Robin

Further advice from yesterday. Make sure have everything in writing; Every contact with banks, opposition solicitors,... If you think that "Edward" has any possessions of "George,' warn him in writing that everything of George legally either belongs to George or to "Alice" and is 'sub judice' until probate is obtained. Keep copies and a diary of all communication with Edward, and try to avoid any more contact that is necessary; leave that to the solicitors. never mind if Edward take offence; do what you think is legal and best for Alice and George. At the risk of being wrong, I would hang on to every single thing of George's and not let Edward or anyone except your appointed solicitors have anything. If Edward get somehing relevant and then looses it, it is gone for ever. If you have kept it by mistake, you can always return it later and apologise for your mistake. We have to hope now that Edward was just an interfering 'chancer,' and will now see that there is nothing in this for him and quietly drop out and leave you to do the work. George is lucky to have a friend like you to sort this out. Good luck.

I cannot offer any legal advice, but my experience in similar cases is never to underestimate the greed of humanity, whne some 'money for nothing' is on offer. Nor should you trust anyone who might have claim, or think they have claim, for the money to act helpfully toward you. Never mind who is 'morally' right, they just want to money. The verbal 'las Will & Testament' has no legal standing if it was not witnessed. nor vry little even if there was a witness. Remember that said friend could easily have made the whole thing up simply to cover his theft of the bank cards and other stuff. Why else would he have taken that and not be wanting to return it to the correct owner. Try to keep written records of every communication you have with friend, and keep detailed notes of everything, every phone call, visit to bank, just about everything. if it come down to "I said, he said" you will need every scrap of evidence.

Only 68 motor cycles. Pity it wasn't 680, and all sent to to the crusher. I would imagine that whoever has bought the m/c on finance will have to keep paying the finance company as per his agreement. I am sure that Thai finance companies have plenty of experience of dealing with defaulters.

'He felt it was his right to smoke in public' What arrogance. it should be the right of every citizen to live in smoke free air, not breath the second-hand smoke from A-holes like this. Thankfully , UK is fairly strict about smoking now, so these scum think thy can come to Thailand and break the laws if thy want to. In my opinion Thailand is far too casual about enforcing their non-smoking laws. it would be very good if he law regarding smoking in bars was enforced. Good little earner for RTP as well; let them keep all the fines they collect.

Several months forced to clear the drains in Bangkok

So many experts know what should have been done: 1. Fire extinguishers. if you are not trained to use one, not going to be much good. 2. safety briefing before leaving? have you ever seen Thai ,or any other kids, pay attention to something like that. 3.Teacher take command? hat is he likely to know? 4. Inspect the bus before hiring? Cheapest is obviously the best. Parents might complain about the cost. 5. Was it true that the emergency doors were locked shut? Who by? if the driver did this then he is guilty of murder and should be punished accordingly. 6 It is very rarely an accident; normally a combination of mistakes and wrong actions.

Just try using a credit/debit card in any shop in Thailand. "No like, No want" is the usual response, followed by over-charging to cover the car company's fee. Thailand is a "cash only" economy. It suits the numerous criminals who live here, and supports tax evasion.

Will the Immigration and other ground facilities be able to cope? Not likely on the current showing

I believe that you can apply for your extension of visa up to 30 days before it expires, so why not do it early. I try to work with my local I/O; I visit them in the lst month, and ask for an appointment to make the extension, and then ask them to list the documents I will need to bring to them. Also check what photo I will need and show my Bank book o ensure that it will be accepted. On extension day, first visit my bank to get pass-book updated and the docs that I/O needs. Then to Immigration and extension done. Everyone happy and I am safe for another year. Usually I get a re-entry permit at the same time, just in case I have to leave in a hurry. I use ' money in he bank' instead of monthly income, as the paper work is easier, and the 800K is an emergency stand-by fund for me.

Animals have no imagination, so hey see only a place to walk, not thinking of what lies under. They also have incredible babalce.

