@Ed *******

Sounds like you are already better equipped than most to be happy here!

Please feel free to hit me up when you get here. I’m retired here living only on my SS, and am extremely comfortable. I can give you lots of advice. Happy to sit down for a coffee or beer.

I will warn you that a high percentage of expats here (US and otherwise) are grumpy far-right wingers. Lots of racists. I mostly avoid the community. Not much into nightlife.

But like all generalizations, this one has its flaws and there are many fine upstanding guys living here.

Definitely sort your Wise before arrival if you can.

Wise just put a bunch of work into making it work better here in Thailand. Been literally flawless for me for the last year or so. Transfers usually take about 10 seconds from hitting “GO.”

@Ed *******

Chances are very good you won’t be asked for a RT ticket. But you could be. A full ticket back to the US is unnecessary. Just buy a cheap ticket to vietnam or Cambodia if you’re really worried about it.

You’ll find this ambiguity a constant thing in Thailand. There’s the letter of the law, what actually happens most the time, and then the worst possible thing that happens less than 1% of the time.

So it’s best to just embrace the ambiguity. Easier for some than others!

@Mike ********

What does he need a lawyer for?

@Ed *******

Yeah, actually. Long-term expats tend to be passionate about their breakfasts. You can strike up a conversation in a restaurant that will yield a wealth of information from someone actually living here.

When I got here I spoke with a dozen or so bar and restaurant owners and learned how they do things. Some had geen here for decades. There info has served me well.

I suggested Pattaya before discovering you plan to live elsewhere. Of course you can do everything in a different city and there are advantages to getting your Visa from an immigration office near where you plan to live.

On the other hand Pattaya has a huge concentration of expats and established trustworthy businesses serving our needs, so it may be easy to start here.

I only mention an American bank because I assumed you would be collecting Soc security. While you can have it directly deposited in a Thai Bank and many do, I prefer the safety of having it in a US bank first.

But if you have a Brazilian bank that will work too. Just remember that lovely as Thailand is, it is a cruel and heartless place to have money issues.

ALWAYS HAVE A PLAN B. 🤗

@Ed *******

Insurance is not legally required for a non-O retirement visa obtained in-country, but it’s a real gamble if you don’t buy some here. I strongly suggest gritting your teeth and buying whatever you can afford once your visa is sorted.

Comparing the probability of facing serious problems without insurance, compared to the risk of problems if you use an agent for your visa, you’re literally taking several orders of magnitude more risk by staying long term without local health insurance.

@Ed Childs

Check your messenger inbox- just sent you some info.

I sold everything and moved here from the US several years ago. Had never visited Thailand before. Couldn’t be happier.

@Ed *******

This forum is a southern baptist church. Agents are a Buddhist temple. Why are you expecting Baptists to help you be a Buddhist?

Because all good Baptists know for certain that Buddhists are destined to burn in hell for all eternity.

As an American passport holder, you are eligible for a visa exempt status on arrival.



Once here I recommend you go to Pattaya and yak with a handful of expats about the rewards, risks and prevelance of using a Visa Agent for people in your particular financial situation.

You will find that many use Maneerats agent to assist in setting up your “non-o” retirement visa and extension, found in Soi 13-2 just up from beach road. And there are others. Might as well use the agent to open your Thai bank account as well.

Keep a good solid US bank account, and open a Wise account and get it all set up before leaving the US.

Buy health insurance from a Thai company as soon as you can. Stuff happens here - 600,000baht hospital bills will ruin your whole day without insurance.

Finally if you let the baptists here scare you out of doing something that hundred of thousands do trouble-free on the regular, consider getting your retirement visa in Cambodia instead. Cheaper and easier than Thailand.

Sandeep Kumar Not at all. The fact that he knows about corruption but has not yet taken steps (yet) to end it does not lead to a conclusion that he is himself on the take.

@Sandeep ******

Because he has no idea of the elaborate infrastructure in place inside immigration to support agents. Please. You can’t possibly be that naïve.

@Arnold *********

Huge wealth stacked high in a few houses is far less useful than wealth spread more equally across the population, but neither Thailand nor Cambodia could be accused of accomplishing that happy situation.