Govt approves 10 year visas for foreigners over 50

[Wilsonandson]

The rich foreigner is wanted.

[Kerryd]

Just now, brewsterbudgen said:

 

A new long-term visa option is introduced to encourage long-stay foreigners and somehow you think this shows "we are not wanted"?  Incredible!

 

Actually it was introduced because the government thinks it will help turn Thailand into the "hub of medical tourists". They think that medical tourists want to slap 3 mil into an account and not touch for a year, in exchange for a 5 year visa they probably don't need.

[DiDiChok]

Yes, it's classic all right but no nightmare.  It's everything that I love about Thailand and why I keep on coming back even though I'm unwanted.  Whatever it was that worked yesterday doesn't work today.  If you've tried to find rules to live by and found some that work, they're invalid as soon as they've worked.  I call it "Thainess" and I love it like the Thais love it.

 

Amazing Thailand, never a dull moment!

[brewsterbudgen]

1 minute ago, Wilsonandson said:

The rich foreigner is wanted.

Indeed.  Not many countries make it easy for poor people to legally immigrate to.

[retiredusn]

Sounds great too me

[Wilsonandson]

The poster who makes the most sense on this thread is Elviajero- his posts are well thought and make sense based upon past history and precedent as well as logic. He is not suggesting he is the ultimate authority but presenting the most, logical scenario. No one has to accept his opinion or mine. To the doom and gloom crowd- consider packing up; selling out and moving on. Otherwise stop the pessimism- the paranoia and the speculation of dread and doom.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
the

So you need Elviajero to make your mind up. No brain of your own?
To me I wouldn't take what anyone posts to be the whole truth. I would just use it as a guideline.
That goes for media as well.
As like many others I also have searched the internet in English and in Thai for more information. The same worded details come out.
The government has released the synopsis of Tuesday's cabinet meeting on long stay visas. The wording is unclear.
There is not one person who knows what will happen next.
The only thing to do is wait. We just have to wait. But as we wait, we should also have an exit plan ready if the sh1t hits the fan.

[anotheruser]

Just now, Wilsonandson said:

So you need Elviajero to make your mind up. No brain of your own?
To me I wouldn't take what anyone posts to be the whole truth. I would just use it as a guideline.
That goes for media as well.
As like many others I also have searched the internet in English and in Thai for more information. The same worded details come out.
The government has released the synopsis of Tuesday's cabinet meeting on long stay visas. The wording is unclear.
There is not one person who knows what will happen next.
The only thing to do is wait. We just have to wait. But as we wait, we should also have an exit plan ready if the sh1t hits the fan.

 

I don't think the visa is going to replace the usual options based on it being available onloy to a handful of nations. There is no need to over react and be brash. I made quite a few posts poking fun at this issue. There is a big difference between jumping ship and walking the plank. If you are uncertain because of this news it may be time to start making your ways towards the life boat just in case.

[Wilsonandson]

 

I don't think the visa is going to replace the usual options based on it being available onloy to a handful of nations. There is no need to over react and be brash. I made quite a few posts poking fun at this issue. There is a big difference between jumping ship and walking the plank. If you are uncertain because of this news it may be time to start making your ways towards the life boat just in case.

You see, this guy just google translated me. Or is that article rewriter software?

[Wilsonandson]

 
 
It specifically mentions people who are older and medical tourism. However how is a guy laid up in the hospital supposed to show 100,000 a month salary? Must just be the wording I assume they mean income of any kind. Otherwise the 3 mil makes sense not to be touched as a guarantee of payment should the insurance not cover it.

The wording
Hit the nail on the head!!!

[digibum]

7 hours ago, Chip Allen said:

It is not that I can't get the visa I WANT, but that I do NOT qualify because my income does not meet the 100 thousand baht level and also   because my age prevents me from getting medical  coverage at a price I can afford. I did not move here so that I could spend money I do not have. Does that answer your question? I am 66 and I cannot spend 600 dollars a month on a crap insurance policy which does not cover pre-existing conditions (cancer and brain surgery in my case). Yes, the Thais are venal and simply do not want ANY foreigners here that do not meet their definition of "quality".

