Karma80

People are quick to laugh/poke at the cops, but they were trying to defuse it. I know it may shock you to learn that not every police force in the world shoots people as a first response or beats them up with an expandable baton. The cop had it pulled and clearly didn't want to use it. The guys clearly having some issues, and getting things to a calmer place should be applauded. Beating a guy up in his underpants in front of his family on film is not going to be a good outcome or look.

Thailand blocks porn, so not the most challenging job in the world to get results from. Apparently, you must only get your porn in person in the areas where prostitution doesn't exist, according to a different ministry.

TDLR - 1,310 people betting on how long the current government will last and answering other speculative and pointless spoon-fed questions.

Did Pence do better? No. That's because the office of the VP is pointless mainly and ceremonial, except to be an aide to the President. "the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived." - John Adams

SCB Planet Card—prepaid Visa. You transfer money onto the card, and you're good to spend it. It's instantly debited from the card, and you can transfer money onto it as you want. https://www.scb.co.th/en/personal-banking/cards/prepaid-cards/planet-scb-card.html Source - I've been using it for years. This is different to a debit card, because your funding is limited to what's on your card. It has no international transaction fees and is multicurrency in the sense that you can transfer between currencies loaded onto the card and hold balances - but check the rate you're getting if doing that.

There should be a single-step immigration ETA app that includes the levy for tourist visa waiver. Not some separate tax just to inconvenience tourists in the collection. That's a half-decent plan that might help filter out some of the human garbage that Thailand is becoming a hub for with its current open-door policy. Ditch the insurance - if you can afford to come to Thailand on holiday - you can afford travel insurance or have your emergency plans in place.

The only genuine concern is uncertainty. Investment, whether personal or corporate, requires a stable tax environment. Open discussions about tax reforms after the last PM of the moment instructed the RD to interpret the code regarding remittances has created quicksand under the feet of anyone standing on the Thai tax laws. Thailand needs to stop generating this speculation by having civil servants and ministers just shoot their mouth off.

The market will dictate what people are willing to pay. The one thing that Thailand doesn't have a shortage of is options for accomodation. They should be mindful that price is perhaps the biggest factor when choosing Thailand as a destination, and not get too full of themselves.

Bali and Japan send their thanks to the assistant governor for the additional tourists. The impact on the already oversupplied and crumbling property market will be interesting. I can't see anyone with sense dropping THB on overpriced stock with the added pressure. Most people visting or buying in Thailand do not operate from a USD base, so are exposed to a 10% upward price shift on everything.

The Bangkok Post reports the Thai Central Bank admitted today it intervened in the Thai Baht and appreciated the value, although it happened faster than they thought. Seems this is an intentional strategy and the impacts on tourism have been considered....

The US Dept of Treasury believes Thailand is worthy of being on the currency manipulation watch list https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currency_manipulator How effective that manipulation is is up for debate. I imagine not very is the real answer.

If you're really wealthy, get an LTR, which has no tax ambiguity. Thai Elite may have done its day at this point. Between DTV and LTR, I would be surprised if the Thai Elite company could survive. It was already unprofitable, which gave rise to the recent price hikes.

Totally. Chinese tourists are now the number one nationality travelling to Japan. https://statistics.jnto.go.jp/en/graph/

There are zero special tax regulations or allowances for Thai Elite Visa holders. Their statement is misleading people into thinking there is, or a marketing spin at best. Yes, some DTAs can impact a Thai tax resident. And yes, there is some transitory provision regarding money transfers before 2024. In some circumstances, an elite visa may make sense in someone's tax strategy compared to that of their home country. The government should consider aligning Thai Elite revenue allowances with the LTR. It would undoubtedly make it more attractive to higher-worth people. But TiT and who knows what vague tax ideas will be wafted out in public before any tax reform will be firm in future years. Until then, the only solid thing is the actual RD tax provisions - and concessions for Thai Elite Elite visas do not exist right now.

Everywhere will. Welcome to the age of migration and movement controls.

Why would they? Neither immigration nor a bank are the Thai Revenue Dept. Until either are directed under law to make revenue matters a part of their process, they could care less.

No. Don't worry though, Thaksin will let everyone know when his daughter is ready to announce his decision.

Government investment? We can't even sort out who the government is.

It's sad how many people come to Thailand thinking that every woman is a prostitute or for sale. There's an increasing number of stories surfacing on Reddit of expat women being molested by groups of Indians, for example, so I can imagine how legit non-sexual service spa staff get treated daily.

I think the people are the last thing on this governments mind. A coup by any name requires no votes.

And how exactly do you think you ended up with this, or indeed any other job? Frankly, having any family with generations of prime ministers in it goes to show the level of corruption, nepotism and actively going out of your way to ignore the very people you claim to represent.

No need to fix it when you have a tank or two. Just cancel them entirely.

I spoke to a colleague in our India office this week, and he mentioned that it's hot news and probably won't be good for us in Thailand. Sure, you can't work on a DTV except remotely, but don't think for a second that people arriving from situations which are dire won't care too much about the risk. What's the worst that can happen if your life is terrible already? Not to cast a stereotype, but there is a reason that Indians are subject to stricter visa controls in most places, I'm afraid.

I agree there. The notion that every remote worker is some perpetually broke clickbait YouTuber is a complete stereotype. Many people I know are working remotely in Thailand on six-figure incomes. They use Thailand's territorial taxation and the very wide, more than vague enforcement, or lack thereof, to their advantage. Which brings us to this. Probably not. There's no choke point such as an annual extension for enforcement. If you're on an annual visa, you could chuck in a requirement to show a tax return. The DTV has no such mechanism and near impossible to enforce in any way. You arrive in Thailand, you get stamped for 180 days. The guy at the immigration kiosk in the airport isn't the RD. But perhaps that's the point. Thailand doesn't really care beyond lip service. Come and spend the money you're bringing in from overseas. Multiply by millions of visitors.

If there was a single story which sums up everything you need to know about Thailand, this is it. Thailand is just an amazing kleptocracy led from the top down.