salween

2 hours ago, Andrew Mind said:

... There is a slight exception, if you do not have a Thai bank account or you close your Thai bank account, then the tax office in Thailand simply most likely will not be able or will not initiate a request to the CRS system, since you simply do not have a bank account in Thailand and Thailand banks simple no have information about your foreign bank accounts, that is, it is very problematic to somehow do it manually and compare data with the data of the foreign account from which you sent money transfers to a bank in Thailand to the personal account of the Thai wife, son, friend and so on. But if you have always previously sent money from your foreign bank account to your bank account in Thailand, and from 2024 you will send money from the same account, but to the account of your Thai wife, son, friend then the tax office will quickly identify this method of tax evasion.

 

So someone who: i) is not a Thai national, ii) does not have a Thai bank account,  and iii) does not meet the Thai tax-resident threshold of staying in Thailand for more than 180 days, were to wire from abroad a < Bt10 million gift to a Thai national, that gift is unlikely to be subject to this proposed income tax nor any Thai gift tax?

Recent experience six weeks, four days door to door:

8 May, application sent via Thai Post EMS from Bangkok to US Embassy.

9 May, EMS tracking confirmed receipt by an embassy “security guard”.

25 May, Travelstate.gov passport renewal application status reported receipt on 22 May.

14 June, Travelstate.gov reported new passport mailed out on 12 June.

20 June (end of estimated six-week processing time), emailed embassy. Responded promptly. “Your passport is completed and is being mailed back to our office. However, we cannot advise an exact date of when the passport may arrive. You will receive a separate notification email once the new passport is ready to be mailed to the address you provided.”

21 June, embassy email received. “Your new passport book and/or passport card will be mailed within the next two working days. You are able to track your package via https://track.thailandpost.co.th/ with tracking number ######## accordingly.”

23 June, receipt of EMS with passports.

Result, did have to make the trip to CW.  We opted for the main entrance, Door 1--not Door 2, which is next to Immigration and quite busy. Not only did the security guard help my wife with the wheelchair, and wheeled me up to the door, but gave her one of the priority parking space roped off for VIPs. Krungsri bank took less than ten minutes to get me the necessary paperwork. Got priority service at Immigration and was out of there in about 30 minutes. 

7 hours ago, arithai12 said:

OP, don't you have a friend who can go to your Immigration and ask them the best course of action?

 

No, not really in may case, as it does necessitate someone with some Thai Immigration experience, and I don't have a lot of time.  Moreover, there's the ongoing fear that what they learn may not be what turns out to be practiced once a formal application is made for some sort of interim extension without me present.  

Based on what we've learned so far, the report about an applicant on a hospital gurney sounds plausible. And yes, they did offer "priority" service if I show up on wheels. 

42 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

The 90 day extension would be for medical treatment.

No need for the financial proof until near end of the 90 days when you apply for the one year exension.

Possible, but not how it was explained to us. Wanted all the same retirement bank info and stated, wrongly, that the bank would grant it to a third party. And since we did not take pictures during the hospital stay (had no idea such evidence may be of value) we probably can't get a medial extension anyway. 

3 hours ago, BritTim said:

If you are in hospital, the hospital can arrange a medical extension on your behalf. I do not think the hospital will apply for an extension on your behalf if you are simply convalescing at home.

 

Unfortunately, Immigration is not very sympathetic in cases like yours. Partly, that is because of the potential for abuse if they provide easy ways for people to get extensions without satisfying the normal requirements.

 

You may have to resort to using an agent, if there is no way you can have yourself transported to Immigration. Where are you located?

In communicating with Chang Watana a bit ago, this appears to be the policy. The offered ‘alternative” was for wife to go with identification, house registration & marriage certificate along with my paperwork, doctor’s letter and images from the hospital. They would then grant a 90-day extension. The catch, however, remains the bank. Mine, Krungsri, confirmed that they would not produce required documents to anyone but me — a solid no go.  So either I show up or, yes, hire an agent.

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

The main problem you may have is getting the letter and etc from your bank. Since it will not involve a withdrawal you may be able have somebody do it for you.

Thanks. Not sure I can make that work, in no small part due to the banking challege you noted. I thought I remember reading, but can't find, member posts about similar predicaments and obtaining some sort of extension/waiver until their health improved.

Medical treatment for a recent injury requires me to remain home for the next six weeks. I have a form from the doctor/hospital that says as such. My retirement extension expires on 21 July (next Thursday). What procedure do I follow to apply for a temporary extension until such time as I can physically appear to make my retirement extension application?   

Indeed, not a fair fight. This could get very interesting. A lot of smart folks out there that may have been better left unprovoked.

Yup, SOP here. Always somebody else's fault. Certainly Thailand could be doing nothing wrong?

"It is abundantly clear, therefore, that the AIIB initiative and China's plans for major economic development for western China and the Asia-Pacific region have nothing to do with power and dominance, and everything to do with peaceful cooperation across the Asia region." Oh, ok then!

Meanwhile, for some reason the junta has yet to sort out the paperwork for Thailand's participation? Trust that's administrative incompetence rather than politics.

Maybe they read this month's cover story in National Geographic and decided to toss the idea out there?

bangkok now hit by water shortage all the rain theyve just had and they still have a problem . I have stated on numerous occasions groundwater wells and bore holes are the answer they could also install larger reverse osmosis plants and desalination plants the powers that be have to get their acts together .

