HappyAndRich
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Posts posted by HappyAndRich
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16 minutes ago, Thaidream said:
Look in the mirror and think.....the truth will set you free!
Do not see moderator as a title under your handle?
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16 minutes ago, thailand49 said:
Thanks for everyone times just my point of view!
Sorry I had to short it down. Next time, can you please try to make that reading like 5 times smaller by taking away all obvious repeting of the same subject?
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2 minutes ago, direction BANGKOK said:
THis kinda sucks for everyone. I do not even use the letters, but I am expecting my minivan run to the border hop will be chock full next time.
What do you use then? 800K? Welcome to the club. The few and selected.
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12 hours ago, ubonjoe said:
A post with some inflammatory unneeded comments has been removed.
Edit: And now a reply to it and another post attempting to deflect the topic.
And what was wrong with my comment? I clearly elevated two big problems with the big gathering that actually is well known to all. I was relating to real life.
After that I sincerely wished every single nationality up for the elimination of the income letter great success. I also tried my best to do it in their own style of English.
Please tell me where I broke the rules?-
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30 minutes ago, soalbundy said:
I am not attacking you, far from it, you have had a successful career and you are now enjoying the fruits of your hard work. Having said that I remember a hospice nurse saying once that people on their deathbed never regret having spent too little time in the office. Like you my father was a materialist and died a rich man with a villa and a yacht in Australia. During his second heart attack he had a near death experience, when he recovered he realized that all he had worked hard for was total crap, he spent the rest of his life in introspection and deeply regretted being saved by the paramedics, he had no more interest in his wealth anymore and despite having the best medical insurance he died with his third heart attack. At 83 he died a humble man.
You might be right about everything else, but not about me being a materialist. I of course own a flat in my home country if I ever would feel like moving back. That´s not materialistic. it´s Security and good planning. Over that I do not own one thing in Thailand. It´s all in other names, and I do not need half of it. Just secured that I have the possibilities to live a secure and decent life without any worries.
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6 hours ago, fforest1 said:
Who are you? Do you work for the ministry of justification?.....Just about every post you make is pushing a cold hard unbendable realty.... Why even bother?
Just a guy with an opinion. Almost same like you with the comment above.
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43 minutes ago, soalbundy said:
You are too young for humility, that will come later.
Say that twice to Mr McDuck.
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32 minutes ago, Thaidream said:
And you can go back to being someone who continually puts people down. You sound angry- maybe I touched a spot and when you look in the mirror you see someone who just can't stop being what you are- you might want to check the negative reactions whenever you post- oh- I know- they are all peasants. Please stop the negativity- It's not about you or me...
I have much more positive than negative seen over all. However, that is not important. The important thing is that I do not see myself at all like you are trying to put it. I see myself as a person that built my life from start with two empty hands and a lot of go and motivation. That´s why I can say it´s all possible for everyone to do.
That´s also why I today can look in the mirror and say: "Hi there handsome guy. You made it. You are actually worth this after all your hard work." After that I just feel happy to be one of those that just don´t need to go to a foreign country and complain my arse off, just for the hell of it.
I just simply look at the moon, thank the US population that Trump lost the house, take a whiskey and put on a Youtube comedy about how bad it goes for the sinking ship Sweden. Cheers!
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31 minutes ago, Thaidream said:
You obviously have no concept of how much 800K really is but it is alot in America and the UK. For someone who retired after Age 65- their income level which their pension is based upon was low. In 1971- I was making $7,000 per year and the Exchange rate on the Thai Baht was between 20-25 per Dollar. At that time 800,000 Thai Baht was $40,000. I can tell you both then and right now- not many Americans or UK citizens have that kind of money sitting in a bank-
When I was drafted into the US Army I received $90.00 per month and when I was sent to Vietnam a little over $150.00 per month. Luckily- I survived and earned University degrees and was able to obtain employment in fields which brought greater compensation.
Not everyone has the luck or the means to get an education- Even today- in some US States the minimum wage is $7.25 per hour- hardly livable so the pool of people who could even consider a trip to Thailand low and the number who could get the equivalent of 800,000 to live in Thailand is minuscule compared to the US population.
I know many people who came to Thailand throughout the years with stable incomes; worked locally or in Oil/Gas- some married; some didn't- many people invested millions in homes; cars; send children to University- ate local- sacrificed for their family. Most have the 40K per month- some have the 65K per month- some have large bank accounts- most have modest bank accounts.
