Is Hua Hin right for us?

[ALXDXB]

Second post here, after my introduction. We are an English couple, me 38, my wife 51 (still hot!!), I work in law in Dubai, dealing with all of the property disasters and criminal cases. My wife was an intensive care nurse and subsequently a nursery teacher. We do not have any children. We have been living in Dubai for the last 15 years. We have 2 or 3 holidays a year to Thailand, but so far only on the tourist map, Koh Samui mainly, we did not like Phuket at all. Khao Lak was nice and peaceful. Hua Hin appears from my reading to be an ideal location on paper, we are still to visit. We are wanting to buy/lease a 3 bed home with pool, keep it for up to 3 months of the year for ourselves and then specifically rent and market the villa to customers from the UAE for holiday rents. We will then slowly but surely bring things over from Dubai on standby flights for weekends, holidays, 40kg allowance with Emirates!!!!! We would then hope to move permanently to Thailand within 10 years. I will continue to work remotely using a thai or offshore company once we move or semi-move, I see myself returning to Dubai once a month or so, for some time. I'm only 38 after all. Our move is a quality of life move, and making a plan for the future, if I can maintain some income from Dubai, at Dubai rates then it only needs to be a fraction of normal Dubai salaries to be able to fund a decent life in Thailand. I have seen the 14 page thread on the differing views on COL in LOS, I can see how it can get up higher than expected. We will fund the property from an inheritance. We don't get a pension as such from Dubai, we get a months salary including bonuses for each year served, so this coupled with my savings and some spread investing to cover inflation should see us right, I'm also well aware that the property we choose now to meet the current criteria may well change over time, but I think if that was the case, I could always continue to rent it to contribute to another property. We also want to use this as a base to encounter more of Asia. My wife travels to the UK once a year, I don't bother since my Mother died, my family prefers to come and stay with us. I have some more info in the introductions forum.

So thats the plan and the story so far, do you think this area is the right place? Do we sound like Hua Hin people (if there is such a thing ) Do you think this is feasible?

Any points of view are highly appreciated. Also if you have any questions about Dubai, I'm happy to reciprocate on views.

[johnnyk]

I don't think that question can be answered unless you come to HH for several weeks and check for yourself. Like anywhere, literature & brochures are one thing but the place itself is quite another.

[Siani]

My advice is to try before you buy We came out for 3 months and did just that. Three months is a good period of time to judge whether a town/area is good for you. There are loads of rentals, beachfront condos, houses...in town out of town. Lots of real estate to find..have a look at the sponsors list on the forum. I reckon it is not good to be too hasty in buying, lots of pitfalls...just rent until you are sure

[MwD]

Like the other posts, you will only know after spending a good 3-6 months in Hua Hin...visiting Thailand on holiday is one thing, living here is quite another...

Is your wife Thai? I would struggle to live here without my Thai interpreter.....

Have you thought about your visa options, as this is generally the biggest headache when living here?

Quality of life here is good, if you can afford it.

[margaretcarnes]

As others have said - give HH a trial period first. But don't discount other parts of Thailand as well. Yes - if you want a beach resort then HH is probably a good alternative to Samui, but while there have a look South - and just North at Cha-Am as well. If beach isn't an issue take a trip to ChiangMai.
You have probably already sussed out the income requirements for living in Thailand but neither of you are old enough yet for retirement visas. Getting a work permit for your own type of work isn't likely to be an option. Which leaves option 3 - buying a property with using Thai registered company - which still won't cover you for any type of work.
Plenty of expats do distance/online work from home in Thailand which - despite always being a risk - is probably less of a risk if they are married to a Thai and therefore on a marriage visa. For a farang couple I would be wanting to find out if the authorities check on the source of income from abroad, and to what extent they can investigate the source.
If you lease a property in HH it is very unlikely that sub-letting will be an option. As in England tenancy agreements exclude sub-letting - but take advice from a reputable Real Estate Agent in HH.
If you buy a property and rent it out don't rent to Thais. That sounds harsh - but it just isn't worth the potential for damage, moving in the whole family, problems evicting if needed etc etc. Again - use a reputable agent to deal with holiday lets for you.
On the plus side your family should be only too pleased to visit!

