Thailand's New 10-Year Visas Meet Mixed Reactions

[farcanell]

11 minutes ago, Torrens54 said:

The scheme was perfectly viable and was "SOLD" to Foreigners by the Legitimately elected Thai Government.

I fail to see what you're flapping your gums about? 

 

Couldnt have been that viable if it was withdrawn.... sounds like an insurance created Ponzi scheme.

[Jingthing]

2 hours ago, Jingthing said:

3000 USD per month is most likely less than the typical retirement pension check of most of the listed nations.

You make enough to retire in Australia, New Zealand, or France. 

 

Oops. I mean MORE obviously. Not less. 

[balo]

I want 60 pages here. 

 

[JetsetBkk]

26 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

2 hours ago, Jingthing said:

3000 USD per month is most likely less than the typical retirement pension check of most of the listed nations.

You make enough to retire in Australia, New Zealand, or France. 

 

Oops. I mean MORE obviously. Not less.

 

Have you seen how much you have to pay up front for Australia and New Zealand.  One of them isn't doing retirement visas any more (I think Australia) and the other wants $750,000 in the bank!! 

 

(That's what I recall from a few weeks ago.)

 

[tartempion]

On 24/11/2016 at 9:44 PM, louse1953 said:

Serious accident,stroke, heart attack,or burst intestine,like a mate just had, and you and your mate will not be getting on that plane.4 or maybe 5 years away and no Medicare either.Some of you blokes haven't thought through this at all.If it is not serious why bother going back at all.

I had a heart attack (myocardial infarct) 4th May 2000 Pattaya Memorial, to Bumrungrad 6 May and was 16 May on a Thai airways flight out of the country accompanied by a flown in cardiologist. Objective of travel insurance is to get you out of the country ASAP to reduce costs and get you into a home country hospital (where I have normal medical insurance)

Thus I continue to keep my travel insurance. Once again this travel insurance allows me 180 days travel with 14 days in country of residence before taking off again. I understand such insurance not easy to be found....

Edited November 25, 2016 by tartempion

[amykat]

On 11/24/2016 at 2:31 PM, Briggsy said:

Very unclear on the 3 million baht.

How will the government stop you withdrawing any in the first year?

Is it a special account say in a government bank?

How can it be shown that money has been spent in Thailand? Keep all your receipts?

So little information yet.

 

If you withdraw the money the first year ...maybe they don't renew you at year 5?

 

Yes, and how to show you spent the money where?  Especially for those of us, who have already purchased homes, cars, furniture and all large ticket items?  No way I am going to keep 10,000 little receipts.   And actually I charge most of my bills and then pay from overseas anyway.

 

And when you bring your 3 mil baht here and lock it up at a low rate, you are (in my case) giving up better income that I earn elsewhere, and locking in an exchange rate.  I like to be flexible with that.   These two things can be quite costly ..one for sure is, and one to be determined.

 

 

 

[farcanell]

2 hours ago, amykat said:

 

If you withdraw the money the first year ...maybe they don't renew you at year 5?

 

Yes, and how to show you spent the money where?  Especially for those of us, who have already purchased homes, cars, furniture and all large ticket items?  No way I am going to keep 10,000 little receipts.   And actually I charge most of my bills and then pay from overseas anyway.

 

And when you bring your 3 mil baht here and lock it up at a low rate, you are (in my case) giving up better income that I earn elsewhere, and locking in an exchange rate.  I like to be flexible with that.   These two things can be quite costly ..one for sure is, and one to be determined.

 

 

 

 

You still need to do the ninety day checks.... I expect that this would include proving money is still in a bank.

 

other proof of expense is rather hard, if not impossible, given most of Thailand is a cash based society.

 

but never fear.... I'm sure that they will follow their usual form and come up with something stupid and unworkable, then stare blankly at you when you don't grasp the obvious logic of the proposal. ???

[SaintLouisBlues]

14 hours ago, lcp0761 said:

Re: the monetary requirements, the new Thai Govt 10-year VISA requirements states the applicant earns $100K THB per month or had $3M THB in a bank.  The $100K per month is $2900 USD per month can be retirement income.  It doesn't say the applicant had to deposit the $100K THB in a Thai bank so why go the $3M THB route? 

It also doesn't say the income has to be earned in Thailand, nor that you have to be retired. If you're an offshore oil rig worker, for example, and spend all of your onshore time in Thailand then this would be the ideal visa, and your payslips would be evidence of your income. However there's too little detail to say anything definitively. I'd expect the 3 million bank deposit would be a term deposit, the same as Malaysia's scheme

[Torrens54]

On 11/26/2016 at 0:56 AM, Jingthing said:

Oops. I mean MORE obviously. Not less. 