Please don't tell me or others who worked our ass off for 40-50 years 800K is a measly amount and if you feel like that you must have never worked much in your life.
As i have said before- most people plan their lives the best they can but things happen- in my own life- a catastrophic illness of a family member cost over 3 million baht. In your view- I suppose I should have had 5 million Baht in the bank. I was lucky- I was able to go back to work and make it all back and more. I'm not looking for sympathy or a pat on the back. So many others can't make it back but do the best they can. A change in financial requirements for many people in Thailand who live quite nicely on their income can be traumatic.
Stop putting people down- Stop making assumptions about their life and what they should have done. Unless you lived it- you don't know the pain or the gain. Get your attitude right and you might actually be able to put forth something positive instead of your continual negativity.
No of course it was only you that was lucky to come back. Why are you even stating something that out of touch with reality? You had a goal, belief and your motivation never failed. that´s why you reached your goal and that´s why others fail to reach them. People that continuously speak about their bad luck and hardship in life and complain about small changes in rules, regulations and laws are in my opinion not material for success in life. That also mean they made a bad choice without anything to fall back on to move to another country and create a life, family and build a house. They lived in fear all the time, for what could happen with their life. That is not a great way to start a beautiful life in another country.
Back to me. You know the man that talks so much and not worked enough according to you. I am today a bit over 50 and I can guarantee that I´ve worked more and harder in my life than you ever had. I owned 3 night clubs and 4 restaurants as well as 3 pubs in my home country. Worked everyday in them from open to close and took care of the paper work at my free time.
So don´t come talk to me about work, planning and experience in life. Now you can go back to live your Thai dream. -
7 minutes ago, soalbundy said:
planning is important of course as is luck and having the right mindset when things go wrong. plan for situations that you can foresee but be humble enough to realize that life can't be planned, a heart attack, road accident, divorce can be just around the corner. Life is full of surprises for the wary and unwary, you can win the lottery or lose a fortune.
Please come up with something harder to break up in small little pieces next time. You know I said you had a hell of a bad luck last time this was up on the table. Now straight to the cold hard truth.
Heart attack and road accident you can create insurances for. Divorce is not a problem as long as you have a contract written up. You basically can´t even loose the house and land you can not really own in Thailand if something goes wrong. For that you can make a contract that the house and property should be sold in case of a separation, and the money generated from the sale should be divided into two equal pieces.
If you where married when buying land and building house, that is actually considered as something called sin somros. Definition for that is it is considered as both persons property and shall be divided in case of a divorce.Please come up with something harder to prepare for and have foresight in case of next time.
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3 minutes ago, JaiLai said:
Life is full of unpredicted events, you need to play the hand your dealt, not always possible to plan meticulously as you suggest.
So, what you are saying is that it´s not possible for people that want to resettle in a foreign country to plan for saving they not touch, that will help them to cement that goal?
For christ´s sake! How much is 800K in the western world today? This is starting to be ridiculous!
That is not what you can call planning meticulously! It´s frickin´human survival instinct!-
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22 minutes ago, Lungstib said:
Who said we are all here to retire. I came age 36 with a tour job that started in Thailand and finished in Bangkok. But when the Thais stopped foreigners from active work on tours the job ended, but by then I had married and built a house. A govt that said I couldn't work when I had a wife and 2 kids to look after is not likely to get my support is it?
Guess you didn´t think of a back up plan. That´s something you always need to protect your life, livelihood, economy and family with.
22 minutes ago, Lungstib said:But they changed the rules, causing severe hardships.
Only for the unprepared, that has not planned there life and steps carefully. Regarding the new problem with income letters, nothing has been stated definitely. Here we are all guessing what is going to happen. Like you can´t sell off everything you have in your home country, and take a wild chance that resettlement in a new country will work perfect and be flawless.
22 minutes ago, Lungstib said:But retirees with a big pension are the only ones that fit their requirements, they didn't need to say the words, its in the new rules.
There are still much more people that fit there requirements. On the other side, there is no Immigration policy in any country that fits everybody.