Possibly a better approach might be to shift from the supply to the demand side. Certainly wells in and around greater BKK is not a good idea at all, as groundwater pumping is already contributing to sinking--not a good scenario in this era of sea level rise. Desalting plants are not cheap and require a lot of electricity not to mention all the social inefficiencies associated with such schemes here. Why add a whole other layer of complexity and cost on a system they can't even manage now. Who knows exactly how much water municipal users waste, not to mention the infrastructure delivering it. Get at that first. Next sort out the ag policies to ensure they reflect the system's carrying capacity, both over the long term, and in times of impending shortages. Farmers in the basin knew when they plumbed into the system that should things start to look dry, that urban users downstream must be the priority.

Of course none of this is likely to happen. Heck California, the US Southwest in general, can't get their water house in order. And despite the above mention of drought there, that society has known for generations they were pushing the envelope and did nothing about it. Just kick the can down the road. All their money, university experts, etc. and they now sit in crisis management as well. Sure some innovative things are being done on the margins, but the consume to the limit lifestyle and grab more when you can continues to dominate macro-level water management there as it does in so many places.

This reminded me of this TV thread from last year.

Three Thais arrested in Japan for reckless driving

Anyone know what became of them?

sadly, a job at the top means a lot of people filter and screen what goes to the head man (headman used unintentionally)

however, in this case, it is being put to his attention directly, and he is showing, he does not have a full grasp of the growing problem

one things is for sure, we do.

he will either turn viciously on those who are causing him this tremendous loss of face,

or he risks an uprising in his country which brings him down.

Headman on Small Island destroys 40 year Legacy of General P

or, General P wipes Kho Tao clean of criminals

its one or the other, and he will soon see that

What about examples like this, where he did not need any two-legged filters, just those between his ears:

"Tourists think that Thailand is beautiful, safe and that they can do anything they want here. That they can put on their bikinis and go anywhere they want. I ask, can you get away with wearing bikinis in Thailand? Unless you are not beautiful?"

Personally, I was delighted that he stepped into a huge pile of horseshit with that comment as, it put him squarely in the case, unable to deny knowledge of it,

He wishes he feigned ignorance on this, I am sure of it

He sure did not demonstrate such wishes today, but once again came out swinging:

“We must build foreign confidence and make Britain and other foreign nations understand. They might be a little surprised why the criminals were caught so quickly. I myself was excited. I want all Thais to stop and think that authorities have procedures in place. Nobody would dare catch the wrong person because this is a case of big international interest.”

The case has gone International

once CNN runs the story,

it will grow like a mushroom cloud

Is this the CNN story you're referring to? Been out for awhile now today.

Keep 'em coming UK media:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2783749/Were-Burmese-migrants-tortured-confessing-murder-British-tourists-Thailand-Police-chief-defends-arrests-duo-denies-admitted-crimes-duress.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

The Daily Mail is the most visited English-language newspaper website in the world.

"'I insist that all officials in this case have done a good job. A perfect job,' the national police chief told a news conference in Bangkok.

But a lawyer contracted by Myanmar's embassy in Thailand to defend the suspects said the case was a 'set-up and not based on hard facts', according to the Democratic Voice of Burma, an independent Myanmar news organisation based in Norway."

And from the Independent

Thanks RichCor. Never gave that consideration, but makes sense. Never even knew of this difference when purchasing. Oh well, another box.

Just tried rescanning the roof top arial antenna input on our Samsung UA55D 6400 TV (2011) to locate the over the air digital broadcasts. It still only finds the analogue channels. Good reception here in SE BKK. All information I have is that the series 6 has a DTV tuner built in. I can't find anything to tell it to seek digital versus analogue, so assume it's automatic? I also tried a factory reset, but with the same results: no digital channels. Ideas?

She would not need the contracts. Just some proof of income going into her bank account should be enough.

Your most recent extension in your new passport will be enough. Immigration probably put your existing extension in your new passport when you got it. If your immigration office does it like the one here they put a stamp or note (in Thai) above the extension stamp stating it is is for marriage and the total number of extensions gotten.

Showing deposits will be no problem. Also, forget she's got an independent pension program she's been paying into for years that won't be vested for ten more, so that would be a reasonable amount to walk away from as well. The more we think about it, the more confident we feel reasonableness will prevail.

The income amount is not all that important. Before it was having the job to return to, Now that you are married your ties to here is what counts also.

if she can show income from self employment that will be accepted.

What is your status here? Are you on an extension of stay from immigration or some type of visa from an embassy or consulate. That is proof that you will return.

Been on marriage visa extensions once possible and multi-entry, non-immigrant visas the three-years before that.. Guess I'm lucky I did not toss my old passport on renewal last year... Unfortunately, no written contracts this year to formally illustrate work continuity. It's really just the house and savings,

Since you are married she does not need to work as long as you have ties to Thailand such as an extension of stay from immigration, have enough income to support her.and pay for the trip.

Her previous trips to the states and not overstaying also is a big help.

Thanks, that was quick. However, our livelihood is more tied to her ventures/name than mine, a bit a-typical that way, therefore not a lot of "income to support" for me to show in that regard.