Visa query

FYI for the new and relatively new members:

The regular members and old timers of the Vietnam forums (I'm using plural to include the cities' forums) already know about this unwritten rule, so this one is for you:

Expat.com encourages the use of the Quote function to make conversation easier for everyone, but if you reply to a post that clearly violates Forum Code of Conduct, I suggest that you refrain from quoting the offensive part of that post.  Doing so will keep your comment alive when the offensive post is removed.

Hello,

Please note that we had to remove some off-topic and inappropriate posts.

Thanks,

Diksha
Team Expat.com

zest123 wrote:

I owe you a reply so here goes ...
You are so right, so much can happen over time
my situation is that I happen to be closely related to a firm that had been awarded a contract by a VN govt body to do some project work there n they had invited me to go babysit the gig .
Work was supposed to start but was held up by covid .
That's the reason for the conservatively listed 15 - 24 months time frame though think it'll probably start  sooner ..

pay will not be great (3000 - 4000 usd) but i'll get a condo to stay n be legally able to hang around for 3 - 5 years
Things r cheap in VN so am sure could live well n be able to eke out some savings too
But as VN presently does not offer a retirement visa for foreigners, it will be tough for me to stay there long term as a single "un-attached" person

Am looking for a permanent base to relocate to so have to choose between VN, Thailand (TL) or Malaysia.

Malaysia offers a 10 year MM2H visa but many may say its boring ,

The Thai retirement visa is a 1 year annual renewal thing which luckily I could quite easily obtain by putting 800k bht in a Thai FD that yields 2% interest .
Probably be staying somewhere near the beach if in TL, one possibility is to get a villa in Koh Samui n own an Electric Vehicle (EV), than motoring costs will be really low as can charge the car batts at home ..
Its already possible to drive an EV from Bangkok to Chiang Mai now as they already have charging stations in place  n many have done it  ..
Have a good impression of Thai immigration as they have always been very polite n helpful to me 

Being part of the ASEAN fraternity, I could technically stay in VN for an unlimited period of time by doing monthly border runs but that means I would have to stay near the border, be very mindful of dates n make sure the border is not closed like it is now  ...  ha
It means i need to strike out nice places like Hoi An, Danang or Nha Trang from my living list  too ..

One of the initial attractions of VN was the opportunity to put a lump sum in VN FD n live on the 6 - 8% interest payout but I'll probably not be able to do this if I stop working n stay there by doing monthly border runs as FD period is now tied to visa duration

So decisions ? decisions ?

Well, Thailand seems to be the obvious choice for a single guy as Vietnam has signaled that they're not that interested in people with this sort of lifestyle without working for a company, doing business or raising a family. Although, as you mention, things can always change.

Meanwhile,Thailand is, or used to be, all about mai pan rai, yah kit mahk and mai dong seriot (never mind/don't worry, don't think too much and no need to be serious).

At the same time, the Land of Smiles has a lot of internal tensions that have been building up over the last two decades or so and is deemed by many to be drifting backwards in many aspects.

Anyway, there's a Thailand forum on this site:

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewforum.php?id=211
(Oh, I see you're on it already.)

Also, there are numerous forums related to Thailand and Southeast Asia on the famous site that can be found by searching "forum thai visa".

Ciambella wrote:

FYI for the new and relatively new members:

The regular members and old timers of the Vietnam forums (I'm using plural to include the cities' forums) already know about this unwritten rule, so this one is for you:

Expat.com encourages the use of the Quote function to make conversation easier for everyone, but if you reply to a post that clearly violates Forum Code of Conduct, I suggest that you refrain from quoting the offensive part of that post.  Doing so will keep your comment alive when the offensive post is removed.

Hi

Thanks for the heads up n sorry for any transgression
How do i know that a post had violated the codes of conduct  ...
Could it just be omitted so that there is no way it can be quoted .. n thus no way for infringing any rule ..
When discussing stuff like investment or life choices, there must surely be some comparisons made with other places or markets to allow us to make a better or at least a more informed decision right, otherwise we might end up being deceptive, dishonest or machiavellian in not revealing or withholding the truth  ..
And u can't objectively, meaningfully n honestly compare without bringing up other places n markets right  ...

