khunPer

3 hours ago, zzaa09 said:

Why would one find it necessary to extend any sort of percentage commission toward the Puu Yai for assisting in a societal/community manner? 

Because that is how it normally works in Thailand, with lots of small commissions everywhere...????

Contact head-of-village, he will normally know what's happening in a village and if someone might be interested, and give him the usual 3% commission if he can sort it all out.

If you are 50 years old - or when you are 50 - considers extension based on retirement from an original non-immigrant O-visa, it's easy and only tie up 800k baht in a Thai bank account; just leave them on a 12-months fixed deposit, so you don't need to worry about topping up and maturing of funds, withdraw the interest annually so you have a clean 800k baht balance.

It costs you annually 1,900 baht for extension of stay; and 3,800 baht for multiple re-entry permit, or if only travelling abroad once a year you can buy a one time re-entry permit for 1,000 baht; and about 300 baht for a confirmation letter and statement from the bank (best to use two accounts, the 800k baht fixed and your normal expenses account, and show both).

If you're under 50 years you can use a 400k baht deposit and extension based on marriage until you are 50; the paperwork is little less when applying for extension based on retirement, and you are not dependent of a marriage.

So far there has not been any requirements for health insurance or vaccinations for extension from original entering on a non-immigrant O-visa. However, it recommended to have a health insurance or enough funds set aside, if you wish to be self-insured. It has been mentioned in the news that the 90-days reporting might be terminated.

Looked over a 20-year period, you pay 1,900 + 3,800 + 300 baht x 20 = 120,000 baht for extension er multiple re-entry permits, vs. 1 million baht for an Elite Card where you leave Thailand once a year and re-enters. You might be saved from 90-days report - if not terminated - if staying in areas where Elite Card has an office. The paperwork is not that complicated (I talk from experience), but you can use an agent or law firm to help you with paperwork. If there are any additional benefits connected to the cheap 20-year version, like fast track and airport transfer, you can buy them and probably cheaper than the price of an Elite Card.

8 hours ago, Chad3000 said:

Malaysia recently sabotaged their retirement program.

 

Only the very wealthy that are not working, living off investments can live in Singapore due to visa restrictions. I wasn't aware Singapore even had a retirement program not linked to wealth and prior employment.

 

Thailand just doesn't get it.

 

1. People earning salary this large usually need to be managing something locally.

 

2. People making huge amounts of money from trading (assuming that even lasts) are not paid monthly as immigration absolutely demands to the day! They are paid quarterly, annually possible 3 5 10 years out on investments. Thailand wouldn't even know this bc it has such little high finance.

 

3. I don't think Hua Hin, Chaing Mai or Bangkok especially post covid are at all appealing to high rollers. That leaves scammy Phuket and Samui. Pattaya could remake itself but it will also need to change it's name.

 

4. Banks insure less than 1m thb but you want some smart guy to deposit 100m lol.

 

5. Can't own land only an overpriced box in the sky. Leases are not only worth little the longer the lease the more tempting it will for landlords to break them and raise rents.

 

6. There is little nice coastal property unlike the US.

 

8. How about no tax? It's not as though the wealthy here pay taxes.

 

9. Healthcare is far more expensive in Thailand for those from western countries on pensions. In US medicare picks up much if not all many hospital bills.

 

11. Covid jail. Get asymptomatic covid - go to hospital jail.

 

12. Until Thailand drops all formalities the human right to frrely travel is greatly chilled. Or...just stay in US. Of course, if you're Chinese you'll feel right at home.

 

13. It's hot. While it might beat out China, northern England for weather most days if the year there are plenty of great places it doesn't.

 

14. Owning toys is a hassle. Storing them, registering them and selling them. Boats are a huge hassle.

 

15. The instability of a feckless, authorization government. You'd think military a government would bring stability. It hasn't nor will it.

 

16. Like Myanmar I think wealthy people need to respond to the question of whether bringing in assets aids and abeits - is it good for the people?

 

17. Cheapness is vanishing fast - not do wealthy people care something this Y price not X. They look for value, experience.

 

18. Back to medical. It's very difficult to find a good dentist in Bangkok they are all thieves. We all know the legally sanctioned three tiered pricing system. Finally, it's not that great. Most dentist and doctors are not to western standard.

 

19. Taxes on imported goods. Car, watches, wine, scotch, any imported foodstuffs. Ridiculous.

 

20. immigration, DLT hassles. All the cards, forms, broken online registrations, Treated as a criminal. Every changing requirements. No, they wouldn't just get an agent and invariably will be forced to report multiple times during the year for some cranky middle aged goon.

