live in asia visa & crypto

[cjrid]

Hey! I have like $50,000 of crypto and I would like to live in asia for the next 4/5 years without having to do border runs all the time, I will also need to find ways to exchange my crypto for cash.
Could someone with experience please recommend be what would be my best options? either visa wise or to exchange crypto for cash?

Thanks a lot!

 

[wellington]

Asia not possible - it's some of the tightest borders in the world and established biometric systems and multi state data sharing those days are long gone - coupled with the cost of living increase that is 50,000$ would last 2-3 yrs being extremely frugal on just board and food / essentials -

South America possible - Peru.

Africa may be possible

To put into perspective

Even on the lower end of existence (Thailand as an example)

Strict border control
15,000 THB x 60 = 900,000 THB (accommodation and operating accommodation)

20,000 THB x 60 = 1.2m THB food and drink = 600 THB a day (200,200,200)

Just bare existence = 2,100,000 THB = 58,000$

In addition in the future ASEAN is looking to roll out a Schengen like visa system across multiple of the states - this will wipe out what's commonly referred to as a border run or border bounce.

Last edited: Feb 14, 2024

 

[jafo]

wellington said:
In addition in the future ASEAN is looking to roll out a Schengen like visa system across multiple of the states - this will wipe out what's commonly referred to as a border run or border bounce.
Click to expand...

What would this mean to the average tourist? Do they have to leave the "ASEAN-like Schengen" every 90 days? 🙄

 

[scooterguy]

In Thailand you can get an ED visa for around $1,000/year.

That will last you one year with no visa runs (or one a year), and you can get at least two in a row without issues, so that's around $2,000 in visas for first two years (maybe add an extra $300-$500 per year for the yearly run to renew the visa).

Things can get more complicated after the first 2 years, but you can switch to another country and do something similar (Vietnam, Cambodia business visa, etc.).

Living costs depend on your own lifestyle and the cities where you'll be, but $50,000 for 5 years is very unlikely. 3 years is more realistic, and preferably in a non-capital city.

 

[Clank]

There are some schools in the north of Thailand offering one year education visas for 400 usd a year.

 

[TheCryptoAnt]

cjrid said:
Hey! I have like $50,000 of crypto and I would like to live in asia for the next 4/5 years without having to do border runs all the time, I will also need to find ways to exchange my crypto for cash.
Could someone with experience please recommend be what would be my best options? either visa wise or to exchange crypto for cash?

Thanks a lot!
Click to expand...

Don't listen to anyone trying to talk you out of this. This being said 5 years is a bit of a stretch imo.

You can live easily in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam for $1.5k per month and it wont be 'bare minimum' by any stretch of the imagination. 50k/1.5k = 33 months so round it down to 30 cause s**t happens. 30 months is 2.5 years.

Depends on where you are from but you can usually get 90 day visas for all of them and do them back to back to back.

I even know people that live on 1k in Pattaya and Da Nang and their life ain't flashy but neither 'bare minimum', 1k gives you 50 months so 4.16 years, round a bit down to account for visa costs and stuff like this.

SEAsia is the perfect place to come if you want low cost of living while working on your business/trading/project.

 

[cjrid]

TheCryptoAnt said:
Don't listen to anyone trying to talk you out of this. This being said 5 years is a bit of a stretch imo.

You can live easily in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam for $1.5k per month and it wont be 'bare minimum' by any stretch of the imagination. 50k/1.5k = 33 months so round it down to 30 cause s**t happens. 30 months is 2.5 years.

Depends on where you are from but you can usually get 90 day visas for all of them and do them back to back to back.

I even know people that live on 1k in Pattaya and Da Nang and their life ain't flashy but neither 'bare minimum', 1k gives you 50 months so 4.16 years, round a bit down to account for visa costs and stuff like this.

