Time Traveller

Do you have learning problems? Seriously read the posts. Several comments claimed that the age of consent is 15 years old in Thailand. I replied that the Thai age of consent is meaningless because 15 years is illegal for visitors in Thailand. 15 years old is considered a child in most western countries. Therefore anyone (such as you) trying to downplay the seriousness of involvement with a 15 year old should probably know that the law thinks differently. And yes, they are all the same. Anyone under 18 is a child. Maybe predators want to think differently

15 years old is a child.

Oh this old chestnut again. Well sorry to burst the bubble of all the sexpats and sex tourists but unless you are a Thai citizen it don't matter what the legal age of consent in Thailand is. You can quote all the Thai laws you want but the only thing that matters is what the legal age of consent is in your own country, because virtually all western countries have sex tourism laws that target their own citizens who travel to other countries like Thailand to have sex with young children that they otherwise would not be able to legally do in their own country. So if you think the Thai law that says 15 years old is fine, then you are potentially committing a crime in your home country that could put you in prison for decades. So even if the courts can't prosecute you here, you can be sure of one thing, the Thai's love handing pedos over to Western law enforcement.

Well I don't know about that, I've never seen it happen. But whenever I travel to Mexico there is no outbound check and no inbound check on the Mexico side either. I suspect the only passport check at the airport is that your name matches the airticket / boarding pass.

The same parasite that has eaten the brains of all Democrat voters.

Well I thought the question was strange because there are no checks on anyone leaving USA. So why would he have been stopped?

I vaguely remember a census form years ago that we had to fill out

Yes Thailand is definitely on the decline which was entirely predictable. In the 80s and 90s there was a clown by the name of Dr Meechai who was celebrated in the media and by the government elites. Essentially he promoted nationwide schemes to stop Thai people from having babies such as condom handouts, other forms of contraception programs and free sterilizations. In fact I think he even convinced the government to make it a law that all Thai employers must give their employees a paid day off work if they get sterilized! Anyway sad for Thailand as they watch other countries surpass them unless they change their immigration policies.

The basic answer is that is what it seems will happen. The more complicated answer to that question is that it depends upon the type of income you have. If your income source is covered favorably by the international tax treaty then you can elect to have that taxed only in the US. Using your example asking about Social Security and other Government pensions, these would be taxable only in USA and so would be exempt from Thai taxes, but only if you make that tax treaty election on your tax filing. (using Form 8833). Correct, savings is not income. So should not be taxable for just simple transferring it to Thailand.

Sheryl, you should probably stop giving tax advice. Using just one example, Article 20 Pensions and Social Security Payments, US Thai Tax treaty says it very clearly , quoting "Paragraph 1 provides that private pensions and other similar remuneration paid in consideration of past employment are generally taxable only in the residence State of the recipient." It could not be more clearer. Income sourced from USA is taxable only in Thailand if you are a tax RESIDENT in Thailand. For Thailand that is Residence based taxation of global income. Nothing in the code says the income must be remitted into Thailand before it is taxed. However, this ruling while it is already on the books, there is one caveat. Now I'm guessing 99.999999% of all American expats in Thailand have never used the international Tax treaty. Because the Tax treaty does not automatically apply. You have to declare that you are taking a treaty position with regards to taxes on your tax filing by using form 8833. The point is, Thailand almost never taxes this income now. But they want to change that by becoming a Residence based system. PS.. Just to add additional info. The above is inclusive of 401k, IRAs, and private pensions. For Social Security it's different as it states that it is taxable only in the contracting state (as opposed to the residence state), quoting "The treatment of social security benefits is dealt with in paragraph 2. This paragraph provides that, notwithstanding the provision of paragraph 1 under which private pensions are taxable exclusively in the State of residence of the beneficial owner, payments made by one of the Contracting States as a social security benefit or similar public pension to a resident of the other Contracting State or to a citizen of the United States will be taxable only in the Contracting State making the payment." As there is no talk about changing the US Thai tax treaty then SSI will continue to be taxable only in USA......provided that you elect to take a Tax treaty position. (Form 8833).

Why do you care? Or more importantly, if you were there to witness them then why did you not say something to them at the time? Instead you took a picture behind their backs, then post to an anonymous forum to complain about how "loud and obnoxious" they were. Well, hate to tell you this but there is absolutely NOTHING that any of us readers can do about it. It was you that had the opportunity to lecture them and educate them about Thai culture. But you didn't. Is your name Karen ?

Wrong. Being a US Citizen who is a tax resident of another country does not make you exempt from taxes in that country. As stated previously there are a few exceptions which are generally related to pension or social security income that is sourced from USA. Other types of income such as salaries, investment income, capital gains, royalties, rents would like still be considered as taxable income in the country where you live.

Correct. Any accumulated savings or capital is not income so would not be taxed. If that happened then that's effectively capital controls tax which happened very briefly in (I think) 2007 and was quickly reversed.

You're confusing what double taxation is. It doesn't mean you are exempt from income tax if you are resident in another country. It only means you're not taxed double. Let me explain. For example, if you're American and your effective income tax rate paid in the US is 20%, but the country you live in assess the same income amount should pay an income tax rate of 30%. Then you'll get a 20% tax credit for the taxes paid to the IRS, but you''ll still have to cough up the 10% difference to the taxation department of the resident country that you live in There are very few exceptions to this rule and most relate to pension or social security income and the details are specific to each treaty. BTW, if you're using a tax treaty about your income you are required specifically to state that on seperate forms when you file your taxes. It isn't automatically assumed by the taxation agencies.

Don't bet on it. The Thai government are very terrible at communicating effectively and it's my belief that they intend to adopt a residence based worldwide taxation system like what many western countries have for their own tax residents. Meaning no matter whether you bring the money into Thailand or not, if it is income then they tax it. If they only taxed money coming into Thailand then how would they be able to distinguish between money that was income and money (savings) that was not income. They couldn't. That system wouldn't work or be practical. Also why would they be making a major announcement if they intended to keep offshore income untaxed as long as it was not remitted into Thailand. Because that's the system they already have now. I'm afraid to say this but it's likely the OP will get taxed on his offshore income. Thailand definitely isn't a low tax country. So you'll get a tax credit for any US income taxes paid but since Thai income tax rates are higher then you'll probably get taxed on the difference in rates that Thailand has. Sucks for high income earners, but there might be a positive for low income earners as a yearly tax filing with Thailand may open doors for immigration to accept that as proof of income for extension of stay purposes