Just a word of caution: rents (based on a yearly lease) in the high season (Nov to March) can be 2-3 times the price of exactly the same property whose lease starts in the low season

@Mick ******

drop me a PM when you arrive in Bang Tao :)

Area largely depends on your budget and personality type: if you’re a loner on a modest budget, Isaan might work for you; if you’re a sociable person with a decent budget then you could consider the Bang Tao area of Phuket. And everything in between.

In general when you leave the Farang enclaves within a couple of hours there are fewer western luxuries such milk / cheese / wine - again your appetite to live like a local will play a factor.

As many have suggested, pick 2-3 possible areas, come and rent a place for 3 months and see how it feels

I believe if you verify with one bank, that verification will carry forward to any others you hold

Aaand there you have it: one person thinks HH is too busy and prefers somewhere quieter with fewer westerners.

And the second person thinks HH is too quiet and boring.

So basically it will come down to your personality type: are you an introvert (getting your energy from being isolated with few human interactions - so Isaan) or an extrovert (getting your energy from being around like minded people - so say Phuket or Bangkok) ?

HH is somewhere between the two. Too quiet for me but I have several friends who love living there.

My guess is you’ll be happy in Hua Hin - it’s affordable, can be a bit quiet but there’s life if you look for it, and probably a good chance of finding a decent lady there - suggest trying the real estate agents as they are generally well presented and have great English skills.

HH can get a little polluted in the burning season (as it’s on the Gulf rather than the West coast) but not onerous.

There’s now a relatively fast train service to Bangkok, and has 2-3 decent sized malls with plenty of western products. If you play golf there are plenty of options.

So try it out for a couple of years, find a nice lady but if after that time you still find it too quiet then I’d suggest try one of the quieter part of Phuket.

@Keith ********

yes, but just 0.4% and the original poster will be able to use the ETF to support his visa application, thereby solving his problem.

Can you suggest a better way to solve his problem ?

Sell the physical gold and buy the equivalent amount of GLD - this is an ETF that holds gold to GLD 1:1. You can open an account with Schwab or Interactive Brokers for this

LTR costs just 50k for 10 years, and gives you tax free overseas income and capital gains (the only visa with that massive benefit). Happy to recommend an agent if you PM me

@Bill ********

yes Schwab that savings accounts with debit cards are only for US residents