Are you tired of waiting for the next shoe to drop ?

[kingofthemountain]

1 hour ago, Samuel Smith said:

Who's not paying their bills?

1/ the ''tourists''from the neighbours country

(Laos, Cambodgia, Myanmar...)

2/ the others ''reals'' tourists (Mostly chineses)

[sunnyboy2018]

2 hours ago, soalbundy said:

The pound is hurting right ? Being morose won't help, adopt the attitude 'it is as it is because it can be no other way'. Acceptance of what is can change a situation but even if not it makes life easier, cause and effect go back thousands of years, perhaps you are in Thailand because two hundred years ago an ancestor fell off of his horse. You aren't the doer, you have phenomenal experiences of what is.

That makes sense!

[kingofthemountain]

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I don't know how much it is and it does not really matter.

What matters is the published cases and the perception of the people.

 

It's like in some western countries where lots of people complain about all those expensive migrants. As far as I know in many countries these migrants bring in total more money than they cost. But still there is a lot of sentiment against them because they are so expensive.

 

Same same, not much different.

It's matter a lot

 

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Did you never read about any of those cases were people can't pay their hospital bills? I see them all the time in the news.

mostly are tourists

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, andy72 said:

So they close that loophole make you keep 400k no agent can do that
they are closing all these corruption holes 

You're wrong, the IO can waive the 400k/800k in the bank, and usually does so after a big enough bung from the agent.

[Isaanbiker]

2 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

For me it seems Thailand is enforcing some existing laws.

And they think about how to handle all those old people who can't or won't pay their hospital bills.

 

I understand that this makes some people unhappy and probably some people will have to leave Thailand.

But on the other hand I understand that Thailand does not want that some people are a burden to the country. And that's what they are if they don't pay their hospital bills.

You've been here long enough to know that the big bills are from people of neighboring countries who are used as cheap labour.

 

Of course without any kind of insurance. They're only blaming us as foreigners usually have money.

 

But money runs out one day, doesn't it? 

 

When you see how they work on wooden constructions, you'll also understand that there are countless accidents where the employers don't pay for, because they basically don't exist. 

 

  How could a Burmese buy an insurance when making 120 baht a day, trying to send some cash back home?

 

And such people do exist, I'm not making this up. 

[Skallywag]

2 hours ago, WhatupThailand said:

where I can enjoy my retirement years, with less stress

Less stress in retirement for me means having money in the bank and health insurance. 

The money requirement has not changed regarding Visa extensions.

90 day reports, TM 30 and such take an hour of my time very infrequently.

 

And being of retirement age, if you are living without health insurance, you are always just a day away from bankruptcy in my opinion.   Heck in the USA where I am from, they wont even treat you at 95% of the hospitals unless you have insurance, and the ones that will, you are likely to bleed out in a waiting room

[DaRoadrunner]

2 hours ago, CharlieH said:

The main problem as I see it is the total instability and lack of consistency

 

2 hours ago, CharlieH said:

all you can do on shifting sand is watch and wait for the next shift !

Maybe it is a Buddhist thing? All is impermanence. A westerner likes to plant roots, buy a house, have security. But in Asia, all is in a state of constant flux. (You spell flux any way you like!).

 

What gets me is the total lack of consideration for those Farang who have Thai families, where the senseless regulations are hurting their own Thai people. Or is this just due to the Thai famed lack of ability to think, organise or plan ahead? .... Ah well, where there is no sense, there is no feeling.

[CharlieH]

Just now, DaRoadrunner said:

 

Maybe it is a Buddhist thing? All is impermanence. A westerner likes to plant roots, buy a house, have security. But in Asia, all is in a state of constant flux. (You spell flux any way you like!).

 

What gets me is the total lack of consideration for those Farang who have Thai families. Or is this just due to the Thai famed lack of ability to think, organise or plan ahead?

0.3% of the entire population (guesstimate) is not going to figure much in anything in the big picture is it ?

[andy72]

28 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

You're wrong, the IO can waive the 400k/800k in the bank, and usually does so after a big enough bung from the agent.