 

You sir, are exactly the type of person who should not be in Thailand, IMHO.  When you proposed did you give all of your visa stipulations to your fiancee?  

 

Will you marry me . . . . assuming I can get a long-term visa and that the income and bank requirements are not too egregious, otherwise said proposal is null and void.  

 

I mean, dude, unless the only reason you're marrying her is to have someone to cook, clean, and eventually change your diapers, this sounds like a pretty flimsy excuse for calling off the wedding given that nothing is official and that there are other visa options available.  

 

When I moved back to the US and my wife had to stay behind in Thailand while her visa paperwork was processing it was a difficult period in our marriage but we did what we had to do to make it work.  That even included me flying back to Thailand just to make sure she felt like I hadn't just abandoned her.  

 

You're like, "Wait, I'm reading a bunch of rumors and misinformation on ThaiVisa?  Sorry toots, it's off.  I've already booked myself into a place in Cambodia."  

 

I hope you do move to Cambodia.  At least there it's illegal for someone your age to marry a local so you won't be ruining anybody else's life.  

 

[Wilsonandson]

This new visa looks similar to a long stay visa in Malaysia.
Check it out:-
http://www.expatgo.com/my/2012/05/03/malaysia-my-second-home-mm2h-visas/
Maybe Thailand is copying this.

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, Kerryd said:

 

Actually it was introduced because the government thinks it will help turn Thailand into the "hub of medical tourists". They think that medical tourists want to slap 3 mil into an account and not touch for a year, in exchange for a 5 year visa they probably don't need.

It sounds like they intend for this to replace O-A visas for people from the limited "rich list" nations. It's not only about medical. You bring in the money and then later you can use some of it at least to help buy a condo or something. I see why they want this crowd. The same as Malaysia but Malaysia ONLY allows the higher wealth retirees. 

 

Of course as most of us know, you never actually need an O-A visa to get retirement status in Thailand if you start with just an O and a retirement extension.

 

If this replacement goes ahead for the "rich list" nations HOPEFULLY that old system won't change even for "rich list" nationals.

 

A concern / question I have is that for the current O-A the financial levels mirror the retirement extension financial levels (and also O visa in Thailand to start this) exactly. If/when the O-A financial raises for this new visa for the "rich list" nationals subset, I think it's a reasonable question whether those "rich-list" nationals will still have the choice to use the old levels for anything  (anything being a new O visa and also retirement extensions).  Eventually, this may end up being an ENFORCEMENT matter rather than a written law matter. I can imagine the Thai consulate in Penang saying, hey, you're American, you go to the USA or back to Thailand and get an O-A and also consulates in the U.S. being the same way about issuing single O's for purpose of retirement extensions. 

Edited November 24, 2016 by Jingthing

[digibum]

4 hours ago, anotheruser said:

 

Yes, that is obviously true. This could be a expedited relocation service for those without money to Cambodia. That is what I meant, this isn't designed to bring more people into Thailand but rather to thin the herd. 

 

While I sympathize with many of the people who may be adversely impacted by the changes if they go through as they are being speculated, I don't think that thinning of the herd is such a bad thing.  

 

I can't even begin to go down the list of deadbeats and dregs of society who are only in Thailand because they can't afford to live anywhere else.  

 

There was one guy I used to run into in Bangkok who hated everything about Thailand.  He had been living there 30 years having first made his way there from Hong Kong when he heard about the women.  He loved to tell anyone who would listen about all of the bargirls he bedded in Thailand.  

 

He's held just about every job imaginable in Thailand (all illegal, never had a work permit).  Yet, I don't think this guy ever had two satang to rub together.  He was always broke.  

