Sheryl

As OP has diabetes, moved to the main health forum. As you seem to realize, the preferred test is the Hb1ac which is a measure of average blood glucose over a 3 month period (and thus is usually done at 3-6 month intervals depending on how stable it is.) Unfortnately the hand held meters for Hb1ac are, in my experience, very unreliable. Best to have it done at a hospital or (large) lab. Where in Thailand are you and what hospital do you use? If it is a government hospital that you rely on for inexpensive medications you may have to put up with their system even if also getting periodic Hb1ac elsewhere . Note that while the Hb1ac is best overall measure of blood sugar control, there is still a need for onetime blood sugar monitoring in some situations e.g. if on insuln or if oral medication dose has been recently adjusted. ..or experiencing possible symptoms of hypoglycemia. In contrast to the Hb1ac, hand held meters to test blood sugar are accurate and readily available, Accucheck being recommended brand.

First of all - under the Netherlands - Thai DTA, is this pension income assessable in Thailand? If not, you do nto need to file at all unless you have other assessable income, in which case file declaring only that. I find it hard to believe you can't get any sort of receipt from the Dutch government for taxes paid. As far as the issue of documents being in Dutch, IF you have more than 60,000 baht in assessable pension income (120k if married), can get a translation to Thai done by a translation company and certified by the ministry of Foreign Affairs. See the 4th post in this thread https://aseannow.com/topic/1209432-ministry-of-foreign-affairs-translation-guarantee/ for the process. Alternatively can get a private translations service to translate to English and stamp it, that might be what the RD really means when they say "verified", translation services affix a stamp to the translations they do.

The first question I'd ask is: is your pension income remitted to Thailand assessable in Thailand? For which you need to refer to your country's DTA with Thailand. If you have no assessable income, or your assessable income is less then 60,000 (120,000 if married and filing jointly) then you are not required to file. Otherwise, you are, and there is a small fine (I have heard something like 2000 baht) for not filing though this seems not widely enforced. However, if you are not going to owe any tax, and if your pension income (or a portion thereof) is assessable, then I see not disadvantge to filing and indeed some advantage in terms of having proof of filing.

By my reading of the UK - Thai DTA, your army pension is non-assessable in Thailand (can only be taxed in UK) but the UK state old age pension is assessable in Thailand. So yes, to my understanding you should file, but only for the state pension income, and once the various exemptions & deductions are claimed, good chance you won't owe much if anything in tax. There is a personal exemption of 60,000 baht (120k if married and filing jointly), and if you are over 65 there is another 190,000 deduction. I have also heard, but you should veriify, that 50% of pension income up to a maximum of 100k is also exempt. Then, after all these exemptions/deductions are applied, no tax is owed o nthe first 150k. Consequently with UK state pension as your only assessable income you'd likely owe no tax. You can claim a tax credit for any taxes paid in UK (don't ask me how, from this thread it seems the promised adjustment ot tax forms to include this has nto occurred). The tax credit is only relevant if you would otherwise owe taxes.

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To my understanding one can get a retirement extension with any non-Imm visa.

It has happened over the years that a few visa agents have been cracked down on by immigration. Just a few, but to the detriment of those using those agents. It has also occadinally occurred that agents have lost passports. If you must use an agent, make sure it is a well established one with good reputation. Financial requirements were significantly revised some 5-10 years back which affected many of those using the lump sum in the bank method. Documentation requirements for some nationalitlies using the monthly income method were also revised, affecting those people. Main thing you need to understand - which I frankly did not when I first retired here -- is that obtaining a retirement extension one year, or even many many years in a row, does not ensure you can obtain it the next year. Aside ftom the LTR, there is no way to get a long term retirement status here. Each year you apply anew. Requirements can change, and from time to time do. It is wise to maintain connections to your home country and to always have s "Plan B".

I've yet to hear of a single RD aware of this. Some have never heard of a DTA, period. Others understand only the concept of tax crefits. Even in future I cannot envision provincial RDs being aware of the contents of more than 60 different DTAs.

I have considered this, yes. But concerned it might get flagged (this year especially with the revised rule on remittances) and then referred to the provincial RD to review.