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1 hour ago, Lungstib said:Considering the same Thai government doesn't care a damn for most of its citizens out in the country on 10,000b a month why should they care about farangs who provide twice as much? They give us nothing, there is nothing we can take from them we cant own a business and most stringent of all they deny us jobs and then complain we have too little money. Basically they are suggesting they only want over 66 y.o.'s, people with huge pensions and with private health insurance who are stupid enough to spend 60,000b a year and then die quietly.
There are many countries in the world, where tourists are questioned to have more money then the citizens of the country. Nothing wrong with that. Also it´s different departments, and the general expat do not fancy or want to stay like thai people with 3-6 people in a single room with a fan for 2000 baht per month.
It´s up to the country to set the rules, and that is nothing that you can change or must feel the need to complain about. Different countries have different rules. The best advise there is, is to find a country that suits you.
They never suggested they only want 66 year old people with a huge pension. They only want to see a measly amount of 400K or 800K in a Thai bank account. Should not be hard at all for a person that want to retire and settle down in a new foreign country. There are many options. You have visa based on marriage, child or retirement from the age of 50. More you have the choice of investment visa or elite visa. Simple, isn´t it?-
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Does not matter what they are authorized to do for an Ozzie overseas. The important part is if they are recognized by the country that receives the signed documents.
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34 minutes ago, GeorgeCross said:life's a lot cheaper for us as we own a house (no rent), have a car and motorbike (no transport expenses), drink moderately and exercise regularly (minimal healthcare). plus my wife contributes to the household income wise as do we both (this is 2018 after all!)
living below immigrations 40K per month contribution from me?
happily and healthily.
As I already stated living below 40K baht per month is, to me, not a descent life. However, there is never anybody, not even Immigration, that says you have to use 40K or more per month. They just want to be sure that the minimum requirement is there to protect expats from not be capable to take care of their life and livelihood while residing in Thailand.
That is a good safety net both for the country and for all expats. Something that we should be happy about exists, which also prove they are concerned about our wellbeing.-
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14 minutes ago, Lungstib said:Which, thankfully is just your personal opinion. Most of the Thais in my village are not only surviving but feeling just fine on something around 10,000b a month. We run 2 m'bikes an old car, 2 houses and 4 people on 20,000b a month, have healthy and complete lives, work hard at growing some of our own fruit and veg and are the envy of many around us. I was always quite happy to come here and live the same way as the people around me, otherwise I would have stayed at 'home' in Britain. If foreigners getting into western countries had to show they earned 4 times as much as the locals that would be the end of all immigration. My wife, her family have all benefited from the involvement of a this farang in their lives and the Thai govt should at least realise that fact.
Yep, that´s right. The thai government should be happy that you made the choice to settle, get married and make children in this country and contribute with so much.
You have earned the right to be recognized.
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27 minutes ago, tgeezer said:
It is possible to live happily in Thailand spending less than the sums required by Immigration.
No, it´s not possible for everyone that wants to live a decent life that can be expected of somebody retiring in a foreign country.
27 minutes ago, tgeezer said:The conclusion that we may draw from this is that, if the sums are set in order to ensure that we don't starve then, thank you Thailand.
You do not only need money for nutrition.
27 minutes ago, tgeezer said:Is a wife going to be forced to manage on her own simply because the husband's income doesn't meet the conditions set out to implement the Immigration act?
Nothing is sure about that yet. We have to wait and see what the final decision from Immigration is going to be. If like many posters here believe right now. Then the scenario of the case is going to be like you present it. On the other hand. Wife and child, house and maybe a car on only 40K baht a month is not much of a life to live in my personal opinion.
27 minutes ago, tgeezer said:I sympatise with those who have been 'working the system' for years and having reached the safe haven of fifty years of age discovered that not much has changed but in genuine cases, there is an appeals procedure which I imagine has succeeded in many instances.
No sympathy!
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25 minutes ago, dick dasterdly said:
Do you know how many income declarations have been proven to be wrong/fraudulent by Thai Immigration?
Presumably zero (or close to zero) - you just prefer to believe that this change is a result of Immigration discovering many fraudulent applications....
We all 'get it', as your username says it all ????. You (for some obscure reason) are determined to declare that 'you're rich' and (assuming this is true....) would prefer that those without similar amounts of wealth were thrown out, as you're 'sure' (....) everyone else is unworthy.....
No, you are totally wrong. That is not what I want, and have never written.
