Mike Teavee

3 hours ago, Misty said:

 

Another example is a US taxpayer with rental income that isn't taxable because of deductible expenses such as depreciation, etc. The rental income isn't included in taxable income on a US 1040 tax filing, but can be included as income for an LTR visa application.

Interesting, in the UK we report the gross rental income & then add entries to remove the deductibles but any Income from an ISA (Individual Savings Account, which could be many £1,000s) doesn't go on the Tax return so I'm assuming you would be able to supply a Dividend report from your ISA Provider to show any income received. 

53 minutes ago, jerrymahoney said:

So far mixed. It is small and fast for 7500 baht but it mostly relies on Android software and apps have to be downloaded from Google play store. But you can plug in a USB hard drive and run movies music from that. 

 

One nice thing is that you can run multiple Gmail accounts on Chrome which you cannot do on a PC.

 

And I am prepping for the time when no financial stuff can be on Windows 10.

Touchpad has gone on my (11 year old) Macbook Pro & was assuming I would need to buy a new Laptop as I have some hefty Excel spreadsheets that I use for my financial planning/tracking so curious as to how you find using the Chromebook to manage your finances. 

I had one 4-5 years ago & found it great for the vast majority of things (I.e. surfing the Internet) but Sheets is (or at least at that time was) no replacement for Excel have things gotten better?

I've just done a quick search & it seems you can now run a limited version of Excel on Android, has anybody tried using this? 

I guess another option would be to get an Office 365 subscription but like the OP, I begrudge paying a monthly subscription for software especially as I would only be using a small part of it. 

34 minutes ago, Captain Monday said:

When you fly in and out of Thailand almost monthly?

-Captain Monday
”Constant international travel”

 

 

Pre-Covid, I used to fly SIN-BKK every other weekend so bought an annual pass with TLM (Thailand Long Stay Management) for 20K which gave me meet & greet service from Plane/Check-In through Fast Track immigration & as I never had check-in luggage it was a real timesaver for me, can't find the service listed on their Website anymore so can only assume they no longer offer it. 

Before that I had also used "The Limo Pattaya" (IIRC 1,200B) but again, I can't find this service on offer on their Website anymore so can only assume that they've cracked down on companies offering Fast Track Services. 

1 hour ago, mfd101 said:

What the formally-recognized marriage now in prospect will do is give ME protection here in Thailand in the event that my b/f predeceases me. He owns all the assets here - house, land, car. (I just own the money-flow.)

What protection would it give you over & above what a Will would give you or are you assuming that you will not have to sell the house/Land within 1 year because it's a Same Sex marriage? 

Genuine question as I've never seen the point in getting married (unless there are kids involved) & am yet to hear an argument to convince me otherwise (A Marriage certificate doesn't prove you love somebody or guarantee you won't leave them & there are other/better ways to protect them when it comes to leaving them your assets).

It will be interesting to see how this is implemented from an immigration point of view and whether the unions will be treated the same as Thai Male-2-Foreign Female or Thai Female-2-Foreign Male, hopefully which ever way it goes it will lead to a debate on having more equality in Thai/Foreigner Hetro marriages...  

35 minutes ago, kimamey said:

He's one of the best performing ministers to be honest. Shows how shallow the talent pool is these days.  Sunak isn't doing too bad but he's not got the ability to enthuse people.  Plus he's come in at a time when the Torys are unpopular and it's not really possible to turn things round. 

 

As for the visas, that sounds good excerpt I've just paid for a 10 year visa for my wife. It'll probably last longer than me. 

I agree with you that there's not much talent to choose from on either side but my main issue with Cameron was the complete lack of planning for what should happen if people voted for Brexit. 

No matter how remote he thought the chances of it happening were (& as we all know it did happen) he should have had a plan (or at least a plan for how to put a plan together) for what to do, but it felt like he had nothing & just ran away leaving it to others to pick up his mess. 

I'm not saying that achieving Brexit is easy, nearly 8 years later there still doesn't seem to be a truly workable solution, but to be in that position & have absolutely no plan for what to do following the referendum is unforgivable.

