Spilornis

Excellent suggestions particularly that from Brit Man Too. Gives you a source of income and flexibility should Thailand not work out. Interest on any mortgage and taxes need to be considered. Even if the rent is not enough for you to live on you might consider borrowing a small amount to live on Hasten slowly is my advice

Freight and HSR are two different products. Rail makes sense but there's few places in the world where it makes money. Coal and ore railways over long distances work well. Same to some extent for grain. Hard to compete with ships simply because of the cost of maintaining the tracks. HSR is way more complex and is driven by passenger traffic. Maximum distance is perhaps 4 hours before planes take over on the basis of cost and comfort. Passenger rail from Singapore to Paris is a wonderful dream. I like it but..............

Trans shipment and oil refining can be big money. The oil pipeline probably made sense 20 or thirty years ago. Bulk oil probably only has another 10 odd years as does mass scale refineries. Oil trans shipment only requires a breakwater and pumping equipment plus of course the pipeline itself Just can't see the financial case for building two trans shipment ports for containers plus the rail infrastructure. They floated the same idea for a port and rail on Malaysia's East Coast about five years ago. Never heard of again

China has changed to being once again an inward looking country. Public servants (even teachers) now need permission to leave the country and are being limited by time and destination. There is a strong push to reduce foreign interaction. The article below gives some insight into the reasons but you have to wonder how pervasive this move will be. https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/china-tightens-curbs-on-foreign-travel-by-bankers-state-workers

This is an excellent point. Not sure of numbers but I assume there are many Thais working in areas such as the UAE, international shipping and offshore mining that will be taxed for the first time. Malaysia has foreshadowed a similar tax regime which would impact significantly on the many Malaysians working in Singapore. One difficulty I foresee is compliance. In Malaysia at least very few people are required to pay income tax (wages too low) so there is an absence of habit of paying taxes.

Agree... you actually want to retain your Australian tax residency so you can take advantage of the very generous tax free threshold. Think about putting some into shares with franked dividends. You'll get a refund each year. It's not hard to retain residency... super fund, bank account, etc all help. The 180 day test is largely a red herring when it comes to residency. All it does is gives Thailand a right to tax you as well. Depends on their laws as to whether you are taxed

This is known in the Chinese media as the suitcase trade. It used to be enormous between HK and the mainland. Post the pandemic it has almost disappeared as the goods commonly carried across the border (perfume etc) were often cheaper on the mainland than in HK. I wonder if the same has happened with relative prices between Thailand and China. On a more general note I don't understand these short term visa changes. Why five months only. Change the rules and if it doesn't work change them back. Separately, foreign tourism into China is almost non existent but I doubt they will change their archaic visa system. ( I hate paperwork for genuine tourism.)

The oil pipeline might make sense as a standalone project but the port facilities at either end would be expensive. Might work if ships could stand offshore and disgorge the oil into offshore piping buoys. You'd want to have strong environmental controls but you might get away with a series of breakwater complexes. Can't see the rail or road working simply because of the cost and infrastructure not to mention the double handling. The Chinese funded east-west railway in Malaysia was touted as being a container route. Who knows if it will work

90 days makes sense and brings Thailand into line with Malaysia, India and Vietnam among others. Indonesia are allowing 60 day visas (the standard VoA is still 30 days). Visa exempt or as others call it visa waiver is the way to go. Just reduce the paperwork and make it easy. Then for the e gates

India has banned the export of rice and Vietnam has announced its intention to drastically reduce rice production by 44% on the basis that the product is too water intensive. It's an emotive product due to its place in the history of many countries especially Japan. Will be interesting to see how each country adapts

They took a big hit but are now ramping up staff etc. The estimate is mid 2024 things will be back to pre covid level. Internal tourism/flights to places like Hainan is booming. Thailand being close to China should start to see an impact by September is my guess

Do they still hold that monopoly. Twenty years ago I can remember asking my travel agent why the Bangkok to Samui return flight cost was close to my Australia-Bangkok flight cost.