I think in this respect, a one line description of other possibilities should be allowed so that people will at least know the alternatives (they actually should have the right to know ) .. it is than up to them to dig further to be better informed if desired ...

Bear in mind that people visit forums  to exchange ideas n benefit from "group think", so differing details, ideas n themes will need to be thrown out for the purpose of discussion n "content " will need to be revealed to allow others to know what one is talking about  ... right ...

for example if you start a discussion on cars, u must be allowed to reveal that a car or most cars come with 4 wheels n that the wheels r round n not square n that cars r produced in many places with differing prices n costs n u must be allowed to compare cars built in different places to see which has the best build quality or is the best value for money  right    ....
It'll be hilarious if u r just allowed to say a CAR is a CAR  is a CAR   ... ha

johnross23 wrote:

zest123 wrote:

I owe you a reply so here goes ...
You are so right, so much can happen over time
my situation is that I happen to be closely related to a firm that had been awarded a contract by a VN govt body to do some project work there n they had invited me to go babysit the gig .
Work was supposed to start but was held up by covid .
That's the reason for the conservatively listed 15 - 24 months time frame though think it'll probably start  sooner ..

pay will not be great (3000 - 4000 usd) but i'll get a condo to stay n be legally able to hang around for 3 - 5 years
Things r cheap in VN so am sure could live well n be able to eke out some savings too
But as VN presently does not offer a retirement visa for foreigners, it will be tough for me to stay there long term as a single "un-attached" person

Am looking for a permanent base to relocate to so have to choose between VN, Thailand (TL) or Malaysia.

Malaysia offers a 10 year MM2H visa but many may say its boring ,

The Thai retirement visa is a 1 year annual renewal thing which luckily I could quite easily obtain by putting 800k bht in a Thai FD that yields 2% interest .
Probably be staying somewhere near the beach if in TL, one possibility is to get a villa in Koh Samui n own an Electric Vehicle (EV), than motoring costs will be really low as can charge the car batts at home ..
Its already possible to drive an EV from Bangkok to Chiang Mai now as they already have charging stations in place  n many have done it  ..
Have a good impression of Thai immigration as they have always been very polite n helpful to me 

Being part of the ASEAN fraternity, I could technically stay in VN for an unlimited period of time by doing monthly border runs but that means I would have to stay near the border, be very mindful of dates n make sure the border is not closed like it is now  ...  ha
It means i need to strike out nice places like Hoi An, Danang or Nha Trang from my living list  too ..

One of the initial attractions of VN was the opportunity to put a lump sum in VN FD n live on the 6 - 8% interest payout but I'll probably not be able to do this if I stop working n stay there by doing monthly border runs as FD period is now tied to visa duration

So decisions ? decisions ?

Well, Thailand seems to be the obvious choice for a single guy as Vietnam has signaled that they're not that interested in people with this sort of lifestyle without working for a company, doing business or raising a family. Although, as you mention, things can always change.

Meanwhile,Thailand is, or used to be, all about mai pan rai, yah kit mahk and mai dong seriot (never mind/don't worry, don't think too much and no need to be serious).

At the same time, the Land of Smiles has a lot of internal tensions that have been building up over the last two decades or so and is deemed by many to be drifting backwards in many aspects.

Anyway, there's a Thailand forum on this site:

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewforum.php?id=211
(Oh, I see you're on it already.)

Also, there are numerous forums related to Thailand and Southeast Asia on the famous site that can be found by searching "forum thai visa".

Thanks for chipping in, actually was trying to gauge the sentiment of folks here to have a more balanced view besides just reading those on prevailing Thai forums
Truth is lots of folks here are savvy n experienced people n i do respect n treasure any wisdom i can get from them ..