bradiston

Let's wait and see. But we've had a succession of Scots running the country from Westminster. MacMillan, Douglas-Home, Callaghan, Blair, Brown, Cameron. Their MPs sit in Westminster but we don't sit in whatever they call theirs. Oh yes, the Scottish Assembly. And we've had to endure several party leaders all hailing from north of the border. The best of them, John Smith, died prematurely, and the Scottish Labour Party with him.

I think you're right to a large extent, but only 30 goes to healthcare allegedly. We already pay through the nose for parks, gardens and other attractions. So what's left to fund? There's obviously a big hole somewhere in the government's accounts which needs plugging. Healthcare would seem a fair target, especially if it benefits those most in need. Airport expansion? They've slated huge developments in that area. Could be any number of things I guess. Do ANY Thais pay tax?

Is that as in "Wokiness, wokiness, the greatest gift that I possess I thank the lord that I've been blessed With more than my share of wokiness"? Ken Dodd

Quite so, and just being used as an excuse for government fund raising, aka tax. It's probably the result of the costs of vaccinating millions of foreigners and Thais against COVID. All those "free jabs" etc. A bit too good to be true, do you think?

I explained it to a fellow Brit recently as the American equivalent of PC. Of course the UK knows all about PC. We've had decades of it. But the US seems to have only recently woken up up to woke! Haha. Now they're ALL woke up! Cue Elvis. The people who cry WOKE are the wokiest wokers in the whole woking world. (Not Woking outside London, HQ of McLaren motors BTW).

A friend who works in my local อบต says a licence to let a house only costs 50 THB. Not sure if it's true.

And let's see a breakdown of "foreigners". Were they tourists, migrant workers, long stayers or what?

I have 4 HDDs which are currently housed in an external drive cradle. From what I can see, they are still functioning well. No read write errors, no bad sectors. But I would like to back them up to a single, possibly 2, new drives for safety's sake. They contain my entire collection of movies, music and graphics (no, not porn). How reliable is the hardware on Lazada? In the supposed WD store they have a 5TB Passport for 3590 THB. That's less than £100. But some reviews (a very small percentage admittedly) say it's rubbish. Anyone have any experience of this? Where do people source there "mission critical" gear from? There's a mountain of junk on Lazada, for sure.

And good riddance to Scotland when it finally grows a pair and leaves the UK.

Location, location, location. A maximum 3 bedroom house (ie non hotel) on, or very near, a beach on an island is a potential goldmine. But go for minimum 30 day lets. The overhead of checking guests in and out every 5 seconds will kill you. And finding professional, trustworthy management is almost impossible. I've experience of the above scenario, but none letting a condo. I rent one instead. So much easier!

In any case, I don't think a non immigrant O visa based nor the extension of stay based on retirement precludes working abroad, or in your own country, does it? Isn't it just here in Thailand? As long as the tax is paid in the same country as the income earned, surely no problem? And I'm also not sure having a reentry permit is grounds for exemption from the 300 fee. Or am I missing something? Or everything maybe?

You assume everyone does like you? What rate on the THB do you get at Heathrow? 35? Ah, I forgot. You have a Thai bank account so don't need to do that.

My vote is for across the board levy, then exemption refund at a later date by whatever means the Thai government comes up with. 7? Website? Tax credit? Truth is, booking systems worldwide would need to be updated, and at what cost? Keep it simple. Sort it out later. And as several posters have pointed out, they weren't asked for passport or nationality let alone work permit details on booking, and presumably, payment, so how to differentiate exclusions? The levy can't be added to the ticket price AFTER purchase. And paying at check-in? Nightmare scenario, as at arrivals. What difference would it make adding it to the ticket price, except to speed up the whole process? Nah. Shoot first. Ask questions later! So long as passengers are informed of the levy in advance and how to reclaim it if applicable later, all will be well. Trust me. I'm your MP/TAT/MoPh spokesman.

