4MyEgo

On 9/28/2024 at 7:02 AM, GammaGlobulin said:

If you are like me, then you will have probably given this question much thought in recent years.

Never even crossed my mind.

On 9/28/2024 at 7:02 AM, GammaGlobulin said:

Where do you hope to die?

Now that the thought has entered my mind, I would prefer to pass away here, that way it wouldn't be a burden on the family to pay for an expensive funeral back home.

A funeral back home on the El Cheapo would set the back about at least 250k baht, and if they went the cremation way, about 50k + baht, much cheaper here I would imagine, so here will do as I would much prefer they use my funds to enjoy life, as opposed to throw it at expensive BS overpriced funerals.

Like my old man kept saying; son, when I'm gone, put me in a dinky, take me out to see, put some weights around me and drop me in, the sharks can eat my remains.

We ended up cremating him, Mum's bitter sweet revenge 🙂

14 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

I see you are again posting inaccurate information, your interpretations, and poor advice to members.

Welcome back NOT.

You just inspired me, as you did on Articles 18 & 19 where you still haven't admitted your wrong.....LOL, not that I have ever expected you to understand the meaning of the word, YOUR WRONG.

So, I will take it upon myself to email an insurance company in Australia and ask them the question, something on the lines of.....

I am a non resident of Australia, however am an Australian Citizen residing in Thailand for over a decade and am looking to obtain private health cover in Australia.

My question is, whilst I do not reside in Australia, can I obtain private health cover for within Australia, even though I am living in Thailand.

My residency status for tax purposes, is that of a Non Resident as I live in Thailand, and as I reside in Thailand for over a 180 days a year, I am considered a resident of Thailand for tax purposes.

Once I get a reply, I will post it, wrong or right, the latter would shut you down real quick wouldn't it ? 

I doubt it, because then you would bring something up, like, they are overhauling the system, making changes, like the DTA's....bla bla bla

33 minutes ago, Unamerican said:

But is it necessary, anyway, to declare such remittances to the Thai tax system? 

You might be right, I don't know, and I won't be getting a TIN, because my understanding is that I don't need to as I am not earning an income, only remitting savings, so until they come knocking on my door or I see a link to their website stating that I must get a TIN for remitting savings, nutta 🙂

Me no understand Thai, then I will smile as they do us.

38 minutes ago, Will27 said:

I think you're reading way too much into this TBH.

 

As long as people pay their premiums, they should be covered.

I doubt the health insurer even looks at things like residency status and how would they check anyway?

I'm not reading into it at all TBH.

I just raised some facts in my case when trying to get cover in Oz as a non resident and they told me that I had to be a resident of Oz, I argued that I was a Citizen and they said, yep, nah, resident, so make of that what you will.

No point in waking the sleeping giant as they say, but for me, I would hate it, if all of a sudden they did ask a question, and I had to answer it, fraudulently because that could make the contract null and void as previously mentioned. 

Like you said, how would they check anyway, hey Mr So and So, can you provide us with copies of your passport pages please, and yes, fat chance that would happen, but what if Mr or Mrs Goody Two Shoes who's on the ball, picked it up and their policy stated you have to be a resident to be covered, yes, yes, I know fat chance, but, when I take out a contract, I want to know the fine print as that provides me with less exposure, a classic example is all these dipsticks who come here with travel insurance, but don't read the fine print, e.g. must have a current riders license and IDP, wear a helmet and ride no bigger than a 125cc motorcycle, or the policy doesn't allow for motorbikes.

Contract null and void, I know it has nothing to do with residency, but fine prints are fine prints, and I will see if I can find an example and post it, just to clarify things, albeit it I remember couldn't fid anything when I did Google it years ago.

56 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

My private health provider in Australia restored my suspended insurance the week before I landed in Australia, after the COVID lockdown. They knew I had been overseas for more than two years.

 

I pay the premium yearly. If the fund continued to accept premiums from me while denying me cover because I am not resident, that would be fraud.

 

The health fund is a not-for-profit entity, maybe that is a factor.

 

The subject of residency has never been raised with me by the health fund. Obviously, I am not going to start asking.

