PeaceBlondie

I used to be an expert on US income taxes and Social Security taxes, but never was an expert on foreign issues (always left that up to the IRS folks in Philadelphia and the few accounting firms that serviced the big multi-nationals).

Quote from Publication 54 by the IRS: "If you are a US. citizen... the rules for filing income tax...are generally the same whether you are in the US or abroad." I always understood that US CITIZENS were liable for paying the tax on their world-wide income.

Social security taxes (FICA, SET) are almost completely separate from personal income tax. I'm subject to income tax, but not to SS taxes.

Again from Publ. 54, page 15: "You meet the physical presence test if you are physically present in a foreign country or countries 330 full days during a period of 12 consecutive months. The 330 days do not have to be consecutive."

Of course, in addition to that test, there's the Bona Fide Residence test. I meet both, and the helpful guy at the IRS help line said residence was easier.

I'm not a septic, I'm an American.  And I'm trying to dump dollars quickly.

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Septic is Brit-speak rhyming slang. "Septic tank" == "Yank". If you are American then you ARE a Septic or, as the Aussies say it, a "Seppo".

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Actually, I knew that only because Brits and Aussies have been using that term lately, but that doesn't mean I'm septic.

Well, you can figure out what "Brit" rhymes with, but I won't call you that.

Anyway, I continue to dump dollars in exchange for baht, and wonder where it will end.

I know nothing about Thai real estate, and I got burned in Texas real estate, so I'd be a pessimist in any event. But I'm looking at Post #23 and thinking that nobody says real estate (high end condo, detached mid-to-high, etc) is going up, and most of it's overpriced, and you can't get title as a farang or sell it, etc., etc.

So, unless you have a Thai spouse and kids here and have no intention of ever moving and will die in the house (!!), why even buy?

And if it rents for 0.5% of FMV per month, why buy to rent it out?

If I may broach a related subject: when a person holding a one-year multiple entry visa - note, VISA - and goes on those 90 days runs, as I do, is it a visa run, exactly? A stamp run? A passport run? A sub-visa run? It ain't no walk in the park, that's for sure.

No, it's not legal. You're supposed to take your passport to the border all by yourself. Such 'visa services' are illegal, and some such agencies have been known to use fake stamps that eventually ruin your passport by having telltale stamps.

As the gentleman said, the run to Tachilek is easy. If you take the 800 baht tour van, you get buffet lunch overlooking the Golden Triangle, pickup and dropoff at your hotel, guided tours, etc. I'll be doing it again soon.

I don't know about this 'pennis' word here in Thailand. Just yesterday, during the parents' meeting, one of the mothers of my 12 or 13 year old boys said that her son had two operations. My boss translated that one was for an artery in the neck (carotid, probably) and the other operation was to the boy's 'pennis.'

Chopper style gas tanks don't tend to slap you in the crotch on hard stops as badly as the sportsbikes do. Once in Houston I was distracted by a very attractive young adult body and bumped the car in front of me at about 8 miles per hour. Ouch!

My mate went from CMai to Mae Sai and returned in one day on a Honda CBR150. Now that it's not the rainy season, it might not be bad (not too cold yet, either), but that's a long ride in one day. Wouldn't try it on anything smaller than a 125, though. My Michelin map of Thailand says it's 203 km from CMai to CRai and then 62 km more to Mae Sai, a total of 265 one way. Same map says 378 to the Mae Sot border.

Not sure where you park the bike in Mae Sai - maybe just to the left of the bridge.

I'm not a septic, I'm an American. And I'm trying to dump dollars quickly.

As for the relationship between the Thai baht and the US$, could it be within a narrow band, fluctuating little more than 10% from year to year? Haven't the last couple of years only varied between 38 and 42? I'm thinking of converting maybe $1,800 from dollars to baht over the next 10 days, to use over the next three to five months. But that's only because I got 39.0:1 yesterday (minus 1% surcharge) and I think it's going to 37.5:1 very soon.

Thanks for the comments, dancali. My main concern was whether I have to pay SE tax on my earnings, and from the research I just did, it's pretty clear that I don't have to pay SE or FICA tax on my employment in Thailand.

The SS system and the IRS probably don't care why somebody goes a long time without paying in; the calculation takes care of that, anyway. I'm already claiming benefits and paying in more taxes wouldn't help me much.

Most of the SS system in the USA isn't voluntary;' you either owe or you don't.

Nothing in Thailand is guaranteed for 12 months, during your first year here, unless you sign up for internet or cable for 12 months. So forget the refund for now.

You're thinking of paying US$1,400 for a course that will teach you how to teach EFL to adults only, anywhere in the world (CELTA) - correct?

You can pay more like $1,100 for several courses that will teach you how to teach EFL to adults, youth, and children, especially in Asia, and esp. in Thailand.

Think about it. If you're going to make a 20-year commitment to this as a post-graduate profession (and already have a B.Ed. or a B.A. in English), then go for the gold (or get an M.Ed.). Otherwise, save your money. That's my unhumble opinion.

Doc, there's no difference. 'Frank' and 'candid' are synonyms. But it was also a double entendre between Steven and me.

Oh HO HO HO!

You so funny man!

Take you one hour to think of that funny joke!

Bet all your boys love you!

"Steven"

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All my boys love me. As my boyfriend left tonight to go to work, Paul Simon was singing, "Still Crazy After All These Years." He said I'm crazy, but he loves me anyway.

I thought of that joke years ago.

Frankly, my dear, I don't give an oral dam.

Boon Mee, that's a good point: liability for US Social Security taxes. I'm employed by a Thai government agency that doesn't withhold any SS taxes on me. I doubt whether it's 'self-employment' as defined in sections 1401-1403 of the IRC, and I can't imagine a foreign govt. being subject to FICA. Well, I can research that myself.

