Mike Teavee

14 minutes ago, NoshowJones said:

What about the 12 kg on your carry on which is allowed on KLM? Surely that would need wheels even for a fit 6ft 76kg guy like me.

18KG If you're travelling Business Class 😉  

Seriously, thanks for pointing that out as I bought a cheapish (80,000 THB BKK-MAN return) Business Class Ticket with Air France/KLM which only allows you 1 item of checked luggage so now I know that I'll be packing my roll-on (hard case with wheels obviously) as full as I can + adding a few extra bits to my laptop rucksack, all will go nicely into the overhead bin.

If it's like the Air France flight coming over there'll be 1 overhead bin per seat, I could have fit twice as much stuff in there, in fact reading the KLM baggage guidelines I'm allowed 2 carry-ons (+ laptop bag) so I might pop out & buy another one 🙂  

4 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Perhaps the strangest was a Spanish airline, in the days before smoking was entirely banned. I get to my non-smoking seat, after the plane takes off the people in seats in front of me and behind me are lighting up.

I asked one of the flight attendants why. According to him, the smoke was distributed better.

 

I remember flying business class with KLM from Tokyo to Amsterdam. 1990's. The Dutch really knew how to do good airline food.

My parents were on a flight to Bulgaria & Mum smoked so asked for a smoking seat but Dad didn't so asked for a non smoking seat... They ended up sat in Aisle seats opposite each other... Left for Smoking, Right for non-smoking 😛    

2 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

It might depend on the airline and your nationality. My wife flew to London from Bangkok and her suitcase weighed around 60 kilos. I couldn't lift it when she arrived, and instead of going to our destination by train I had to pay over 50 pounds for a taxi. Similarly, her friend flew to Germany with a suitcase that weighed over 50 kilos. Both passengers were Thai. Both were not charged extra. Both flew Thai. I was 5 kilos over flying to Tokyo and was charged.

UK Health & safety guidelines suggest that the maximum weight per item of luggage should not exceed 23KG though most international airlines will allow up to 32KG  

Current industry recommendations in the IATA Airport Handling Manual include:

• the maximum weight of any single piece of checked baggage should not exceed 23kg (50lbs), without prior arrangement. Although this limit is widely accepted, some airlines will accept baggage up to 32kg, and some foreign carriers have even heavier weight limits.
• "heavy" tags/labels must be placed on all pieces of baggage which exceed 23kg with the actual weight shown on the tag/label
• baggage belt weighing scales at passenger check in points should have an audible or visible warning when any individual bag weight exceeds 23kg.

Where heavy bags are identified but not labelled the airline should ensure that systems are in place to ensure weight limits are implemented and heavy bags tagged.

Training and work procedures should include provision for team lifting or alternative lifting methods.

https://www.hse.gov.uk/airtransport/faqs.htm#:~:text=the maximum weight of any,have even heavier weight limits.

8 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Hmm, Brits can enter the UK with an expired/no UK passport, the issue might be at the Airline check in desk going to the UK. 

I see what you're saying, enter the UK on your expired UK Passport and then leave on your valid Thai Passport... 

This Reddit thread seems to suggest that the UK does not have exit border controls save for "Random" checks which it wouldn't surprise me weren't triggered by something like somebody leaving the UK on a Non-UK Passport that they didn't enter with...

I don't see what they could do to you for doing so except maybe log the fact that you have left the UK.   

4 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   What, you just walked onto an airplane without going through immigration or anything like that ?

How was you able to do that ?

As a UK Passport holder yes, the passport is scanned at the check-in desk & you only need to show it again at boarding time to prove that your ticket is your ticket & your not using somebody else's ticket to board the plane. 

1 minute ago, Neeranam said:

Actually, last year I never needed to show a passport when leaving the UK. Maybe a one way flight to Thailand would just require showing Thai passport/ID.

You would have had to show your passport at the check-in desk who would have scanned it & effectively registered your exit from the UK (presumably if you then don't board the flight the records are updated).

No idea whether this would flag up the fact that you left on a Passport that didn't give you the right to be in the UK (By this I mean using a Thai Passport that you didn't use to enter on & so doesn't confer automatic right to be in the UK).

