geodesic

To my knowledge, all chip cards still have magstripe as well. Thus, there is a fallback if you travel to a country that has not adopted EMV yet.

That may be what you are told on paper, but it is a crock. I recently had the experience of trying to use one of Bangkok Bank's new ATM cards in the rural USA. The nearest EMV atm was 8 hours away in Denver according to the local bank.

The magnetic stripe was useless. Despite trying over 12 different ATMs all connected to various combinations of networks (Visa, Mastercard, PLUS, etc), none of them would accept that card.

There is no practical fallback. EMV cards can only be relied upon to work in EMV enabled ATMs.

Finally broke down and had someone send me money via Western Union. EMV cards are the devil. The government should pass a law requiring all cards to work in fallback mode before they can be dumped on unsuspecting consumers.

With regard to Yingluck's impending trial, a blog that I truly enjoy reading just reminded me of an old saying I had long since forgotten since my time in school:

As the Roman Stoics used to say: "Fiat iustitia, ruat caelum", or paraphrased in English "Let justice be done, even if it brings the sky crashing down."

Nobody can guarantee the future will be better than today. Gen. Prayuth's job is to stoically push forward with reforms no matter what the populous may think, because that is the right thing to do. I believe Prayuth is a genuinely good man with best wishes for his country and he will do the right thing. That is one thing people often forget - unlike politicians, soldiers at least have a sense of duty drilled into them their entire career. That doesn't mean they are selfless, but it does mean they at least accept the premise that there is something bigger and more meaningful than themselves that they are tasked to fight for. It is only when they forget that ther own self is not the same thing as this larger something that they become tyrants. Prayuth has demonstrated through all his actions to date that he has not yet forgotten this.

If only someone in Dubai had this same mentality, the country would be a much better place.

Thanks for replying, we were thinking about that too but thought we'd go with the easier Thai version first and get settled down as we've no plans to go back to the UK just yet but worth considering

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I would strongly recommend you reconsider that plan before deciding to go ahead. There is no capability to "start" with a Thai adoption and then move to an international one later. In fact, human trafficking laws are specifically written to prevent you from doing this. If you ever want an international adoption, you may need to go this route from the beginning. The only way to get an international adoption later will likely require getting the Thai adoption anulled first, because it was not done according to international rules. You will then be in a position where you have spent a substantial amount of time living with the child you are trying to adopt. Fine if you are married to a child's biological parent, but a serious human trafficking violation otherwise. You may find yourself disqualified from ever adopting the child. Sound ridiculous? Do some research. The laws were constructed to protect children from being sold to families who would later adopt them after bonds had formed. Agencies look very poorly on this type of arrangement.

I think you should give serious consideration to doing the international adoption now if you think you might ever want to move to the UK. Thai domestic adoptions are only practical for people who will live in Thailand until the child matures. If this isn't you, then just accept the bureaucracy and do it the right way.

My brother in law is a taxi driver in Bangkok. He clears about 17,000 a month on average. He works a standard 12 hour shift and gets about 30 fares a day. As stated, he pays 700 baht a day in rent, and an additional approximately 200 baht a day for NGV. He probably drives about 300 km in the course of a normal day. He pretty much works every day, but then if he has errands to run for himself he just does them, so it isn't as grueling as it sounds.

Of his take home money, probably about one third is from tips and the remaining two thirds is from the metered fare after subtracting expenses.

Taxi drivers actually do OK. Motorcycle taxi drivers do even better, but you need to know someone to get accepted into a queue. No one is ever going to get wealthy driving a taxi in Bangkok, but the job is a heck of alot easier than construction or factory work, and it pays the bills.

Hi All,

I am interested in finding a bilingual Khmer/Thai or Khmer/English speaking nanny willing to come work in Bangkok. I have spoken with a Thai lawyer who informs me it is still possible to obtain a legal visa and work permit for foreign home care workers.

I specifically want a Khmer speaking nanny because I wish my children to learn to speak Khmer. I want them to learn actual Khmer, not the Khmer-Issan dialect spoken in Thailand. I have my reasons for this and there is no need for a long discussion as to why. I also need her to speak either English or Thai so that myself and my wife can communicate with her. This limits the pool of available candidates. I would also like to learn basic Khmer if possible.

