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1 hour ago, khunPer said:

Yes, that's correct: You need a police report – I think it's still 20 baht in fee – and the go to Land Transport Office to get a new Driver's License, which will cost you a fee in the area of 200 baht. It will be same period, as you lost DL. A photocopy might not work, so better get it done.

Police report was 100b. I've done police reports before but I can't recall when I paid. 

17 minutes ago, DrJoy said:

They will just reprint your existing one, as it is (Original Expiry)

Fee is 55 baht

Wow that seems super cheap. Is that the price in the DLT for Pattaya? Thanks 

Yeah I downloaded the app and tried to register without success from the pictures I had of the QR code on the back.

But I'm also wondering if I do get a new license will I get 5 years or will it only be until the original expiry?

I've just lost my thai 5 year driver's license and the rest of the contents of my wallet. So I'm just wondering do I need to replace it because it's due to be replaced in August next year or can I just show a photocopy of my license until then? Or will I get new 5-years on the new license when they issue the replacement?

Also I've read that I can get away with just the police report copies of my old license probably passport main page as well. Can anybody confirm?

Thanks in advance.

4 hours ago, gearbox said:

Circumnavigate what....being a tax resident or non resident? With the proposed new rules it won't be that difficult to remain resident, 45 days in 3 years is easily doable.

555 I'm pleased you think so. The idea of spending that 45 day in a home that's not my own is probably enough to just make me pay more tax! 

I guess I'll have to weigh it up against the cost of flying to Australia Hotel Etc vs being a non-resident for tax purposes 😂

5 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

Then, you have to deal with Thailand taxing foreign income in the future, and the double taxation agreement. 

 

Buckle up, indeed.  Or, you can believe all of this is just for guys like Paul Hogan, and dismiss all the information in the many, many links provided as scaremongering. 

 

I think the funny thing here is that we're probably all guilty at some point in time, some all the time, of complaining about how Thailand is not organized like the West. 

But the first sign that they might be getting organized that works against us, most of us are up in arms! 😜

My take away with this, is it's not specifically a money grab from the ATO. That's not to suggest that it won't benefit them. But it's more about trying to tidy up the the rules surrounding tax residency.

The current laws surrounding tax residency are dogs breakfast and I think they were created about 70 years ago and not relevant to a modern society.

Anyway it's going to be interesting to see how it's all implemented. Particularly in light of the current tax rules that the Thailand governments might be looking at enforcing. 

So buckle up, I know I am!

4 hours ago, scorecard said:

The bank also uses the VOIP (free) telephone system for all calls within Australia, massive savings. 

Of course it's off topic but did we get the name of the bank? I'm assuming there's no posting rules about that.

8 minutes ago, oxo1947 said:

What are you writing about a Skype option----- you just dont understand, do you ?--- Skype connects to the land line--or mobile  of the person you are calling---they dont need to have Skype.....

 

 

 

I think what he's referring to is some businesses will sometimes have a Skype option to make a free call via the Skype app to their Skype app.

1 minute ago, mfd101 said:

Mobile.

Actually I just found the website explaining it it's pretty straightforward. Also on the pricey side particularly, as I have to wait quite a bit on the phone for government offices. 6b a minute.

https://www.ais.th/en/consumers/package/international/international-call/00500

11 minutes ago, mfd101 said:

With AIS you just dial 00500 + country no. [61 for Oz] + phone no.

 

Can't remember the price (I've never checked) but I think the same as local call (or maybe a bit more but unrelated to duration of call).

Sorry just to follow up. Are you calling from a landline or a mobile?

8 minutes ago, mfd101 said:

With AIS you just dial 00500 + country no. [61 for Oz] + phone no.

 

Can't remember the price (I've never checked) but I think the same as local call (or maybe a bit more but unrelated to duration of call).

That's interesting I have an AIS service so I'll check that out. Cheers

14 minutes ago, oxo1947 said:

I still use Skype  for Oz Goverment/Bank type calls , also use it a lot in Thailand as friends  have  it on--so thats free........

I'm assuming to call government/banks Etc you have to pay for the service? But I have to confess Skype has dropped off the radar for me but it's probably worth checking out. Thanks

2 minutes ago, scorecard said:

I call a buddy in Australia several times every week using the basic LINE application.

 

Last time, yesterday evening, still works well, never any charges.

Yeah but you both need to line up for that.

I'm looking to call Australian phone numbers.

A while ago the Line Out option, in the Line app, to pay and make overseas phone calls was removed and I haven't been able to find a suitable replacement. 

I don't want to pay for a monthly subscription because I only use it infrequently calling government offices Etc for attending to personal business in Australia. So i'm hoping someone has a suggestion for an inexpensive option.

Cheers

2 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

has each block got equal sinking funds and bank accounts? if not why would anyone in those blocks with more money vote for it? you basically have 3 companies 3 lots of voters

I appreciate your input and you're trying to help but I'm guessing you don't have any specific experience with bringing two buildings together to be managed as one. If you do I'd love to hear about what the process was for you. Thanks

57 minutes ago, 1 said:

and possible ways to combine the committees into one.

I probably should have been clearer here. I'm looking to see if it's possible to combine the building management to have one committee rather than the two that we currently have. 

So I'm effectively looking for a legal solution.

