Snow Leopard

Central World has some good offers running. 

12 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

HI Snow Leopard,

When your OA Visa was issued July 30, 2019 that implies it is valid till July 29, 2020.

When you entered last week you were stamped in for a full year till mid November 2020.

When you leave Thailand and re-enter just before your OA Visa validity expires, you can squeeze out almost 2 years from that original OA Visa, i.e. till end July 2021.

During that full 2-year period you do NOT need to have thai-approved health-insurance, and can freely exit/re-enter the country (but you would need a re-entry permit when re-entering after July 29, 2020 in order to keep your granted permission to stay alive).

Once you apply for an extension of stay (early July 2021 when you timed it optimal) you MIGHT be required to have thai-approved health-insurance.  The situation is not clear at the moment, whether it is needed for extension of stay based on an original OA Visa issued before Oct 31, 2019 or whether holders of such Visa will be grandfathered.

But that's 1.5 year from now, so by then the situation will hopefully have been clarified ????

 

Re the foreign issued travel-insurance you have, and which expires Jan 1, 2020.

It is up to you whether you think it useful to renew, change or even cancel. 

Obviously, it is a good idea to have insurance while in Thailand  in case something happens.

But it is as good as certain that your travel-insurance will NOT qualify as thai-approved health-insurance once you apply for an extension of stay in 1.5 years.

 

Thanks Peter. I have had a look at the various health insurance plans for non O&A. To be on the safe side i will probably go ahead and get a policy anyway. The cheapest one i can see for my age bracket is around 35K THB. I will need some kind of medical insurance anyway. May as well get one that's approved.

21 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

1. Not correct.

    There is no requirement to show insurance when entering the country with a OA visa issued prior to October 31st. There were reports of people incorrectly being given a 30 day visa exempt entry due to not having insurance but that been fixed.

2. Nothing more that a completed TM47 form.

You can still get 2 years of total stay from the OA visas you have.

  

Joe i was questioned and asked for insurance last week on entering at BKK. My visa was issued on the 30th of July 2019, A bit of a song and dance really but they eventually let me in. The stupid thing was that i do have insurance but the card and policy was in my checked luggage with some other papers. 

I need to renew my insurance before the 1st of January 2020. Will Thai Immigration allow a 12 month travel insurance policy issued in my home country with a multi-entry OA visa?

On 10/30/2019 at 7:10 AM, Stocky said:

I don't know if their numbers are correct or not. Hat Yai is busy, but it runs on a different model to most of Thailand, it's weekend visitors from Malaysia and Singapore. Probably because Malaysians and Singaporeans are also feeling the pinch they're travelling closer to home this year.

 

What gets me is the conflicting reports, from the Tourism Ministry it's peachy, the Finance Ministry meanwhile says things are less rosy, whilst transport officials are suggesting cuts to airports, or not. Local authorities and hotelier groups say it's hard times. You're left not knowing who to believe.

 

It just leaves you sceptical, particularly of TAT, who seem to have Buzz Lightyear as resident statistician - "To infinity and beyond!"

100% correct. 

19 hours ago, Stocky said:

Jackanory

I hear what you are saying for sure but on another note i did make 2 trips into Bangkok from Dubai during September and 3 in October and the plane was rammed on each occasion. So it was busier than i have seen for a while for sure. 

On 10/24/2019 at 11:08 PM, pegman said:

We use to hear that from the right (Reform Party) in Canada all the time. Conservative/Right leaning gov's hate pensions. Have they introduced or improved upon them anywhere? One of our centrist gov's started a fund to divert pension contributions to so they could be invested and grow in value. It's doing very well so I'm very sure it will be there when my soon to be 6 grand-babies need it. I wonder how many posters on here vote for pension hating right wing parties then complain about the results? Those conservative/right gov's always seem to find a way to cut taxes for corporations and the super rich though. 

 

http://www.cppib.com/en/

Looks a good way to go. 

With the massive amount of unfunded pension liabilities of Western Governments i don't think anyone will be getting much in the not to distant future. It really is a serious problem that governments have been ignoring for far too long. Just kicking the can down the road.  

For me tyres are about the cost of ownership vs safety. Too cheap = Unsafe. To expensive = A high cost per KM. Road use only. 

This happened about 2km from our house. Sad news indeed. Condolences to all the families. What can you say? 

35 minutes ago, JAG said:

Well I have to say that I am not particularly surprised. The "Remain Campaign" has from before the referendum, been very much the child of the establishment. The courts are after all the product of the establishment, and I suspect that the government realised that from the start.