19 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

I wonder if a dual citizen leaves the UK on their Thai passport, will the govt know they are out the country?

Could you leave the UK on a Thai Passport if you didn't enter using it? 

1 hour ago, LivinLOS said:

My current plan which I feel is fairly strong. Everyones plan will be different for thier needs. 

I have an Irish income that HAS to be taxed at source (directors salary) so that one I have is pre taxed and covered under a DTA. That I can spend and easily justify and is play money. I wont declare it as I am sure it is legally correct and I have the tax return and DTA archived. 

Other funds for household costs I send to the wife and she already manages our household bills and cashflow. Thats gift if asked and again correct she is spending it on her and her house. 

Any investments are covered by my Jan 1 savings, with statements archived 'just in case' for a couple 100k GBP. Theres another 6 rai I have my eye on and that would manage that without going over. 

Long term LTR visa but thats later. 
 

[Technically] This is the part where your plan may not be strong as a Gift is usually considered something for which you get no direct benefit from & obviously if you're giving her money to pay your shared household bills then you would be getting a direct benefit from it, if you were just supporting your wife whilst not living there then you'd probably be OK.

[Practically] unless you're sending her a significant amount of money each month then I don't think you'd have any problems.

If your wife doesn't have any other income then you could send her at least 210K (more with additional allowances) as this would be below her personal taxation threshold. 

Gifting her up to 20 Million for her to purchase 6 Rai of land should be OK so you could keep your savings prior to 1/1/2024 in reserve & use income received after that instead.

FWIW my plan is:-

   - Remit 210K to the GF (her 60K allowance + 1st 150K tax free)

   - Remit 235K for me (same 210K as her + an extra 25K for purchasing Health Insurance)

   - Gift her 100K on her Birthday & Xmas (at worse this will be taxed at 5%)

   - Use money already in Thailand to cover the rest of the bills. 

This will keep me going until 2026 when I plan on going for the LTR WP Visa. 

56 minutes ago, Dogmatix said:

It occurs to me that I have two Thai staff at my company earning 15k a month each who have never filed tax returns in their lives. One of them has been with me for about 15 years and will have several years worth of 2,000 baht fines and interest to pay, if she is ever tracked down for one of those 10 year audits.  Our accountant has always said their was no need for them file because they have no tax to pay.  Perhaps I need to check she is still of this opinion.

My GF used to earn a similar amount (more with commission but <the 210K pa where tax may be due) working at a Central Mall & I doubt she or any of her co-workers would have any idea how to go about filing a Tax Return so I've always assumed that the Company either filed their (Nil) returns or would file a return if they did earn > 210K.   

3 hours ago, ancharee said:

12,000 plus the passport fee ?

I believe 12,000 includes the passport fee (12,500 for the "Jumbo" passport). their fee is 5,000B if you pay for the passport yourself.

1 hour ago, sandyf said:

I used to hate going to Bangkok but recent years has been a bit easier, i think due to better transport services.

From Pattaya you could get the bus to the airport and then the train to Makkasan.  VFS is not far away, within walking distance or a couple of stops on the MRT.

I used to do it a couple of times per month to go visit mates & always took the bus from Pattaya Nua to Ekkamai (got off at Udom Suk) & then the BTS... IIRC It's <140 THB each way, cheap as chips 🙂 

Have also done a few day trips to visit my dentist in Sathorn, but now my mates have moved & I've switched dentists, 6K is a small price to pay to not have to do 2 trips just to go to VFS.

Just now, Lorry said:

Sorry, I don't know any agency for this. 

Whether the "token amount" would work - I don't know. 

I know one RD office where it didn't work. No tax no TIN.

I got my TIN 2 years ago at the Chonburi Tax Office in Naklua & at 1st they were reluctant to give me one solely on the basis of reclaiming withheld interest but I'd already briefed the GF to explain to them that we were buying a condo in my name & needed a TIN to pay property tax... they seemed a bit confused about this but gave me one anyway. 

NB. I got mine because the UK Bank who I have a mortgage one was insisting I got one, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered.

1 hour ago, 3STTW said:

Do it yourself and save yourself a bunch of money. I did mine a couple of months ago and it's a breeze.

