gearbox

I'm currently on Non-O retirement and plan to convert to DTV later this year as in the next 3-4 years I plan to be less than 6 months per year in Thailand. Does anyone know if DTV can be converted to Non-O retirement later? I know the tourist visa and visa exempt can be converted, but once I have the DTV visa stamped in my passport I don't think I can enter visa exempt until the DTV visa expires.

Also would it be possible to renew Thai driving licence for 5 years with DTV? AFAIK with tourist visa only 2 year renewals are possible.

1 hour ago, scubascuba3 said:

Prices will go down as demand will go down

Prices will go down...good thing! Why are we rejoicing when the price of electricity and petrol go down? Mindboggling why people insist to pay more for shelter.

1 hour ago, superal said:

Almost impossible to compete with cheap labour from Asian countries . Trumps plan is to impose tariffs on many imports in order to keep manufacturing within the U.S.A. . Thus driving up local  employment by creating a trade war . 

As you say , many Western countries are allowing immigration of unskilled workers , hoping to boost their economy . Does not work as the majority do not work and become dependent on government benefits . Regarding the UK , the country has been going down the pan for the last 15 years and is now accelerating on a slippery down-slope under the supervision of a pretend government .

1/ Scrap the zero carbon scheme which is estimated to cost 10 billion pounds a year , every year to 2050 . 2/  Scrap the foreign aid budget of 14 billion pounds every year and take care of your own people first . That's the 22 billion pound black hole sorted .

Cheap labour in East Asia....this was the case many years ago. These countries lead in the implementation of robots, China is deploying more than half of the robots in the world in recent years.

The reasons for their success is very simple - they study and work harder, and the governments have policies to promote this.

My gf did both in Bumrungrad hospital around a month ago. Around 37k with 10% voucher discount. The equipment and level of service was similar to the Sydney North Shore private hospital where I did mine 8 months ago. I had a look around and most of the big  private hospitals were asking similar prices.

Depending on your home country you may be able to do it cheaper there.

On 1/8/2025 at 4:48 AM, ronster said:

There is a company on samui called samui storage as far as I remember.

I know about them, they have only 1 cubic metre available, and is relatively pricey at 1100 baht per month. The minimum I need is 2 metres length.

On 1/8/2025 at 5:10 PM, Tropicalevo said:

We rent a small Thai unit for additional storage.

I call them pig-pens. A row of single floor, budget places with a small kitchen, basic squat toilet, bedroom and living area.

Start at about 2,500 baht per month depending on location.

I was thinking about it, but I'm not sure how safe it is. I may not be around for months, it could be tempting for the people around to empty the room.

9 hours ago, CallumWK said:

Another anti-Trump OP from the Australian member who several times already said he isn't interested in US politics, isn't ant-Trump, and doesn't like the political soapbox forum.

Indeed Australia is at the opposite part of the world. I would expect a topic like this one to be started from someone from a NATO country. Population there may face conscription to defend Greenland under Article 5.

8 hours ago, Pattaya57 said:

Paying a fee to withdraw your own cash making news. Commonwealth bank announced a $3 withdrawal fee for cash last month, luckily due to the public outrage Comm Bank quickly cancelled the fee.

 

However now Bendigo bank has announced a $2.50 fee for withdrawing cash over the counter calling it a 'service fee'. 

 

Meanwhile interest rates are still good with predictions mixed for RBA rate cut on 18 Feb.

 

Why would you withdraw cash over the counter? Unless it is many thousands use ATM. Some of the banks allow you to increase daily limits considerably.

12 hours ago, Walker88 said:

At a presser Tuesday, 7 January, at Mar-a-Lago, the President-elect said he would not rule out military force to take Greenland and the Panama Canal.

 

Your hero, right, MAGAs?

 

Oh, and he threatened economic force to annex Canada, plus he wants to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico.

 

It's 1700 again; do you know where your Colonial Master is?

 

(Plenty of videos of his presser, for those who want to see their hero pretend he's a warrior.)

How would this work... isn't Greenland in NATO? Aren't the other NATO countries going to protect Greenland?

35 minutes ago, CharlesHolzhauer said:

I am 76 years young and financially secure. While the proposed tax on worldwide income would be a manageable setback, I have no intention of making any drastic changes to my current living arrangements.

