TPDH

Hey

Which stores in Bangkok sells premium office furniture? We're looking for office chairs and office desks in the $200-$600 range. 

Hey

I've got a non-immigrant O visa based on marriage and I will soon extend this visa with 1 year based on marriage ("marriage visa"). Me and my wife are about to sign a rental agreement for a condo and I wonder if it matters for this extension whether the condo rental contract is 6 months or 12 months? I'm also assuming it's no problem to get this visa extension despite living in a rental condo? 

Thank you. 

19 hours ago, Gumballl said:

No, it does not work that way. However, you could divorce your wife now that you are living in Thailand, then do a prenup, and remarry her (should you dare).

 

Why would you need a prenup if living in Thailand? It is not like she will be able to grab your assets that are sitting in the US.

 

P.S. I just Googled; you can do a post-nup agreement.

In a divorce, are you sure your wife wouldn’t be entitled to part of your foreign assets as well? Is it really only the assets in Thailand? 
 

Did some google searches and postnups doesn’t seem to be legally enforceable in Thailand. Otherwise that would have been an option. 

Hello

If you got married to your Thai wife in the US and are now looking to register the marriage in Thailand where you'll live, is it possible to get a prenup valid in Thailand before you register the marriage here? There was no prenup before/in the US. 

1 hour ago, BobBKK said:

I didn't like it and sold my condo. 

Why didn't you like it? 

Hey

I'm moving back to Bangkok and I'm looking into what area to live in. I'm considering On Nut and I'm wondering if it's a nice area to live in? 

I used to live in Asoke but now I'm looking for an area which is mostly Thai, cheaper and more quite. Yet, still in a great location on the Sukhumvit BTS line and with nice modern condos. 

3 hours ago, Peter Denis said:

On my 1st attempt to open a Kasikorn savings-account they told me they could not do it because I needed a Work Permit.  Explaining that working is strictly prohibited when staying on a Non Imm O-A Visa or Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement, did not help.  Sorry not possible... 

I knew this Work Permit requirement was BS because many retirees have opened a bank-account without such a Permit, so I waited couple of days and then returned and asked for the local branch Manager (who was not present on my 1st attempt). 

I explained that I needed  a bank-account to  park the funds for my upcoming 1-year extension of stay end of January.  Response: no problem, and got referred to same staffer that previously told me Not possible.

During the process to open the account the bank officer also asked for my 'retirement Visa'.  I showed them the Non Imm O-A Visa sticker in my passport, but that sticker does not mention the word 'retirement', so I had to explain 3 times that this was the 'retirement Visa' they were looking for.  Took very long to open the account (staffer being 3/4 of the time on the phone with headquarters for instructions), but finally succeeded.

>> And that was for an application with a Non Imm Visa, wonder how many times you would be turned down when applying on a VisaExempt or Tourist Visa that also need a bank-account in order to apply for their in-country 90-day Non Imm O Visa.  

From reports it seems that KrungSri Bank is one of the rare banks not making problems when trying to open an account.  And it seems that bank-branches situated in shopping malls are also more familiar with opening a bank-account for a foreigner 

So you only needed your passport to open the account? When was this? 

Any specific reason you want to use Citibank for trading rather than an online broker like Interactive Brokers? Typically online brokers have less fees than banks for stock trading. 

Hi

1. Does anyone know what the current interest rates are for home loans to buy condos in Bangkok? On some Thai banks websites they say about 5% but I know some people who got about 3% as well. 

2. How much down payment (% of total purchase price) is typically required? 

I understand that the exact terms will vary per applicant but I'm interested in knowing the general/standard terms. Not getting a loan as a foreigner is not relevant here. 

Thanks. 

Hi

What are the current requirements to open a bank account with Kasikornbank? I'm a foreigner staying in Bangkok. I'm not working in Thailand so I do not have a Thai work permit. 

I'm here a non-imm O visa and need to open a Thai bank account and transfer 400K THB to it and I would prefer Kasikornbank. 

Hey

Could anyone recommend any reputable legal/tax firms in Thailand that knows both US and Thai tax for individuals? I'm looking for someone who's experienced in tax planning but they shouldn't be too pricey, don't have to be the cheapest/smallest firm either. 

3 hours ago, rwill said:

But are you a US citizen?  If so Uncle Sam still wants your money, even if it is earned outside of the USA.  However income earned from outside the US you can claim an exemption for around the first 100,000 or so(don't know the exact number but it is over 100K now).  But if you are getting paid from inside the US even though you live outside of it you will not qualify for the exemption.

I'm not a US citizen nor a US resident. I just work for a US company and receive my pay from them. 

3 hours ago, LivinLOS said:

You have it partly right.. Income earned in a previous year is savings, and is tax free.. Capital gains, stock market gains, dividends, rental yields, etc are all perfectly valid. 

Where you get it wrong though is the idea you can 'work' from Thailand under this system, and stack it up offshore, to remit the following year. It is acceptable in the cases above of 'returns' but working in the kingdom, for yourself, for a non Thai company, even with no Thai clients or customers, is then illegal. Work of this type still requires a work permit to be legalized, which in turn demands income taxation from day 1, and work of this nature is unlikely to be possible to obtain without the assistance of umbrella companies etc. It is this aspect which closes the circle and the system makes sense from savings and passive income remitted to Thailand in the year after it was paid and active income from efforts and endeavours for profit. 

The law is however virtually unenforced (and almost unenforceable) hence many people incorrectly believe that online work is somehow exempt. It isnt its just not policed. 

Thailand could create a new category of work permit for freelancers, etc etc and demand income taxation, I am often surprised they do not and pass up on this revenue, but they have chosen not to. 

