Rollo Ajarn Roadie Sawyers I have spent a fair amount of time in the Philippines and would not consider living there, even for a few weeks as (1) the food is truly awful - both the local Fayre and their poor attempts at non-local (2) I assume due to the crippling poverty and lack of Buddhist values there is always someone trying to scam / ‘borrow’ / ‘invest’ or outright rob you (3) public transport is terrible and dangerous (as one of many examples a previous in-law was on a Jeepney and someone was quietly knifed in front of her). Each to their own but if Thailand wasn’t an option I would consider Cambodia way before the Philippines

@Chris **********

you’ll need either considerable capital invested in Thailand, be on a very tight list of occupations or work for a sizeable foreign entity listed on a stock exchange for I think 3 years

@Todd ********

incorrect - as soon as the Visa has been issued you are free to enjoy as much or as little of your THB as you choose

@Todd ********

because that’s how long the money needs to stay in your account…

@Todd ********

so 800k at 5% for 2 months = 6.7k. Still cheaper to DIY if we’re making a financial comparison…

@Martin **********

also I read that Binance has had a Thai license approved so hopefully they will setup on / off ramps with Thai banks this year

@Martin **********

wasn’t a problem for me - I do have a tabian ban and Thai ID, maybe that’s why

Transfer USD to Binance. Buy USDT and send to Bitkup. Buy THB and transfer to Bangkok Bank.

Can all be done in a few minutes and I pretty much always beat the Wise quote

So… if you did return to Oz and do your 2 years in purgatory and then escaped to paradise, how much could you expect to receive and are there any gotchas ?

Krungsri in Phuket are delightful: queues in their branches are maybe of most of the others (next time you are at Central Festival have a look for yourself), the staff are super helpful, the app works well, and yes they offer foreign currency accounts