 

But you talk to this guy and he can't find a nice word to say about Thai people or the country.  He would literally sit there and say stuff like, "All of these Thais . . . they're liars and thieves.  Every one of 'em.  I bet they steal the ice cubes from the drinks, those stupid monkeys.  Most vile people on the face of this earth."  

 

I would be looking at the Thai staff who he obviously said this loudly enough so they could hear because he almost took a thrill in insulting Thais to their face, and say, "Hey, he said it, don't spit in my drink too.  I have nothing to do with that."  

 

And that's the kind of stuff he said before he got drunk.  He really opened up and let you know his true, even less flattering, feelings after throwing back a few.  

 

While people like him aren't the norm, they're not rare creatures you seldom run across either.  So, yeah, thinning the herd of people who only live in Thailand because financially they have no other options isn't necessarily a bad thing.  It's unfortunate that others may get caught up in the net but if someone is married and has kids, there are other visa options.  

[digibum]

1 hour ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Indeed.  Not many countries make it easy for poor people to legally immigrate to.

 

Yeah, I really don't get this line of thinking that Thailand should be the dumping ground for poor people from rich countries.  If Thailand was overrun with truly poor people from West Africa or other parts of the world they would be screaming bloody murder that Thailand was going down the drain.  But poor white people from rich countries?  Oh yeah, they should be allowed.  

[anotheruser]

2 minutes ago, digibum said:

 

Yeah, I really don't get this line of thinking that Thailand should be the dumping ground for poor people from rich countries.  If Thailand was overrun with truly poor people from West Africa or other parts of the world they would be screaming bloody murder that Thailand was going down the drain.  But poor white people from rich countries?  Oh yeah, they should be allowed.  

 

Some of them have even suggested Thailand should make a health scheme for down and out ex pats that are too risky to insure. Visas in any country are always about money. It is funny the people saying how they love it here and have so many friends. Yet if you tell them you can shell out $15,000 and get a long term visa no questions asked, no insurance, no bank account requirements their nuts seem to shrivel up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jingthing]

5 minutes ago, digibum said:

 

Yeah, I really don't get this line of thinking that Thailand should be the dumping ground for poor people from rich countries.  If Thailand was overrun with truly poor people from West Africa or other parts of the world they would be screaming bloody murder that Thailand was going down the drain.  But poor white people from rich countries?  Oh yeah, they should be allowed.  

There is no need to go there with this poor trash talk.

The current requirements, 65K baht income or 800K banked, are not "poor" by Thai standards. Not RICH either though! 

[digibum]

2 hours ago, i claudius said:

You say that ,well one of my wife's clients who was buying a house just pulled out,because of the new rules,so a Thai has already "lost" money because of this,what a farce

Sent from my ASUS_T00J using Tapatalk
 

 

You're absolutely right.  We should all start to panic.  You know, because nobody ever backs out of a home purchase unless there's ambiguity about visas.  

 

The sky is falling.  It's falling I tell you.  Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!  

 

[anotheruser]

Just now, Jingthing said:

There is no need to go there with this poor trash talk.

The current requirements, 65K baht income or 800K banked, are not "poor" by Thai standards. Not RICH either though! 

 

The main issue seems to be the health insurance requirements. You yourself have made a thread that is quite lengthy about going back to the USA and it has everything to do with where you can get medical care. 

 

Whether or not this latest visa is true or a myth Thailand is quite right to start thinking about this issue.  

[newnative]

Good grief!  Enough already! There is no 'thinning of the herd' being planned.  What total nonsense. This is just an OPTION for SOME people who qualify from SOME countries.  I can qualify but as I said earlier, I might or might not use it.  It certainly doesn't mean that I HAVE to use it.  It's an optional visa type.  Get a grip. 

[anotheruser]

9 minutes ago, digibum said:

 

You're absolutely right.  We should all start to panic.  You know, because nobody ever backs out of a home purchase unless there's ambiguity about visas.  

