Guest Posted June 14, 2001 Report Share Posted June 14, 2001 Is anyone familiar with the pros and cons of Permanent Residence in Thailand? I am coming up to my third year and I am eligible to apply. Is it worth the hassle? I know that there are some advantages e.g. more convenient to own property, less hassle for work permit. However (based on what little I know) it does not seem to compare to a PR status in say Hong Kong, Singapore or even UK. Hope to get some input from the more experience guys! Much thanks in anticipation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldAsiaHand Posted June 15, 2001 Report Share Posted June 15, 2001 I don't see the point of it, and I don't know anyone else who does. It's not 'permanent' to start with because you still have to renew it every year. No, it's not called that, but it amounts to the same thing. You still have to have a visa to leave and reenter the country. Work permit rules are exactly the same. Property ownership rules are exactly the same. Why anyone would bother is beyond me. [ June 15, 2001: Message edited by: OldAsiaHand ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 15, 2001 Report Share Posted June 15, 2001 See http://www.visathailand.com/ai2090.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinning Dwarf Posted June 15, 2001 Report Share Posted June 15, 2001 Dinosaur, I know four people that have PR and they all seem glad they've got it. Believe point one that "it allows the holder to live permanently in Thailand with no requirement to apply for an extension of temporary stay" on the linked website is the main reason why. They all currently have work permits but once they retire that benefit will be useful. I am thinking of applying as well. Cheers, SD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldAsiaHand Posted June 16, 2001 Report Share Posted June 16, 2001 I had a look at the link that PhilJames put up. The list of 'advantages' is not only pretty thin, a lot of them are just plain wrong. These guys are trolling for fees and, it seems to me, not being real careful about how they convince you to pay up. For example, having permanent residency has absolutely to do with whether or not you can appear in a house registration document (which in itself doesn't matter much). Furthermore, it has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not you can be a director of a public company (assuming any foreigner would be dumb enough to want to). Both of those exhaulted statuses are just as readily open to non-permanent residents, and if you want examples of either, I'm an example of both. As for the rest of the list, if you look closely and read carefully, the other items are mostly just meaningless double-talk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted June 16, 2001 Report Share Posted June 16, 2001 Why would anyone bother? Well, it does make things a hell of a lot easier. Instead of renewing it, you're actually simply confirming tht you are still here and are alive and well. You still do need a work permit, though that's no big deal since the visa is the hard one to get. Also, I know of one nicee perk. As a foreigner, I am not allowed to put money in the share plan at my university coop. Last year, the coop paid 12% interest on deposits in it! (Before the '97 crash, it was paying 18%.) Well, one colleague with a permanent resident visa got into the programme anyway, simply because of his PR visa. Thus he is now getting that 12% interest, while the rest of us are stuck at a crummy 3.5%. The fellow has something like 6.5 million baht in the coop shares right now. So figure out how much 12% of 6.5 million is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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