Govt approves 10 year visas for foreigners over 50

[easeback1]

Famous old quote about Thailand:

 

"Thailand usually does the right thing in the end. But not before considering all other options."

 

Not so sure if it still applies though.

 

[Andrew65]

1 minute ago, easeback1 said:

Famous old quote about Thailand:

 

"Thailand usually does the right thing in the end. But not before considering all other options."

 

Not so sure if it still applies though.

 

....originally something similar to what Churchill said about America, I thought?

[digibum]

5 minutes ago, sjaak327 said:

 

Yes I agree Thailand has the right to set whatever requirements they deem fit, I have the right to criticise them for it, because I firmly believe those requirements are way over the top for the goods offered, plain and simple.

 

 

 

You're aware that Thailand doesn't have a suggestion box, aren't you?  

 

Believe all you want.  The only thing that matters is how you vote with your wallet.  If you believe this so strongly, move.  Show Thailand that this is a stupid decision and deprive them of your money.  

 

There's a saying in business, don't worry about the customers that complain, you can fix that.  Worry about the customers that don't complain.  Something like 96% of customers don't complain, ever.  But many of them quit being your customer and another good chunk of them also tell their friends which keeps them from ever becoming your customer.  

 

When Thailand pulled that, please come to Thailand but don't have too much fun, stuff I didn't write an email to the tourism authority.  I just booked a different vacation.  

 

 

[Thaidream]

Silly arguments over who has made enough money in your lives.  I don't care how much you have or made. It means nothing to anyone. If you want to live in an apartment or condo for 100K per month and waste your money go ahead. There are beautiful and spacious condos/apartments in excellent neighborhoods for 8-10K per month.  None of this is the issue. People have a right to be concerned about this Visa and the misinformation that has been spewed about it. Even if the retirement financials have increased -if you are here on a current retirement extension- you will be grandfathered at whatever financials were in effect at the time be it 200K; 500K or 800K. There are many who have already been grandfathered  All the other nonsense about who has the most money is nonsense and the speculation about Thailand not wanting us is further nonesensr.

[Andrew65]

3 minutes ago, Thaidream said:

Silly arguments over who has made enough money in your lives.  I don't care how much you have or made. It means nothing to anyone. If you want to live in an apartment or condo for 100K per month and waste your money go ahead. There are beautiful and spacious condos/apartments in excellent neighborhoods for 8-10K per month.  None of this is the issue. People have a right to be concerned about this Visa and the misinformation that has been spewed about it. Even if the retirement financials have increased -if you are here on a current retirement extension- you will be grandfathered at whatever financials were in effect at the time be it 200K; 500K or 800K. There are many who have already been grandfathered  All the other nonsense about who has the most money is nonsense and the speculation about Thailand not wanting us is further nonesensr.

Well, one of my old friends retired here in '03, I think. The retirement visa requirement wasn't 800k then, even so, he has been paying that for many years now. No concession was made retrospectively.

[sjaak327]

11 minutes ago, digibum said:

 

You're aware that Thailand doesn't have a suggestion box, aren't you?  

 

Believe all you want.  The only thing that matters is how you vote with your wallet.  If you believe this so strongly, move.  Show Thailand that this is a stupid decision and deprive them of your money.  

 

There's a saying in business, don't worry about the customers that complain, you can fix that.  Worry about the customers that don't complain.  Something like 96% of customers don't complain, ever.  But many of them quit being your customer and another good chunk of them also tell their friends which keeps them from ever becoming your customer.  

 

When Thailand pulled that, please come to Thailand but don't have too much fun, stuff I didn't write an email to the tourism authority.  I just booked a different vacation.  

 

 

I don't need to move :) I am not in Thailand ATM, and not even considering being there for longer than the odd month the ways things are going...

 

This is a discussion forum, where differences of opinion are normal, I don't care about Thailand not having a suggestion box, surely I have as much right to disagree with this as you have to agree. I already know that if they go ahead with this, AND abolish the current requirements, Thailand is going to loose out. It doesn't take a genius to see that from a mile away.