Agreed. I don't have a problem with subsidising health care for already underprivileged and exploited people, but wonder if my possibly twice a year trips abroad ie 60 THB's worth of subsidy, is going to make a huge difference. Perhaps the private sector could contribute? From figures quoted above, 35% of their revenue comes from pharmaceutical sales, not surgery or medical services. They're just glorified over priced pharmacies. Prices of some medicines here are in some cases, outrageous. We're already taxed to the eyeballs. From the same article quoted above: https://www.krungsri.com/en/research/industry/industry-outlook/Services/Private-Hospitals/IO/io-Private-Hospitals "The largest share (35.2%) of private hospitals’ revenue is derived from the sale of medicines and pharmaceuticals. This is followed by medical treatment/services (20.0%), laboratory tests and x-rays (13.7%), accommodation fees (8.5%), and other revenues (22.6%) (Figure 5)." Also, only 35% of medical establishments in Thailand operate in the public sector, ie are government funded. This one will run and run.

Ah, apologies. In that case, why isn't the UK government charging all overseas visitors £10 to help fund the NHS, as the problem there is quite in a different league? I'm coming round to approving the 300 THB levy. Just can't figure out how they're going to do it, except by a universal addition to ticket price, refundable in exempted cases. I couldn't find figures for losses by public medical facilities here in Thailand due to non payment by foreigners. Not sure the government here has its finger on the pulse either haha.

Only 30 THB of the 300 THB is slated for "unpaid medical bills", the source of which seems unclear. So 10%. As usual, a data desert. Perhaps the hospitals just write them off, compensating already via premium rates for medical tourists and other foreigners. They quote 450m THB in lost fees. Who knows? Certainly not the hapless tourist. 450m doesn't seem a staggeringly huge amount considering the number of private hospitals here, 370 according to this article: https://www.krungsri.com/en/research/industry/industry-outlook/Services/Private-Hospitals/IO/io-Private-Hospitals 450,000,000 / 370 = 1,200,000 THB Not exactly going to break the bank. If divided by the number of private clinics, or indeed, all medical facilities, the figure shrinks to one of total insignificance. Also , from the same article: "93.1% of patients were Thai citizens and 6.9% were foreign nationals (Figure 6); the latter group comprised expatriates (1.4%) and general and medical tourists (5.5%)[6]. The foreign nationals were mostly from Myanmar, Japan, the Middle East and Europe."

I just wonder how they locate your booking at check-in? Some other form of id? Or maybe the booking platform has your details already stored in your account, assuming you have one? ????

I think an arrival tax payable on departure falls under the heading of a departure tax. And what's to stop foreigners sneaking across the border and thus avoiding it altogether? Sneaky foreigners! And sneaky Chinese hordes with their pot noodles. ????

Anybody else booked an international flight without a passport? First I ever heard of it, no offence.

Huh? Which airline? I'm always asked for passport details when I book. They need to cover themselves against any repatriation costs if incurred. Course it's rechecked at check in. I guess they could collect the 300 then and there, but who's going to pay the airlines for the extra hassle? And you just can't avoid the problem of currencies and having the exact amount. If you book in £ for instance, how will they calculate the 300 THB? Anyway, it's a problem for the Thais to sort out. It was their bright idea in the first place. A can of worms.

They will if Thais have to claim it too.

On domestic flights in Philippines everybody pays an airport tax at a dedicated booth. Where does it go? Gawd knows.

They claim a refund like anybody else. Or, booking with a Thai passport, it's never added. That criterion is not difficult to assess.

They should include it on the ticket and then have a refund scheme for those who have exemption. Many won't bother getting the refund for sure. But no way collect on arrival.

Airlines won't know an exempt passenger from a Cumberland sausage so it's no good asking them to include or exclude it. Automatically adding it on to the airline ticket across the board will only work if exempt passengers can claim a refund after arrival (on a dedicated website ????)????. Insert a slip of paper with the returned passport at immigration on arrival, explaining how and where to so do. Course, this could take at least 6 months to design and implement. The 300 THB could go towards setting it up. The main thing would be to avoid queuing at arrivals to pay. You can't expect the IOs to process exemptions, or take payment. For, as someone else mentioned, who's got 300 THB in their pockets (exact money only, no doubt) when they arrive? Nightmare!