Etaoin Shrdlu

One always has to remember that an insurance company's first loyalty is to its shareholders, not its policyholders.

Good point. Let's hope that the TRD does indeed use this approach.

It is not clear, at least in my opinion, whether the basis used for determining the amount of capital gains for Thai tax purposes is the original cost of the asset when purchased, as would be the case under US tax regulations, or the value of the asset on 31 December 2023. In other words, are unrealized capital gains at 31 December 2023 added to the actual cost of the asset in order to determine the basis for calculating capital gains? I think it is a bit of a stretch to consider unrealized capital gains as income earned in years prior to 2024. My gut tells me that the capital gains are earned in the year the asset is sold and the basis is the cost of the asset when purchased. It would certainly be nice if the TRD would clearly state that the basis for capital gains is the value of the asset at 31 December 2023, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

Actually, April International is an insurance broker and not an insurance company. April does not seem to have an insurance broker's license in Thailand. Instead, it looks like it has an assistance company here for the purpose of coordinating claims with hospitals. April International's website directs inquiries for quotes for Thailand to a page that states that policies are issued by LMG Public Company Ltd. If the OP has had an LMG Thailand policy for the past five years, then he may benefit from the 5-year time bar. The OP may have engaged April International in France, or perhaps somewhere else outside Thailand, and gotten an offshore policy, but he does not state that in his post. Lacking that specificity, I would suspect that April International routed his request to LMG and his policy is actually issued by LMG Thailand. And as an aside, LMG has just this month announced that they are selling their operations in Thailand and Vietnam to Chubb.

If your policy is with April Thailand, then there is another benefit you have if you stay with April. After five uninterrupted years of renewing the same policy, the insurer is barred by the Thai Civil and Commercial Code from digging into your past medical history looking for undisclosed pre-existing conditions for the purpose of denying a claim and voiding your policy. The five year limit may not apply to cases of fraud, but that's a higher bar for the insurer to clear.

Liability insurers aren't keen to pay claims arising out of the intentional acts of their insureds, and as a result policies have exclusions with respect to intentional acts. This includes motor policies. Not to have this exclusion would invite a moral hazard.

NHI does not have a presence in Thailand. If you use a particular hospital, you might wish to ask the hospital how they would work with NHI with respect to billing and payment. The hospital may accept a letter of guarantee in lieu of having a direct payment agreement if you were to be admitted or otherwise expect to incur large expenses.

Now Health International carries an S&P rating of AA- and an AM Best rating of A+. indicating good financial strength, so you probably wouldn't have to worry about NHI's financial ability to pay a claim. NHI's head office is domiciled in Hong Kong, which is a well-developed insurance market where regulatory oversight is good. Check with your broker to determine if your policy would be issued by the Hong Kong parent company. If not, ask which subsidiary would issue the policy and what the subsidiary's S&P or AM Best rating is. I don't have any personal or professional experience with this company, so you may wish to ask your broker why they are recommending NHI and what their specific experience is with them.

With a new installation, I would first suspect refrigerant leak, but could be something else. Let us know what the solution was once you get it sorted.

Could be a number of issues, but I don't think it is the amount of moisture you put into the air from a workout. Have the unit and filters cleaned and make sure the refrigerant is the correct pressure. Check that the drainpipe isn't blocked.

Insurance brokers licensed by the Office of the Insurance Commissioner are prohibited from inducing members of the Thai public, and that includes foreigners, from contracting a policy of insurance with an insurer that isn't domiciled in Thailand and licensed by the OIC. You may wish to consider contacting an insurance broker outside Thailand to help you with this.

Here's a link to the IRS website that mentions the saving clause. https://www.irs.gov/businesses/tax-treaties-can-affect-your-income-tax I think that for IRA distributions to be exempt from the application of the saving clause, the DTA would have to specifically state that. I don't think the US-Thai DTA does. I agree with Jim Gant's post above. The changes to the interpretation of the existing Thai tax regulations do nothing to negate the effect of the saving clause on one's US tax obligations.

Both countries have rights to tax IRA distributions under the US-Thai DTA. Thailand has exclusive right to tax private pensions, including IRAs. Presently, Thailand only taxes the portion of IRA distributions that are remitted to Thailand. Due to the operation of the saving clause, the US retains the right to tax IRAs after Thailand takes its cut, and this is regardless of whether the distributions were remitted to Thailand or not. The US does allow a tax credit for taxes paid to Thailand.

I agree.

Yes, that's true, but a test of this nature needs to be administered in the test subjects' native language and given to a sample that is representative of the country's population as a whole in order to be a somewhat valid measure of a country's average IQ. My point is that an online test administered in English will skew heavily towards a non-representative sample of Thais, such as doctors, dentists, academics and others who probably have higher IQs than the general population.

Some fine print from the website above: Data from International IQ Test (IIT) are based on data from 1,352,763 participants worldwide who took the same IQ test on the website in 2024. The website providing the test: https://international-iq-test.com/en/ Seems like the test is only given in the English language. What segment of the Thai population would be able to complete this test at all? I suspect this is why the result for Thailand is 102. Administer the same test in Thai to a cross-section of the general population and I suspect a different number would emerge.

But I must add that within the workplace, an employer does have quite a bit of leeway in determining what an employee may or may not say within the scope if their work. I think this would also apply when the government is the employer.

Not yet, but it seems MAGA is trying.

I just completed this quiz. My Score 50/100 My Time 87 seconds  

No whiskey made outside of the US may be labeled "bourbon". The US, therefore, also imposes protectionist restrictions on alcohol, not just the French with champagne.

Palestinians, being Arabs, are semites, too.

Yes, It does! My oversight!

Actually, no, he's not allowed to drive on public roads. Current and past presidents and vice-presidents aren't allowed to drive on pubic roads due to security protocols.

Yes, he would need to be registered in a tabien baan here in Thailand in order to get a Thai ID card and then a new passport, but I am a bit surprised that the consulate said something about having to renew a birth certificate. I'm not aware that birth certificates carry an expiry date, but I also don't know exactly what a Thai consulate issues when a Thai citizen is born abroad. You will want to take every document that you are told you will need plus any other documents you can think of that could in any way be relevant to getting him registered in a tabien baan. Are you already registered in a tabien baan here that you can add him to or have friends or relatives who will let you use theirs? In any event, good luck in you quest.

Obtaining life insurance may require a bit more planning and thought than taking out travel or medical insurance. There are fewer life insurers catering to the expat market. If you have need for only a modest amount of life insurance and you live in Thailand, then a Thai insurer may be able to meet your needs. Most Thai insurers prefer to offer whole life instead of term life. For a number of reasons, Thai life insurance tends to be expensive when compared with cover offered in larger, more developed markets. If you need a significant amount of life insurance, then you might want to look at other options, including Canadian insurers, but bear in mind that some Canadian insurers may not wish to cover someone who lives overseas. Talk to a broker and an estate planner in Canada if you need a large amount of life insurance and/or have a large or complex estate.