I have previously tried getting a friend to find me several people from Poipet, but they did not work out as they didn't really like taking care of children and returned home never to be heard from again after the 15 day trial period expired. This has happened several times and I have given up on that route.

I am looking for someone who genuinely wishes to be a nanny and help take care of 3 children...a 5 year old and 4 year old twins. I would like to know if anyone knows of a professional organization in Cambodia who can help to arrange this, or barring that, if anyone personally knows someone who might be responsible and interested. Someone suggested that a Khmer nurse with experience in pediatrics might be a good fit for the job.

Renumeration will be commensurate with experience.

Thank you in advance for any advice.

It is just standard boiler plate policy comment.

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That's a cop out. They didn't announce their "standard, boilerplate policy" in Egypt. They didn't announce it in the Ukraine. They supported the coup in both of those cases, so clearly they do take sides in these kinds of things.

The fact that they will not support it here shows that they in fact support the Thaksin regime, at least tacitly.

It is inappropriate for the self proclaimed "policeman of the world" to support a convicted fugitive and human rights abuser. Saying it is just a boilerplate policy is giving the US government a pass they don't deserve. They are supporting Thaksin with this statement. They need to be called out on their hypocrisy by all Americans and peace loving people everywhere.

I think this is taking things too far. What next, people can't walk because the taxi drivers aren't getting enough business.

I'm not sure why you feel this is taking things too far. Services like Uber are taxis that simply don't want to abide by the same regulations as taxis. We can have a genuine discussion about why taxis should or should not be regulated, but once a government decides to regulate an industry it absolutely should stop organizations who act to violate the law. It is ridiculous to try and extend this argument to arrive at the conclusion people can't walk, because walking is not a regulated activity (yet).

If you want unregulated taxis, then present your argument for unregulated taxis. Maybe the French government will hear you. But it is disingenuous to try and say Uber is not a taxi service. Uber needs to abide by the same regulations as everyone else. People can still use Uber's app if they want, but Uber needs to offer their service with licensed taxi drivers instead of unregulated, private cars that ignore the law.

First, do a Google search on a company called express authentication services.

Next, hire a lawyer to help. This is really more than you want to try on your own.

Send the Cameroon document to EDAS who will take it to the Cameroon Embassy in Washington. They will then take the certified letter to the US State Department who will certify the Cameroon seal. Then take the US certified document to the Thai Embassy in Washington to certify the state department seal.

Those 3 certifications will establish a chain that will be accepted in Thailand. EDAS will handle everything for you for a fee. You will not need to leave the country, but all that courier time comes at a price.

The statue of limitations for not filing a income tax return is 3 years. Thus 27 odd of your 30 odd as mentioned are of no legal concern to you nor the IRS.

If no tax was/is owed for the 3 years prior to your return then you are home free so to speak.

This is my real life experience, doing excatly what the OP is proposing to do.

Very interesting..

Please clarify this.

Imagine the following scenario is true...

The last year I had any taxable income was 2011 .

The amount owed is/was not much.

I failed to file my taxes for the year 2011.

I moved to Thailand in Jan of 2012 and have had no taxable income since coming here.

Are you saying that this statue of limitations means I am no longer required to file or pay taxes for 2010 after the end of 2014??

It sounds too good to be true!

Thanks in advance!

It sounds too good to be true because it is.

There are several rules that the IRS uses. The 3 year one is the length of time that the IRS can audit your tax return if you have already filed AND you have not committed fraud or made an error on your income of more than 25%. If either of the latter 2 are the case, then the time they can audit you for is up to 7 years. This timer begins ON THE DAY YOU FILE YOUR RETURN.

Note, if you DO NOT FILE a tax return, either because you are not legally required to or because you neglected to, the above timer never starts running. In this case, you could be held liable for taxes essentially forever. If you want to start the clock ticking, you must file a return. This is why many people file a tax return even in years they make no income and are not required to. As long as you have filed a tax return and not committed fraud, after 3 years, the IRS can't audit you any longer. If you do not file a return, you are fair game as long as you are breathing.