SEAsia is the perfect place to come if you want low cost of living while working on your business/trading/project.
Click to expand...

thanks mate! yeah I think its a good base, I'm planning on making money too so it should work fine if I don't spend too much too fast, although I'm not sure how expensive it can get for the visa stuff as for now I don't see any other way than having to pay for flights every months to border run tho

Jbb1 said:
There are some schools in the north of Thailand offering one year education visas for 400 usd a year.
Click to expand...

thanks I'll look for this

TheCryptoAnt said:
Don't listen to anyone trying to talk you out of this. This being said 5 years is a bit of a stretch imo.

You can live easily in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam for $1.5k per month and it wont be 'bare minimum' by any stretch of the imagination. 50k/1.5k = 33 months so round it down to 30 cause s**t happens. 30 months is 2.5 years.

Depends on where you are from but you can usually get 90 day visas for all of them and do them back to back to back.

I even know people that live on 1k in Pattaya and Da Nang and their life ain't flashy but neither 'bare minimum', 1k gives you 50 months so 4.16 years, round a bit down to account for visa costs and stuff like this.

SEAsia is the perfect place to come if you want low cost of living while working on your business/trading/project.
Click to expand...

do you have any idea how I can trade crypto for cash in this country tho?

wellington said:
Asia not possible - it's some of the tightest borders in the world and established biometric systems and multi state data sharing those days are long gone - coupled with the cost of living increase that is 50,000$ would last 2-3 yrs being extremely frugal on just board and food / essentials -

South America possible - Peru.

Africa may be possible

To put into perspective

Even on the lower end of existence (Thailand as an example)

Strict border control
15,000 THB x 60 = 900,000 THB (accommodation and operating accommodation)

20,000 THB x 60 = 1.2m THB food and drink = 600 THB a day (200,200,200)

Just bare existence = 2,100,000 THB = 58,000$

In addition in the future ASEAN is looking to roll out a Schengen like visa system across multiple of the states - this will wipe out what's commonly referred to as a border run or border bounce.
Click to expand...

thanks, well it's a pretty sad painting of the situation, so europe will stay open to millions of poor african imigrants forever and asia now have perfect border control to be sure the westeners with money in their account can't stay for too long on their land lol.
I thought countries like these had incentives to have more tourism

scooterguy said:
In Thailand you can get an ED visa for around $1,000/year.

That will last you one year with no visa runs (or one a year), and you can get at least two in a row without issues, so that's around $2,000 in visas for first two years (maybe add an extra $300-$500 per year for the yearly run to renew the visa).

Things can get more complicated after the first 2 years, but you can switch to another country and do something similar (Vietnam, Cambodia business visa, etc.).

Living costs depend on your own lifestyle and the cities where you'll be, but $50,000 for 5 years is very unlikely. 3 years is more realistic, and preferably in a non-capital city.
Click to expand...

scooterguy said:
In Thailand you can get an ED visa for around $1,000/year.

That will last you one year with no visa runs (or one a year), and you can get at least two in a row without issues, so that's around $2,000 in visas for first two years (maybe add an extra $300-$500 per year for the yearly run to renew the visa).

Things can get more complicated after the first 2 years, but you can switch to another country and do something similar (Vietnam, Cambodia business visa, etc.).

Living costs depend on your own lifestyle and the cities where you'll be, but $50,000 for 5 years is very unlikely. 3 years is more realistic, and preferably in a non-capital city.
Click to expand...

do you know if these have to be done religiously or can just be paid to be a paper cover? and is it renewable? thanks mate!

Last edited: Feb 14, 2024

 

[TheCryptoAnt]

cjrid said:
thanks mate! yeah I think its a good base, I'm planning on making money too so it should work fine if I don't spend too much too fast, although I'm not sure how expensive it can get for the visa stuff as for now I don't see any other way than having to pay for flights every months to border run tho
Click to expand...

Certainly, try to avoid the trap of thinking 'everything is so cheap' and burning half your money in 5 months in beers and girls. The region is indeed cheaper than the west but people fall into the trap of not doing currency conversion in their heads when they buy stuff and end up getting royally effed. Certain products are very expensive (think cheese, wine, certain clothing items, certain creams, etc) so be mindful of your money and you'll make it.