Situation with my provincial tax office (a province with almost no foreign retirees) could not be more different. 2 years in a row I filed returns with just interest income . It was disaster. RD had never seen such a thing, never heard of a retired foreign person living in Thailand and refused to believe it was even possible: I must, according to them, be working here. Interrogation went on for several unpleasant days. After which I stopped trying to get interest witholding back.

Yes, entering only assessaboe income seems the solution but for some of us that would mean a virtually blank return which is highly likely to result in being called in for questioning....in my case by a provincial RD that is beyond uninformed on matters expatriate. @WingNut foreign remittances of savings accrued before 2024 ard non-assessable. Beyond that it depends on the terms of the tax treaty between Thailand and the tax resident's country of nationality and these vary greatly.

Thank you for sharing this. However in your case it appears your remittances were assessable, even though no tax due. For people like myself whose remittances are all non-assessable , most reports from tax offices say not to file. Which does not jibe with "must file if a tax resident". Further, there is no way on the current tax forms to indicate non-assessable income.

Rutnin Eye Hospital One of these doctors: https://www.rutnin.com/en/doctor/resume.5.1_Medical_history_0_0.html https://www.rutnin.com/en/doctor/resume.35.1_Medical_history_0_0.html https://www.rutnin.com/en/doctor/resume.61.1_Medical_history_0_0.html https://www.rutnin.com/en/doctor/resume.12.1_Medical_history_0_0.html

If you want a second opinion (or further treatment for your varicose veins) I suggest this doctor https://phyathai2international.com/doctor/Dr.Supachai-Chanvitan/208/cn https://www.vejthani.com/doctor/dr-supachai-chanvitan/

As has been explained, any large hospital, public or private, will have vascular surgeon. And any vascvular surgeon can evaluate this. Still waiting for OP to indicate a preferred location and whether public or private. He should not delay.

These are very different things. For elecrophysiology https://www.bumrungrad.com/en/doctors/koonlawee-nademanee (by far top Dr for this in Thailand) https://www.medparkhospital.com/en-US/doctors/dr-voravut-rungpradubvong For interventional cardiologist https://www.bumrungrad.com/en/doctors/wattanaphol-phipathananunth https://www.bumrungrad.com/en/doctors/krissada-meemook https://www.medparkhospital.com/en-US/doctors/assoc-prof-dr-suwatchai-pornratanarangsi More information would help me give more tailored recommendations.

Yes, needs to be immediately evaluated. Pretty much all the hospitals in Bkk have vascular surgeons. Where in Bangkok? Public or private?

What exactly do you need/what sort of problem? Interventional cardioliogist? etc

Government eye hospital in Nakhon Phathom https://www.metta.go.th/?StartWeb=1 They also have a small branch in Bangkok (no website) but I do not know if they could do such an extensive procedure there. The main hospital in Nakon Pathom probably better option. Bring a Thai speaker with you. https://www.google.com/search?q=Metta International Eye Center&ludocid=505146984368148442&ibp=gwp;0,7&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjvjeSR_ZmLAxUETGwGHeCbKfwQ_coHegQIJhAB#lpg=cid:CgIgAQ%3D%3D Are you sure you need this procedure? Which ophthalmologist advised it and for what condition?

He has not moved and is still at BCH. I saw him there just a few weeks ago.

Extremely unadvisable (if they'd even do it).

Probably not. Are you sure they are lipomas?

No place can give you an estimate without examination since depending on size, depth and location might require general anesthetic or local; might need just general surgeon or plastic surgeon. (Or if really small and superficial, sometimes dermatologist). And these differences have significant cost implications. The least expensive place would be a government hospital but long waits and language barriers, not very oractical for someone just visiting. Among private hosoitals, Camellian and Bangkok Christian would be good bets.

If that is a GFR if 69%, it equates to kidney disease only if there are other indications of kidney damage. Presumably there are e.g. albumin in urine, abnormal urine albumin:creatnine ratio etc. Kidney cysts are a common incidental finding and usually need no treatment. What else did the scan show? Assuming it is accompanied by other signs of kidney damage, an eGFR of 69% equates to Stage 2 chronic kidney disease https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/kidney-disease/diagnosis/ https://www.kidney.org/what-criteria-ckd