Misty

No, the LTR visa couldn't be more different from a tourist visa. It's a visa that allows recipients to work, so it's a business visa, except better in so many ways. No need for 4 Thai employees, tax benefits, no messy, exp and time consuming annual renew as its for 10 years, and the BOI is not corrupt etc etc

I received the LTR visa in country, and the validity of the 5 year period permission to stay started on the day I received the visa, and ends when my passport expires next year. I plan to get a new passport from my embassy while in Thailand. The LTR unit said once I have the new passport, I'll receive the permission to stay through the 5 year date from when I received the LTR visa. It'll be shorter than 5 years at that point, however, since I received the LTR visa some time ago.

Just to be sure, January 28 of what year? When re-entering, the IO has always stamped an "Until" permission to stay until 5 years from the day and year that I received the LTR.

are you saying "how will they know"

That would be good to know, if true. Could you provide a reference from the agreement saying Thai residents who are also US citizens are exempt from US information sharing? The Thailand-US IGA is a Model 1 agreement. https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/tax-policy/foreign-account-tax-compliance-act

The Thai government should now be receiving information on accounts in the US. Although the Thai-US FATCA IGA was signed in 2016, it only came into force last year. The IGA includes reporting obligations that go both ways (Thailand to US, and US to Thailand). Specifically Article 2 of the IGA, item 2b explains about what US financial institutions need to report to Thailand. https://www.mof.go.th/th/view/attachment/file/3134303034/FATCA_IGA_Us.pdf

Hi Samtam, Please can you post a link to where to complete the 2024 PND90 online? I've been trying to get a pdf of the new 2024 form and have only come up with old forms and translations. My apologies if this form is widely available - I've used google search broadly and also on this form and not been able to find the pdf. Just a lot of discussion about it. Thank you !

Congratulations, very glad to hear you got in touch with some top BOI folks and that you'll be getting the LTR visa soon. Thanks for posting the details on your experience - will certainly help other members in the future.

Are you in Bangkok, and can you go to the LTR unit's office in person? It may help you get answers and possibly move the process along, especially if the situation is a bit more complicated. Certainly did in my case, as well as a couple of other folks I know.

In case it helps - I'm an LTR holder and I've been filing TM30s when I return from overseas. I found having a TM30 really useful when getting Certificates of Residence from Chamchuri Square for things like buying a car, renewing Thai driver's licenses, getting an international driver's license, etc. Not sure what would happen if I didn't have the TM30 (for example, tried to use my lease or use a TM30 from a previous arrival). Maybe it would still be fine, but not going to tempt the fates.

Difference in service. I imagine you can still get a COR at another office for Bt200 if you'd prefer. At Chamchuri you get the form back in person and in an hour, and with very little hassle. Depending on your location the extra Bt300 might not be worth it for some folks, but it definitely is for me. Chamchuri much easier for me to get to, and the overall time/money/hassle trade-off is worth it.

As Pib says, BOI Chamchuri is pretty painless for Certificates of Residence. I've gotten two there and helped someone else get one and all were painless. Go to info desk & get paperwork checked, pay Bt500, submit paperwork counter 10, come back in an hour to collect. You can wait there, or have a coffee or meal downstairs. Counter 10 is even friendly.

Thanks, Pib, understood. I have 2 Factor on all my financial accounts, couldn't login otherwise. Agreed that you have to be very careful in any event. Phones unfortunately can get malware too. A friend was phished, downloaded malware, and had fairly high amount taken from their account (limit had been increased temporarily to facilitate a particular transaction). People are accustomed to clicking or swiping on anything that comes on their phone, including fake messages containing malware. Unfortunately QR codes can be faked too, and take the user to a site with malware.

Pib, am curious about the lack of security of BBL ibanking. Is that specific to BBL only, or do you think phone banking is safer than ibanking across the board? BBL is my company's bank and I can't see how I'd use phone banking for corporate tasks. A couple of my friends have lost money using phone banking (not necessarily BBL), but haven't heard of same for ibanking. I'm probably more like @JimGant - my phone is just a phone.

Hi Ben, I've been living and working in Thailand for decades, and own and run a successful company here. But the regulatory and operating environment has been changing, and mostly not for the better. The one bright spot has been the introduction of the LTR visa. To answer your question, one would probably not start working and investing in Thailand today given all the red tape, bureaucracy, regulatory burden. Not to mention the recent confusing personal income tax changes.