Visa situation you could get an Education Visa in Pattaya to learn Muai Thai for ~$600 and its honestly a cool sport to practice. In VN its cheaper but that as easy, most people do visa runs.

cjrid said:
do you have any idea how I can trade crypto for cash in this country tho?
Click to expand...

Theres a few facebook groups in Pattaya for this (specially in Russian) and spread is around 5% which aint bad.
If you tell me where you are from maybe I can recommend you a cheaper service.

In Da Nang theres a lot of FX booths that do crypto too.

 

[JackAlabama]

cjrid said:
Hey! I have like $50,000 of crypto and I would like to live in asia for the next 4/5 years without having to do border runs all the time, I will also need to find ways to exchange my crypto for cash.
Could someone with experience please recommend be what would be my best options? either visa wise or to exchange crypto for cash?

Thanks a lot!
Click to expand...

you can hang around the low tier countries in asia ie. cambodia laos and philippines. Vietnam can be done too. Perfect for your budget.
If youre frugal 500 usd per month can be done if youre fit and young and very frugal, but more comfy is 1000usd / month.
You can rent a room in shared house too and get like 100 usd a month accomodation.

Helps if you like asian food too, but if you fancy wine and cheese and bread go to georgia where its cheap you can gain 500 lbs in a year without noticing it in your wallet.

You can just exchange here and there p2p or use one of the crypto cards or banking in case you have some rudimentary paperwork ready.

jafo said:
What would this mean to the average tourist? Do they have to leave the "ASEAN-like Schengen" every 90 days? 🙄
Click to expand...

possible, but this is very much in the future and no one knows how things will be then.
Thats what they have in plan for us. African union and mercosur are basically the same initiatives drafted by the overlords to centralize the world according to the failed eu experiement but again, its so far out imo its moot to be concerned about it right now. Maybe we had atomic bombs fallen left and right and the eu gone before such initiatives are taking shape there.

Last edited: Feb 14, 2024

 

[wellington]

jafo said:
What would this mean to the average tourist? Do they have to leave the "ASEAN-like Schengen" every 90 days? 🙄
Click to expand...

Lot of people live in the grey in Thailand by bouncing borders every period their visa or exemption allows.

That would mean going further afield... i.e outside of ASEAN.

Which will force people to obtain the appropriate visa(s) and the costs associated with, which would kill a lot of the grey economy which Governments are trying to bring into the White Economy, likewise remove the Grey Money that runs through ASEAN.

 

[JackAlabama]

wellington said:
Lot of people live in the grey in Thailand by bouncing borders every period their visa or exemption allows.
Click to expand...

Thailand is afaik the only one around that area being that picky about their precious borders. Malaysia for example is much less as are the others of course, but they are much less developed.

wellington said:
That would mean going further afield... i.e outside of ASEAN.

Which will force people to obtain the appropriate visa(s) and the costs associated with, which would kill a lot of the grey economy which Governments are trying to bring into the White Economy, likewise remove the Grey Money that runs through ASEAN.
Click to expand...

It doesnt look to me like this succeeds according to the saying asia grows at night while the gov is asleep 😉 but youre right its like a worldwide trend.

 

[cjrid]

TheCryptoAnt said:
Certainly, try to avoid the trap of thinking 'everything is so cheap' and burning half your money in 5 months in beers and girls. The region is indeed cheaper than the west but people fall into the trap of not doing currency conversion in their heads when they buy stuff and end up getting royally effed. Certain products are very expensive (think cheese, wine, certain clothing items, certain creams, etc) so be mindful of your money and you'll make it.

Visa situation you could get an Education Visa in Pattaya to learn Muai Thai for ~$600 and its honestly a cool sport to practice. In VN its cheaper but that as easy, most people do visa runs.



Theres a few facebook groups in Pattaya for this (specially in Russian) and spread is around 5% which aint bad.
If you tell me where you are from maybe I can recommend you a cheaper service.

