Yes, apart from the fact that foreigners aren’t allowed to own land, which means that the only real viable option is to purchase on a long term lease. The longest lease allowable in Thailand is 30 years. Of course, it is possible to write an option into the lease giving the lessee the option to renew for a further 60 years. For most, 60 years is long enough. However, there is the risk that the lessee cannot renew the lease after 30 years, because they have snuffed it, or the lessor has snuffed it, or some other reason like the government decides not restrict the lease term to foreigners to, say, 10 years.

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As the sun goes down and the temperature drops just that few degrees to make me realize how warm it has been all day I sit in my hammock on my balcony sipping a tall glass of freshly squeezed lime juice over ice with just a splash of vodka.

I look back at the last few months and realize I have been lucky, lucky enough to chase a dream and catch it, lucky enough to realize life in the rat race can be escaped, lucky enough to finally find somewhere comfortable.

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Do’s and Don’t in Thailand

The Monarchy : Thai people have a deep, traditional reverence for the Royal Family, and a visitor should be careful to show respect for the King, the Queen and the Royal Children.

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Marriages can be performed at a local district office known as an ‘amphur’ or ‘khet’. In order for foreigners to get married in Thailand they must have clearance from their embassy. Embassies of different countries have different procedures for providing this clearance. In general, the Thai district offices that perform marriages require affidavits that assert the name of the foreigner, as well as personal details such as confirmed citizenship of that country and legal freedom to marry. Once those foreign affidavits are obtained, they must be translated into Thai and legalized pursuant to Thai law. At that point parties must proceed to the necessary district office for an administrative marriage.

A marriage in Thailand is a legal marriage pursuant to Thai law and is normally recognized throughout the world. This allows for certain benefits to marrying in Thailand. For individuals with trans-national issues, where one or more spouse is from a different country, Thailand is a very convenient location in which to marry.

Another advantage of getting married in Thailand is the variety of picturesque locations, such as world class beach resorts, where a formal or religious ceremony can be performed following the legal administrative marriage.

So how long does an administrative marriage in Thailand take? Including the time involved in procuring affidavits from an embassy, having those documents translated and legalized, and having the marriage performed at a local amphur, the process can be completed in as little as 3 - 4 days. Sometimes, if there are complications, such as back-ups in paperwork at an embassy, or different requirements for certain nations’ embassies, the process can take longer.

It is helpful to retain the services of a lawyer to supervise the marriage. LegalThailand.com can help you co-ordinate the procurement of official documents from the embassy and have them translated and legalized quickly with minimum problems. Familiarity with the formalities of a Thai marriage, access to qualified translators, and an understanding of the legalization process reduces the likelihood of delay or complication.

Prenuptial agreements are allowed in Thailand provided they meet the procedural requirements of Thai law. Generally, it is advisable to have a law office assist you with the preparation of a prenuptial agreement and the translation and legalization of such an agreement pursuant to Thai law. These prenuptial agreements are generally considered valid legal agreements in jurisdictions outside of Thailand. Although, litigation can be an unpredictable process and the laws of different countries may vary, it is always safer for persons with assets or significant property to have a prenuptial agreement.

You must be clean, and should be dressed fairly nicely.

Generally speaking, Thais are gentle, fun-loving, nonjudgemental, and positive-minded people. If you are too serious, overbearing, judgemental and impatient then you’re going to have a very difficult time here (unless you stick to the go-go bars instead).

If you look around at a lot of women, then they will dismiss you as a hunter or “snake head”. They will watch your eyes and your entire body language, and read you like a book. Most ladies will not give any hint of being attracted to a foreign guy until they have observed him awhile to assess his character.

You really can’t fake body language. You are what you are. As applies to Hollywood, “Bad actors act, good actors are”, i.e., bad actors act their character role without truly feeling it, whereas good actors become their character.

Meeting the Ladies

Courting is usually very subtle at first in Thailand. In the Thai culture, generally speaking, the guy should chase the girl moreso than in the farang culture, and the girl must play hard to get. However, this is not always the case, and many girls have overtly chased me, usually when with one or more of their friends when they tend to be in a more social mood.

It’s sometimes also easier for me when I’m with a friend or two, warmed up in conversation mode already, and where the focus isn’t so intense on one person. Having several people around can create a constantly flowing dynamic.

In mainstream nightspots, a Thai male friend at the ladies’ table may make the initial contact because the girls are too shy, or a waiter/waitress will bridge the communication in a playful way. However, nightspots are a risky source for a longterm girlfriend.

