nottin

Windsor Windows is worth checking with https://www.windsor.co.th

Thought it might be interesting to read some sections of the revenue code. From the section 42 of the revenue code there are some sources of income which are exempt from income tax calculation. (10) Income derived from an inheritance. (23) Income from sale of investment units in a mutual fund. (24) Income of a mutual fund. Plus, there is no capital gain tax from equity trading in Thailand. So although not mentioned in the code specifically that would be another source exempted. These are cut and pasted from the code here https://www.rd.go.th/english/37749.html

I am not saying I am not a tax resident anywhere. I am a tax resident in another country and cannot get around that. Ok, I do earn some income in Thailand, and pay taxes on it, all 3,500 Baht interest from my bank account. I have never seen or been told that I am a tax resident in Thailand even though I spend 90% of the year here. Just went through this with broker accounts I set up earlier this year in Europe, US & Asia, and their compliance departments were satisfied with my explanation of where my tax jurisdiction is and that I have no tax liability in Thailand even though I consider myself a resident here, which at this time, I believe to be completely true. I did try searching for guidelines of what makes a tax resident, a resident of a country, and as long as I do what I need for my legal tax jurisdiction in another country I am good. If Thailand tries coming after all income earned abroad by a retiree residing in Thailand, yet who is not allowed to work in Thailand, well they cannot even accomplish this with their own citizens.

I think it is safe to say in order to be a tax resident you must have a tax ID. You can be a resident in Thailand because you spend most of the year in Thailand, but that alone doesn't make you a tax resident. How to get a tax ID here, first off you should earn income here. The stipulations of Non-imm OA retirement visa and Thailand Elite, both clearly state you cannot work. So unless they start handing out tax IDs, I am not worried. And then even if they did, sure they might know of one overseas account where you send your money from to support yourself in Thailand, but good luck learning about any other accounts. They will have a hard enough time finding the accounts of the smart Thais who have already taken their Baht out Thailand.

Should be quicker. I submitted my application online directly with Thailand Elite on about 15 August and just today received an approval letter. So less than 6 weeks. Approval letter is valid for a month. As luck would have it, am leaving on an overseas holiday this weekend for a month. So not sure what this means. I think as long as I pay 1 million Baht within the next 30 days I am good and then when come back to Thailand can go to immigration and cancel current non-OA and switch to Thailand Elite at the same time. And that maybe can be done anytime before non-OA expires.

Directly with them online. It is very easy, very quick. Now am waiting for them to verify documents which they say can take up to 3 months.

I have submitted my application for the 20yrs no-frills membership. I have done all of my visits by myself to Cheang Wattana for non-immigration OA extensions, re-entry permits, 90-day checks (before the online site was consistently reliable) for 5+yrs now. Realizing that am not getting any younger and it will get harder and harder to make these trips (even with the new BTS line running down Cheang Wattana Road), my memory more susceptible to forgetting to keep the required funds in the bank on which and which dates, I see merit in a membership. And then when consider the cost and doing a bit of back of the envelop math, I can find a way where it just about pays for itself. The way I calculate this is with the non-imm OA visa we need to have insurance with out-patient coverage. Before this requirement came in a few yrs ago I still had medical insurance, although I had no out-patient and had a 40k deductible for hospitalization. With Thailand Elite I would go back to that coverage. That saves me ~37K. Then also save on the extension 1.9K, two re-entry permits 2K. Now am within 10k of the 50k cost/year on the membership (1mil/20yr). Some might say just get an agent to help. Well, an agent would probably cost most of that 10k and what assurance is there that an agent doesn’t do something correctly or does a flier. At the end of day a non-immigration it still is only a year at a time assurance. A Thailand Elite membership seems to me to give assurance and certainty with less stress. And if my math is correct, pays for itself

Thailand actually has an AML agency, wow, so diligent! I would think just one transaction isn't going to alert the AML, but a series of them with the same characteristics might start to raise attention. If you have a larger amount, let's just say something like USD 200k, coming into your Thai bank account don't be surprised if you are called by the treasury department asking about it. It is not so much about why it is coming, but a sum like that hitting them unannounced puts them at some market risk with the USD after converting to THB for you. Yeah they will ask what the amounts for, but "living expenses" always works cause how to debate that. But if they call it's actually a really good thing cause then you can negotiate a better rate with them while on the call! If it just came straight through then you would get whatever market rate they have. Someone earlier suggested calling the bank before the transfer to alert them it is coming which is a great idea because then you can hopefully negotiate a better rate as well. All that said, if use Wise to convert and wire in THB they seem to have very competitive rates. Just my two cents, but hopefully it makes you a few extra Baht!

