soalbundy

Yes that's true,Communism, like Christianity has never been put into practice, even Russia called itself a Soviet Socialist Republic, not a Communist republic but was just a dictatorship of the politburo whereas we in the west have a dictatorship of corporations and central banks which so called democratic governments have to obey. When they swing to far to the right the backlash causes an exaggerated swing to the left, we can't seem to get a middle way.

My parents always looked at death with amusement. My mother told me that when my father at 83 woke up in the morning he would laugh and say, "Amazing, we're still here," he died after his third heart attack, my mother died when a car hit her on her mobility scooter while crossing the road, she never thought to look at the traffic, at 93 she had memory problems, she would tell my brother about the amazing book she had just read and he would reply "I know, you've read it 4 times and tell me about it each time." She just laughed and said "I'm a problem to myself but as long as I can forget about it it it's ok".

Why the crusade? It doesn't matter does it, it is as it is. It is amusing to listen to 80 year old's making plans for the future or worrying what the stock market will be like next year but then they have a positive outlook on life and are happy with that. I am 75 and often tell my partner and son to consider what they will do when I am dead but they tell me I will live to be a 100. I laugh and tell them that is impossible, my 16 year old son gets it but considers I will live long enough to complete his higher education, I tell him to consider the more likely alternative. We are just causal events, some whistling in the dark, let them whistle for gods sake.

That would be a matter for you and your Swiss pension provider but it is highly likely that they too would issue a similar statement when providing a pension confirmation letter, however some countries, the UK for instance, do not, you would know from past experience whether the Swiss do or not.

I'm British but spent most of my working life in Germany so I get a German pension. I asked for the letter of confirmation of my pension as I do every year for the visa extension. The last paragraph concerning taxation they did without me asking for it so I presume it is a standard paragraph for recipients of German pensions. I don't pay tax in Germany, or anywhere and I hope this continues, whether the paragraph helps or not remains to be seen but it at least shows the German concern regarding taxation. You would obviously need confirmation of income from the Swiss authorities and not Germany.

Yesterday I received my confirmation of income from the German consulate, the letter addressed not only the IO but also the inland revenue although I hadn't mentioned anything about taxation to them. The paragraph for the inland revenue stated that they assume that Mr xxxx wil be exempted from taxation due to the double taxation treaty between Germany and Thailand. So Germany goes the extra mile for their pensioners, I doubt that Brexit Britain will do the same for hers.

The Norwegian man has just dug his hole deeper by not walking away. In a hypothetical case he may have lost a lot of money and suffered emotional pain but if he walks away he still has his freedom but now he still has the loss and the pain (compounded by being a murderer) and lost his freedom with no hope of a new beginning. Emotional responses are ego driven and don't end well. It is better to realize that things don't happen to me, they happen in the space of me and the 'I am' is the patient observer, detached but still playing my part on the stage but I am simultaneously also in the audience. No harm can come to the actor once he realizes he is only playing a part.

He will probably need a paramedic after his first counciling.

I would have said that as well. You have to stick by it though and not make up some cock and bull story about an intruder after the deed.

Does seem that no week goes by without some farang or other wanting to enjoy the delights of a Thai prison. Jesus! just walk away!

Possibly with a bar girl and the memory lapse was a good excuse for the missus.

So you weren't asking about the wife?

Oh, OK. whatever.

As of yet we don't know if this is going to affect pensions if your country has a double tax treaty, the tax laws haven't really been worked out in detail, the devil lives in the detail, consequences of the laws have to be considered as well as the methods of enforcement, it may end up as a zero end game if many more staff have to be employed or if it frightens off investors.

My missus has found a way out, she has a 'buyer', he takes 20% and gives her cash. She wants our 16yr old son to have his money in the bank and she wants to increase her merchandise from Bangkok that she sells around the villages. She doesn't care about the 20% loss because she has an 80% win.

Don't kid yourself, the world is in a bad place right now, economies are spiraling downwards and governments are looking for any cow that can be milked. Everything is a trade off, find a super cheap impoverished country with a good exchange rate for your money and you pay for it with a lack of personal safety, poor health service, rip offs and poor housing, nothing is for free. Thailand is a good compromise country and from what I read about my own country, the UK, I'm far better off here than there, for me it would be a nightmare to return. Yes, Cambodia sounds good but has sub-standard medical facilities (I met a normal working girl from Cambodia at my dentist in Surin lately whose family put themselves into debt to get her good dental treatment here) and crime is a problem with worse traffic safety than Thailand, the grass only looks greener.

If one listens to Youtube programs from financial experts and analysts it is gloom and doom for some time to come. The west, especially America, have national debt levels that can never be paid back and the interest paid on these debts are taking a sizable chunk out of the economy and yet the borrowing continues, the high yields on government bonds reflects the nervousness of Investors. The housing market is about to collapse big time and the stock market is going into decline. All the financial charts show similarities with those of the great depression, the Fed soothes with statements of a soft landing while all the major investment houses, JP Morgen, Black rock et al are forecasting the biggest crash in history. With China's demise there is no cart left in the world that can pull us out of the quick sand, everything is going down worldwide simultaneously. Those of us on fixed incomes are powerless.

Well I read the article but have no idea what it all means in terms of concrete actions that will be taken. I suspect it will be a nice little earner for the committee who will produce nothing except for 'woke' statements......'soft power' indeed.

Chose #2, it's ambiguous, like their tax laws.

You still have to show 65k monthly remittance from abroad if you are on the monthly pension method. That might work if you have 800k in a Thai bank method but then you could just as well use an ATM to take funds from abroad. Basically if they are determined to tax pensions we are frucked, Taxation and death are impossible to beat in the long run.

Although the silly smile could disappear when you are charged 3 times the tax bill for tax avoidance. A dangerous path to go down, ignorance of the law isn't a viable defense.

My 'savings' from my foreign savings account ? Whatever, if I have to pay tax and must show 65k a month anything over that I could transfer to my sons and/or partners account keeping them below the limit where they would be liable for tax. Until the 2024 tax year ends anything can happen, we just have to wait and see. Those unencumbered with children could always move to Cambodia.

I presume that the tax due on say pensions from abroad would be due at the end of 2024 and not monthly which gives time for things to settle down. A thought. money transfers from 'Wise' are from Thai bank to Thai bank ie. internal. Have your pension paid into a savings account in your home country and transfer the 'savings' to your Thai account split up among your partner and child, I can imagine there are many ways that a Thai tax accountant could advise.

I'm not so sure about that. My 16 year old son has just come back from 2 weeks of military training (something he will do for 3 years which gets him out of national conscription later) he has been turned 180 degrees from a grumpy know it all teenager to a polite, respectful, friendly young man, his mother, grandmother, sisters and even his school comrades are amazed at the difference, it's uncanny

3.4%, take it and run, a European country would be screaming 'recovery at last' from the roof tops with this amount of expansion.