the STV will force you all to leave the country to change to a new long stay visa - impossible to convert that one in country. Seems to be aimed specifically for gap year travelers who are happy with 9 months and then go home.
not sure about retirement visa financial requirements but if it's like some of the other visa requirements I've seen, it might simply be a case of needing a few months with cash depreciating value in a bank account? In which case he could get in on a TR first and then do the retirement conversion...
sage advise but don't get the STV unless you are willing to have to leave and re-enter after 9 months. No problem if these vaccines fix the pandemic. Major, expensive problem if they don't
might wanna wait a few months until mass vaccines hopefully result in looser requirements for entering the country, unless you particularly want to spend $1k for 2 weeks in solitary
all everyone had to do was do it early, once... plenty of current and future value in getting into a country that realised that. What if the next novel virus also has a 1% death rate but later we discover also makes everyone lose all their limbs... Thailand passed the relative fire drill with flying colours
yeah the pandemic killed actual foreign tourism but if you're coming on a solid long-stay plan and an optimist, once you're in you're free to relax on a deserted tropical beach or mountain instead of being cooped up in the cold dark British winter. It's probably cheaper than post-cyclical lockdown therapy.