Long term tourists

[Gweiloman]

Exclude retirees over 50 with extension of stays based on retirement, those married to Thai spouses with extension based on marriage, those working with proper work permits, genuine students with Ed visa and those with elite visas.

For the others, why do they want to live in Thailand so badly and are willing to jump through so many hoops? Also, how do they finance themselves? Some will claim that they retired in their 20’s and 30’s; if so, why don’t they just purchase the Thai elite? For the others, are a lot of them digital nomads, working online?

I’m in my late 50’s, a typical retiree. Worked close to 40 years, fortunate to have had fairly well paid jobs such that I can now afford to stay here with very little hassle, based on the 800k method (and not worry that my money is only generating 2.4% as opposed to 7% in some funds).

 

 

 

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[richard_smith237]

You mean why don’t those who don’t qualify for other visa’s pay 500,000 baht for a 5 year Thai Elite Visa?....  Probably because they don’t want to pay that much and will continue to try to escape paying such costs. 

 

In my early 30’s I needed a foolproof way of staying here. I worked overseas as a consultant sometimes on single projects, sometimes on rotation (4 weeks on, 4 weeks off - sometimes with longer spells in Thailand). 

I was not married, not sure I would get married and obviously not eligible for anything other than a Tourist Visa. I was used to travelling back to the UK every 6 months and getting a 6 Month Tourist visa (never an issue) - but when Thai Elite Came along with 1MB life time visa (5 years renewed every 5 years for life) it made sense to me. 

 

For those not making the same choice right now it’s because they don’t want to pay for the visa. I can’t think of any other reason they wouldn’t take it when needing or wanting to stay in Thailand longer. 

[mstevens]

11 hours ago, Gweiloman said:

Some will claim that they retired in their 20’s and 30’s; if so, why don’t they just purchase the Thai elite?

This question comes up a lot and I think the simple answer is many don't know how long they will stay in Thailand. If there is a chance that they may only stay another year or two, paying 500,000 baht for an Elite card is not good value.

[jspill]

Boomers made the West a really awful place to be, hence the flight of millennials / gen Z

[1FinickyOne]

i can only guess that what some people call ... jumping through hoops... others find a minor distraction... easily breached. 

Edited April 16, 2019 by kenk24

[stigar]

i agree with u..and i also ask myself why so many foreigners only have cash money..i guess they have a reason...think many hiding from their countrys

 

[richard_smith237]

9 minutes ago, kenk24 said:

i can only guess that what some people call ... jumping through hoops... others find a minor distraction... easily breached. 

 

Jumping through hoops.. Preparing all the necessary paperwork for the yearly type O extension, keeping 800,000 baht in a bank, 90 days reports, TM30 reports etc... 

 

Then there is balancing out Tourist Visa runs and Visa Exemption on Arrivals... Yes.. plenty of hoops to jump through....  

 

It's all necessary and for the course - but the only long stay method I'd consider a minor-distraction is the Thai Elite Visa. 

[jackdd]

Here on Thaivisa you see mostly the complaints, if everything is going well people don't post.

Staying here is not as difficult as it might seem. Currently i just use METVs, 9 months in Thailand, then back home for a week or two, visit the family and get a new visa before going back to Thailand.

The in/outs don't really trouble me, i like to ride motorbike, so when it's time for a visa run that's just a motorbike trip and hopping over the border and back takes less than an hour.

If i sum up all the costs, it's maybe 40k per year. An elite visa would cost me 50 or 100k per year, for 5 or 20 years upfront.

Maybe next year i decide i don't like Thailand anymore, for whatever reason. Currently i would just sell my motorbike and could be gone next week. If i paid 400k or 900k already for the visa, that would be a much tougher decision.

 

The effective costs are actually way lower than the 40k, i would make motorbike trips anyway, so effectively it costs me just the 30 USD for the visa on arrival in Laos and an hour of my time for a visa run. When i come back from Germany i always buy lots of stuff for which i pay half the price in Germany compared to Thailand, be it stuff like food or makeup for my girlfriend, or whatever. I might pay 25k for the ticket, but in my luggage i will have stuff worth 20-30k in Thailand which i bought for 10-15k in Europe.