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1 hour ago, sambum said:
"Do you think that is because all have been living with and abiding the rules?"
Probably 99% of people that use(d) the Embassy letters abide(d) by the rules - I said much earlier in one of these threads that the ones they should be concentrating on are the ones who DIDN'T use the Embassy letters - the ones that ARE using dodgy Visa agencies - they are the ones who are falsifying their income and have led TI to "make a change".
However, that is definitely my last word on the subject - further discussion is pointless, but if you really must have the last word - go ahead!
Let´s say that roughly 200000 expats live in Thailand at the moment. Let´s say that 2% make false income claims. Another 4% use dodgy visa services, which is same bad.
That results in 6 percent out of 200000, which would be 12000 expats. That´s a big problem and that´s why they are starting to put pressure and shutting down all of that. So, me and all other expats have our self to blame. Even if most of us didn´t do this personally, we are a part of the same people to Immigration and Thailand. That would make most people see the reason why.-
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1 hour ago, fforest1 said:
Well maybe they only want Happy and Rich people in Thailand...
Nope, they want people that can prove means for stay for real, not on a paper that states a number nobody have been able to check.
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25 minutes ago, sambum said:
They have had the same rules for years and we have been living and abiding by them for years
Sure, we agree to differ. But, I just have to say one more thing too.
The reason they want the embassies to guarantee, which they can´t as you say. Do you think that is because all have been living with and abiding the rules?
Probably not, and that is of course why this request that might lead to a change has been raised.
By the way, A really nice day to you as well. -
7 hours ago, sambum said:
How many times do you need to be told? We HAVE the means needed - we HAVE the 800,000 baht a year income previously covered by a letter from our Embassies, but Thai Immigration have moved the goalposts and changed the way that they apply the rules. Our circumstances have not changed, but all you can say is virtually "If you can't afford to live here you shouldn't be here"
And your reference to Tiger Woods apart from being totally off topic makes no sense whatsoever - is he thinking of retiring here? Maybe you should ask him next time you are "rubbing shoulders"!!!
You do not seem to understand what I mean and are talking about. For me the rules regarding how you show income is totally irrelevant. What I am talking about is the reckless risks so many people are taking by moving to another country without having enough saving for a rainy day. In my opinion you just can´t move to another country without having the minimum of 1M baht or equivalent in other currency.
As of now Thai immigration have not changed anything. 3 major embassies have stopped issuing income letters, due to that they now has the legal pressure to guarantee that the amount written on them are true. They can´t or will not do that. Blame your embassies, and not the Thai Immigration.Yet nothing is changed and there are no official statement of any changes or Immigration. I believe they will sort it out to the best. Otherwise it´s just to show the money for the ones who wish to stay. Can sound hard, but it´s the fact.
You have one way of looking at it, I have another. You won´t change, and I won´t change. Let´s leave it with that.-
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58 minutes ago, tropo said:
Just curious. What simple operation costs 3 million baht?... and more to the point, what is worth paying 3 million for in a Thai hospital that would assure a long and happy life post op for an elderly expat? I'd rather just say my goodbyes and give the money to my wife. Even very rich people die.
You have a heart of gold.
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28 minutes ago, sambum said:
Sarcasm? Arrogant and selfish more like! "I am doing more than great" says it all about you. Your "I'm all right Jack" attitude sums your attitude to others less fortunate than yourself completely.
Some of us have worked hard all our lives, and by looking after our families (and paying for estranged children to go through University in my case) have not been able to save your "micro" amount, knowing in our hearts that we have done the best we can, and taken our responsibilities on board, to our own financial detriment.
We manage to "get by" on our pension(s), and up until now have managed quite well (by our standards - not yours), but now that the goalposts have been moved, the last thing we want is for smart "let them eat cake" type comments from people like yourself who brag openly about their prosperity, and how clever they are by making plans for the future.
I'm going for a cup of tea now, and I'll leave you to ponder what it's like for the "poor people" over your G & T and tiffin.
And if not have the means needed, maybe retirement in a foreign country isn´t for everybody. Same like Tiger Woods can make millions on playing golf, and I don´t even know how to hold the golf club.
Expats need to organize in face of Embassies discontinuance of income verification letters
in Thai Visas, Residency, and Work Permits
Posted
Been, busy! Out all day buying clothes with Mrs.