14 minutes ago, Pattaya57 said:

That's just an agent site who was smart enough to call themselves thaiembassy so that people like you believe everything they say is true 😆 

Come on, it's common knowledge that the rules of entry on Visa Exempt include having proof of onward travel & 20K in cash & that was the 1st link I found, didn't think I'd need to cite an official site but here goes...

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

• Proof of adequate finances for the duration of stay in Thailand i.e. traveler’s cheque or cash equivalent to 20,000 Baht per person and 40,000 Baht per family.
• Proof of onward travel (confirmed air, train, bus or boat tickets) to leave Thailand within 30 days of the arrival date (**otherwise a tourist visa must be obtained).

Interestingly the official site suggest Train, Bus & Boat tickets are valid as are Travelers Checks, wouldn't want risk using either myself. 

1 hour ago, Liquorice said:

While the severity varies, the United States, Mexico, Germany, and the United Kingdom are commonly cited by airlines as countries where INADs are most prevalent. Although INADs represent less than 1% of transported passengers, they have a substantial financial impact on airlines. Penalties imposed by most countries range from $1,000 to $2,500 per case, with some nations imposing even stricter fines, amounting to $10,000 per violation. While the extent of these fines varies among airlines based on their passenger volume and destinations, some major carriers face fines of up to $2 million annually.

As I posted, it doesn't make sense to me that the airlines would get fined in all cases of somebody being denied entry as people are far more likely to get denied entry for not having sufficient cash on them & they don't check for that, could be insufficient cash falls into reason 3 "Other Reasons" and they don't get fined whereas no onward travel falls into reason 1 "Improper Documentation".... Honestly don't know, just me guessing/assuming. 

1 hour ago, Liquorice said:

Can you provide an Immigration link, confirming that as fact?

1st Link I came across when googling for a link...  

https://www.thaiembassy.com/thailand-visa/thai-visa-exemption-and-bilateral-agreement

Tourist Visa Exemption Scheme and Bilateral Agreement

Provisions of the tourist visa exemption scheme and bilateral agreement, effective December 31, 2016, allowing passport holders from 64 countries to enter Thailand under this rule, provided they meet the following criteria:

1. Be from an approved country.
2. Be visiting Thailand strictly for tourism.
3. Hold a genuine passport with a valid expiry of over 6 months.
4. Can provide a valid address in Thailand on entry that can be verified. This address can be a hotel or an apartment.
5. Must have a confirmed return ticket exiting Thailand within 30 days. Open tickets do not qualify. Traveling overland by train, bus, etc to Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia (including en route to Singapore), Myanmar, etc is not accepted as proof of exiting Thailand.**
6. Provide proof of funds of at least 10,000 THB for single travelers, or 20,000 THB per family during your stay in Thailand.

On 3/19/2024 at 7:59 PM, Liquorice said:

You both completely miss the point.
I'm fully aware it's a requirement of the airline and not Immigration to have an outbound flight within 30 days when entering VE.

Wrong way around, it is an immigration requirement to have proof of onward travel when arriving on a Visa Exempt, however they will usually only check if they're looking for a reason to deny you entry. 

The Airlines wouldn't care if you had it or not were it not for the fact that they would be fined if you were refused entry & didn't have onward travel arrangements so it's in their interest to check.

I don't believe an Airline would be fined if you were denied entry but had onward travel arrangements as if this were the case then they would also be checking that you had the equivalent of 20,000 Baht in cash (probably the most often used excuse for denying people entry) & were not barred from entry into Thailand (Not even sure they could check this). 

5 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

The io that advised you is wrong.

That doesn't help you as any random immigration office can do as they wish. 

However, I would at very least show them the actual law 2.1 2.2 posted earlier in this thread.

Chonburi immigration (Jomtien & Sri Racha) changed their rules approx. 6 months ago and for any immigration need (Extension, Re-entry permit, 90 day report, Certificate of Residence etc...) your TM30 needs to be dated after your most recent entry into Thailand (i.e. Your old one is no longer valid) irrespective of what Visa you are on or if you're returning to a place you've lived in for many years. 

