A financial rough guide to newer pastures

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tamada
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A financial rough guide to newer pastures

Post by tamada » November 2, 2018, 1:24 pm

If, like me Aussie mate this morning down in Phuket, you are having a hissy fit over the end of proof of income letters for Australians, (welcome to the club BTW), instead of his rather scattergun googling for the next place to hang his hat (he's already talking up the long term visa and a ~15k baht apartment rental in Saigon), some may first want to research the basic economics and compare the costs in your chosen new nirvana with your current one.

https://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living



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mathusalah80
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Re: A financial rough guide to newer pastures

Post by mathusalah80 » November 2, 2018, 8:39 pm

Interesting.

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Re: A financial rough guide to newer pastures

Post by Giggle » November 2, 2018, 10:26 pm

If you don't have 800K baht, you're not welcome here. Can't you hear what they're saying?
I, personally, don't have a problem with it -- until I consider who is enforcing the rule, and their reputation for corruption.
Thai banks already treat your money like its theirs. Your nationality makes your baht worth less than theirs.
This is sliding down a very slippery slope. And I do mean slope.
Ashli Babbitt -- SAY HER NAME!

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Re: A financial rough guide to newer pastures

Post by tamada » November 3, 2018, 2:01 pm

mathusalah80 wrote:
November 2, 2018, 8:39 pm
Interesting.
It's a rough guide and flags any choices that don't have a decent amount of data. If anyone has any lengthy experience of living and working anyplace, sign up and add some data. May fill an hour or two when the forum is running slow.

BTW my Phuket Aussie mate was already hot to trot on Vung Tau just after his first visit on a job we did there about 3 years ago. Just for shits n giggles, I typed in Udon versus Vung Tau and Udon is apparently 7% more expensive. He typed in Phuket versus Vung Tau and saw 38% savings by relocating. More proof, if ever it was needed, that Phuket is for mugs.

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Re: A financial rough guide to newer pastures

Post by mech_401 » November 7, 2018, 4:16 am

Giggle wrote:
November 2, 2018, 10:26 pm
If you don't have 800K baht, you're not welcome here. Can't you hear what they're saying?
I, personally, don't have a problem with it -- until I consider who is enforcing the rule, and their reputation for corruption.
Thai banks already treat your money like its theirs. Your nationality makes your baht worth less than theirs.
This is sliding down a very slippery slope. And I do mean slope.
yes , its sort of like a large security deposit your
landlord holds. and you're not 100% sure you will
be able to get it back or take it with you when leave

or maybe maintenance fees,cleaning duties, general medical expenses will be deducted :-k

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Re: A financial rough guide to newer pastures

Post by parrot » November 7, 2018, 10:30 am

mech_401 wrote:
November 7, 2018, 4:16 am
Giggle wrote:
November 2, 2018, 10:26 pm
If you don't have 800K baht, you're not welcome here. Can't you hear what they're saying?
I, personally, don't have a problem with it -- until I consider who is enforcing the rule, and their reputation for corruption.
Thai banks already treat your money like its theirs. Your nationality makes your baht worth less than theirs.
This is sliding down a very slippery slope. And I do mean slope.
yes , its sort of like a large security deposit your
landlord holds. and you're not 100% sure you will
be able to get it back or take it with you when leave

or maybe maintenance fees,cleaning duties, general medical expenses will be deducted :-k

In the interests of keeping this thread honest....in the event someone is looking for valid info:
800k in the bank is not a security deposit. It's your money and I've never heard of anyone not able to get it back. And, last time I put 800k in the bank, I drew a reasonable (at the time) interest rate. I viewed the 800k as an insurance policy......in the event of a major problem...medical or otherwise.....I had the cash to instantly deal with the problem. If the need arose during the 3 month period prior to renewing our visas, I would suck it in and start the visa process all over again.
All the fear-mongering about Thai banks is unjustified. Granted, their customer services may be lacking.....but with 7 day a week services now provided with nearly all the major banks....even into the evening hours......and ATM machines a dime a dozen......and decent on-line services......you won't get much better, if any, at a US bank.

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Re: A financial rough guide to newer pastures

Post by Giggle » November 7, 2018, 11:17 am

The Thai banking system is abysmal and archaic. They use paper passbooks, FFS. Misplace your passbook and you're in for a wild ride. They will never let you know when your fixed-rate certificates are about to mature. It's their little secret. Mailed or e-mailed monthly statements detailing your accounts? Forget it. Likewise, they will never display the savings rates publicly in the bank because there are many rates depending who you are and what nationality you are. They offer lower interest rates to non-Thais. Often, I will go in to the bank to roll-over a fixed deposit only to be told the one-year option is not currently available. What? The tellers try to steer you to their promotion, like the Global House dolt steers you to his commission-yielding product. What you want is not their concern. They do the same thing with ATM cards, bundling them with all sorts of insurance schemes. If I want insurance, I'll go to an insurance company. You want the just basic card? "No hab."

