Sheryl

I have been dealing with Olivier Le Faouder so far but not sure who will handle everyday matters after this as he is the company director.

Yes Health insurance does not in any case cover "issues" with a doctor just (where applicable) treatment costs. If you mean malpractice insurance indeed they will not have it but then neither do many MDs in Thailand. Malpractice suits sre uncommon here.

Yes. And I have referred others to him, all with good results.

If practicing medecine then yes. I would also take claims of a D.O. degree from abroad (there are no schools of it in Thailand) with some caution. Check with the osteopathic association of that person's country. Some are genuine but there are a lot of self proclaimed foreign osteopaths, chiropractors etc here who are not formally trained. Reverting to your original question --- no, osteopathy is not a recognized profession in Thailand. Therefore no registration or regulation of it.

No one in their right mind goes to court without first exploring these free options.

If you only want to meet visa requirement and won't use it then doesn't matter what policy you get. Just make sure you can easily and quickly handle hospital bills of 3 million plus baht anytime while here in Thsiland as that is what something major can cost. Being healthy now is no guarantee and certsinly doesn't render you immune to accidents which are common here due to terrible and reckless driving. Even as a pedestrian, you can get mowed down even in a crosswalk (as I was).

Exactly what I mean. They drop you after 74.

Foreign issued policies include clearly laid out appeals processes including recourse to what is usually an independent ombudsman.No need to go to court. For that matter a complaint can be filed with the OIC in Thailand online, no need to go to court for that either. Though I think one will get a more reasoned and medically sophisticated approach from an Ombudsman in "farangland".

Generally speaking Thai-issued policies are individually rated (can and will raise your premiums after a claim) and internationally issued expat policies are ocmmunity rated. The thread only mentions Thai brokers who cannot help with international policies. AA used to but no longer, so I just switched to this broker who seems very knowledgeable and specializes in expat policies https://www.aoc-insurancebroker.com/

AND the policies stop at a certain age

It is a bit more complicated than that, if you read the US-Thailand DTA for example, since all US citizens resident ibn Thailand 180 days or more are dual citizens =for tax purposes other criteria then come into play to decide which income can be taxed where. People with a "permanent home available to them" in the US and none in Thailand (e.g. renters etc) can be considered, under the terater, as residents oif the US nto Thailand. Though that will not necessarily reduce their taxes. Had they paid/if they pay any tax in Thailand that then becomes a tax credit on the US return.

Absolutely nothing in the new regulation says this, quite the opposite.

Unhelpful/trolling posts have been removed

Exactly. And Q&A ssurances from the RD make clear they plan to abide by DTAs. Also make clear that savings brought into Thailand would be taxable only if from income earned while a resident of Thailand. People are reading into this new regulation all manner of things not there. It does one thing and one thing only, which is to remove a prior provision that assessable income earned abroad while a resident of Thailand and remitted in a following year (not the year in which it was earned) is no longer exempt. Nothing else. It does not alter what is assessable income and certainly does not override DTAs. Income earned prior to becoming a tax resident of Thailand (e.g. most Expat's savings) remains non-assessable. So does income earned abroad that is not transferred to Thailand. Government pensions, US SS etc remain exempted if so stated in the relevant DTA. It does not make it mandatory to file a return in no taxes are owed. It is not specifically aimed at foreigners let alone foreign retirees. I cannot imagine the RD wanting to get several hundred thousand more tax filings to review from people owing no or very low amounts of tax. Last thing they would have any reason to want.

With medical expenses only 10k baht would not be worth it even if it included Motos.

A psychiatrist would indeed usually prescribe meds but a therapist/psychologist will not. Rather they will offer talk therapy like CB T which can be very heloful. See the pinned mental health thread, there are some good Western counselors here.

AA is good if you are going to have a a Thai issued policy (which I definitely do not recommend). They cannot handle intetnationally issued expat policies (which is what I recommend). For that a broker headquartered in either your home country or the country where the insurer is based is preferrable and make sure they have experience with international expat policies.

They do not need to understand US tax treatment of SS benefits. (And would be in any case unlikely to figure it out from a tax return). What they need to understand is that SS benefits are assessable only in the US. If they do not understand this DTA provision regarding US Social Security then showing a tax return will not help. They will think that a tax return showing no tax paid means the full SS amount is taxable in Thailand and that one showing tax paid should declare the benefits as income on a Thai return and claim a tax crefit -- wrong in both cases. Since SSA sends out an annual statement of benefits and, at tax time, the equivalent of a form 1099 there is ample documentation of income from this source and no reason I can see to file a US tax return if this is the sole income and no US tax due on it.

I don't see why you would need or want to. Us Social Security is not assessable income in Thailand. Full stop. Not droendent on filing a US tax return. The annual statement of benefits SSA sends out each year and their annual IRS form are proof of income from this source.

But if no tax due, no return required, yes?

Not true for some types of pensions under some DTAs. True for others.

I don't see how they can. I would expect instead (in the case of people on retirement extensions/visa) some sort of attestation you can make that the source of funds was savings from income earned before becoming a Thai resident. IF retirees are required to submit documentation at all. Between the fact that some types of retirement income are non-Assessable under DTAs, savings from income earned before becoming a Thai resident are also non-assessable, and that tax credits have to be provided for any tax paid in the home country, the potential gain in revenue would be quite small and the whole thing a huge hassle. It is worth noting that under the old rules, overseas pensions directly remitted to Thailand (except were exempted under a DTA) were always taxable yet as far as I know, no effort was ever made to enforce that.

The change will go ahead, that is not in doubt. Whether expat retirees will be made to file returns even when they have no assessable income (and if so, how strictly that will be enforced) remains to be seen. I would hope that if that does happen, there will be accountants or agents versed in DTAs etc able to do the paperwork for us and provide any needed certificates. From my past dealings with my provincial RD (who among other things believe there is no such thing as retirement visa or extension, all farangs must be working here, and other nonsense) trying to file on my own would be a disaster even though all my remittances to Thailand are very clearly non-assessable under the DTA. As a matter of curiosity, does anyone know if the Thai tax code requires people who owe no tax to still file a return? Certainly most Thais in that situation seem not to do this. Neither do migrant workers, and even though here on explicit work visas there is no requirement for them to show tax clearance documents to extend.

Not if his savings are from income earned before he became resident in Thailand. Accoring to the RD this is not assessable income. It is people with current income from work abroad, property rentals, interest, dividends etc that are going to be most affected by this.

https://aseannow.com/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=940349&key=652a2822f134d0711b1645dd1f24dd03 418.36 kB · 18 downloads Answers to questions 5, 6 and 9 clearly state that savings transferred to Thailand that are from income earned before becoming a Thai resident are not assessable.