Airalee

It’s unfortunate that you are so dishonest. It was part of a big steaming pile of word salad. How you can support bills being passed without it being a legal requirement for them to actually be read by the congress members is disgusting. Shame on you.

You really seem to want to pay taxes with no benefits. You’re not playing “devils advocate”. You’re being a shill. Are you on the payroll? Part of the “fabric” that the taxes pay here is healthcare. I’m not interested in hearing what you pay or don’t pay in the UK. The whole point of paying taxes is to get some sort of benefit. Not just to be a cash cow for a government. I don’t live here for free. I pay more in taxes with the VAT than most Thais. No taxation without representation.

I’ll see your Rachel Levine and raise you one Virgie Tovar… https://nypost.com/2024/12/18/health/fat-positivity-expert-hired-by-san-francisco-dept-of-health-to-consult-on-weight-stigma/

Then they shouldn’t have a problem with us getting subsidized healthcare either. Touché

I used to tip 1,000 to everybody. Now that I won’t be there this Christmas I suppose it’ll be nothing and it won’t even phase them. Probably have all new staff by now anyways. I still get great service as if there is ever a problem in my unit, it gets handled immediately and everybody involved gets a few hundred baht as a thanks. My girlfriend is also constantly baking them the Neiman Marcus chocolate chip cookies so that helps too.

Actually, I believe it would be guavas. 😁

Ummmm….the quoted material you gave me did give numbers so your claim of going from one patient to eight is quite disingenuous. Carry on. Nothing to see here.

No. People aren’t restricted to the hospital where they are registered if their hospital does not offer what is needed. Referrals can be made. You should educate yourself on how the healthcare here works.

This quote by the OP was comedy gold….

Ok….explain the 800%+ rise now. Has there been an 800% increase in PET scan machines? I didn’t think so. Your quoted figures show a rise of less than 200% from 1997 until 2017. Don’t forget to get your recommended Covid booster. 😘

I never claimed that the taxes from the Thai tax evaders was insignificant. But as foreigners are small potatoes in comparison, why include them? Are they really that desperate for money? As I said….penny wise and pound foolish. If they want to tax our income, perhaps we should get some of the benefits that Thais also get such as the opportunity to buy into the Thai social health insurance plans for ฿600/month. If they didn’t have as many foreigners, who’s gonna buy all the empty condos? I suspect that other countries will gladly take our money and be grateful for it.

Yes. I understand what the intention of the law was and that it was aimed at Thais. I also understand that the legislative wheels turn slowly here….but in reality, how hard would it be to just come out and exclude foreigners who are on Non-O visa extensions based on retirement? I would prefer to stay, but if treated like a tax donkey while they drag their feet (and kept in a perpetual state of uncertainty and the accompanying stress)….I voted with my wallet and bailed. Of course….nothing is ever simple here.

There is no official retirement visa option but there are agents who get the 90 day visas renewed without having to leave the country. All completely legit from what I understand. This can be done over and over and over ad infinitum as far as I know as my brother has been doing it for close to 15 years now. Longer “business” visas are also available but I’m not sure what that entails.

And it’s not like all the other things people seem to mention weren’t issues for many many years until now. Something must have changed 🤔 If living in denial makes people more comfortable….so be it.

Not yet…but it would behoove the Thai government to get off their ass and clarify things regarding their “penny wise, pound foolish” taxation scheme.

I believe that Thailand thinks that Vietnam is still below them and don’t realize how far they have come in the last 10 years. Da Nang has an excellent food scene….much better than Hanoi had 10 years ago. And they are also constructing apartments that are equal to those on offer in Thailand. Just in the neighborhood surrounding me (Khue Mai) there are at least 8 buildings that are nearing completion. It’s all much cheaper too. The international hospital (Vinmec) is also quite nice and less expensive than the hospitals in Thailand.

Yes….that is what I read and is why I am taking the preemptive moves that I am. If they do decide to, one thing to take into consideration is that Thailand will tax capital gains as income so instead of only paying the 15% on US capital gains (up to $518,900), we will be into the 25 to 35% brackets here in Thailand. So there is an extra 10-20% that will be owed on capital gains.

Correct me if I’m wrong but I remember reading that it was the entirety of all global income and not just the amount remitted into Thailand.

All the people coming up with their cockamamie ways to evade taxes will eventually come to realize the old saying regarding “death and taxes” Better to just leave for 6 months imho.

You can rent quite nice places also for far less than that $10,000 saved too.

Yup. You’ve nailed quite a few things that the people who claim that the government doesn’t care about us because all the well heeled tourists will pick up the slack. I won’t feel the need to keep my car. Will be selling it when I return. Already have unsolicited offers from Thai’s who want it as it’s a rare manual transmission convertible. Why own a condo when I can just stay with my girlfriend at her condo? I’ll sell that too. At a loss of course, but right now, it’s dead money to me. Already combing Redfin daily looking for a condo back in the US. Already replaced one doctor from Thailand with another in Vietnam. I won’t be “vacationing” in Thailand so beach hotels and restaurants will be replaced by ones in Vietnam. The car/condo/bank account will be close to 10 million baht divested and moved out of Thailand. And my spending when I am there will drop substantially too because I won’t need to spend on goods and services that can be purchased elsewhere. The retirees that don’t care probably aren’t going to be liable for any taxes so Thailand can fill their boots with the ones who pay agents 30k per year in order to extend their visa and then live on 30k/month. The ones who try to stay under the radar and hope that they aren’t pursued for taxes owed….well….wish in one hand and s#it in the other and see which fills up first. Just wait until they try to hit foreigners up for property tax as was mentioned in another thread.

Wait for her to start screeching that AI is a “threat to democracy” 😄

Up to them. They can get their money from tourists (especially the luxury market they continually hang their hopes on) instead of trying to turn retirees upside down and shake the change from their pockets.

No more of this….