@Carlos ********

What's the retirement visa /longterm stay situation in Vietnam right now?

@Daniele **********

Give it a rest. What's wrong with you?

@Daniele **********

??? How would you know?

And there are these things called "balconies."

No need to argue. To each his own.

@David ******

In retrospect, you are right. Instead of arguing with members who are telling other members they "should stay home" or making similar judgemental statements, I will simply block them.

Cheers.

@David ******

I'm not the one literally telling other members that they don't belong overseas, and that they should stay home because their actions are irresponsible and immoral.

Sorry, that crosses a line for me. Rebuking that sort of direct judgementalism is neither nasty nor hostile.

You're directing your fire at the wrong target. You don't consider it nasty, intimidating, or rampantly hostile for these guys to literally be telling other members that they should stay home and have no right to visit a foreign country?

Remarkable. Since we're both occupying the same pulpit at the moment, perhaps we can agree that anyone should be free to voice an opinion, provided they don't cross the line into questioning the morality, responsibility, or legality of another member's personal choices regarding travel and retirement?

@Daniele **********

And "they" also have condos all over Thailand with bloody-minded juristic offices which prevent you from selecting any internet provider other than the one approved vendor who may have very mediocre service. Worse, a single gigabit fibre line is often shared by dozens of units, resulting in very poor performance.

In my condo just getting internet turned on in my unit requires a 16k baht prepayment. To a company well-known for rather indifferent customer service and support.

We don't all live on a farm in Isaan.

But beyond that, it's a known fact that Thailand's internet connection to the west is limited in terms of bandwidth. Using a satellite service bypasses that significant bottleneck.

@Jeff ******

And who precisely has granted you the legal or moral authority to judge the actions of your fellow expats, Mr. Anonymous Captain Thailand? Hmmm. . .

Methinks you go to a lot of trouble to hide whatever it is you're hiding. Perhaps a long-term over-stay? Running from the law?

Better to speak for yourself - something everyone is entitled to. But your priggish pronouncements are offensive and boring, particularly coming from an anonymous whiner.

@Andreas ********

Fortunately, nobody elected you judge and jury over your fellow expats, Captain Thailand. In your sneering rush to direct judgement of people you know less than nothing about, you have forgotten the simple cardinal rule: mind your own d*mn business.

You are free to opine on what you consider appropriate behavior and fiscal responsibility FOR YOURSELF, but donning the mantle of judge and jury and blathering on moralistically utterly destroys your credibility, while revealing your callous inhumanity.

@Jeff ******

Ah, the highest of all high horses from an utterly anonymous voice.

Where did I discuss or endorse using agent's money? I am responding to this specific statement from the OP:

"Honestly if you don't have at least 500,000 baht in savings you shouldn't be considering living in a foreign country to begin with."

There are plenty of countries where savings accounts aren't required for Visas. Cambodia, for example offers a 1-year retirement visa with multiple re-entries for $300/yr.

I'll definitely be looking at one when they turn on Thailand. I've had really bad luck with juristic offices being buttheads about internet providers in their units.