nigelforbes

planes would fly half empty

When they staple your arrivals/departure card into your passport, move it and make sure it is on the last used page rather than on a blank page.

in 2019, S and SE Asia generated about 30 mill tourists (75%) whereas the remaining approx 10 mill were from other countries, including US and Europe. I have seen numbers for 2022 which show a trend similar to the above continuing, http://statbbi.nso.go.th/staticreport/page/sector/en/17.aspx

International Tourism is classed as an export so presumably you mean Customs Exports have plunged rather than Exports overall? Export levels are largely out of the control of Thailand and are dependent on recovery of the importing countries. The forecast was that recovery would take place in 1H23 which is now forecast for 2H23. There is still ample time this year for Customs Exports to recover and grow YoY.

Tourism here in Thailand is 75% dependent on regional tourists, not the people back home. Prices here are lower than in China or Malaysia which is why it's an attractive destination for them.

That was covid bounce, pent up demand. Since then we've had the massive crackdown on Chinese buying visa's and the indictment of large numbers of Immi officers etc etc

It will be interesting to see how government handles the Chinese aspect. There has been a lot of well publicised crackdowns on illegal visa's and business ownership, mostly targeting the Chinese. Maybe TAT is not happy with the impact on tourist numbers that resulted but I'm sure many are happy with the crackdowns. The one thing is the inevitable price that must be paid for the other, more tourists means higher rates of crime by foreigners, do they want the one thing more than they don't want the other.

We're now in Low Season, so what else is new, the same thing happens every year!

You could, but can I ask that you don't, please, dear god don't.

Close the borders, remove all foreigners under age 40 because they can't be relied on to obey the rules, everyone else wear masks.....job done. Hotel prices will fall, beaches will be empty, lovely stuff.

Telephone: +44 (0) 191 218 7777 https://www.gov.uk/international-pension-centre

All show and no go in Mae Rim, lots of noise and huffing and puffing but that's all.

The Statutory Residence Test used by HMRC is one thing, the test used by DWP to determine habitual residence is something else. DWP made it clear to me in 2018 that they DO NOT use the Statutory Residence Test and that counting days is only a small part of their picture. Habitual Residence attempts to discover what your usual and settled lifestyle is, this may involve spending parts of each year in two different countries where some years those period of stay are lesser or greater in some years than in others. A returning UK expat can be considered to be habitually resident from the very first day but that will depend on a number of factors. If for example they purchased a return air ticket that indicates they do not intend to remain hence they probably aren't habitually resident. If they continue to get their healthcare overseas, that also points towards being not habitually resident. If their main bank account and a large portion of their funds is overseas, that is alo a negative indicator.

Why do most landlords deserve it, because they own property and you don't? Have to say I haven't increased the rent on my flat in the UK for 5 years whilst my Service Charge has increased 56% and my insurance has increased 63%, would I deserve that also!

"The team tested 81 Chinese people, 28 Hong Kong people, 27 Koreans, 3 Taiwanese, 2 Laotians, and 41 employees". Not a single white westerner in the bunch, you get the idea who they are after (and it aint you)..

Chinese lightening is common at the end of high season.

Yes, 12,550 pa

I've thought about that too. But I'd rather be hot here with air con than hot in the UK without aircon, my neighbours in adjoining flats really suffered last year.

Between 1990 and 2005 I frequently worked overseas whilst maintaining a UK company and home there, most of my time was spent overseas. Between 2005 and 2018 I was living in Thailand full time but in 2018 I bought a UK flat and attempted to become UK resident again. I filed UK taxes for two years and HMRC didn;t ask any question. In 2020 abandoned my plans and once again became UK non-resident for tax, I also amended my past year returns to reflect nom-residency and HMRC said nothing.

Nope! And it's not dishonest. My intention in 2018 was to live there for more than 183 days each year, I planned to split my year 51/49% so that I was eligible for NHS treatment. The colder weather at the end of the first year made me rethink my plan, covid put those plans firmly out of bounds.

Then that's probably OK, I overlooked the part earlier where you said you took a salary also, sorry. With regard to Thai Revenue. I really don't think that they will be interested in this unless there are large amounts involved. To be eligible to pay tax here you would need to have been here for more than over 183 days per tax year, for each of the years involved, plus, you would need to have remitted funds here during the tax year they were earned (Jan-Dec). Whilst Thai Revenue does have the right to go after that income, in practise they don't, not unless it falls into their lap by chance or somebody comes along and volunteers.

Too, not two, not to, too.

Indeed, except that is not what you described or said. You wrote, "Unless you have income of more Than 12,500 you do not pay tax (ergo, if you do, you must pay tax). Dividends or interest on savings do not count as income". You did not specify the status of the taxpayer as non-UK resident, you just made a blanket statement which was incorrect.

Price Waterhouse Deloitte

Unlike some other tourist towns in Thailand, HH doesn't have a great bar scene nor a bustling red light district, this is true. But late night shopping is is still good and a walk on the beach at night is very pleasant.