It’s difficult for a tourist to meet a mainstream lady while on a short trip to Thailand. It’s much better to live here a long time, whereby the ladies see the guy as here long enough to get to know first, less risk of the usual problems of long distance relationships, and you get a better selection over time.

As this is not an option for so many guys, I get a lot of inquiries for advice.

Internet dating is one obvious option, whereby you can meet them well in advance of your arrival and develop the relationship over that time. However, ladies with a photo and profile on-line usually have a lot of guys hitting up on them … need I say more? Also, you just don’t know about personality compatibility until you meet them in person, so should you put all your hopes into one lady?

For those who choose to try internet dating, I advise you to put up your own profile and wait for Thai ladies to go to the effort to contact you. Many mainstream Thai ladies don’t want to put their photo up on an internet dating site. Ask for their profile, and if they don’t have one or are shy to put up their photo or personal information, then that’s usually a good sign. However, do be aware that there are scammers who reach out to contact foreigners this way, and if you get serious about a lady then you may want to verify her background and current status.

An alternative is to meet mainstream ladies is in a commercial environment, such as sales and service ladies. It’s their job to talk with customers, but with a smile and genuine interest you can meet many of these ladies in one day. Only a small fraction may be available (no husband or boyfriend)and interested, but in a good long day at shopping malls and markets, you may be able to come up with a few prospects. However, many sales ladies “use” guys just to make sales, so you must be careful, and at some point you could ask if they have a husband or boyfriend. If you can get their mobile number, then send an SMS or two. If they don’t reply, then cross them off your list. However, while it’s a good sign that a lady has a real job requiring real effort rather than making money on her back, do be aware that some sales ladies use their job to meet multiple men, and of course pretty ones will normally have multiple guys in pursuit.

If you choose to stick to your normal living and working environment, then usually, the initial contact does not happen for some time. I may be aware that I’m being watched, and make some subtle signals that I’m also watching (quite subtle and not pushy), but it takes time. The Thai ladies check you out carefully over time, such as whether your eyes look at a lot of other ladies in the environment, and of course whether you go thru a series of bargirls.

If you are outside your normal environment and/or it’s a one-time opportunity where you’ll probably never see each other again, then you must go for it somehow. If you’ll be seeing each other again, e.g., you see her at her fixed place of work or at a nearby residence, then the best thing is to give it some time.

A genuine smile is an absolute must. Thais know of many kinds of smiles just like many kinds of hearts. (Minds are another matter…)

Differences from the West

First, Thais don’t kiss much mouth-to-mouth. French-style kissing is rare. Instead, Thais kiss with their nose against their lover’s skin, a kind of mild suction kiss with the nose. It’s a more sensitive kind of kiss, and not wet or sloppy.

I remember the first time a girl kissed me this way. It was very cute and I came to prefer this way. I’ve never been into mouth-to-mouth kissing too much anyway, so this was an improvement. I kiss the skin regularly but not the mouth except on occasion.

The rest of this section gets a little sexually graphic, so if you’re too conservative then you should stop here…

Mainstream Thai girls are usually shy about their bodies. If you start expanding your affections to sensitive parts of their body, then you’ll usually need to turn out the lights at first.

Touching a certain place with your hand is usually not allowed, quite the opposite of western ladies who much prefer foreplay in such a place. Indeed, if you proceed to sexual intercourse, then it may take a little more time without “guidance” or such touching.

Sexual gratification of the woman often doesn’t occur on the first encounter unless you really take a lot of time. If they’re a virgin, which is common here, then they’re usually quite ignorant and learning some very basics. Once they’ve “gotten over” this first experience, then they’re generally more open to learning and foreplay. Sexuality is not discussed in the saucy Thai press in as much detail as in the west (never mind the saucier photos in Thai magazines), and in many circles it is not discussed in detail among friends, though many Thai ladies go into exhaustive detail with their close friends.

As you develop friendship as well as romance, trust, and lots of affection and comfort with each other, then you can often bypass the pitfalls of the above, especially with LOTS AND LOTS of foreplay.

At the other extreme, forget getting a lady into bed on the first night, or the second. Let them dream about things for awhile, and assimilate the possibilities in their mind, so that they are “ready”. It’s not uncommon to sleep with a lady without having sx for one or more nights. I generally stay away from sx until both they and myself are ready. No sx is much better than bad sex. And other feelings are more gratifying. It’s like drinking a wine before its time. Also, first impressions are important. Wait until she’s really ready (though some people are followers too much, and need some pushing).

