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Crackdown On 'beg-Packers'


Steve
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If you have stayed in LOS for even a modicum amount of time, some fellow westerner has begged you for money. I get approached by Brits for some reason. My guess is they know Americans like the accent and think 'well he's Briitish, it must be true'

 

Okay, which one of you guys have done this? Fess up! Overspent at the strip club. Credit card maxed out.

 

http://nypost.com/2017/07/20/thailand-is-sick-of-backpackers-begging-for-money-to-get-home/

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Also a few videos on YouTube re farangs sleeping on the beach at Sodom-by-the-Sea, helped on the quiet by local charities who say they cannot officially help them..

Many are overstayers and can't or won't leave - they're better off here in some cases than in their own home country..

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The requirements for a retirement visa are so strict that I'm sure at least a few of the old guys in Pattaya and elsewhere must be illegals. What I really wonder about are the Indian peanut vendors. I always buy something to help them out, as the rumour is that many of them have simply walked all the way here from India. They do no harm, and I wouldn't be surprised if they bribe the police to ignore them. (I didn't see any of them for over a year following the last coup, but they've been appearing again in recent months.)

 

p.s. The news reported a few years ago on an older Brit who lived in Issan with his Mrs on a tiny UK pension. No way he could meet the 400,000 in the bank minimum nor 800,000 for retirement, let alone the 65,000 a month income. He'd been living on tourists visas, until the government set a limit on them. Wonder what happened to him?

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I know this is thread drift but I'm curious. Is the 65k/month which is 780k a year related to the 800k a year? If in the case of being married where the requirement is 400k what is the monthly income equivalent?

 

Equally confusing is should someone wish to show funds of 400k or 800k and (I'm assuming here) this has to be in a Thai bank and all banks have refused to provide even a savings account on account (sic) of not having a work permit. This seems a bit catch 22. What's the solution?

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When the retirement visa first came out, it was 400,000 baht in a bank account or the equivalent in stocks and bonds - or owning a condo worth more than that. About the same time, the Bank of Thailand in its wisdom decided that foreigners could only open a bank account if they had a valid work permit. Just another result of Thai officials not coordinating with each other. When it was pointed out that retired people don't work and therefore could not open an account, the The Bank of Thailand cancelled the WP requirement. That was years ago, but most banks still insist on it. (It was 200,000 then for a marriage visa.)

 

A few years later, the amount to retire was doubled without explanation to 800,000 baht, and the stocks or property option was eliminated. It has to be cash money these days. I googled because I wasn't sure, but a marriage visa is either the 400,000 in a bank account or a monthly income of 40,000 baht. This is typical Thai logic ... a single person needs 65,000 a month to live on, while a married one needs 25,000 baht less. Amazing Thailand.

 

 

p.s. I was quite pissed off when Immigration made me move my money from the university co-op to a private bank. The co-op paid higher interests and had other benefits, but the gal at Immigration told me it wasn't acceptable as a bank. WTF? How many prime ministers have been Thammasat graduates and have money in that co-op? Is Immigration in league with the banks?

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Sir,

 

a couple of months ago I went into the large Sukhumvit branch of Bangkok Bank to open an account ( tourist ) . They said I had to have my passport confirmed by the German embassy . Is this still the case because I did not bother going there and probably spend 12 hours in a queue .

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