Meanwhile, anybody have opinions about owing SS taxes back in the states?

I can't find the comment - on this thread or another, probably by Steven - but if one bothers to read the threads and forums about Thai women, having sex with women, etc., YOU might be offended - even if you were straight! Yet those are moderated forums. [sorry, but 'fora' sounds like 'fauna and flora' while riding all those VW Microbi].

We needn't have a separate, locked VIP room. We are what it says we are, and we're not quite as explicit, candid or blatant as the straight men are. In fact, we could be even more frank, but I like it this way.

Thanks for the connections to the tax treaties. I read the Thai-USA treaty and almost understood it (I should). My fears about ATM income appear unfounded because all I'm withdrawing are pensions based on service to the govt.'s of the USA. So, that's apparently not taxable in Thailand.

Also, my earned income in Thailand is far below $80,000 to begin with, and since I'm teaching at a govt. school, it's exempt from US taxation per the treaty, regardless of the earned income exemption.

Anybody disagree?

My Thai boyfriend didn't eat that much Western food when we started living together, but now he's the first to suggest Sizzler, although he'll prefer their pork sausage, the salad bar, etc. Likes Italian food, too. Which is good, because I can't eat 90% of Thai food.

I heard of a group of Thai school directors who all came back early from a trip to Montana or Idaho because one of them just couldn't eat Western food.

If you're intelligent enough to be posting on this forum, you're masquerading or performing as a responsible adult.

Some smart USA lawyer got a conviction against a drunk driver for a higher level of criminal manslaughter, by proving that the driver planned to go out and drink, and planned to drive home. Many states now put people in prison for 10 or 20 years for vehicular manslaughter.

Drunk driving is absolute stupidity and always completely inexcusable.

Yes, I did it when I was much younger and much stupider. I grew up, and had friends killed by drunk drivers. When I started drinking again, a few years ago, I made a few simple rules. One is: keys in pants pocket, don't start drinking the first part of the first drink.

VTR1000, you have a simple option: stop drinking.

Are you teaching the C. S. Lewis classic that's in your title? It's such an analogy! Or whatever the term is for "Pilgrim's Progress." Isn't that a bit deep? Would a simple plot with several set characters be better? Are you teaching at a Christian uni?

I suppose if they're fourth year Ph.D. candidates or if they're undergrad English language majors at a true university, sure. Give them any of the classics. But are they able to handle abstract concepts, layers of meaning, symbolism, etc.? Do they understand, for example, the social/cultural and socio-religious aspects of Christian and atheistic influence upon modern Western thought? Or would protagonist and antagonist be more their level? I don't know.

Thanks, folks. Let's assume that I would never pass the depth perception and peripheral visions tests, and there's no sense in trying to pass them (and risk getting blacklisted for failure). So, I've got a license from the States, and can get an IDP. I never have gotten stopped in 22,000 km, but there's always a first time. So, am I reasonably safe with an IDP even though I'm living and working in Thailand on a non-imm B visa?

We're all adults with reasonably good vision. Even computer clutzes like me know to avoid "Hua Hin" and "Sports/Golf/etc" and "Farang girls in Thailand." It's like the channel selector on the TV remote. And if I hit the wrong button and find a discussion of birdies versus turkeys (golf), I just back out without commenting.

So, when a straight person knows the name of the forum is "Gay People" and a gay topic is being discussed, they can behave themselves and take part as a decent, civil, polite person their mother taught them to be.

I heard that it's not wise to go to a Vietnam Vets Recovery Group and begin with, "Boy, that was one bad war, and anybody who went was an idiot!"

I can't even find simple Fritos at Rim-Ping supermarket in Chiang Mai, and a big bag of Nacho Doritos will set you back something like 280 baht! Maybe it's only 230 baht, but it would be two bucks in Texas.

Rim-Ping sells some SEAsian corn chips as tortilla chips. Not quite the same, oilier and less salty, but passable, and cheaper (but still not cheap).

The concoction to which the OP relates is the mixture called "chili" and spelled lots of ways, but it doesn't refer merely to the peppers used.

According to legend, Texas chili was invented in San Antonio, possibly before 1836 (Independence from Mexico) when some of the European founders added spices from the Canary Islands (their home of origin). It's supposed to include various chile peppers, ground beef, and black or red beans.

Then the San Antonians invented the curled, fried corn chip, called "Fritos."

Together, Frito chips and chili are great with chopped white onions and melted cheese, called "chili pie."

Say "Howdy, y'all."

There's only one part of this that confuses me. Thai dentistry otherwise seems to be first-rate at bargain basement prices. But why do root canals take 3 or 4 visits, one week at a time? Those procedures went out in the 1970's in the USA. My Iranian lady dentist in Texas was an expert endodontist, charging US$550 apiece back in 1997, but she could do it in one or two visits.

Also, I disagree about 'painless dentistry." Every dentist I've ever been to, in the process of losing all but three adult teeth, did his or her best to minimize pain with anesthesia, high speed drills, procedures, etc. Usually it doesn't hurt, but there are some excruciating exceptions.

My last extraction was a badly abcessed tooth, upper right, done by an expert in Chiang Mai. The novocaine was injected into my palate and hurt worse than having a body part removed (this I know). Some extractions are extremely painful. Abcesses can make it much worse. Some root canal procedures are painless but you stay in the chair for 45 to 65 minutes with your mouth propped open, rubber dam around you lips, etc.

I just love the prices here. 3,200 baht for a partial denture for which my dentist in Texas (who's high priced) wanted 3,200 DOLLARS!

It's an alien conspiracy. Once you wear a sock, it activates the alien fertilized egg that are imbedded between the fibers, and the alien eats the fibers in its pupa stage.

Half the people you've ever met (or had sex with) were once foot ova.