 

22. Imagine when cops tell the multi millionaire he can't tend his own garden, work on his vintage car or wash his boat.

 

23. The roads are the most dangerous in the world.

 

24. The cops are not honest. While I've only been hassled once in 30 years we all know the stories. This is quite common.

 

25. Quality of life here will only decline. This is brought on faster and harder by the authoritarian government, the cronyism, corruption. I have said for years Thailand is headed towards becoming the Philippines not Singapore. It is not a prosperous place nor will it be in coming decades. It's no longer a happy place either.

 

26. What's the draw? What EXACTLY is the government selling?? I mean really...

 

27. Back to land. Can't own it despite not being able to take it out if the country. Even if law written into Royal Gazette we know the reality and trustworthiness of Thailand. It will be recinded.

 

28. Back to visas. Of course no citizenship or even PR mentioned. We all know a ten year visa is just a one year visa which will function like any other O extension. This is absolutely nothing.

 

29. Get married? Better not. Money you make abroad which has nothing to do with the new wife is half hers despite not even having a visa to visit the country.

 

30. Destruction of environment. Trash is everywhere and on every shore. Plastic. No hope for this one.

 

Bonus: Endless corruption. Remember the old b500 departure tax that wasn't part of the airport fees? It was incorporated into the ticket. Now, we have another and the balls here is that no one knows what it's for. Ironically, for tourism. My point, this stuff is endless.

 

Bonus: The government is just <deleted> and will be so forever. It's one thing if you're running from an even worse despotism or corrupt nation. But if not...why be in the middle of this nonsense?

 

Maybe the government should ask those already here - would any expat currently here given 100m stay? Then they can abandon this silly project, go to Thong Lor and enjoy themselves.

The financial points on the list don't covers wealthy people, but us more normal folks, where money is something we talks about, because you don't have enough - don't forget that wealthy people don't talk about money that's something they have enough of...????

If I had the money - and didn't fancy Thai girls too much...????, which however also could be arranged if I had enough money - I might consider Singapore as an option, especially due to it well organized society and infrastructure...????

However, if I had that much money so I'm real wealthy, I would actually have a lot of choices all around the World, and if I begin to make pro-et-con lists, I'm not sure if I would settle in Thailand, but I could pass by now on then and enjoy a shorter stay in a 5-star luxury hotel - plus one night in Bangkok... - on my way to another luxury resort. Dreaming is sometimes a glorious thing...

Down to earth I would think that Thailand more likely could gain one million retirees and global residents in the more modest range - i.e. those retirees that can afford 800,000 baht deposit, and invest in a home, condo or house with land from around 3 million baht to perhaps 30 million baht, under not too difficult conditions - and especially on-line workers, hereunder digital nomads, if they don't aim too high about proof of education and income level, those people might also invest in a home. That would mainly be people with enough money, but who wish a little better lifestyle than they could buy for same money at home, perhaps including some tax benefits, i.e. kind of economically migrants...????

The better off, including financially loaded playboys and like - and that is folks below, or far below, wealthy-level - already have the Elite Card options, which indeed is within range if you belongs in that financial level. There are some 10,000 of them now, but not easy to imagine them increase 100-fold in five years, even with some little extra benefits...????

I would not be so scared about vaccinated foreigners from low risk zones, I would worry more about the unvaccinated Thais, and eventual migrant workers that could be crossing borders...????

However, there might not come that many foreign tourists as long as there are restrictions, even mandatory wear of face mask can make numerous choose another destination for Christmas-New Year peak season and upcoming winter holidays in January and February, Western foreigners normally plan ahead and could be booking the holidays already now; but with Chinese I've no idea of their preference, they might come in millions..

Siam Bioscience has been added to the list of AstraZeneca AB manufacturing sites, so Thai AZ-vaccine is thereby recognized on the WHO EUL list...

Big Buddha Market in Bang Rak will be closed for two weeks until 26th October, a total of 50 Covid-19 cases have been located here.

Actually Samui seems to have the highest Covid-vaccination rate in Thailand, so if vaccine works, should we then have so relative many new cases?

-Or are the positive new cases asymptomatic, or so mild (due to vaccinations) that it doesn't matter, i.e. we can live with Covid, just like we can live with cold and flu...????

Bear in mind, that even 17,917 people have died with Covid-19 so far, then 44,549 people in Thailand died from the flu in 2018 (WHO count).