At 76 I wouldn't worry too much....it will take probably years to get to effective worldwide taxation. The taxman can do little if they don't have info from overseas.

37 minutes ago, Phillip9 said:

 

How will they find out about your income in Australia?  They would need to hire lawyers in Australia and take you to court there to get that information.  Seems completely impossible they could do that considering how much that would cost and the number of foreigners living in Thailand.  No reason to even spend a second worrying about that until we get at least one report that it's happened to someone else.

Nope....Google CRS. At the moment is too mirky but if the Thais determine you are tax resident they may require the CRS info from the Oz side, and they may need to provide it. However it is all new and would probably need years to be worked out. One thing for sure - the things are going to get worse, not better. The governments are out to fleece you.

1 hour ago, CharlesHolzhauer said:

Bummer😀. I didn't make any money transfers in 2024 and my previous 2023 money transfers will last for a while. Enough time to make decisive arrangements.  

I can work around the transfers but if they want to start taxing worldwide income irrespectively whether the income was transferred or not, I would have real issues. Too much uncertainty at the moment, the 100% fix is to spend less than 180 days.I live off money I transferred in 2022, but I'm planning to move to DTV, this would free my 800k in the bank to be used.

1 hour ago, CharlesHolzhauer said:

I am classified in Australia as a self-funded retiree. My pension payments are drawn from a private pension platform and are automatically deposited into an external bank account. The investment earnings on the assets supporting these pension payments are tax-free, as approved by the Australian government.
Would anyone in a similar situation know if these tax-free pension payments become taxable once they are remitted to my Thai bank account? From my understanding, the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) between Thailand and Australia does not specifically address private pension payments. Any insights or clarification on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

I'm in the same boat. AFAIK the private pensions like super are not covered by the DTA and are taxable...at least this was my impression after reading the DTA. Departing next month to spend 7 months in Oz then 2 months in Europe, this will prevent me being tax resident in Thailand in 2025. Planning to spend less than 180 days per year for forseeable future.

15 hours ago, HappyExpat57 said:

New member or AI clickbait?

Bob's posts are much more genuine and entertaining.

13 minutes ago, Hummin said:

Together with a mix of service workers and expats of different nationalities and backgrounds. 

 

I stayed in one of those condos at Koh Samui, and it didn't take many days before we moved. To many people coming and going  at all different hours and makes noise. 

 

 

Main thing for me is to store my bicycles and kayaks. Need to figure out whether is better to rent there or drive to Pattaya to put them in cheaper storage. No firm plans yet.

14 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

The age pension is both entitlement and welfare. Any Australian who meets the age and financial criteria is entitled to it.

 

The current situation is a self-inflicted wound. Before, during and after the GFC, hundreds of thousands of Australians lost their life savings to thieves, mainly due to the abject incompetence of ASIC. They were then forced to apply for part or full pensions to make up the shortfall.

 

I guess victim blaming is popular among people who don't like the concept of welfare for those less fortunate.

 

When Joe Hockey said the age of entitlement is over, he certainly was not talking about the tax breaks he was giving to the wealthy. Or himself, the fat turd.

 

BTW, what's your BMI?

My BMI is good enough.... thanks for worrying. I travel mainly as a long distance bikepacker or kayaker, that has put me on top of the cardiovascular health for my age.

14 hours ago, khunPer said:

Not many condos on Samui, normally you rent a bungalow, which is possible for long term agreement from around 5,000 baht per month depending of size, fittings and location. For 20,000 baht per month you have plenty of possibilities.

 

There are many places on Samui where you can walk to both 7-Eleven and 24 hour open super markets; and with affordable restaurants in the neighbourhood.

 

Lamui, which has been mentioned, is one option. Others are Ban Rak-area; Bo Phut beah-area and Maenam. Also Bang Por begins to be of interest. The main tourist destination Chaweng Beach is mainly hotels and resorts, shopping and some nightlife; while the southern part and Chaweng Noi-area might be interesting also to check out.

 

Google Maps' Street View is an excellent help to get a visual impression. Then, when checking the island out, try to live for some days or a weeks time in areas of prior interest, and feel what its like in real life.

