KhunHeineken

Probably because True will not tell the Truth.

You seem to be one of those holier than thou posters. Sure, you have never had a happy ending in Thailand, or done "the girlfriend experience." What BS. Yeah, I have had interactions with prostitutes in some countries around the world. So what? Have you been to Dubai and seen how many Thai women working in the sex trade there? What about Korea and Malaysia? Not only is sex Thailand's biggest tourist attraction, but it's also one of its biggest exports.

Should your share portfolio boom, I gather you will get nothing. Meanwhile, people who have never worked a day in their life get the full pension.

If the term for it is not "colonized" what would you call it? There's farang all over the country, many working in just about every industry here, even those reserved for Thai's, through a proxy, usually their Thai missus. All those foreign factories with cheap Thai labor, with the products exported to western markets. All those big multi-national companies in Bangkok, with the profits being sent offshore. Maybe you think farang are here to just help the Thai's.

Hard to deny, no pun intended. Hamburg, Amsterdam etc have nothing on Bangkok / Thailand. Both of these countries, and countless others, have Thai sex workers. Many use an agent where it's organized crime, many also use such visas as student visas, but their focus is working in the sex trade. Do you deny this????

Yes. Apologies. The 12-2024 Cumulative Update. I did read Microsoft either were allowing, or couldn't stop, the upgrades to Windows 11 on unsupported hardware, but they may have been able to stop updates to unofficial upgrades on unsupported hardware.

The Thai missus will dob him in, when he is past his used by date for her.

Watch out for that ATO task force looking for rogue opal miners who still collect Centerlink.

Clearly, not enough. Keep at it. You are a falang in Thailand. You are already "jumping." Perhaps you just don't know it. No. A Thai who gets caught out not paying tax still gets to live in Thailand, right? It's their birthright. They are a Thai citizen. YOU, on the other hand, can be black listed. Yes, yes, I know. Rocket science. Happy New Year to you also. Stop being naive.

Been a common saying for decades: "they don't want us here, they just want out money here." Ever heard the saying, or something pretty similar before? Tourism accounts for around 20% of Thailand's GDP. Have you heard that, as well? Tourism is what has caused Thailand to be named "the world's brothel." Have you heard that saying before? Those "tons of areas" don't have many Thai's, either, do they? It's difficult to find a village that doesn't have a falang living in it. Look how tourism and expats have created provincial immigration amongst the Thai workers, many heading south to work in hospitality, legitimate or otherwise. If foreigners haven't colonized Thailand, what would you call it? I will count your reply as the most naive post of the day.

We are definitely being ripped off. A passport, any passport, is just not worth that much money.

I agree. That's why it's called "The Australian Housing Market Ponzi Scheme." In many ways, it's not dissimilar to what happened in the USA back in 2008. Since the covid housing bubble, the banks have tightened up. I think it's because they knew they were over leveraged. Those mortgages are still in play. Inflation is still at 3.8%, and has been for some time. That's about 1.3% higher than the RBA would like. Raise rates again, and it pushes thousands across the country into foreclosure. Lower rates to save the housing market and inflation increases. Catch 22. The broad sword of raising interest rates only effects those repaying finance. The rich are unaffected and keep spending. Hardly equitable. A few ideas were put forward by government advisors at the time. One being, a temporary rise in the GST. This hits the people actually causing the inflation, the spenders, but it was not to be. Turning the family home into an investment vehicle has brought financial pain and suffering to many, with no end in sight.

The "middle" is the epicenter of the colony.

I've been all over Thailand, even off the beaten track on a road / trail bike. Seen a lot and done a lot, over many years, good and bad. What you don't seem to understand is your presence has corrupted the whole village.

That is basically how it works. Many members seem to think DTA's stop their money being taxed in two countries. This is incorrect. DTA's simply stop the same money being taxed twice. I posted this on another thread. I'll post it again on this thread for your benefit. He explains it quite well.

DTA's ensure no double taxation, however, DTA's simply allow the taxation to be shared, and not exempted. One particular member believes not. Tax or no tax the following year, the Chinese and Russian will keep the Thai property market afloat. He may be right, but in my opinion, anyone doing their due diligence would hold off to see how this tax unfolds, and a I gave an example in another thread of the exact demographic who should not be rushing in. Another member said the Chinese and Russians simply want / need to get their money out of their country, and I accept that, but I also mentioned if they are "parking" that money in Thai property, then it's creating a "bubble." I have never trusted any government here. That's why I have nothing here I can leave behind in a matter of hours and head straight to the airport. This is by design. They can do anything, at anytime, and foreigners have no rights. That retirement visa / extension is nothing more than a 1 year tourist visa.

Many pensioners here would have to budget for that. That 20,500 baht would have to come out of their lifestyle.

You are not a resident of Thailand for tax purposes, so no consequences at all for you. Feel free to stay another 9 days if you like, but not another 10 days.

It's now January 2025.

Perhaps those that have financial and emotional ties in Thailand. A member posted earlier on another thread that he will not leave his Thai family for 6 months of the year. I guess some people will just have to pay.

Maybe the Thai's are just happy to have tourism, rather than be colonized, because that's pretty much what expats have done, colonized Thailand, from north to south, and east to west.

They very well might have just enough in place come extension time in 2025 to ensure you pay "something" and that "something" may not necessarily be tax.

If it comes to that, will you sign a false declaration? The stakes get raised once you go down that path.

Interesting.

Thai's have a birthright to live in Thailand, you do not. That means the Thai government says "jump" and you ask "how high?" Make of that what you will, but if they want your money, and you refuse to pay, you are out.