khunjeff

It appears that Swiss taxpayers are paying for it as a way of getting carbon credits. https://www.southpole.com/blog/article-6-and-electric-buses-in-thailand-speed-up-net-zero-transition

This is what I saw on the LTR Facebook page...

Thanks, that's interesting. Of course, non-remitted overseas income hasn't been taxable for anyone in the past, so the LTR exemption would have been meaningless if that's what was really meant. I guess we'll hear more over the next few months.

I retired with an immediate pension at age 51, and could have done so the day I turned 50 if I had wanted to. So it does happen. (I didn't get my LTR until age 59, but that's only because the program didn't exist before that.)

The facts of what he did aren't in dispute - what his lawyers intend to argue is that a 2022 Supreme Court decision rendered the law under which he's charged unconstitutional. It's not a far-fetched notion, either; multiple cases under that statute have been thrown out by district and appeals courts using precisely that reasoning.

The conversation was about getting a Schwab account in order to have a debit card that reimburses ATM fees, not for the purpose of investing in US securities. It wouldn't make much financial sense to tie up 25k USD just to get free ATM usage, even if that money was readily available. (The US version of the Schwab checking account requires you to open a brokerage account as well, but you don't have to fund it.) If someone actually wants to invest in the US market, of course, the math would be completely different.

I'm not sure why you think that. The tax benefits for LTR holders weren't some kind of loophole - they were formally and legally implemented even before the first visa was issued. Royal Decree no. 743, gazetted on 23 May 2022 and titled "Decree Issued in Accordance with the Revenue Code Concerning the Reduction of Tax Rates and Exemptions (No. 257)" made the provisions official, and there's no indication that this new decree changes that in any way.

The brokerage account you can open through that link does, at least for expatriate US citizens, come with the much-loved Schwab debit card that refunds all ATM fees. Unlike the version for US residents, though, it requires that the account be funded with at least $25,000, which makes it of marginal utility for most people.

Hour-plus waits were fine earlier this year, but now OH MY GOD the Chinese are coming, can't keep 'em waiting!

It's not just advertised as a benefit, it was also legally implemented - Royal Decree no. 743, gazetted on 23 May 2022 ("Decree Issued in Accordance with the Revenue Code Concerning the Reduction of Tax Rates and Exemptions (No. 257") made the exemption official.

"Exceeding the target" is quite different from a "surplus" - they will still need to borrow money to cover the government budget.

Apartment buildings, and other landlords with at least five units, have been required to charge no more than the government rate (plus a maximum 25% service fee) for several years now. While some of them may still be trying to gouge tenants, it's hard for them to stay under the radar if people start complaining.

The "33% increase" line isn't at all believable. The new satellite should make the existing concourses less crowded and reduce the need to use bus gates, but at this point will just be spreading out existing flights. There won't be a real possiblity for a meaningful increase in flight capacity until the new runway opens (years late, but now expected for mid-2024).

It's just extra gates (not check-in or security or immigration or baggage claim), so staffing shouldn't be an issue.

I hope that's true, but I think it's optimistic. Airlines don't only use remote stands because no contact gate is available - some use it because it's cheaper, others for enhanced security of the aircraft, and still others because the incoming flight is domestic, and the next one international (or vice versa). In the last situation, they prefer to just bus pax back and forth rather than having to move the plane between gates (since BKK, unlike some other airports, has no capability to change a gate from domestic to international by moving barriers and doors).

Parallel to the D concourse.

Oh, the poor dears. My heart bleeds for them in this, their time of trouble ????

Good luck with that...

They already tried Bangkok several years ago with the same issues of a very high price and difficulty getting around due to traffic. According to what I see online, some form of the service is (miraculously) still operating. https://www.khaosodenglish.com/life/2020/01/20/review-for-sweat-free-bangkok-sightseeing-consider-hop-on-hop-off-buses/ https://www.traveldailymedia.com/elephant-bus-tours-partners-with-city-sightseeing-to-elevate-the-bus-tour-experience-with-open-top-double-deckers-for-the-first-time-in-bangkok/

What about Jerry Lee Lewis, or Elvis? The law changed in 2003, when the PROTECT Act was enacted. Prior to that, sex with minors abroad was covered by Customs statutes, which required proof that the US citizen left the US with the intent of having sex with persons under the age of 18 - something that was very difficult to prove. (It's also worth noting that both Jerry Lee and Elvis married teenagers. Laws in the US are peculiar in that many states allow marriage to someone below the age of consent, as long as their parents agree.) Under the PROTECT Act, there is no need for the government to prove intent. If an American has sex with someone under age 18 while in a foreign country, that's a crime, period, even if that sex isn't against the law in the country where it took place.

1) By regulation, the embassy can only provide notarial services that are equivalent to what a US notary public is authorized to provide. That does not include verifying or guaranteeing financial claims of private citizens. 2) The embassy has no ability to implement a fee for any service. All fees are set by the Office of Management and Budget after being published in the Federal Register, and are the same worldwide. 3) Fees for notarial services are not retained by the consular section, the embassy, the Bureau of Consular Services, or even the State Department - they are turned over to the Treasury Department as part of general government funds.

When the program was introduced in 2003, Thaksin literally - and very publicly - announced, repeatedly, that they expected to sell one million Thai Elite cards (coincidentally, the same goal as for the LTR visa, and just as likely to be achieved).

The program was an abject failure - literally losing money every year and considering closure - until Covid and then the war in Ukraine created sharp spikes in demand from people seeking a safe haven. Thai Elite was very lucky that world events created a sudden and unexpected demand for their product, but there's no particular reason to believe that the enhanced demand will continue forever.

This happens all the time in translations of news stories about him - they mix up "phon aek" (four-star General) with "phan aek" (Colonel).

Can someone help me understand how these two sentences fit together? The sedan driver couldn't get out of his burning car because the flames came up so quickly, but was able to have a chat with the truck driver because he didn't know there was a danger of fire...?