Presnock

Supersports also used to carry them.  MY wife bought a couple years ago and hardly ever used them.  I just purchased a set of weights - cheaper in the long run and more versatile.  

try to keep up with all the different accents by the Americans too!  

18 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

I thought you would have realized it by now, taxes don't really affect billionaires. There are so many workarounds for people with that kind of money. Billionaires pay very little tax. We are the ones who are constantly footing the bill, it's the little guy and the affluent, but not rich guys who pays taxes. 

When Trump was prez, he lowered the taxes of the huge corp and billionaires and promises to do more lowering if they contribute to his re-election....the rich just get richer while the middle class becomes the lower class and cannot even afford to buy a house anymore in the US.  Not sure what it is like in the rest of the world.  

12 minutes ago, PremiumLane said:

 

So what is this cost? So, nothing to do with tax evasion of the rich and corporations that government doesn't have money? Cos that is huge, must be some poor people on boats - and guess who is tell you that? The same lot that dodge the taxes, so well done. 

 

Where did you read that guff about taking care of illegal immigrants first? What policy are you talking about and how is it being implemented? 

There have been numerous US news articles on the govts of Calf and NY especially NYCity where such things as local public schools closed so that the buildings can be used to house illegal immigrants, in some cities local citizen workers are being furloughed hours weekly so that the funds that would go to their pay can be usd to care for the illegal immigrants.  You probably don't read US news much or you would see these articles.  I am not going to quote day, issue, etc.  If you don't believe me, I don't really care either.  This was part of my upbringing too, I don't lie.  There are many stories of the citizens of Calf and NY fleeing due to the taxes being so high.  Another story - over 600K California workers come across the Mexican border from their homes to work in that state, and then in the evening go back across the border to their homes as homes are too expensive for them to buy in California.  An example - one story says that there are no available houses for sale in San Francisco for less than a million USD.  In NY even, an illegal immigrant is being sought by the police for puting out an media message on "how to squat free on house in NYC:"  These immigrants are squatting on any empty house - even if the owner is just gone for  short time on vacation or the like and these illegals are squatting on that property.  The legal owner cannot just kick them out, as they can fight it in court and can take a long time to be forced out.  On top of that you as the owner (on the contract for utilities (electricity, water, heating etc) you cannot turn off those while the case is adjuticating without being fined yourself!  any damage to the property by the "squatters" has to be paid for by the owner!  These are just a few of the news articles I have read recently.

On 4/24/2024 at 7:14 AM, KhunLA said:

Can do that also, but I've been here 20+ years, and not a noob, thinking I'll be eating good for 100-150 baht a day, everyday if moving to TH, in a metro area or surfside.   And 3 lite 7-11 meals aren't going to carry me over for the day,, or eating in house every meal gets old quick.  I need more substance.

 

My lunch was at an AC'd coffee shop, and living on the cheap every day, isn't living.  Actually inexpensive for what it actually was, along with tasty, but wouldn't call it a filling lunch or dinner.  Was hungry a couple hours later.

Two top selling books today have been written by Dr. Wiliam Li - both deal with health benefits of hundreds of different foods most of which due to the climate, are readily available in Thailand.  There are restaurants that sell meals with these very healthy foods and are very tasty though I guess not everyone likes healthy foods.  Since my wife found these restaurants, I eat at least one meal a day from these restaurants (at home).  Besides that meal, I buy fresh fruits, yogurt, fresh berries, nuts, seeds, and veggies (organic is available).  My food bill each month is much more than it was when I retired here 20+ years ago but is still well within my budget. I don't drink alcohol nor do drugs of any type.  I exercise daily, most days more than once (walk 6km a day, weights, core exercises) and during my time here have been very healthy even with pollution  (I wear an95 mask) have air purifiers.  When one sits down and starts to look at my life, I begin to wonder if I would be able to afford such an existence if I had remained in the US upon retirement - so far the answer to me is very clear.  But, TIT, I knew that coming in as I was assigned here several times prior to retirement (first time during the VN fiasco as a tech rep in NKP and fell  in love with the country.  There of course has been many changes in government, yet most things have remained the same.  For me right now I feel that I should be able to live easily (unless I die of

course) and with minor changes that might come about.  I change my retirement O to the LTR, and only receive a US govt pension which supposedly can only be taxed by the US govt so for the next ten years

I will be be sitting here in front of my PC and responsonding to whatever latest govt ploy to garner money and wondering if I might be affected.  Since I seldom order from the mail order giants as rumors of fake goods, I can't see how this latest  plan will affect me.  Good luck to those though that do use those giants or other overseas sources for material goods.  Good health to all, maybe the rains will begin in late May...I notice a two-week slip from last prediction by the weather experts.  

