ronnie50

Well, on one hand they don't really want foreign riff-raff here on such low incomes anyway. That's why they came up with the 800k rule in the first place (farang riff raff in Thai is know as farang kee nok - farang bird sh!t). Then they eased the rule to the 400k plus income. They do of course (as you say) want foreign currency even if it's not huge. On the other hand, in many countries, including my own, a foreign tourist usually can't open a bank account. And in many western countries it's difficult to remain in those countries longer than that of a tourist,

Remember a lot of what is going on right now (Thai Gov) is in support of their bid to become an OECD member. With that in mind, it wouldn't be a surprise that the Bank of Thailand is tightening rules on proof of account ownership and deposits, with an eye on money laundering, etc. Why they didn't clamp down long ago on the dodgy agent's scam must have meant people in high places were making a cut from it. But now it's become a smallish obstacle to bigger aspirations. The newish BOT rules have been drip feeding in for a couple of years now. Thai ID cards for transfers over 50k, face ID, etc.. I mean you can't even use your Big C points for a discount without showing your passport at the cashier, and I'm sure that's not Big C's rule! Then there's the whole tax thing that's been discussed ad nauseam.

You're lucky you are no longer a US government employee, or so it would seem from the daily news. I guess you and many others are hoping Musk and Co. don't try to also raid the US government employee pension fund anytime soon.

Thanks, yes helpful explaining the FIFO principle. So if this turns out to be what the TRD agree with going forward, and 'if' I had $100,000 in a foreign account as of 31 Dec 2023, then conceivably I could bring in 10 or 20,000 each tax year for the next 10 or 5 years and it would be non-assessible, is that right (or until the 100k saved prior to 31/12/2023 is depelted in the foreign account)?

Ok absolutely clear now. Txs

Ah, OK, I get it now. So just before going up the escalator. Txs.

Right. I'm one of the few that got an appointment for the extension, but it's mid afternoon on a Friday. Chances of getting the multiple re-entry after that's finished is doubtful. Didn't you say earlier that the re-entry booth at the airport (swampy) was airside, after security? If so, CW would be the only way to get the re-entry visa without actually flying out of the country, is that right too?

Fully agree. They (tax office) will just check that the forms are filled in correctly. The question is how do "I" prove the money is from savings slowly gathered over 20-30 years, or pension earnings from that tax year? Someone was using the term FIFO (first in and first out - regarding savings I guess), but again are the tax authorities in LOS going to be reviewing your foreign bank accounts? Like you say, highly doubtful. So how to prove.

Can you get that immediately after the extension at CW? Or do you need to get a new and different queue number?

Thanks. But are you referring to the 12 month detailed bank statement, or just the one page letter they prepare addressed to Immigration on your behalf? Both? I've had the letter done on the spot for 200 baht (to apply for the O visa), but the time needed to prepare the12 month statement for the retirement extension seems to vary from bank to bank. This will be first time asking for a 12 month statement and I'd like to know how much time SCB needs for that..

Does anyone with an SCB account know how long it takes SCB to provide the 12 month bank statement for Retirement Extension visa? I am aware the bank 'letter' to immigration is done on the spot for 200 THB, but I've never asked for the bank statement before.. (I'm aware there is no branch at IMM1 CW). Also for the first extension from O visa, at CW IMM1 can I do it more than 30 days from visa expiry? I have an appointment on 28 Feb and the visa expires 1 April. Txs!

I'm surprised they named the bar/club. They usually avoid that (scared of criminal libel charges).

It makes sense. I'm in a similar boat. How would they ever know whether it came from passive savings or earnings (already taxed?). My concern as above is they are getting ready to scrap the 'remittance' taxes and tax everyone on their global income that year.

