Rod the Sod

So we have cases of CV in Thailand and they have cases in Singapore. Main difference is that Singapore has loads of equipment that works and people placed everywhere with hand cleaning stuff and a Government that is realistic and gives sound advise whilst keeping everything in perspective..

What is the difference therefore between being in Singapore and being in Thailand in terms of likelihood of infection?

Using this logic, everyone in Thailand should also go into self-imposed quarantine, and the moment that is over and they go to the shops, they should return and do another 14 days quarantine.

I am ending a 6-day break in Singapore. Superbly organised as you might expect. Hand cleansing at every location, temperature checks etc. 80% of locals are not wearing masks as asked by their Government. Queues everywhere for restaurants as has always been the case, but all shops and supermarkets are operating perfectly normally. No panic here.....just elsewhere it would seem.

You are on the right tracks. At the tax office make sure that they complete the tax return and that any income is declared also (only income that qualifies for tax i.e. earned income this tax year brought into Thailand).

If you go down the route of asking the Bank to not take the tax then there is no need for you to do a tax return if you have no qualifying income. There is a downside to that. If you can reclaim Witholding Tax from abroad you need to have that Tax Return for the next steps (see my earlier posts). Also if you physically have a copy tax return in your mits, that can never be a bad thing when showing that you do everything by the book.

You will get refunded via a K Bank ATM Card - all will be explained by them.

Should be a piece of cake!

RtS

How to avoid coronavirus on flights: Forget masks, says top airline doctor

Wearing a mask all the time is ineffective. It allows viruses to be transmitted around it, through it and worse, if it becomes moist it will encourage growth of viruses and bacteria

February 6, 2020
 

(Bloomberg) — Forget face masks and rubber gloves. The best way to avoid the coronavirus is frequent hand washing, according to a medical adviser to the world’s airlines.

The virus can’t survive long on seats or armrests, so physical contact with another person carries the greatest risk of infection on a flight, said David Powell, a physician and medical adviser to the International Air Transport Association. Masks and gloves do a better job of spreading bugs than stopping them, he said.

As concern mounts about the scale of the outbreak, carriers from United Airlines Holdings Inc. to Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. have scrapped thousands of flights to China. Here is an edited transcript from an interview with Powell. IATA represents about 290 airlines and more than 80% of global air traffic.

Q: Is there a risk of becoming contaminated with the virus on a plane?

A: The risk of catching a serious viral infection on an aircraft is low. The air supply to a modern airliner is very different from a movie theatre or an office building. The air is a combination of fresh air and recirculated air, about half each. The recirculated air goes through filters of the exact same type that we use in surgical operating theatres. That supplied air is guaranteed to be 99.97 per cent (or better) free of viruses and other particles. So the risk, if there is one, does not come from the supplied air. It comes from other people.

Q: What are the chances of getting the virus by touching the seats, armrest or any of the objects on a plane?

A: Viruses and other microbes like to live on living surfaces like us. Just shaking hands with somebody will be a greater risk by far than some dry surface that has no biological material on it. The survival of viruses on surfaces isn’t great, so it’s believed that normal cleaning, and then the extra cleaning in the event that someone was discovered to be contagious, is the appropriate procedure. Will people stop getting together inside an airplane? I would respond by asking: Will I stop going to the movies, or sports games, or concerts or conferences? I don’t think so.

Q: What’s important if you are on a plane to ensure you don’t get infected?

A: Hand hygiene — because contrary to what people think, the hands are the way that these viruses most efficiently spread. Top of the list is frequent hand washing, hand sanitizing, or both. Avoid touching your face. If you cough or sneeze, it’s important to cover your face with a sleeve. Better yet, a tissue to be disposed of carefully, and then sanitizing the hands afterward. Washing your hands and drying them is the best procedure. When that’s not easy to do, alcohol-based sanitizer is a good second-best.