3 hours ago, mr_lob said:

Unlike many other countries, Thailand doesn't jab on weekends or public holidays. This can only slow progress. Typically Thai though, and i can imagine that EVERYONE stops between midday and 1pm to kin kaow

I was vaccinated on a Sunday, together with a massive number of other people, so I presume Thailand do vaccination on Sundays...????

13th October

Samui +39 new cases
Phangan, no new cases
Koh Tao, no new cases

2 hours ago, wml22 said:

Regarding the internet, I think it's a fiber connection from the wall jack, but the cable that goes from the wall jack to the modem is probably a coaxial line. I get about 300 Mbps download speed if that helps give an idea about what it is.

Hopefully not a co-ax cable, it's outdated and slow "Token Ring" network. It will be a normal LAN RJ45-connection out from the fiber router, and that cable can easily carry 1 Gbps date (Giga bit is not the same Giga Byte, one byte is 8 bit). Often the router will have a build in switch with a number of LAN sockets for output.

This is what my 5G router from TOT looks like (it's about o year old, so new models might have 5 wifi-antennas)...

The white box at bottom is the fiber inlet, with a small (yellow) fiber cable to the 5G router with the antennas. From that are the output LAN connections. I have an additional switch, the black device, as I route wired LANs to six different locations in my house.

300 Mbps is RJ45 LAN out...????

1 hour ago, wml22 said:

Do you know of a good, reliable and adequately skilled electrician in Bangkok if needed to install the UPS, or can I install the UPS myself? I think I should probably use help to do it. Thanks for your input and suggestion.

Unfortunately I live on a tropical island, so my skilled electrician would rather take a fishing trip than a trip to Bangkok - and Bangkok is a huge city, so an electrician in one part might not move to another part for a small job like plugging in an UPS - I've installed my 12 pieces of UPS myself. It's very easy, I put the power cable from the UPS into a wall outlet, and put the power lead from the electrical device to be protected into one of the 220V undisturbed power output sockets at back of the UPS...????????

Be aware to buy a UPS with the right capacity, i.e. for example 500VA or 1000VA, depending of your item(s) power need; a typical PC requires about 300W-350W and a flat screen about 150-250W depending on size. If using both a powerful PC, screen and printer, you might need two UPS, one for the PC, and another for screen and printer (I use that).

I bought my UPS from different sources over the years, but my best buy was online from Lazada, I'll share a link HERE of what I bought - 1000VA equaling 530W - but do browse through both Lazada and Shopee, there might be other excellent offers, or you can find one in a local shop....????

21 hours ago, wprime said:

A few questions:...

From my experience with Toyota and buying a new car...

- The contract states first class insurance is included but it doesn't specify a length. I assumed the length of the insurance would be the length of the original loan like Mercedes does but now they're saying it's only 1 year. What is the norm with Toyota when you get a loan and they include insurance? Is it for 1 year or for the duration of the loan? 

Only first year insurance is normally included, you pay for the additional years - Mercedes is probably just adding the cost for additional insurance years to the price of their car, which is in another price range; remember nothing is "free" - I choose the same insurer that I used for my old car, and got a discount for my additional years.

- When I brought the car in for the first service they said only labour is included for free and I had to pay for the oil. Is that normal? I would've thought free service meant the service was completely free. 

Yes, that is correct, normally you get an agreed number of years free labor on service included, but not parts and oil etc,; except if it's something broken under warranty.

- I purchased the "AirLumba" massage seat option which the brochure showed two buttons for (both front seats) but they only installed it on one seat saying I needed to pay extra to have the 2nd seat. Anyone know if that's correct? I wasn't given an option to buy the option twice when I bought it so I assumed it would be on both front seats. 

I didn't buy massage seats, so I don't know, but normally there is a small tiny print in brochures saying something like that shown images might be different from actual product.

Edit: PS, I've been extremely happy with both Toyota's service, and the actual product, i.e. the car...????????

On 10/12/2021 at 7:29 AM, wtfracing said:

How would you react to a situation like this?

I would say "no"...????

Even that we could wish for (much) more tourists, 100,000 a month is a sensible view...????

The problem might however not be that huge. There are probably not be a tourist exodus to Thailand when reopened to vaccinated tourists, as long as there are several restrictions - including covid tests on destination; most airlines already requires a negative Covid test within a certain number of hours to allow boarding - and especially European tourists will not be happy to a holiday wearing mandatory face mask, they were demonstrating against wearing such a device, they have many other attractive vacation options without any restrictions. Some tourists will come for sure, but I dont think they'll be that many that the "screening and monitoring systems" cannot cope with them.