Edited April 16, 2019 by jackdd

[Too young to be old]

hello

 

Where are you getting 7% ?

 

I like the sound of that.

[thecyclist]

Could it be sex and sun:Most men will jump through any hoops to play the field without freezing their behinds off, while eating out cheaply every day. 

[Odysseus123]

3 minutes ago, thecyclist said:

Could it be sex and sun:Most men will jump through any hoops to play the field without freezing their behinds off, while eating out cheaply every day. 

About right.

 

The rest is flummery.

 

None of them (so it appears) came for the temples...

[NoshowJones]

On 4/15/2019 at 3:26 PM, richard_smith237 said:

You mean why don’t those who don’t qualify for other visa’s pay 500,000 baht for a 5 year Thai Elite Visa?....  Probably because they don’t want to pay that much and will continue to try to escape paying such costs. 

 

In my early 30’s I needed a foolproof way of staying here. I worked overseas as a consultant sometimes on single projects, sometimes on rotation (4 weeks on, 4 weeks off - sometimes with longer spells in Thailand). 

I was not married, not sure I would get married and obviously not eligible for anything other than a Tourist Visa. I was used to travelling back to the UK every 6 months and getting a 6 Month Tourist visa (never an issue) - but when Thai Elite Came along with 1MB life time visa (5 years renewed every 5 years for life) it made sense to me. 

 

For those not making the same choice right now it’s because they don’t want to pay for the visa. I can’t think of any other reason they wouldn’t take it when needing or wanting to stay in Thailand longer. 

Even if I was a Baht billionaire, I would not buy the Elite Visa as it is one big con. ie give them 500.000 Bt for five years and what are you getting in return for it, nothing. There are other ways without giving away all that money.

You can use an agent without doing anything illegal.

[NoshowJones]

14 hours ago, mstevens said:

This question comes up a lot and I think the simple answer is many don't know how long they will stay in Thailand. If there is a chance that they may only stay another year or two, paying 500,000 baht for an Elite card is not good value.

It is not good value even for five years.

[richard_smith237]

7 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

15 hours ago, mstevens said:

This question comes up a lot and I think the simple answer is many don't know how long they will stay in Thailand. If there is a chance that they may only stay another year or two, paying 500,000 baht for an Elite card is not good value.

It is not good value even for five years.

 

What are the other options for a single person, under 50 who wants to live here (without working)?

 

Is there any Visa out there which permits a continuous stay in Thailand for a someone in this situation? (even with Visa Runs?).

 

 

 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

11 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

Even if I was a Baht billionaire, I would not buy the Elite Visa as it is one big con. ie give them 500.000 Bt for five years and what are you getting in return for it, nothing. There are other ways without giving away all that money.

You can use an agent without doing anything illegal.

I kind of agree that the 500,000 baht for 5 years is questionable value...

 

I purchased ThaiElite for 1MB lifetime membership when I was single, in my early 30's - Its been of very good use and good value.

I reckon on having used up about 800,000 bahts worth of the perks so far, much less than I anticipated upon purchased when I calculated I'd use up the value of the perks within 8 years. 

 

I'm curious - What Visa could an Agent provide a Single 30year old who wants to live in Thailand full time?

[NoshowJones]

3 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

What are the other options for a single person, under 50 who wants to live here (without working)?

 

Is there any Visa out there which permits a continuous stay in Thailand for a someone in this situation? (even with Visa Runs?).

 

 

 

 

 

I don't think there is any for the under fifties legally without ever leaving the country, that is why I am always sticking up for these people in past posts. They get a very bad deal from Thailand.

[NoshowJones]

4 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

I kind of agree that the 500,000 baht for 5 years is questionable value...

 

I purchased ThaiElite for 1MB lifetime membership when I was single, in my early 30's - Its been of very good use and good value.

I reckon on having used up about 800,000 bahts worth of the perks so far, much less than I anticipated upon purchased when I calculated I'd use up the value of the perks within 8 years. 

 

I'm curious - What Visa could an Agent provide a Single 30year old who wants to live in Thailand full time?

