For the Foreigners who wished to retire, to work and or to live in Thailand

[villager]

Thank you for reply. But what is Scy?, i have already mentioned that i am not au fait with thse issues yet and i am learning. I did go to kasikorn and they told me that i needed a work permit. I'm going again in August ant will try talk to them. In the mean time be again grateful for further ideas. Cheers

Hey RS, why not try other bank,s too, maybe let it "slip out " that you want to put 800,000 in for your Visa Requirement, there,s about 30 farangs up here all having BAs and not one has a work permit.

[villager]

Thank you for reply. But what is Scy?, i have already mentioned that i am not au fait with thse issues yet and i am learning. I did go to kasikorn and they told me that i needed a work permit. I'm going again in August ant will try talk to them. In the mean time be again grateful for further ideas....

dear rs2000, 'scy' is my given user name, under which i gave you advice. you may have a language problem.
do NOT go into any small branch and ask questions. most employees speak such a poor english,
just want to keep their face & therefore get rid of you as fast a possible! don't fall into that trap.
take the pack of 800 bills 1,000 each and put it on the table of the branch manager. don't speak! let him ask you first!
most likely he will very kindly ask you: "what can we do for you, sir?"
800,000 baht is more than 10 years income of an average thai, with that much money you are prominent!
a bank manager will not send you away with that much money.
do not expect a current account like in europe with cheque book. be content with a savings account + atm card at first.
keep it simple. everything else can be added or changed later.
some of our friends have joint accounts (best in a case of accident!)
most important after all: FIRST check seriously if they UNDERSTAND you

Great Idea Scy which falls loosely into line with what I recommended, what bank Manager in his right mind would turn down an offer like this, and of course cos "the prophet" who has failed miserably into trying to make a life here and somehow writes that Phuket is the only place in Thailand were a farang can live, he take,s great amusment in pouring cold water on anyone who wishes, to abode in Thailand.

[GORDON]

My post here has been misread by some, if they will carefully reread that post they will see that I said that farangs like myself wanted to be able to live here in fairness and be able to share our properties with our loved ones. It was suggested that if I really loved my wife I would put the house and land in her name, only a foolish man would do that under Thai law. What happens should your wife die before you, that leaves you with 1 year to sell if she left it to you in her will. If there is no will, her family then own your home and you will almost certainly lose it.The other fear that you will always have is that you are giving up what little security you have here and putting your affairs into the hands of someone you love but may one day change. It is too much of a chance to take no matter how much you believe you know or love another. A Thai wife of a farang is entitled to half by law if the marriage fails[the failure rate here is the same as the world over - about half] The risks are so great here that there are better ways of securing the positions of the man,woman and children if any. I could not live with the threat that if I did not keep my wife constantly sweet, I could find myself homeless and broke. Thai ladies are notoriouly jealous and all it might take to set her off would be a bit of malicious gossip. My wife is happy with the way we run our affairs, she knows that I love her and her son, and that they are provided for in my will. All that we own is in a company name and when I die the company is to be sold by my attorney and she will recieve half of the money with the remainder going to my children in the U.K. She will also get half of my U.K. assets and half of my bank accounts here. As I said I have provided for the security of my family because I love them all, but Thailand makes things very difficult for us to do that . All I ask is that one day there is a level playing field here, why do people think that is too much to ask, we are family men - not speculators. Thai men and women who marry farangs in the U.K. do not experience these same problems.

[Asian Hand]

Flat out - foreigners as individuals, from any country, cannot own land in Thailand. That's a fact. They can own condominiums up to a certain percentage in any given development. You can own a home under a lease arrangement, but then you don't actually own it. Secondly, in a foreigner x Thai marriage if the foreigner uses his money as the sole source of funds to buy a house and put it in the wifes (Thai) name - that is also illegal. Setting up a company to buy a house/land you fall into the same trap on a number of accounts. The company must be 51% Thai owned and the funds being used to buy the home must be 51% from the Thai source. You will hear about nominees being used but that is a violation under the Thai Business Law and the government is cracking down on this nominee structure. Furthermore, under a company name you will be required to file annual financial statements including a corporate income tax return (a cost and a headache). If the home is the only asset in the name of that company and its use is primary residence sooner or latter you will be "visited" by the revenue department who will inquire as to why your company is not earning revenue (another cost). Now the grey area here is if you keep a low profile in the eyes of the Thai judicial system, which can be elevated by alienating a Thai third party in some circumstances - quite likely you will not have any problems. Its up to you to assess the risks of discovery.

[yingthai]

Hi, I find you post somewhat confusing.

You mentioned that you would like to own a piece of land in Thailand to provide security to your loved ones whom are all presumably thais (i.e. Thai wife and Thai children).

How can owning a piece of land provide security to your Thai wife and children?

Would it not be better to buy the land under their names outright? That is 100% security to your Thai wife and thai children.

In my opinion and in summary, the key word here is "Trusts". Most relationship in Thailand does not start off well. Mainly because the circumstances that they meet each other makes it a difficult relationship to last and grow. Those relationship that started off without such undesirable circumstances may be the exceptions.

My question is, if you profess to love your Thai wife, why not give her some security by buying a house under her name?

To Mr. Triptrip
I am a Thai myself who married to a Farang. I want my husband to live normal life in Thailand, to be able to own something, to be able to work without any complications etc.. My husband is an ordinary person. If something happens to me, I want him to be able to continue his life in Thailand if he wish. I don't want my husband to buy a house for me if he can't have an ownership. There are many women out there, waiting to rip someone off very badly. I have seen many people like that in my country.

[wassa]

well i have read the post and now i think it's time to put my 2 cent worth in, here goes, i too lived in thailand for over 2years and after two years my thai wife and i both moved to a real country "australia", see here ALL people have rights !! unlike other countries (thailand) that never give you any rights and you will be always treated like a falang ,paying triple for everything and not being allowed to own anytrhing, my thai wife in australia has more right than i could ever get in thailand, no wonder my wife and i never want to go back to thailand, we both had a great party the day she burnt her thai passport,so all i can say is, if you have already retired in thailand and you have a family in thailand ,then bad luck, but if you are thinking of retiring in thailand and you have no family in thailand , look for somewhere else to retire, find a country that will treat you live a normal citizen,not like a A.T.M .

[Asian Hand]

For Wassa Dec 29 - congratulations on your retirement to Australia. Of the hundreds if not thousands of foreigners who happily retire in Thailand, it's one less farang who's realized they cannot adapt to living in an emerging country and leave. Enjoy your life in the Land of Auz.