An employee inspects disposable face masks on the production line of the Yokoi Co. Ltd. factory on February 06, 2020 in Nagoya, Japan. Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images

Q: Does wearing masks and gloves help prevent infections?

A: First of all, masks. There’s very limited evidence of benefit, if any, in a casual situation. Masks are useful for those who are unwell to protect other people from them. But wearing a mask all the time will be ineffective. It will allow viruses to be transmitted around it, through it and worse still, if it becomes moist it will encourage the growth of viruses and bacteria. Gloves are probably even worse, because people put on gloves and then touch everything they would have touched with their hands. So it just becomes another way of transferring micro-organisms. And inside the gloves, your hands get hot and sweaty, which is a really good environment for microbes to grow.

Q: Is shutting borders the answer to containing the spread of the virus?

A: One thing that’s changed in the world is the ability for infections to travel rapidly from one location to another and it’s true that aviation is part of that. At the same time, aviation is essential to dealing with outbreaks like this. And this is why we have collaboration with the World Health Organization and IATA that’s been in place for several years. If countries just shut down during disease outbreaks, as happened in west Africa with Ebola, that can make things much worse. During that outbreak, the country struggled, WHO couldn’t get their people in, they couldn’t get biological samples out. The economic impact of being shut off made things worse. General travel bans can make things worse. It can encourage people to travel in secret, which means you lose control of it.

Q: When can we safely say that the worst may be over?

A: The number of cases have continued to increase at around about 16 per cent to 20 per cent each day. Until we get to the point where those numbers are declining, we couldn’t say we turned the corner.

22 hours ago, thesetat2013 said:

OK. Compare population of China to population of the world. Then multiply the current death rate in China as well as the critical condition rate be that number. If this infection acts like the flu and spreads worldwide and contaminates at that rate as well as the mortality rate. Then maybe you will see the grander picture of how deadly this virus could obtain and achieve. Downplayed the way. You are making it seem is both ignorant and irresponsible. 

That is why I asked for guidance from people in the know. It was an opportunity for more people to be better informed. Your reply is all too typical of those who are soooo opinionated when armed with a keyboard. I think the irresponsibility is all yours.

Can someone help me with this one please? So the Coronavirus is easily spread just like flu. It kills the weaker, older pre-condition people, just like flu. There are many more people carrying a flu germ on planes from China than are carrying Coronavirus. It is estimated that flu kills up to 2,000 people A DAY world-wide. There are no restrictions on anyone traveling anywhere in the world with flu, but 20k cases and 400 deaths from CV and the world goes into lock-down. Borders are closed. People (Chinese) are sometimes banned from places to eat. Every newspaper and News Programme is wall-to-wall CV. It is predicted by some specialists that it will peak in a month or two and then settle down.

I travel around Bangkok where 80%+ of locals wear masks that have gaping holes at the side. Some experts say that these masks actually make matters worse.

The vast majority recover and go home with no lasting ill-effects (probably have a better immune system for the next round in fact).

I went for an XRay yesterday and the Specialist shook my hand warmly (no gloves) and the people waiting were split 50/50 wearing masks.

Given all of that, is this a massive over-reaction or is there much more too it than we read? Is something being hidden, and are the Chinese hiding something that is potentially catastrophic?

I am genuinely interested and happy to be corrected by those in the know.

Cheers RtS

11 hours ago, DJ54 said:

Interview for passport? .. must be specific to some countries. Maybe OP can get an expedited interview date.. 

Well, it was a kind of interview to present my papers and answer any questions that they may have had e.g. I was told that my photo was too "smiley" but they would process it anyway and I was to expect a denial in due course, which I am pleased to say never happened.

Cheers RtS

13 hours ago, Matzzon said:

Maybe something you do not understand. They lived together like husband and wife.

Also that she engaged her husband in the lie that would make them rich if he went along.

Good to read and understand the full story before posting something totally stupid. You just made yourself look like a very sad sod.

Chill, it was meant as a light-hearted comment. The irony was that to try and cheat and lie ended up in this gruesome outcome. What goes around......Now go and take a Happy Pill misery guts!