There is also another statute of limitations that says the IRS can only try to collect a debt for up to 10 years after the taxes have been assessed. After that point, they have to write the debt off. Lots of expats get tripped up here though...any time you spend outside the country does NOT count toward that 10 years. You have to spend that 10 years legally resident in the USA for that provision to apply, and any years you spend outside the US suspend that clock, which restarts as soon as you return. Also, just because you are living outside the US and the 10 year clock isn't running, does not mean they are not allowed to try and collect from you during this time. They have it rigged so it is never an advantage running away.

There is a significant amount of information about the IRS procedures on the internet, but sadly, there is a significant amount of misinformation as well. Do not believe everything you read.

If you have ever failed to file your taxes, it is highly recommended you file your taxes ASAP. You may not be able to get out of the fees and penalties, but you can at least start the audit clock running. That is one less thing you have to worry about.

The problem with that scenario if it's true is you could end up with virtually a one party state. Whether someone else would come along to challenge and win might be down to how much the PTP allow a new opposition to participate. They might act fairly but then again they might not.

That is entirely correct. The quasi one party rule period is a necessary phase of the growing process the country has to go through to mature into a fully fledged first world open society. The day the Reds get tossed out of power democratically will be one of the greatest in this nations history as it will signify its coming of age. All the coups are doing nothing but delaying this much anticipated day.

I couldn't disagree more strongly. Unless there are significant changes, the day the reds get voted out (I won't even dignify it by calling it "democratic") simply means that an even worse demagogue than Thaksin has arisen to manipulate and steal from the Thai people.

No, the greatest day in Thai history will be the day that the Thai legal system finally does something to become truly egalitarian, such as allowing criminal trial by jury. It isn't that this system can't be corrupted, we all know it can. But it does make every trial a crapshoot. Sure the wealthy and powerful can buy the best lawyers, but the uncertainty of the trial by jury system works to keep even the wealthy at least slightly in line.

What Thailand needs is not more demagogues, false voting and false democracy, but instead more genuine enforcement of laws that tend to even the playing field somewhat, and keep the elite from believing that they are above the law. Rule of law makes a democracy. Voting is just an accesory after the fact. Once respect for the law is engrained in a society, who is voted in to administer those laws becomes much less important.

The biggest reason people loathe Thaksin is not because he is necessarily more corrupt than anyone, but because he doesn't even pretend to defer to any law or higher authority. Voting alone will never fix what ails Thailand. Only blanket, blind enforcement of the law against everyone has a chance to do that. I only hope that the grotesque amnesty bill finally woke the Thai people up to that.

There are many innocent parties involved and Mr. Suthep wants to scruntize the Shinawatra family only. If AIS has a mass layoffs, I wonder if Mr. Suthep and these protesters will continue to provide them income and foods on the table.

No, and why should he? This is the very essence of democracy. You act as if the people who work there have no responsibility for choosing a company with moral integrity. They were all well aware of the Thaksin connection when they accepted a job at AIS. It is not Suthep's responsibility to provide for them because they elected to ignore the moral component of what they were doing.

It is disingenuous to try and claim that some people are "innocent" in all of this. When you support a tyrant in any fashion, you become responsible. A democracy requires everyone to accept the responsibility for their choices. That goes from purchasing products to accepting employment, and it works the same way on both sides.

Choices mean things, and you can't claim to be innocent simply because you want to be lazy and ignore the crimes and corruption you indirectly support. You can not separate economics from politics. If you take a job from a company that funds tyranny, you are condoning tyranny. And the people who suffer under that tyranny have every right to call you on it. And the fact that 51% of the population support tyranny doesn't make it any less heinous.

Nobody deserves to die over this, but many people deserve to be slapped across the face and be made to understand the consequences of their choices. Supporting crime and corruption has consequences, even if you only indirectly support it. Unfortunate as it may be to those who would rather ignore it, this is what a democracy is all about.

If you don't like democracy, that is fine. But you can't pick and choose only the convenient parts. Democratic societies have equivalent responsibilities. You are not innocent simply because you neglect those responsibilities. People need a wakeup call to learn what democracy truly means. This is a great way to show them in a way that might actually hurt enough to get them to change their ways.