 

Amidst the whole sea of opinions, campaigns, parliamentary and party machinations a couple of fixed points poke out of the foam.  One: the people of the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union in the referendum. Two: the subsequent general election returned a parliament, of which the overwhelming majority of members, on both sides of the house, were elected on manifestoes which stated that the result of the referendum was to be honoured, and the UK was to leave the EU. Both results, obtained through the ballot box, have effectively been overturned by this establishment, and a general election, the proper constitutional means to arrive at a solution has been denied. It is tempting if perhaps melodramatic to suggest that the establishment has vigorously and contemptibly put two fingers up to the electorate.

 

Where do we go from here? I suspect that it will be some time before we have an election - the Labour Party, which has spent the last week in conference busily confirming its reputation as being unelectable will not want one until they are sure that they can win it - a long wait; and the Conservative rebels will not want one unless they can oust Johnson and his team and replace them with their own people, if they don't manage that then they know that come an election they will be toast! We are probably in for quite a long period of a stalled government, and yet more choleric grandstanding from Mr Speaker Bercow - he won't resign now!

Well put. Stuck like 2 dogs having sex. Can't go up, down or sideways. 

8 hours ago, worgeordie said:

Everything is done to help those in debt,while those that

manage their assets,have no debt,and try to save money,

are given no thought at all,with inflation eating away at their

savings,as interest given is less than inflation.

regards Worgeordie

Correct. Having money in a savings account is effectively paying the bank to keep it for you. 

9 hours ago, Angry Dragon said:

aren't all the world's main currencies fiat currencies ("backed by nothing")? If that's the case, then what will the US$ crash against?  The pound, yen and euro are all propped up by nothing but fresh air as well.

There will be a world digital currency backed by many central banks, not just the US. The US$ as the world's reserve currency will end. I am not talking Bitcoin. Something far more advanced than that. 

29 minutes ago, Requiem said:

The way I do it now is similar - I pay myself a lower salary, pay income tax to my country for that and keep the rest in the company. The problem is on how to pay out the rest of the money without it being taxed. What difference would it make when moving the company offshore in that sense?

Your company now must be due corporation tax on any profit and you would be responsible to pay tax on any dividend you take at the end of the financial year. If your company is offshore you would only be responsible for any monies you bring back onshore. 

I have my own way of dealing with this. My situation is unusual. I would suggest you talk to a good financial/tax advisor to ascertain the best way forward in your own particular case.

22 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

What I was saying the Brits on TV have been predicting the fall of the USD as long as I've been here.  Hasn't happened in fact the dollar has done nothing except gain on the pound.  Maybe time to re evaluate your thinking as you have been wrong since the beginning of WWII. 

The US$ will be the last to go for sure. It will eat every other currency along the way. But go it will. Bread and Circus plus War. Inevitable. The Derivatives and Debt will get it in the end. The US had a Ferrari backed by Gold and subsequently turned it into a Tuk-Tuk by sheer greed. 

I would move the company offshore. Pay yourself a small salary from that company, declare that and pay the tax on it in your own country. If you want to repatriate funds from your offshore company at a later date and pay the taxes on that then that is up to you. 

10 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

The first time I heard that was on Thaivisa in 2004 and I have read it 1326 times since.  You are just wrong.  No other way to say it.  If you have any valid sources to back up your outlandish claims feel free to post them.

Fair enough. You have your opinion, I have mine. The world is a different place since 2004. 

8 minutes ago, Thaidream said:

The US Dollar will never crash as it would cause a Worldwide depression that would bankrupt the World.  The US Central Bank will soon lower interest rates  and if it needs to recover money from QE it will print more money causing inflation which is what it actually wants. 

If  there was a Dollar crash all the paper that China ; Japn and the UK are holding would be worthless.  The World economies are now so intertwined that  when the US sneezes it catches cold in China and Bangkok.

 

The issue is why is the Thai Baht so strong and will it decline. IMO it  will decline if their GDP is affected; the export market falls by a large percentage and the balance of payments are affected causing a decrease in foreign reserves.  A change in Goverment either by an election or a coup will also cause a Baht decline.

Total nonsense. That is exactly what is going to happen. A massive depression. The US$ is propped up by nothing but fresh air and one day the whole house will come crashing down. Every currency that ever existed has crashed when it is backed by nothing. 

6 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Did you know Jonah started singing as soon as he was swallowed?

 

 

Everyone sings in Wales!!!

Does "Seal" come from Wales then?