 

[elviajero]

It's amazing that so many people automatically see changes proposed by the government as negative or anti foreigner.

 

Long term expats, especially in Chiang Mai, have been lobbying for a longer term options. It appears that the government have listened and have come up with an option.

 

It is clear that this announcement has no impact on the thousands that apply for yearly extensions of stay and show 800K in the bank or 65K income.

[Peterw42]

7 minutes ago, Chopperboy said:

For a start VAT is 7% not 10% and has been for years. Teachers are poorly paid so don't represent the average middle class income under which the tax is up to 30%. So answer me again, why should a Thai person or corporation pay tax so you can live here for free?

Maybe google "thailand vat rate 2016"

Rates – The standard VAT rate is 10%, athough the rate is reduced to 7% until 30 September 2016.

 

The 30% tax rate kicks in at 2,000,000 a year, I dont think thats middle income.

 

Retiree's literally spend their life savings here. Even someone doing on the cheap would spend 20k U.S. a year, The average spend is probably 50k. Where do you think that money goes, it goes into Thai peoples pockets. Retirees pay rent, buy cars, eat in resturants, buy groceries. But thats not contributing ?

 

Expats pay most of the same taxes and duties etc, Income tax is a small part of the Thai tax base. If a corporation is paying tax, expats are probably buying their goods and services.

 

 

[cheeryble]

21 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

 

For a Thai on average wages, VAT is higher than incometax, the thresholds are quiet high. A teacher on 300,000 a year pays 5% income tax and 10% VAT. 

 

Strictly the teacher is paying a lot less than 5% as he gets a tax free allowance of 150,000 plus 30,000 plus allowances for life insurance, social, looking after children, mum etc etc.......probably less than 1% in the end.

But your point is of course right......by far the most taxation is indirect.

[JLCrab]

7 minutes ago, Andrew65 said:

Well, one of my old friends retired here in '03, I think. The retirement visa requirement wasn't 800k then, even so, he has been paying that for many years now. No concession was made retrospectively.

When the rules changed in 2008 he would have needed to have been on retirement since 1998 to have qualified for the 'grandfathering' according to Police Order 777/2551

[Thaidream]

The police order specifically states that people who had a retirement extension were grandfathered at the financials requirement in effect a their first extension unless they broke their consecutive extensions. In other words if the financials were originally 200K per year and you qualified that year but the next year you did not extend on time and had to start over- the financials were whatever the new requirements were. I know many people who have been grandfathered- Don't believe me =look up the current police order- it is posted on TV.

[tropo]

I'm sorry, I can't read through 45 pages and over 1000 posts - I gave up after page 6.

 

Has there been any clarification about whether the current system will remain or will it be replaced by this new system?

[Moonmoon]

31 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

By then, it might be 10 million needed. 

Please no, I will be eligible for this visa in 15 years time

and Thailand will be corruption free in 20 years time.

 

Wow what a good future I will be heading into! 

[Andrew65]

3 minutes ago, JLCrab said:

When the rules changed in 2008 he would have needed to have been on retirement since 1998 to have qualified for the 'grandfathering' according to Police Order 777/2551

OK, thanks, I wasn't aware of that.

[Mister Fixit]

On 11/22/2016 at 7:08 PM, LivinLOS said:

 

 

Well the good news is the UK is now cheap as chips.. Spent my summer months there and its a good bit cheaper than here for my lifestyle. 

 

That's all very well, but the OP was talking about people from the UK who  live HERE, not in the UK.  Or had you forgotten in your rush to show off how rich you think you are?

Edited November 23, 2016 by Mister Fixit

[oldlakey]

8 minutes ago, tropo said:

I'm sorry, I can't read through 45 pages and over 1000 posts - I gave up after page 6.

 

Has there been any clarification about whether the current system will remain or will it be replaced by this new system?

Well that depends   555555555

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

6 minutes ago, tropo said:

I'm sorry, I can't read through 45 pages and over 1000 posts - I gave up after page 6.

 

Has there been any clarification about whether the current system will remain or will it be replaced by this new system?