Thank you! That's very helpful. 

If you're a non resident citizen of a European country and you're working fully remote for a US company, to be a legal tax resident of Thailand then you'd have to have a work permit? Is that right? 

Are you sure that it wouldn't be possible to obtain a work permit under those circumstances? If it's possible, can't you still avoid the Thai income tax on your salary/wage by doing what we're discussing here and transfer the salary to Thailand the following year? 

If you can't get the work permit under these circumstances, then you're saying that this set up is likely illegal? 

Hi

There are lot of posts on this forum and online articles by reputable tax counsels in Thailand such as PwC saying that there's a rather easy way for Thai (tax) residents to pay no tax on your foreign earned income. For example, if you have capital gains and/or if you receive a salary/wage from abroad, you can keep that money in a foreign bank account and then transfer it to your Thai bank account the following calendar year--this would result in that you won't have to pay any taxes on it in Thailand. From what I understand, this also applies to capital gains from for example US stock trading. Since you're a Thai tax resident already and not a tax resident of another country, then this effectively means that you wont have to pay any taxes on this foreign income at all. It also seems to be rather easy to become a Thai tax resident since you'd only have to spend 180 days in Thailand during one calendar year which is easily done on various kinds of easily obtained visas or visa extensions. No other requirements seems to have to be met and I'd assume no work visa or work permit is required either since you're working for a foreign company. 

This thread for example, links to a few different sources confirming the same. One being a PwC publication which says: 
https://www.pwc.com/th/en/publications/assets/thai-tax-2017-18-booklet-en.pdf
Page 2: "Residents and non-residents are taxed on their assessable income derived from employment or business carried on in Thailand, regardless of whether such income is paid in or outside Thailand. Residents who derive income from outside Thailand will be subject to tax only where the income is remitted into Thailand in the year in which it is derived"

This sounds too good to be true. Millions of people can work fully remote for foreign companies today so this would be a very easy way to pay no taxes on your foreign earned salary/wage and capital gains. If this is true, then I'm surprised that not more people are talking about this including the media who should refer to Thailand as a tax haven. 

Can anyone confirm if this is really correct? And what am I missing here? 

Hi

During 2020 I've spent more than 180 days in Thailand which I've read makes me a Thai resident for tax purposes. I'm married to a Thai women and I plan on staying in Thailand for the foreseeable future through marriage extensions. I'm no longer a resident of the country where I'm a citizen (EU) since a few years back and I hope to pay taxes on all my global income here in Thailand. I receive my income from a US company but I'm not a US resident either. 

In case needed, I hope to get some kind of proof that I'm now a Thai (tax) resident and that I should be paying my income taxes here in Thailand. But, what could that proof/supporting document be? I haven't filed my first tax return in Thailand yet and I do not have a Permanent Residence Permit for Thailand. Are there any supporting documents that I could get from any Thai government agency? 

Thank you. 

Hi

I got married to my Thai wife in the US and I'm going to extend my O visa with a 1 year extension based on marriage. Seems like I'll need a Kor Ror 22 for this and to get that the US embassy needs to notarize our marriage certificate. However, the US embassy wont notarize marriage certificates so we could only get an affidavit from them. The US embassy has a warning on their website that this affidavit might not be enough for Thai government agencies. After reading lots of threads on the forums most people seem to say that the local amphurs will accept the affidavit but some say they wont and they instead had to go through a very complicated process with US government agencies instead. 

Could anyone clarify whether an affidavit will be accepted or not? 

On 10/5/2020 at 11:00 AM, xtrnuno41 said:

Where are you living? Thailand or Sweden? Buying condo for holiday?

Is your wife working?

What about Sweden then to have a mortgage?

I understand, in Thailand, if you need a loan or for that matter mortgage, you need a guarantor and you are the one?

I'm moving to Thailand and we're buying the condo to live there. I couldn't get a loan from Sweden to buy a condo in Thailand. Yes, wife is working and her dad will help her secure the loan so he would be the guarantor. 

On 10/5/2020 at 5:26 AM, Bender Rodriguez said:

in divorce, she is entitled on half, on your death, full

 

so why bother with extra costs & complications ?

Not sure I understand, what are the extra costs and complications we'd be doing? 

Hey

I'm a Swede and my wife is Thai and we are planning on buying a condo in Bangkok. She will be able to get a mortgage in her name and I will provide any cash necessary so our plan is to own the condo 50/50. Is this legally possible? 

I'm not a Thai citizen and I'm not a Thai resident. Since we're different nationalities can we own a condo 50/50? And since she would secure the mortgage alone (I've read that foreigners can't get Thai bank loans), would her Thai bank even allow me to own 50% of the condo? 

9 hours ago, Bigz said:

You should first register the marriage in Sweden while you still there. Then you can get the affidavit from the Swedish embassy in Bangkok without a problem.

That's a good idea but I'm not in Sweden and wont fly to Thailand from there. I've contacted the US embassy in Thailand and they said that they can verify the US marriage certificate through an affidavit so hopefully it will be fine and we wont need to legalize the marriage in Sweden also. 

On 7/16/2020 at 3:14 PM, playboy said:

Yes 3 out of 3 Amphoes I called ask for certified passport and 2 witnesses for registering the marriage certificate!

How do you get those witnesses? 

5 minutes ago, gamini said:

just remarry your wife in thailand

That's interesting. Are you sure it works? Have you done it yourself? 

2 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

You could apply for the 60 day extension a couple of weeks before your 90 days end.

Thank you. What documents would you need to get the 60 day extension?