Robin

I believe that Sweden is a country where wearing a helmet on a m/c is compulsory or at least customary. Also it is the law in Thailand. Just because the RTP do not enforce he law is not an excuse for not obeying it, particularly when it is common sense t wear a helmet, ( even the cheap Thai helmets give some protection,) Can you sue the RTP for not doing their job, and protecting tourist from their own stupidity? Also, What happened to the levy on all tourists to get a fund to pay for their medical treatment when they were not insured? Lost in various corrupt officials pockets?

There are so many ways that tis scheme can fail, or be subverted, I cannot believe hat these were not thought through first. Big traders with adequate cash flow will be able to convert the digital money to cash at a cost, an d they will profit. Jus what Srettha and his cronies planned in the first place. it is not buying popularity it is being paid to get popularity.

I have just had a telephone conversion with my Bank in Singapore, to organise transferring some money to my Thai account, and the person i spoke to said that she had heard from another Dept. in he bank that the proposed tax law is not going to affect me as a person in Thailand on a Retirement Visa. h had no details but was very sure of what she had heard. Any new like this here. Could it be that Srettha is finally seeing sense? Regardless, I am organising a transfer of some money to Thailand before the proposed tax starts. Better safe than sorry, and who knows what Srettha will dream up next.

Hypothetical case: I am now a UK ta resident, but I decide to sell my house in UK and bring the money to Thailand to buy a property here. I get a big capital gain on selling my UK house, but this is not taxed in UK as it is my "sole dwelling" If I bring this money to Thailand will I have to pay the Thai tax on it? It is not income, but a capital gain.. original money to buy the house was partly from income and partly from savings, paying off a loan to by the house, taken out >30 yr ago All the talk here so far seems to be about Income, but what about transferring cash to Thailand? The only outcome from this that I can see is that Thailand is no longer a retirement possibility. Has this been considered? Who is going to buy all those Condos in Phuket and Hua Hin? Finally, hat about cash transfer? Say I keep my money in a bank in Singapore? and make 2- trips there every year, bringing back a wad of Sin$$ and then change gradually at various money changers in BKK. Who will be keeping track of this?

Another piece of advice; never trust friends or relatives to act a executors, get your non-involved solicitor to do this. People behave very strangely when there is money involved. The more money, the worse they behave. Also I found that to become non-domiciled in UK was not easy, I would have had to cut all ties with UK. I thought that too much effort and continue to pay UK tax on unearned income. Unqualified advice given to me; " Get all your money as far away from the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer as possible" Now we have Srettha to worry about as well.

I looked at this some years ago, and had my accountant investigate the UK law at the time. I had always assumed that inheritance between husband and wife( we were married in UK,) was free from IHT. Not so! If your wife/ Gf is not a UK resident she will have to pay UK IHT on any money you leave to her. probably even more so if you are no legally married in UK. I cannot confirm that the law has not changed, but that was how it was 5 yrs ago. If you have any other family , (from previous relationships) in UK, I can only strongly suggest that you make a UK/Thai Will stating your desires as to inheritance to your g/f. Get it legally written down and notarised . with all your assets defined. Never trust the good will of any family members or friends, make it legal and clear. it is better your g/f gets 70% of something than 100% of nothing. When I did this, i tried to make sure that my wife would be OK even after paying IHT, by making sure she was the owner of all our property in Thailand, and that she had money in our joint Kbank account. Any doubts, then consul a qualified UK tax accountant, I m only telling you what I learned some yea ago.. I am still in touch with my accountant and he ahs not told me of any changes in UK law, but you never know. Now we also have Srettha's new tax laws to worry abut as well

Surely this is going o be the end of Thailand as a retirement destination? Who is going to retire to a country where you cannot bring in money from you home county Sell your house at home, probably pay no tax on that money (as in UK) and then pay 30% tx on that in Thailand. No Thanks!!

AS a UK citizen, receiving a state pension, I can confirm that it is paid into my UK bank, or any bank I specify, gross, and hast to be included on my annual UK Tax Return, where is is assessed as 'unearned income'. This is information from my UK Accountant who prepares my annual Ta x return.. Since many UK retirees do not have any additional income, except their state pension, this could be below the threshold where they have o pay UK income tax, and could appear to be 'non-taxable.' I have no idea what the situation is for pensioners of other nations.

