Thread: Applying for a Spouse Visa

Ha ha . Good post shutree. Yer the voice of reason. I wish I had of read this post 20 or so years ago. Oh well.que Sera sera

Wasp it's your business but you sound very unsure of what to do for someone who's 75 and had and association with Thailand for over 15 years (my estimate) and u think you've been with your good lady a long time too.

It seems money and security are your worries. I would ask what your other half feels about this given the time you've been together.

If you are that worried about selling up and cutting your ties to yheUK then don't and do as has been mentioned rent out the UK property and rent a place in Thailand. Will this call into question your commitment to her?

You leave a lot of unanswered questions if you are looking for opinions on here but all the best to you and her.

Originally Posted by Joe 90

You could live another 25 years,it makes sense to have another income.
There's estate agents who will rent it out for you and transfer the regular income to your account . They will manage the property, tenants and repairs.

Up to you at the end of the day.

All the best.

You do make sense . Thank You Joe . I WILL look into it . W.

With all due respect, Wasp, I don't think you have the temperament to live in Thailand. And if I recall correctly, you don't really like the heat. Add to that your concerns about losing everything, I think you should stay where you are and visit Thailand from time to time. But if you wanted to test the waters, just rent somewhere to live in Thailand for a trial run. I believe your partner is from near Korat so perhaps Jorhor or one of the sois off Mukhamontri Road in Korat would suit you. And if you like it, as others have said, renting out your property in the UK is an option.

Originally Posted by nidhogg

You are a fucking idiot. Sorry for being blunt. You have a wife You do not trust 1,000 percent. You are struggling to find the 400k, and personally I would think you need 3 to 4 times that in another account. You have not even looked at health insurance. At 75 I would bet money that you have 2 or three pre existing conditions that will make coverage difficult if not impossible.
Living in in thaiand can be tough. And you strike me as a good candidate to be the guest star on a bonfire in nakon bumfuck.

Thank you for your kind assessment nidhogg .

Originally Posted by Neverna

With all due respect, Wasp, I don't think you have the temperament to live in Thailand. And if I recall correctly, you don't really like the heat. Add to that your concerns about losing everything, I think you should stay where you are and visit Thailand from time to time. But if you wanted to test the waters, just rent somewhere to live in Thailand for a trial run. I believe your partner is from near Korat so perhaps Jorhor or one of the sois off Mukhamontri Road in Korat would suit you. And if you like it, as others have said, renting out your property in the UK is an option.

Thank you for this Post Neverna . 1. The temperament to live in Thailand ?? Well I'm not sure what that means . I've certainly got along fine with all the Thais that I meet . I just smile and behave respectfully . And buy them ice creams . 2. The Heat . You're right . I don't like the Heat . Nor do I like scraping ice off the car in England . It took me a while to realise that the Thais take a Siesta in the afternoon . Even the dogs and the chickens . So air conditioning , cold showers plus afternoon Siesta should get me through to the 5 o clock chilled Leo . 3. Concerns about being wiped out . How would you not have such concerns if you read about the number of farangs who do lose out . They are not rare stories . I am not as wussy as I seem . Really I'm just thinking aloud trying to learn from others experience . Isn't that one of the main ideas behind this sort of Forum ?

I believe Philippines is ofering a new visa with permanent residency for 10 grand US. Maybe you would be better placed there. Its an easy flight from phil to bangkok. Just a suggestion. However being an O.C. you may prefer to limit ypur travels.

Originally Posted by BLD

You might be better of moving to benidorm

Plenty of adult action in Benidorm and the only dangerous issues with the pathways are the other mobility scooters..

Dudes talking about moving to Thailand and so far he's been offered Benidorm and the Philippines.

You're 75, sell the UK house but keep the money separate from your 100% trustworthy wife. You'll probably need it for the visa anyway. Rent a place in the area you want and you too could live up north and spend your days being a dick on teakdoor.

Yeah.

Being in Samut Prakaan and wanting to be a dick on the internet.

The travel time involved would be inconvenient, for sure.