 

Well, I begged off at about thread page 30. And by that time, there had been no reliable clarification on one side or the other from any official source.

 

However, the direct translations of the original Thai news reports on the supposed 10-year visa program (as opposed to the Khaosod English and BKK Post versions) included details that would seem to suggest the current 1-year extensions of stay would not be directly impacted.

 

I took my finger on the panic button early this morning after some hours of reading. But I'm still waiting to see just what's going to officially emerge from this.

 

 

 

[boomerangutang]

10 minutes ago, elviajero said:

It's amazing that so many people automatically see changes proposed by the government as negative or anti foreigner.

Long term expats, especially in Chiang Mai, have been lobbying for a longer term options. It appears that the government have listened and have come up with an option.

It is clear that this announcement has no impact on the thousands that apply for yearly extensions of stay and show 800K in the bank or 65K income.

 

Your closing sentence says, "It is clear......."

 

Some of us on this fast-paced many paged thread have been wondering if that is indeed the case:

 

Will the current 1 year type-O non-Imm (retirement) visa still be issued?    

 

Can someone state for sure;   Is it 'yes' ?  Is it 'no' ?  or is it 'we don't yet know' ?

[elviajero]

2 hours ago, Chip Allen said:

A good many of us  DO understand the difference between a visa and an extension of stay. My situation is further complicated by the fact that I am planning to marry a woman from Bangkok who has a very good job with NGG and two daughters living in the area. My plans will be totally derailed if I have to move to Cambodia. My income will not slide up to 100 thousand baht merely because that is the new standard. I am 66 and had planned to stay here until they burn my bones. Obviously, some have other resources or the advantage of youth. I don't. Thus far, the only comments seem to be something along the lines of "you should have planned more carefully and put away more money".   I put away what I could AFFORD to put away. Not all of us are born with a silver spoon in their mouths and making huge salaries. That's why many of us retired in Thailand. Affordability is key.

There is nothing in this announcement that should affect your plans or give you any concern.

 

As you are over 50 you can get a Non 'O' visa and apply for a 1 year extension of stay that only needs 800K in the bank, 65K income, or a combination of the two. Once you are married you you can get the same extension with 400K in the bank or 40K income.

 

The government have proposed a new visa and the reason the bank deposit/income requirements have been increased is to cover the increased time in the country without having to re-prove money in the bank/income.

 

This is a new visa that targets a certain group that want a longer term option. You don't have to take up that option.

 

[Andrew65]

2 minutes ago, elviajero said:

There is nothing in this announcement that should affect your plans or give you any concern.

 

As you are over 50 you can get a Non 'O' visa and apply for a 1 year extension of stay that only needs 800K in the bank, 65K income, or a combination of the two. Once you are married you you can get the same extension with 400K in the bank or 40K income.

 

The government have proposed a new visa and the reason the bank deposit/income requirements have been increased is to cover the increased time in the country without having to re-prove money in the bank/income.

 

This is a new visa that targets a certain group that want a longer term option. You don't have to take up that option.

 

From the BP:

 

"The cabinet on Tuesday extended to 10 years from one the long-stay visa for foreigners aged 50 or more ............."

 

That sounds a bit ambiguous/not yet clear to me.

 

Looks like we''ll just have to wait for clarification.

[elviajero]

2 minutes ago, boomerangutang said:

 

Your closing sentence says, "It is clear......."

 

Some of us on this fast-paced many paged thread have been wondering if that is indeed the case:

 

Will the current 1 year type-O non-Imm (retirement) visa still be issued?    

 

Can someone state for sure;   Is it 'yes' ?  Is it 'no' ?  or is it 'we don't yet know' ?

All they have done is announced a new visa.

 

They have not announced any changes to the 1 year extension of stay that many expats get from immigration that is often, wrongly, called a 1 year retirement visa.

 

So as it stands you should be assured that no change to extensions of stay based on retirement (over 50) have been, proposed or announced.

[elviajero]

1 minute ago, Andrew65 said:

From the BP:

 

"The cabinet on Tuesday extended to 10 years from one the long-stay visa for foreigners aged 50 or more ............."

