Robin

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?

Seems to me that much depends on how "savings" are defined. I have money in a UK bank in a "savings account" so for the RD is this automatically classified as "Savings"? Interest on this account is taxed at source in UK. Also in UK I have property purchased with a bank loan, now paid off from income. If I sell this property, is the money from the sale "savings" and can it be brought into Thailand free of tax.? If I as going to buy a Condo here in Thailand to live out my retirement. I would want all the money from sale of UK property to do this, not just 70% that the RD might leave me

It seems to me that the crucial thing is what is considered to be income and what is savings. Until this is resolve, we are all just speculating. In my own case: I ownsome property in UK, now rented out, but all bought from earnings (mortgage repayments,) or capital, ( bequests.) My retirement plan has always been to sell this property and live in LOS on the income from investing this capital. Selling this property will incur CGT in UK and I will calculate and pay this on selling. If I bring the proceeds of the sales to Thailand. will it be regarded as savings, capital, or income?

Sister-in law is building a single floor residence and a single floor retail unit in rural Phayao, (Amphur Chun) Each unit is about 8m sq. with flat sloping roof. Local builde is doing this as turnkey project for 2,000,000 Baht. Not yet finished, so I cannot comment on work standards, but this is a price by local Thais for local Thai. There are so many variables for any project that you would need to specify the work required and get quotes and local references

So much talk of the "Family bakehouse, but why is it being kept a secret. Nowhere on this thread can I find clear directions or any location of this 'doyen'." Nothing on Google either. I am only an occasional visitor the CR, but I would like to try a decent steak sometime. Does the owner want his restaurant kept a secret, or would he like more customers?

Are we expected to believe this??

Could have ben the last of the barrel; When I worked behind a bar in UK the dregs of the barrel often smelled like this. Rotten Eggs smell (hydrogen sulphide, ) is the decomposition of the yeast in the beer. it often happens, I cannot see why the bar owner needs to make a fuss about it. Could it have been the way the comments were made? If I had been the barman, I would have poured the customer another beer. On the other hand, it was not unknown for bar staff to give troublesome customers duff pint to get rid of them. if the cap fits???

If the bar owner was held responsible for the behaviour of his employees, the guards, this might not happen so frequently

It started with the first Thai girl I ever met; sick buffalo, sick mama,... etc. Quickly learned to say No with sufficient emphasis to stop the request there and then. Over the years, (>40) I have become more heartless and immune to being called a "Cheap Charlie" After many bitter rows with wife, she has stopped passing on requests and family has learned that Bank id for borrowing money, not Khun Robin. Perhaps I have become more relaxed on this now, and will consider request for loans on merit, and perceived ability to repay. but giving money is not to be considered. Fortunately, the one time I did relent and lend money, sister appeared to regard repayment as optional, and huge struggle to get money repaid. Now use this s an example as reason why I am not in the money lending business. Banks, Village loan sharks are better equipped to extract repayment. Thge only nser to any loan or gift request should be a loud and firm NO!

I was under the impression that smoking 'indoors' ( aircon premises,) was illegal in Thailand. Like so many rules, widely ignored. A ew bar owners in Nana once tried to ban smoking in their bars, but this was ignored, by staff as well as customers so now smoking is the norm again and non-smokers have to suffer. Just think of the revenue missed by RTP by not raiding every bar/club once a week.

Vehicle manufacturers must make special models for Thailand with inferior brakes.

Primary tourist destination?? It will need a railway (been coming for years) and some hotels first. Health hub. Phayao hospital is busy already, serving locals.

Bleach? Avoid the stronger versions of Vixol, as it can attack the grouting cement.