Timwin

Pattaya region...easily 60 percent less tourists than during the last boom times of 2011-2015 and spending a lot less per tourist. Less and less westerners. Especially young adults are not coming anymore to spend six months to two years in Thailand.

Some Chinese groups but they only buy something from local 7-11s at best. Add to that dirty beaches making things even worse.

When you deport long time, multiple visit per year tourists and other visitors for no good reason they will let it know in web forums and elsewhere in their home countries that Thailand is no longer a good place to go. That means even many of the first time tourists will also fly elsewhere, like to Vietnam or Malesia. On top of the very expensive Baht... 

4 hours ago, RJRS1301 said:

For that money, you are not living with good plumbing, space and no rodents

 

Just like tens of millions of Thais!

There are no roads for heavy machinery drilling gear, it is all jungle. Those machines weight tens of tons. 

Thai Elite Superiority Extension, 20 years, 1 mil Baht. Could be a good deal, only about 1350 euros per year, even for retirees. No more seasoning of the money.

20 minutes ago, impulse said:

And, a good law firm will help their clients optimize their wealth under today's enforcement regime.  That doesn't mean it's legal,  Just that there won't be negative consequences exceeding the benefits.  And it certainly doesn't mean the interpretation won't change tomorrow.  I know a lot of guys praying it won't be retroactive (with penalties because they should have known better) if the Tax Department decides they've been doing it wrong all along.

 

Of course it is legal if tax office and lawyers says so. They are in the business of knowing the frigging law. Nothing unclear about it. Every first year law student would say the same that it always comes down to interpretation. What is income, how it is defined, what is an investment, depreciation rate for this and that, what can be subtracted from income and so it goes...

Big corporations do this all the time with tax officials, constant discussion about how this or that money from this or that is going to be taxed and in which country. Sometimes it is pretty much adversary type of negotiation.

If countries like Italy or Spain enforced every ancient law still in force in the books the countries would ground to halt within a week. US even more of a mess because previous similar cases are treated as precedents, not a useful guide not strictly bounding like in most of EU. Add to that very excessive sentences that other countries in many cases refuse to enforce.

The interpretation of laws is vital for a functioning justice and tax system. You yourself did some out of hat interpretations by that comment!

4 minutes ago, impulse said:

Do it the way you want.  Again, I hope it works for you as long as you want it to.  But if you like it in Thailand, I'd suggest you prepare for the day they start enforcing those rules you're skirting.

 

Yes, I know things could change easily. The tax law interpretation is another thing. If the income is considered as savings from abroad from last year or earlier, it is not taxed. One friend of mine got that kind of paper from very high end law firm that certainly know the Thai law inside out.

Just make sure the name in the transfer matches exactly what is in the bank book, like "Mr John Adam Smith". If the name is something like your company or anything else (other than at least your first name and surname), it will be rejected. They are much stricter than in EU for example, where you can put "donald duck" or "I am not a morning person" and it still gets transferred.

I have said at the immigration at Suvarnabhumi that I work online, digital nomad. That was ok for them and it is the strictest entry point of all. Strictly speaking they could make it illegal but they are not enforcing it so. After all, it is a win for Thailand with money coming in without taking any Thai jobs. If you work for a Thai company than you better have a work permit (with work location address specified).

These bans seem to be very hard to overturn unless you know somebody in the immigration high enough willing to defend your case or some lawyer with similar connections. 

8 hours ago, Briggsy said:

It appears the bike was clamped. Is this correct? Where was it clamped? In a car park somewhere? On the street?

Just chains and padlock but after one hour in parking, not immediately...

2 minutes ago, steven100 said:

Troll post ... ?

if one does a traffic violation or is caught with any illegal substance then you have to expect the penalty.

 

Why is it that farangs come here to Thailand get caught and then cry foul  ? ....... 

Do you feel better now after your early morning moral tirade? Is that your thing?

I got a traffic violation fine for crossing the line in traffic lights. The funny thing is that the fine was on my bike when I got back and the bike locked. I don't remember even crossing the line anywhere. No police ever stopped me and I ride quite slowly. Quite a lot of people in the stations at Pattaya Beach Road paying fines, 50-60 ahead of me. Most were foreigners :)

27 minutes ago, Flustered said:

Digital Nomads who evade taxes in the country they are working from and enjoying are nothing more than scum. To be pitied, not envied.

So for example typical IT-consultant earning 6000-12000 dollars per month, living in a 50000 Bath rental apartment with expensive cars and motorbikes parked in garage, is "scum"? Or outright owning such a nice place. He or she pays ten times more in various taxes than your average Thai worker with 15000 Baht monthly salary.

I have noticed a lot of vacant rental houses all around, much more than usual. A lot of unfinished condo projects too. A lot of completed condo buildings are also empty, if not within 1 km from a beach. Bar owners are complaining the lack of customers. Pattaya seems to going through a deep recession. The rental and sale prices are still stubbornly high.

Look at the bright side, Pattaya ain't so bad place after all! No bombs here!

There is a loophole, if you "go retail" and buy over 10 litres of vodka for example, you can do that. Obviously, you are buying for your non-existing fancy restaurant

Start with single entry tourist visas, 60 days plus 30 days extension from local immigration. Go visit nearby countries. Cambodia especially has much easier visas and you can start even your own business there without too much hassle. Laos is also very nice.

Ignore these resident naysayers here, every thread has at least one. I just don't get them. They moved to tropical Thailand but all day every day they are angry and yapping to other foreigners! Are they angry/jealous towards others because they are too old or others "too young" to move to Thailand? Or both?

I have never had a bad ride in a scheduled city to city (full size) bus in Thailand. Maybe I'm lucky.

I will resist, kicking and screaming, ever getting into another passenger mini-van in Thailand.

Those are much better, the drivers much more relaxed and drive more safely. They do not have the same kind of insane timetable pressures than mini-van buses with cut-throat margins.

Would you object if 50,000,000 easy going people turned up at the immigration booths of your own country and said "I am easy going, let me in".

So to make the analogy correct those 50,000,000 people would:

- Be several times richer than me

- Be my best customers, easy to overcharge

Then there is the question of corruption. I talked with this one guy boasting about getting his next visa with three extensions simply by paying to some immigration official 50000 Baht. No need to go Laos or Cambodia, everything taking care of. The funny part is that I met the guy in an immigration official meeting showing us and explaining to us foreigners the new rules! "Good guys in, bad guys out!"...ok, whatever you say.

I don't mind anybody doing that but it is also how real criminals do it. Especially if they have outstanding warrants in their home countries and those smooth talking white collar criminals. There are quite a lot of cases still walking around in Thailand who should be deported. Instead of these guys, down on their luck but otherwise decent folks.

Do a 3 month overstay in the USA and see if you ever get back in legally

USA is a police state shithole nowadays, not a good example to follow. 5 year ban for 3 months is very excessive, no matter how you look at it. I could understand one year ban for that but not 5. You could get that same 5 year ban for mere one day overstay if caught in the street. The immigration officials copied the rules from Australia which is entirely in different situation with the boat people and is much richer country.

Dress like you are going to a job interview. Maybe even tell up front you have 8 year overstay and lost your passport. It seems it is up to the officials in each case what they do. If they consider you a nuisance or somehow danger to Thailand then they most likely will give you the ban. You could get the ten year ban in worst case.

AC units can explode and even kill you if you are too near.

Maybe the "arrested and prosecuted" means that if you commit a crime and get caught, like DUI or stealing from a shop, and they check your passport and your visa is already expired, you get the 5 year ban.