- In order to retire in Thailand as a single person, you must have income of Thai Baht 800,0000 per year (about US$26,667. Your US$1000 pension is the equivalent of approximately 30,000 baht per month. That is about 360,000 baht per year (US$12,000) , which means that each year, when you renew your visa, you would be required to transfer 440,000 baht (about $14,667) to you Thai bank account.
I am using an exchange rate of approximately US$1.00=30 baht. The exchange rate that the Immigration Department uses could change at any time, which would change the amounts of foreign currency you need to be eligible to retire here.
- First of all, you cannot legally work in Thailand if you are on a retirement extension. If you can find a job, then you can be on a working type visa. As for specific locations where you can possibly find work, it probably depends on your specific experience and skills. Thailand as you probably know is a gigantic basket of food on a piece of land, so it might depend on your specific skills and the needs of the country. I recommend you do some research on the Internet into companies like Minor Foods, Plc., Charoen Pokphand (CP) . You can also go to http://www.set.or.th/set/commonslookup.do?language=en&country=US and check companies there.
This page http://marketdata.set.or.th/mkt/sectorquotation.do?language=en&country=US§or=AGRO gives you a list of publicly listed companies in the food and agri businesses . You are probably better off looking at large companies who may have a spare work permit and are willing to fill the position. The number of work permits a company can have is based on their registered capital.
I do not know of any menial jobs that a foreigner is allowed to do, as most jobs i the country ate limited to Thai nationals.
- To avoid confusion, please include the handle of the person you are responding to, since it is not always clear. In some of my earlier posts on this thread, I did give examples of how to calculate the amount of fund needed for retirement in Thailand. See below:
But first, on the point about getting income every month from working, I cannot answer. Retirement here means that you are not working. To get a better answer, I suggest you search the forums at www.thaivisa.com, or post your question there. Caution: There is a lot of noise there, so if you post your question try to specify lopburi3, who is very knowledgeable on the subject of retirement extensions.
Hint: The Thai immigration folks only care that you meet the income requirement, not whether you exceed them. From almost 40 years of living here, I have observed that the more people tell about themselves the more questions get raised. Do yourself a favor and only give them the information they ask for. The processing will be much faster, and you are less likely to open any doors that may have unwanted creatures inside.
Required funds.
1. When you get a non-immigrant visa it should be good for 90 days. Before the 90 days are up, you have to apply for an extension of visa for retirement. Before you go to immigration you will need to transfer B800,000 to a bank in Thailand (and do the same each year just before applying for an extension of the visa. The transfer should be done in a manner to convince the Immigration people that it is clean money (from a legitimate bank or other financial source or a company pension fund).
2. If you do not have B800,000 but have a pension, savings, etc., you must prove that you have a monthly income of at least B65,000 per month. This is in lieu of the B800,000.
3. The other option is calculated by taking the monthly amount you can guarantee bringing in and multiply it by 12 (months). Suppose the amount is the equivalent of 45,0000 baht per month. 45,000*12 months = 540,000 baht. Since this is less than B800,000 baht, you will have to transfer the difference of 260,000 baht before your first application for an extension of stay for retirement purposes and each year before you apply for a renewal.
Don't get confused because 65,000 baht per month is less than 800,000. The difference was probably to encourage people with government pensions who could not manage the B800,000 lump sum.
Source of funds: All the funds must come from abroad and from a legitimate source. The Thai government wants to be sure that you are not laundering money in addition to having adequate funds to support yourself and family if applicable. So it is better if your funds come from your home country.
Since you are American, you need to be aware of the FBAR report and the FATCA reports. Look them up at www.irs.gov. Or google and select the IRS web page in the results. Making mistakes on either requirement could cost you a bundle, not to mention possible jail time.
