MeePeeMai

You can add me to that list (and most of the other farangs that used to live in my building in Udon).

I guess it depends on where you are then.... notice I said: and and as far as I have heard and read, it is now very difficult or next to impossible to get a Driving License or open s bank account if here on a tourist visa. YMMV

Try using a different browser.

Before everyone here gets too excited about changing over to this new DTV, consider that you might not be able to get (or renew an existing ) Thai Driving License. You might not be able to buy/sell a motorcycle or vehicle while on a DTV (without a Non Immigrant Long Stay Visa) and I doubt if you will be able to get a "Certificate of Residency" from Immigration, should you need one. After all, this is a tourist visa, NOT a Non-Imm long stay visa. I'm sure there will other challenges besides those I mentioned above. Just a thought.

THIS was a huge red flag for me. When I realized the tax the tax implications for my ROTH conversions and also the future distributions (tax free in the USA but 100% taxable in Thailand), not to mention my monthly rental income from the USA... Thailand just died for me personally and was immediately removed as my permanent retirement location.

Wow! They're only 130 baht in Udon!

I was responding to jvs' comment which is quoted below.

I doubt it, the loss of revenue would be unacceptable! Then again, maybe they would just start citing drivers going less than the posted speed limit.

True, and this is why I left Thailand and I will NEVER stay there more than 179 days in any given calendar year again, regardless of the latest rumor or slip of the tongue by some government official. It's just not a risk I'm willing to take. Like I said many times before, this could turn into a huge nightmare for some of us and a big nothing for others.

I've been using Wise for more than 8 years and only recently they started asking me information about my money / banks and transfers. I never had any problems until recently... First they wanted me to verify my accounts (the same accounts which I have been transferring money from since I opened my Wise account 8 or 9 years ago), then they asked me what kind of income I have and where my money comes from, then they asked me about some of my transfers (to whom I sent the money and for what reason). I complied and answered their questions truthfully so as to be allowed to continue using my Wise account. Also, my transfers used to take 2-3 days (coming from the USA) to arrive in Thailand. Then out of the clear blue I started getting them on the same day (on a business day / not a weekend or Holiday). Then they only took a matter of a couple of hours. I was impressed... But recently, let's say starting about 6 months ago, my transfers would take sometimes several days to more than a week (for no apparent reason). I was told that there was a problem with my transfer, they are still waiting for my money to arrive, the amount I sent was smaller than my normal transfer so it would take a while longer etc. etc. etc. The last time I was locked out of my account until I answered a question they sent me which was: What is the average dollar amount you send monthly to Thailand? What are these funds used for? They should know this, they have all my records showing every transfer listed as living expenses fora long term stay in Thailand. It seems that they have gone woke or numb in the brain lately. It makes no sense to me how they are acting lately (Mike is right, it could just be KYC / AML B.S. from the corrupt USA Govt.) The latest issue (after a long overdue transfer) was that they said I could speed up my transfers if I verified my bank accounts (already done that last year). Their service has obviously gone downhill and I'm glad I don't need to use them now (since I left Thailand and I sent a lot of money there back in 2023 so I don't need to send anymore money there now). Just another pain in the butt I had to deal with just to live in Thailand. It is a lot more expensive here now that I am back in the USA (Hawaii) but I don't have any unnecessary bureaucracy or BS to deal with anymore, less stress, no more 90 day reports, and more freedom. I never thought that I would say this but I am definitely happier now and feel like I got a monkey off my back by moving back home and skipping out on becoming a 180 day Tax Resident of Thailand (This is definitely NOT on my bucket list).

Wow, that's one hell of a rant! 👍 I thought I held the trophy for the longest rants about living in Thailand (as a foreigner). I hereby hand the 1st place trophy over to you, well deserved, great job! p.s. I know exactly what you mean as I have experienced it many times myself 555

ICE all the way to my grave!

Same here. I opened two accounts at two BB branches and had to fill out IRS paperwork for both - including my FULL SS# (last 4 not sufficient).

Well my Government pension from the USA is a "State Government" pension from being a retired civil service employee... so as I understand it, Thailand has sole taxing rights to MY pension under the DTA (as long as I am a "tax resident" of Thailand). I still don't have a clear answer about my annual ROTH conversions (already taxed by the IRS) and any qualified ROTH distributions I make (not taxed by the IRS because the taxes have already been paid on everything except the capital gains portion of the ROTH IRA). Then there's my rental income from the USA and both long term and short term capital gains in my brokerage accounts. I got audited last year by the IRS (which was a pain in the arse) and I had to fly back to the USA just to deal with it. It just gets so damn complicated an uncertainty abounds. How is anyone ever supposed to relax and not worry about things in this kind of environment? "Just hire an accountant and get a tax attorney" you might say, well where am I supposed to find those (well qualified and knowledgeable) here in Thailand? Can they be trusted and might I regret hiring them for lack of experience or simply fumbling my returns?? It just looks like a nightmare and there are so many things that could go wrong if you ask me. Dealing with my Federal and State tax returns in the USA every year is already extremely complicated and expensive. The thought of doing an annual return in Thailand and dealing with accountants/attorneys/DTA and the Thai RD scared me right out of Thailand. I was happy to leave behind the headaches and nightmare of adding this into my already stressful toxic tax cake mix.

I like to keep my distance to the person in front of me while standing in line (at a Lotus or 7-11 for example), because I don't like to Invade others "personal space" and I would hope that others respect my personal space. I also believe in showing manners and being courteous to others but that does not work here in Thailand. You leave enough room for someone to jump in line ahead of you and you can be sure they will do so and not even think twice about it. I also hate it when there's 3 or 4 of us standing in line (only one register open) at 7-11 and an employee will come along and open the register next to us and serve a Thai customer who just walked up (all the while ignoring all of us who have been standing in line for a long time). They do the same thing on the roads, leave a small space between your vehicle and the vehicle in front of yours, and some jackass will force his way in front of you just because he can and then he wants to jump in front of another car in the same lane he just came from (trying to beat you) as if it's a race or something. I wish I could throw wet farts on demand whenever rude people jump the line in front of others who are already standing there waiting. One of my pet peeves in Thailand.