Well im not wrong I said no agent can afford to leave 400/800k in a bank account 
hes not leaving it in hes bunging an IO according to you
the 400k law was aimed at the agents more than the individual IMO 
that there is still that corruption in the IO office just counters what the law is meant to be doing

[Skallywag]

1 hour ago, andy72 said:

Europeans are less likely to be insured because we dont come from that uncivilized culture of the USA

( that will go down well on a predominately American Forum)

USA, spending more on military benefits to veterans than active military now and with all the armaments needed for deployments around the world spend over $600 billion a year on our military industrial complex. The U.S spends more than the next 5 largest militaries in the world combined.

And citizens in the USA wonder why they don't have universal healthcare, and free higher education?  Pretty simple when you see where your tax money goes, plus the pharmaceutical and health insurance companies are reaming them on prices and premiums

America is #1 in Greed.  And those 1% ers with all the money never have to pay taxes ! 

[andy72]

4 minutes ago, Skallywag said:

USA, spending more on military benefits to veterans than active military now for a combined total of over $600 billion a year.  As you know this is more than the next 5 largest militaries in the world combined

well the usa does spend ever so much more on armaments
it has the largest military presence of all nations 
so of course it is going to have a huge bill for ex military benefits.

 

as such Americans can also leave their cash in banks in usa whereas other must deposit in thai banks
thus its very attractive for USA citizens 
 

i guess we all have different perspective of who we think others are from I got the USA feeling 
especially from some news stories favoured by moderators
and the forum is set for American spelling 

[dimitriv]

1 hour ago, dabhand said:

No unpaid hospital bills? Hmmmm.

 

https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/900767-uninsured-foreigners-burdens-thai-public-hospitals/

 

Quote "20 million baht negative in recent 8 years".  

 

That is 74000 Euro a year for Pattaya's biggest public hospital. 

 

About 16 million tourists visit Pattaya each year (government statistic, believe it or not)

20 million : 8 years : 16 million =

 

0,16 Baht for each tourist. Really, this is not worth taking about.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Skallywag]

4 minutes ago, dimitriv said:

About 16 million tourists visit Pattaya each year (government statistic, believe it or not)

20 million : 8 years : 16 million =  0.16 Baht for each tourist. Really, this is not worth taking about.

Yes you wonder who is pocketing all the VAT and why it isn't getting to the public hospitals, schools, and infrastructure that are supported by it.  

[Destiny1990]

I think that the majority of farangs  without kids and or an Unsellable house have left already.

[sirineou]

52 minutes ago, andy72 said:

as such Americans can also leave their cash in banks in usa whereas other must deposit in thai banks
thus its very attractive for USA citizens 
 

i guess we all have different perspective of who we think others are from I got the USA feeling 
especially from some news stories favoured by moderators
and the forum is set for American spelling 

I always thought we were a minority among expats  in Thailand but I could be wrong. If there are more news stories in the forum it is IMO because the US plays a more prevalent role in international affairs than other countries, and not for any favoritism toward Americans. 

I was not aware that Americans can leave their money  in American banks and qualify for extensions to stay .Is that True??

[swissie]

I believe the "tightening frenzie" has peaked. The TM 30 nonsense got some bad press in the west. As I gather, for Farangs working in Thailand the TM 30 is no more applicable. (A start). Also some Immi-Offices "up country" are not enforcing it rigorously.

Everybody agrees, that Farangs supporting Thai Families, the "residency-requirements" should be more liberal. But the Thai's fear that the number of "fake-marriages" would increase dramatically.
ONE THING IS FOR SURE: If (contrary to my expectations), a further round of "tightening" should take place it could only mean one thing: "Long-term Farang residents out, short-term tourists in!" Definitely. No more guesswork!

Although the "volatility of Thai thinking" is legendary, not a likely scenario. I think. I hope. I guess.

[Colabamumbai]

I stopped wearing shoes. About ready to tell them to... Deleted. 

[legend49]

17 hours ago, bwpage3 said:

How many people jumped on the Thailand retirement train, without ever giving a thought that Thailand would change over the course of the years they retired there?