Originally Posted by BLD

You might be better of moving to benidorm old son?. Fly your bird out to stay with you . At 75 I wouldn't like to be doing visa runs just to stay in country. Seriously. Spain would be a better option at your age( no offence). You haven't said where you would be living in Thailand is it nackon bumfuck or bangkok/ pattaya / phuket etc. Where the full English is the same price as benidorm. You also haven't told us how mobile you are? That's a big issue if you are not so active. I hate to rain on your parade but like nidhogg I am also a realist

Benidorm - or Phillipines - would be no good . My motivation here is for my wife . She has worked long enough in England and she spent most of her earnings on her Thai House and Thai Family . She would be very happy to return home , maybe be poor again but be with her immediate family and I want to see her happy .
I know I would be lonely as Hell in England without her so I accept that she has spent long enough away . If I sell up I'll be financially fine in Thailand .
Time for me to bite the bullet and adapt to the place . Luckily I am healthy . I even like her family too !

Originally Posted by Wasp

Thank you for this Post Neverna . 1. The temperament to live in Thailand ?? Well I'm not sure what that means . I've certainly got along fine with all the Thais that I meet . I just smile and behave respectfully . And buy them ice creams

I think folk are trying to point out that you come across as a gullible fucker who would be rinsed dry in Thailand in no time.

Have you ever considered buying a dna testing kit?

[QUOTE=armstrong;4656804]Dudes talking about moving to Thailand and so far he's been offered Benidorm and the Philippines.

You're 75, sell the UK house but keep the money separate from your 100% trustworthy wife. You'll probably need it for the visa anyway. Rent a place in the area you want and you too could live up north and spend your days being a dick on teakdoor.[/QUOTE]


I DO think she's trustworthy . Have no reason to think otherwise . But still I want to be cautious because if for any reason I couldn't stay I would have nowhere to go to back in England . There's no family remaining in the UK . None at all .

I think folk are trying to point out that you come across as a gullible fucker who would be rinsed dry in Thailand in no time.

Have you ever considered buying a dna testing kit?



I've never understood why there are always people who want to write like this . And there are lots of them .

I take back my don't sell the house comment.


75, no kids to leave the house to, presumably with a state pension (presumably a smeg-troll if not due to some catastrophe. )

Keep the sale of the house funds in the UK, come to Thailand and live off the state pension + 10% of the funds from selling the house per year.

You'll be dead or 85/86 yrs old by the time that's gone and yer down to the state pension alone.


Would beat being elderly in bladdy England.

Originally Posted by Reg Dingle

Have you ever considered buying a dna testing kit?

There's no need for that.

I for one was appalled.

Originally Posted by Wasp

I've never understood why there are always people who want to write like this . And there are lots of them .

Sorry. I was a bit too blunt. Thailand is a VERY unforgiving county. No nanny state, no safety net. For example, I had a recent emergency hospitalization, few days in ICU. Upon admittance I had to give a deposit of 180,000 baht. You cannot say I will bring yhe money from UK next week. Paid upfront. I have a credit card with a 750k limit, so no big deal. I also could have arranged transfer to a hospital where I have full social insurance coverage. I have options.

As has been wisely said, come over for 3 to 6 months. Rent somewhere out of bk, and see if you can live the life before burning all bridges. In uk you have full health coverage, here without insurance you will have nothing.

I have lived and worked here for close to 25 years.

I knew Toby Charnaud. Judge me if you want, but Thailand is VERY unforgiving.

^ I had to Google that guy Nid. Brutal stuff.


Mr Wasp, I think you have been given some good advice here.

Hopefully without sounding too ‘stalky’, I am aware of the environment you’ll be moving to in Thailand as we have a mutual friend.

From my experience it’s an awful lot easier living with a Thai spouse in the West, than living with a Thai spouse in Thailand, particularly if you’re moving to a very ‘Thai’ environment where your wife is established and living among her family. It can be very isolating for a Westerner, although I am lucky to have a full time job which occupies most of my time and with a young daughter and a pack of dogs I don’t really get the time to get bored. But it certainly can be an issue in Isaan. And I do get weary doing endless jobs.

