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Considering that the 180 day rule has been around for years and just some changes on what income is included were amended this year, I would say everyone is overreacting about all this tax news. Why? Because of enforcement. Until they announce any enforcement measures, I would not even worry. The more logical statement is "IF" they announce. I don't think there will be a "when". Why? Because they didn't enforce it before, so they likely won't enforce it now. Regarding ways they could enforce it. Currently, they only enforce the filing of personal income tax in Thailand when one needs to renew a work permit. Moving forward, they could use the exit and entry history from immigration and send notices out, but then what? They could impose stricter bank of Thailand regulations where banks would need to notify the revenue dept more often on the money you receive from abroad. Then what? They could ask immigration to request proof you filed personal income tax before they extend your Retirement visa or Thai wife visa. ****For all you ridiculous people, extension of stay based on being retired or married to a Thai....geeze who cares. Most members understand visa and visa extension and it's easier for them to comprehend.*** So, anyways, then what? Immigration won't want to deal with all this. That's for sure. In my opinion, all this will be too much trouble for the Thai government. They won't be able to organize all this properly. They would have to make an online website for foreigners to register for a tax ID. They would have to have a concrete plan of enforcement with multiple government sectors involved. All that to force foreigners to file. Yes, that's right. Force them to file, not pay. With most countries, there are DTAs to prevent people from being double taxed. Guys, they can't even get the weed laws straight. They can't even get the 60 days visa exemption announcement straight. How can we assume they will get the tax laws straight and a system in place that would take years of planning and multiple government sectors to enforce. It will never happen. Just like it never happened before. When I saw the latest announcement how they will implement a world tax system, I laughed hysterically. I wish Thailand the best of luck, but I don't think they will be able to pull any of this off. Besides, a new government will come along in a few years and change the strategy again on all these things. Enjoy your retirement in Thailand guys and stop moaning about stuff that has not happened yet and most likely won't.

There are no rogue offices. Any immigration office or officer has the right to request additional information to extend a visa or issue a visa. They also issue new internal regulations or announcements in different immigration offices in different cities, For example, in Chiangmai, if you want to do an extension of stay based on working for a local Thai Foundation, you must submit a certified copy of the Foundation license done within 7 days of the visa extension and show proof of the position necessity with programming info. These things are not required in Bangkok. Bangkok however does ask for a TM30 at counter N now and Chiangmai still does not. So, again, there are no rogue offices of immigration. They sometimes need to adapt to local issues. Just like in Pattaya to do an extension of stay based on retirement. They ask for a lease contract for 1 year sometimes. I don't need to show that in Bangkok ever. Another example is Pattaya will not issue a 1 year work permit immediately. They will issue it for 1 month first and then do another after for the remainder of the 1 year. Never need to do this in Bangkok.

Considering that the 180 day rule has been around for years and just some changes on what income is included were amended this year, I would say you and many others are overreacting about all this tax news. Why? Because of enforcement. Until they announce any enforcement measures, I would not even worry. The more logical statement is "IF" they announce. I don't think there will be a "when". Why? Because they didn't enforce it before, so they likely won't enforce it now. Regarding ways they could enforce it. Currently, they only enforce the filing of personal income tax in Thailand when one needs to renew a work permit. Moving forward, they could use the exit and entry history from immigration and send notices out, but then what? They could impose stricter bank of Thailand regulations where banks would need to notify the revenue dept more often on the money you receive from abroad. Then what? They could ask immigration to request proof you filed personal income tax before they extend your Retirement visa or Thai wife visa. ****For all you ridiculous people, extension of stay based on being retired or married to a Thai....geeze who cares. Most members understand visa and visa extension and it's easier for them to comprehend.*** So, anyways, then what? Immigration won't want to deal with all this. That's for sure. In my opinion, all this will be too much trouble for the Thai government. They won't be able to organize all this properly. They would have to make an online website for foreigners to register for a tax ID. They would have to have a concrete plan of enforcement with multiple government sectors involved. All that to force foreigners to file. Yes, that's right. Force them to file, not pay. With most countries, there are DTAs to prevent people from, being double taxed. Guys, they can't even get the weed laws straight. They can't even get the 60 days visa exemption announcement straight. How can we assume they will get the tax laws straight and a system in place that would take years of planning and multiple government sectors to enforce. It will never happen. Just like it never happened before. When I saw the latest announcement how they will implement a world tax system, I laughed hysterically. I wish Thailand the best of luck, but I don't think they will be able to pull any of this off. Besides, a new government will come along in a few years and change the strategy again on all these things. Enjoy your retirement in Thailand guys and stop moaning about stuff that has not happened yet and most likely won't.