 

The sky is falling.  It's falling I tell you.  Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!  

 

 

lol Have to wonder just what type of home they were going to purchase if they can't afford a visa anyway. Nobody with any money or two nickels to rub together is worried about this. 

[digibum]

2 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

There is no need to go there with this poor trash talk.

The current requirements, 65K baht income or 800K banked, are not "poor" by Thai standards. Not RICH either though! 

 

I really don't understand the collective obsession by many in this thread with comparing their financial visa requirements to the earnings of Thai people.  

 

Most Thai people are POOR!!!!!!!!!!  

 

That's the whole point of having a retirement visa, to attract people who make substantially more than the locals do.  It's supposed to help pump money into the economy.   

 

Obviously that's not what is happening or not happening at the levels that the Thai government had originally hoped for so they're making adjustments to remedy it.  

[digibum]

2 minutes ago, anotheruser said:

 

lol Have to wonder just what type of home they were going to purchase if they can't afford a visa anyway. Nobody with any money or two nickels to rub together is worried about this. 

 

Actually, I don't even fault the guy for backing out.  If I were in the middle of a real estate purchase (which I would never be in Thailand in the first place - but let's pretend), I would want to see how these new regs played out first.  No harm in that.  

 

You don't think that a bunch of real estate transactions got put on hold when Trump was elected?  I mean, that's just how the real estate market works.  People are making a substantial investment and if there's even a hint of doubt, many people would rather park the cash on the sidelines and wait for more clarity.  

 

i claudius' chicken-little anecdotal evidence is just comical.  His wife loses a commission check and we should all be slitting our wrists.  I'm quite sure if his wife has been a RE agent for any amount of time she's had people back out of purchases plenty of times for far less reasons.  

[anotheruser]

3 minutes ago, digibum said:

 

Actually, I don't even fault the guy for backing out.  If I were in the middle of a real estate purchase (which I would never be in Thailand in the first place - but let's pretend), I would want to see how these new regs played out first.  No harm in that.  

 

You don't think that a bunch of real estate transactions got put on hold when Trump was elected?  I mean, that's just how the real estate market works.  People are making a substantial investment and if there's even a hint of doubt, many people would rather park the cash on the sidelines and wait for more clarity.  

 

i claudius' chicken-little anecdotal evidence is just comical.  His wife loses a commission check and we should all be slitting our wrists.  I'm quite sure if his wife has been a RE agent for any amount of time she's had people back out of purchases plenty of times for far less reasons.  

 

My point is I doubt it was a 30 million villa in Phuket.

 

As I said people with real money do not worry about these issues. They are not concerned with 90 day reporting either. If this does come to pass it might be good that people that can't afford to live abroad have to take their medicine, come to their sense and avoid putting what little they have into a country you can't really own anything anyway.

Edited November 24, 2016 by anotheruser

[digibum]

2 hours ago, i claudius said:

As I said before,forgetting the guys who live here on a very limited budget and have no family,there will be many who although not badly off could not afford the new rules nut live here with their family fairly comfortably, can you imagine them all being sent home alone? Leaving their wives and children,what an outcry,the Daily Mail would love it

Sent from my ASUS_T00J using Tapatalk
 

 

Yes, they would.  Because, you know, the western press has such a high regard for expats living in third-world countries internationally regarded for prostitution.  

 

You're living in the fantasy world if you think there's going to be any sympathy back home because some pensioner went off to Thailand to live the good life and Thailand said he didn't make enough money.  

 

Far more likely that story will read something like:

 

Paupers Who Went To Thailand To Live Like Royalty Sent Packing

 

The Daily News has learned that thousands of UK pensioners will soon be returning to the UK after the country of Thailand sent them packing.  After Thailand raised the minimum monthly income requirement for retirement visas, many now find themselves forced to return to their home soil.  