It's only my opinion, but suspending your insurance while stuck overseas until you landed back in Oz, makes sense as you wouldn't be able to access any hospitals in Oz with the COVID con, I mean lockdowns...LOL

As for the residency thing, yes, don't wake the sleeping giant as they say.

3 minutes ago, isaanistical said:

I'm a beginner with contactless payments, but because an international transfer has been delayed I need to try either cardless cash from a local ATM or instore payment using a virtual card (Visa) with details in Google Pay.

Is that possible here in BKK? Or does Google Pay work here now? (I think only with Thai-bank Visa cards?)

Foreign debit card at an ATM shouldn't be a problem, providing you advised your bank back home that you will be overseas, as I believe it needs to be activated by them, so as to prevent fraud.

You can certainly try it, you will get a lower exchange rate and the bank with the ATM you use will charge you about 200-220 baht per transaction, for your 200-220 baht fee, your limit is usually 20,000 baht per transaction, and you will find your bank back home will charge you about the same.

So as they say, take some lube with you 🙂

Don't forget to take your card out as that usually comes out after the cash is dispensed.  

13 minutes ago, Pattaya57 said:

You seem to think to be considered to reside in Australia you have to live in Australia 100% of the time. I just explained that my Bupa allowed me to suspend my account for 2-4 months at a time because I was often in Thailand and they allowed me to do that for up to 2 years total suspension. Why would I need to call them just because you think it's not possible? 

We can dance around all day, but if we stick to what I was talking about, i.e. being covered by a private health insurer in Australia, i.e. if your residency status changes, will your private health provider in Australia still insure you ?

I think not, based on the emails that I received from different insurers at the time that I enquired some years ago.

Now we can all have private health insurance when we were in Australia and moved overseas, however not advising your private health insurer that your residency status changed, might make your contract null and void.

Just saying, and don't really care, point !

16 hours ago, Rob Browder said:

Also, as-is, only remitted money would be subject to tax, and ONLY if those funds were earned on/after Jan 1, 2024. 

My understanding is if those funds are savings, earned prior to 31 December 2023 and can be proven, then no tax is payable in any year thereafter, provided the "savings" were in the account prior to 1 January 2024.

An example I will provide would be, I have a million $'s in my account back home, if I could be so lucky....LOL. I earned those funds from the sale of a property back in 2019 and those funds have been my savings since that date, and I have been remitting 1,000,000 baht per annum to Thailand to live off, those funds/savings are not taxable IMO.   

On 9/25/2024 at 5:28 PM, churchill said:

I think this is new ?

 

' Taxation regulations in 2024

Thailand Privilege membership holders are exempt from paying personal income tax in Thailand if they remit funds from a personal bank account abroad into a local bank account in Thailand and can provide proof that the money is not personal income in the same calendar year. 

Additionally, if your country has a Double Tax Agreement (DTA) with Thailand, no tax is required in Thailand, even if the income is transferred within the same calendar year it was earned. For further clarification, please refer to the attached summary prepared by the Revenue Department. '

A little contradiction there, e.g.

1st sentence, "can provide prove that the money is not personal income"

2nd sentence, "even if the income is transferred"

Remember, income is assessable for tax if remitted to Thailand, regardless of when it is now remitted.

Perhaps the 2nd line should have been replaced with, "even if the money is not personal income" 

The above said, I couldn't see this being an exclusive Elite Visa deal, but the 6. Taxation regulations in 2024 heading, I take to misleading, if anything.

As far as I have read elsewhere, if you remit savings that were earned prior to 31 December 2023, and remit the savings into Thailand after that date, e.g. 2024/2025/2026 etc etc, you can remit them to Thailand every year without fear of paying any tax, that said, the proof is on the individual to show those savings were earned prior to 2023, any savings earned after that date and remitted, is taxable. 

16 hours ago, Pattaya57 said:

I had Bupa for many years and everytime I came to Thailand they allowed me to suspend the account thus not having to pay (minimum of 2 months). If they didn't allow people that spent a considerable time out of Australia in the fund then why were they allowing me whereby I only had to pay when I got back to Australia

That's a good question, if you really want to know the answer to that, you could ring them, or email them and say; hey guys, I am thinking of moving to Thailand, would I still be able to renew my cover, because my residency status, might change to a non resident.