When India demonitised its currency the only way you could get value for notes over 500 rupees(US$7) was to open a bank account and deposit your notes. Deposits over 10k rupees or thereabouts got notified to the taxman. Within hours there was a cottage industry providing individuals willing to open a bank account in their name into which you could put the money and then withdraw it in nice clean notes. No one in power in India to my knowledge ever challenged the role of the banks in this charade

Seems to be a reasonable scheme. The health insurance is a pain. In Malaysia no requirement for health insurance over 60 where they recognise local insurers simply don't offer cover

There is little doubt that e gates for foreigners will be rolled out in many countries in the coming years. The traditional methods simply cannot handle the increase in tourist numbers. Malaysia is doing it for many countries albeit a little clumsily at first with a requirement that you first register your biometrics. Australian entry and exit for example is a breeze for many countries (visa process aside). USA still looks stuck in the old world but at least they have no immigration checks on exit. The US security check process is still a nightmare but their "approved traveller" process means that frequent travellers avoid the circus. Baggage delivery seems to often be a problem at several airports. Not sure if it's a system or manpower issue. Singapore sees its airport as a revenue hub and has always done what it can to compete with the more recent Middle Eastern entries (Dubai). There's no reason Bangkok or KL should not compete in the hub market going forward

I based my comment on the linked Man Judd summary of the legislation. As I mentioned these four factors are very similar to the existing tests used for tax residency except that no one or two factors were by themselves determinant of residency (it was a weighting issue and could be contradicted by residency indices in another country). Interesting that membership of a superannuation fund in Australia is not mentioned as that is one of the present indices " The secondary test is a ‘Factor Test’ which applies to individuals who spend more than 45 days but less than 183 days in an income year. The secondary tests focus on four factors, two of which must be satisfied by that person to be deemed as resident for tax purposes. Factors include: The Right to reside permanently in Australia (e.g. citizenship or permanent residency); The ability to access accommodation in Australia (e.g. rights of ownership, leasehold interest, licenses); Whether the individual’s family (spouse or any of their children under 18) are generally located in Australia; The individual’s Australian economic connections (employment, carry on business, interests in Australia)" https://hlb.com.au/tax-residency-changes-for-individuals/

Interesting... it appears to have a secondary test very similar to the old domicile test but you need to have spent 45 days per year in Australia to avail yourself of that aspect of the test. For people residing overseas who don't satisfy either test and who receive Australian income (including the OAP) the inability to avail oneself of the tax free threshold is a big change

Most foreign entries into Singapore these days use the egates. Time for Thailand to do the same. Malaysia has plans to introduce e gates for foreigners (hopefully later this year)

E gates for foreigners is the answer Singapore has done it and Malaysia is about to do it for visitors from a number of countries. Pre-pandemic it was obvious that something has to change from the old face to face immigration clearance. Pre clearance documents, random checks, trusted traveller schemes and e gates are all in the mix going forward

Reminds me of youtubers and durian. They spend their time smelling the fruit and saying it's disgusting. How about going with someone who knows their durian and experiencing the differences in taste, texture, creaminess etc between durians by reference to type and origin. Think of it as a wine tasting. And by the way... you don't nose a durian for its bouquet youtubers !

Going forward watch out for local tax on imported phones. Indonesia has a system that foreign phones can't connect after around 90 days unless you pay the local import tax. Same in Pakistan. They use the phone's IMEI number. All done electronically so once set up the system is a good revenue raiser

Due to limited testing it's hard to get an absolute handle on real numbers but the world trend seems to be downwards including China. Who knows if there will be another wave but at present there's a relative lull so let's enjoy it.

Not sure about others but I am getting tired of filling out forms and queuing in lines for things on arrival. Online forms/payments if they must and e gates are the future. Travelling to India in a few weeks via Singapore which means a PCR test. Seriously wondering if I can be bothered

After this covid interval is finished I hope someone collects all the false information given out. In Malaysia for all of 2020 they ran an ad saying that on arriving home all clothes should go straight into the washing machine, sanitize yourself, shower etc etc. Made it sound like a decontamination unit. Not to mention all those people washing their groceries with bleach before bringing them into the house. Remember the "deep clean" businesses

All of those countries who are requiring tests of travellers from China didn't make the twenty country list. New Zealand made it as did Russia and South Africa. China pressure is real. https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202301/1284134.shtml