I believe that most if not all Thais also pay tax on interest from bank savings accounts. After asking various Thai friends i also believe that few Thais pay much if any tax. Local shops or sole traders all seem bemused at the thought of having to submit an annual tax return, and I have been told that if I need to pay tax, I ill be asked by thee Revenue Dept. to pay. So, I am waiting to see what happens. I have been living partly in Thailand for the last 10yrs on a Retirement extension, while working oversea as sole trader. Always paid from overseas, often into Thai bank account, and not comments. I always understood that my income from overseas was not subject to Thai Tax. I was a non-resident in UK at that time and only paid tax on unearned income in UK. Noe i have stopped working I was looking forward to retirement nd living on my savings and investments, kept in UK and Singapore.. NOw it sems that Srettha is destroying that dream.. If he really is going through with this idea, that that will be the end of Thailand as a Retirement Destination. He is said to be 'property developer', but this is not going to help him sell many properties to retirees wanting to live in Thailand. If Srettha wants to increase his tx revenue, he should look a collecting all taxes not being paid by Thais, but this would make him un-popular and not help his chances of re-election. As a ( successful?) business man, surely Srettha has picked up some financial common sense?

I admit to complete ignorance about Thai Tax affairs, and have been living here on a Retirement Extension visa for some years without ping any tx or even having a Thai Tax number. I was happily assuming that I did not have to pay Thai tax on any income from outside Thailand. Without checking aall my travel over the last few years, I do not know which, if any years I was a Tax Resident. Since I am considering spending more time in Thailand , what should I do to avoid any nasty confrontations with Thailand Tax office. If I go to local Tax Office and ask for a Tax number, will I be subject to an unpleasant interview and accusations of tax evasion? I appreciate that ignorance is no excuse. Now I have retired in UK, I have no income there except my stat pension and from rented property, both of which I file a UK tax return and pay he required taxes. Do I go to Ta office and ask the to assess my tax liability in Thailand and then pay up, or do I continue as up to now, and just get visa extensions nd trae between lOS and UK.

iIt seems to me that the crucial term here is "Tax Resident" How is this defined? Can someone confirm that the figure of 180days/year in Thailand is the correct qualification? Is it days or nights in the country? If so I will be counting my days here, and keeping under that limit. Is it income only that will be taxed, or draw-down on capital held elsewhere. In UK I am allowed to draw down 5% (i think) of my capital held in a bank there or anywhere else, without paying any tax on the money. If i do this and then bring the money to Thailand does it count as money with tax paid, or will Thailand tax me on that as well. Seems like lots o work for Thai taxa accountants, at least in he first year.. How is Thailand going to round up all the 'Tax Residents' nd tax them? All seems very complicated, as I, like many retirees, do not have any official tax number in Thailand. I pay tax in UK on unearned income, so I have a "unique tax reference' that i can be tracked with. Is Thailand going to be able to do this? I could live in Thailand on wife's income from ice growing etc., on which she pays no tax., and buy item s like air tickets on my UK credit card, paid in UK. Thailand is going to be the loser i I do not bring any of my money from UK. My UK pension is paid into UK bank and taxed there.

I looked on Banana IT web-site for SSD hard drives, and surprised to see virtually all were marked as " Out of Stock" Is there some world wide shortage I have not heard of, or is Banana pulling out of selling SSHD's? No other suppliers locally in Phayao, so will I have t make a trip to Chiang Ri or Bangkok to get a new back-up drive.

Taxing income from overseas, or capital transfers? How is hat going to be sorted out? Say i put all my income into offshore bank account and transfer money from that once a year. if income is taxed at source, do I pay tax again? If money in overseas account is not income but capital, do I still pay tax? Tax resident? Say I spend 175 days a year in Thailand. Not a tax resident? 175 days(nights) in UK; not a tax resident? 15 days holiday in Singapore/ Malaysia/ Vietnam? Not a tax resident there?

Entry into Singapore last month was a pain. Gone is the simple form to fill in and show to I/O. Now you need to fill in a form which you get on your smart-phone and show that to I/O. Ownership of a Smart phone is now virtually compulsory if you want to go to Singapore. Filling in the Arrivals form ' on th IPad provided at Immigration was a real PITA and then you have to tke a screen shot to I/O to get in the country. Once Singapore was easy to visit, now it is a real pain and I will not be going there again unless i cannot avoid doing so.