On 4/27/2024 at 5:29 AM, Robert Paulson said:

Its ability to think for yourself.

 

take Biden supporters for example. Zero intelligence. Anyone who can support that is obviously not capable of thinking on their own terms. All they do is ingest what others spoon feed them. That’s lack of intelligence 

I sure hope you are not inferring that Trump supporters can think for themselves!  Americans seem to have lost that concept when it come to voting... and whoever chooses the candidates for the last 40 years in my opinion but I can honestly say I have never voted Democrat nor did I vote for Trump and I will not vote for any current candidates for either party...maybe the country should go to the likes of those countries putting up 10 or more candidates and start narrowing them down...but then again honest, patriotic, not favored by the big $$$$ contributors.  OVer the cliff, down the drain seems to be the only option this year again!!!

Google "internattional schools and tuition in Bangkok, Thailand".  It lists the 138 international schools plus their tuition by grade of those in Bangkok.  Then if you want you can contact certain schools and ask if they provide any discount for certain foreign passport holders. My daughter went to an International school in Chiang Mai and the discounts they did give were either for certain religious memberships or locals that could not affort the tuition but passed the entrance exam and were given free or lower tuitions.  I can't imagine a school providing tuition lowered unless the school is sponsored by a particular country organization but I also know that they sometimes provide scholarships for certain students to keep them returning each year.  Good luck - now school and HS are more expensive than many colleges.

15 hours ago, hwas said:

I have several friends in the exact same position as you.  Retired here after being posted to the embassy.  None of them have any concerns about this.  

As I have said that in my opinion, almost all of us will not be affected by the new interpretation but being an old fart, working and living here a long time, I realize life can sometimes stab you in the back so to speak.  I really do not believe I will be affected for at least the next 10 years but then again who knows?

CM immigration officer put the coordinates on my original TM.30 after a couple of years of using it during my annual extension of stay.  I didn't have to provide them with the coordinates.

when I did my new p/p transfers they could easily have unstapled the TM.30 report there (CM IO) and included it in the new P/p but they had me run around to the TM.30 office first (5 minutes only) and they stapled a new TM.30.  Just saying...The previous TM.30 was several years old at that time.  Basic rule is  whatever the current IO checking documents wants, must be done.

59 minutes ago, JimGant said:

Use your common sense. How would they do that? Certainly you're not going to fill out a Thai tax return with all your remittance data, most of which would be non assessable -- for them to scrutinize? Probably, with no taxable income, you won't even file a tax return, nor even have a TIN. What are the revenuers going to do -- have the banks report all remittances of all farangs -- then have to parse which farangs are tax residents, and which are tourists? Then, what are they going to do? For tax residents, present you with a tax bill based on all your remittances, including loan money sent to BoI for Foreign Direct Investment? NOT!

 

 Thailand has just petitioned to join the OECD Community, the honchos of double tax treaties. Thailand is thus not about to poke any fingers in any eyes. But, tax treaties aren't sacrosanct -- there is something called Tax Treaty Override, whereby a country can change its domestic tax laws, in conflict with treaty language -- as long as the "override" has no significant material effect -- and may actually enhance the substance of the treaty. Here's a discussion on this override:

https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/taxation/model-tax-convention-on-income-and-on-capital-2014-full-version/r-8-tax-treaty-override_9789264239081-101-en#page1

 

Thus, Thailand, in the interest of less paperwork at RD, may dictate that, yes, if you pay taxes in your home country on income that the DTA says Thailand has exclusive taxation rights on -- then we'll give you a pass on Thai taxes on this income. Thus, the spirit of the DTA is still adhered to, namely, avoiding double taxation. That Thailand, in this example, would sacrifice tax collection -- is Thailand's problem, not the OECD's.