You are correct that the law was changed in 2020. However, recently immigration has started to ask again in certain situations. One example, I was at Nonthaburi immigration the last week. At the check in desk where you get the number, they posted at notice and an example of a TM30 saying they still wanted to see the TM30 for the first 90 day report at any given address. Another example, which was the reason I was there. I have done my 90 day reports online consistently, even after leaving the country and coming back to the same address without filing a new TM30. However, this time, I renewed my passport before my last extension of stay. Even though I had transferred stamps from the old passport to the new passport before my extension of stay, they rejected my online report and asked to see the original TM30 before doing the report in person. I knew this would be the case, so I brought it with me. The third example, counter N at Immigration division 1 is now asking to see a TM30 for every extension of stay based on being an employee of a non profit organization. This means either a local Thai Foundation or a Foreign Private Organization (NGO). They have also started asking for a TM30 for every extension of stay based on being a student. They are currently not asking for this at any of the other counters. This was changed in the first or second week of May. The point is that immigration often issue internal regulations under circumstances to protect the Kingdom. In this last example, it was issued due to the corruption which has been apparent in the issuing of visas for employees in the non profit sector and students of language schools.

And for the record, when we talk to clients and give advice, we use vocabulary that is easy for them to understand. It's called common sense that you don't confuse customers. Let me educate you again. We use 'visa extension' or 'extend visa' instead of extension of stay. Why? so customers easily understand. So the guy asking the question easily understands. I have no use for a guy that comes on a public forum and debates with people about using "extend visa" instead of 'extension of stay". So, when speaking to customers or answering questions in a forum, I will use "visa extension" and "visa" and I could care less what you think or say about it. Bebye.

Now i am going to educate you with the Law. Wait for it. Here are more specifics. The Royal Thai Police issued Royal Thai Police’s order No.327/2557 dated June 30, 2014, which took effect on August 29, 2014. Since then, a standing administrative practice has been established. The immigration officer may allow a cancellation of the visa stamp about 3 weeks before the end of the employment. In that case, the time will be sufficient to apply for a new work permit (for the new employment) and a visa extension before the end of the current employment. Now I will be very specific for you so you are educated properly. The process will then be as follows: 1.The Immigration Office must be notified and the non-immigrant B visa must be cancelled. 2. Following that, the work permit must be cancelled together with returning the booklet to the Labour Department. 3. Upon receipt of the notification, the Immigration Office will issue a formal permission for the employee to stay in Thailand in accordance with the letter of previous employer. If the notification is submitted to the Immigration Office not longer than 3 weeks (this is the 21 days I’m talking about), before the end of the employment, the Immigration Office will grant such permission to stay in Thailand until the employment ends. 4. During this 3-week period, the employee may apply for a new work permit and extend a non-B visa under the new employment respectively. Please note that the usual processing time for a new work permit at the Labour Department is 5 working days. The processing time of the new visa extension at the Immigration Office may be as short as 1 day. If there is no any interruption to the visa application, the immigration office will stamp the pending visa on the same day. After that, the foreigner needs to follow up to get one-year visa stamp on the appointment date. Therefore, ample time to complete the process is available. Otherwise, if this process is not followed, the foreign employee who needs to change his job must apply for a 7-day extension to stay after the current employment ends. This meaning the employer cancels the work permit, then on the same day, the employee applies for the 7 days stamp and the previous Non-B visa is terminated. Then, he must leave the country and apply for an entirely new Non-B visa abroad. This applies to foreigners who are allowed to stay in the kingdom under 1 year visa extensions. With regards to a 1 year Non-B visa which was issued from a Thai embassy/consulate and if the foreigner has not applied for a visa extension at Immigration Office yet, this does not apply, and the Non-B visa remains valid after the end of the employment until its usual expiration date. Only if the visa previously has been extended by the Immigration Office, the visa will expire immediately in the circumstances mentioned above. So, this has been this way for 10 years and you didn’t even know about it. Ok thanks for coming out again.

