Enzian

And why did he flee to Cambodia and not, say, Burma or elsewhere? People involved in Cambodia would have as much motive to liquidate him as to protect him, probably more. But apparently police there got him before he could get settled. And the Thai police had such good evidence that it couldn't be ignored. Now are we going to learn anything about how high up this goes in Cambodia?

"The maximum amount that you can send per transfer depends on the recipient's bank." That's exactly what I asked a manager and teller at my usual Krungsri branch in Exchange Tower here in Bangkok yesterday. (I told the teller after a withdrawal that I wanted to speak with a manager, and she spoke to the same teller before fully answering me.) I recently started using Wise instead of a direct Swift transfer from my US bank to my baht account at Krungsri (to get a better conversion rate of course). But the limit was a hard and fast 49,999, unlike a direct bank to bank Swift transfer used in the past. I asked the manager if I could double that by signing something at the bank end here. She said no, it was a city or country wide rule. (She funnily waved her arms upward and said that it was from the big man above lol.) For ALL banks. (BTW I did have my sender try to check with Wise first and got nowhere.) Now if SCB were an exception I could attempt a transfer to my gf's account there as a test, but it's too soon to consider that. So the question is, does it indeed depend on which bank at this end, or on the difference between a direct bank-to-bank Swift transfer, as opposed to the use of a middleman service like Wise?

There's a club called The Overstay. Look it up.

It doesn't matter which one it was, what matters, and what matters for the world ongoing, is that the Chinese did not and do not cooperate. Even if they did, it might not answer the question, which reinforces the point that it doesn't matter; we are still going to try to prepare for both. But there would be some satisfaction if a smoking gun were to one day appear.

Occurs to me that a big problem with the current and developing situation is that it could be considered inherently unfair by many nationalities. In the business I'm in (RE) I have to treat everyone the same, and I would want to anyway. I can't treat someone who moved to my area from NYC differently from someone who came from Hawaii. The DTA system is literally from another century. Americans are favored, others not. It's a mess, and needs a complete overhaul. Ideally ex-pats would be exempt if they otherwise contribute to the economy. But the current mess is a big reason why it may take a very long time for any kind of enforcement to come about.

Were the Duty Free shops at Swampy Arrivals (when you land in the country and leave the airport) ever removed as was proposed earlier this year? I like good Scotch and fly often enough that half my collection has come from Duty Free here and elsewhere. But when I last arrived and walked out on 11/25 I didn't see any shops, but I may have missed something. (And I already had my limit in my bag from my point of departure, so it was not important that day.) Anyone know?

Example of an exception. I American (on Non-O only) was in a 4 year relationship with a Thai woman (not married), and for the last two years we lived in a condo she had owned all along in Din Daeng. For some reason (I was giving her money for the mortgage, but that was informal) we decided to put me in her blue book as that would give me a yellow book and pink card; the process at the local office was not difficult. After we broke up I eventually discarded the yellow book with the irrelevant address, but the pink card, which never expires, still comes in handy. And FWIW, I have no current interest in activating the number on the pink card to be a TIN, partly because I'm in a situation where I only remit US SS. (Oh and I should add, the reason may have been that I was thereby exempt from filing 90 day reports, and so I did not, and never heard any protest from Immigration at time of extension.)

When a young Bangkokian sees the real availability of a middle class lifestyle and then thinks "I could opt for that, or have kids and remain in relative poverty for the rest of my life", it's pretty much a no brainer.

Another thing they do is put their hands at your lower groin on the sides of your junk and then lean in and hold pressure. I usually have to tell them to do soft, or just move on. I've heard that some do this because when they release the pressure there is a rush of blood which may incline you more to paying for a happy ending upsell. But many overdo it, and for an old bod it can be painful and dangerous. If I sense a neck crack is coming, I try to be ready with a big NO.

Just curious, shouldn't all expats have a TIN from their home country of citizenship? If not, how did one grow up and work in their own home country without a Tax ID? Reasonable observation. But I want to point out that for Americans that number is their Social Security number, and we have to be very careful with it because it is connected to so many things. I would not want to share mine with the Thai government unless I absolutely had to. On a different detail, all this year till now I have remitted to LOS only monies from a dedicated account in the US that I can show has no other activity than deposits from the US SSA. This month I remitted 50K THB from a business account following statements in these forums that 60K is the threshold of assessable income requiring the filing of a Thai return. This leaves more in the SS account for next year when things may heat up more. I have a pink card but have no intention of activating the number on it unless directed by a bona fide authority to do so.

I just came back from Kolkata to BKK last evening on Bhutan Airlines, which had the best time of day departures in each direction. Note how those Lion Air flights happen in the middle of the night. Some people can do that, not me. Also, India does not encourage tourism it seems. In 10 days I saw about 10 western people, in a city of millions. The airport was almost empty coming and going, so yes they want business. But flights at normal times would help. I will say that Kolkata is definitely worth a visit, and the people were mostly wonderful to me.

I did limit in 2024 to nothing but US SS. Of course I wouldn't remit my total gross rental receipts in a given year. I was considering global income taxation, not assessable income remitted, but I understand we're not there yet, at least technically.

I've said this before, if the TRD would not accept my Schedule E on my US rental income business return, or allow in some other way for deduction of actual expenses, and in total, I could very easily be in that bracket, and there may be more here than you imagine, with all due respect.

My half Vietnamese grandson is the perfect image of what Prawit must have looked like at age 4. Side by side pictures of them crack people up. Maybe the kid will have power, for better or worse.

These reforms will be hampered by the government's reputation for setting new conditions and then changing then again in a few years. And how can any foreigner make investment plans in regard to RE until the tax situation is clarified and settled, which doesn't look to be happening any time soon?