 

https://www.gov.uk/overseas-passports

 

Download the form, follow the instructions and then it's a couple of trips to BKK. You can keep your original passport for the duration.

The only thing to add is take proof of address with you (bank statement, utility bill, etc). This isn't made apparent in the instructions but they will ask for it.

If you live in Bangkok then yes, but if you don't then the additional 6,000 THB agency fees are probably worth it to save the expense/hassle of 2 trips to Bangkok.  

44 minutes ago, lelapin said:

I used Key Visa end of last year and all went very smoothly     Renewing UK Passport in Thailand - Thai Girlfriend Visa from the top visa company in Pattaya - Key Visa (keyvisathailand.com)

Will be looking to renew my Passport in July and am looking for an agent but was planning on avoiding Key Visa as I have concerns that their service may not be as good since Darren died,  I take it you did your passport towards the end of 2023 so can confirm the service is still good there?

Other agencies I've been considering are www.mythaivisa.com  & https://thaivisa-express.com/uk-passport-application-thailand/ 

50 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

A large portion of Americans don't spend that much on food every month, and that includes children. Cheese costs here, as does foreign beef, which is much better than Thai beef. Cooking two meals a day does cost more, but I still can't see paying that much if most of it is cooking at home. If I remember right, when I lived back in Texas I ate like you did, with fish, chicken and seafood, salads daily, for my daughter and I, and I spent around half of what you do now.

I regularly ask myself the same question (NB it's more like 4.5 meals a day, I eat 3 times per day and she'll eat 1.5 times) & the 30K does include things like toiletries & house cleaning products etc... But >80% of it is food. 

As I said I don't eat Chicken or Fish which tend to be much cheaper here, so a typical meal for me at home will probably cost 2-300B in ingredients, multiply that by say 4 & add in mineral water, coffee, milk etc... & you're looking at approx. 1000B per day.

To give a simple example, 6 times a week we use the Condo gym after which she'll cook me a Thai Omelette which I'd guesstimate costs 25B for 4 eggs, 75B for 200g of minced pork, 5B for 1/2 chopped onion, 25B for 30g of cheese = 130B, add on some salad & some beans cooked in a Korean sauce (to give it a bit of a kick) & you're looking at closer to 200B before you add in the 2-3lt of mineral water, 2 coffees & 1 protein shake. 

NB I don't post this to "Brag" in anyway this is simply what I spend on groceries in Thailand & is why I probably couldn't live on the smaller budgets being mentioned here - Survive Yes, but I would probably turn vegetarian before I'd eat Chicken, Fish or the cheap Thai meats, but that's just me.  

As always to each his own, there's no right or wrong answers on this we all just live to our means & prioritise what's important to us (E.g. I'd rather eat well than go out drinking but that's just me).  

9 hours ago, fredwiggy said:

I cook all of the food when I'm home with my daughter and only spend about 3000 baht a month, and this includes oatmeal, soy and regular milk, eggs, chicken, ground chicken, salad greens, oil, rice, vegetables, fruit, yogurt,tea, coffee, pasta, sauce, bread, Italian Bread, parmesan, tuna, Equal, jelly, garlic, and a few other things.

We eat >95% of our meals at home (GF is an excellent cook) & my grocery bill is approx. 30,000 THB PM (No alcohol included) for the 2 of us, mainly due to my foibles when it comes to eating (I don't eat Chicken or Fish which are cheap here & will only eat high quality meat so no Thai beef & only eat lean pork which is approx. 360 THB per KG) + my love of Cheese, Butter & Korean/Japanese spices doesn't help, but also because she loves Chicken, Fish & Seafood so will often cook 2 completely different meals. 

NB. I don't dispute that you can eat out or at home very cheaply in Thailand but it's not something that I would want to do, & would rather give up other things (e.g. rent a cheaper condo, socialise, go on holiday less etc...) before I went down that road & turned vegetarian (Cos I still wouldn't eating Chicken, Fish or cheap Thai meats). 

4 hours ago, gargamon said:

It looks like there's a $360 yearly fee for the SRRV. So essentially the same cost as getting your tourist visa extended. From the govt link on srrv:

There's a maximum of 3 years that you can extend your tourist visa (not even a visa, just the 30 day stamp you get on arrival) so you would need to add in the costs of a trip outside of the Philippines.