No. You are absolutely wrong. Visas can be cancelled before the work permit with a letter from the employer. He needs to cancel a visa and work permit from a previous employer and then get more than 7 days. We don't want the 7 days. We want up to 21 days so he can apply for a new Non-B visa inside Thailand. As I clearly posted, we can't cancel the work permit first or the visa will be cancelled immediately and we don't want 7 days either, which is what you get if you cancel the work permit on the same day before going to immigration to get the 7 day stamp. I do this every week with many clients. If you don't know, don't comment. I am tired of this endless debate on here between members who give visa advice and everyone then debates for hours and hours until admin shuts the thread down. You know absolutely nothing about cancelling visas and work permits with an employer, and then getting a new visa with a new employer inside Thailand without leaving the country. Thanks for coming out though. Nice try. If you want to be trained on this process and open up your own law firm, let me know. We can do it for a reasonable price for you and if the OP pays my firm, we can do it for him in 20 minutes and post the evidence here for you to be educated on the visa laws. Besides the OP is gone now anyways and won't even read ANY of our posts. So, one last time. VISAS CAN ABSOLUTELY BE CANCELLED THE DAY BEFORE YOU CANCEL A WORK PERMIT AND YOU CAN ABSOLUTELY REQUEST UP TO 21 DAYS INSTEAD OF 7 DAYS AS LONG AT THAT REQUEST IS ON THE VISA CANCELLATION LETTER FROM THE EMPLOYER AND YOU HAVE MORE THAN THAT LEFT ON YOUR CURRENT VISA'S PERMISSION TO STAY. MY FIRM DOES THIS MULTIPLE TIMES PER WEEK, SO I DON'T NEED SOME GUY SITTING IN THE UK WITH NOTHING BETTER TO DO THAT DEBATE IN AN ONLINE FORUM TELLING US WHAT WE DO EVERY WEEK IS NOT POSSIBLE LOL BYE BYE NOW.

I can help you. if the employer cancels your visa first, they can request immigration to give up to 21 days to leave the country or sort yourself out a new visa. Honoring that request will depend on the discretion of the officer and whether or not you have at least that amount of time left on your current visa. For example, if you have 2 months remaining, it's possible to do this. If you have 5 days remaining, they will just stamp you 7 days. Then they cancel your work permit the day after. Process is as follows: 1. Cancel visa 2. Cancel work permit 3. Apply new visa 4. New work permit 5. Extension of stay. This is just the general process. The reason they should not cancel the work permit first is because if they do, your visa will be voided immediately. Therefore, we do it this way to avoid that. Hope this helps. This is the process for changing from one company to another in regards to the visa and work permit.

That was me who posted that. Look at my post above yours. I believe the UK government just followed the press and that's it. Nobody from MOFA told them June 1st. Look at the info graph. It's dated May 29 and clearly proves my point as its from MOFA.

From what we are being told, this is not temporary. However, please wait.

If that was the case, why are they not stamping people in for 60 days? Read the introduction of the info. It is their understanding. If they confirmed the info, it would say that as confirmed with the Thai Government. I believe they just posted this using the info from the media. Nobody from MOFA told them June 1st. Why? Because on May 29, MOFA was very clear that these changes would be implemented following the completion of legal procedures. We were told two things. Someone spoke out of turn and the press jumped the gun. Top of info graph in red says this and the bottom right hand corner says May 29 from MOFA/Ministry of Councillor Affairs, which is a dept inside MOFA.

Our office was able to get a response from immigration and MOFA. They said that the press jumped the gun and took the announcement out of context. The official Infograph shared is very clear about the measures not taking effect until the proper legal procedures are complete. After speaking to the Ministry of Councillor Affairs and Immigration, we spoke to Immigration at both airports and also confirmed they are still stamping people in for 30 days and have not implemented the new guidelines yet. The calls were made yesterday and today.The same cluster F**K as 2 visa exempt entries per calendar year is now happening here. The left arm not knowing what the right arm is doing. On that issue, we have also received conflicting info from different Thai government sources. My office has in writing from MOFA and 5 Thai embassies confirming that it was not a typo and that only 2 visa exempt entries per year are allowed by air and another email in writing from immigration still saying its unlimited entires by air at the discretion of immigration officers. So, how can there be all these emotional debates and deleting of posts causing the post authors to get angry when we know the source is not organized enough to implement their own rules accurately? I am hoping we can freely share info here without being ridiculed by others. My firm has a lot of connections with the Thai government, so if I share something, it's not being made up. However, if the source has issues, such as in these two cases, I have no control over it.

Hmm where have I pitched legal services here? Give it a rest mate. NEXT............

Ah 4 per year is not much. I had a guy with 3 this year turned around. Next guy that calls. I will give them your name and number to give to the officer at the airport. You can explain to the officer they let you in 4 times and everything will be ok and you insist they let him in. Please DM me your name and contact details.Thanks.

Ah yes. Integrity legal must also be wrong. I see. All the calls my firm gets must be fake. Alas, you must be correct and everyone else must be full of it.

The UK Thai embassy is even clearer. but says 2 times period.