[lomuamart]

I'll only touch on the visa issue that Mags has raised. Your wife could qualify for annual retirement extensions to a Non Immigrant O visa and you could "piggyback" on the basis of that as her dependent and so get yours. The financial requirements are either a minimum monthly overseas income of 65,000 THB a month or 800,000 THB in a Thai bank account over here, or a combination of the two as long as the total is a minimum of 800,000 THB. There's only the need to show the income/savings for your wife - one revenue stream - for the two of you to qualify as long as you can satisfy the Thai authorities that your marriage is de jure and de facto.
There's a bit more to it than the sketch outlined above, but the bones are there for retirement without the hassle of visa or border runs.
Currently, you'll have to satisfy The British Embassy in BKK about any income and supply the proof they require from you. Just Google their site to find out more. However, Imm here are entitled to ask for more proof of income if they want, rather than just relying on an Embassy letter. Things are pretty "fluid" over here so it's best to check the visa climate by asking questions on the forum about a month before you intend to apply.
Savings are savings and as long as they're in a Thai bank account it's pretty straightforward.
As Mags has already said, even working remotely in Thailand is regarded as work so be careful that any income is paid into an overseas account and then accessed here. Again, the acid test will be the letter from The British Embassy but always be prepared to back it up to local Imm.
If you've got any more visa questions, please post them in the visa section or else I and other members may miss the specifics.
As a general comment, the posters above have offered sound advice about settling here.

[dtaai-maai]

Don't frighten 'em off - they only want to stay 3 months a year!

There's only one answer to your main question, ALX, and it's already up there. Come and see. There are so many different wants and needs for so many different people that you can only find your answers yourselves. Rent for 3 months.
I love it here, but if I hadn't been here 8 years, happily married, working, etc., I'd be inclined to have a look at Vietnam and one or two other places before I made any decisions.

[lomuamart]

True enough, DM.
I wasn't trying to scare anyone off.
Must admit that the duration of stay went right over the top of my ruined brain this morning.
So, to the OP, Tourist visas are the solution, but still be careful of work.

[cookmanchef]

A resort style development would probably be your best option, most of the owners where I work rent out their houses for 10 months of the year and use it for the other two. They have peace of mind because their property is fully maintained while they are elsewhere. Whenever it is not rented you could come over for long weekends etc.

[Whaler]

ALXDXB

I've just done 9 years in UAE and have bought in HH.

I think given the choices around the world and things we are use to in UAE make HH a good choice for many reasons.

I don't think you will have too much trouble budgeting after Dubai and we are more than experianced on the oddities of overseas living after dealing with UAE authorites etc

You will be hard pushed to find anywhere better giving those little things that make life easier plus the more colourful life in LOS

My only advice is not to over endulge in property as it's too easy to go overboard given the relative valve for money

[ALXDXB]

ALXDXB

I've just done 9 years in UAE and have bought in HH.

I think given the choices around the world and things we are use to in UAE make HH a good choice for many reasons.

I don't think you will have too much trouble budgeting after Dubai and we are more than experianced on the oddities of overseas living after dealing with UAE authorites etc

You will be hard pushed to find anywhere better giving those little things that make life easier plus the more colourful life in LOS

My only advice is not to over endulge in property as it's too easy to go overboard given the relative valve for money

I can't pm you yet as I don't have enough posts, but I will, as soon as I get there, would be good to hear your experiences, I have seen your other post with regards to the purchasing with HP at RM, I think we are going to go the same path, just a few modifications.

I know what you mean about the excesses, I'm being very restrained as I want to keep my foot in the UK with property as well, we never bought in Dubai, mainly due to the nature of my job, I don't want to say I saw it coming but by the time we were in a position to buy the warning signs were there. If you compare the rent we pay here at the moment, I could own the the villa in HH within 5 years, its madness. We have changed our plans a bit, we will not move for some time, but we will buy in HH this year or early next, I have had two visits now, incognito, just seeing how I find it and then a full 10 days before christmas, to pay the deposit on our chosen development. We will use it for 3 months a year and then rent it to work colleagues and a few select Dubai residents, should cover the maintenance and a few flights.

[bonnielass]

Hi ALXDXB,

Forgive my tardy reply, I have just come across your post and thought I would share our experiences. We are in a very similar situation to you, expats in Dubai for the past 17 years and been humming and hawing about buying a place in Hua Hin for some time.

So finally last month we bit the bullet and bought a house. We were unable to do a trial period for any more than two weeks at a time, but we have visited for almost 10 years. I believe sometimes you have to trust your gut feeling and Hua Hin just felt right to us, compared to other places we have considered.

As a previous poster said, we have lived through some challenging times in the UAE, and I like to think we have looked at Hua Hin warts an' all. We hope to use the place 2 or 3 times a year and also invite family and friends to make use of it, even if they just pay a small fee to cover maintenance and cleaning.

Whilst we may not retire permanently in Hua Hin, we would like to spend at least 6 months of the year there. Retirement is a few years away yet, and undoubtedly the visa rules will have changed again by then! We will cross that bridge when we come to it.

The buying process can be a bit of a learning curve, if I can be of any help with my recent experience, let me know. Good Luck.