I spent the first decade and half in Thailand happily coming and going with Non O multiple entry visas based on having a Thai spouse, and I would still be doing so if it wasn’t for Covid which ended all that. The advantage was never having to go near an immigration office, and the 90 day in country limit was rarely an issue due to regular work rotations. On the rare occasion that the 90 day limit was an issue, I’d very happily head to Singapore or KL for a couple of days break… no man should do more than three months straight in Korat without some reprieve.

With Covid I had to change tactics and went for the extension based on a Thai spouse (that I believe you are planning on) and this was my first experience of the local immigration office. I know that many having nothing but praise for their immigration offices but that certainly hasn’t been my experience.

After eventually getting the documents filled out and accepted, with plenty of issues that I won’t go into here, I had the home visit during which it was made very clear just how this would all be accepted. It didn’t help that the old crone who we’d lived next door to for 15 years and who I was using as a witness… presented her house book and we discovered that she was registered in a property in bloody Khon Buri. None of the wife’s half-witted friends were registered locally either, but eventually things were smoothed over, as they always are.

Then came the 30 day waiting ‘under consideration’ after which I finally had my extension, but I was far from impressed.

The following year I needed to renew my extension two weeks early since I had a three month job coming up and things were tight with the 30 day under consideration period, but they just wouldn’t do it early. I didn’t want to leave Thailand with no easy means to return, so despite making all the criteria for the extension I used an agent and lo and behold, had my extension stamped in my passport just over four weeks later and so I could leave for work. It is a huge gripe of mine that despite committing to the country for many years, wife, child etc, I still have to jump through these hoops just to live here and maintain a full time job. It really pisses me off.

Agents are the way to go, and for me, if the cost of the agent is less than a day’s work that I’d lose, it’s a no brainer. Just another annual cost of living in Thailand.

The following year I tried to get the extension expedited but even an agent can’t guarantee speeding up the 30 day under consideration period, so rather than lose a work trip, I changed from an extension based on marriage to a retirement extension. Cheaper and turned around in days rather than weeks. This is how I’ll remain and I can’t see any difference between the two anyway.

My advice would be to come over on a 60 day tourist visa and then get an agent to convert to a retirement extension. Don’t do anything rash with your UK property, give it at least a year to see how living in Thailand goes and then if you are sure, maybe sell in the future when the UK market dictates. In the meantime, why not try and rent it cheaply and unofficially to friends etc. Once you’re sure about Thailand, either sell or put it in the hands of a letting agent. Whatever you do, I would keep the capital in the UK. I now transfer just enough each month to live on in Thailand, not a penny more. My capital is overseas and will remain there… I won’t invest a single extra Satang in a country where I’ll never be a citizen or even feasibly get PR.

As Nid says, health insurance is a big issue. I was also recently hospitalised and despite having good insurance, was forced to front up a 200,000 Baht deposit on a credit card while waiting for pre-authorisation. Insurance premiums are a big cost and something that may eventually push me to leave Thailand, and you have nearly twenty years on me. There is no safety net in Thailand and without insurance or deep pockets the wheels can come off fast.

Whatever you decide, good luck. Just don’t go all in before testing the water.

Originally Posted by Wasp

spent most of her earnings on her Thai House

So she already owns a house. Is that where you'd plan to live? That would make things a lot easier.

I passed on decent info re spouse and retirement extensions, how to do it, and the agent fees for both privately, but nope, Wasp knows best.

Integrity Legal put the boot into Siam Legal in a recent youtube video about dodgy professionals. In one of his 3 to 5 minute videos. He had a go at some others too.

Originally Posted by Edmond

I passed on decent info re spouse and retirement extensions, how to do it, and the agent fees for both privately, but nope, Wasp knows best.

Wasp won't move to Thailand. He started this thread a year ago and only this week started reading the replies in the thread, despite being 75 and presumably retired with plenty of free time to read the thread, find out information and make a decision.