When I mentioned an agent, I did not mean for under fifties. I will PM you tomorrow.

[Gweiloman]

hello
 
Where are you getting 7% ?
 
I like the sound of that.

According to the poster Thailand Outcast, there are many non aggressively managed funds in Australia giving 6-8% pa. Many other posters also claim to have similarly high returns from their investments.
As for me, I only get 2.4% from my CIMB fixed deposits.


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[richard_smith237]

1 minute ago, possum1931 said:

I don't think there is any for the under fifties legally without ever leaving the country, that is why I am always sticking up for these people in past posts. They get a very bad deal from Thailand.

 

Agreed...  I'm surprised there aren't more guys out there who've paid to marry their maid for a small fee to get the convenience of a visa.... In fact there has to be a few of these rackets running out there... 

 

I actually advised a friend to get married... he's been with his Girl-friend for a few years and works for very brief spells outside of Thailand but spends the majority of time in Thailand. 

He's getting questioned on his frequent visits and amount of time he spends here... the simple solution for him is to just get his documents in order and pay the 40 baht and get married. 

 

 

[Gweiloman]

I don't think there is any for the under fifties legally without ever leaving the country, that is why I am always sticking up for these people in past posts. They get a very bad deal from Thailand.

Are there any such visas in your home country? Even for above 50’s?


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[richard_smith237]

2 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

When I mentioned an agent, I did not mean for under fifties. I will PM you tomorrow.

Thanks for the offer... 

Even though I'm well under 50 I'm still covered from a few angles now....

 

- Married with a Child in School - So I could get the Type O visa based on a dependent or Marriage.

- I also have the Life Long Thai Elite Visa.

 

 

The topic I was trying to cover was for single guys under 50 years old... 

[NoshowJones]

7 minutes ago, Gweiloman said:

Are there any such visas in your home country? Even for above 50’s?


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There used to be at Hull immigration, but I think that is stopped. I don't know

what the situation is now.

[need to escape]

I’ve lived here a long time and I don’t understand why anyone would want to live here. There’s nothing to make you want to spend more than 2 days here. 

[Gweiloman]

There used to be at Hull immigration, but I think that is stopped. I don't know
what the situation is now.

No, what I mean is whether I can go and live in your country, as a single man above 50


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[Gweiloman]

I’ve lived here a long time and I don’t understand why anyone would want to live here. There’s nothing to make you want to spend more than 2 days here. 

There are plenty of reasons. What was/is your reason for living here a long time?


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[NoshowJones]

18 minutes ago, Gweiloman said:

No, what I mean is whether I can go and live in your country, as a single man above 50


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I have no idea, but if you came from Eastern Europe, or some Muslim country it should be easy.

I don't know what country you are from, but unlike Thailand, the bad far out weighs the good in the UK.

ie This tax and that tax, council tax, expensive annual TV licence, very high rate of income tax. Almost outnumbered by immigrants in lots of areas, dreadful weather most of the year, etc, etc. Still want to go and live in the UK?

 

[balo]

On 4/15/2019 at 3:07 PM, Gweiloman said:

For the others, are a lot of them digital nomads, working online?

Yes we are considered illegal and does not exist , just like any Thai prostitutes. 

 

[jspill]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

I'm curious - What Visa could an Agent provide a Single 30year old who wants to live in Thailand full time?

I didn't use them but there's an agent that advertised on this forum before, 'thaivisacentre' their main service is arranging the retirement extensions for over 50s, but if you message them (I got that far out of curiosity) for under 50s they claim to be able to arrange a non B visa for 75k baht the first year, then 45k per year after that, so about half the cost of thai elite and less up front. 

[Kenchamp]

5 hours ago, jspill said:

Boomers made the West a really awful place to be, hence the flight of millennials / gen Z

Think you might find mass immigration of muslims and blacks had something to do with it too

[malibukid]

17 hours ago, mstevens said:

This question comes up a lot and I think the simple answer is many don't know how long they will stay in Thailand. If there is a chance that they may only stay another year or two, paying 500,000 baht for an Elite card is not good value.

offer an Elite one year visa?