chiang mai

Firmer doesn't necessarily mean weaker or stronger.

I can't imagine what you're referring to, NHS eligibility perhaps but not state pension..

Inflation has always existed but from time to time we see spikes that derail most peoples plans.

I think you mean exports, imports become much cheaper as the Baht gets stronger.

221 Pounds per week

Along with Switzerland, Germany and Vietnam! Currency manipulation is not about exchange rates, it's about trade and buying more from the US. https://www.cfr.org/article/tracking-currency-manipulation

You sound very empathetic and caring! Have you considered that many of those people have lived here for decades and have families here. Perhaps their financial planning and acumen wasn't that great three decades ago and they misjudged the high cost of inflation over that period, but is that entirely their fault. Telling a 75 year old to go back to a country where he has no assets or family and hasn't lived for thirty years, whilst all his family is here, is not helpful.

Yes it is, but you have to factor in the cost of travel to obtain the money, hotel costs and subsistence plus the risk of carrying and storing that much cash comes with a price. My guess is, all told, he needs closer to 37 or 38.

Good luck getting good quality health care nearby where you live. And if you live a few hundred miles away, good luck getting to it alive in under one day.

Again, it comes down to cost. I priced my stenting procedure at Spire Hospitals in the UK and at Bumrungrad. Spires wanted 13k Pounds, plus plus, plus airfare and accomodation. Bumrungrad wanted under 4K Pounds.

Yet in Thailand there is a massive oversupply of doctors. Look at the web pages of the private hospitals where you can "Find Your Doctor". In Chiang Mai at least, each private hospital has at least 300 specialists available for consultation, it's almost become a game to see who can offer the highest number. The same names appear on each of the different hospital web sites and are repeated across the city, all trying to earn extra money. Meanwhile, those same people are working their normal jobs at government hospitals.

You probably can't, not as long as health care remains an industry. Thailand has similar problems, private hospitals here are now opting out of supplying treatment under government plans, because there's no profit in doing so. There needs to be conditions linked to training that require public service to some degree, for an extended period, otherwise the cost of training must be repaid. That's pretty much what happens here with the best specialists found in the government District and university hospitals.

The cost of treatment here is not always as radically high as some people make out. I've had two hospital stays in 15 years, a cardiac stent cost 160k and last year, thyroid removal that cost 170k, that's slightly more than I would pay for health insurance if I could get it! I have sufficient funds available to deal with any medical emergency and if things ever got tight I could downgrade to a government hospital.

It may depend where you live I suppose. A friend in Lancaster had a ten month wait to have his heart effectively rebuilt and then two years later, a one year wait to fix an aorta aneurysm, hardly trivial problems.....this was at Blackpool regional hospital.

I don't know that I can afford to retire in the UK, my pensions give me a good standard of living here but in the UK things would be very tight. And whilst we can't get health insurance here, at least we can get treated and not put on some 3 year waiting list.

Ian is not a daily reader of the forum and only assists customers in his spare time, which is not always in great supply. If you send him a PM I'm sure he will respond at some point.

Deep condolences to the families of those who perished.

Given your track record, it should come as no surprise that my response is what it was. You have known for many many months that there are several aspects of Thai tax, affecting foreigners, that some people want to see clarified. You also know that more information is supposed to become available at the end of the year, when the new forms and guidance notes are issued. If you think the large tax firms don't know the answers and you don't trust the smaller firms, it seems pointless trying to get answers here from anyone, especially when you are only ever going to challenge whatever you read, as you constantly have done. My conclusions therefore are that you are doing nothing more than trying to make your usual mischief, for which I have no time or interest. Goodbye.

Your use of the word "advise" is a poorly disguised attempt at an argument or trap, informed would be a much more appropriate term. The TRD Code does not say that Category 5 Rental Income is restricted to Thai properties only and as I recall, an EXPATTAX seminar mentioned that overseas property rentals are to be treated the same way.....that is what I semi-quoted/have referenced. Similarly, the TRD Code does not state that income categories 1-8 are solely for Thai sourced income. Since many Thai's have overseas investments in various forms, I can only presume the Code applies to that income or that lurking in the shadows is another part of the Code that we have yet to see.....I'm going with the former. It was discussed a long time ago that any rental income that is remitted to Thailand would be considered gross of all home country deductions which would be replaced by the 30% Thai standard deduction, or, if actual expenses were greater and all receipts were available, the greater amount. That these things don't make sense to you is of no interest to anyone apart from you. Perhaps you can gain more clarity and sense by fielding your questions to a tax consultant. In the meantime, you'll be doing me a favor if you would add me to your ignore list and I will do the same with you since you have now consumed any remaining goodwill that existed.

It is Commercial only but it can be used as a pass through for transfers to Thailand, using BACS I believe. The US has the same arrangement with BBL NY using ACHA, but that causes Social Security payments a problem which can only be accessed in branch, if that method of transfer is used. Whether there would be similar issues using BBL London I don't know.

I don't give tax advice, I suggest you go see a Thai tax consultant. But I can confirm the TRD Code allows a 30% standard deduction against rental income. https://sherrings.com/personal-tax-deductions-allowances-thailand.html

Both, either/or

Rental income has a 30% standard deduction but if income is received in first half year, two returns are due, June and January.

Domestic and International, 22% combined at best, unless you can prove otherwise. Domestic = 9% International = 12%