Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing whether or not Thailand does indeed boast one of the "best Retirement Visas", really in the world is sort of way I look at it. So I thought of making this video after reading a recent comment on our channel, quoting directly: "Thank you Ben. I watch and listen to all your videos," thank you very much, quoting further: "I enjoy and thank you for your input. Since I have been in Thailand, I have researched the Retirement Visa situation in many countries. Some countries offer better retirement choices than Thailand. If I had known that perhaps I would have looked elsewhere. I have been in Thailand for almost 14 years now, settled and happy here. Too old to change anyway. Change will come, that is life, keep the videos rolling." Yeah thanks a lot, thanks for the comment. We always enjoy good comments on this channel. Some comments I enjoy more than others.

That said yeah I was talking about it in a prior video, from my estimation, the Thai Retirement Visa is a pretty good deal all things considered. Now I did read some other comments on there where they said "well effectively the money that is in a Thai Bank Account is not really useful to anybody here in Thailand on a Retirement Visa because you have to keep it there to keep renewing it." The point I was trying to make in that video was the fact that yeah okay you have to keep renewing the Visa and yes you have to keep the balance, but what I was trying to say in that prior video is that is not paid out money. That's not money that you have to pay the Thai Government to maintain long-term status, unlike for example the Thailand Elite Visa, or some of the other programs that we see abroad that you have to sort of buy into in order to get there. Also the threshold right now for financial requirements is quite low compared to many other jurisdictions. Now I don't know what that commenter was talking about when he said he saw other more advantageous options. They may be out there, I am not saying they are not. I more look at this in sort of a totality of the circumstances kind of way because yes there may be other programs that offer lower amount for money that you need to show or you may not need to show any money at all, things of that nature. Yes I am sure there are nuances in different countries that may offer another visa for a retiree that again based purely on the visa's requirements may be more advantageous to the applicant. My point in the past video though was in the totality of everything, when you consider in my opinion again it is not a low threshold but the reasonable threshold associated with financial requirements for a Thai Retirement Visa coupled with the standard of living that people will find here in Thailand in my experience, I think that all things being equal, I take that back, I think that when you look at it in the aggregate you see just how big of a benefit you get here in Thailand for relatively low input. The output that you get, the standard of living from living here in Thailand, being able to enjoy the climate of Thailand, the food, the cost of living, all of that, and then when you look at that in a cost - benefit analysis versus what the costs are in terms of real cost, now again I understand sort of leaving money in a bank sort of semi frozen, yes it has its own downsides but again as I have discussed in other videos, that money isn't gone, it's still your money and if you do need it, if you have to move home for example because of some emergency or something, it's still there. Now again, as commenters pointed out in that video, the fact you have to keep it in there it does create some downside for the person who has to put it in there. But again there are other options; you can use things like pension, proving up pension to go ahead and meet the financial requirements and again there may be different scenarios depending on the facts in your given case. 

If you do feel a little overwhelmed about the overall Retirement Visa scheme or you are not really understanding how it all works, it may not be a terrible idea to contact a legal professional, gain some insight and guidance into how best to proceed.