JB300

Absolutely & my bank accounts would stand up to an audit to show I followed the rules, but I was just highlighting the only example I could think of where a stamp from an Agent assisted extension could look different to a DIY one. Simple answer if somebody was worried about this is to go see your agent within the 45/30 days permitted by your IO office & the stamps would look identical.

I live on passive income (Rent, Dividends & Capital Gains), my accountant files my return & I have no tax pay by UK rules… 1. (net) Rental income, below the £12,570 personal allowance, no tax to pay. 2. Dividends, reported as “Disregarded” Income so no additional tax to pay over the tax already withheld. 3. Capital Gains, I’ve been an expat for 17 years so any (Non Property)) capital gains are not taxable. Not evading anything, just following the rules… Have filed returns since I was 19 (this year will be my 40th return) before becoming an Expat, as a higher rate tax payer, there there was always some extra tax to be paid on dividends & benefits in kind (Conpany car, Private Health insurance etc)… but apart from property sales, the Uk is very generous to Non-UK Tax residents.

The UK passport you’re renewing already has the Biometric data (Introduced in 2006 & I believe this is photo only as I don’t ever recall being fingerprinted when applying for a passport) so as long as your new photo isn’t massively dissimilar than your old photo then you’re ok.

Even if they went “Full USA” Thailand couldn’t tax non-Tax residents on anything unless they were Thai Citizens (maybe argue a case for PR holders) so the approach of spending <180 days in-country would still work.

Article from yesterdays Pattaya Mail makes things look very positive 👍🏻 https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/news/financial-world-expects-policy-reversal-on-taxation-of-foreign-income-repatriated-to-thailand-502050 (sorry I don’t seem to be able to post hyperlinks from my phone).

The only thing I can think of where the stamp might look different is an agent can get your extension done up to 90 days before it’s due whereas doing it yourself it would be 30/45 days before it’s due. E.g Because of travel plans I did my extension > 60 days early this year so a sharp eyed IO officer could work out it was done via an agent…

In Pattaya I use Maneerat on Soi 13/2 (Soi Post Office) When I lived in Bangkok (5 years ago) I used Asia Visa Consulting IIRC, Extensions were 7,900, multi re-entry permits were an additional 4,000 & 90 day reporting was 375.

Sorry I’m one of those people who believes that time is worth more than money so I use an agent to make my life easier at any opportunity I can (just like in the UK, I use an accountant to file tax returns & a gardener to take care of my gardens). 1. Annual Extension 8K (have the 800K in the bank) + 4K for a multi reentry permit. 2. TM30 (when I moved condo) 500b. 3. 90 day report (1st one after getting back from an overseas trip) 100b (because I do my annual extension with them, 200b if not) … rest of them I do online. 4. Residency Certificate (opening bank account, driving licence etc…) 500b 5. UK Passport renewal 12K (+ 1K for them to arrange the transfer of the visa/permission to stay to the new passport). All 100% legit, I’m paying for a “Concierge” service not for somebody to “Bend the Rules”. One thing I would say to the OP is in all of the above Immigration interactions your agent needs to have your passport & in the case of annual extension of stay you have to go to Immigration to have your photo taken (my experience in Bangkok & Pattaya, your local IO office might have different rules) so you need to be in-country even if using an agent.

Agree… & As I posted above I used to buy all my pork from Lotus’s in Bangkok, but in Pattaya I won’t buy any of it from them.

Agree on that, when I lived in On Nut (Bangkok) the Lotus’s across the road had great pork at about 1/2 of what I pay nowadays, the Lotus’s in Pattaya I won’t buy any meat from but the GF loves their Chicken Feet! As an aside for anybody who lives in the Pattaya areas, I’ve recently been given a tip on a good place to buy quality pork… https://maps.app.goo.gl/ypaFDpsD4oesVhAd9?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.copy I haven’t had chance to check it out yet but might be worth a look for any fellow Pork lovers 😊

Have never seen meat in Makro that I would eat (Nb I don’t eat chicken, Thai beef or fatty Pork), but they do save me about 2-3,000 THB pm on the Korean/Japanese sauces that I use when cooking my Foodland bought Pork (330B per kilo). But Thailand is very cheap for anything that involves labour… E.g. Extractor hob on the cooker failed, Condo maintenance guy comes round to have a look, 75B for a new capacitor & 100B standard condo service fee. Better still, came back from 12 days away down south & the condo walls/ceilings were showing signs of moisture, 24K (I rent so landlord is paying) & the whole unit (2 bed, 2 bath 79 sqm) gets a repaint… Only downside is I need to book a 5 day holiday somewhere (having just got back from Hat Yai, Satun & Krabi I figure we’ll hide out in Jomtien, 1600 THB gets me the 1st 2 nights in a beach front hotel… Cheap as chips😊).

Yes, I’m on the outskirts of Pattaya (Wongamat)

That was the photo that condo maintenance sent to me. I did take off the outer covers of the extractor unit but didn’t see any electronic components, hesitant to start dismantling it unless I have to.

My cooker extractor hood has stopped working & Condo maintenance tell me I need one of these… … But they can’t buy them anymore. To my simple mind this looks like a pretty standard capacitor so as long as the numbers match it shouldn’t matter what the brand is (in this case it’s a for a Mafele overhead hood). Can anybody advise where I can find one of these or suggest an alternative I could buy in Thailand. Many Thanks JB

When I 1st became non-UK Tax resident, I still had my LTD company so anything involved with that was subject to UK Tax but dividends from my other holdings were treated as “Disregarded income” so did not have to pay any additional (high rate) tax on them. I even managed to reclaim the PAYE Tax I’d paid as although I was working for a British Bank, I was based in Singapore so paid the income tax (12%, no NI) there. A