That's only about GBP 1500 a month or £18,000 a year.  If you can't muster that maybe you should return to the embrace of the nanny state. You could get on the waiting list for a council flat.

 

I don't spend that much.  Sometimes I do - admitted.  I live in Issan.

[JB300]

 
I don't spend that much.  Sometimes I do - admitted.  I live in Issan.

Is that because you're already vested (have own house, transport etc..) or are you happily "Renting" below that?

[hobobo]

8 hours ago, robertthebruce said:

 

 

I am sure it might effect some Brits, but fortunately not myself......

 

Like everything else, it will bounce back in the future.....

I'm 89, so I reckon I'll manage with the few Baht is still have....

[hmficc]

I think we will see many Brits moving to Cambodia or the poorer countries in Africa.

[Deepinthailand]

Cut your cloth accordingly. Not that worried it will return and level out at about 46/47 ish. So glad I moved my pension out of the UK. 

[Dante99]

7 hours ago, Bill97 said:

No big deal if CM looses some Brits, is it?

Fewer people, regardless of where they came from, would probably make CM a more pleasant place.  

[evenstevens]

10 minutes ago, Dante99 said:

Fewer people, regardless of where they came from, would probably make CM a more pleasant place.

 

Yes

a  good start,  would be with you , first in the line

[gamini]

An expat couple, friends of mine, came here around 12 years ago and brought 500,000 gbp to retire here. They got about 74 baht to the pound. I.e. about 37 million bt.

They bought a beautiful property for about 30 million bt just south of Hua Hin and lived the next 10 years or more with the 7 million balance.   They now have sold the property for 44 million and are returning to England with the equivalent of £1 million. What it boils down to is that they doubled their money and stayed for free in Thailand 12 years living pretty well.  Incredible but entirely true

[Dante99]

22 minutes ago, evenstevens said:

 

Yes

a  good start,  would be with you , first in the line

Oh ES you make my heart flutter with your artful expressions of love.

[evenstevens]

22 minutes ago, gamini said:

An expat couple, friends of mine, came here around 12 years ago and brought 500,000 gbp to retire here. They got about 74 baht to the pound. I.e. about 37 million bt.

They bought a beautiful property for about 30 million bt just south of Hua Hin and lived the next 10 years or more with the 7 million balance.   They now have sold the property for 44 million and are returning to England with the equivalent of £1 million. What it boils down to is that they doubled their money and stayed for free in Thailand 12 years living pretty well.  Incredible but entirely true

 luv good luck storys anywhere

but my cobber, how do they get the 1 mil  quid loot, back to the old blighty??

its a Rolling Stones  sweet dreams to all my readers

 

 

[Bulldozer Dawn]

Why is every one fearful of them raising the retirement extension amount up from 800K THB.  The first thing they will do is just require everyone to show that they are SPENDING 800K per year.  That will wipe out 60-70 percent of all retired expats right there.  Especially the ones scraping by in Nakon Nowhere.

 

Don't think that it won't happen, they are already getting warmed up with the minimum of 1000THB per day for Chinese tourists. 

 

But don't fret, Cambodia now offers a 3 year multiple entry visa.