Some Thai girls will talk seriously about commitment and make conditions for getting more physical. Don’t lie or mislead them. They are serious. Don’t be surprised if they reject you and remove themselves from the relationship. However, in most cases it’s just for awhile. You might be surprised several days later by the 11pm sweet and imaginative phone call you’ll get, like they’ve decided that “If you don’t get what you want, then you settle for less.” You can see the shift in their outlook, that they are now ready to explore and learn some things about life and love, rather than stick to their ideals and the same old routine and potentially miss out.

Overall, the vast majority of farangs have Thai girlfriends from the farang bar-girl and freelancer scene. A smaller percentage are Thai ladies from the offices of multinational companies (usually met in the office), and Thai ladies attending universities (often met via Internet). A still smaller percentage is Thai ladies from none of the above, and what I’ll generally categorize as from social encounters — the general blue collar workforce, or born wealthy and idling, or supported by their extended family, etc. (Low level sales ladies in department stores and the like are often in a grey area, in-between.)

There are major differences between “mainstream” ladies and bargirls/freelancers. While there are many sorts, most of them will not get in bed with you quickly. (How long varies from a few dates to a few months. Those waiting until marriage now make up a small minority.) They will expect you to be faithful to them. You must know how to be reasonably polite and proper in Thai culture if you ever expect to get far. Sukhumvit and Pattaya norms are not acceptable — this is a different subculture.

When in public in Thailand, it’s important to not overdo physical contact. Watch Thai couples. They may touch hands or arms occasionally, but they don’t walk down the road arm in arm, and don’t even hold hands much. Nonetheless, the looks in your eyes, smiles, and gentle affectionate touching which flows naturally is quite acceptable in contemporary Bangkok culture. Of course, unnatural, “forced” contact is a turn-off. Kissing in public is something you should never do in Thailand

Marriage in Thailand is not a difficult process. As a foreigner you are allowed to register your marriage to a Thai national or to another foreigner.
Marrying a Thai
A foreigner is eligble to marry a Thai national. The process is as follows:
You will need to first visit you embassy. You will need to have an “affadavit of freedom to marry” prepared and endorsed by the Consul. This is a document basically stating that your are not currenty married and are free and available to enter nuptials. You will need to provide divorce or death certificates if applicable.

We will then legally translate this “affadavit” and our lawyers will have the translation notarized, and the consul signature verified at the Thai Department of Naturalization. The government fee for this is 400 Baht per document. Translation, notary, and signature verifcation process is normally 2-3 days.

After you have the completed documents you are eligble to marry in Thailand at any local government amphur office. The Thai national will require his/her Thai ID card. Please Note: If you are interested in a Pre-Nuptial agreement, it must to registered at this time.

Foreigner/ Foreigner Marriage

Thai marriage is considered legal in most countries of the world. Both parties will need to visit their respective embassies to obtain a “Affadavit of Freedom to Marry”. This basically states they are not already married. They will need to provide divorce or death certificates if applicable.

We will then legally translate both “affadavits” and our lawyers will have the translation notarized, and the consul signature verified at the Thai Department of Naturalization. The government fee for this is 400 Baht per document. Translation, notary, and signature verifcation process is normally 2-3 days.

After you have the completed documents you are eligble to marry in Thailand at any local government amphur office. Please Note: If you are interested in a Pre-Nuptial agreement, it must to registered at this time.

Retire-on-550-month.com

If you are going to retire to Thailand and if you are over 50 years of age you should obtain a Retirement Visa. It’s that simple.

If you don’t then you will be doing a “visa run” every month like thousands or tens of thousands of other foreigners. For those of you not acquainted to the term visa run it is a trip outside of the country to get your passport stamped. It is time consuming, costly if you have to do it every month and just a nuisance. It appears that new Immigration Law to be put into effect soon will limit you to 3 entries and then you will have to return home for 3 months and then apply for a tourist visa and then return IF you do not have a long term visa.

When I first considered retiring to Thailand I read about the visa runs and I wondered what I could do to avoid doing that. Well all you have to do is to get yourself a Retirement Visa. It normally takes 4-6 weeks to obtain from the time your completed application and fee is sent to the Royal Thai Embassy or Thai Consulate.

The requirements include a criminal check where you will probably have to pay a small fee to get the local police to check you out and then issue a form. The other requirements include a medical certificate from your physician saying that you do not have Aids, TB and a few other communicable diseases. Along with my application I submitted a letter from my bank stating that I had considerably more than the amount required by the Royal Thai Government which was 800,000 baht or about $22,000 U.S.