Couple of links for background info... 

https://legal.co.th/resources/visa-immigration-law/thailand-immigration-law/tm30-making-thai-visa-extension-processing-more-complex/ 

https://ground.news/article/chonburi-immigration-bureau-tightens-address-reporting

Foreigners requiring service at Pattaya-Jomtien immigration (and Sri Racha) must have a TM30 form receipt in their passport dated since their last arrival in Thailand. A recent change in procedure at Pattaya-Jomtien immigration (and Sri Racha) means that all foreigners requiring a service must have a TM30 form receipt in their passport dated since their last arrival in Thailand. This bureaucracy is quite separate from the 90 days reporting for e…

And it has been mentioned on a couple of threads on here, e.g.... 

Deleted

14 minutes ago, sidjameson said:

I know I should drawdown. But at 56 find it difficult to start. This question will only get bigger as I age.

Interested in others experiences.

Never married & have no kids so have a similar dilemma. 

Spent my 20's with 1 years salary worth of debt on credit cards but managed to turn it around to own a house outright by the age of 35 & have been a committed saver every since

58 now & struggle with the idea of spending 100% of the passive income I get, never mind spending what I have saved (even the "Pot of Money" saved to pay for my living expenses so I could retire at 53) but am thinking that once my pensions start (2 years time) I'll feel more comfortable in having a guaranteed income coming in again & so start to spend more of the passive income...  BUT knowing me, having more income coming in will mean investing (saving) more! What else do you do with the income once you have enough to give you a good (not rich by any means) lifestyle?

At this time, I can't see me selling any of my assets without re-investing the proceeds but am hoping that age will gradually change my thinking & I'll start to wind these down whilst I still have time to enjoy the money. 

6 hours ago, ravip said:

LOL... That was always the intention! Sometimes success, sometimes disaster!

And sometimes you felt like your hand was going to drop off due to your blood being cut off at the wrist 😛 

11 hours ago, rwill said:

I watch some medical, investing, and chess channels.

I love logic type puzzles so Cracking The Cryptic, Bremster & Sudoku Sleuth give me a couple of hours worth of challenges each day.... Helps keep the old Grey Matter ticking over.

Also follow a couple of exercise channels notably https://www.youtube.com/@HT-Physio which helps keep the rest of me ticking over. 

3 hours ago, proton said:

Lets say you wanted to bring in a million to buy a car, or you are terminally ill and want to transfer several million from back home into the mrs account, how can you do that without paying tax? I know you can gift one million a year, but in the case of dying or death that would not be enough.

You can gift your wife up to 20Million per year & I believe that there’s no inheritance Tax on anything you leave to your wife. 
 

https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/thailand/individual/other-taxes#:~:text=The inheritance tax rate is,are exempt from the tax.

1 hour ago, gamb00ler said:

Since investment opportunities in Thailand suffer in comparison to most of the world, you could keep those funds outside Thailand.  It would seem likely that those funds would remain as non-assessable even after remittance to Thailand because they were earned/received when you were not a Thai tax resident.

True, but I want to bring over at least $250,000 to Invest (Buy a Condo) so I can get the LTR "Wealthy Pensioner" Visa, my pension (coupled with rental/investment income) may take me over the $80,000 PA threshold but I'm assuming it won't, plus I'd have to wait 2 years from my pensions kicking in (2026).

Either way if I can get the LTR then it seems my future Tax "Problems" will have gone away assuming current regulations don't change. 

Another option is the 25% lump sum will give me the $250K but, the UK Government is making it so difficult for small landlords (I only have the house that I bought to live in) that I'm leaning towards selling up anyway.

