Several neighboring countries compete with Thailand for foreign retirees

Thailand offers a multiplicity of long-term visas for women and men well past the first bloom of youth. They include annual extensions of stay, the 5-20 years Elite visa and the 10 years Long Term Residence (LTR), each of which has its own scale of charges with assorted pluses and minuses. None of them allows direct ownership of land by foreigners, nor guarantees a path to permanent residency or citizenship. Purchase of condominiums is allowed but does not generally result in visa concessions. Since January 2024, anyone spending six months or more in the kingdom may be liable to personal income tax on remitted income.

Malaysia has had a 5-20 years My Second Home program since 2002 but there have been a succession of changes, including the requirement to purchase and retain a property and associated land (100 percent in their name) in order to spur growth in the local market. Perks include obtaining visas for spouses, parents and children under 34 years. Unlike Thailand, Malaysia imposes the requirement to live in the country for at least three months per year, although a dependant relative can substitute where the visa holder is still of working age. Malaysia is not currently insisting on foreign tax residents paying tax on remitted income from abroad.

Cambodia seems to have abandoned an earlier second home campaign, but the Retirement ER visa gives one year which is annually renewable. Retirees aged at least 55 years do not need to provide written proof of status or finances. Property ownership laws are strict and similar to Thailand’s. In theory, Cambodia requires foreign residents to file and pay taxes on their foreign income, but there are few signs of enforcement for this kind of visa. Cambodia allows foreigners to purchase citizenship provided they invest or donate US$300,000, an offer taken up with alacrity by rich Chinese in particular.

The Philippines offers a Special Resident Retirement Visa (SRRV) which offers a renewable two-year permanent residence ID card. Those over 35 years must deposit US$50,000 in a Philippine bank (less for pensioners), which can later be used to help buy a condominium unit, and show proof of a monthly income. Remitted cash from sources outside the Philippines is not subject to tax. Foreigners can lease land for 50 years with extensions for 25 years more. The Philippines are unique in the region for granting a notional permanent residency from day one of the SRRV.

It follows that the issues for longstay retirees in the region vary country by country. None offers the kind of dual citizenship or second passport which are common in permanent residence visas throughout the Caribbean for instance. Malaysia and the Philippines offer favorable tax conditions for foreign retirees, although Thailand offers a range of tax privileges in the Long Term Residence detail. Property ownership remains problematical across the region, although the purchase of condominiums or long-term leases is common. Use of local nominees to buy property or to conduct business is extremely risky throughout south east Asia. Cambodia probably offers the easiest bureaucratic route to longstay retirees, but the country lacks the kind of infrastructure westerners are used to. There are no sure answers, just individual preferences and priorities.

Source: PattayaNews

Thailand - Four cave footballers stateless: official

The chief of Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai district has emphasised that Thai citizenship shall be granted based on the law and there will be no exemption even for four of the footballers rescued from the cave.

“I understand that society hopes the rescued boys get citizenship. But we have to comply with the law,” Mae Sai district chief Somsak Khanakham said. 

He spoke after news reports said some of Mu Pa Academy’s members are stateless. 

The team, stranded inside the flooded Tham Luang Cave for more than two weeks, miraculously survived. 

According to Somsak, someone gets Thai citizenship when he or she was born in Thailand or born to Thai parents. 

Somsak said the four of 13 rescued footballers who did not have Thai citizenship were coach Ekkapon Chantawongse, 25, and three footballers Pornchai Khamluang, 16, Mongkol Boonpium, 13, and Adul Sam-on, 14.

According to the Mae Sai district chief, the stateless members called on him for help with citizenship claims about two months ago. He said he has already offered them advice. 

Somsak said he heard Ekkapon already contacted the authorities but had yet to submit all the required documents. 

“For children, their parents must be the one to submit the request for citizenship,” he said. 

Somsak said he expected the footballers to officially seek citizenship after they were discharged from the Chiangrai Prachanakroh Hospital. 

All 13 trapped footballers are now being treated and monitored at the hospital.

Source - TheNation

 

#Thailand - Citizenship of three young cave survivors shines light on plight of stateless persons

THE lack of Thai citizenship of three youth footballers who were saved from the Tham Luang cave has highlighted the hidden problems of stateless people.

The Interior Ministry and the Children and Youth Department have confirmed that three of the 13 survivors from the Chiang Rai cave are stateless persons. Authorities have promised to provide them legal assistance in the nationality verification process and if there were no complications in their documents all of them will have Thai nationality within six months.

Ekkapol Chantawong, Phonchai Khamluang, and Adul Sam-on, three survivors from the Tham Luang cave, are among 500,000 stateless persons in Thailand who have to endure limitations in many aspects of their life as they are denied some rights and opportunities.

It was also disclosed that many stateless persons have to wait for a decade to get Thai citizenship because of the slow verification process.

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 Surapong Kongchantuk, a prominent activist on human rights and nationality issues, said that although the Thai government has provided basic rights to all persons in Thailand, ensuring compulsory education and healthcare, stateless persons still face many complications in their lives.

“Theoretically, all people must be under the care and protection of being a citizen of at least one state, but in reality there are more than 500,000 persons in Thailand who do not have any nationality, even though they are born and raised in Thailand,” Surapong said.

He said the lack of citizenship means that stateless persons are denied access to many fundamental rights such as travelling abroad, getting higher education or employment in some careers, so they do not have many opportunities to improve their lives.

According to Surapong, stateless persons can ask for nationality verification at their local administrative organisation to acquire Thai citizenship. They must provide proof of their birth and lineage and that they were born to a Thai national parent. Ethnic minorities born in Thailand are eligible to get Thai nationality.

Otherwise, they can submit a bachelors degree or diploma or ask for a special grant from the Thai government to get Thai nationality, he said.

Nevertheless, he said the procedure to verify and seek Thai nationality is slow and complicated because local administrative organisations often do not have enough staff to deal with the overwhelming number of requests for nationality verification. Some people have to wait for more than 10 years to get Thai nationality and receive a Thai citizen ID card. Legal Status Network Foundation chairman Santiphong Moonphong also said that due to the complications and the long period of time it takes to get Thai nationality, many youths who do not have citizenship lose opportunities.

Santiphong said he hoped that the nationality status of three survivors from the Tham Luang cave would bring the problems of stateless persons to public attention and get prompt solutions from the government.

Source - TheNation