Well, at least the Minister is speaking now and not a bureaucrat at TRD. The last highlighted line is what spooks me most. You can read it different ways, but reading between the lines of the lead paragraph the 'adjustments to tax overseas income' combined with the main incentive to get Thais to remit more of their overseas income back to Thailand suggests taxing only remittances is about to go right out the window. They are getting ready to tax all residents (foreign and Thai) on their global income - like other countries. That way there is less incentive for Thais to keep their excess earnings overseas. It makes sense, but it really sucks.

Trump was never a fan of NATO and in his first term floated the idea of the US leaving the alliance. He was always ok with Putin - if not right out empathetic with Putin. So Trump is ready to do an end run around both NATO and Ukraine to satisfy Putin. Oh and then there's Gaza.. and the evil Netanyahu, another of Trump's puppetmasters. On behalf of Bibi, Trump is ready to ethnically cleanse all Palestinians from "greater Israel" - and have no doubt, Gaza first, the West Bank next. Plan was likely drawn up long ago.

Also, I believe Thailand imports steel from China..

Yes, this article looks like a story searching for a headline. Thailand doesn't export steel or aluminium to the US. They sell rubber #1, machinery and some other odds and sods that they manufacture here. And of course rice and shrimp. So the article's premise is questionable. Of course, if Stump follows through and taxes everything coming into the country at 25% then yes, a game changer.

The UK had the same afternoon ban for decades but finally did away with it in the 1990s. I recall the reason the afternoon ban was introduiced in the UK (unless a myth), was to get the war-time workers back on the assembly lines after lunch. Industrialists and employers probably pushed to keep the afternoon ban for decades thereafter.

Despite some dreaful days, IMO, after many years here, this 'winter' has, on average, enjoyed cleaner air than previous years (in Bangkok, depending your location). Maybe that long cool snap of winds from China helped to blow it away or at least keep it moving. Do any long-time residents (like 20 years) recall that this bad air in Bangkok only really kicked off 7 or 8 years ago? I don't recall it being an issue before that. I could be wrong. It's always been a s-show up in CM.

The bottom line, according to what the TRD has said so far, is to avoid being classified as a resident of Thailand for tax purposes, you must be present in the Kingdom 180 days or more. So 7 months would be over the limit, unless you can dip in an out for a couple of weeks at a time during the 7 months and avoid residencey classification. Basically, we are all waiting to see what happens - it's not clear yet about what is going to be assessible income - just remittances as is the case now, or your global income. The latter is pretty stupid - I'd call it the 'widow maker'.

So they're charging us more but we get to do everything ourselves; auto-check-in, print our own boarding passes and baggage tags, drag the bags to a conveyer belt and dump them on it. Then head to security and immigration. Before you know it, we'll be hauling our bags with us out onto the tarmac and loading them on the plane ourselves - for an extra charge of course.

Thanks both.

That's a pity. It will probably look exactly the same..

Apologies for creating a new topic, but this is something I haven't seen anywhere else. I have SCB account. In the App, it is possible to generate an Account Statement going back one year. It is then sent to my email, password protected. Each month is a separate document and has all the deposits and withdrawals on SCB letterhead (bilingual). So 12 statements or 6 or whatever I want. Anyone know (or better still tried this) if sufficient to print these from home and then just get the account ownership letter from the branch? Or do think immigration would want to see a bunch of rubber stamps from the bank on the account statements (no stamps on auto-generated but each month on letterhead)?

Thanks for the reply. It's outer ear and just inside the canal around the top (precise area of incisura or external auditory meatus). It happens once or twice each week for many months, and I can tell when it's coming on because the discomfort begins slowly and if I press lightly on the tragus it hurts a bit more. I try to hack it out as long as I can but eventually reach for the ibuprofen. I try to avoid water near the ears when showering, so I don't think it's 'swimmer's ear' but could be. Air conditioning seems to be trigger too. I had to look up all these anatomy terms here: https://otosurgeryatlas.stanford.edu/otologic-surgery-atlas/surgical-anatomy-of-the-ear/external-ear/#iLightbox[gallery_image_1]/0 Thanks for any advice. R.