The already miserable Australian Aged Pension is REDUCED after you are out of Australia for 13 weeks and then there is a FURTHER Reduction after 26 weeks. End result, "lucky" to get AUD$320 PER WEEK.

[TIMMOC]

I am a 54-year old American who is not willing to live in Trump's Amerika.  I've spent significant time in Thailand over four decades and know I could happily live there.  This new Visa may be the right ticket.  The financial and insurance requirements are not a problem.  How do I apply?   

[SaintLouisBlues]

1 hour ago, TIMMOC said:

I am a 54-year old American who is not willing to live in Trump's Amerika.  I've spent significant time in Thailand over four decades and know I could happily live there.  This new Visa may be the right ticket.  The financial and insurance requirements are not a problem.  How do I apply?   

You don't want to live in America with all its checks and balances because of the current president but you do want to live in a third world military dictatorship?

[kannot]

2 hours ago, TIMMOC said:

I am a 54-year old American who is not willing to live in Trump's Amerika.  I've spent significant time in Thailand over four decades and know I could happily live there.  This new Visa may be the right ticket.  The financial and insurance requirements are not a problem.  How do I apply?   

personally  id  buy  the  elite  visa for 20 years @1million  baht

[David Walden]

If you have the required funds in a Thai Bank Account its equals Aus $102,000. (Bt 3M)  If this money is presently in a retirement fund in Aus it will have been returning about 7% per year or about Aus$7,000  per year and has been capital retained .  If you take it out of your tax free retirement fund in Australia and put it in a Thai Bank account with most likely not get any interest payable or very little you will really be paying $7,000 per year in addition to your prohibitive medical insurance probably cost Aus $5/6,000 P/Y ( I'm over 70 and in good health, not available?) plus Bt 10,000 application fee.  So you are really paying about Aus $12/13,000 per year for this visa.  Not sure how many Drongos ( Aussie term for slow witted or stupid person) will sign up for this rip off.

Edited November 27, 2016 by David Walden
word left out

[David Walden]

7 hours ago, Torrens54 said:

The already miserable Australian Aged Pension is REDUCED after you are out of Australia for 13 weeks and then there is a FURTHER Reduction after 26 weeks. End result, "lucky" to get AUD$320 PER WEEK.

Its reduced after 6 weeks now.

[Deepinthailand]

It certainly won't be for me I have absolutely no intention of letting a bank sit on and gain monies from 3m bhat which I will see next to no return on. dear me I think it silly to have 400000 sitting doing nothing for an extension of stay hence I go down the non o visa route yearly now. I have little doubt some will go down this new route each to there own but certainly not for me.

[Munotlaw]

Concerning the health provision for older people who will have problems to find a health insurance company.  No problem to get an insurance certificate for "application only" from an agent. (Have inquired)

Munotlaw

[SaintLouisBlues]

1 minute ago, Munotlaw said:

Concerning the health provision for older people who will have problems to find a health insurance company.  No problem to get an insurance certificate for "application only" from an agent. (Have inquired)

Sounds like the equivalent of an embassy-certified income statement

[Peterw42]

Concerning the health provision for older people who will have problems to find a health insurance company.  No problem to get an insurance certificate for "application only" from an agent. (Have inquired)
Munotlaw

Are you saying Thai immigration will accept an application for insurance in lue of actual insurance ?

[Deepinthailand]

7 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

 

Are you saying Thai immigration will accept an application for insurance in lue of actual insurance ?

 

I would suspect agents are already looking for workarounds. It seems they want medical insurance on application. so what's to say if you pay it monthly after the first month it gets cancelled it's a five year visa so who's going to check???? Thinking about it how are they going to verify you keep the 3 m in bank???

Edited November 27, 2016 by Deepinthailand

[David Walden]

3 hours ago, David Walden said:

If you have the required funds in a Thai Bank Account its equals Aus $115,000. (Bt 3M)  If this money is presently in a retirement fund in Aus it will have been returning about 7% per year or about Aus$8,000  per year and has been capital retained .  If you take it out of your tax free retirement fund in Australia and put it in a Thai Bank account with most likely not get any interest payable or very little you will really be paying $8,000 per year in addition to your prohibitive medical insurance probably cost Aus $5/6,000 P/Y ( I'm over 70 and in good health, not available?) plus Bt 10,000 application fee.  So you are really paying about Aus $13/14,000 per year for this visa.  Not sure how many Drongos ( Aussie term for slow witted or stupid person) will sign up for this rip off.

