gearbox

19 minutes ago, Tropposurfer said:

As far as I am aware falangs anyone who pitch a tent along any foreshore or on a public beach won't be be there enjoying the 'glamping' bliss for long as plod will appear to either shoo them away, shoo and fine, or fine and arrest them. 

 

In other words its illegal. Thais run by a whole different set of rules than us falangs on this.

 

If you can find a private beach owner and get permission then that's a whole different matter.

There is no such thing as a private beach in Thailand. All beaches belong to the king and are essentially public property. Only the land behind the beach can be private, but you can still access the beach with a boat or kayak.

4 hours ago, bradiston said:

Why come here at all?

I've met quite a few people, many of them Germans, who stayed for months camping on the south islands national parks campsites. Many are coming almost every year.

5 minutes ago, shackleton said:

What about your valuables money passport ect 

You have a good chance of being releaved of them living in a tent no security ect 

If Shackleton had the same mindset as you he wouldn't have left Ireland ????

On 10/13/2023 at 8:22 AM, SAFETY FIRST said:

It's illegal in Thailand. 

 

Go to Australia and holiday, they like your type, you'll probably be offered social security befefits, free medical etc. 

 

Have fun ????

 

LOL it is definitely illegal in the nanny state, you can camp only in designated camp sites near the beach but never on the sand, and sometimes you get charged 50-80 AUD for a couple of square metres of camping site.

36 minutes ago, Celsius said:

I am not from UK, I have nothing to do with UK and I am definitely not going back to UK

 

LOL

From what I remember your home country has more or less 1 week of summer ????

10 hours ago, carlf said:

Hello all.  I'm planning on bicycling in November from Chumphon to Penang, Malaysia.  I've been living and biking in Thailand for 5 years, so somewhat used to biking conditions for central Thailand especially, but not southern Thailand.

Any strong recommendation as to whether it's better to bike down the Eastern side of Thailand (via Nakhon Si Thammarat and Hat Yai) versus crossing over to the west around Surat Thani and going down the west coast (via Krabi and Trang)?  Thanks.

I've done it twice (well once Samui to Langkawi), definitely the eastern side, nice cycling along the sea, if you have time cycle to Kota Bharu and then to Penang.

9 hours ago, save the frogs said:

we're illiterates here. keep it brief.

 

they're putting you out of your misery.

if you buy houses like that, you'll be a target. 

 

The top 2% in the US have net worth cut off of 2.2 mil, yet the OP just casually tries to buy a house worth more than 4m USD. The numbers don't match...

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/know-im-rich-140000452.html

2 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Worth a read this article. I haven't been to Laos for 25 years, maybe another trip next year

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-66924300

Right... probably they should listen to the British government propaganda outlet and engage the British to build a railway for them. The Chinese built the railway for 6 billion USD, the cost of the British HS2 so far is 106 billion pounds and counting....the railway to be finished in 7 or more years.

Or better engage the Aussies, the cost of the city to Parramatta metro ballooned from 6 billion to 30 billion AUD before they even started to work properly on it. That's a 18km metro line.

Thai international hospital, 250 baht, takes less than 30 min. Tell them medical certificate for retirement visa, they've done many.

3 hours ago, Adumbration said:

It would appear that there will now be a new class of service to be provided by the immigration agents.

 

Non-O retirement extension, but with no 800K in the bank AND NO tax declaration.

 

I have never used an agent, but for those guys that do, can you please call them and ask what the fee will be for ignoring the tax declaration.

 

Look forward to your replys.

You can apply for non-O extension, but that won't necessarily mean you are also a tax resident of Thailand if you don't stay more than 6 months here.

The truth is every gubement in the world would like to grab as much money as possible, and Thailand is no different. Especially after the COVID money splashing there is need now to collect more.

For those threatening to leave the number of greener pastures is constantly shrinking. A few days ago Portugal announced similar measures.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/03/portugal-to-scrap-unjust-tax-breaks-for-foreign-residents

Taxes can be avoided in countries like Democratic Republic of Congo, but there are other issues to deal with...

On 10/3/2023 at 6:24 PM, Tropposurfer said:

I can't speak for those three.

 

BUT ...