 

Did you really expect Thailand, the land of milk and honey, would stay the same 20 or 30 years on since your retirement?

 

Well, many people must have because they seem ill-prepared for all of the changes coming from the Thai gov't.

 

If a person retired to Thailand 20 or 30 years ago because it was cheap? Well, which country HASN'T got more expensive and had a ton of changes over the last 20 years?

 

There is such a rush when moving to Thailand, specially back in the day, that many people never gave any thought to the future of what could change or how it would affect them personally.

 

I can still remember that rush the first time I visited in 1984 thinking this was really heaven on earth. It took me until the year 2004 to finally move there, and even then, the changes all around Thailand influenced by western marketing and greed were apparent. It was no where near as close to the place I knew in 1984.

 

Over the next 10 years (2004-2014), things just continually got worse. Throw in a couple of floods, droughts, and it was really worse.

 

Thaksin never seemed to care much to bother with expats, however, after his ouster, things really started going down hill. Maybe because he has a PhD from somewhere in Texas, he was a little less concerned with expats mentalities?

 

We all know in Thailand, a Thai official is nothing without money, money, money. Money buys the power! Gov't has become nothing but a club to raid the countries budgets, to enrich themselves at the expense of the nation and the people. (I read 3 out of 4 politicians from Buri Ram were billionaires). Got it now?

 

There are many that really believe they should be afforded special visas, rights, etc. because of their Thai families. I think most people really feel they are a value and to their families they are a big value. However, to the govt the are no value and treated as such.

 

However, as we can see, no one in the govt seems to really care about the welfare of expats at all. They are too busy jockeying for positions to be able to raid the nations budgets, make corrupt military deals, trains, plains, you know the game. Their own goal is to enrich themselves and their families for the rest of their lives.

 

Expats are a threat to that mindset? Why? 

 

Well it is because expats are smart enough to question when the Army buys blimps to use as terrorist search vehicles, that a blimp is useless when you have winds and monsoon rains 6-7 months of the years and they would question that purchase for hundreds of millions of baht. Thai people, are only now, with the advent of younger parties like Future Forward, starting to hold these corrupt Generals accountable for their corruption.

 

Generals with millions of dollars of watches? Yes expats are smart enough to know the truth.

 

Thailand is becoming an expensive country to live and with the changing winds of govt, regulations will continue to change and each govt official is only there for what they can put in their own pockets, not the welfare of the people. I am sure the new insurance requirements falls into this category.

 

Expats with a lot of money, big pensions, etc. will be able to weather the changing tides as necessary. Others, are going to have to tough it out, move, or worse.

 

In 2011, we lost almost everything in the flood. The writing was on the wall and for me, that was a real catalyst that got me thinking about the future. At the time, I was lucky I made the decision to move back to the USA, where I could still land a high paying job and start over.

 

I am quite a few years away from retirement. People are always railing why do people that move away continue to post and follow on TV?

 

Well, the answer is even though I have never given one thought to moving back to Thailand, things could change 10 or 15 years from now and it is a learning experience to read about the changes and how they affect expats in general.

 

Who really can predict what Thailand will be like in another 10 or 15 years? It might get better, it might get worse. 

 

Can only wait and see.

 

The smart thing, is anywhere you move in the world, you should always have a plan B, if that is not your native motherland.

 

The whole Thailand experience for me has really opened my eyes to the importance of saving, pension, retirement accounts, you name it.

would stay the same 20 or 30 years on since your retirement?

 

Mmmm all the issues affecting farang currently like TM 30 come from laws 30 to 40 years old. So compliance has remained the same.  After this line in your essay I fell asleep too much to read.

[soalbundy]

19 hours ago, CharlieH said:

The main problem as I see it is the total instability and lack of consistency in most aspects of officialdom. The problem is it can and may well ALL change in the next few weeks months, we see this guy or that guy doing this or that, then he disappears and someone else is the top of the pole.

