No Letter and no Money

[cyberfarang]

25 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

Totally agree especially regarding having adequate money for any health issues. But it would be nice of TI to give some consideration to any farangs who can prove they have spent 60-100k Bht on health insurance.

My parents always taught me to put money aside 'for a rainy day'. It is raining now for me! But I did heed my parents advice. 

I so totally agree.

 

As retirees having abided by the rules of immigration to the book for several years, the Thai government should provide some kind of reasonably priced medical insurance policies or health care schemes for over 50 year old expats. I believe the reason they are reluctant to provide this is because they believe many elderly westerners with maybe already having health issues will decide to settle in Thailand as medical refugees, to obtain cheaper health care than in their own countries. Again it`s all about money. So it`s really a catch 22 situation.

 

Another point to mention, I believe that if the Thai government did decide to provide health care schemes for resident expat retirees, that it should become a mandatory part of the retirement extension package. Good for the elderly expats knowing they have medical coverage and good for Thailand that elderly retirees won`t become a burden relying on charity for medical care. This I think is already implemented for expat retirees in Malaysia.  I would welcome this with open arms as falling seriously ill in Thailand is always a concern.

Edited December 2, 2018 by cyberfarang

[madmen]

The OP has said nothing about not planning for old age, living in dire straights or not living a life of ease. As far as we know he could have  100k a month pension and living a very nice life but can't get 800k in the bank in Thai. Maybe he does not need your pity. Think about it,

Doubt it. If he is on a 100k it would mean that he has retired well and is topping up his 40 k pension that most people seem to have
He would just need to liquidate his top up source.
I will never understand why desperates insist on SEA. Without doubt they don't have insurance either
Why not go home? Most countries offer affordable living for pensioners if you are flexible in the area you wish to retire to.
Obvious big cities and their satellites are to be avoided

[totally thaied up]

1 hour ago, cyberfarang said:

can never understand why elderly westerners would even consider retiring abroad without enough funds put by for a rainy day, living on a month to month basis and having no plan B for changing bank rates and changing immigration policies, then blame immigration and others for their predicaments.

I was forcibly retired and in my case, if not for my parents, I would have been living on the streets in Australia at 38.

 

Some of us just go where we can only stay. If my parents were dead (and not wealthy) and the fact I only get a pension of 30K a month tells me, I would be homeless in Australia. At least in Thailand, I have a wife and a life. Not all of us have a lifetime of work and choice before us due to so many reasons. 

 

A little bit of pity goes a long, long way.

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, cyberfarang said:

n answer to another poster`s comments, I am not in the least being patronising, I am saying that if expats are unable to meet immigration requirements in Thailand, that at $12000 in a Thai bank account for a married to Thai spouse visa extension is an absolute bargain, then they will be financially struggling in other countries too and will be living with no safety net if they should fall.

But it's just not true.

My UK state pension is double what most Thais earn (300bht/day).

And if I can't survive on double a locals wage, I deserve to be dead.

 

[puchooay]

9 minutes ago, madmen said:

Doubt it. If he is on a 100k it would mean that he has retired well and is topping up his 40 k pension that most people seem to have

Exactly my point. We don't know what he has.

 

 

[marqus12]

15 minutes ago, madmen said:

Why not go home? Most countries offer affordable living for pensioners if you are flexible in the area you wish to retire to.
Obvious big cities and their satellites are to be avoided

or OP..buy a ticket to manila 

make a tourist visa for philippines
take a taxi from the airport in Manila to Cebu or Angels 
hire the first willing girl you meet for a few days

to help you find a place ... easy

[cyberfarang]

9 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

But it's just not true.

My UK state pension is double what most Thais earn (300bht/day).

And if I can't survive on double a locals wage, I deserve to be dead.

 

Sorry, but you just don`t seem to get it.

 

An average UK pension is probably more than the average wage of most third world countries, so does that give British citizens on average pensions the right to stay in any third world country long term? What about the reverse, should Thais be banned from living in Britain because their average wage is lower than the UK State pension? This thread has drifted way off topic. My point to the OP is and answering his question, is that if he can`t make it in Thailand probably one of the cheapest places on Earth to live, then he`s not going to make it in other countries either. And this applies to anyone in the same situation.

 

It would seriously worry me if knowing in old age I may fall seriously ill and destitute in a foreign land without any means of paying for medical care and not being able to meet the immigration requirements. If that were my circumstances I would never dream of retiring here.