I was with Nat West. Decent account. On-line banking worked and money could be transferred easily on -line. Then NW cancelled my account, no reason given and maximum inconvenience and rudeness. If you have a good relationship with NWB, I would go with them. Just do not complain to them about any aspect of their banking. Some UK banks, including Santander, appear to have difficulty sending money to Thailand via on-line banking. NB. Gave up with HSBC ; Their system was so secure that neither I nor any of their support staff could log me in and I had to close the account to get my money out. Many UK banks require you to have a UK address; check before you think of opening an account.

TRy to calm down some of the replies to my postings: I am in Thailand on a retirement visas using 800KB n the bank as source of funds. I have never worked in Thailand, so never had to bother with a Tax return, I cannot speak for my wife, as i do not interfere with her financial affairs. For many years, when working in Offshore, I was non-resident in UK, but paid UK taxes for 'unearned income'. Tax returns were prepared and approved by a professional accountant, and not questioned by HMCR Now I am fully retired, and had hoped to live out my life in Thailand, having saved and invested enough to keep wife any my self for the rest of our lives. The Seetha Government tax proposals have become a worry, but I am hoping that I can survive, using the non-tax-resident method. It will be interesting to see if Taksin, originator of he retirement visa, and perhaps more expat friendly in tax thinking, keeps with Seetha's proposals. As regards selling property in UK, I am familiar with CGT rules and not in need of any advice, only the question of is the value of the property 'savings' (noun) or not

Thanks for the answers. I will just have to wait and see what happens. I will try for the non tax resident method when I have sold the house in UK, or hope that the situation has been clarified. I think that savings is a concept that Thais do not understand; 'if you have money, spend it' is more Thai. To my simple mind, "Savings" could be defined as income not spent, but kept in an accessible place. My dictionary gives "money put aside for future use" In UK the money is kept in a "Savings account" as it might be in Thailand. Good enough for he RD?

How are "savings" defined? I believe that I can transfer 'savings' from UK to Thailand, but what are savings? If I do not spend all my income immediately, what remains could be called 'savings,' but will the Thai RD see it that way? My real concern apart from the semantics, is that I have property in UK that I intend to sell to fund my retirement. Property was bought on a mortgage in the normal way, paid for out of monthly income. So is the property now 'savings.' And can the proceeds' of the sale be brought to Thailand without me having to pay any tax? Also, property has increased in value since original purchase; Is the increase savings or income? HMRC in UK have a various allowances fro property value increased, which might confuse Thai RD?

Have here been any hints or theories as to the ne Government's policy of the idea to tax inward remittances for tax residents?

Advice given to me from the DR of a major UK company; Rabies Vaccine will not give you 100% protection, but increases the time you have to get to a major hospital and start full treatment if you know you have been bitten by a Rabid animal. Two other points; 1. Rabies treatment is very grim; injections direct into your stomach with large needles. 2. Nobody, but Nobody has ever survived Rabies. If you get Rabies, you die. Fact. Thankfully, most animal owners here take advantage of the Thai government low cost, 10Baht, Rabies vacc. for domestic animals, so most Thai pets are Vacced. Best advice I can offer is to void any chance of being bitten, if you can, and make sure all you pets and neighbours' pet are vacced. every year. In our village the chief local vet comes at least once a year and sets up in thee temple compound, and inject all temple strays and every other animal brought for injection.

Do not bother with 65K / month income. Use 800K in the bank and keep that untouched as an emergency fund for absolute last resort needs. Once you have the money in your bank for the required time, no fuss. Bank should be familiar with this and know exactly what documents you need. Then hassle with proof of income. You just get a statement from the bank to take to I/O when you are doing retirement visa extension. Can all be done at your local branch, so no need fro any trip to BKK for Embassy documents.