If someone else wants to to take a stab at making Suthep's family money an investment pariah as well then I would support that too. Anyone who became rich stealing from people needs to be punished. By accepting the graces of their investment, that person becomes an accessory. By working for that company, the employee becomes an accessory. Blood money comes with a cost, and the Shin enterprises, investors and employees are learning that.

This is a non-starter because he already put impossible conditions even before the talks began.

The only conditions he placed were that it be televised and the debate only be between the two of them. Why are those conditions impossible?

The other things he said, namely that he wouldn't conceed to letting the elections go ahead or that Yingluck share power in a new government, were simply his non negotiable stances during the debate. Much like her saying she is unwilling to step down. He never said "I will not speak with you if you won't agree not to talk about this." He simply told her she'd be wasting her breathe if she went down that road and he would not conceed those points.

I for one would like to watch that debate, if for no other reason that to stop hearing people prattle about "this has to be resolved through dialogue." Exactly what would that dialogue entail when both sides have non negotiable requirements that are contradictory? I can see the debate now. "Step down now. No! You end your protests now. That ends our broadcast for tonight. Thank you ladies and gentlemen and good night."

Talk about negotiation is simply ridiculous at this stage. One side has to lose this battle first. Then, there can be a discussion on the terms of surrender.

My only hope is that the coming war doesn't result in too many more deaths. There has been enough tragedy already.

yes, when will she resign?

When will Suthep give up?

You must be both blind and deaf, not to mention intentionally obtuse. Suthep has stated several times when he will give up. He will quit when Yingluck resigns and the Thaksin regime is obliterated from the political sphere.

Now...we are waiting for your answer. When will Yingluck/Thaksin give up. Millions are waiting to hear the answer to that question. All problems are because she won't answer it.

I'm assuming when she is voted out?

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Doubtful. She's not making any progress towards that at all. If that was really what she was concerned about...the vote....she could simply resign, allow the needed reforms to take place, and a vote could occur in around a year. Then, she could find out what the people really want. There is no need for her to be in charge during that period if the vote is what counted. No, she doesn't care about the vote. Not really. That is a cover. She cares about staying in power at all costs.

I want to hear a real answer. What would it take to make her leave?

an army of peed off taxi drivers is big enough to deal with them alone .too many in BKK have had the livelihoods trashed by these cretins ,the silent majority are about to make themselves heard it seems .

yes, when will she resign?

When will Suthep give up?

You must be both blind and deaf, not to mention intentionally obtuse. Suthep has stated several times when he will give up. He will quit when Yingluck resigns and the Thaksin regime is obliterated from the political sphere.

Now...we are waiting for your answer. When will Yingluck/Thaksin give up. Millions are waiting to hear the answer to that question. All problems are because she won't answer it.

My company wishes to make an easy way for employees and contractors to buy items from 7-11 and get useable VAT tax receipts. I asked at my local 7-11 if they could do a full form receipt, and of course they had no idea what I meant, so they just said no.

I'm not sure I believe them, but I was curious if anyone had a friend who owned a 7-11 and could find out the real story? One thought we had was to buy prepaid cards at a specific 7-11 who would be willing to issue the full form VAT receipts, and then distribute those cards for people to use for company purchases at the individual stores.

The actual expenses would then be itemized on our books using the abbreviated VAT checkout counter receipts.

Does anyone know if this would actually work? I understand why the Thai VAT laws are written the way they are, but it is a terrible headache for our purposes. It just seems like there should be an easier way around this problem. Unfortunately, due to convenience, we really do need to use 7-11 for these purchases.

Thank you in advance for any advice.

...others say the police were armed and firing....

...and the policeman's leg is a result of him dropping a grenade....

...this according to Thai people...and a foreign reporter....(Michael Yon ???)

I'm going to redact my comment pending more analysis. I don't believe the bomb originated from the protesters, but I would like to study it more before I form an opinion.

However, the reality of how the bomb got there doesn't take anything away from the policeman who lost his leg to save the lives of several policemen. He should still be considered a hero for what he did. His actions saved lives.