 

A benefit on Samui is that you easily can find accommodation in walking distance to a beach – and for up to 30,000 baht a month you can actually live very near – however, there are not many guarded accommodation available; probably because we don't have much crime on the island.

 

I've been living permanent on the island since 2006. I stay in Maenam, where you can find bungalows or other accommodation within your budget between 100 meters and a few hundred meters from the beach. Also within a few hundred meters you can find numerous 7-Eleven stores; a variety of super markets like Lotus's Fresh, Mini BigC and Tops Daily; plenty of (affordable) restaurants; some few pubs and bars; and lots of other shops, laundry and local markets. You can easily do both daily shopping and dining out without need of your own transportation. Other areas are close to the same.

 

In Lamai you'll find both a Lotus's shopping mall and a nice large Makro hyper mart close by – Makro on Samui is orientated into good food and catering, supplier to the many, of not most, of the many-star hotels; there is also a similar Makro hyper mart in Bo Phut – however, the Lamai beach-road-area is quite touristed and can be a bit noisy, but have plenty of restaurants and numerous bars.

 

There are ATM – sometimes more than one brand – by most convenience stores.

 

If buying a car, your have further options for nice areas to live in.

 

For me, Samui is as the sign by the ferry harbour, Paradise. My best choice ever was to settle here – and I did check Hua Hin, Phuket and Pattaya-area before making my decision...

 

Where are these 5000 baht per month bungalows? May need one to store my gear if my relationship goes south.

44 minutes ago, placeholder said:

I don't think China is playing the long game at all. Or, if they are, the're not going to have enough time to succeed. At least if they continue with their present policies. Before Xi, the private sector constituted more than 50% of the economy. That's been reversed. There's a huge amount of private debt out there thanks to the real estate bust and to the fact the the Chinese govt is compelling private sector business to make loans to failing government enterprises. And also making workers in the private sector spend hours studying the gemlike thoughts of Xi.

Xi is the greatest Chinese leader in recent times. Surely he is going to inflict some pain for long term gains to his people, but they can't topple him, there are no elections in China. The greatest move recently was to clamp on the real estate speculators. I keep an eye at a few high tech areas and the Chinese are moving very fast ahead.

On 1/4/2025 at 8:22 PM, jas007 said:

Long story short:  I currently live in the Wongamat Beach area of Pattaya. I've been here for 2 1/2 years, but I'm in the mood to move, just for the heck of it. I'm thinking about Koh Samui. I may take an exploratory trip in a month or so.

 

Anyway, I don't have a car and I won't ride on a motorbike. I'm OK with taking a Bolt taxi when I want to go somewhere, but it would be excellent if I could walk less than a block or so to the nearest 7/11 or Tops.  And it would be ideal if the neighborhood had some nice restaurants and some ATM machines. On the other hand, I might buy a little car in the future.

 

I'd like to rent a condo with good security, preferably close to the beach.

 

Given all that, for those who know Samui, where should I look? Budget would be preferably less than 20,000 baht, but 30,000 wouldn't e a problem.  I can rent long term. 

 

 

 

 

I live in Samui since 2018. For me the main attraction is the ability to swim and kayak in good waters, if you are not into this I would give Samui a miss. The infrastructure and traffic are bad, accidents happening every day. The quality of the visitors is going down every year, plenty of aggressive tattoed low life roaming around. Going anywhere is more expensive than anywhere else in Thailand, e.g going with a car to the mainland sets you back 1200 baht. The hospitals can't match the big hospitals on the mainland, like these in Phuket, Pattaya or the big regional centres like Hat Yai. Going out by air is expensive and sometimes a nuisance...I travel a lot and mostly in southern direction, have to fly to Bangkok or Phuket first.

Everything is more expensive, probably the most expensive of all main tourist places.

However if you are in good financial shape, don't move too much around and like to stay at quiet place near the beach, this is all doable and the life is good.

1 minute ago, Lacessit said:

IMO not a good trade, the USD for making ourselves a nuclear target.

There are elections next May, I'll vote for any party which wants to remove American military presence from our soil. For defence, stop buying American junk and make a deal with Fat Kim. We have cash, he has nuclear technology probably at tenth of the prices we are paying now for defence. Have nukes, sleep well.