nigelforbes

Those controls are slowly being introduced, Money Laundering laws at banks is a start but it's a slow process here because so much is broken.

Since we've already established that the majority of people work cash in hand and aren't registered for tax, what makes you think they will be honest about declaring assets and income on your new form?

Indeed the poor cannot pay taxes but that's really not the issue, as anyone who has lived here for any time will know. Anyone who owns a house here and has employed local people to make repairs, work in the house or garden will know that the cash in hand market is huge and that it's seriously lucrative. I know lots of tradespeople who make serious money every year and I'm certain none of them are even registered for tax, ditto maids etc. That segment of the population that works for themselves, cash in hand, is massive, it's easily the majority, these are the people who statistically are poor or unemployed. As for your statement about those who do pay tax have a good income already: less than 5% of all tax payers pay tax, because they don't meet the tax threshold for earnings.

Nobody starves in Thailand, the informal social system, temples and the culture ensures that doesn't happen. No you don't! No Thai is unable to get medical treatment in Thailand, every hospital is required to treat all patients or refer them to another center for treatment. Quit trying to champion a cause you appear to understand little about and can only use rhetoric as your supportive evidence. Your agenda appears to be bashing government and using the real and imaginary poor as a vehicle to do that.

That's one way to do it but it may not be the best. I had my first health exam here in the 1990's, I was on assignment and had some free time and when I saw the ad. for Bumrungrad health exam, I thought to myself, I'll do that, I was actually kinda bored at that point also. That was my first complete health exam, I took the results back to the UK and the next time I saw my GP I gave them to him....he laughed, actually, he gave me the third degree, wanting to know what parts of my health I was concerned about that made me do the exam. I explained that I spend several hundred Pounds every year getting my car checked for problems, spending a hundred quid doing the same for my body didn't seem unreasonable! He didn't respond. The cardiac treadmill stress test showed an abnormality which my UK GP shrugged off, "I don't understand the scale they've used, it makes no sense", he said (Thailand uses the US medical measurement system in test results). Three months later I was back in Bangkok and the results kept bugging me so I went back to Bumrungrad. The doctor there suggested an angiogram because he suspected a cardiac blockage, two days later I had the angiogram and found that two of my cardiac arteries were over 95% blocked...I was asymptomatic. A very long stent was inserted and I went back home where I once again saw my GP. He didn't have much to say when I told him about the stent but clearly I was at serious risk of a silent killer. From that point on I've been a firm believer in having quantitative test done once a year, it doesn't cost much, it's painless and it could easily save your life.

Nope.

This is not a UK forum.

If they are not gifts, what are they?

Who to help, those who pay tax into the system or those who don't.....it's an easy answer.

What sort of registration system did you have in mind, a voluntary, sign up here and tell us how much money you make sort of thing? Just to bear in mind, there are already several registration systems in place, including the tax register and the social security register. The problem here is that hardly anyone wants to pay tax and social security but almost everyone wants a handout from tax payers funds.

We know that, he doesn't!

Don't tell him that for gawds sake, Sukhumvit ends in Cambodia! The next post we'll see from him will be, "what number bus do I take to from Koh Kong in Cambodia to my house?".

Some basics first when discussing stimulus payments and rich and poor. The population is 70 million. The workforce is 39 million. Unemployed, very young, very old, unable to work because of health is 31 million. Only 9.6 million people are registered in the tax system. Of the 9.6 million, 3.3 million earned 25k Baht per month or more, the threshold for paying tax, THE REMAINDER EARNED LESS THAN THE THRESHOLD. (google Revenue plan intends to add 500,000 news) 600,000 business are registered for tax, only 450,000 filed tax returns. The country's budget (3.2 trill. Baht) relies on tax income from VAT (900 billion Baht), 3.3 million people or 5% of the population (377 billion Baht), and tax revenue from business (570 billion baht).......plus various lesser categories such as fuel tax, liquor, tobacco etc. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1126300/thailand-government-revenue-from-taxes-by-type/ The key statistic for me is that only 3.3 million people pay income tax, perhaps think about then when talking about stimulus payments and the so called stingy government. The other stat. that jumps out is the number of people not registered for tax, even if every business in the country was owned by a Thai, that still leaves 5.7 million people in the workforce who refuse to register for and pay tax.

My original visa is an OA, obtained over 20 years ago. When the new insurance rules came out I simply changed the reason for my extension of stay from retirement to marriage. Problem solved.

My wife will sign it for 800 baht, same day service.

When I get one I have my wife sign it, they haven't checked yet.

He didn't, he's sat in a bedsit in Burnley, it's cold, it's raining, he's bored and his mum wont let him back in the house for Xmas.

And make them do 90 day reports to make sure they haven't changed their DNA.

An excellent observation. The question is, why is he being the brave whistleblower, civic duty, excessive competition, he was told to be the front man for this, payback, it was personal?

Tourism is an export, that will increase, for sure.

"But Alex Phillips, a journalist and former Brexit Party MEP, defended Clarkson, telling ITV's Good Morning Britain she believed he is "deliberately pushing boundaries to be offensive". She said he's "not there to be taken seriously" and "his word is there to be found funny, and it always has been". Phillips added: "Taking something that happened in Game of Thrones, one of the most widely-watched TV series... Does he mean it? Of course he doesn't mean it." It's a shame more people didn't see it as humor because that's what it was. Perhaps we could have some reruns of Steptoe and Son or Alf Garnet and see how that goes down these days, they were brilliantly funny.

I was mis date stamped on arrival at Swampy several years ago and didn't notice until much later, the officer at the desk made the correction using a pen. I went to CM Immi. much later on other business and in the process the correction was spotted. I spent the best part of 15 minutes defending myself, publicly in a crowded room, against the accusation that I had altered the date myself. Now, I check everything every time, if there's a change to be made I make sure it gets initialed.

Just so you are aware, UOB here is UOB Thailand, and is not a part of the UOB you may know elsewhere.

@Sheryl

Not exactly that. The floater was the result of a torn retina, that is unquestionable since when I saw Dr Roy at Rutnin and we both viewed both retina's on the large screen, the laser repair could easily be seen, as could the thinning retina in that area. So the Ophthalmologist of some repute who did the repair, did the right thing and did a good job. Where that person and the private hospital failed badly was in the initial deception and the ensuing delay. And according to Dr Roy, floaters of any size, and this one is extremely large, do not simply settle at the bottom of the eye, they remain suspended until they are removed. There is no question that the dual 360 degree laser recommendation was medically unnecessary.