CartagenaWarlock

But what could one do? Desperate people, rejected by their own societies and possibly women from their own cultures, had to travel 10,000 miles to live like refugees (year-to-year permissions) and possibly get a wife for a decent life that they could not get in their homelands.

Just because there is no increase in tourists, it should not preclude Chinese and Thai visa-free travel.

It's all about making travel easy.

Macau was always visa-free for the US and Thais.

If you are a US citizen and plan for healthcare expenses in retirement, you could have stashed more than 4 million baht in an HSA, tax-free, for over a decade. The money in the HSA is investable in any form, like buying index funds, etc., and you can use their VISA or MC to pay for all your medical expenses. All my friends have HSA cards in the US. I have one stashed with money that earned 24% last year alone. I used it twice at Bangkok Hospital, Pattaya. Besides, I have credit cards, each with a credit limit close to one million baht. Hopefully, I can survive an emergency in Thailand.

https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/06/nonusresidenttax.asp Dividends are taxed at 30%. Capital gains are not. Let's assume a Thai person buys a home in the USA and then sells it at a profit after a few years. It is called capital gains.

Here is an example of a loophole that they want to close. A Thai buys stocks in the US and sells it for a profit later. He is not obligated to pay any US capital gain tax because he is a foreigner (and the US assumes he pays in his own country). He parks the money in a US bank and brings it back the following year to avoid Thai taxes. It's closed now, of course. As usual, Thailand did not take into account the thousands of people living in Thailand because they had to travel 10,000 miles for a decent living in a foreign land. What about them? It is not sorted out yet.

But people still come here because home countries do not provide a decent living for many people, and it is impossible to find a much younger companion in their home land.

Traveling 10,00 miles for a decent living, possibly using a "wify" visa. I am always right.

Do people who are fortunate enough to earn dollars have to go to Nirun Condo? Traveling 10,000 miles to make a decent living is not enough.

You can call whatever you want to enhance your self-esteem, but to me, it's a transaction between fortunate people having access to earn dollars and unfortunate ones who cannot.

They are helping unlucky people who don't have access to earn dollars by taking money from lucky people who can't have a decent living in their own land and had to travel 10,000 miles to live like refugees (year-to-year contract) in a foreign land, possibly using a "wify" visa.

They are the middlemen who distribute money from people lucky enough to have access to earn dollars to the unfortunates who don't have the luck to earn dollars.

Compare the rate with Wise. I think they will be competitive. https://www.visa.co.th/en_TH/support/consumer/travel-support/exchange-rate-calculator.html

You can get food from all over the World in Pattaya.

When one has access to much younger women from the impoverished part of the nation being paraded in brothels masquerading as bars, why do you want to bring spouses from your own culture?

Maybe Mrs. is missing the old days.

Any recommended places in Bangkok?

Wealthy Thais can avoid capital gain taxes in the US and in Thailand as well.

What are the recommended dental implant places in Pattaya? Please post personal experiences, including costs per implant. I have a few missing teeth, and I use a flexible denture now. I have large corporate-level US dental insurance, and my teeth are taken care of during my yearly visits. However, insurance does not cover implants and only covers 50% of denture costs.

They don't live in Thailand for more than 6 months, unlike the majority in the forum who could not find a decent living and possibly a bride and had to travel 10,000 miles to live like refugees (year-to-year contract), possibly using a "wify" visa.

The truth hurts, eh?

Who do I believe? A person who had to travel 10,000 miles to live like a refugee in a foreign land, possibly using a "wify" visa, because he could not get a decent living in his home country, or a person who has a great standing in his own society and whose opinions are printed in the news papers? In contrast, desperate foreigners' opinions are only available in this forum. In the condo complex I am in, 50% are Chinese and Russian, and definitely they don't live here on "wify" visas because they could find women to marry from their own country.

Maybe it's good for the rental market. Lots of rental units will be available in Chonburi, driving rental prices down. I believe that when a person with money does not have access (or difficulty) to US stock and real estate markets, Thai real estate becomes attractive. Real estate is for generational wealth building. Many retired Chinese (I see many in Jomtien) I see moving to Thailand also (no data, just personal observation) due to Xi Jinping's policies, maybe.

I saw the Jomtien Post Office packed with Russians, and they are sending clothes and shoes to Russia by post. Maybe it's cheaper now to send from Thailand to Russia than to buy in Russia. I don't understand. Russian markets should be flooded with Chinese goods by now. I'm not sure why that is not happening, and people have to send clothes and shoes from Thailand to Russia.