Plus it seems like some immigration offices are cracking down on people (ab)using tourist "Visas" to live in the country & have scrapped the 6 month extensions so you can now only get 2 months which means the extension costs for the 1st year could be...

   - 29 days free 

   - 30 day extension = 3,030

   - 60 day extension = 9,700 PHP

   - 60 day extension = 9,700 PHP

   - 60 day extension = 9,700 PHP

   - 60 day extension = 9,700 PHP

   - 60 day extension = 9,700 PHP

= 51,350 PHP or approx. $900 USD 

There's been a lot of talk in the news about same sex Civil Partnerships/Marriages (and about time to), but can a Hetro couple enter into a Civil Union/Partnership in Thailand? 

Long story short I've never believed in marriage unless children are involved but reading the T&Cs of my pension it seems survivor benefits are only guaranteed if they go to my Wife or Civil Partner otherwise it's at the discretion of the Trustees & I wouldn't want to rely on their "Generosity".

Does anybody know if Civil Union/Partnerships between a man & a woman are legal in Thailand and if so has anybody been through the process and could share some information on how to go about doing it. 

Thanks

MTV

37 minutes ago, TigerandDog said:

Sorry DrJack but your answer re arrival by air is incorrect. There is a limit of 6 times per year when arriving by air. "Those who arrive at the airport without a prior visa will continue to receive a 30-day stamp up to 6 times per calendar year." 

 

Before you start saying the link is NOT the Thai Embassy, I'm aware of that, but it's been posted to support my post correcting your comment re "no stated limit via air".

 

New Visa Rules for Border Entry to Thailand | ThaiEmbassy.com

There is no date on that article (Edit: it's from 19th April 2015) but pretty sure that the rule got recinded years ago (If I had to guess I'd say 2017/2018 but certainly before COVID).

There's a lot of dated/misleading information out there, E.g. the London Thai Embassy (Edit: dated 16th October 2022) says max 3 times in 6 months...

Foreigners who enter Thailand under this Tourist Visa Exemption category may only do so for 30 days at one time with a maximum of 3 times in a 6 month period by flight and 2 times a year for overland crossing.

https://london.thaiembassy.org/en/publicservice/84256-tourist-visa?page=5d6636cd15e39c3bd00072dd&menu=5f4b6eb3f6ae4b236972c562

End of the day it's at the IO's discretion so whilst there may/may not be a maximum limit, you are more likely to be challanged the more visa exempt entries you do so best advice for longer stays would be to get a Visa rather than relying on extensions + border bounces. 

52 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

From which source did you get that information?

There was a thread about it on The Thaiger approx 6 monthd ago... 

https://talk.thethaiger.com/topic/28861-new-regulation-limited-entries-per-calendar-year-on-visa-exemption/

15 hours ago, Dogmatix said:

Yes, your remittance to her Thai bank is a remittance and is assessable income for her, assuming you are not married.  There is an RD case about exactly this. A Thai woman received remittances from her foreign boyfriend abroad and it was deemed taxable income because they were not married. If married the RD would have accepted that the remittances were gifts from a spouse which is tax exempt up to 20 million baht a year. 

Interesting, I read somewhere that you could claim to have a "Moral Obligation" to provide support to your Thai Partner (Not Spouse) but am guessing what is classified as a "Moral Obligation" would be something like having a Child together & not supporting her because it was you who asked her to stop working 12 hour days, 6 days a week so you could spend time together. 

Just in case, I'll tweak my plans...

• Remit a total of 210K for her (This would be her 60K tax free allowance + 150K which is taxed at nil rate) & she can start paying 1/2 the rent, utilities, groceries etc... 
• Remit a total of 235K to me (Same 210K + an extra 25K for purchasing Health Insurance)
• Remit Birthday/Xmas gifts (thinking 100K each) which I've a strong feeling she'll be using to take me on holiday for my Birthday/Xmas presents 😉

Rest of my spends will come from savings already in Thailand so should be good for a couple of years until I can either get an LTR or confirmation that remitting my pension (starts in 2026) will not be taxed, either way I'll spend < 180 days in Thailand in 2026 so have an opportunity to top up my Thai Savings accounts as needed.