Qualifying for a Darwin Award

I think we are not getting the whole story. Someone going on a 'dream holiday' from UK to Thailand, does not go for only 3 to 5 days, they would be gong to spend 3 to 5 weeks in LOS, and they would have been planning the trip for weeks. Most likely been studying LP guides and have some travel plans, which they would have told all their close friends. Why so much a secret where he went and where he stayed? Why goon holiday without his 'girlfriend." Would she have let him free in Bangkok? Just to seethe temples? Was this one of those 'bargains'? Free ticket to Bangkok with 5 day stop-over in exchange for carrying a 'package' to Bangkok? Did he get inquisitive and look in the package? Decide to keep the contents and doa runner back to safety in UK? Package recipient in Bangkok very upset and deals him? Now look in drainage ditches near Swampy.

Maybe not THAI's fault the aircon fails, but surely it is up to their ground staff to look after their passengers. If the flight is cancelled then they should offer passengers free overnight accommodation. Plenty of hotels near LHR, only a case of aa phone call and being prepared to pay the bill. Most probably THAI's problem; nobody with the authority to pay the hotel bills. Note the complete silence from THAI. One more reason not to fly with them.

Hoping that this is not off topic: How do the TRD count days n Thailand for Non Resident purposes? Is it the number of nights in Thailand as UK,(HMCR), does or is here a 'Thai way' of counting days?

Many thanks to the various posts and links on tax guidance. Slowly, the situation is becoming more clear. My retirement plans had been thrown into disarray by the proposed Thai tax changes, but hopefully not as badly as it first seemed. My retirement plans were cantered on rented property in UK, purchased from income when working. All income was declared and taxed in UK. My plan was; when managing rented property in UK became too much of a chore, to sell the property and invest the monies and live on the interest. I was also intending to draw down some of the capital to augment my income as required. ( if the money was invested in UK., I believe I could draw down a max. of 5% a year) With luck and planning, I should have had enough to live on and who cared if I died with only a few $$ in the bank, my dependants were already cared for. When these plans were formulated, Thai tax allowed me to bring money earned outside Thailand into LOS with no tax liability, so the recent proposals caused some concern. Now, if I understand the situation correctly, I need to make sure I am not a Thai Tax resident for the year I sell my UK property, or find somewhere outside Thailand to keep the money from the sales. Am I on the right lines, or still confused? Before making any moves, I will wait until these new rules become law n Thailand, so I know what I am dealing with, and look for professional advice if it's not clear then, With respect, I would regard advice on thsi Forum as being suggestions and definitions of Thai law.

Yesterday, on P19, I asked a number of questions about my tax situation in Thailand, perhaps , yes, hoping for free tax advice. One person took a lot of effort to high-light my questions and then answer all with the advice "You need to read Thai Tax law" I would regad this as like Microsoft 'Help' Absolutely correct, but absolutely no use. I am not a tax expert nor a tax adviser, so when confronted with something like these proposed Thai laws, i can only ask for advice. If someone was to post a link to an English version of the 'Thai tax law' I would indeed read it and try to understand how it affects my situation. Until then, I understand that I will not become a Thai Tax Resident until 5th January 2925, so have nothing to worry about. If I had any money, I would consider bringing it into Thailand. Who can say which tax law will be in force then?

I have read through all the 19 pages above, and it seems to me that much depends on the definition of 'savings' that are being brought in to Thailand. If I sell my house in UK, is this money 'savings' House was bought over the years with payments from my income. Was that "savings," Value of house has increased during the time I have owned it, but as my 'principal dwelling ' in UK it is exempt from UK Capital gains tax. How will RD view this money if I transfer it to my Thai bank account? I would call it savings. Second question; If I give this money to a trusteed friend in UK, and they then send me 20M B as a gift, is this exempt from tax? If they do that every year until the money is used up, is it still a tax emept gift?

Something else to consider, (or not as the RD thinks fit,) How will be quests be treated by the RD. For example, my will, made in UK, bequeaths money to my wife, now living in Thailand. Will this be a taxable income according to the RD? If an as yet unknown rich uncle leaves me a few Million, will the RD want tax on this if I bring it to Thailand. Does Thailand have an Inheritance Tax? One more thing generally ignored and not paid my the majority of the population?