CygnusX1

If you carefully read the link to the holdingredlich site posted by tlcwaterfall on page 28, things may not be that dire. The 183 day test is only stage 1 - you will have to satisfy other proposed criteria in stage 2 to be declared a non resident for tax purposes. Wealthy people can actually save huge amounts of capital gains tax by being non resident, and I think the ATO’s more interested on cracking down on them. Nevertheless, if you live in Thailand it’s a really good idea to spend some time in Australia each year, and if possible, have an Australian address.

I’ve always felt safer wandering at random around Bangkok than in many European cities, where I’ve occasionally been approached by aggressive beggars. Despite spending a lot more time there, it’s never happened to me in Thailand.

Would anyone know how or where to pay an annual property tax bill? I’m going to be stuck in Australia for a long while, but a friend’s returned from a stay at my Jomtien condo, having collected my mail, which includes a statement for tax of 1886 baht (I think - it’s all in Thai). If he returns to Thailand later this year, can he just pay it somewhere like a post office or bank branch, or can he only do it at some obscure government office? Alternatively, could I do it online from my Bangkok Bank account? Thanks

On a population adjusted basis, cases consistently higher than Thailand’s (apparent) numbers, deaths consistently lower. Masks have also largely disappeared from most indoor settings. High vaccination rates, not masks, is the way to go.

Couldn’t agree more, I’ve had 2 shots of the AZ vaccine followed by one of Moderna. AZ is indeed a very high quality vaccine.

It’s not the bubonic plague! A calmer comment would have been along the lines of boosters greatly reducing the already small chance of dying. I wish everyone in Thailand had 3 shots of a quality vaccine, and have even controversially suggested in a previous post that Thai citizens be financially rewarded for so doing.

Any co-owner or tenant who’s quiet is a perfect neighbour. The annoyances mentioned by the OP are trivial compared with someone who plays loud music.

From NY Times, 21 Feb - “According to a study by Bruitparif, a state-backed center that monitors noise in the Paris area, a modified scooter crossing Paris at night can wake as many as 10,000 people.”

This money wouldn’t have to be taken out of the next year’s budget as it could be borrowed - Governments do this all the time. Not ideal, but the economic consequences of not spending money can be worse, in the case of Thailand the loss of tourism due to a poorly vaccinated population. As an example, the Australian Government added over $US 200 billion to Australia’s national debt in spending on Covid related stimulus, excluding health care. The long term consequences of servicing this debt were considered preferable to letting businesses go broke and converting a recession into a depression.

400 billion baht = $US12 billion, not a huge sum for Thailand, compare annual GDP of $US500 billion, and compare revenue lost from tens of millions of tourist visits. Agree logistics wouldn’t be easy, but don’t all Thais have an identity card?

I’ve never understood why financial incentives to get people vaccinated never even seem to be discussed. If the Thai Govt gave every Thai citizen (sorry expats) say 5,000 baht for every shot they had at the appropriate time of a quality vaccine, I’m sure the number vaccinated would rapidly increase. Those citizens already vaccinated would also get the payments. Even if it had to be funded by printing money, that would cause far less damage to the economy than the continued devastation of the tourist industry, and a slightly lower baht might be a good thing anyway.

Sorry, don’t know about the VT5 car park, as I don’t have a car when I’m in Thailand. There is a large car park underneath the building that seemed to be fairly full 2 years ago. Don’t know if you can purchase a spot separately from your condo. My unit on shady (Pattaya) side of VT5D looks over half a dozen streets of single story villas. Beyond those, there is a large empty plot, which was being planted with some sort of crop when I left 2 years ago, no doubt to avoid paying tax on undeveloped land. Nobody seems to know just why a large, near beachfront block of land has been left undeveloped, while huge condo blocks have been built a mile or so from the beach. I was aware of the risk of my future view being slightly spoiled when I bought the place.

According to Wikipedia, around 15% of common colds are caused by coronaviruses. Doesn’t mean that the coronavirus from Wuhan is as trivial as the common cold though. After all, the virus from China that caused SARS 1 back in 2003 was also a coronavirus, and had a case fatality rate of 3%, according to the WHO. Agree with the rest of your post, that if deaths were published and broken up into age groups, vaccination status and health conditions, there’s be way less public hysteria.

VT5 pre virus, the occasional wait for a lift, but the pool was never crowded, and often my private pool. I’m guessing it’s pretty deserted now.

The annual fee I’ve just paid for a 48 sq m studio in VT5 was 7260 baht. Way less than I pay for my 35 sq m unit in Australia for just 3 months. Crazy, as the VT5 fee covers security guards and maintenance of gardens, lifts, big swimming pool etc. My fee in Australia pays for a couple of blokes who come round every fortnight with a leaf blower. If you decide on VT5, make sure you get a unit on the shady side. With no Russians or Chinese for the foreseeable future, you’d have a good chance of getting one for way less than the asking price. Big advantage of VT5 over 1 or 2 is not having to risk life and limb crossing Thappraya Road to get to the beach.

It may or may not prevent sex crimes, but the offenders might then be allowed to compete in women’s sports.

Continued overreaction to the virus will likely keep tourism at low levels for years, whereas far less economically destructive measures to reduce the road toll would save far more lives, and way more years of life lost.

The death rate from the virus hasn’t been remotely near enough to cause any effect such as that. Also, like it or not, the death of an old, retired person such as myself is enormously less disruptive to the community than the death of a young person with family responsibilities.

And of course, the average age of those killed in road accidents would be far lower than that of people succumbing to coronavirus, so there are way more years of life lost in road accidents, year after year.

Well, doesn’t that mean that it IS the mask wearing that will put future foreign tourists off?

And there won’t be too many of those in future if Thailand continues with its obsession with masks as they disappear from much of the rest of the world.

Two totally self-contradictory posts made within 5 minutes of each other.

I was actually talking about Australia, so maybe off topic sorry. Yes, you’re correct that electricity is charged a lot more fairly in Thailand, with only a very small fixed charge.

But it’s not like filling a car with petrol - to charge an electric car even at a rapid charge station takes a long while!

Had a look at your map, a 3km walk to the nearest one for me, and I live in a pretty central area of town. An electric car definitely not possible for me at this time.