 

The most famous Tax Treaty Override is the US "saving clause" (sometime seen as "savings clause") whereby US Tax Code overrides treaty language by trumping "exclusivity" language on taxation rights, by saying the US can also tax this income -- but only as secondary tax authority. Example: Private pensions and IRAs remitted to Thailand are, per treaty, "exclusively" taxable only by Thailand. But the US saving clause gives the US secondary taxation rights -- but they have to absorb a credit for Thai taxes paid, while Thailand gets to keep the full collection -- just as they would under "exclusivity." Thus, nothing "material" altered in the tax treaty by the saving clause. In fact, the OECD uses this as an example of where "override" enhances the substance of a tax treaty by allowing the US to be a secondary tax collector, in case the exclusive -- now effectively the primary -- tax collector decides not to collect taxes -- as Thailand has done, up till now, with foreign income remitted in a later year.

 

Why does the OECD like this? Because DTAs, originally to prevent double taxation, have expanded to try and prevent "no no taxation." So, newer OECD Model tax treaties are addressing this. But in the meantime, overrides, like the US saving clause, are already addressing this. So, if Thailand presents an override that doesn't materially affect a DTA -- but maybe just means your total tax bill is just redistributed over both countries, not exactly in accordance with the DTA -- so be it. As it is allowed without being a treaty violation.

 

I have to jump in here with a favorite topic of mine, namely, the tax advisor in Bangkok who advertises (or use to advertise), for US folks, that you'll never have to pay taxes on your IRA distributions, if you're a Thai tax resident, and who doesn't remit said IRA to Thailand in same year paid. I guess now, his charlatan claims that IRA remittances are not subject to the saving clause, as bogus as these claims are, are trumped by the new Thai tax guidance on IRA remittances in later years. Anyway, I wonder if anyone reading this has availed the services of this so-called tax expert? (details in the following link):

https://aseannow.com/topic/1008555-tax-specialist-in-chiang-mai/page/2/

 

I agree.  DId you in reading that Thailand is applying to join the OECD - report says normally 6-7 years before accepted.  Did you notice the requirements for countries applying - seems to me that there are several requirements that will have to be altered here in Thailand for them to be accepted even if they are able to meet the requirements and get approved for membership in 5 years.  I also do no believe that Thailand will try to tax my account.  I have plenty of proof that it is a govt pension and I have the LTR exemption even if a particular RD official sees something different from the main branch.

 

 

 

I  agree

48 minutes ago, hwas said:

My suggestion is that you ignore the speculative comments regarding the LTR.  The official word from BOI is that remittances to Thailand are not taxable.  Why pay any attention to comments made regarding the LTR by people who do not even hold the LTR?  

I do have the wealthy pensioner LTR - just changed from Retirement O (18 years) - my pension is a US govt pension I know that I have 2 possible reasons for non-assessable income but TIT.  If they do in any way tax my govt pension I will leave even though I love it here.

When/if EV's rule the road, then cometh the tax man.  Nowadays (US anyway) fuel is taxed and supposedly goes for infrastructure repairs and constructions...so, once gasoline ceases to be needed,

states and fed will look to taxing motorists by the miles they drive every year - just wait they'll have to make up those billions of gasonline taxes for infrastructure in some manner and  we already know that the govt is tax happy anyway.  My opinion.

On 4/22/2024 at 12:12 PM, TroubleandGrumpy said:

Perhaps - but if I wanted to avoid scrutiny andf paying income taxes on illegal/laundered money, all I have to do is buy an LTR and I am exempt from income taxes. That is against the global obligations to reduce/illiminate illegal/laundered money exchanges between countries.

Not all income is exempt on the LTR.  If money is earned in Thailand and is assessable the a tax could be levied.  Only foreign earned income can be non-taxed for wealthy pensioner that I read about for my income so if they change that provision of the LTR and still insist on taxing my already taxed government pension then I will be gone but in my opinion this would be a futile income garnering by the Thais that would resonate deeply in the future of foreign settlers.

On 4/20/2024 at 5:01 PM, Dogmatix said:

 

I thought you said you were not going to have anything to do with the tax guide or any tax threads only a few days ago.

