Lorry

Good question. I don't know. I know only what I posted. I posted it because it's an area where many foreigners live, and not everybody is carrying his passport when going to BigC.

As told by a local vendor: 2 farang were checked near BigC, they didn't carry their passport. The police (?) wanted 5000, after some bargaining settled for 3000 per person. The vendor found it too much.

The new RD order is about Personal Income Tax. This had nothing to do with FDI. Yes, the order literally says that savings brought into Thailand wil be taxed as income. This is the wording of the order, and that's why Thai Elite sees it this way (see the 2 posts above mine). Yes, bringing in 20m to buy a condo will incur 35% tax. However, people who buy a condo for 20m may very well be rich enough to be tax exempt (LTR, maybe Elite, tax avoidance schemes concocted by expensive tax advisers). And even if they pay 35% - very few foreigners would leave Thailand if everything was 35% more expensive than now. Most would still consider Thailand cheap or good value.

According to the article, the PM made it very clear they are targeting the foreigners. Many people have said the new order is targeting rich Thais. That has never made sense. The PM and his government ARE the rich Thais. It does make sense, though, that the PM says the new policy fosters more equality. Because, as written in the article, targeted are "wealthy" foreigners (Foreigners are, as every Thai will tell you, wealthy by definition). "Wealthy" as in retirement visa, LTR visa holders are exempt.

Thais say, everybody should drink 8 glasses of water per day. We are talking about 40/50/60kg people, living in Thailand. What does this mean for a 120kg American in Thailand? BTW Thais do not drink enough, that's why they have a lot of kidney stones,.

There used to be one at Korat. Sorry, I cannot remember any details. Surin? I doubt it.

@MartinBangkokI basically agree with you, but 2 side notes: After 18 years in Thailand, working on a WP, you don't speak Thai with them? Baffles me. I wanted to write you should have learned to find a better kind of girlfriend. But girls who would side with a farang boyfriend a really rare. (They do exist, though - but the fact that they are so rare tells us something about Thai culture)

Condo pool, its heavily chlorinated, maybe too much

Thanks for all the helpful answers

Have you ever seen them in Thailand? I understand. I do backstroke to help my spine...

Supposedly, there are ear plugs for swimming? I use ear plugs to sleep, they would definitely fall out when swimming.

I was going to add to my post "except stopping swimming"

I normally go swimming every day. Got external otitis (inflammation of the external ear) on the right side. ENT doctor cleaned the ear (by suction) and prescribed amoxicillin/clavulanic acid for a week, no swimming. I added hydrogen peroxide drops. After a week, everything was fine. But the other ear developed the same problem. It started when still on amoxicillin/clavulanic acid and got worse when I started swimming again. After swimming, I used hydrogen peroxide drops on both ears, that was useless. Another ENT doctor cleaned the ear (by suction) and prescribed Cravit ear drops, no swimming. I have started to blow-dry the ears, the doctor laughed it off. A friend (diver) got diluted vinegar drops before swimming, and there are commercially available "Swim Ear" drops. The doctor has never heard of this, and doesn't think it might help. Any experience? Is this avalable in Thailand? Any other idea how to prevent this from happening again? Supposedly, there are ear plugs for swimming? I use ear plugs to sleep, they would definitely fall out when swimming.

In the end, he got a new non-Imm O in his new passport (that wasn't easy, because his new name doesn't fit the format of the application template). Entering Suvarnabhumi, he just showed the new passport. No problems.

I switched to Note FE. It took many calls to DTAC and a long visit to DTAC hall in Central World to get WiFi Calling working. The issue was that I have 2 SIMs in the phone, DTAC and AIS, but only one can use WiFi Calling, and to switch WiFi Calling to the other SIM you need to temporarily deactivate the first one (so pretend your phone has only one SIM), then activate WIFi Calling and from now on it will always be the other SIM when you use WiFi Calling - until you switch back the same way. DTAC hall had no idea how to help. Neither had the call center. Only when the call center asked where I was and I told them "I am in Bangkok, in Central World, in the DTAC hall" - only then came the guy who knew what to do out of hiding.

Best explanation of what is going to happen.

Very well noticed. So pensions would not be taxable, I wrote my last post for what?? It remains the problem of proof.

First, this ruling is from August 1, 2023. We have a new government now. Second, this site also states that pensions brought into Thailand ARE taxable. So the rest of your post resp. a DTA applies. But you can see from the length of your own post how complicated this is going to be. Starting with the proof that your remittance is from savings, not from your pension. So pay up (a couple of thousand US, see above), hire a tax adviser (the guy in the video posted above says with his firm it will result in taxes of only a couple of thousand US if his firm does it) or spend 30% of your time in Thailand with the RD.

Thailand has long made it very difficult for young Taiwanese to live here. It used to be easy. Now Thailand prefers they go home. Guess why?

If you are over 65, and IF they grant you the same allowance as Thais, there is another allowance of 190,000. That would result in about 40k tax. There even is an allowance of 100,000 for pensions, but they will probably say "only Thai pensions" BTW it's 780K, not 980K

Paying tax for 67000 (shouldn't he say 65000?) a month is probably preferable to spending 5 month a year running after documents about the DTA and visiting the RD. Especially if they grant all foreigners the same allowances as Thais (I would be surprised - I would expect them to grant the allowances only to foreigners with WP). But you will definitely need some kind of tax clearance before exiting the country, and if you exit more than once a year (visa run anybody? FIFO?), this will be a lot of fun. "Thailand is getting more and more like Singapore, it just doesn't work so well" someone has written. Immigration, property tax, TDL, now taxation of remittances...all this didn't exist when I came here. I had no contact with Thai bureaucrats for many years. I didn't miss them. Now this may soon be my main occupation.

True, but not new.

Yesterday, the BTS ran between Bangchak and Punnawithi with an open door. Videos are all over tiktok. Almost no passengers in the train, nothing happened. I now understand the signs "do not lean on the door" And in the future, during rush hour I will push myself into the middle of the carriage.

The "average" adult in medicine/science has 70 kg. How many board members weigh 70 kg? I guess add 50% and it's more like it. So, add 50% more water/fluid. "Temperate climate" in Western discourse means bloody freezing temperatures of 18° C or 15°C. Those who live here: can you even remember how cold that is? There is nothing temperate about it. If you like Thai weather and you didn't come here to enjoy the nice a/c of 7/11, add considerably more water/fluid.

I thought you can't anonymously deposit cash for a 3rd party at a CDM any more. But I just did it, it worked as usual. Did I miss something? Is there maybe a limit?