Assuming this is for the non-IMM O-A the need to make sure the insurance system has been updated by your insurance provider. Don't know if really necessary to have a hard copy of new policy with the policy dates as they seem to check a system to confirm anyway. Also remember the expiration date of new policy will be expiration date of visa extension, i.e. if policy runs only 6 most the visa extension will only be till that date.

I just saw this post and it reminded me I have 2 trips abroad in the next month and I forgot to get re-entry permits. Too late to schedule an appointment online for Chaeng Wattana Complex for the first trip, so my choices are to go to CWC without an appt or get at Suvarnabhumi Airport. Does anyone know how long it takes to get a re-entry permit at Suvarnabhumi before a 800am flight? Is it a long wait to get at CWC without an appt? Can I get 2 re-entry permits at the same time (2 x 1000 Baht < 3800 Baht for multiple)?

It seems clear to me for O visa it is required. But for O-A it's a little confusing cause the section is under Visa and COE applicants, however we know it is definitely required for O-A new visas and extensions.

On the page from your link this is requirement 6. Which is the same as for the O-A visa. How do you read it as not being a requirement? 6. A copy of health insurance covering medical expenses including COVID-19 for the entire period of stay in Thailand at the amount of at least 100,000 USD

Looks like the same insurance requirement, US$100k, is the same now for non-immigration O (marriage) and O-A (retirement) visas. At least if applying for a new visa by looking at the Thai Embassy Singapore site.

What is 20yrs PE?

Here's a related question. What is the most reliable, secure, assured, best way to stay in Thailand long term if am married to a Thai and am retired and intend to stay for the rest of your life? The non-immigration O and O-A visa extensions are options, but are only valid one year per extension. The new retirement visas mentioned a few months ago sound interesting in that they might be valid for 10 years. The non-immigration O-X already offers that. But what happens after 10 years.

As skatewash said, check with the countries/airports you are transiting through. Transiting through Singapore for example doesn't accept the cheaper rapid test, only the RT-PCR test.

Keep believing, it's happening. I live in Bangkok and got first jab of Pfizer yesterday. Arm still hurts! This appt came from a call from the hospital last week to say they can now offer me vaccine. I am a patient of theirs and had my name on their list for two months. A bit strange, a couple hours after my jab yesterday I got two different emails from MFA/expatvac@consular, both coming to my gmail acct (maybe from registering on expatvac site two weeks ago as [email protected] and [email protected]) giving details of appt for this coming Thursday, at the same hospital that I got my jab yesterday. So maybe the hospital knew my name was coming and since my name was already on their list and I am a patient of theirs they offered early. More good news is they give a 13 digit ID which can be used to create a More Prom account which contains jab details, next appt. And most importantly this looks to be where we will have our vaccine certificate which will be crucial for future travel.

I am really confused why we signed up on Sunday on the expatvac.consular.go.th site, when now the thailandintervac.com site is being updated with links to hospitals to sign up with them. Afaik they are both MFA managed sites. Clicking on a couple of the links on the thailandintervac, Bumrungrad gives prompt to select your preference of vaccine, Pfizer, AZ or any. Samitivej Sukhumvit says they have Pfizer, AZ and Sinovac but you do not get to choose. MedPark doesn't say, but some ppl who have signed up say they got to choose. Then there's this tweet from US Embassy from yesterday. @ACSBKK Charge d’Affaires Heath and other diplomatic heads held productive talks today with Director-General for Consular Affairs, Chatchai Viriyavejakul, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to encourage greater access to Covid-19 vaccines by foreign nationals. Something doesn't feel right to me, or as we were led to believe.