When it come time to submit your application it will be in the form of an original and and 4 copies which have to be notarized and a fee of approximately $120. payable to the Royal Thai Embassy. It is all mailed to them by courier with a prepaid return envelope.

If things go well you will get your passport returned to you within 4-6 weeks with the Retirement Visa inside. It takes a page and looks like it was stamped on the paper.

After that you are required to go to the Immigration office every 3 months and fill out a form showing your current address and phone number. It takes about 10 minutes and they attach part of the completed form into your passport and then you are all set for another 90 days. Much better than a visa run.

Now I have read that the age requirement is 50 and I have also read that the age requirement is 55 for the Retirement Visa. I applied at 52 and I can tell you that the age requirement is 50 years of age.

The total cost of my retirement visa was about $300 Canadian. That includes the fee to the Royal Thai Government, fee for criminal check, fee for notarizing the forms, prepaid courier to Royal Thai embassy, prepaid courier for return courier from Royal Thai embassy, and gas for 2 trips to the police station, gas to the lawyer, gas for trips to bank, and miscellaneous. But when you look back after you have the retirement visa the fee you realize is well worth it.

A Retirement Visa can be applied for from your local Consulate or Embassy where you live outside of Thailand OR when you are in Thailand.

With our service we advice you where you should apply, how much money you should bring, when you should bring it and what you should do with it when you have it here. This may souund simple and straight forward but IT IS NOT. We can save you approximately $ 1,800 U.S. on just information about money management dealing with the Retirement Visa requirements.

NOTE: In most cases we suggest applying for a Retirement Visa while you are still in your home country.

NOTE: You can lose upwards of 9% on your money in foreign exchange fees imposed by the banks.

NOTE: What you read in the way of requirements for a Retirement Visa may seem straight forward and you may think you understand but trust us. You have to know what you are doing or IT WILL COST YOU MONEY.

So we are here to save you money, and time and make the move here less work than it has to be. From Retirement Visa, to moving here which includes what to bring and what not to bring, saving money on transportation costs, and then when you arrive here we will help you find accommodations that are affordable and within your budget yet with the comforts of home.

There are firms that will charge you for preparing your Retirement Visa. That is all that they do. They do not advise on anything else and there is money to be saved on everything else from transportation, money management, investing, and more.

Things to Remember:

After you have your Retirement Visa and should you decide to leave the country you must obtain either a re-entry permit (single entry or multiple entry). I believe that the single entry permit cost me 1,000 baht or about $25 U.S. If you leave and do not obtain a re-entry permit then say good-bye to your retirement visa.

Before the retirement visa expires it is a matter of paying a fee of 1,000 baht, having a medical certificate from a physician ( 100 baht ) and a Thai bank statement showing at least 800,000 baht, and a current photo. Once this information is shown to Immigration officials then another retirement visa will likely be issued which is good for another year and should be ready same day if you applied in the morning. You would still be required to visit Immigration offices in Thailand every 90 days to provide them with your current telephone number and address and also you would be required to leave the country at least once a year (could be any neighboring country for a brief visit), and remember to obtain a re-entry permit if you intend to leave Thailand.

Note: With the recent changes to Immigration policy the the money money must now be in the account and remain in the account for 90 days before application or renewal. This is one of the new rules for Thai visa’s and you should be aware of all the changes and how they will affect your decision to stay in Thailand or to retire to Thailand.

A person married to a Thai is eligible for a three month Non-Immigrant Category B visa, extendible up to one year. Proof of 400,000 baht ($10,000) in a Thai bank, or foreign income or pension to the value of 40,000 baht per month is required. The above changes will probably apply too – better to show a higher bank balance.

So that’s it. Fairly simple but what I learned is that you should not believe everything you read on the internet about the retirement visa. For example I have seen on a number of occasions the age requirement being shown as 55. There are other things that I noticed and which we pass on to our clients when we advise them about the process and get into the details.

The Immigration office in Chiang Mai is located very near to the airport. For the routine visits every 90 days go to the building on the left side as you drive in. For re-entry permit go to the building on the right hand side. They have a small restaurant and a area where photocopies can be made and photos taken more towards the back of their property.

Staying on the Visa topic note that citizens from 57 countries can enter Thailand without charge for 30 days without a visa. These countries include U.S.A., U. K., Australia, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand, Canada as well as most European countries.

Your passport must be valid for 6 months beyond your planned departure.

A tourist visa is good for 60 days and can be gotten through a Thai Embassy or consulate in your country. This can be done by mail. The cost is $25. Once issued, the visa must be used (started) within 90 days of the date issued. The visa is invalid upon departure from Thailand even if the visitor hasn’t stayed 60 days.

