Everyman

I am very surprised on this thread at the number of people that say they’ve never been screamed at. In Pattaya I am screamed at least 50 or 60 times per day, often by deranged people shouting across streets at me like broken robots impersonating humans. It’s so degrading to me and inhuman of them that i don’t understand how anyone can behave that way. Then if I go into a bar it’s the above problem.

Milestones continue to pass without any updates from the revenue department regarding enforcement. Last year everyone was waiting for the new year to hear more. There was nothing. Now everyone is waiting for the six month residency period. There will be nothing. Then they will say “oh, something will be announced by the end of 2024.” When that date passes they will point to the audit period. Regarding the residency thing, how does TRD know how long you’ve been in the country? With the DTAs as complicated and varied as they are, surely the rule change is minor, so why does everyone think they will suddenly step up enforcement, especially absent any statements to affirm that? How much different is it to prove that monies were earned in a different year than to prove they fall under a DTA provision? If it’s suddenly so critical to get a tax ID number merely based on residency, then why is it also so difficult to get one as compared to someone working in Thailand? My first thought when I saw the announcement in September was that it was aimed at a few wealthy Thais that have managed to wriggle out of audits based on that rule, not foreign residents or condo investors, even if they are affected under the letter of the law. For resident that brings in enough money to live on or even buy a [few] condo[s] or build a house for an Isaan girl or even start a small business, there’s not enough reason to do anything at all, and certainly not to “avoid Thai tax residency” which there is no evidence the TRD can track anyway or is interested in tracking. And the consequences down the road if something does get enforced is what…a 2000 baht fine and asserting to TRD that funds fall under a DTA?

What are the consequences for doing absolutely nothing about this supposed new tax issue?

I generally like to pay as I go, which they also hate. Along with never buying lady drinks. Coming think of it I am a nightmare customer from the perspective of a scammy bar that likes docile customers. I try not to be an <deleted> about it but the aggression level is high and everything is about them rather than you as a customer.

I damaged my sciatic nerve and there is no way to sit without being in pain.

I guess you’ve never walked down soi 7 then

Why do Thai people in Pattaya scream orders at me to sit down when I go into a bar? Then if I don’t, then they want an explanation!!! What is wrong with them? Why are they so pushy and abusive? All they have to do is STFU and let me lean against the bar or a wall.

I am a digital nomad so it’s my primary internet. But that is plenty, I usually use about 50GB per month. If you tether a laptop you can easily start chewing through data.

I was able to renew my yearly AIS 1790 baht 100GB per month net marathon package yesterday, months after it had expired while I was out of the country. I had to call 1175 but they told me that package is still available if a particular phone number has ever had it. Certainly the best mobile phone deal I’ve ever heard of. It doesn’t have 5G, but that’s never the bottleneck anyway.

I’ll join others who have said that they don’t really care about the increase. I’m already very inefficient about how I transfer money and I use Wise for convenience more than anything else.

These mongrels have bitten me 4 times in the last 3 years. Maybe those kindhearted women will pay for all the rabies shots I’ve needed.

Thai banks are safe. Thai housing projects however…

i smoked until i started working in a hospital that treated lung cancer patients. quit pretty quick after that.

I am skeptical of that, but would love to know how it goes in that case and hope the best.

sorry to speak for the other poster but until about 3 years ago it was much easier to open an account

I love when they say to “bring a Thai,”’ as if that will change the rules. Why people don’t get is the rules have been standardized now, it doesn’t vary branch to branch anymore.

Would you look at this…https://moreta.io Seeks to imply that you can link load money in a digital wallet and pay using the Thai QR code payment system! I signed up for early access, I’ll let you guys know my experience if they contact me.

TruMoney was nearly impossible to set up as a foreigner anyway. I gave up years ago.

Were you charged a fee to use a KBank ATM with a BBL account? Was the KBank ATM in the same province as your BBL account?

Great news, hopefully it stays free. I wonder what is the benefit to the banks to do this?

The Thai QR code payment system has a few shortcomings, such as no options for foreigners without a Thai bank account and relying on buggy and slow banking apps. Even WeChat pay and AliPay in China can be used by foreigners, although with considerable difficulty in setting it up. But at least that system is fast - faster than taking cash, even if exact change. The problem with being able to link a credit card to the Thai QR code payment system is that you could pay someone in cash using credit. Banks don’t want that because it creates a system where you would be paying the bank back with its own money. There’s also the issue of who would pay the transaction fees. From the Bangkok Bank app there seems to be something called prompt pay international, and you can possibly pay from a Singaporean account using one of their banking apps. So what it will take is for foreign banks to join the prompt pay international system. That seems unlikely. So absent some fintech solution that is foreigner friendly, it’s going to get rocky for people without Thai bank accounts.

Sorry, what do you mean by “farther up?” Also I mean to refer to the internet package for an existing SIM, not a new SIM. It’s that I let my package expire since I was going be out of Thailand due several months. Thanks. Never mind, I understand. Hehe

Any idea how to still get the 1600 per year package? I had it and lost it. Now I can only find the 2200 baht per year package.

I find it unwise to “abuse” the Schwab ATM refund policy by using it too much. I don’t want to temp them to change it.

Because your transfer to Chase is an ACH push, where the sending bank can instantly see the funds are there and Wise doing an ACH pull where it takes time to verify the funds are there. Try doing an ACH pull on the Chase side from your Wealthfront account and you’ll see what I mean.