The short answer

Yes — you can keep receiving South African pensions and annuities in Thailand. Living annuities, guaranteed life annuities and GEPF pensions all keep paying, into a South African bank account (a non-resident account once you've ceased tax residence), with tax deducted by SARS's tables. You then move the money to Thailand — monthly through a low-cost route, larger sums through a specialist. Return life certificates promptly, set a sustainable living annuity drawdown, and keep part of your savings offshore in hard currency so a weaker rand doesn't shrink everything. Income you bring into Thailand can be taxable if you're Thai tax resident, and the South Africa–Thailand tax treaty decides which country taxes what. Lawrence offers a free review to get your pensions working together.

The South African pensions and annuities you might receive

Living annuity

Most South Africans who retire from a pension fund, provident fund or retirement annuity use most of the money to buy a living annuity. You choose a drawdown of between 2.5% and 17.5% of its value each year, set once a year on the policy anniversary, and choose how often it pays — monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or yearly. It keeps paying wherever you live, into a South African account.

Guaranteed life annuity

A guaranteed income for life from an insurer, level or rising each year. It pays the same wherever you live, into a South African account. It's the best protection against outliving your money, but the income is fixed in rand.

GEPF and other defined-benefit pensions

If you worked for the state — as a teacher, nurse, police officer, soldier or civil servant — your GEPF pension keeps paying in Thailand, usually with yearly increases decided by the fund. Some private-sector defined-benefit funds work the same way.

The SASSA Older Persons Grant

The grant requires you to live in South Africa, so it stops when you move. Budget without it.

How each income is paid while you live in Thailand

The main South African retirement incomes, and what changes when you move.

A general guide; check your own fund's and provider's rules on paying to non-resident accounts.

Your South African account — and the non-resident switch

South African annuity providers and pension funds generally pay only into a South African bank account. So keep one open — and keep your South African cellphone number active, because you'll need one-time PINs to bank from Thailand.

If you cease South African tax residence, your account must be designated a non-resident account. Tell your bank, and check each fund's rules on paying into it. The rules on moving money also change: as a non-resident you no longer have a single discretionary allowance, and transfers of income from a non-resident account need a SARS tax compliance PIN. In practice, regular pension income can still be sent abroad each month once the paperwork is in place.

Our guide to receiving overseas income in Thailand explains the Thai side, including which banks and accounts work best.

Moving your pension to Thailand

Every month, your income has to make the journey from rand to baht. There are three main ways to do it.

A flat-fee bank payment

Capitec charges a flat R175 to send money abroad through its app — simple for a monthly pension payment. Remember that the bank's exchange rate includes a margin, which on larger sums usually costs more than the fee.

An FX specialist

For larger amounts — a year's income in one go, a retirement lump sum, the ฿800,000 visa deposit — a specialist such as Vita Capital can offer a better rate, regular payment plans and the option to fix your rate in advance.

Via an offshore account

Some retirees move income or savings into a hard-currency account offshore first, and convert to baht when the rate suits them. That gives a reserve outside the rand to draw on in a weak-rand month.

Thai banks typically charge about 0.25% to receive an international transfer, with a minimum and a cap of about ฿500, so very small, frequent transfers cost proportionally more. Our guide to recurring transfers to Thailand compares the options.

Ways to move your pension compared

Three ways to get your South African income into baht.

Capitec bank charges from 1 March 2026. Check your own bank's fees for sending and receiving international payments.

Life certificates and keeping providers informed

Funds and annuity providers need to know you're still alive and entitled. GEPF asks members living abroad for a yearly life certificate, and many annuity providers have similar checks. If a certificate isn't returned, payments can be suspended until it arrives.

• Keep your contact details up to date with every fund and provider — Thai post can be slow, so use email where you can.
• Return life certificates promptly, keeping a copy and proof of sending.
• Tell providers about changes — a new address, a new bank account, marriage, or ceasing tax residence.
• Keep beneficiary nominations up to date, including a Thai partner.
• Make sure someone you trust knows how to contact your providers if you're unwell.

