acepredator

Under the DTA between the U.S. and Thailand, Social Security benefits can only be taxed by the IRS. It is clearly stated in Article 20, subsection 1 of the DTA. I suggest you print up a copy of the DTA, as I did, in the unlikely event that you have to offer proof to the Thai Revenue Department that they absolutely cannot tax even a single penny of your Social Security benefits.

I just completed this quiz. My Score 85/100 My Time 56 seconds  

Musk my carry the MAGA flame, but he won't be the Republican nominee. The U.S. Constitution says that only a native-born American can serve as president. Elon Musk was born in South Africa. Therefore, he can't be a candidate for president of the United States.

I think that, regrettably, I lack the power to predict what future events will come to pass. I also think that you lack this same power. The reason why is that, as humans, we do not and cannot know what will happen five minutes from now, never mind five or fifty or five hundred years in the distant future. Why would you waste time submitting such a nonsensical post?

It's long past time for the Boomer generation to find a beautiful, happy, and serene utopian Star-Trek world to inhabit and leave this one forever. Your pining for and whining about the loss of the halcyon days of the 1960s has been extremely tiresome for the last fifty four years. The 1960s were no better or worse than those decades that preceded them or followed them; they only presented different realities and challenges in everyday life. Please get on your spaceship and blast off soon. I'll be there to wave goodbye as you leave Earth's orbit, hopefully never to return.

I lived and worked in South Korea for twelve years. Nearly all of the Koreans that I knew personally were exceedingly kind, generous, and helpful people. The vast majority of the people on the streets, buses, and subways, sad to say, were horrible, not only to me as a foreigner, but also, to a lesser extent, horrible to each other. Koreans are extremely rude, aggressive, inconsiderate, pushy, hostile, and self-centered people. The concept of forming a line (or a queue, as those still using antiquated English say) is totally alien to them. Leaving South Korea was like being released from prison. Then why stay for twelve years, you might ask. The answer is: CHING-CHING!!! The considerable amount of money I made there has allowed me to retire here in Thailand and to live the remainder of my life, I hope, in serenity and comfort.

I just completed this quiz. My Score: 80/100 My Time: 72 seconds. Currently in the lead among all players.

I just completed this quiz. My Score 80/100 My Time 72 seconds  

Yes, I understand that it's located a bit south of Texas. Also, that it's famous for it's beautiful beaches (not on a par with Hawaii, but not too far off), Foster's Lager (much better than Heineken), and standoffish women. I'll take a lovely, sweet, welcoming, and accommodating Thai woman any day of the week.

Wrong. Under Article 20, subsection 1. of the DTA between The United States and Thailand, government pensions, which means Social Security, can only be taxed by the United States government. Under subsection 3. of Article 20, annuities, which pay out funds in predetermined amounts at regular time intervals, also can only be taxed by the United States tax authorities. Maybe the DTA between your country and Thailand says something different.

The tax free threshold of 150k is not a deduction. That amount is not subtracted from your gross income to arrive at your net income. The 0 to 150k is merely an income range at which no taxes are levied. In my case, my gross income is 1,000,000 baht (not counting my government pension, which is 100% deductible). I deduct 60k for self care and 190k for aged allowance, giving me a net income of 750,000 baht. I cannot deduct a further 150,000 baht for the tax free threshold. This would give me a net income of 600,000, which is not the case. As stated, my net income is 750,000 baht. It pains me to inform you that you do not understand what the word "deduction" means, at least as that word applies to gross versus net income for taxation purposes.

The Revenue Department sends a letter to my address every year telling me that I have to file a tax return by March 31st. Clearly they know who I am and where I live. Your contention that the Revenue Department can't enforce the tax laws against foreigners, or even against Thais, is patently ridiculous.

How do you get 500,000 baht in allowable deductions? Every taxpayer gets a 60,000 baht deduction. Those over 65 years of age get an additional 190,000 baht deduction. That adds up to 250,000 baht in deductions. Where does the other 250,000 come from? Also, I have never worked in Thailand but I have a Thai taxpayer ID. Why would you have been refused? The Thai Revenue Dept. wants foreigners to pay taxes, so of course they gladly issue us taxpayer ID numbers. It's a very simple process. What you said in your post just doesn't add up.

I just completed this quiz. My Score 60/100 My Time 77 seconds  

Sorry. I submitted this post very late at night (or actually very early morning) so my math was a little bit off. I should have said that I withdraw 25 notes without any problem, rather than 29. Any confusion generated by my post is perfectly understandable. I regret the erroneous nature of my original calculation.

Whenever I need money to live on, I take 20,900 baht from a Bangkok Bank ATM. That's 20 x 1,000 baht notes, plus one 500 baht note and four 100 baht notes. That's a total of 29 notes from the ATM. I have never had the slightest problem taking those 29 notes from the ATM slot. Your assertion that 18 notes is difficult to remove and that the machine could not dispense more than 20 notes seems very bizarre to me in that it is totally contrary to my experience using Bangkok Bank ATMs for 17 years.

I just completed this quiz. My Score 60/100 My Time 33 seconds  

My score 100/100. 49 seconds. Probably older than you are and living outside of America for 29 of the last 30 years.

I just completed this quiz. My Score 100/100 My Time 49 seconds  

I think that 700 MREs would require a much bigger shipping container than a suitcase, no matter how many. Also, as a U.S. Army veteran with two honorable discharges, I can attest to the fact that MREs grow tiresome very quickly. I couldn't eat seven MREs in a row, never mind 700.

Bring things to Thailand rather than buying them here. What a great suggestion. All I have to do is fly to my home country and bring back enough gasoline to power my Yamaha motorbike for the next year. Also, I'll bring enough food to eat for the next year. Genius. Why didn't I think of that?

Thanks for your very specific and enlightening post. Would you mine elaborating and telling us exactly which number is zero? "The number is zero" has to be the most absurdly vague and meaningless post I have ever seen on this forum. Good job.

Can I ask why so many people are spending time on this thread talking about Portugal? In case it escaped your notice, we are all living in Thailand, not Portugal, so who the heck cares about what is happening in Portugal? I'd like to respectfully request that people stop wasting time posting about Portugal and instead stick to talking about Thailand. Let the expats living in Portugal worry about what is happening there.

Wow!!! That's very scary. Why would you want to make life difficult for the foreigners who live here and need to extend their visas every year? The people who need to book appointments never did anything to hurt you, did they? Also, I assume the Thai authorities would consider what you're suggesting to be a serious computer-related crime. With your superior programming skills presumably they wouldn't be able to apprehend you. But what if the police are more clever than you think? The best case scenario is that you'd be fined, deported, and blacklisted for at least five years. The worst case would be that you'd spend time in a Thai prison, which, from what I've read, are not very nice places to find yourself. Would it really be worth it? We know what the risks are, but what would the possible benefits be? What would you stand to gain? Why not just live your life in peace and let other people live theirs? Is that such a bad idea?