chiang mai

The reason why the government likes tourism so much is that it keeps consumer spending buoyant and provides jobs for low skilled people, without needing government support. International Tourism is no big deal from a GDP perspective, it's only about 12% in total but it's importance to the man in the street is huge. Tours, van drivers and transportation in general, small/medium hotels, restaurants, shops and bars all see direct support from international tourism, as do the families of that illegal profession.

This is probably my oversight, I changed my reason to stay from retirement to marriage, about ten years ago and had overlooked the fact that those OA holders using retirement as the basis of their stay, required insurance. Whether or not anyone was grandfathered in subsequently, I don't know since I wasn't affected. Apologies.

My OA expired 19 years ago and I don't need medical insurance, why do you think you do?

You're not on an OA visa, you're on an extension of stay, the visa has expired, why do you want a new one?

The Chinese capital inflow article is 5 years old.

I don't know if they have that reach or not, my guess is they do but unofficially or via back channels. If somebody presents a well written piece of paper as proof and TRD buys it, great. But if they don't they will keep requesting things until one day they either give up or they tell you they don't believe you. There are appeals processes and tax tribunals and courts for such things so no individual is at the mercy of just one tax inspector. But the higher up the chain it goes, the more likely it is that it may mutate into something else.

"I wonder how? Without direct proven information from foreign entities, TRD assessment is out of thin air". TRD assessment would not be out of thin air, it would be based on what you had written in your tax return or, if you hadn't fil;ed one, the information you had provided subsequently. If you decline to file a return or to tell them anything subsequently, then yes, their assessment would be an estimate based on the things they can see. If that happens, that's the price you pay for not defending yourself and providing the requested clarification. You still don't seem to understand even though I keep saying that the burden of proof is on the taxpayer to supply proof to the TRD that what they have said is true and accurate. The taxpayer has to supply sufficient evidence to satisfy the TRD. There is no reason for TRD to go to the foreign entity, unless they suspect fraud, in which case it becomes a criminal matter. You might be able to supply a statement that proves your case and TRD may accept that. Or, they may look at the statement and ask for documentation to clarify some aspect of what is said in the statement, in which case its your job to provide that clarification.

If borrowing to build infrastructure enables and improves the economy, the debt will more than pay for itself. That's what the IMF recommended Thailand does, build infrastructure. That means goods can move into and out of the country more easily and suppliers can fill orders more quickly. That translates into more jobs and better productivity.

Are you bored this morning! TRD will assess whether the evidence provided is credible, adequate, and proves the taxpayers case.

What I have that's better is nothing, plus I don't look foolish trying to suggest that todays currency movements were caused by something that happened five years ago! It's like suggesting travel to Europe is down because Hitler invaded Poland!

A very simple equation, for the handful of confused members who still don't get it: Thailand imports oil for fuel, along with foodstuff and merchandise for sale, all of which are paid for in USD, because the Dollar is the currency of a majority of trade bill settlement. When the Baht is week, it takes more Baht to buy the Dollars needed to buy all those things. That means fuel at the pump costs more as does the cost of imported goods, it also means suppliers and hauliers who move goods across the country have to pay more, all of which means the consumer price of those goods is higher. So it may feel better to have an exchange rate of 45 to the Pound, not 40, or 36 to the Dollar , not 31, but the overall cost impact is very very similar, over time.

They don't have to, the taxpayer has to do that. Once again, the onus is on the taxpayer to provide proof of their claim.

I think you have things the wrong way round. If the TRD decides to audit somebody, or at least conduct some form of investigation, based on what an individual taxpayer has written in their tax return, the burden of proof is on the tax payer to prove beyond reasonable doubt that what they have declared is true. The TRD does not have to look at overseas records or provide proof from another country's Revenue Department, the tax payer has to provide that information for them. Having provided the information, the TRD will then take a view as to whether the case is proven or not. If Taxpayer A decides not to declare a remittance, because it is exempt savings or similar, the TRD will simply say.....prove it, show us the documentation to confirm that because if you don't or can't, we will presume the remittance is taxable income and we will estimate the Thai tax that is due and present you with a bill.

Since nobody knows anything about this subject, I'm going with the following, unless I hear differently: Self employment is the cheapest and easiest method of doing business in Thailand, it doesn't require an accountant, a legal company name and the tax breaks are excellent. Over 50% of people work using this method which requires the individual to file a tax return, and pay taxes, twice a year. The TRD Standard Deduction doesn't require receipts and allows the tax payer to deduct 60% of the cost of sales as input costs. That means they can hire people and pay them, without having to deduct tax. It also means the people who are hired can work in the same way. This system means the TRD never knows the person has hired workers and paid them hence they don't know that tax is due. And since the self employed person never has to disclose details about their employees (because of the standard deduction), none of those payments are ever seen in a tax audit. "Self-employed workers make up over half (roughly 53 per cent) of all workers in Thailand. As figure 1 shows, own-account work is the most common form of self- employment, comprising roughly 34 per cent of all employment, followed by contributing family workers (17 per cent) and employers (2 per cent)". https://www.wiego.org/sites/default/files/publications/file/wiego-policy-brief-n31-bangkok.pdf

OK, I'll prove you wrong. The article is 5 years old! Good enough?

The Baht's natural tendency has always been to strengthen, historically, the money that BOT spends on intervention has all been used to weaken the Baht to try and keep it in the optimal range that balances imports and exports. The tourist rate is of no consequence to the economy but it's important to imports/exports. Tourists still arrived in droves, even in 2013 when THB was at 29. https://tradingeconomics.com/thailand/international-tourism-number-of-arrivals-wb-data.html

Totally agree. But that view is not popular with members, you can fully expect that within six months somebody will quote that the experts said the Pound would reach 33 and it never happened. Been there, done that.

Gosh, nobody knows, not even a single guess, that's a first.

Thailand and the Baht didn't do anything, USD moved around it and made it appear the Baht had strengthened....it hasn;'t

Yahoo Finance is showing: USD/THB down at 32.89 USD/GBP up at 1.33, and GBP/THB up at 44.03 It's a bit unusual to see GBP so strong, if it doesn't hold GBP/THB could take a hammering.

Agreed, most probable solution.

Not true. Farang refers to white Westerner, other Thai names refer to specific nationalities, eg Chin and Jepun.

Were overdue a spring clean.

If you say so.

Well, the discussion was about 3M Filtrette, which is 3M's brand name product!