 

That sounds a bit ambiguous/not yet clear to me.

 

Looks like we''ll just have to wait for clarification.

The only 1 year (long stay) visa available to over 50's is the Non Immigrant 'O-A' visa.

 

If you read the translation of the original announcement made in Thai (look back through this thread) it is clear that the new visa is an addition/change to the 1 year Non 'O-A' visa and is nothing to do with 1 year extensions of stay that are often referred to a 1 year retirement visas.

 

 

[bangon04]

The guy in the OP photo is really "Living the Dream" in Thailand.....

[connda]

So the way I read this is that the new 'Retirement Visa' will require tying up $86,000 US (at present exchange rates) and the 1 year Retirement Visa requiring $23,000 US (at present exchange rates) will be phased out.  Goodbye farang.  Not rich = 'bad guys'.  Bad guys are out!  See ya!.

[Mister Fixit]

On 11/22/2016 at 7:27 PM, BarnicaleBob said:

For me, the 100,000 baht income or 3 million in the bank is ok, but the $10,000.00 health insurance may be out of the question as I have been turned down by every company I've applied to.   I wonder if they would settle for $10,000.00 in a Thai bank if one could not get insurance?

 

 I doubt it.  They might settle for the approximately 350,000 baht level of cover per annum it provides though - so that would be 350,000 x 5 years = 1.75 million on top of the 3 million baht needed before you apply if you asked them very nicely.  

 

I think you'd be on a loser there, along with anyone else who tried that one on.

[Naam]

1 hour ago, Chopperboy said:

Some of us have paid taxes here for years, while watching retirees live tax free and enjoy exactly the same benefits as people who contribute to the Kingdom.

what benefits pray tell

[Andrew65]

7 minutes ago, Naam said:

what benefits pray tell

This happens in our own countries, those people even get free houses & 100's of pounds a week, .

 

Another thing, I've spent a few years on a retirement visa but are not yet retired. In the last twenty years i've brought several hundred thousand dollars into Thailand and never received any state provided benefits of any kind. I have no children and provide for my own healthcare. I think Thailand could do with lots more like me. I'm 51 and need to work another 10 years or so, that would be even more money flowing into Thailand, where I would be totally self-sustaining, as I've always been.

[newnative]

Totally agree with i claudius.  In this age of social media there's no way the government is  going to boot out thousands of farangs from some countries while at the same time allowing farangs from select other countries to stay.  As i claudius said, imagine all the weepy news stories.  And all the heart-tugging videos that would be posted--and reposted.  Not really the way to raise your image in the world.  And, yes, the government DOES care what the world thinks--look what happened when Bill Gates made a harmless offhand joke about the overhead wires in Bangkok.  Suddenly, it's time to bury those darn wires!

[Johnniey]

10 minutes ago, Andrew65 said:

This happens in our own countries, those people even get free houses & 100's of pounds a week, .

 

Another thing, I've spent a few years on a retirement visa but are not yet retired. In the last twenty years i've brought several hundred thousand dollars into Thailand and never received any state provided benefits of any kind. I have no children and provide for my own healthcare. I think Thailand could do with lots more like me. I'm 51 and need to work another 10 years or so, that would be even more money flowing into Thailand, where I would be totally self-sustaining, as I've always been.

Don't you have to be 50 to get a retirement visa?

[Jingthing]

 
You're aware that Thailand doesn't have a suggestion box, aren't you?  
 
Believe all you want.  The only thing that matters is how you vote with your wallet.  If you believe this so strongly, move.  Show Thailand that this is a stupid decision and deprive them of your money.  
 
There's a saying in business, don't worry about the customers that complain, you can fix that.  Worry about the customers that don't complain.  Something like 96% of customers don't complain, ever.  But many of them quit being your customer and another good chunk of them also tell their friends which keeps them from ever becoming your customer.  
 
When Thailand pulled that, please come to Thailand but don't have too much fun, stuff I didn't write an email to the tourism authority.  I just booked a different vacation.  
 
 

Easy to say. I'm heavily invested here so difficult to split.

Did you think I think there is a suggestion box?