I personally feel that if the Revenue Department in CH or BKK decides to just tax ALL monies being remitted and then letting the ex-pats file a claim for double taxes or taxes on exempted due to the DTA then I feel and will complain to the US State Department and US Embassy and US Congress that the Thai government is violating the DTA between the US and Thai Govenments and I as an American have been paying my taxes to the US govt for 60+ years and am entitled to be protected by this legally binding agreement.  Now if the Thai government decides that they will first cancel these agreements and begin either re-negotiating them or forgetting forever as they lose a bunch of funds from those of us that have already paid our taxes then I will leave even though I hate that thought even.  I enjoy life here and know it is not perfect but I as an American have a strong feeling about improper taxes, just ask the British about that feeling as it goes back about 250 years.  I really do not think that the Thai government will decide to arbitraruly decide to go against 60+ DTA agreements but again as I have mentioned often, TIT and anything that can go wrong just might.  Hopefully, we will get some guidance from the RD soonest.  good luck to all suck up that pollution, run those a/c while we can still afford it maybe.

1 hour ago, impulse said:

 

Ukraine has already lost.  I'd support loans for rebuilding, but not to continue the killing and the dying.

 

Israel has an intractable problem, and will still be intractable in 50 years, and 100 years.  If I were king of the world, I'd offer up an equivalent area in the US for any Israeli who wants to emigrate, hoping that other 1st world countries would match the offer.  Win-win, because Israelis in general are great candidates for US immigration with shared values (Judeo-Christian, well educated, with a good work ethic)  But then, I don't believe that any land is sacred beyond its natural beauty.  So that's a non-starter.

 

Otherwise, I have no opinion on funding Israel.

 

Edit:  But I would say that the USA is broke.  It's long past time we quit funding overseas folly, and spent the money at home.

 

the problem "at home" now with the invasion from the south, tax collected fm citizens has to go to provide housing, schooling, food, etc for the illegal immigrants.  On top of that conside the threat of all the

young adult Chinese males pouring in from that open border too - and since their "asylum" hearing won't occur for years, they can travel within the US where ever they please.  When the CCP is ready, the 

US will be fighting within their own borders and with less that desired US troops.  Generations have changed but politicians still are useless, time to get some honesty and patriotism back in elected positions and not those selected by the $$$$ crowd.  My opinion anyway.  Monies for Ukraine are probably too late now anyway and I noticed an article that Putin is advertising for some more foreign troops so even

though they have been out numbered from the beginning, the Ukraineans have done wonders.  As for Israel, the Palestinians supporting and allowing Hamas to train and set up quarters in the Gaza area has been a festering sore forever and that seems to be why Israel will continue to use the October invasion of terrorists a stimulus to destroy them once and for all.  The Palestinians need to be assimulated into other Middle East Muslim countries and should have been last centurey.  All my opinion too.  I am not a Trumper nor Biden fan but think both will cause doom for USA and the world after November.

The switch to EV in the US reportedly has already hit the brakes as Americans are used to climbing into their vehicle and driving for hours without having to stop except for maybe a "pit stop" and the EV's just cannot do those long trips YET.  Also the cost of vehicles is becoming difficult for many as wages have not come up to the losses due to inflation and housing is much more expensive than ever before with taxes being increased to pay for all the illegals pouring in.  Once people realize the pollution costs of the materials needed for the EV's they will shudder to think they bought into this by the big $$$$ companies.  Just like Big Pharma - over 500 new billionaires duirng the COVID pandemic and people are still paying for that.  Now we are learning that foods can prevent and cure illnesses instead of drugs and medicines and have no harmful effects on the human body.  Again we were led stray by the Big $$$ companies.  China meanwhile is trying to cover the world with their EV's...should be interesting anyway in my opinion.

11 minutes ago, vivananahuahin said:

Who is able to discuss about these rules, not an expert, only between high officials from the concerned governments and about sure dubbele taxation.

This is the point.

again, experts, agents, rd officials - will tell maybe what the current situation is, what seems maybe, what seems impossible, or whatever - nothing new as far as I am concerned. The final government paper stating the exact new rules, who is responsible for doing exactly what with the funds remitted what the funds are or are not...until then another several hundred people guessing what these people think in my opinion.