@Jet *******

someone asked for advice. Advice was offered. Other pewsumptious and rude advice was offered why that advice was bad advice, based on bias and made up stats. I take it 99% is made up. Everyone I know would meet the threshold of working professional based on qualification and modest salary. Is it vast or significant? There is a difference. You are just doubling down after you and a few others decided to be spoilers because of your own financial circumstances. The average house in the UK is about £350,000. $250,000 us is pretty cheap. Rather than being argumentative and putting people down, and making false assumptions, just accept the OP has a range of options. There are lots of disadvantages to the DTV that you are purposely not bringing up. For instance, you can't open a local bank account up. Obvious and huge disadvantage. Obviously since you are speaking as an impoverished pensioner barely getting by, you haven't a pot to piss in, let alone money to deposit. There is great uncertainty whether it's possible to get or renew a Thai driving licence while on a tourist visa such as the DTV that you presumably have. And not everyone has a long term medical condition that needs long term treatment in Thsiland, or wants to train as a chef for 5 years or works on computers, or has an online business. A lot of people using this visa, maybe 98%, or have I made that up, are scammers and will get found out. Your experience may vary.

@Jet *******

Have you got data to share of average westerner retiree in Thailand by nationality. I suspect US and Canadian citizens will be near the top. You are very certain of this 99% number, so I suppose you will have data to support this. Anecdotally, most of the expatriate property in somewhere like Samui seems very expensive by western standards, and it's not Thais or Chinese living there (a lot of French and Germans it seems). The ltr retirees requirement of $40k income and $250k in thai property seems pretty modest. The median us retirement income is $50k, and average is $70k, so I am surprised at your view that 99% of ameri an retirees living in Thailand would fail to meet the threshold. Even for professionals with advanced qualifications, the salary requirement is far below the median salary. The catch with LTR besides Permanent Establishment questions, is what happens in 8-10 years .

@Jet *******

That's maybe true if you include migrants from Myanmar. Certainly not true if you consider Americans wealthy enough to own multiple properties. 50,000 is about the price of a return flight.

@Malcolm ****

That's less than the price of a 2.5 year UK partner visa, which the UK government believes is affordable for those on the median income of £38,000.

@Malcolm ****

A Bangkok apartment has to be worth $250,000 at least. Job done. She is obviously of means to be able to own holiday property

@Olivia *******

This is when you find out you never had freehold on the property, because you're a foreigner, and the lease is up in 12 years time.

Probably need to make sure you have more than 500k in there, to allow for fluctuations in the exchange rates. Right now the US$ has jumped up because on an election, but its expected to weaken over the coming months, and as the incoming administration's fiscal become clearer, who knows what direction it will take. If tariffs and immigration restrictions are actually going to happen, the market will start thinking about inflation ticking up, and therefore interest rates going up, which strengthens the USD. But if not, then the USD remains lower, especially if the expectation is that interest rates will decline. Its quite a lot of money for people to maintain, untouched, for what, to avoid a border run. And then you see speculation like this: 76-destination-thailand-visa-dtv-success-faces-an-uncertain-future/#comment-464

You're from Myanmar, so I understand why you want to get out. You will be able to apply for jobs in other countries from Thailand, but remember, under the terms of your DTV you are meant to be working remotely, getting medical treatment, learning how to boil an egg. The potential problem you might face is obtaining a work visa. Depending on the country, that might be something you have to initiate from inside Myanmar. It might be complicated. The easiest country if you are a professional might be Singapore. You can get offered a job there, then have 6 months, in country, to get the work permit.

@Leopoldo *****************

Bangkok Bank operates in the US, Federally regulated. While its a commercial bank, you can transfer money to it from a US bank, and then it transfers to Thailand essentially as an intrabank transfer.

@Stuart **********

My agent just running out of an office asking me to sign bits of paper before a final "are you sure". The agents all have their contacts in these offices. I didn't need a translator, but we didn't use bang rak.