Lorry

Yes, the brokers lie. But they have monopolized the market. It used to be easy to deal directly with the owner - nowadays, all you get is brokers, brokers, brokers. Many of them useless, and all of them interested in a high price. So you can't make a lowball offer, they won't forward it to the owner. It doesn't cost the broker anything to wait a couple of years.

You are right. I have seen people in the immigration queues (mostly Europeans and Americans) who looked like they hadn't slept last night. Women without fresh make-up. Men who were not even shaven. And some didn't bother to wear a freshly ironed shirt! They don't know how to behave, don't know how to properly wai, and don't have some nice Thai words for the IO.

covers just a nice weekend getaway with a couple of decent girls

You can file yourself, not that difficult. But you cannot avoid the bureaucracy, I agree that's the main issue.

They may ask you where do your living expenses come from? If you have no documentation to prove all your cash transactions, they have the right to estimate your income. The obvious estimate would be 65,000 B per month.

I didn't know the tax guide writes "185 days". The point is: you cannot be in Thailand more than 179 days in that calendar year. Day of arrival and day of departure count. So you should be out of the country 186 days. There was some discussion in the main tax thread whether this would really work.The RD has never explicitly stated whether it works or not, so some people are suspicious.

Is this irony or do you really not understand Chinese at all? Chinese don't fancy a couple of months relaxing. What a waste of time, when you could earn good money in the same time!

Both of you should read the pinned Tax Guide. A TIN doesn't mean you have to file or pay taxes. Whether Brians idea works has been discussed in the main tax thread anf the result is, we just don't know whether the RD accepts this.

As Sheryl always says, you don't choose the hospital, you choose the doctor. Medpark has at least one doctor who is the best in his field in Thailand. Unfortunately, when I needed a doctor as a patient, the one who dealt with me was not the best in his field. So, ymmv.

You mean Pfizer or Brian and Katie?

There is a gift tax if the gift exceeds 20m (gift from spouse, kids, parents) or 10m (gift from someone else - cave: a gift from someone else has to be customary and at a traditional occasion).

A lot of Chinese buyers don't plan to live in Thailand more than 180 days a year. And as for the remittance tax, what they remit are probably mostly loans. Mr Chen borrows 5m from Ms Li to buy a condo, with a nice and perfectly legal loan agreement. Ms Li borrows 5m from Mr Chen to buy a condo, with a nice and perfectly legal loan agreement.

I stumbled on them when navigating through their website, which I find quite a mess. Consumer Conditions.pdf Genki Resident - Table of Benefits.pdf Product Information.pdf Genki Broker Information.pdf Claims handling has several steps: if hospitalized, the customer deals with the assistance company. The assistance company works for Dr Walter, which may have a look into things. If it's just reimbursement of expenses the customer paid already (e.g. outpatient treatment), there is usually no need for an assistance company. The underwriter always has the final say.

Bangkok Post reports today that demand for condos from foreigners is on the rise. Notwithstanding taxes. 50% of foreign buyers are Chinese.

Genki UG (haftungsbeschränkt) is a start-up, founded in 2021. https://www.webvalid.de/company/Genki+UG+(haftungsbeschränkt),+Köln/HRB+106969 The link is in German as it is a German company. "Genki is a start-up" as they say on their website https://genki.world/about (scroll to "Our Insurance", read the 3rd paragraph) Genki is not the same company as Dr Walter or as Barmenia or Gothaer, all these have been around for much longer. Barmenia and Gothaer are domestic insurance companies, not only for health insurance. Dr Walter is a broker specializing in expat insurances. If you go through their 40plus pages of "consumer conditions", versus the end you find their assistance companies (I copied them from there in my first post). Dr Walter doesn't handle claims. Assistance companies do. But in the end it's the underwriter who decides. Of course, the underwriter will only be bothered for really expensive things, e.g. intercontinental medevacs.

???

Substract one or two years of covid

Actually, it's a well known story

How??? This is a start-up, founded in 2021 during covid. How can there be experience? They are a broker, you can google their managing directors. Dr Walter is another broker (a big one, specializes in expat insurance for many years), so they are really a sub-broker. These new products target young, healthy, educated people ("digital nomads") - the most profitable group to sell health insurance to. The people you will really have contact with when you are sick (and who handle your claims) are their assistance companies: "EuropAssistanceSA, Niederlassung für Deutschland, Global ExcelManagement Inc. GMMI, Inc., International SOSB.V., International SOSGmbH,MDMedicusAssistanceServiceGmbH" That's a very mixed bag, without going into details. They certainly have direct payment agreements with all major private hospitals in Thailand. The people who pay the money are Barmenia, that's a good German insurance. Gothaer is very good. I copy from their insurance conditions (you find them as the second part of their "consumer conditions"-pdf): "Thepolicyprovisions arewritten inGerman. Anycommunicationduring the termof the insurance will alsobe inGerman. If documents areprovided inEnglish, this is tobeunderstoodas a serviceof the insurer, whichhas noeffect on theagreedcontract language." "The insurancecontract is subject toGerman law." I take it your German is good enough even when you are sick, and that you have a basic understanding of continental European law. Funnily, I couldn't find their T&Cs in German.

They may not "unilaterally ditch DTAs". They may introduce so much red tape (if you want to apply a DTA) that you may prefer to pay tax. Just the obvious requirements that some tax offices may require: get your foreign tax return translated into Thai by a certified translator, get it stamped by the Thai embassy, your country's embassy here and the MFA. I'd rather pay 5000 baht tax. BTW obviously, the TRD wil use the Thai version of the DTA. We have seen, in the video from the French embassy, that this may not be how foreigners understand the foreign version. Have fun!

Exactly the same experience, 3 years ago.

PS always in Bangkok, like DrJack

No. Never been asked for it. Yes. I have never had a TM30 stapled in my passport, didn't know people do that.

Reminds me of a Chinese commercial for the Maldives: selling point was the sea food.

I agree. I spent the last 2 days figuring out cash flows between my own accounts, after 2 days I myself finally understood them. I am sure the TRD is not interested in listening to my explanations. They will use some kind of simplified rules. But we don't know the rules they will use.