gearbox

Whatever when quoted is 100% true, the hurdles are there so it doesn't become outright entitlement. I'll never qualify for OAP unless some global turmoil of big magnitude happens. This "right" is denied to me.

Yes the 2 years rule is a stupid one and shouldn't be there. Also the other complicated rules like deeming, assets tests and so on. The OAP should be retrofitted to resemble the US social security payments - get OAP proportionally to the taxes you paid during your working life. Worked ony 2 months in your whole life? No problem here is $20 for the month, now <deleted> off! "Paid taxes all my life!"...hmm let's see how much you have paid, that'll be $800 a month. Unlikely this to happen in the land of the quasi-communism, way too many voting freeloaders there.

I don't have to go back for 2 years to claim any govt money, but if I had to, I would buy good quality bicycle and panniers, and would cycle around Oz for 2 years.

It is hard to figure out which countries are effectively participating in the exchanges and if you call the govt hotline they won't give you a list ???? However the only way to take money out of Oz without the govt knowing is to put them in the pocket. Everything is captured, including Wise and PayPal transfers. However afaik the ATM withdrawals are not reported yet, but how to withdraw 300k or a mil with a card? At the Oz side the banking software may flag it as suspicious transactions requiring special report to the govt. After they collect data from anywhere they can legally do, complex data mining and data matching models are applied, including network analysis. The desk officers at Centrelink may not look too smart, but the govt has massive computing power in the background which continuously evolves.

It says in the OP "if you have tax residence home", but the Thai banks wouldn't now your tax residence status and simply use the passport of origin.

There was a recent thread around this forum that the Thai banks are going to start reporting back to the home countries any assets with them, based on the foreigner's passport data the bank has. So if anyone moves money out of Oz in order to qualify for OAP he or she may get caught eventually. The overseas reach of ATO and the Oz govt is constantly expanding, a friend of mine got notice for incorrectly declared dividend from a French company listed in France.

You can draw a super pension as non resident tax free, as long as the country you are in doesn't tax you. I'm planning to start drawing pension next year, but I'm a tax resident and will try to remain such. Pension from super after 60 is tax free, furthermore the fund earnings are tax free too. Hard to beat anywhere else, but I suspect the pollies are going to change this for worse sooner than later. If you remain resident, the earnings outside super are taxed very favourably up to 45k per year. If you are non resident you'll lose the tax free threshold. It really depends how much money you are trying to move. If you have a spare couple of mils look at Singapore, there was a long thread here on this site.

Even if it requires skills the OP may get undercut by the competition from third world countries. I've hired graphic designers from Nepal online at very low rates. If the OP can offer good skills western companies would hire him, but it takes time to build reputation. Look at upwork.com, for similar jobs money asked could be $10/hour or $100/hour, the expensive freelancers are getting hired too, the customers have money and they want to get someone who delivers.

Depends what skills you have. Look at upwork.com to see what kind of skills people are offering. If you are good in writing you can make reasonable amount of money but need to build a portfolio and reputation first, and that takes time.

No need for war mongering, get the fertilizer and close the deal. Fertilizers these days are as good as hard currency, can be used within Thailand or resold. Much better to invest in education.

For now on...but their latest models in construction would be more advanced. On top of that there were articles that the Chinese developed a method to track even the most advanced and quietest western submarines, if true it would make the engine noise far less relevant as a factor.

Vassal but not for long. The far right AFD party is now number 2 in the polls, and gaining voters every month. In France if the elections were held today, the far right Leg Pen would easily defeat Macron. Troubling times for Europe ahead.

The Chinese don't need the German engines, they have nuclear powered submarines, however they won't sell them.

I've done many times the trip with AirAsia, you can book the whole route including ferry too. Booked in advance they are the cheapest, the tickets between Surat Thani and Don Mueang can go as low as 100 baht. I'm flying November during the wet season to Bangkok with my gf and back, 100 baht one way.

Book early....I'm flying with them BKK - Samui next month, price is 2160 baht. Booked a few months ago.

All looks good anywhere when people are young, but these 20 to 50 yo in Thailand would realise when nearing the retirement age that they have assets and pensions good only for the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Well...it didn't happen. Still need to water the plants, but we have a well which is never short of water.

Not much the Thais can do about it. In fact it may help the car industry. BYD is opening a factory in Chonbury next year, and would avoid any import tariffs if the Thais decide to implement them. I guess a lot of BYD cars will go to Australia as we have FTA with Thailand. Other manufacturers would eventually follow the same path.

His rental is probably one of the rare cases when the landlord doesn't have the financial incentives to raise the rent. I knew people in Sydney renting like that, the landlord was on partial OAP and would lose his health care concession card and whatever else with higher income from his apartment.

Forex forecasts are like weather forecasts, but at 25+ AUD didn't seem to me to have much more potential to go further up, so I moved quite a bit of money from Oz to Thailand.. around 2 years worth of living expenses.

It depends where your "condo" is...in Sydney any 2 bedroom apartment within 10km from the beach will swallow your OAP completely, and many would cost a way more.

Currently in Europe, the Aussie is at around 14 years low against the Euro. IMO China would probably need less resources in near to medium future, so I expect a slow trend downwards. Also China is installing massive capacity of green and nuclear energy, so coal demand may be reduced too in the next 5 years.

Exactly. The OP is not buying professional services, he wants a job quoted. Quoting is cost of doing business and should be absorbed in the pricing, same as the bookkeeping and accounting costs. Usually people or companies take a couple of quotes before making up their minds, in the corporate world heaps of work is done via competitive bidding and tenders.

It is a proper island. If the transportation was too cheap it would be overpopulated. I'm a beach person and do often kayaking and open sea swimming. Samui has the best weather pattern in Thailand for this, with around 2 months of wet season. Air is clean. No way I would live in a smog infested areas like CM or Bangkok.

The transport costs are high for tourists, not the residents. I use mostly a bicycle to go around, but we have 2 cars and a motorbike too. The fuel is around 5-7% more expensive than Surat Thani.