12th October

Samui +10 new cases
Phangan, no new cases
Koh Tao, no new cases

13 hours ago, kwilco said:

What is needed is a map of the new cases showing how they are connected or not.

There are sometimes shared timelines in Thai language in the Thai news forums, but I've only shared a few timelines when I saw them translated to English. Also some clusters have been named, like for example "Black Club Cluster". You can find some of the timelines in this Facebook news-group HERE (Koh Samui Update News), or search for the official site from Surat Thani government, you might need to do that in Thai language.

20 hours ago, thai999 said:

How I understand the law is that every Bath over the tax free income tax bracket is taxed at 10% gift tax or am I wrong? Is there really no tax exemption if I move for example 300,000b to a Thai national and it will be used to purchase something.

It's income tax, there is no heritage- or gift tax in Thailand, I never found any.

22 hours ago, thai999 said:

The lady on the phone told her that my daughter can own the house but the money should come from the mother.

It might be a question of being legal guardian. When not married, you only have parental rights at all, unless if there is either a DNA-test - I think it's going through a court, other posters have mentioned that - or the child is seven years or older, and both child and mother confirms at the Amphor-district office, together with you, that you are the father. The Amphor office will issue a Khor.Ror.11 certificate as proof; I used the amphor-method for approval of being father of my half-Thai child.

You might still need both parents acceptance, just like when applying for a passport for a minor.

If you need any servitudes on property bought in the name of a minor - that could usufruct or habitation right - the servitude needs to be declared before the title deed is transferred to the minor, as it might be between extremely difficult and impossible to declare a servitude on property owned by a minor.

23 hours ago, thai999 said:

She has a passport from my home country as well. I am not married to the mother. The construction company told us that my girlfriend should buy the house for our daughter. Why can I not buy it for her? If I move money to my girlfriend, do we have to pay gift tax because we are not married?

In principle the guardian can sign for a minor to buy a house - your daughter need to be Thai citizen, forget about passport to your home country - but if you don't have sole custody both parent might need to sign.

If you give money to a girlfriend it's considered to be "income", and normal Thai income tax need to be paid.

11th October

Samui +4 new cases
Phangan, no new cases
Koh Tao, no new cases

On 10/9/2021 at 4:57 AM, piston broke said:

Why is it that so many "blokes" get a new bike and bung on a "loud" exhaust and a tail tidy - and then grin and bear it for the sake of vanity, when the bike runs lean / pops like mad and water gets sprayed up their back when it rains  ?

The difference between men and boys are the price of their toys...

-some men are apparently just big boys with more money...

On 10/10/2021 at 2:18 PM, georgegeorgia said:

Tell me about your home ,is it private ,secure and peaceful?

where in Asia are you ?

My home is very private, even that it's very open and only a small plot of land, but it's walled on three sides and beach and sea on the last side. The house is raised high enough from the beach that you are still feel private when sitting on the beachfront terrace, and at night there are no people on the beach except some well known kind local fishermen. A pair of soi dogs (street dogs) that for years have refused to go elsewhere - they seems to consider themselves as residents - gladly makes noise if somebody are not welcome.

On one side, and in the back, I have a resort/hotel as neighbor, and their beachfront restaurant that normally close between 9 pm and 10 pm - during the Covid lockdown it been closed, so extremely private - but not at problem. Sometimes during high seasons they might make a BBQ-evening on the beach once a week and play music, but we are not disturbed. If they occasionally makes a party they will often invite us for a buffet in return of playing late live music.

On the other side is a private villa that for a decade belonged to a British lawyer, but recently have been sold. The new owners could be little noisy with late party before Covid, but luckily some Thais in the neighborhood complained to the police that sorted out the matter.

I do have CCTV-cameras, but with a hotel with 24-hour reception as neighbor, and with the house being at the end of a private road, I feel very secure. I live on an southern Thai tourist island, and I feel more secure here - I'm often out partying in the nightlife (when there is a nightlife) - than I felt in some larger town-areas in my home country. The benefits staying in a tourist areas is that there are more police 24/7, who gladly looks after everybody, and you easily can get almost everything you are used to from your home country. The list of benefits in my opinion is long, but also includes the safety of easy access to a number of hospitals, should that be needed.

We are all different, so what I feel is great and safe, you might have a different opinion. The best advise before choosing to settle somewhere is the get around to potential places of interest and stay there for a while - preferably also in different seasons, rainy season can be a surprise some places - one's own experiences are so much better than recommendations and photos; however, this is what my afternoon view looks like, now that photos are shared by various posters...

I live a very pleasant peaceful, happy life on a paradise island...????