 

 

[AGareth2]

OP don't get depressed

there is always a way

[madmen]

Exactly my point. We don't know what he has.
 
 

If he had a 100k like you suggest. He could pay an agent in a heartbeat. You are not seeing the big picture here

The runners can't even afford an agent!

[puchooay]

2 minutes ago, madmen said:

If he had a 100k like you suggest. He could pay an agent in a heartbeat. You are not seeing the big picture here

The runners can't even afford an agent!

I said " as far as we know he could....". Is that a phrase you understand? It was tongue in cheek as a reference to another poster assuming the OP had no funds, no health insurance and no way to pay his way.

[madmen]

I said " as far as we know he could....". Is that a phrase you understand? It was tongue in cheek as a reference to another poster assuming the OP had no funds, no health insurance and no way to pay his way.

Oh OK it's tongue in cheek so you agree [emoji106] now that makes sense but it didn't come across as tongue in cheek.. You need to work on your delivery [emoji16]

[473geo]

50 minutes ago, madmen said:

Doubt it. If he is on a 100k it would mean that he has retired well and is topping up his 40 k pension that most people seem to have
He would just need to liquidate his top up source.
I will never understand why desperates insist on SEA. Without doubt they don't have insurance either
Why not go home? Most countries offer affordable living for pensioners if you are flexible in the area you wish to retire to.
Obvious big cities and their satellites are to be avoided

if you cannot see the difference between 'affordable living for pensioners' and the exciting rejuvenation Thailand has to offer...I wonder what you are doing here?

[madmen]

or OP..buy a ticket to manila 
make a tourist visa for philippines
take a taxi from the airport in Manila to Cebu or Angels 
hire the first willing girl you meet for a few days
to help you find a place ... easy

Is there some type of amazing deal on health insurance there ? The runners are desperate, bottom of the barrel scrapers just running around in circles

[madmen]

if you cannot see the difference between 'affordable living for pensioners' and the exciting rejuvenation Thailand has to offer...I wonder what you are doing here?

No money no honey. If you ain't got the honey what on earth would thailand offer apart from temples or spicy food?

Sounds like your in the same boat as our friend here

[marqus12]

10 minutes ago, madmen said:

Is there some type of amazing deal on health insurance there ? The runners are desperate, bottom of the barrel scrapers just running around in circles
 

of course, health insurance is necessary ... insurance

companies pay the best dividends to their shareholder...

Edited December 2, 2018 by marqus12

[473geo]

6 minutes ago, madmen said:

No money no honey. If you ain't got the honey what on earth would thailand offer apart from temples or spicy food?

Sounds like your in the same boat as our friend here

He has a boat?

Edited December 2, 2018 by 473geo

[puchooay]

1 minute ago, 473geo said:

He has a boat?

I can't confirm if he has a boat or not. What we do know, that certain posters seem to be forgetting, is that the OP has at least 40k a month income.

[madmen]

He has a boat?

With a HUUUGE hole in it.

[Moonlover]

4 hours ago, roger101 said:

I live on my pensions. I will never have enough money to place in the bank (400,000 or 800,000). So which country would you suggest I move to?

I know this probably not the right forum so would a mod move it to a more suitable one. Thanks

Roger, you haven't given us a lot of clues as to your circumstances. However as you're living here, like many of us are, on pensions, you must have been getting an income letter from the embassy. To do that your pensions must be meeting the required minimum of 40k or 65k per month.

 

If that's the case what are you worried about? You won't need to put 400k or 800k in the bank, providing you're able to prove to TI that you have the income to meet the criteria.

 

Don't be panicked by all the gloom and doom. I'm in a similar situation as you and I'm not worried at all.

Edited December 2, 2018 by Moonlover

[BritManToo]

54 minutes ago, cyberfarang said:

What about the reverse, should Thais be banned from living in Britain because their average wage is lower than the UK State pension?

Faulty logic.

The reverse would be Thais with pensions double the average Brit wage should be allowed to live in the UK.

I would have no problem with that, every other foreigner seems welcome.

[totally thaied up]

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

But it's just not true.

My UK state pension is double what most Thais earn (300bht/day).

And if I can't survive on double a locals wage, I deserve to be dead.

I get a 1000 baht a day. If my wife and I can live on that easily, a single guy with a pension similar can. Just no girls or much beer. Hell, I went for a drive for the last week and spent 350 baht a day on fuel, 500 baht on a room and 300 on food for the both of us. It was almost as cheap for me to drive around Thailand staying in Cheap Rooms for a night compared to what I spend when I am at home!

