rwdrwdrwd

I just sent my wife with her blue book and the documents, and instructions that she wanted to register an alien staying at her house (she's a tenant, and I told her not to proffer the information that she wasn't the owner) - they didn't bat an eyelid, done in 5 minutes.

3 minutes ago, Cletus said:

It seems now that "Only Passengers holding First and Business class tickets will be allowed to use the Premium Fast track coupons and channels", from their website.

This one then for 1200 - https://www.limousine.in.th/fast-track-immigration.html

"This service can be used with any type of airplane ticket, not only business or first class tickets."

4 hours ago, bkk321 said:

Whats the VIP imm service upon arrival? Sounds good!

There's a few, but here's one https://www.bangkokflightservices.com/home/bfs-services/premium-airport-services/ - 700 baht it seems. They basically take you through a special channel, skipping all the queues.

It was Don Muang BTW - I hear they are much harsher on regular Visa Exemption entries.

The immigration officer said he had to leave for "6 months", but he signed up with a Muay Thai school that offered an ED visa, flew with the paperwork to Ho Chi Minh, spent a few days there waiting for the application to be granted, then flew back with the visa - no issues at all on return to Suvarnabhumi, nor with in country extensions since - he did use the VIP immigration service upon arrival which may have been a factor.

Happened to a friend of mine, they threatened to refuse entry, and initially told him he had to buy a flight back to the UK before they would let him in. They eventually accepted a flight to Malaysia after speaking to my wife.

They do put a visible flag on the computer system - he went immediately to extend it to see if they would and the (friendly) immigration officer mentioned it, but did the extension anyway.

He's been out and back since (with a visa) and had no further issues.

You need a silica gel exorcist.

They are dreadful, loud, and take far too long to do the job ineptly.

5 minutes ago, BritTim said:

Sigh! The rules on this changed long ago. When he sees this thread, @ubonjoe will be able to provide a link to the announcement that changed the rules. It has been covered on ThaiVisa many, many times.

Whether they did or not, given

- There are official Thai gov websites that still state 6 months
- There are Thai consulates that still state 6 months
- The national carrier recently ran a notice that states 6 months

I wouldn't like to be arguing legal minutiae with [insert carrier here] check-in staff or at the immigration desk when they have the power to prevent boarding / deny entry.

32 minutes ago, Phuket Man said:

Rubbish.

You sound very sure, but the Thai MFA states it twice on their Q&A page

http://www.mfa.go.th/main/en/services/4908/15380-Questions-&-Answers-on-Thai-Visa.html
 

Quote

However, please make sure that you are in possession of a passport valid for at least 6 months, a round-trip air ticket, and adequate finances equivalent to at least 10,000 Baht per person or 20,000 Baht per family. Otherwise, you may be inconvenienced upon entry into the country.

Quote

With the Visa on Arrival, you would be granted a stay of a period of not exceeding

15 days. But you must have a passport valid for at least 6 months, a round-trip

air ticket where date of departure from Thailand is within 15 days of the date

of entry, and adequate finances equivalent to at least 10,000 Baht per person.

Also Thai Airways recently posted a notice on their Indian site https://www.thaiairways.com/en_IN/news/news_announcement/news_detail/passport.page

You may be correct, but I certainly wouldn't like to be arguing this point with checkin staff, nor at immigration.

Happened to my friend coming in a visa exemption (his first) from KL after previously being on an ED for 12 months (lessons for which he attended regularly), initially they told him he had to book a flight back to the UK before they would allow him in. The lady he met was *extremely* rude and sneering, and made some very edgy nationalistic comments - put it this way, it seems she didn't really want to have *any* foreigners coming in to Thailand, and intimated that she believed that may be the case in the near future.

And yes - Don Muang, female immigration officer.

My wife spoke to her on the phone, and eventually the officer accepted that he could book a flight for 29 days time to Malaysia and allowed him in once he printed out the ticket.

She also specified he had to leave after 30 days and then would not be allowed back in to the country whatsoever for six months, and that she had placed a red flag on his name and added that requirement so that all other officers would know.

He immediately went to extend it, on my advice, just to see if they would do it. No problem whatsoever, very friendly officer though they did indeed mention with a quizzical look at the computer that he had a 'flag' on his name.

He subsequently signed up with a Muay Thai school (which he attends regularly) for another ED visa, left the country and applied for it with the documents they supplied, it was granted no problem and he passed through immigration no problem.

To pre-empt the questions, British, white, 20k THB in his pocket, mid 30s, always presentable and polite, no he isn't working.

On 6/13/2018 at 2:57 PM, Bastos60 said:

That is a complete false statement. 

 

Income is taxable in every country. But what you refer to is what is considered taxable income and where was this income generated.

If I work for my company in thailand while on holiday for a non-thai customer I don't generate an income in Thailand, I am still generating it in my country of residence where
I will have to pay taxes. I will never be taxed in Thailand since it is nolonger an income when I transfer it into a Thai bankaccount, it is just personal finances.

