theblether

Hold on, wait - you tagged me in this delusional post? Wow. And there was me trying to be polite. Lets try again. You are talking utter cra*p, you are an embarrassment. You are of the opinion that mass sex tourism by Caucasian males which only started in any type of numbers in the 1980's and soared through the '90's infected the Thai populace with a new racist disdain of Indian people? I swear to Gawd, I have never heard such drivel on this topic in my life. Are you aware that one of the former moderators of this forum was a Thai-Indian? Their family arrived in the Kingdom in the 1880's. Are you aware that many of the properties in the Nana area are owned by dynastic Thai-Indian families? Do you know the local nickname for the Sois in Lower Suk? Are you aware that the Indian community ran sex shops and brothels decades before the Vietnam War began? I mention that as you can use that period as Year Zero for the establishment of the LBFM trope. Man, one of best and most reliable mates in Thailand was of Indian heritage, the man was born in the Kingdom and died in his mid-70's. Thai and Middle Eastern people have traded in the Kingdom since the days or Marco Polo. Islam, introduced by Middle-Eastern traders, was introduced to Siam in the 13th Century. The Portuguese followed Indian and ME sailing routes to Siam in 1508/9. There's a compelling argument that the arrival of the Portuguese introduced the word "farang" to Siam, as the Middle Easterners used a similar word to describe Europeans, a word rooted in the time of the CRUSADES. And here's you persisting in an argument that a few bar owners in the 1990's caused Thais to be racist to Indians. It is utter stupidity. The aforementioned people were in the Kingdom hundreds of years before a single Western sex tourist arrived. Thais had long since decided their attitude to both. Just give it up. Your beat. And you should know better to mix it with people here that actually know what they are talking about.

As I said, I don't know anyone that doesn't speak Khmer in that area. Whether they use it as their primary daily language is doubtful.

This comment is spot on, excellent. People need to quit with the delusion that Westerners have a long track record in Thailand. Tourist visitor numbers in 1979 were a mere 100,000. The majority were the Hippy Trail type or intrepid international travellers, often monied. They were backed up by returning US servicemen. For the Brits, the year that "oh this year I'm off to sunny Spain" was a chart hit ( 1974 ) British tourist numbers in Thailand were near ZERO.

Yes, also known for being extremely passive aggressive and it sometimes boiled over. I watched Israelis being evicted from a hotel in Vientiane as they had taken ownership of the kitchen area. Very hard-nosed people but I will say the Vientiane incident was IDF that had just completed their service period, I could understand why they were highly wound up. There was also organised repatriation missions by the Israeli government in Goa, and to a lesser extent, Thailand, as quite a few former IDF lost the plot and descended into opiate use. Their families were flown in at government expense to persuade them to come home.

What I know about this issue of racism in the modern day in Thailand. 1. Online dating sites are swamped by Indians and Middle Easterners harassing Thai women and transgender. Proof. Open a fake account as a female and see what happens. 2. Indians, and Thai Indians are notoriously arrogant against Thais. They regard Thais as beneath them. 3. We've seen a massive growth in arrogant behaviour among certain Middle Eastern groups in Thailand. The Thais were aware of this long before it hit farang news outlets. 4. But the more experienced among you will remember the conflicts and routine abuse of the old days in Lower Suk. The stories were not fake. I had to get hotel staff to rescue a girl a few years ago. It still happens, the sickening gangbang surprise. In saying all that, there are many good Indian origins people, and Middle Easterners in Thailand. Some of the kindest and most gracious people you can meet. However, you won't find them drunk at 4am in Bangla. That's a different brigade altogether.

You need to be quiet. Indian and Middle East ingress in Thailand predates the influx of farang tourists by hundreds of years. Thai Theravada Buddhism is Sri Lankan in origin, it arrived here 700 years ago. It takes a special type of ignorance and arrogance to think the arrival of Western tourists in numbers a mere 30 years ago installed racial stereotypes in the local population. Man, Indians were here raiding Thai knickers and establishing dynastic families when Western visitors were literally counted in the hundreds. As for Middle Easterners, it was they who introduced Islam to the Malay peninsula and they that brought in exotic fruits such as Guava. Aye, but a couple of bar owners in Patts made Thais racist against these two in 1995. Give me peace.

🤣🤣🤣 Outstanding post, hilarious. Cute you think that law is the issue here and not tea money. Wonderful.

I remember a report here a few years ago by a member saying his pal was caught with $29,000 undeclared at Swampy. He ended up buying his way out of the problem. If you are transporting buckshee money, take legit money from your account and get a receipt. Pay the legit money back into the account the next day and keep the receipt. So when you arrive with buckshee cash you have a receipt to cover the total. I know plenty of cash-in-hand tradesmen here in the UK that do exactly that. I'm as pure as the driven snow so it doesn't apply to me.

He could always try the "tooth fairy leaves money under my pillow every night" defence. I'm sure that will work.