The inability of widows to quickly reclaim their deceased husband's funds is very real -- and a result of the funds being in his name only. If they are in a fixed account, there is no ATM card. Yes, an attorney is required and yes a court appearance is necessary. I've used the deposited 800K for five years, without touching it, just rolling it over each year. It's my only option, and I don't really care that this is becoming the norm. But my experience is that Thai banks are dodgy.

Other observations: My bank will only issue one ATM card for a joint account. The fee for an immigration letter detailing the account balance varies between 100 and 700 baht -- depending on which teller I land in front of and which manager is on duty. I've made withdrawals of more than 100,000 baht having never been asked for ID, the bankbook was that was required. Want to deposit money into your account at a branch other than the one where you opened your account? You'll have to pay to make that deposit. Shocking. Various branches of the same bank are not interconnected and do not facilitate a seamless overlap. The setup is provincial and rudimentary.

My daughter collects coins from her school allowance. She counts them carefully and bundles them into packs of 100. She sat looking on incredulously when the armed bank security guard insisted they be recounted -- and 10 percent taken as a fee. Yeah, just like American banks. :confused: The Thai banking system is abysmal and archaic.
Ashli Babbitt -- SAY HER NAME!

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Re: A financial rough guide to newer pastures

Post by Udon Map » November 7, 2018, 12:53 pm

Giggle wrote:
November 7, 2018, 11:17 am
My daughter collects coins from her school allowance. She counts them carefully and bundles them into packs of 100. She sat looking on incredulously when the armed bank security guard insisted they be recounted -- and 10 percent taken as a fee. Yeah, just like American banks. :confused: The Thai banking system is abysmal and archaic.
So they haven't figured out that you can count coins by weighing them?

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Re: A financial rough guide to newer pastures

Post by Giggle » November 7, 2018, 12:58 pm

Nope, nor in a coin-counting machine which they probably have.
Ashli Babbitt -- SAY HER NAME!

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Re: A financial rough guide to newer pastures

Post by parrot » November 7, 2018, 1:32 pm

Just to clarify........you can put your 800k in a savings account and have an atm card and online access to the account. Granted, the interest rates suck.....but then, the interest rates in a savings account in most any US banking facility suck, too.
If you have an ATM card, your wife can have access to your money if'n when you die. Yes, I know, the law.........but in a few cases over the years of an American dying in Udon, the surviving widow has drown down the deceased account.

Yes, I agree......passbooks....part of dinosaur age.

Over 22 years, I've bounced around a variety of banks....but with ubiquitous branches now and 7 day a week banking, the major irritant-----long queues-------is mostly history.
Yes, banking letters were 100 baht and then 200 baht. When we first moved to Thailand, we gave some thought to living in Nongkai.....thank God we didn't. Your experiences in immigration and banks there are most distressing.

In the end.....when people tire of Thailand and seek newer pastures, they seem to key in on two things: ease of visas/extensions and general cost of living. There's scant attention to things like hospitals, banking, internet, utilities, roads, schools, quality/variety of housing, etc etc etc. For some......a 20 Baht bowl of noodle soup across the border would be reason enough to move.

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Re: A financial rough guide to newer pastures

Post by mech_401 » November 7, 2018, 2:52 pm

parrot wrote:in the interests of keeping this thread honest....in the event someone is looking for valid info:
800k in the bank is not a security deposit. It's your money
i was being satirical . not everything is to be interpreted literally. when people say " the sun
is setting on the british empire" they don't mean
its physically beached itself on the shores of
dover. i apologize for the ambiguity.

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Re: A financial rough guide to newer pastures

Post by Neeranam » November 10, 2018, 9:46 pm

Giggle wrote:
November 2, 2018, 10:26 pm
Thai banks already treat your money like its theirs. Your nationality makes your baht worth less than theirs.
This is sliding down a very slippery slope. And I do mean slope.
How so? My Thai banks are very good, apart from the low interest, but that's the same in the UK.

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Re: A financial rough guide to newer pastures

Post by Giggle » November 11, 2018, 9:23 pm

Does your British bank tell account-holders who are not British that their deposited pounds earn less than British account holders? Thought not.
Ashli Babbitt -- SAY HER NAME!

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