Then you will have your answer, might not like what you hear ?

16 hours ago, Fat is a type of crazy said:

Your post was something I had never considered. I have had a look and can't see something that says that but it doesn't clearly say that it is ok too. 

I remember at the time that I was looking to obtain private health insurance in Australia, with me living here, you know just in case I returned for treatment there, instead of here, and all were done by email to various insurers.

All coming back to me saying that they cannot insure me as I am a non resident and would have to live in Australia as a resident to get private health insurance, which of course made no sense to me, however I am thinking on the lines, that if a non residents Medicare expires after 5 years, that might have something to do with it, I have no idea.

They did however steer me in the direction of direction of global private heath care providers, I did go with one through a broker, and was with them for 4 years, and the premium kept going up and up and up every year, age was one, new age bracket and the last one was because the insurer changed an underwriter and at that point my insurance premium had doubled to 140k per annum, to which I kindly replied, no thank you.

Since then I have put the premium amount and the families premium amount aside and save a million baht in premiums, no claims and yes not enough, but I have enough funds to keep us out of trouble, "I hope", that said, we all still have our Medicare cards and will return if it is a major concern if it's going to cost us a fortune here, if and when it comes, hopefully not. 

16 hours ago, Will27 said:

I'm enjoying the (mostly) informative and respectful posts.

 

You just know the avavalanche is coming again shortly though.

LOL, that is so funny, was just thinking the same thing.

Must be on heavier meds.

We should think of a caption for the below: I will start......

I'm losing my mind, I need to go on Asean Now !!!

On 9/26/2024 at 11:05 AM, FritsSikkink said:

A shrink might be a good idea.

You beat me to it, yes, that would be a start for Georgie, then once they sort that out, everything else will go away miraculously, i.e. if I'm on the money. 

12 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

Following the investigation, it was determined that the woman had not intended to carry out an act of terrorism or actually plant a bomb. Her statement was deemed a violation of aviation security regulations but without malicious intent. Thai VietJet has decided not to press charges, and the passenger is set to depart Thailand to return to Poland.

What the Fark, no Wai and a 500 baht fine, she got off lighter than the Thai's do, IMO 🙂

5 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Correct apart for (c).....topped back up at least 2 months prior to applying not 3

Thanks you, so it's 3 then 2, what about 800k in a fixed account, can do, or cannot do ?

4 hours ago, alanrchase said:

I am out of pocket but both the vendor and crypto exchange have made money. Fortunately it was a small amount.

Your a brave man, I buy BTC as an ETF as it saves me the 1% fee to buy it and lower price when selling on the exchange, on top of the 1% fee for selling it.

1 hour ago, Patong2021 said:

Had you taken the time to read the original  article before your rush to judgement, you would have seen the following;

The medical team have not yet confirmed the sexual assault or provided an update on her condition.

Um

UPDATE:

4 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Also for application for non O retirement in Thailand the funds must be shown to have come back from abroad,

While on topic, I am looking at changing from marriage extension to retirement extension, due to immigration being *&^%$#, every year, so my question is, how long after approval can I access the 800k.

I have in excess of that, but as a rule of thumb want to know for myself.

(a) I heard that you can't touch the 800k for 3 months after approval,

and

(b) the balance cannot drop below 400k

and

(c) must be topped back up to 800k at least 3 months before reapplying

and

(d) I also heard that they won't accept 800k being in a fixed interest account, i.e. it has to be in an everyday account ?

Does that sound right ?

If I could put it into a fixed account, that would sort me having to remember not to access it and top it up as I get older.

Thank you in advance.

3 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

At the time of my treatment, I was in Australia for 6 months.

6 months prior would re-establish your residency.

4 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

I have not said anything to my insurer, and they have not asked. AFAIK there is nothing in the fine print of my fund. YMMV.

Might be worth revisiting as I tried to get health insurance from Australia, for me to have in Australia, but as my residency was that of a Non Resident, no way Jose is what I was getting from them all.

