retirement visas

[lonelywombat]

The comment that many people have saved to an affordable retirement is a waste of space.
The huge numbers that went down, lost everything due to the Financial Crisis has to be taken into consideration.
Good businesses, profitable with good cash flows wiped out.
Those that were not bankrupted and tried to keep their businesses open, are to be congratulated.
BUT MANY WERE BURNT AND SOME STILL PAYING OFF THOSE DEBTS.
It is so smug to talk about people driving around in good cars that did not save enough for retirement.
Those who were protected are lucky, even though they still may not understand why.
There are many in Pattaya that have lost everything ,not because of not saving, but caught in the downturn.
it is fortunate that some got through without any financial penalties. Maybe they should contemplate those who did not.

[DoubleDutch]

...thanks...hope none of the MBs are lurking on this board...imagine their shock at the fact that 800k is looked at as a considerable amount...enuf to loose sleep over because it would endanger residency...pitiful...sad...

Pitiful and sad, you say, latintopxxx.

What is the amount that you consider substantial?

And a personal question, how much do you have in your bank now, cash, something you could walk in, and withdraw this afternoon? Do you have 20.000€ right now?

[francois]

What happened? Just how much meatloaf and Mont Clair have you been having, francoise??

No meat loaf but lots of Mont Clair, sglad.

[scottish-guy]

(LatintopXXX) ...how much do you have in your bank now, cash, something you could walk in, and withdraw this afternoon? Do you have 20.000€ right now?

Remember you're addressing a guy who travels to Thailand on China Southern - so he's bound to have a few thousand tucked away from saving money on flights.

[sglad]

No meat loaf but lots of Mont Clair, sglad.

Aaaah that explains your posts. You know what they say, never drink on an empty stomach.

[goji]

The comment that many people have saved to an affordable retirement is a waste of space.
The huge numbers that went down, lost everything due to the Financial Crisis has to be taken into consideration.
Good businesses, profitable with good cash flows wiped out.

Well that is a fair comment, particularly those with everything in a good business that got wiped out.
I still think they would be a minority, although a minority that deserves a little sympathy.

I suspect a more common cause of people being short of cash is blowing it all on BMWs & fine living when times are good.

Anyhow, irrespective of how compassionate we are, or how you or I would like it to be, we shouldn't be feeling any sense of ENTITLEMENT to live in Thailand. If we're not Thai nationals, we have to buy our way in.

Don't confuse how we would like the world to be, with how it actually is.

For most of us, the only place we are entitled to live for free is in our home nation. Some people are even less fortunate than this and get kicked out when their country is invaded, or some other such mishap happens.

[scottish-guy]

Unless I've missed it, nobody has been claiming any entitlement to remain in Thailand if not meeting the new rules.

What has been expressed is dismay that the rule changes have the potential to end the ability to remain for some existing ex-pats, and what those affected are looking for are ways of becoming compliant with the new rules so that they can continue to live in Thailand.

[sglad]

Also, Thailand has to set some kind of minimum income level, otherwise they might have millions of people from Bangladesh and other such places turning up and getting retirement visas. They need to make sure immigrants are solvent and will not be a burden on the Thai taxpayer.

This doesn't make sense. Why would someone from a country with a much lower GDP per capita and cost of living (Bangladesh) choose to retire in a country with a much higher GDP per capita and cost of living (Thailand)? For the same amount of capital, the Bangladeshi retiree can have a much a higher quality of life in his own country where he is a first class citizen compared to being in Thailand where South Asians have traditionally been looked down upon. Isn't that why many farang choose to retire in Thailand - because they can have a much higher quality of life than they could in their home countries with the same amount of retirement capital?

Moreover, people from the poorer Asian countries with strong kinship values tend to remain at home upon retirement where they have access to family networks and support systems.

[scottish-guy]

I'm intrigued as to how a Bangladeshi (or indeed any non-Thai) could become a significant burden on the Thai taxpayer?

There is no chance of receiving any state benefits and if you were to be hit by a truck I suspect you'd be ejected from the hospital PDQ once they discovered that (as a non-Thai) you weren't entitled to Govt funded/subsidised treatment and you personally couldn't pay or had insurance.

So what exactly is it that a destitute Bangladeshi or Englishman would likely be receiving from Thai taxpayers?

[goji]

Unless I've missed it, nobody has been claiming any entitlement to remain in Thailand if not meeting the new rules.

What has been expressed is dismay that the rule changes have the potential to end the ability to remain for some existing ex-pats, and what those affected are looking for are ways of becoming compliant with the new rules so that they can continue to live in Thailand.

If I am not mistaken, anyone who can prove they are genuinely compliant with the original 65,000 baht rule is OK.
It's just no longer OK to fake it.

As for the entitlement issue, well perhaps that's just something that I see implied in some of the posts. Rightly or wrongly.


The reality is people can retire in Thailand as long as they can comply with the financial rules of the day.

Whether they like it or not, they are most likely screwed if any of the following happen:
Thailand changes the rules
Thailand indexes the 65,000 baht with inflation and your income does not follow
The exchange rates move
For anyone dodging the rules, Thailand tightens loopholes
Or numerous other scenarios

So a little bit of risk mitigation is advised.

Finally, even if this is inconvenient, there have been bigger hardships in the history of the human race. This is not like catching the plague or being in Poland in 1939.