There are other types of visa but generally they don’t apply to visiting Thailand for a holiday.

Overstaying your visa is a serious matter and should not be taken lightly. On the one hand, you can clear up an overstay when you leave Thailand by paying your fine at the airport- 200 Baht per day with a maxiumum of 20,000 Baht.

On the other hand, you can be subject to arrest even if the police stop you for something else. Being arrested is fairly common and it is extremely unpleasant.

In addition to fines and detention, it is possible to be deported and black listed. That could mean that you can never return to Thailand.

The Thai Government realizes that seniors make great visitors. That they have the money and that they can stay longer. Unfortunately in my opinion they do not realize that seniors particularly men want someone to share their lives with and at times come here for the affordability, climate and also for the Thai ladies who are seeking marriage minded men.

If the Thai Government wanted to encourage seniors to spend more money and more seniors to come here to Thailand to retire then they should change the home ownership laws. From what I understand foreigners can own condo’s but not houses. So what happens is that the farang (foreigner) comes here and meets a lady and they develop a long lasting relationship. The farang decides to buy a house and has to put it in her name. Being a smart and cautious farang he has to figure out a way around the existing home ownership laws just in case the Thai lady gives him the boot. So they put the house in her name and she signs a long term lease allowing him to stay there for almost nothing. It works and most farang-Thai couples do it this way. But is this necessary? Come on now do you want farangs to come here to retire or not?

What I think is a great deal is that of coming here for medical treatment. This can be major dental work, a hair transplant, a heart operation, or liposcution or breast enhancement for the females. The costs here are so much less and the treatments performed by qualified physicians that it is a good idea to come here for a vacation and get this medical treatment performed and then return home with money in your pocket from what it would have cost you back home for the medical treatment. As I write on another page in the web site, I wish I had known about this sooner as I would have taken advantage of this and had 3-4 Free Vacations to Thailand by now.

If there is something that is particularly annoying to me it is the quality of the health care back home. In my case that is Canada. I can remember when a trip to the doctor involved a short wait and you were treated promptly and effectively. Now I find that you make an appointment, wait an hour to two hours after your scheduled appointment time to see the doctor who is always behind schedule because they want to maximize their earnings and then they get you to keep coming back when they don’t have the slightest clue what ails you or how to treat you. When a specialist needs to be seen it takes 1-2 months wait and then you find out how incompetent your physician really was when the specialist diagnoses the problems and prescribes the treatment after seeing you for only 10 minutes.

It might sound like I am a complainer. Well I can be at times. And if we don’t complain when we have reason things will not get better on their own.

So there you have it information about the Retirement Visa, some details about other Visa’s, and some whinnying about health care and about property ownership laws here in Thailand for home buying farangs. Well no place is perfect and there are a few things that irritate me and which I cannot understand but so is life.

I do urge anyone coming here to retire to obtain a Retirement Visa.

We can help you with the process whether you want to apply when you are back home or apply after you decide to make this home.

The Thai authorities require that any foreign national wishing to marry in Thailand obtain an “affirmation of freedom to marry”. This affirmation must be made in person at the Consular Section of the British Embassy in Bangkok. It is not possible to obtain the affirmation from the United Kingdom in advance.

The marriage will only be recognised under UK law if it is valid under Thai law. For it to be valid in Thai law, the marriage must be registered with the Registrar at an Amphur Office (District Office). A religious ceremony on its own is not recognised as being valid under Thai law.

The Thai marriage certificate will be in Thai only. You may wish to commission a “sworn translation” of the marriage certificate from a translation bureau, so that you can use the document for legal purposes in the U.K.

Consular Section can arrange for your marriage certificate to be deposited with the General Register Office (GRO) in the United Kingdom. This not a legal obligation and has no bearing on the validity or otherwise of the marriage. It simply means that you are able to obtain a certified copy of your marriage certificate directly from the GRO, should you need to do so in the future. Please ask us for further details if you wish do this.

A very interesting article and one in which his observations are absolutely spot on. Where I find the article less than good is explaining why the Thais act as they do - he rather takes the view that the western way is correct and that Thai culture is simply misguided in its outlook. I think if you dig a little deeper, you can fully understand why Thais think and act as they do.

For society as a whole (rather than me as an individual) I am not sure which works best but I tend to favour Thai ‘culture’. Seems to me that western culture simply isn’t working. Most marriages are failing and those that stick together are not necessarily happy. Thai ‘culture’ is immersed in ‘family values’ something that the West dispensed with sometime ago.

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