In Da Nang theres a lot of FX booths that do crypto too.
Click to expand...

awesome, da nang also have this kind of visa opportunities? I thought it was only in thailand

 

[JackAlabama]

cjrid said:
awesome, da nang also have this kind of visa opportunities? I thought it was only in thailand
Click to expand...

thailand is the nasiest visa wise in SEA, unless you have some cash to donate to their visa programs. Then its the easiest 😉

 

[TheCryptoAnt]

cjrid said:
awesome, da nang also have this kind of visa opportunities? I thought it was only in thailand
Click to expand...

Theres no 'Vietnam Elite Visa' unfortunately, and honestly the whole visa situation in VN is trash. You can do education visas np and, for now, visa runs are ok.

 

[Daniele19]

TheCryptoAnt said:
Visa situation you could get an Education Visa in Pattaya to learn Muai Thai for ~$600 and its honestly a cool sport to practice. In VN its cheaper but that as easy, most people do visa runs.
Click to expand...

can you tell me which school offers the Muai Thai Visa? im interested.
I have to apply for an education visa in April, one of the best I've found is about 50000 baht per year = 1300usd

 

[benbao]

cjrid said:
thanks, well it's a pretty sad painting of the situation, so europe will stay open to millions of poor african imigrants forever and asia now have perfect border control to be sure the westeners with money in their account can't stay for too long on their land lol.
I thought countries like these had incentives to have more tourism
Click to expand...

Well you know the "westerners with money" (just not enough to buy actual visas or at least pay for monthly visa run flights) ain't exactly the clientele ASEAN countries need anymore.

I'm sure some warlord in Myanmar might accommodate you if you look for a country where everything goes, just don't expect that deal to live on for very long

 

[cjrid]

TheCryptoAnt said:
Theres no 'Vietnam Elite Visa' unfortunately, and honestly the whole visa situation in VN is trash. You can do education visas np and, for now, visa runs are ok.
Click to expand...

so there is fake schools to just get a study visa for cheap in vietnam like in thailand, cool

 

[jafo]

JackAlabama said:
asia grows at night while the gov is asleep
Click to expand...

😎
Thank you! I learned something new today I've never heard before! 😉

Daniele19 said:
can you tell me which school offers the Muai Thai Visa? im interested.
Click to expand...

Disclaimer: The ones I have been to over the decades are NOT cheap! I am NOT an expert on Thailand AT ALL! I started going to simply learn ALL the Muay Thai SWEEPS! That's it. My focus in Thailand was the SWEEP!

(1) Master Toddy Muay Thai. The full package for a year was about €4,5K over a decade ago. You need to check now.
(2) KohFight. Nice retreat. It was a bit more expensive than #1, but I can't remember.
(3) Bangtao Muay Thai. This was on the beach. I loved it. Also, not cheap, but I really can't remember the price now.

There are others, but these are the ones I remember the most at the moment.


Note: It's ONLY for Muay Thai regardless of what they are trying to "upsell" you.
If you want to learn Jiu-Jitsu, train in Brazil.
If you want to learn how to box, train in the USA.
If you want to learn Kung Fu, train in China.
Etc. etc.

Good luck!

Last edited: Feb 14, 2024

 

[blastah]

I don't recommend to use the Ed Visa in Thailand. There was a chinese mafia abusing this visa back in 2022 and now the people on Ed visa are on the radar every time they try to enter to the country or extend the visa. It happens the same with the volunteer visa.

With this money, maybe you can take a look at India or Sri Lanka.

 

[scooterguy]

theblast3r said:
I don't recommend to use the Ed Visa in Thailand. There was a chinese mafia abusing this visa back in 2022 and now the people on Ed visa are on the radar every time they try to enter to the country or extend the visa. It happens the same with the volunteer visa.

With this money, maybe you can take a look at India or Sri Lanka.
Click to expand...

The volunteer visa is pretty much dead nowadays, but ED visas are still going strong.

With that being said, I don't think easy ED visas will be around forever, and if at some point the government goes on a serious crackdown, most 'schools' won't resist an inspection. Lots of schools have thousands of students enrolled and they only have a couple of small classrooms that are almost always empty.

Most likely immigration is aware of this, but as long as the money keeps flowing, it works for now...