It's a small task, but missing one is one of the most common reasons expats' pensions stop unexpectedly.

Setting your living annuity drawdown from Thailand

With a living annuity, you decide how much income you get — and that's the most important decision you'll make each year. The rules allow anything from 2.5% to 17.5% of the annuity's value, but drawing far above 4% to 5% in the early years risks running short later.

• Review the rate once a year, on the policy anniversary, against how the investments have done.
• Use the offshore freedom — a living annuity isn't bound by Regulation 28, so it can hold more in offshore funds, which matters when you spend in baht.
• Don't raise the drawdown to chase a weak rand — draw on a hard-currency reserve instead for a while.
• Choose the payment frequency that fits your cash flow — monthly is simplest for the visa.

Our guide to building retirement income from investments explains how to set a sustainable rate.

Where to start

Someone to review all your pensions together, and the right accounts and providers to bring the money to Thailand.

Two-pot withdrawals and retirement annuities after you leave

The savings component

Since September 2024, contributions to retirement funds are split into a savings component and a retirement component. You can withdraw from the savings component once a tax year (minimum R2,000), even while living in Thailand, but it's taxed at your marginal rate — useful in an emergency, costly as a habit. The retirement component must still be taken as an annuity at retirement.

Retirement annuities

If you haven't yet retired from a retirement annuity, you can leave it invested in South Africa and retire from it from age 55, taking the income as an annuity. Alternatively, once you've ceased South African tax residence and been non-resident for three years, it can be paid out as a lump sum, taxed under SARS's lump sum tables — and that money, once moved offshore, could be invested in hard currency. Which is better depends on tax, how long you'll live in Thailand and how much you want outside the rand.

Our guide to financial planning when relocating to Thailand explains the tax residence decision these choices depend on.

Tax on South African pensions in Thailand

Pension tax involves two countries and a treaty between them.

In South Africa

Living annuities, guaranteed life annuities and GEPF pensions are South African-source income, and providers deduct tax under SARS's tables before paying you — whether or not you're still South African tax resident. If too much or too little is deducted, it's corrected when your return is assessed. Government service pensions such as GEPF are often taxed only in the paying country under tax treaties; check how the South Africa–Thailand treaty treats yours.

In Thailand

If you spend 180 days or more in Thailand in a calendar year, you're Thai tax resident. Since 1 January 2024, foreign income — including pension income — that arose while you were resident is taxable in Thailand when you bring it in. Thai tax is charged on net income after allowances, with the first ฿150,000 of net income taxed at 0%, a ฿60,000 personal allowance, and an extra exemption of up to ฿190,000 for those aged 65 or over.

Avoiding double tax

Where both countries could tax the same income, the treaty decides who has the first right and provides relief so you aren't taxed twice in full. Pension tax is detailed and personal, so take advice before you start drawing, and keep your SARS tax certificates and transfer records. Our tax residence guide explains the rules in both countries.

Pensions and your retirement visa

A retirement extension typically needs ฿800,000 in a Thai bank account, a monthly income of at least ฿65,000, or a combination of the two. Pension income is the most common way to show that income — usually through a record of regular transfers from abroad into a Thai account, plus a bank letter.

At ฿2.04 to the rand, ฿65,000 is about R31,900 a month — and about R34,400 if the rand slips to ฿1.89, its 2026 low. Because your pension is in rand and after-tax payments can be lower than the gross figure, keep a clear margin above the minimum, or use the deposit route or a combination. Our guide to funding a Thailand retirement relocation covers the visa money in detail.

Making your pension income go further

• Set a sustainable living annuity drawdown and review it every anniversary.
• Hold a meaningful share offshore — in the living annuity's offshore funds or savings moved on your allowance.
• Convert at a good rate — a flat-fee route for monthly income, a specialist for lump sums.
• Keep a baht buffer of a year or two of spending, so a weak rand doesn't force you to convert.
• Cut charges — check the Effective Annual Cost on your living annuity.
• Plan the tax in both countries before you start drawing.
• Keep life certificates, contact details and nominations up to date.
• Review once a year, ideally at your visa extension.

