Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, well we are discussing Indonesia. I do this every once in a while, we will do a video on kind of important or just Immigration stuff that's come up in the region for other countries because it may be pertinent for people that are looking to retire in Southeast Asia. There are multiple places people choose to retire, Thailand being one of them but Indonesia as noted a moment ago. Some folks decide to go to Philippines, there is Malaysia as well; a number of places folks opt to retire out here in Southeast Asia, I know a number of people that retired in Cambodia and really enjoy it there. Vietnam although Vietnam is a little bit more difficult sometimes because they don't really have a Retirement Visa, so again there are multiple places in Southeast Asia in which to retire but everybody is going to have a different immigration system as they do. 

This article is from South China Morning Post that's scmp.com, the article is titled: Indonesia's foreign retirees fear being driven out as new Visa scheme targets 'filthy rich'. Quoting directly: "Foreigners will be required to have at least US$128,000 worth of cash in Indonesia or proof they own luxury property under the new second-home Visa. It will replace existing, (let me be clear on that) it will replace existing Retirement Visas, leaving long-term foreign retirees who cannot meet the requirements feeling anxious about their futures." 

Well if you are feeling anxious about your future you might want to come over here, check out Thailand for a minute because Thailand has a long-standing Retirement Visa program. It is designed to cater to a broad spectrum of folks in many different financial categories. I mean I don't know what you want me to call that but basically folks from all different walks of life in terms of middle class, upper middle class, upper class, working class; everybody. Because presently the cash requirement in a Thai bank account is 800,000 Baht or the equivalent, well it is 800,000 Baht which is the equivalent of about $23,000 as opposed to Indonesia where it looks like now it is going to be $128,000 in order to maintain retirement status in that country. So over here you are looking at 800,000 Baht about $23,000, $25, 000. Also another method is by using 65,000 Baht a month in pension income which comes out to roughly about $2,000 a month. If you can show it coming into one's Thai Bank Account, you can receive a Retirement Visa based on that as well. 

So again, I'm not really trying to throw Indonesia under the bus here per se but if they are sort of restructuring their Retirement Visa program and it's not particularly in favour of anybody or nobody that doesn't have $128,000 to put in the bank account may have a problem maintaining their Retirement Visa. Well here in Thailand that is really not going to be an issue and as long as you can show about one fifth of that money, you are going to be able to maintain long-term status here in Thailand at least into the foreseeable future as far as I can see.