They were divorced. What was the problem??

Just done mine. It took exactly 21 days to process after my interview and by the time the passport for collection notification came through. This included New Year and so it should normally be a little quicker without any Public Holidays.

Goof luck.

RtS

400,000 die each year from flu. That is 1,096 a day. So far just over 100 have died over the last couple of weeks from WuFlu. Keep it all in proportion folks!!

On 1/5/2020 at 6:04 AM, sirineou said:

While all true,and I share some of your frustrations,  let's not forget that we have a very negative attitude about them, and I think they know it. 

How do you like people that dont like you? not very much I am willing to bet.

And how about our fake smiles? where we wai and smille, and when we think they cant hear as we trash them. 

One might argue that it is a chicken and egg issue, and what came first. But I have being in Thailand for over thirteen years now, and I have seen it change and IMO I think that it is because they are on to as. Well some of as ,but they paint as all with the same brush as we paint them all with the same bush.   

This is their country, their way of life, for better or for worse, They don't need to change we have too, and if we don't want to (and there might be good reasons why we might not want to) then we need to go someplace more conducive to our needs.   

Personally I like Thailand the way it is,or was,  If I want it it to be just like the west I would had stayed there. Some of as want some things to change, but not others, we want our cake and eat it too. 

I don't know, am I making any sense to you?

Well, if you types "us" instead of "as" it would make much easier reading and more sense. Guess you are from US. It is one thing to pronounce everything completely wrong, but to also spell it completely wrong!! I shall be reporting you to Her Majesty just as soon as she has finished with Harry and Andrew!!

20 hours ago, FolkGuitar said:

 

I really do wonder why people here have such a difficult time reading what is written!

I never said that I thought the link to the culture was 'inaccurate.'

I said " I do NOT necessarily agree with its authors anti-Thai bashing!"  Not even close to the same thing!

Apologies if I misunderstood. My point is that I did not see it as anti-Thai bashing, I saw it as an honest reflection of the culture (in my experience).

Excellent article in every way and also covers the same situation in places like Indonesia...so just a SEA thing like so much else. Unlike the OP, I think the link to culture is very accurate. I experienced the same approach in the business environment here in my working days.

39 minutes ago, henry2109 said:

Hey Rod

 

Valuable Input, thanks.

 

Can you describe for me the procedure it takes in Switzerland to get your withholding tax back?

You file in you tax residency form from Thailand and what else? Which forms and documents?

So you need to send a new tax residency form every year to the tax man in Switzerland, for the according withholding tax year?

Hi Henry

Download Form 60 from the Swiss Tax website. This is a WT reclaim form. You will need to download a programme called Snapform viewer to open the file but all of that is easy. This is a well laid out document that also tells you what documents you need to send. You should have some kind of Dividend Warrant or statement from your Broker that shows the gross and net dividend received. This is required together with the Letter of Tax Residency. I was a bit concerned this would be blown out for one reason or another, but I am happy to say both reclaims for 2017 and 2018 have been received. It can take around 8 months but hang on it there. You are correct about the new LoTR every year because they need to know that each year you continue to be a Tax Resident of somewhere. If you constantly move around and never spend the requisite amount of time in anyone country to qualify as a Tax resident, bang goes your refund.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

RtS

On 11/16/2019 at 12:49 PM, zydeco said:

Was it? Why? The UK, as well as the US and Australia, could have simply continued issuing the letters and leave it up to Thai Immigration to accept them or not. What were the "Thai authorities" going to do? Launch an invasion of the embassies? Are the Canadian and New Zealand embassies continuing to issue letters that are accepted by Thai Immigration? If so, are they substantially different from those issued by the US, UK, and Australia? Do they not have privacy laws, too? 