I have had 3 at BNH with superb care and safe service.

The first 2 were paid in cash at about 750 AUD total, the third was on my wiz-bang super-duper medical insurance so paid in full through the fund.

 

Its important to chose the safest hospital you can afford as colonoscopies hold some risk. The bowel is relatively soft tissue and if the camera is not manoeuvred safely can perforate the bowel.

So, a clinician with impeccable credentials is paramount.

Also you need to have someone escort you home just in case you are a bit flakey after the sedative-meds.

This sounds very reasonable, did you have any polyps removed?

I had one today in Sydney, in one of the Ramsay Health care private hospitals, the only significant expense was paying $500 AUD  excess for my Medibank Private policy. Full anaesthesia and polyps removed.

The receptionist asked me to view and acknowledge various hospital charges there,  eye popping ICU stay per day, 5180 AUD, that's around 120k baht.

14 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

If I live in Australia and the ex wife (due to separation) lives in Thailand, then I claim correctly, like I said before, there are rules to adhere to and that I am doing.

 

If you wish to call it fraud, that is your call, they will have to prove that, and believe you me, they will have Buckley's because proving someone isn't separated when living in another country for 2 years away from his family is going to be pretty hard to prove, especially when he says so and she says so, and it comes to the crunch and they want a divorce, then we would gladly accommodate them if they put up the $1,000 (ridiculous) $'s that it costs to do it yourself, i.e. someone's in the business of making money, aren't they, but that's another story ????
 

Thx, I agree, that said, there are risks in life as you say, however, you plan as best you can and follow there rules, then make a break for it when you have crossed the 2 year finish line.

 

 

One potential issue I could see with your "separation" or "divorce" is if your Thai wife does it for real and claims half of your assets and more, plus child support. AFAIK the Thai women in Oz have their own forums and discuss these things, they even refer experienced lawyers to do the job. You may say"mine is different",  but there are precedents.

So your 2 year stay may becoming longer....

3 hours ago, Mavideol said:

majority of Expats are not residents of Thailand, we are merely guests with a temporary permit to say that can be removed/revoked/cancelled and kicked out at any time or will we now be considered residents and will be given residency cards

This is not how it works, tax residence is separate from the usual concept of residence. I'm an Australian tax resident although I may spend as little as 1 week per year there, and by the looks of it I'm also a Thai tax resident if I stay more than half an year here. Different countries have different laws wrt tax residence.

5 hours ago, Pattaya57 said:

I make property rent, bank interest and shares income in Australia. No way will I be telling Thailand Tax office of this income like the OP says to do as how would they ever know? No chance!

It all depends what information the two countries share. And this is not public info.

I've seen people who got issued tax return adjustment notices in Oz as a result of data matching with foreign governments wrt foreign income.

On the other end there is a tick box on the Oz tax return "do you have more than 50k assets overseas?", I know many people who have but never bothered to declare, nobody had any issues so far.

My strategy would be to declare nothing and minimise any bank transfers, let's see if either of the countries issue me a notice.

6 hours ago, Neeranam said:

Exactly, I will be consulting a  Thai accountant, not a foreign lawyer. 

The OP has little idea what he is talking about. Consult the specific DTA with your country.

Most DTAs are structured so people get tax credit for tax already paid in a foreign country.

For example say the marginal tax rate in Australia is 45%, and in Thailand is 30%. If I earn interest 1000 baht in Thailand the Thai govt will tax me 300 baht (30%). When I file my tax return in Australia and declare income in Thailand of 1000 baht, the govt under the DTA between the two countries will give me a tax credit for tax already paid in Thailand of 300 baht, and will charge me extra 150 baht covering the difference to the 45% Australian tax rate.

If there was no DTA then both Thailand and Australia would charge me their respective rates, 30% in Thailand and full 45% in Australia.

I get regularly tax credits for tax withheld,  and get charged extra tax to cover the tax rate differences for income earned in New Zealand.

6 hours ago, BritScot said:

If it wasn't for "C" china's economy would already have crashed spectacularly. China thought it could bring the world crashing so lessening it's  noticible crash. Big money is moving out of China as are foreign firms. The crash has already started but the big danger is what will the ccp do in their death throws?