5 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

As far as I am concerned, I have shelled out to the fund for decades. If they want to decline me, I would be asking for a return of the premiums I pay.

Not if there is a fine print in there saying, only if you are a resident.

5 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Likewise, I know nothing about Medicare refusing cover to an Australian citizen as non-resident. A Medicare card is current for 5 years.

If out of the country for over 5 years, it's cancelled, that's why I see my Doc every time I return, between 2-3 years so it reactivates itself, I also renew my car online before it expires, ah, reason is, I lost it, new one in the mail, (Oz address), no questions asked.

30 minutes ago, gearbox said:

The gubement should do what is right and abolish the OAP...or make it proportional to the total taxes paid. Too many parasites.

OAP is those who didn't make it in the system, taxes have nothing to do with it, because you don't need to have worked to qualify.

The reason the introduced Super is to take the burden off of the government paying out the OAP, compliments of those employers, 11% annually at the moment. 

19 minutes ago, Pattaya57 said:

I'm doing just fine out of the discussion thank you 😀 The last reply also gave me the definition of resident in regards to OAP

 

 (2) Australian resident is a person who:

 (a) resides in Australia; and

 (b) is one of the following:

 (i) an Australian citizen

 

Regardless of how long I spent in Thailand I have 6 years of car rego and continuous electricity account at my apartment. The Elec bill is a primary document for proving residence for those 6 years (still only gets me to 33 years residence but that's ok)

No disrespect, or seeking to burst your bubble, but your own answered your question:

(a) resides in Australia

The last two words in that sentence says it all in my opinion, i.e. "in Australia".

You cannot reside in Australia if you are not physically present in the country for 8 months of the year, e.g. you can say you are a resident, but that is for tax purposes and they will accept that, but Centrelink on the other hand, won't in my opinion.

Go in with the attitude that you will qualify for 26 years, if you get 33 years, your laughing.

I hope to be proven wrong, because if it was that easy I will change my residency status ass-up.

2 minutes ago, Will27 said:

Cannot see how a health insurer would know anything about his residency status TBH.

Agree, however if he falsified his application, e.g. said that he lives in Australia or didn't advise them of his residency status changing while he continued to be covered, that's fraud and they could sue him, trying to get back their outlay, but that's anther matter.

22 minutes ago, Pattaya57 said:

 

But what does 'lived in Australia' really mean? I maintained a home in Australia where 'I lived' for 4-5 months a year since 2018. Where does it say you must have lived a full year in Australia for that year to qualify as a year in the 35?

 

I don't mean to be difficult but I just can't see how a year doesn't count when my home, car and personal effects are all in Australia and I lived there partially during the year (unlike your example of it's like counting 10 years living in Thailand as you had no home in Australia)

 

If you read my post again, I said, "if the wording states" "lived in", I did not say the wording says "lived in", so it's a matter of finding out if it's residency or lived in.

This extract says residency, but another might, say lived in, so it's a matter of finding out 110% by contacting Centrelink Hobart. 

They know, then you can let us know, your contribution 🙂

https://guides.dss.gov.au/social-security-guide/3/4/1/10

13 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Any major health issue in Thailand could cost me potentially millions of baht.

 

For the cost of a plane ticket to Melbourne, I get free hospital care and a specialist of my choice, very speedily.

 

Two years ago, I was treated for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. I also had surgery for an inguinal hernia. A cystoscopy, colonoscopy and gastroscopy.

 

Three CT scans for the lymphoma, two CT scans for heart and back. Blood tests galore. All paid for by Medicare plus private cover.

 

It boggles my mind what that would have cost me in any hospital in Thailand, even assuming the drugs are available here.

 

I know it's a little off the topic, but my understanding is, that if you are a Non Resident of Australia, you cannot get private health cover, (fine print).

Did you retain your residency, or just haven't told anyone, which would be a gutsy move because if the insurer found out that you were or are a Non Resident at the time of surgery, decline you, and or seek to recoup any funds paid, same with Centrelink.

If your a Non Resident and got away with it, Kudos to you.

14 hours ago, scorecard said:

So how could the Centrelink staff be able to say things like "...but you only travel to one spot...".

I suppose that they could ask for your Passport ?