This report on the state of emergency appears to be incorrect as the court ruling is due tomorrow. Nobody else is reporting this.

I agree. Thai PBS is not even reporting this on their Thai site. It seems to be another one of those stories like "All 50 election commissioners resigned". That story a few weeks ago got pulled a few hours later.

The standards of journalism for the Thai PBS english site do seem to leave something to be desired. I assume we will eventually find out if this is true, but I doubt they moved their official ruling up.

Quote

RIP to the policeman. Which ever side is responsible for the killing of a police officer on duty it is a terrible crime.

I'm sorry, whichever side was responsible?

I don't think it was the police.....................

RIP to the policeman and rapid recovery for the injured

And nobody is saying it is. But you also can't be sure it was the protestors. Consider that Chalerm needs the court to approve the State of Emergency tomorrow. Peaceful protesters do not support his need. An image of violent armed protesters however, gives him very good cover, and you have to admit this "takeback" was sure conveniently timed.

Both the protesters and Chalerm have a strong motive for a dead policeman, and it is quite easy in the present environment to place a stooge somewhere to cause mayhem.

My guess is still that it was one of the protesters, but only a fool would be certain of that conclusion without much more evidence. This is a political game for keeps, and the government has repeatedly shown it doesn't care too much about the suffering of the pawns on the ground. That makes analysis of the crime much more difficult, and it is going to require a lengthy investigation. I hope we get the chance for that, because however you look at it, an innocent person was just murdered by someone.

Hi everyone,

I am trying to process my taxes for the year 2013, and I am stumped on how to proceed with the US side.

In order to reduce my Thai taxes, I took advantage of both the LTF and RMF deductions. I have now found out that this has exposed me to archane laws on the US side about Passive Foreign Investment Corporations, and that if I don't handle things properly, I could be exposed to punitive tax measures in the future.

Can someone who is an expert please explain this to me?

As I understand it, I can either choose a "Mark to Market" option, or I can elect to treat the income as a QEF. But when I read the form my eyes glazed over. The first question it asked is "enter the portion of line 6a that is included as income under section 951 or that may be excluded under section 1293(g)".

Excuse me? What the heck is section 951 or section 1293(g), and do either of those include normal earned income?

I don't make all that much money. I am well under the foreign income exclusion limit. I am just trying to do the best I can to provide for my family and establish some kind of retirement fund, which I would like to be denominated in Baht, as that is where all my expenses will be. This form 8621 seems needlessly abstruse.

Can anyone who is familiary with the US tax code explain to me what I should do if I am just a normal guy who doesn't have much money and just want to provide for my family?

Anyone who states that renouncing citizenship is not a smart move has obviously never tried to comply with the US tax code. This is just unnecessarily punitive. It makes me want to go back to being unemployed.

My son is 3 years old. He has a terrible case of echolalia. While he understands commands and has a reasonable vocabulary, it is nearly impossible to hold a conversation with him. He is incapable of answering even simple questions, with the exception of "do you want to go to bed?" for which the answer is always "no". In nearly every case, he simply repeats your question back to you.

I am worried he may have a mild case of autism, but he does not really display any of the more obvious signs except for the echolalia. His kindergarten teacher says he is the slowest student in class. Based on how he is at home, I'm not sure that is really because he is developmentally challenged though. To me, he just seems lazy. When he is motivated to do something, like figure out how to get the toy I just put on the top shelf, he becomes Albert Einstein....he built his own 3 tier stepladder the other day to climb up the furniture when he couldn't reach it using boxes and chairs he could shove from around the room.

I am wondering what organizations there are in and around Bangkok to diagnose and, if necessary, provide therapy for children with autism spectrum disorders. He definitely needs speech therapy in any case. His words are not clear. I can understand him, but many other people can not.

Since we live in Pathumthani I would obviously prefer something in northern Bangkok, but I would brave the traffic to the CBD if that is what is necessary to get my child the help he needs.

Can anyone recommend a place that can look at him and make a diagnosis?

Does anyone else here have an autistic child, and if so, how did you find a qualified therapist to help?

Thank you for any recommendations.