Actually the Chinese economy is doing quite well, for first ever time in this years' Fortune global 500 companies rankings the Chinese are number 1 with 145 companies. What Xi is doing is repositioning the economy towards high added value industries and it shows - this year the Chinese have a decent chance of being number 1 car exporter to Australia. The Chinese are slowly gobbling industries one by one.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/China-tech/China-leads-high-tech-research-in-80-of-critical-fields-report

55 minutes ago, proton said:

The Irish are not causing the social problems and crime in Sweden today, Muslim immigrants are, why not stick to the point instead of deflecting from it with irrelevant history having nothing to do with the topic?

Sweden and many European countries are just collateral damage. In a hindsight they should have closed their borders. Barring France with their colonies, most of the recent Muslim immigration to Europe is a result of wars, coups, regime changes and other interference by the US and their vassal state UK in north Africa, Middle East and Afghanistan. Merkel foolishly opened her welcoming arms, the Euro politicians should have loaded these refugees on cruise ships and dump them in Florida - they created the problems, let them have them and pay for them.

11 hours ago, Puccini said:

It is understandable that some people may think that what we call a Double Taxation Agreement is meant to ensure or allow double taxation. However, "Double Taxation Agreement" is shorthand for what, in the example of the DTA with Australia, is officially called "AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE KINGDOM OF THAILAND AND AUSTRALIA FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DOUBLE TAXATION AND THE PREVENTION OF FISCAL EVASION WITH RESPECT TO TAXES ON INCOME"

 

That depends on many things. Some types of income are only taxed in the country of payment, for other types one gets credit.

From the above document:

"Subject to the provisions of Article 19, pensions and annuities paid to a resident of  
one of the Contracting States shall be taxable only in that State."

On the surface it looks like the Oz pensions are exempted, but note the word "resident", many people choose to be non resident of Oz wrt tax.

For dividends and interests there is no such exclusion, if tax is levied in Oz it can be used as a tax credit in the other state, and any tax shortfall after the credit is applied should be paid.

11 hours ago, Puccini said:

It is understandable that some people may think that what we call a Double Taxation Agreement is meant to ensure or allow double taxation. However, "Double Taxation Agreement" is shorthand for what, in the example of the DTA with Australia, is officially called "AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE KINGDOM OF THAILAND AND AUSTRALIA FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DOUBLE TAXATION AND THE PREVENTION OF FISCAL EVASION WITH RESPECT TO TAXES ON INCOME"

 

Murky waters...I've read somewhere today at some Oz web site that in case of DTA if you are not resident in Oz for tax purposes, then you get taxed by the country of residence, which may be Thailand. Sounds fairly logical.

Too many contradictory docos.

3 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

You are talking about the tax free threshold, and it's not just for interest, it's all forms of income. 

 

The tax free threshold does not apply to non residents for tax purposes.  It's 32.5% from $0 to $120,000. 

 

One should not just be relying on a single rental property for living in Thailand, and you forgot that the rent received also decreases a pension.  

 

Once again, your figures are based on being a resident for tax purposes, which many living in Thailand are not.  

 

This has been discussed to death in the other thread. 

 

Yes, you, me, and many on this thread are currently using 90 year old legislation that says if you maintain a "domicile" in Australia you can remain a resident for tax purposes.

 

As discussed in the other thread, with many links provided, the previous Liberal government put forward proposed changes, and the current Labor government are aware of them, that basically sets out the criteria be changed from "domicile" to a time based criteria, and based on physical presence.  

 

This will have implications for you, me, and many on this thread.  

 

Basically, immigration know you are not in Australia for 183 days, and they inform Centrelink and the ATO, then, you are treated as a non resident for tax purposes.  All done by computer data bases.  Simple, cheap, and no loop holes.  No appeals, no reviews.  Inside Australia 183 days, resident, outside Australia for 183 days, non resident. 

 

It means you will be paying 32.5% tax from dollar number one on all income, including a pension, and yes, a pension is deemed to be an income.  Links have been provided for this.

 

So, can you maintain your current lifestyle in Thailand with 32.5% less money?    

 

Superannuation pensions are not taxable income, they can be taken tax free by non-residents.