Ok, I won't debate this with you, but . . .Originally Posted by Dodger
Ok, I won't debate this with you, but . . .
I don't get it...
Brad the Impala (November 9th, 2021)
I thought I had read somewhere a few months ago that the government had set up yet another committee to review the entire issue of retirement visas. As @2lz2p points out, the present system and income amounts have basically been in place for decades. Various Immigration chiefs have tinkered with it but I do think a complete revision should take place to make retirement more simple and with just oe or two options.
Every time this topic comes up, I get the feeling there are those in government who want to encourage retirees to change over to the Thai Elite scheme. Presently this provides several options, the most popular probably being a 5 year stay for 600,000 Baht with the option to extend by a further 15 years for an additional 400,000 Baht. The scheme offers additional benefits but few are likely to be of much interest to most retirees. The problem of course is that these are non returnable fees. On the other hand, the 800,000/400,000 baht in an account route for virtually for each year cannot be touched unless you leave the country or die - as far as i understand it.
I know several retirees without pensions or social security who have joined the Elite scheme and are very happy with it. But then they know they plan to remain in the Kingdom for the rest of their lives - or are rich!
Every time this topic comes up I find myself either laughing, choking, groaning, gagging, or just getting dizzy and falling into a catatonic trance.. Not sure why this happens. Just a natural reflex I guess.
If my monthly retirement income wasn't enough to qualify for a retirement visa in Thailand, I wouldn't have retired here. Having 800,000 THB frozen in a Thai bank account is something I would never even consider. The Elite Plan is a sham. It would be a cold day in hell before I walked into Immigration and handed anyone 600,000 THB for anything.
This is Thailand. And the way I look at it, they (Immigration) will do everything in their power to get as much money from you as they can, and will use their legal discretion (legal loop holes) to do exactly that. The only way to beat them at this game is to not play the game. And the only way to not play the game is to comply with the requirements. No huge sums of money frozen in their banks. No small fortunes slid into their pockets. And no visa agents - who serve as nothing more than the conduit for the flow of funny-money into the same pockets. You either have the income necessary to live here - or you don't.
If they were to ever raise the monthly income levels in excess of what I'm bringing in without having a "grandfather" clause,, I'd move to another country.
I fully understand that some people have plenty of money in the bank, but don't have a monthly retirement income that meets the minimum requirements. For them, I guess the 800,000 THB method is something to consider, BUT, only if they're financially secure enough to be able to freeze this amount of money in their bank without incurring any financial hardships. The problems come into play (happens often) when people are not financially secure enough to do this on a continual basis and start having financial problems. To be honest, if I was in their shoes, I would not have selected Thailand as my place for retirement.
Firstly, Thailand is perfectly entitled to target only wealthy retirees.
However, to join the Elite scheme, you either need to be truly Elite and have so much money that the sum is insignificant OR for those with normal finances, it's necessary to trust the Thai government will honour the Elite scheme for the duration, without downgrading it or adding other costs.
The Elite scheme is supposed to buy residency rights for a period.
However, if I'm not mistaken there was a period in 2020 when Thai citizens were allowed to return to Thailand and Elite members were not. So that's a fail already.
Then with all the chopping and changing elsewhere, who says whey will not add other requirements for Elite visa holders ?
You're right, They can target anything they want, but actually hitting the target is a horse of a different color..
Why would a truly wealthy person want to retire in Thailand in these current conditions? I'm sure they would enjoy anchoring their private yachts along Bali Hai Pier to gaze across the polluted beach at the homeless people sleeping in front of Pattaya's five star Taco Bell...LOL
Frankly, Thailand's going to hand its hands full just trying to keep people from leaving if they don't get their acts together.
As well as keeping people from coming!
"In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king"
Once again Amazing Dodgems proves how utterly out of touch he is -
https://sydney.thaiembassy.org/en/pu...-visa-type-o-a
AseanNow just posted that 2 Thai Consulates in Australia (Melbourne and Sydney) have also revised the financial requirements for O-A Visas - increasing the financial amount similar to what the U.S/LA Consulate did.
Interesting that the only Long Stay/Retirement Visa (1 year) offered now in Australia appears to be the Non-immigrant O-A. The O type visa is shown as pertaining to Thai nationals and their spouses and is only valid for 90 day stays - similar to what the "updated LA Consulate is showing".
Is it possible that the "O' Visa will no longer be used for retirement going forward? It's starting to look that way.
(See link below)
https://sydney.thaiembassy.org/en/pu...isa-categories
What makes you think so? All of this applies to people applying for the retirement visa outside of Thailand. It has nothing to do with applying for the retirement visa within Thailand. Those who apply within Thailand and qualify get the O retirement visa. Within Thailand, the O-A visa isn't even offered.
Again, I don't know why anyone would want the O-A visa rather than the O.
The last time I said that, you responded with, "You may want to apply some caution when making these types of public statements about the O-A Visa."
Why would I want to apply caution to that type of public statement? I can't think of any reason at all. If you can, I'd like to know what there is to be cautious about.
Reply With Quote
