huberthammer

I guess he surrendered quickly...

These days I am mostly impressed with how long they manage to close the automated walkway for maintenance. It is coming to 4 years now which is just mind boggling

I have a THAI TIN and filed a Thai Tax report (with zero income) for the tax years 2022 & 2023. In 2024 I will live less than 180 days in Thailand. Do I have to inform the Thai Tax authorities or is it enough that I can show evidence that I spent less than 180 days in the Kingdom?

What CCTV up in the hills where the Durian Farms are?

Greetings, is there a decent motorbike shop in Krabi that sells helmets, clothing and accessories? TIA

let's assume it will take 10 years and as part of their random choice they pick you do see how your tax situation is and they present you with the bill for taxes which in their opinion you had not paid for the last 10 year. you might be in a proper frenzy. even worse when they tell you that they freeze your assets because they don't agree with your assessment that you are part of the 99.9% who should not pay tax. It will be nice to live a happy life for 10 years and be deluded that this has nothing to do with you. however, the day of reckoning will come. I have heard and seen it before in so called developed countries and i have no doubt it will end in the similar tears here.

Getting life advice from <deleted>fluencers is probably the only thing worse than using advice given in a bar.

great contribution. But as long as they let mugs like you in it is probably best to start an intelligence test at the border before spotting tattoos,.

Excellent, would you mind to report back how it went for you? interested as well in this solution. TIA

sounds like a great idea aside from the Thai government interpreting the rules as they see fit. I read similar comments when it came to showing bank balances for immigration and unfortunately they did not see it as the optimistic chap saw it. At the end they are in a much stronger position than us on these issues. I am pretty sure if you stay here 180+ days for 2 years and then stay away for 1 year and get back they will go after you and aside from the huge bureaucratic hassle there is a good chance they will hit you for the tax anyway unless you show that you were declared a tax citizen elsewhere and did declare a tax return. Don't forget, they have the upper hand. If they think something is fishey they will block your accounts and might even collect the passport until all is sorted.

It will not be a joyride to prove that the transfer from your savings account abroad was earned and taxed 10 years ago. sounds like an admin nightmare and once they have people on the hook it will be on them to prove the money was taxed before.

they started doing this a while back. Unfortunately very early on in the project a barge/ship with the rubbish on board sunk and it seems to have ended there.

they might not all be stupid, some are just too lazy ...

Do you think in the future desalination could be a solution if produced with solar power or is the disposal of the brine just too difficult/expensive?

I love all the comments about "never buy only rent in Thailand". Makes great comedy of the recent huge surge in rental prices and people getting kicked out of their villas because current market prices are now much higher than what they paid and then they are not able to find anything anywhere near the same price. Buying a property for your own use has many advantages over rental and will pay out in the long run in both convenience and economically. I would agree that if you buy property based on advice given here (or in your local bar) it might be best to stay away. However, doing proper due diligence and use of a good lawyer mitigates most of the risks associated with buying property in Thailand (or anywhere else in the world).

After all, high flight prices into samui also keep a lot of the undesirables away. Lot less trouble and shenanigans than in places with cheaper access. In addition, could the island's infrastructure really cope with 5-10 charter flights a day? quite happy to keep it as it is and let people talk bad about the island where they have no or very little knowledge

Yes there is one: https://www.consulate-info.com/consulate/31671/United-Kingdom-in-Koh-Samui

There was a few days late last year when they already stopped issuing residents certificates at Immigration only to resume this service shortly after (its unclear if this was a communication issue or what happened). I have Thai ID and Yellow book but Motorbike and Car Dealers including agents who deal with paperwork will not accept it as they say Land Transport Office in Samui does not accept them for ownership transfers (they do accept workpermits). I was positively surprised when they accepted the yellow book for the Driving Licence renewal and I wonder if this is yet another communication breakdown. Hopefully Immigration will resume issuance of resident certificates so people don't keep running around in cricles.

I believe the free marketforces are not quite as much at work as you suggest. Prior to Covid Silkair did have two flights. I was told that they got the landing rights for the SIN-USM flights under the condition that they could not undercut Bkk Airways fares on that route. I thought it was fishy but closely following those fairs for quite a few years they indeed were not once cheaper on their basic fare than Bkk Airways but their cheapest fares mirrored Bkk Airways exactly through the various price cycles.

Living here I have to say in a way it is a blessing that the flights are more expensive. We don't get the charter flights with the riffraff causing commotion at every corner of the island. As mentioned by others, at high season the infrastructure can't cope already. Adding a bridge will just make this a problem all around the year.

would you try that at home and what do you think would happen if you just brush away the old bill there?

Learning Thai was a common loophole for people who wanted to stay longer than the tourist visa allowed. It all went well until people started to promote it on social medial. Once Immigration started to check on school attendance, making the visa shorter and require a test to move on to the next level/visa it started to fall apart. It was a good money spinner, there were a few schools where the numbers did not add up. 200+ enrolled students taking a minimum of 4 hours a week with a classroom that fitted less than 10 pax...

Really - seems over 50pct are gang members then. Do you live in the last century?

the one in Maenam has not reopened since Covid. Talk about January opening but Maenam just does not have that many tourists as mostly smaller Hotels.

I believe they cancelled them after a month. I contacted them but their reply was rather "fluid".