It hasn't occurred to some of the people replying to this thread. #justsayin'

Prove it. If you can't prove the undeclared income then......................???? I'm getting tired of this. Here's what will happen when you meet the wring tax man. He or she will hit you with a combined fine and tax liability. You will then need to prove that you don't owe the money. Tax systems operate on the assumption of guilt until proved innocent, something you don't want to experience in real life.

I regard it as one of the ultimate tests of human endurance and survival. People familiar with the death toll of Napoleon's troops as they retreated from Moscow will have an idea of how brutal Russian winters can be to the human body. What made it worse for the Germans was the industrial level of warfare that rained down upon them. I think only Far East Prisoners of War ( FEPOW ) had a comparable experience for the Allies.

"Khun Farang Ka, how are you supporting yourself?"

Incorrect. The husband will be ASKED TO PROVE HOW HE IS SUPPORTING HIMSELF. This is so obvious I am amazed it hasn't occurred to people.

Correct. And if you meet with the official who takes the "do you think we are stupid" attitude then you'll be tortured. And your wife too. For all of you that have never had a tax audit, you really don't want to FAFO with these people in any country.

Germany had a standing army of 10 million at the end of the war. A total of 17 million had been in the Wehrmacht as some point during the war. I met German soldiers who fought on the Eastern Front. My impression was that the conditions traumatised them, the Russians were utterly relentless and that combined with the horrendous weather and death toll, left these men unable to function. One guy told me that his commander instructed that they run to the British lines rather than be taken prisoner as they fell back to Berlin. That's exactly what they did and he was eternally grateful to the Brits for their humane treatment. That particular guy was around sixty-five years old when I met him. Not an old man, and able top recount his experiences.

Drunk driving but also likely to be distracted driving. On their phone, setting up their satnav or fiddling with the in-car music. The UK has recently doubled the penalty for driving while using a mobile to six points. If I were a betting man I'd say that's what caused this.

You mention Buriram, I don't know anyone from that area that can't speak Khmer. However, they are indistinguishable from Thais. If you want to see a modern version of a Thai-Khmer festival attend the Ascent of Phanom Rung Hill.

Hmm, a "slapper" you say. In Pattaya, of all places? That's an unexpected development.

Okay - your "students." Forum members should be aware, and I will make this clear as it's a matter of law. I'm going to write this in short sentences so there's no space for confusion. 1. If you gift money to your spouse, you have forfeited any claim to that money. Under Thai law, it's gone, forever. 2. So lets forget this fanciful and extreme talk of "20 million baht tax exempt." If you gift enough money to pay for a house, and use gifting as the method, you have lost all claim to the subsequent house value. Which would be an act of financial self harm. 3. You are not allowed to receive any benefit from the gift money. That would be regarded as tax evasion. 4. If any of you think the way to beat this new taxation system is to send money to your wife's account ( as a gift ) and to pay your living expenses from that money, that is totally illegal and has been for years. That is tax evasion. 5. I have met some stupid people in my life. If any of you believe that in the event of a tax investigation your wife's account won't be inspected, you are beyond stupid. I maintain, and this is a certainty. A certainty as I have now had it verified from two third party sources who have real time knowledge. Do not drag your wife into your tax affairs.

No, you didn't. Let me explain something to you. I come from a family of accountants, including ICMA. We have operated businesses for forty years and I had two businesses in Thailand. I know what I'm talking about. I doubt you are professional and if you are, you are the type of professional that we have learned to avoid like the plague. Feel free to explain why my pals are fools, guys who are fluent in Thai and have lived in the Kingdom tax compliant for thirty-plus years. Feel free to explain in terms that the members of this forum will understand the true definition of a gift in Thailand. I'm not posting it as the implications to the membership are shocking. You explain it.

Any chance you can rewrite that and make sense this time?

Legit or otherwise is the entire point. As I said, it's only a question of time before someone starts a topic saying "immigration asked for my tax returns." And anyone dumb enough to think that immigration and the tax authorities haven't considered that people will transfer money to their wives hasn't thought this through.

Drivel. Laughable. The whole point of this overseas cash grab is to nail down transactions like this. I have friends of this level of wealth who have already looked into this. Do you know what this passage actually means? "For tax planning purposes, it’s crucial to understand that you must not derive any benefit when gifting assets. For example, if an expat sends money from overseas to their Thai spouse and it covers their living expenses, it is not considered a gift. Attempting to bypass the tax regulations in this way is likely to be considered tax evasion, potentially resulting in severe penalties." The bold highlighted aspect is clear. Do you understand the implications of - "must not derive any benefit."

May I also point out the cunning "I'll just transfer money to my wife's name" will just result in her having to do a tax return. The whole point of this is to attack overseas remittances to Thai bank accounts. Isaan bar girls might get away with it but farangs standing in front of immigration with a Thai wife are asking for trouble.