 

Harold Crumbs of Leeds found himself precisely in that situation.  Crumbs who is 66 and married to a Thai woman, 27, said "This is a travesty!  My pension was far more than what most Thais make but I guess they only want wealthy people living there."  Crumbs' youngest daughter, Samantha Crumbs, 32, said that while calling a woman five years her younger, "Mom" took a little getting used to that it's unfair that her father be separated from his wife.   

 

Thailand, a country infamous for prostitution, . . . . you get the picture.  

 

Am I hitting all of the stereotypes?  Sound like I'm being unfair?  Yeah, now imagine going back to the real world and them not seeing it as an opportunity to play off of every negative stereotype they can think of about Thailand.  They will 100% find a Harold Crumbs who is married to someone ridiculously younger than himself and paint him as the typical Brit being booted from Thailand.  It doesn't have to be the norm, they just have to find the one who makes the best story.  

 

That's what sells papers.  

 

The pervs being tossed out of Thailand angle will sell far better than the poor pensioners being mistreated angle.  The other 95% of pensioners and the rest of the public don't want to hear a sob story about someone who had the perfect life that most of them can only dream of ripped from them.  They want to read the scandalous story about a bunch of pervs getting their due.  

 

 

[digibum]

28 minutes ago, anotheruser said:

 

My point is I doubt it was a 30 million villa in Phuket.

 

As I said people with real money do not worry about these issues. They are not concerned with 90 day reporting either. If this does come to pass it might be good that people that can't afford to live abroad have to take their medicine, come to their sense and avoid putting what little they have into a country you can't really own anything anyway.

 

Agreed.  

 

The way I look at money is that money is simply something that gives you options.  Those who have no options, usually have no money.  That's why payday loans, 18% auto loans, etc exist.  Living upcountry in Thailand is like the retirement version of a payday loan.  

 

When you're living that thin, you don't have a lot of options but complaining about it is like complaining about the interest rate on a payday loan after you've spent the money.  

 

[digibum]

2 hours ago, Wilsonandson said:

The rich foreigner is wanted.

 

Rich?  You mean, like having $3,000 a month in income, rich?  

 

There is something between rich and poor.  $3,000 a month is not rich.  Thailand just doesn't want anymore poor immigrants.  Can't say that I blame them.  And hysterical coming from people who left their own country because of all of the poor immigrants (not saying that you said that, just a lot of people who are complaining cite this as a reason why they left their own country).  

 

[digibum]

5 hours ago, Spellforce said:

I may understand you if they plan to change something about the VISA O done in Bangkok... show me somewhere in the previous articles where they talked about changing this ? The worse scenario is only to "replace" the 1 year VISA O-A done abroad by a new 5 years VISA. This is the worse scenario !

 

Don't fall for it!  It's a trap.  

 

It's the stereotypical victim mentality play.  He's not even going to figure out what's going on and he's selling everything he has before he even has information.  

 

He wants people to pander to him and tell him it's all going to be okay and talk him off the ledge.  

 

 

 

[anotheruser]

1 minute ago, digibum said:

 

Agreed.  

 

The way I look at money is that money is simply something that gives you options.  Those who have no options, usually have no money.  That's why payday loans, 18% auto loans, etc exist.  Living upcountry in Thailand is like the retirement version of a payday loan.  

 

When you're living that thin, you don't have a lot of options but complaining about it is like complaining about the interest rate on a payday loan after you've spent the money.  

 

 

It seems like Thailand has learned the concept of the price of poverty. People complain but in countries like the USA the poor always, always pay more for just about anything.

 

This phenomenon is by no means unique to Thailand. Can't afford a TV go to rent-a-center. lol By the time you pay it off it makes credit cards look like a bargain.

 

Thailand is actually doing some of these people a favor by telling them to go home and keep their money. If you hear the goals and aspirations many of them have it isn't exactly inspiring. "I just want to live my life and die in Thailand."