Three worked examples

Barend: a living annuity set too high

Barend, 67, retired to Pattaya with a R6 million living annuity drawing 9% a year — about R45,000 a month. A free review with Lawrence showed the income wouldn't last. At the next anniversary he reduced the drawdown to 6%, moved more of the annuity into offshore funds and used offshore savings to bridge the difference, so his income can last for life.

Sanet: a GEPF pension and a simple routine

Sanet, 66, a retired teacher in Chiang Mai, receives her GEPF pension into a South African account. She sends it on each month through a flat-fee app payment, returns her life certificate every year, and keeps a separate account in Thailand for her visa deposit.

Rajesh: a police pension and a retirement annuity

Rajesh, 61, a retired police officer in Hua Hin, receives a GEPF pension and still has a retirement annuity. Having ceased South African tax residence, he plans with Lawrence and a tax adviser whether to retire from the annuity or, after three years of non-residence, take it as a lump sum and invest it offshore in US dollars.

Your pension and your family

What happens to your pension income if you die matters as much as how it's paid while you're alive — especially with a Thai partner or children in two countries.

• Living annuity: whatever is left passes to the beneficiaries you nominate, outside your estate, as an annuity or a lump sum. Keep the nominations up to date, including a Thai partner.
• Guaranteed life annuity: a single-life annuity stops when you die; a joint-life annuity, or one with a guarantee period, keeps paying a spouse.
• GEPF and other pension funds: spouse's and children's pensions may be payable, and for lump-sum death benefits the trustees decide among your dependants under section 37C — nominations guide them but don't bind them.
• Retirement annuities: also paid out under section 37C, so record every dependant, wherever they live.

Make sure your partner knows which funds and providers you have, how to contact them and where the paperwork is. Our guide to financial planning for international families covers wills, estate duty and protecting a partner across two countries.

The mistakes we see most often

1. Letting the South African account lapse, or not making it a non-resident account when you cease residence.
2. Losing the South African cellphone number and being locked out of banking.
3. Missing a life certificate, so payments stop.
4. Drawing too much from a living annuity in the early years.
5. Keeping everything in rand while spending in baht.
6. Counting on the SASSA grant after moving.
7. Ignoring Thai tax on pension income brought in.
8. Converting at poor bank rates month after month.

Your South African pension checklist

• List every pension, annuity and retirement annuity, with values and providers.
• Keep a South African account open — non-resident if you cease residence.
• Keep your cellphone number active for one-time PINs.
• Choose how you'll move income to Thailand, and set a routine.
• Set a sustainable drawdown and hold part offshore.
• Plan tax in both countries.
• Return life certificates promptly and keep details updated.
• Keep nominations and wills up to date in both countries.

Protecting your pensions from scams

• Never respond to unsolicited offers to "unlock" retirement funds early or move them into unusual overseas schemes.
• Check any message "from GEPF", SARS or your provider by contacting them yourself.
• Use strong passwords and two-factor sign-in on every pension and bank account, and never share one-time PINs.
• Use a private, protected connection on hotel, café and condo Wi-Fi.

How we researched this guide

This guide draws on our South African retirement and banking guides and their sources: retirement-fund rules on living annuities, the two-pot system and retirement annuities after emigration; GEPF and SASSA guidance on payments abroad; SARS and Reserve Bank rules on non-resident accounts and tax compliance PINs; Capitec's 2026 bank charges; Thai Visa Services (27 September 2026) on retirement extension requirements; and ThaiLawOnline on Thai tax rates and allowances. Conversions at ฿2.04 = R1 (October 2026). Checked 23 October 2026. This guide is general information, not personal financial or tax advice.