46 minutes ago, neeray said:

They DID ONCE TALK ABOUT banning Thais, as I recall (maybe I recall wrong). If they give Thais a free hand (pun intended), the loan sharks, which I read recently they are trying to reign in, will have a field day. Pawn shops will be overfilled, evictions will sky rocket, starvation will increase, crime will increase, the temples will need new rules to turn down loans, prostitution will increase (if that's possible). The downside of letting Thais play (and lose) in casinos is endless. Everybody knows already how Thais think they will get rich by playing the lotto and other gambling games.

Oh I agree with you but  just can’t see an elected government discriminating against its own people by banning them from casinos even if it is for their own good (which smacks of Nanny State). 
 

Given a choice between dropping the idea or banning Thais I think they’d choose the former.

I guess one answer is education & deterrents, unfortunately I don’t see this as being enough to prevent the things you described in your post for some people 😔

1 hour ago, 2baht said:

Get ALL your documents in order and it's easy, 45 minutes in Samut Prakan last week! And to think fools pay up to 30,000 baht agency fees for something they could do themselves for 1900 baht for visa and 3800 baht for multi entry! If you haven't got a spare 800,000 baht at retirement you must be a loser!

I use an agent & its 8K (800K in the bank all year round) + 4K for the Multi-Rentry so an extra 6,300B.

Worth it to me for the convenience, others may prefer to do it themselves, nothing foolish/smart about either option, it all comes down to how you value your time Vs your money.
 

if I was worried about what amounts to 525B PM then I’d be having 2nd thoughts about living here. 
 

As always, to each his own…

41 minutes ago, neeray said:

I recall once reading in a previous iteration about casinos in Thailand that locals would be barred from play/entry. I should hope so. At the one near me in Toronto, Canada, there have been a number of suicides by "addicted" players. One sad story worthy of mention is, a frequent player took her savings for her daughter's wedding to the casino on her final occasion thinking she could increase the $10,000 wedding fund. Subsequent to losing it all, she hung herself in the casino washroom.

Others have offed themselves in the parking lot after a bad loss.

I would hate to think of poor Thais losing the rent, mortgage or grocery money at the local casino. 

There would be uproar if they banned Thais from the Casinos so I can’t see them doing it.
 

When they allowed Casinos in Singapore, Citizens & PRs had to pay a S$100 entry fee to try to dissuade the “Poorer” people from going, but people who wanted to go still went & looked at it like they were starting off at -S$100.

To make it worse a 2nd casino opened shortly after the 1st & if people were losing in 1 Casino they’d often go over to the other one to see if they were any luckier there. 

4 hours ago, omnipresent said:

Is this true? I filed online recently to claim withheld tax on bank interest but didn't upload any papers. Are we meant to?

I don't know for sure as I've only ever filed (once) in person & I needed to show it so was assuming they'd want to see it for an online submission. 

Still haven't received my refund so have given up on it & not going to bother filing in the future unless I'm forced to. 

17 hours ago, John Drake said:

I don't know the retirement age for UKers and Australians, but if it's similar, that means they too would be among the people in Thailand on retirement visas needing to violate work restrictions in order simply to live here

Currently, UK State pension age is 67 (& wouldn’t give you enough money to meet the 65K monthly income method) & private pensions can be taken from 55. but you’re completely wrong to suggest that people have to work unless they have these as there are lots of 50-60 guys who have passive income from investments/Rent that more than cover the minimum 65K income and/or more than enough savings to cover the 800K in the bank. 
 

If they wanted to ensure people don’t need to work to live here then they would be better off enforcing the financial limits needed for the Non-IMM O “Retirement” Visa, but be careful what you wish for as any of us could find ourselves needing to use the “Loophole” through no fault of our own.

I say “Live & Let Live”,  leave the Visa Rules alone as you never know if while changing one thing they make a change to something else that impacts you..:  E.G. a lot of people would be screwed if they made Health Insurance mandatory for Non-IMM O holders, would you? I wouldn’t but I wouldn’t want them to do this as at the same time they could lift the age limit & I would be screwed! 
 

Totally agree that existing Visa holders should be grandfathered, unfortunately this isn’t what happened when they made Health Insurance mandatory for the Non-IMM OA holders.