 

A digital nomad that recruits customers through the internet from all over the world, is generating an income in his country of residence, even if he is abroad while on holiday, yes read carefully, holiday, digital nomads are always a resident in whatever country they come from and considered holidaymakers in visiting countries. It is perfectly possible to NOT DECLARE your income since it is very difficult to track but that is just common tax evasion. 

 

Neither of your examples apply to digital nomads. Why even bother writing them down. 

 

Every country has their tax laws and they are not the same for every country, but one thing is generally considered the same, money generated from labour is considered an income.

 

 

You're completely wrong, this is the huge bad premise in your post:
 

Quote

digital nomads are always a resident in whatever country they come from

Usually, they are not tax resident in their country of origin if they are out of that country for 183 days per year. Many countries, in fact I think all countries aside from the US, do not levy tax on foreign sourced income of non tax resident citizens.
 

Quote

Neither of your examples apply to digital nomads. Why even bother writing them down. 

I didn't provide more than one example, it was a single example with 4 conditions where ALL of the conditions I mentioned apply, and it ABSOLUTELY applies to DNs.
 

32 minutes ago, Bastos60 said:

I guess you work as an independent contractor, do you have your own company? 

Thai government does not actively track money transfers so it is very unlikely that will cause a problem.  It is only when you become the focus of
an investigation for some reason that they will also check your bank activity. Only then it could become a second problem to deal with.

 

But another thing comes to mind, tax evasion, if you are not paying taxes anywhere on the income you generate, you are committing tax evasion, and you are 
liable in both your home country AND Thailand. 

 

As long as you don't get caught, no problems.
 

Untrue. There are scenarios where income can perfectly legally not be taxable.

Resident of a country that taxes foreign income on a remittance basis, citizen of a country that does not tax foreign income of non resident citizens,  entirely non [Country of citizenship]/[Country of residence] sourced income, personal banking in a third jurisdiction which doesn't levy tax on foreign income, for example - so long as they can wait until the next tax year before sending to country of residence.

31 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

You willing to bet your Thai future on it? 

 

I don't think so, either.  But monthly visa runs, ED visas for non-students and $600 overstay fines and back by tomorrow at lunch benefited a lot of the Elite immensely, so most of us didn't expect those changes.  Those who were prepared for the crackdown, are still enjoying Thailand.  Those that didn't, not so much.

  

The tax regime is about the only reason I'm still here TBH, I'd probably be offski ? - still zero foreign income tax options in Uruguay (at least for the first 5 years), Costa Rica, Seychelles, Caymans, Bahamas, BVI, Nicaragua perhaps, or one can just travel a lot and never end up tax resident in a single jurisdiction.

If someone really, really wanted to stay here they could just incorporate offshore and live most of their lives on expenses.

I genuinely don't think it'll happen in the near future though.

20 hours ago, impulse said:

 

I'm gobsmacked by that rule.  Or rather, the current interpretation of that rule.  Basically, as long as someone can show enough in the bank last year to cover this year's incoming money, they NEVER have to pay taxes on the money they make in ANY year.  Forever.   That just doesn't pass the sniff test. 

 

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.

 

Thing is this applies to Thai nationals as well, you reckon they will change the law and let it affect the uber wealthy Thais with international interests? I don't.
 

34 minutes ago, moontang said:

quite a few jobs require a degree, so are they going to be inquisitive laborers?  Education is an easy major and often a place for math illiterates to hide.  Stupid parents are highly likely to have stupid kids.  If it was simply a matter of money, LA and DC would have great schools, because they spend about 14000 per year, per student.  But in fact, they are two of the lowest achieving school systems in the US.  

Managed 20 years as a software developer myself including employment as a software engineer for Microsoft with nothing but a high school education, a talent for maths and English, and the motivation to build stuff so I'm not convinced many professions *really* require one - there are exceptions (for example doctor, lawyer, engineer, scientist) and in the event my kids want to go for such a profession where it is an absolute requirement then obviously I'll support their wishes - just not into the modern idea of kids going to uni by default and without much self motivation beyond 'you have to get a degree these days'.

Plenty of the kids I grew up with went to uni by default and are working as waiters and telesales ops 20 years later. The ones I know who are doing very well did medicine, law, engineering, or didn't go to uni at all and ended up doing apprenticeships or starting their own businesses early.

I'd hope that by the time they finish secondary education they would have the ability to make decisions and source further knowledge enough to get further than 'labouring' without any further formal education - plenty of opportunities for fledgling entrepreneurs out there if they have confidence, a bit of cash available, the ability to source and absorb information, and adaptability.

Definitely agree with the "Stupid parents are highly likely to have stupid kids." comment though! Education begins at home.

48 minutes ago, moontang said:

agreed.  just remember, once your kid gets accepted to, and starts uni; whatever pretentious, exhorbant, spoiled brat, international school they attended will mean nothing.  If you travel in educated circles, and someone asks you where you went to school, they are asking about university.  Same with a job interview....Too many foreigner n Hua  Hin...Too many trying to imitate a western lifestyle.....it's not quite Pirate Island, but give it a few more years.  A friend said Takiab is so overbuilt, they changed the climate.