19 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Kinda makes sense, easier to manage, separate sinking funds and other finances. Maybe not all blocks are the same, lifts etc

I don't want to kick the the thread off track in the third post, but your prefacing it with the word kinda I think is the key, because it's really a bit of a specious argument. But in this particular case that I'm talking about the buildings are all pretty much the same. So even though it kinda of makes sense it's the flip side of that argument that is the issue. Of course that's a completely different rabbit hole. But I don't disagree with what you're saying.

But of course there are pros and cons to everything, but I'm really interested in how they could be combined.

Our condominium is divided into separate committee management for each building. Although it is effectively a single complex, each building requires its own committee for legal reasons.

I believe this is not uncommon, but I am curious to know if anyone has any experience with this and possible ways to combine the committees into one.

I am also curious as to the reasons for this, if anyone knows factually. I have been told that it could have been because separate parcels of land were purchased to form one condominium, or that developers have to pay more tax for a building over a particular number of rooms.

Any information is appreciated, but I am not really interested in opinions, only direct experience. Thank you.

I'm not sure exactly what you're asking but we previously used QPM to manage our condominium. Very large company with the national footprint and an in-house legal department. 

With my limited experience I found them to be quite professional but at the end of the day it's the building manager who's responsible for the day-to-day stuff so in my mind that is the most important part. Which will generally be supplied by the building management company.

I have a fairly expensive leather sofa and I'm wanting to modify it to have removable cushions rather than the simple wraparound material that it is currently. Part of the reason for this is to make it less springy and softer. I have an upholstery background and believe this should be possible.

I looked at just replacing it but the types of things I'd be replacing it with would come in at about 60,000+

So I'm just hoping that someone has experience with somebody that might have done something similar or something more than just a simple recovery. Clearly a PCX seat recovery shop is probably not likely to fit the bill! ????

Cheers 

On 9/21/2023 at 6:13 PM, villageidiotY2K said:

Hi there, Im currently on True 370B? package. I think around 20GB + 150min call.

Recently True has increased my price without me knowing and Im planning to switch to AIS.

 

Basically I don't call or recieve calls at all. And I use wifi at home.

But I guess need the number for internet banking to send OTP.

Is there any cheapest packages you can recommend to me? 

I'm not sure this will be available to you because I don't know where you are.

But I stay in a condo in Pattaya with the AIS Power4 home internet package. This gives me unlimited internet at home at about 50 megabytes a second and they Supply a SIM card with 5 GB of data every month. For all of this I pay around 266 baht a month. I'm pretty sure it also included a free router as long as I stayed contracted for a year. I'm now on my third year. So far so good!

I use this guy for adding a couple of circuit breakers about a year ago to my main board, very neat. Though in my experience Thais seem to want to put in a separate breaker for each cable run which in my opinion is overkill and no I'm not an electrician. But otherwise happy with his work. Does not speak English though.

Mr Jaroon 081 862 5291.

On 9/14/2023 at 9:03 PM, dlited said:

Thanks for the responses. If I had millions I would split it in 3 offshores and claim residence in a country with zero income tax, but I don't.

 

4MyEgo sounds like our plans and motivations are similar. I hope mate that you have enough that you don't need to go back at 67. Do you mind me asking which banks allowed term deposits and being non resident? I have money in Ubank, Macquarrie and AMP, but am concerned, they could cancel them, if they knew I wasn't residing in oz. My plan is to go back to Oz next month and move money from Ubank, Macquarrie into 5 year term deposits, because it looks like interest rates have peaked. Would make sense to diversify and buy some dividend stocks, but no idea what to buy.

 

FYI, last month Commonwealth bank asked me to confirm address after only 8 months out of the country and threatened to limit transactions, when I tried to ignore their request.

 

It seems the consensus is to maintain residency and assets in oz. For anyone who has become non resident, what was the rationale? How is that going to play out in regards to getting the pension later?

I agree with 4MyEgo shares cash the way to go. The tax residency laws are a dog's breakfast particularly when you take into consideration that is likely to change sometime in the near future.

My main reason for posting is just to let you know that I recently had the individual identification thing with Macquarie Bank. I messed around and did all that and a year later have been asked to do it again. It was probably prompted by a property sale. But that's just my best guess.

Personally I like to keep most of my assets in Australia to try and help argue tax residency, though in the 7 years I have been looking at this I'm not confident in anything. The only thing I would say with a small amount of confidence is that they seem to be more interested in maintaining you as a tax resident generally. More interested in catching out the guys earning the big dollars in multinational companies and avoiding any income tax in Australia, than guys in their 50s trying to scratch together enough money for a half a dozen Leos! 

Of course there's always exceptions to these opinions but the only thing I've come across that I will take as gospel, is a guy here on Asean now who got a ruling from the ATO about his tax residency.

One final point. As mentioned by 4MyEgo. Investing in the Australian share market is a very useful way to generate income particularly if they are fully franked. The share market is super friendly to newbies with tons of information available. Things like ETFs LICs etc can help generate relatively reliable income with relatively small amounts of education.

12 hours ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

Yes, I've used the house blue book at immigration for residence certificate 

I think there may be some confusion. I was asking if it can be used instead of a residence certificate. For those things that a residence certificate is used for.

26 minutes ago, sungod said:

Unless you are a permanent resident, I dont believe a foreigner can have their name in a Blue book, so I am sure the answer would be no.

Maybe I am misrepresenting a blue book. I'm talking about the thing you get when you buy a condominium.