Info for those planning to retire in Thailand

[reader]

The following article appears in The Thaiger. I am not an expat and have no personal knowledge of retirement schemes.

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If you are planning to retire in the beautiful and tropical country of Thailand, there are many places which will suit your interests. From up north in Chiang Mai where the air is cooler (during winter), to a tropical oasis in the southern islands, Thailand has it all. Of course, with all things, you will need to get sorted before you come and we are right here to help.

How much money will I need to retire in Thailand? For example, a retired couple should be able to live quite comfortably on £1,600 (71,000 THB, 2,100 USD) a month, but of course, it depends on your lifestyle.

While the cost of living is low in Thailand, it is still important to have a savings of at least £20,000 (890,000 THB, 26,500USD), probably more, depending if you’re getting anything paid to you from outside the kingdom. This can help in the event of unexpected expenses, such as health insurance premiums, purchasing a car, or home repairs.

For those in the UK with pensions, having your UK pension paid to you in Thailand is possible, but you cannot transfer over any other UK-based pensions without incurring a tax of at least 25%. This is because the UK’s HMRC does not list Thailand in its qualifying recognised overseas pension schemes (QROPS). You may still be able to transfer payments from your UK bank, but you are likely to incur bank and currency conversion fees. But, you won’t have to pay tax on this income to the Thai government.

Other countries will have different laws on pensions and taxation so you need to find out about these before proceeding.

If you are wanting to buy a property in Thailand, you can. Sort of. It can be a bit tricky if you want to buy freehold land or a villa on land. As Thai laws prohibits foreigners from buying land and property in their own name, there are a few loopholes which allow foreigners to ‘own’ property.

Continues at

https://thethaiger.com/news/national/key-info-for-those-planning-to-retire-in-thailand

 

 

 

[PeterRS]

Seems to me that article is full of serious holes - retirement income levels (I can just see Immigration agreeing retirement visas to two people having an income of just 71,00 baht a month!!). purchase of freehold land etc. Besides, it fails to mention that the air quality in Chiang Mai is at disastrous levels in the early part of the year when farmers illegally burn the stubble in their fields. 

[spoon]

I think its obvious thats the article is really an ads to entice retiree to make thailand their option for retirement. Obviously it will never tells the "negative" hehe

[Guest]

These days, a lot of journalists produce work that is shoddy and incomplete.  Anyone who has reached retirement age should know enough to do their own research, rather than being influenced by such superficial articles. 

Even if THB 71,000 per month were sufficient to allow a comfortable lifestyle, equating that to £1600 per month is rather dangerous.    The exchange rate could move by 30% or much more in the next 5 years

Also, where is their analysis of the difficult topics like how much of that 71,000 per month is needed for medical insurance as the retiree ages ?

Still, this beats the article a few months ago that suggested retirement in Vietnam, without even considering if there was a way to obtain a visa to live there.

[pong2]

Yet again a copy of a copy of a copy of some old article-in print or on the www.

That 20k GBP money is simply needed to qualify Thai immi for the 800k min requirement-if youre forced to spend (Part of it) then you loose out on next new application/extension for visa. Though many a Thai agent can find a way around that for you

[reader]

49 minutes ago, z909 said:

Still, this beats the article a few months ago that suggested retirement in Vietnam, without even considering if there was a way to obtain a visa to live there.

Nevertheless foreigners have found ways to actually retire in Vietnam. Just because we're not aware of the in's and out's of how they managed it doesn't mean it's not possible.

[PeterRS]

11 hours ago, reader said:

Nevertheless foreigners have found ways to actually retire in Vietnam. Just because we're not aware of the in's and out's of how they managed it doesn't mean it's not possible.

It used to be possible but recent changes to the immigration laws made any form of longish stay impossible. There is a 5 years visa but you either have to be a Vietnamese expatriate, operating a business or married to a Vietnamese. There is no retirement visa in Vietnam. Even before covid the maximum stay was 3 months. If you wanted an extension you had to leave the country first and then reapply. A good friend told me of an Australian friend of his who had purchased a property and planned to retire in central Vietnam. When the Immigration rules were recently changed, he had no choice but to give up and sell his apartment. His retirement dreams down the tubes.

Like Thailand there are probably a few foreigners who get away with breaking the rules, but I doubt if there are many in these times of covid.

[reader]

8 hours ago, PeterRS said:

Like Thailand there are probably a few foreigners who get away with breaking the rules, but I doubt if there are many in these times of covid.

I know two westerners I met on a visit three years ago who had been there five and seven years, respectively, and are still there. They don't of course refer to themselves as retirees but expats. Like anyplace in Asia, it's about being careful not to become involved in the country's political affairs. Like in Thailand, all things are possible.

One group of expats in HCMC was even cited by the local (government) press for their volunteer work in helping to provide meals for shuts-ins during the pandemic there.

[PeterRS]

14 hours ago, reader said:

I know two westerners I met on a visit three years ago who had been there five and seven years, respectively, and are still there. They don't of course refer to themselves as retirees but expats.

The new immigration law came into force only two or three years ago. If they have managed to circumvent the law, good luck to them.