 

At least buy some cheap insurance policy somewhere and pretend you are going to make a go of it.  

 

The glut on the market for real estate is going to be tremendous if a mass exodus is in the cards. One disadvantage towards Thai people that occurs by letting lower income foreigners here is they compete at the lower level of the property markets. 

 

I have said it could be a good time to buy in the future. The average TV member will refute this because they are thinking only of themselves. When I say it could be a good time to buy I am thinking this may be the case for Thai people.

 

Once the 'placeholders' on the deeds die or clear it real estate may actually become reasonable again for the mere mortal who happens to be Thai.

 

 

 

[digibum]

5 minutes ago, anotheruser said:

 

It seems like Thailand has learned the concept of the price of poverty. People complain but in countries like the USA the poor always, always pay more for just about anything.

 

This phenomenon is by no means unique to Thailand. Can't afford a TV go to rent-a-center. lol By the time you pay it off it makes credit cards look like a bargain.

 

Thailand is actually doing some of these people a favor by telling them to go home and keep their money. If you hear the goals and aspirations many of them have it isn't exactly inspiring. "I just want to live my life and die in Thailand."

 

At least buy some cheap insurance policy somewhere and pretend you are going to make a go of it.  

 

The glut on the market for real estate is going to be tremendous if a mass exodus is in the cards. One disadvantage towards Thai people that occurs by letting lower income foreigners here is they compete at the lower level of the property markets. 

 

I have said it could be a good time to buy in the future. The average TV member will refute this because they are thinking only of themselves. When I say it could be a good time to buy I am thinking this may be the case for Thai people.

 

Once the 'placeholders' on the deeds die or clear it real estate may actually become reasonable again for the mere mortal who happens to be Thai.

 

 

 

 

To be honest, to hear some of the people in this thread discuss their situation absolutely disgusts me.  

 

I used to live in a country (which I'll allow to remain nameless) where foreigners were only allowed to buy real estate that had been deemed by the government to be foreigner approved.  Basically they kept the low end of the market to the locals by making it off limits to foreigners.  What was available to foreigners was the upper-middle and high end of the market.  And since financing was difficult to come by, all-cash deals were the norm.  

 

And to some extent, that's what Thailand attempted to do.  They kept land off the table for foreigners and left them with the condo market.  Condos have inflated market values because that's where the people with money are competing.  Not that it worked out exactly as planned but it's been pretty good at keeping the foreigners from pricing the local Thais out of affordable housing in most areas.  

 

But foreigners figured out a way around that and began purchasing homes in the name of their wives and committing perjury by claiming that the money belongs to her and he has no claims to it.  Of course most farangs who dump $50K to buy some plot up in Issan think the land is their land, and would have never willingly given their spouse $50K to do with as she pleases, but they're willing to live a lie on paper in order to be able to afford to live in Thailand and circumvent the laws.  

 

There's been a few people who have talked about calling off marriages, dumping their spouse, etc because they can't afford to live in Thailand anymore.  Really?  F'ing really?  

 

For many of these guys, marriage is merely a retirement planning device.  They get someone to wipe their butts when they get too decrepit to do it themselves and she gets a house when he dies.  There's no emotional bond there if someone is talking about jumping ship to another country and leaving his spouse before the rules have even been published.  

 

But is it surprising that someone with that kind of thinking finds themselves at retirement age with barely a pot to piss in?  No.  It's not that Thailand doesn't want you, humanity doesn't want you.  

[digibum]

5 hours ago, jeffcool said:

Worked in Vietnam, north, not for me..... Been to Cambodia a few times a long time ago..... again not for me.....

 

With wifey being Thai, I can hardly ask her to move to the Khmer o the Vetcong....... Unless..... I change wifey..... Quite an idea.....

 

You got me thinking now..... Not necessarily joking here......

 

Wow, I guess Thailand was lucky that you chose it over all the other third-world countries you could have lived in.