 

Its not a good scenario but all you can do on shifting sand is watch and wait for the next shift ! Unsettling and not a nice predicament when one is supposed to be relaxing in retirement,instead of each day or week a question of "what now" ?

you tink too much. The mind is not your friend, it needs struggle and negativity, let things be, you can't change things anyway.

[BritManToo]

14 hours ago, swissie said:

Everybody agrees, that Farangs supporting Thai Families, the "residency-requirements" should be more liberal. But the Thai's fear that the number of "fake-marriages" would increase dramatically.

How many fake marriages of white men to Thai ladies have they found so far?

[soalbundy]

17 hours ago, DaRoadrunner said:

 

Maybe it is a Buddhist thing? All is impermanence. A westerner likes to plant roots, buy a house, have security. But in Asia, all is in a state of constant flux. (You spell flux any way you like!).

 

What gets me is the total lack of consideration for those Farang who have Thai families, where the senseless regulations are hurting their own Thai people. Or is this just due to the Thai famed lack of ability to think, organise or plan ahead? .... Ah well, where there is no sense, there is no feeling.

and with all this security westerners still get bankrupted through divorce and illness and just like the Thais who don't plan ahead they still die

[dotpoom]

No!

[pookondee]

 why is it getting so hard for Retirees to stay in Thailand ?

 

How about this for an easy explanation....

 

Guys on the site have been criticizing the Thai government for years,

calling out corruption, Cronyism, politicians stealing money..on and on

 

While civilian governments ruled it might not have been such a big deal.

 

But now Posters are admitting that Thai Immigration and the government monitor these sorts if sites.

So i ask you, would any government in the world accept such criticism and allow outsiders to try to turn the actual citizens (who can actually vote) against the government???

 

The funny thing is, it doesnt even matter if what you say (as a foriegner) is right or wrong, you will never change anything here.

Actually, truth be known, the only thing you have probably helped change is the implementation of more restrictive visa rules.

 

So next time anyone makes a thread, or whines or comments on brown paper bags or whatever...

 

Know that YOU could be, in fact, making a small contribution to why it is so hard to stay in Thailand!!

[BritManToo]

4 minutes ago, pookondee said:

So i ask you, would any government in the world accept such criticism and allow outsiders to try to turn the actual citizens (who can actually vote) against the government???

I'm not sure anyone in authority really cares (or counts) how the proles vote.

[WhatupThailand]

I have to make a Observation, after various comments about Complaints.

 

Only those who are Greedy, Corrupt, and doing things against the people, Hide in the Dark.

When they run or slander any Light being turned on them, it is usually due to a Dark Agenda.

 

Now I wonder why all the other SE Asia Nations have a simple 1 Year Visa process,

where you fill out your forms, pay once, and you are done with it for a Year.

Only Thailand has all the Red Tape and Hoop jumping Non Sense, required for a Visa of any kind.

So I have to ask, What is the Real reason for this ?

[nervona81732]

Vietnam is the answer to the OP. I'm similar in thinking! I'm all in here any family is close.

Plan B my option and already had conversation with family. Big burden , myself going back and forth to satisfy Thailand but it is what it is.

[Thingamabob]

21 hours ago, Thailand said:

It is certainly frustrating with something potentially new on a regular basis to <deleted> up what was a pleasant situation for many years. Most of this seems to be in the the wake of BJ and his ilk.

I'm not over bright so kindly tell me what BJ has to do with Thailand ?

[RedPill]

4 minutes ago, Thingamabob said:

I'm not over bright so kindly tell me what BJ has to do with Thailand ?

He did not refer to the English BJ ... the other one ????

 

[Speedhump]

21 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Guess it depends who, where, when, how.

 

I worry about none of it.

Last year with extension, 90 day reports, resident cert., proof of funds in bank I probably spent a total of an hour inside the Chonburi Imm. office.

And I have a good insurance policy well covered. 

In most cases mommy is not here.  So If a person is a mature adult and can adapt and be responsible, should be no worries at all.

But some people live to whine. And I'm happy if they leave, or decide not to come here to live. And if new expats that have no money are persuaded not to come because of some small financial imposition re health insurance. Good riddance. 

[NoshowJones]

Excellent post and great topic.