I send my kids to international school so they rarely end up in a position where they have to answer these sort of irrelevant questions - I couldn't care less if they go to university, I care only that they receive a primary / secondary level education in an environment where cultivating inquisitiveness is foremost and they learn the process of learning. If they become autodidacts then 'what school' and  'what degree' become irrelevant. Not many autodidacts generated by the Thai curriculum from what I can see, nor by many of the cheaper 'international' schools here.

Small classes, qualified teachers and personalised development plans are they keys I think, that's what I pay for anyway.

3 minutes ago, observer90210 said:

It could also be considered that Hua Hin and Phuket [but mainly Hua Hin] are much more costly for everything,  then the other places cited.

Really?? I spend way less in HH all round than I did in BKK. Rent is pretty much half the price. Seems cheaper to me here than it was when i lived in Phuket and Samui also.

Hua Hin

14 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

With 2 Children (what age?)... Education is obviously the key factor & if you are not factoring this in a key you may be doing your children a disservice.

 

I too live in Bangkok and would enjoy living in Chiang Mai or Hua Hin - but the schools are simply not good enough (my Son is 4 and will move to Patana or St Andrew's (71) next year).

Thus, for the sake of my Son's education through to iGCSE in Bangkok, followed by a Sixth Form College (boarding) in the UK and University (UK or US)...(if thats what he wants at the time). 

 

In muy mid 50's I can relax and choose to live outside of Bangkok - in which case, as I'd be a little older Rayong would be nice and relaxing... however, being older it would be nice to live closer to centers of medical excellence.... 

 

To track back again... Are the School choices outside of Bangkok really good enough if we are being honest with ourselves ?????

One of the ways of telling is to look at which universities the school alumni have attended. 

 

 

 

 

Hua Hin has a good International school now - "Hua Hin International School" - founded by the some very experienced individuals that started the St Andrews chain in BKK (including the one you mention) and with strong Patana connections (an ex Patana headmaster, ex head of early years, and ex treasurer) on the board of directors. It's been running for about 3 years now and is growing quickly. They do iGCSE and will launch an IB program once the first year admitted finishes iGCSE (which is in a couple of years time from now).

It's by far the most expensive option in HH at 450 - 550k (cheaper than comparable schools in BKK though) but all teachers are fully qualified Brits on expat packages - you get what you pay for.

Lovely campus on the Black Mountain estate - Certainly worth a look.

http://www.huahinschool.com/

I once had a run in with an alcoholic foreigner on Samui getting annoyed with me walking the dog (and picking up the poo) on wasteland opposite "his" (rented) house. Very passive aggressive I could hear him shouting about me to his wife so I went up and asked him what his problem was :D Turns out it wasn't "his land" so basically told him to bugger off and get a life, or buy the land if he wanted exclusive access to it. apparently I have an attitude problem.. soon afterwards I found out he'd once been round a neighbours in the middle of the night with a machete to solve some minor dispute. Luckily my dog was big.

Anyway, yes pick up the poo - that's a no brainer. But if it's not his land it's not his business whether you walk there or not.

10 hours ago, franckfranck said:

Ever think what they will do to you when you are old , weak, grumpy and ill?

No, and it's a very daft question. I've had a clip round the ear from most members of my family at one point or another in my life, and we all get along just fine. We also don't end up in situations like the family in the video.

So far as I'm aware, the British government doesn't tell people not to discipline their children physically. I'm a Brit, and if that was my kid, she'd have got a smack in full view of the general public - to be honest it wouldn't *be* one of my kids, because they already would have known this behaviour is way across the line.

I'm not talking a 'beating', just a swift sharp clip across the calves or across the knuckles - I think I've done it probably less than 5 times in total and my kid wouldn't even get *close* to this sort of behaviour.

My five year old has smacked my knuckles more times, usually for my potty mouth.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5526747/Thai-senators-son-caught-filming-womens-skirts-Topshop.html

@Morakot are you selling these?

7 hours ago, darrendsd said:

You're right Thailand has not implemented the CRS yet, however if you do not provide your Bank with a TIN they are required to pass that you haven't on to HMRC who could possibly take a interest in where you are paying Tax (I don't mean you personally) If you don't have a TIN in Thailand they could start to ask questions if or not you are paying it in the UK

 

This is what the CRS has been designed for

Oh interesting, we had a bit of to and fro about UK tax stuff as well, they asked me to fill in a "reasonable explanation" form to justify why I wasn't a resident of the UK, because they had a UK phone number on my account (it's a Skype one I use as a backup). I didn't fit any of the criteria on that form so I emailed back saying I haven't been there for 5 years, and that's enough in itself. They advised me to remove that phone number from the account and then they wouldn't need me to fill in the form.

I don't have any income the UK could possibly have a claim to, and have a p85 filed, so not bothered either way.