SunshineHarvey7

Thank you. I appreciate your quotes and the reference. Seems quite relevant.

(If this question has already been asked and answered with more than opinion, please point me to the topic.) This situation is not unique, but I and a few friends are doing volunteer work in Thailand. I have no salary or retirement or investment income. My support comes almost solely from gifts from people who trust me and appreciate my work. My understanding is, gift money is not assessable, so my questions are as follows: (1) Am I required to file a tax return if my only support was from sources that are not “assessable” (such as gifts) with no significant assessable income, such as from rentals, investments, retirement, pension, overseas contracts or salaries, royalties, etc.)? (2) Is there a limit to the amount of gift money a single person can receive per year and count it as non-assessable? Is that limit the same for a married couple filing jointly? What about a married couple with three dependents under 20 years of age? I might add, I read in the (2009) “SUMMARY OF THAILAND’S TAX LAWS” by Tilleke & Gibbons: “III. Inheritance and gift Taxes There are no specific law on inheritance or gift taxes in Thailand.” (Pg. 24) So, I am inclined not to file a tax return for the following reasons: 1) Gifts are not currently considered assessable; 2) With basically no assessable income and no likelihood that I should owe taxes, I may be refused a TIN; 3) I cannot find any official rule that states that a total non-assessable income above a stated threshold requires a foreigner to file a tax return. I was told by one tax consultant that I must file, but I can’t help but notice he has a conflict of interest, knowing I might hire him to file my return. So … an answer based on concrete evidence or from a credible source that does not have a conflict of interest would be very valuable to me and others.

A little follow-up: An electrician friend was visiting from America, and he was rather determined to eliminate the tingle. He suspected possible issues with the grid power (faulty incoming ground, etc.), so he bought a cheap generator and connected the video cameras. The cameras were plugged into it using their two-prong plug (thus no grounding connection), and the generator had no earth/grounding wire. To our amazement, the camera's still put out a significant voltage (around 50? volts), but not enough voltage/current to feel it. He wasn't satisfied, so he purchased an isolation transformer. It was a bit spendy, ias the only one he could find came from the UK. (Couldn't find any for sale mfr'd in Thailand!) The isolation transformer had a weird European(?) plug that has two round prongs, and the ground connection is on the side. I found a grounded adapter for it in a shop in Chiang Mai. At first, I connected the isolation transformer without the grounded adapter. It reduced the camera's voltage leak the same as the generator--from 80+ volts down to 50+. Then I connected the grounded adapter so that the isolation transformer's ground would be connected. I expected no improvement since the camera had a two-prong (non-grounded) plug. However, the camera's leakage reduced to 30+ volts. (Surprising to me!) Thus, short of adding a ground wire to the camera, an isolation transformer does the most to reduce the leakage.

Did you switch because you heard 3-phase is cheaper? Let us know how your bills compare, keeping in mind that last month was cooler (so you might have used less power for A/C).

That’s what I would expect. I guess I’m going to ask if I can see the bills before and after they switched from 2-phase to 3-phase. Of course, the best comparison is with two months that had similar weather.

I have had more than one friend say they converted to 3-phase power and their bill went down. Can anyone explain that? When I looked for PEA rates, there seems to be no mention of lower rates for 3-phase power.

We are open to “hybrid” options, as the village has recently added hydro power (which has its down times).

I have a friend who has a 24v solar system. After a few years, the non-branded inverter quit. Fortunately they had a smaller backup inverter. It seems that 24v inverters aren’t so popular, which is understandable, as most off-grid people want more power than a 24v system can offer, but these people have minimal demands. Any suggestions for a brand with a good record / reputation? Any thoughts on “Applegreen”?

I have friends who live where there might be 1 bar of cell signal—just enough for a text message to drift in occasionally. Other than that, they have to take a motorbike to another location 10 minutes up the mountain. Does anyone have experience with a 3G/4G router or cell phone repeater that could actually function with such a weak signal? Any suggestion for the highest gain antenna for 2G/3G/4G bands? i purchased a cellular repeater, and it seems to make a negligible difference. And I have 2-3 bars of signal at my house. One friend has the same repeater at his remote location, and it is useless (Though it has an antenna, it always says it has no signal.) Any suggestions?

Hi guys, I have a video camera that has a non-grounded power adapter, and whenever I connect the a/c adapter, it's easy to get shocked by the chassis, which measures around 80 volts (between me and the camera when I have bare feet standing on a concrete floor). I get at least 40-60+ volts on my Macbook chassis. All this is not new and strange to us who have lived in Thailand for a while. However, a friend has a video studio here in Thailand, and he does NOT want the video staff to get shocked when they touch the camera. So ... is there any way that a building can be wired so that this issue is eliminated? My friend said, "We don't have this problem in America, so I see no reason we should have it here. I want to do whatever it takes to fix the problem." He doesn't want to hear me tell him, "That's just the way it is here." I'd like to help him, but is there really anything I can do other than insisting that all cameras, laptops, and other devices must have a ground wire attached? I'm sure this question might have already had a thorough discussion, and you are welcome to share a link of such a discussion with me if you have one.