Don't care. It's not relevant to this topic. Everyone must be wrong and you must be right. keep debating everything here and on the Thaigher forum. Do you even have time to eat and sleep. lol Next, call both Thai Embassies and give them a piece of your mind. Tell them they are wrong. Sign petitions. Call the office of the Prime-minister. How dare they spread these false regulations. How dare they make a 15 day typo. Go to demonstrate outside the Integrity Legal office and insist he resign as the MD of Integrity Legal and stop working as a lawyer. Alas.

There was a royal decree about this few years ago and here is the evidence from the real Thai embassy websites in the UK and the US. They are both up to date. Read it and weep boys. There are three links to supporting info and screenshots attached. It’s not a new law. Immigration can choose to enforce this at their own discretion or ask you to prove you are a legitimate tourist by asking to show proof of onward travel or return flight, proof of travel funds, and proof of accommodation. They will then decide to allow you to enter or not. Some may be successful and some may not. We take multiple calls a week from guys being refused entry due to this regulation. Most are under 50, stay here working without the proper visa and work permit and don't qualify for the STV or MTV as they have no money in the bank. The days of staying long term as a tourist are over. Just because one guy says he has entered 1 million times last year on visa exemption does not mean you will be treated the same way. Next time you get questioned or refused entry under visa exemption, what are you going to do? Show the post from Mike Smith on ASEAN now calling everyone crazy because they say you can only enter two times per calendar year on visa exemption. The officer will then say" Oh yes, an ASEAN now poster said you can enter more than that, so please move on through sir. I am sorry for the inconvenience" Lol Then there are the retirees that try to come often on visa exemption. They don't want to be bothered with getting a retirement visa, or they don't have the 800,000 Baht or don't want to show it, or they can't prove their income or don't have a good income and refuse to pay an agent to facilitate the visa because they can't even afford the 20-30K baht per year. Alas. In summary, UK website says 2 times per calendar year PERIOD and then 2 times per year by land and sea is specifically mentioned. The Thai Embassy site in the US is very specific about mentioning by air as well. Then Benjamin Heart from Integrity legal also confirms this as as well 7 days ago regarding the royal decree from a few years ago. But alas. There will still be someone on here saying the embassy websites are typos and Benjamin Heart is full of it. For those, keep trying to come 1 million times per year on visa exemption see what happens. Lol I swear you lot will debate about anything. Get a proper visa if you come often as a tourist and be done with it. stop mucking about and stop debating on public forums to make yourselves feel better. Immigration will do what they want and may let you in or they won't. They Arte not consistent at all. Even the state of their mood could be a deciding factor. Do you want to fall victim to this? I think not. GET A PROPER VISA. END OF STORY. https://london.thaiembassy.org/en/page/exemp-visa https://washingtondc.thaiembassy.org/en/page/visa-exemption https://youtu.be/Iewk1IYWFxc?si=UPm9QaQfIBWJoP6E

There is nothing wrong with the system. It never takes more than 24 hours to get an answer either. The only problem is guys try to use it with a browser that is not compatible, such as safari and also they make a mistake on the info they input.

It amazes me how people put millions of baht on the line to buy a house or a condo and are too cheap to seak legal advice to get the right info. Therefore, relying on a bunch of sofa lawyers sitting back in the UK in a pub or a retired guy in Pattaya.that troll the forums when they are bored. For god sake, call a lawyer.

Oh my god. I have never seen anything like this before in my life. This is what I read here. A few say get a lawyer. Most say don’t because it’s too expensive or they won’t help you because they’re lazy. One guy sending the OP to consumer protection with no Thai language support saying they have free lawyers. Then one bloke writes a book about how he knows an immigration officer who saved his ass on a business deal. One thing we do know is that if anyone living in a foreign country has issues, they should not be doing these types of things alone. However, in the end, the ops situation has somehow miraculously solved itself!!! Good job to all the sofa lawyers. Here’s to a job well done. No lawyer will make one Baht and the world is still safe.????????????

I have sent you a DM but you seem intent on dealing with what you think is a serious issue without proper legal advice. Relying on a forum full of sofa lawyers will not get you any further ahead.

I know a company that will review the lease, send a legal notice to the landlord and call on behalf of the client for a monthly membership fee of 795 Thai baht with no obligation to keep the membership. Of course there are also other benefits and many do keep it after their original issue is resolved. So, your assumption may be partially correct, but not 100%. Do some research and you will find good lawyers and companies to deal with things like this for reasonable fees.

I’ve sent you a DM these types of disputes are often handled by consumer protection. Check your DM.

I’m not assuming anything, as my message to the OP outlined the alternatives as well. However you assumed that you can’t terminate a lease before the end in Thailand under any circumstances without losing your deposit and you were wrong. So give your head a shake mate.