I am at a loss to understand your thinking. The UK Government, through their Embassy cannot guarantee that your "declared" pension income and sources are actually correct because they do not have the information to do that, yet you think they should anyway..like for the fun of it I guess, or because it is easy to do so,....or because it helps people who maybe have no right to be here to stay regardless, illegally. ALL because we are British and "they" are their Embassy. Your reasoning is that the Thais couldn't do anything really once they had this letter, and so the Embassy should jolly well keep on issuing them for that reason alone, even though they may be completely fraudulent in content. That way the Brits are all OK, life carries on as normal and ignores that fact that a reasonable percentage do not have the minimum level of income required by Thailand if you are to live here.

I kind of get a feeling for your view on life. You know, like a Russian justifying stealing a watch from a display stand because "no-one was manning the stand, and so possession of the watch belongs to the person in physical possession of the watch". No wonder the world is going to the dogs!

11 hours ago, oznomad said:

The devil is in the detail.

Yes, 'qualified to be a tax resident', as opposed to 'are a tax resident'.

To take it a step further, if you want to be tax resident in Thailand, you cant just say to your home country, look, 180 days in Thailand. I am not tax resident in XXXXX any more.

That will not float, in the majority of countries.

Agree. It is not a transfer of Tax residency, it is a new status. For the sake of this thread, what I said is correct. Cheers RtS

39 minutes ago, oznomad said:

Not really.

Sorry not sure what you are trying to say. It is a fact that if you live in Thailand for 180 days and your passport stamps show that, then you are qualified to be a Tax resident, and the Thai Govnt will consider you a Tax Resident for tax purposes.

I received my Swiss WHT refund today for around TB200k so well work the tB200 late fee for filing my 2007 tax return.

On 9/14/2019 at 1:33 PM, Peter Denis said:

Hi, very interesting topic brought up by Rod!

My official residence is in Belgium but I am living in Thailand on a Non-Imm OA Visa and stay there more than 180 days a year.

One simple question from my part:

Are you also eligible to reclaim the 1800 THB withdrawal tax on the 800.000 THB from your thai bank account, when your official residence is not in Thailand?

 

Hi Peter

I am sure that it doesn't matter where your official residence is because after 180 days you are a TAX RESIDENT of Thailand. That is all you need. So pop along and take all the papers I mentioned earlier and tell the nice man that you have been in Thailand for more than 180 days and would like to file your tax return. Hand him the Bank Certificate of WHT paid and there you go. Presumably you have no earned income from the current tax year coming into Thailand (or else you will get taxed on that). Now follow the rest of the instructions :-))

Suggest your wife tries again. Same happened as I registered 2 months ago and heard nothing. Registered again yesterday and all was done.

36 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

You don't need 2 TM30's. You register as the owner and then you  report your wife as a guest. That's the way the old TM30 report worked, and also the app. 

 

Thanks again. As a Non-Imm Retirement Extension holder returning to Bangkok after 3 months, even though staying in my own apartment, don't I also have to lodge a TM30?

1 hour ago, Max69xl said:

You must only fill in the fields with the *. Nothing else.

"details for myself and my wife"

There should be either you or your wife. Not both of you.

Thanks for your help. I ended up downloading the app rather than use the website and have now completed the TM30s. The property is in my name here in Bangkok and whilst I am registered here as the property owner, because we do so much travel my wife is actually recorded on a Tourist Visa as a visitor. Hence 2 TM30s.

Question please. I have also just successfully registered and signed on and changed my password. I have completed all the details for myself and my wife but it is not clear how to submit this. If I press "save" it tells me there is a problem to do with sequencing of 1 and 2. Any help would be appreciated. Cheers RtS

2 hours ago, kiever said:

MAny thanks for your help and answer. 

I have lots of wt tax in my home country , but I have no wt in Thailand because I have no deposit account in thailand. 

This is a problem ? Tax man will want to see a proof of wt in Thai bank ? Or it will be enough to declare I will get back wt from my home country and I have no wt in Thailand ? 

I would not worry. Just go and say you want to be a good citizen and keep all your papers in order and file a zero tax return.