Not totally surprised by this. They have to pay for all these 'give-aways' somehow.. There must be many expats using Thailand as a tax haven. The wonder is that it has taken any Gov. so long to catch on I would have thought that it will b difficult to tax anyone who is not given some from of residency status. if all the retirees and other log term visitors are driven away, Gov will need to collect a lot of tax revenue to make up.

Another give away. One day it will have to be paid for.

1. Find a solicitor who you can trust and get him to make your will. Be clear to him what you want to happen to your money. Do not et involved with 'friends' who advise or help you, get ( and pay for ) proper legal advice. make sure what you write is legal, properly signed nd witnessed, and your executor knows hat is required of him, and can and will do as you ask. I would suggest making a will in your home country, where you can most easily communicat4 with your solicitor. BE very clear as to waht you want to happen to your estate. Remember you will not be around to sort out any ambiguities. Get it right before you go.

If only I could do it all again, knowing what I know now. One ambition ( dream ) I had then was to visit Thailand. I had read abut it in some underground magazine. Thailand has not disappointed.

Loser men gravitate to Thailand because Thai ladies are unusually tolerant of losers, perhaps because Thai men are so hopeless. Farang men might be just as hopeless, but they tend to have more money than Thai.

Ow many genuine Tourists want to stay longer than 60 days, or can stay that long? I suspect very few, if any. To be able to afford to stay 60days or longer, they are going to need money. That is to have a job. if you have a job, you are not likely to get 60 days leave or longer. Long stayers are normally back-backers, or gap year students, or bums looking for a cheap place to live, not the Big spending, Quality Tourists that Thailand sys it wants.

many thanks for all the information and advice given here. I did not know the land ownership law had changed. I will get my UK will updated with her Thai identities, and that should settle the legal side of the matter, so I will not die intestate. How would we go about registering our marriage in Thailand? Wife is now keen on the idea, though I assure her she is not going to lose out on any inheritance. We went to the local Amphur office yesterday, and were given a load of nonsense by lady there, and passed on the a translation service company who did not want to help, and said we had to do this in UK, at the Thai Embassy in London. Was she right? We were hoping it could b done in Thailand. We have a UK marriage Certificate, nd have lived together for over 35 yrs.. I am registered on the Tambien Ban (yellow Book) for our house.

Filling in time t home sorting out personal documents etc, when it occurred to me that my Thai wife does not officially exist. This situation might be more common than you think, so what should I do? I married my long standing Thai g/f when we were living in UK. Completely legal marriage at local registry office. She may have had to show her Thai passport as identity, but too long ago to remember. On the marriage certificate she is identified as V... P... Spinster, with father Y... P (deceased) After the wedding we lived together in UK and had a joint bank account and she had her own account. Both accounts have since been closed. Now we are living in Thailand, she has kept her maiden name, with Thai ID card and passport in that name, mainly so hat she can continue to 'own' our house and some land in the village.. Probably many expats are living in the same way. Looking at my UK Will, I find she is named as 'my wife V... C..., and no reference to her maiden name. But.. Nowhere is there any evidence that this Mrs. V...C... is the same person as Miss V... P... living in Thailand with a Farang husband. Has any member of the Forum had experience of a case like this?? What might happen when I die and someone challenges my will, that she is not the beneficiary? Short of registering our marriage in Thailand, is there anything I can do to avoid future prolems?

It is not only in Thailand. When you are too old to work for your living, you are expected to die. Most western pension schemes are based on this. UK pensions are going broke because its citizens will not die soon after retiring.

When I returned in June, back to my same address, and with Re-Entry Permit for Retirement Visa, I was told when I went to do my TM30, that it was not needed as I was coming ack to the same address. Nothing given in writing. This was Phayao Immigration.

It should not matter what nationality he driver was, or what car she was driving. If she was hit frim behind, (rear-ended) it was not her fault. The driver following should have been able to stop if she did. So why should he not be responsible to repairs o her car If it is a Rolls Royce, she is entitled to have it repaired by Official RR agent and not be required to take it to any local Sombat bodger. It is an expensive car and she is entitled to have it properly repaired with RR parts. If the Thai driver was not insured, that is his fault, nobody told him to drive un-insured, he will have to take the consequences. if he has to sell his vehicle to pay his bills, ha is one un-insured vehicle off the roads.