 

Really, the Philippines sucks. Only good for a few weeks at a time. Cambodia is not much better but they are more or less your options now if you cannot go home. 

 

Flip a coin - that is most likely what I would do if you do not pay an agent to stay here.

[elviajero]

4 hours ago, roger101 said:

British. Also I'm a great one for planning ahead even if it doesn't happen.

If you’re receiving state pension you could get a Multiple Entry Non-Immigrant visa from the Thai Embassy in London. That’s not ideal as you’d have to go to the UK to get it, and do border runs every 90 days.

 

I have seen a report (uncorroborated) in the past of someone getting the same ME Non ‘O’ visa from the consulate in Savannahket, Laos on the basis that they were state retirement age. That might be an option.

 

Otherwise your only option, unless immigration agree to an alternative to the embassy letter, would be to use an agent.

[Enoon]

2 minutes ago, Benroon said:

Wow - your dad must have been a very wise man to come up with that nugget - did he make it up all by himself or is it one of the most common sayings ever ?

 

"And more, much more than this
I did it Dads way"

 

 

[MRToMRT]

This would be good thread if more than 5% of posters actually answered the OPs sincere request for info

[puchooay]

9 minutes ago, elviajero said:

If you’re receiving state pension you could get a Multiple Entry Non-Immigrant visa from the Thai Embassy in London. That’s not ideal as you’d have to go to the UK to get it, and do border runs every 90 days.

 

I have seen a report (uncorroborated) in the past of someone getting the same ME Non ‘O’ visa from the consulate in Savannahket, Laos on the basis that they were state retirement age. That might be an option.

 

Otherwise your only option, unless immigration agree to an alternative to the embassy letter, would be to use an agent.

ME O visas are not available in Savannakhet based on retirement. Only married to a Thai.

[Ctkong]

3 hours ago, cyberfarang said:

I think in the whole history of Thai visa there has never been so many threads opened on the same subject, many asking the same questions over and over again, hoping to receive answers they want to hear.

 

A question for the OP: you claim not having enough funds to even raise 400000 baht ($12000) to obtain your yearly extension and I am assuming that as you are living on pension incomes you`re not a young guy. So have you planned or thought about what might happen if you get seriously ill or involved in an accident, how you would pay for your medical expenses? Are you hoping to obtain your medical fees with a Go Fund Me or from some charitable organisation? This is part of why immigration are insisting westerners have some funds put by in Thailand for such occurrences that is in your best interests to do so. 

 

As Thai immigration start tightening up and enforcing the immigration procedures more and more, many expats will be considering moving to other S.E. Asian countries. Last year I visited Vietnam and Cambodia and while in those countries got chatting to expats. They all told me that as more westerners start staying in those countries looking for relaxed lifestyles for a pittance, the rules are being tightened up there as well.

 

I can never understand why elderly westerners would even consider retiring abroad without enough funds put by for a rainy day, living on a month to month basis and having no plan B for changing bank rates and changing immigration policies, then blame immigration and others for their predicaments.

 

I am not deliberately going out of my way to be malicious, I am only talking common sense that everyone is responsible for their own lives and no one owes anybody else a certain lifestyle and a living.  My dad once told me, you make your own bed and you must lie on it and he was right.

I think those foreigners are pushing the envelope until the shit hit the fan and then it is time to go home. It is good while it last though... a last fling .

[evadgib]

48 minutes ago, lovelomsak said:

Seems your planning ahead skills failed you in your planning to stay in Thailand. 

 When did you start planning ahead? Must have been very late in life. To be living on pensions only and cannot raise 400,000 baht.

Having a couple of kids since arriving and watching the pound drop to as ittle as 40 from 70+ shouldn't place anyone in 'I told yer so!' 

[evadgib]

6 minutes ago, Ctkong said:

I think those foreigners are pushing the envelope until the shit hit the fan and then it is time to go home. It is good while it last though... a last fling .

20 years, fast?

[overherebc]

3 hours ago, BertM said:

You should switch back to your home country to go work & earn enough (800k) to put in the Thai bank (never to touch) that you can use each year going forward to qualify for a retirement extension in Thailand. Then, you can live off your pensions legally. Kindly...

 

At 60+ for a lot of expats do you think that's an option?

Edit

Forgot that for many it's now over 67 to get a UK gov' pension.

Edited December 2, 2018 by overherebc

[ozmeldo]

It's so easy to live off 25k.

 

Jus sayin