 

[Munotlaw]

2 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

 

Are you saying Thai immigration will accept an application for insurance in lue of actual insurance ?

 

They can provide you the 'proper' document, showing you paid the yearly fee. 

MUNOTLAW 

[JLCrab]

2 hours ago, Munotlaw said:

They can provide you the 'proper' document, showing you paid the yearly fee. 

MUNOTLAW 

Maybe the 'proper' document is a policy document or card issued by the insurer itself. BTW the Washington DC Thai Embassy requires 5 business days in-person or minimum 15 days mail-in processing times for the current O-A visa application so they would have plenty of times to check the bona fides should they so desire.

[sanemax]

It seems that the insurance requirements are just for new retirement visa applications .

   But it would hardly be surprising if the authorities made it a requirement for all current retirees .

   And you can understand the reasoning behind it .

A few weeks ago, an elderly friend of mine , no money and scratching around earning a few baht for existence.

   He became sick and was taken to a public hospital , they said that he is in a serious condition and only has a few days to live and he needs an operation to extend his life .

    No one could pay the money for the operation , so the hospital filled him with morphine and let nature take its cause .

   He died a few days later , the hospital was left to foot the bill

[GinBoy2]

11 hours ago, kannot said:

personally  id  buy  the  elite  visa for 20 years @1million  baht

I know there is a lot of fixation on the medical insurance issue, but isn't it the more fundamental question that should be exercising us

Is this an 'add' or does it supplant everything that happens now?

 

If this is just another version of Thai elite, and the existing plans still run in parallel, then who cares.

 

If, and this is Thailand, the land of endless announcements which end in nothing, and it indeed does replace the existing system, well that would be a problem for many.

 

But as I have said in other threads, this has never been a place where NOT having a 'Plan B' was ever going to be a good thing.

 

I must say though, having lived through 3 coups, multiple crazy Governments, this one is the most unhinged, and the one who I actually fear may actually do something crazy.

 

So playmates; Hope for the Best, Plan for the Worst

[mania]

10 minutes ago, sanemax said:

It seems that the insurance requirements are just for new retirement visa applications .

   But it would hardly be surprising if the authorities made it a requirement for all current retirees .

   And you can understand the reasoning behind it .

A few weeks ago, an elderly friend of mine , no money and scratching around earning a few baht for existence.

   He became sick and was taken to a public hospital , they said that he is in a serious condition and only has a few days to live and he needs an operation to extend his life .

    No one could pay the money for the operation , so the hospital filled him with morphine and let nature take its cause .

   He died a few days later , the hospital was left to foot the bill

 

I think this (either health insurance or cash locked account to cover costs)

will become a requirement for all not just the new 10yr card

 

As your example shows it will get old soon enough if Thailand gets stuck with the bill often enough.

With an aging expat community it is more likely than not

[Usernames]

On 11/24/2016 at 4:41 PM, NCC1701A said:

My naive hope is that someone in the Thai government who can read English has by now after reading all of the comments here are realizing that this new idea is a horrible one.

 

Either that or they are now licking their lips in anticipation.

[GinBoy2]

1 hour ago, mania said:

 

I think this (either health insurance or cash locked account to cover costs)

will become a requirement for all not just the new 10yr card

 

As your example shows it will get old soon enough if Thailand gets stuck with the bill often enough.

With an aging expat community it is more likely than not

The health insurance I can get my head around, read enough of the Brits moaning on about health tourists 'ad nauseum' and their NHS...although I suspect I would rather be treated in a UK government hospital than a Thai government hospital.

 

But, as a 50+ retiree, who in their corn fed mind is going  to tie up ฿3M in a low interest savings account, if you're looking for income?

[rabas]

16 hours ago, TIMMOC said:

I am a 54-year old American who is not willing to live in Trump's Amerika.  I've spent significant time in Thailand over four decades and know I could happily live there.  This new Visa may be the right ticket.  The financial and insurance requirements are not a problem.  How do I apply?   

You might want to check it out first.

Thailand's current ruler is a self professed old fashioned conservative who has vowed to make Thailand great again.

[Torrens54]

15 hours ago, David Walden said:

Its reduced after 6 weeks now.

 and of course no Medical Benefits or anything else after paying maximum Income Tax etc for a lifetime of work.

Wonder if the Dole Bludgers are being looked after so well?

[anotheruser]

7 hours ago, rabas said:

You might want to check it out first.

Thailand's current ruler is a self professed old fashioned conservative who has vowed to make Thailand great again.

 

If you have any money at all this latest rumor, shouldn't even worry you. Relax.