K2938

13 minutes ago, JimGant said:

But, it is nice to see that Thai fat cats may have to ante up towards paying their govt's bills.

The real Thai fat cats are not really impacted by this as they have enough local Thai earnings to avoid the need to ever bring any of their foreign earnings into Thailand

12 minutes ago, mrmagyar said:

The commentary in the second related article suggests this is designed to be aimed at Thai's, but it seems LTR visa holders would be caught in the net: https://www.thaienquirer.com/50748/new-tax-regulations-raises-questions-and-concerns/

How great that the Thai government now has all the financial/wealth information on LTR visa holders to make sure that they fully comply with the new tax rules...

On 9/13/2023 at 1:01 PM, Gaccha said:

Mahidol clinic recommends against taking the new vaccine:

 

"For those who prefer a quick answer without any detail. Our answer is no. We DO NOT recommend the use of dengue vaccine in travelers (from non-dengue area) visiting Thailand. For those who live/work in Thailand (the expat), we also do not recommend."

 

Their reasoning, which I have to infer because they don't precisely summarise their overall judgement call, is that it is still unclear how effective it will be in the long term and also there simply isn't enough data on possible side effects.

Thank you for this very helpful information!  The fact that the Qdenga vaccine has been approved by top medical authorities like the EU medical agency might give one some confidence that things are safe.  But at the same time the fact that Mahidol, which was deeply involved in the development of this very vaccine, has reservations makes one wonder if it is not indeed really better to wait a little longer until more data is available.

11 hours ago, Sheryl said:

The one just approved by the US FDA this month is not yet available anywhere much less in Thailand. 

The new one is just becoming available in Europe this or next week (COMIRNATY Omikron XBB.1.5)

On 9/13/2023 at 12:37 PM, Gaccha said:

But that price ain't bad.

Price at Mahidol is considerably cheaper at 1,639 baht per dose (https://www.thaitravelclinic.com/blog/vaccineinfo/dengue-vaccine-for-foreigners-travelers-in-thailand-should-i-get-it-update-2023.html)

On 8/28/2023 at 4:18 PM, stat said:

Regarding the TIN it is not mandatory if you reside in TH as stated in the OECD 200 page primer as TH does not give tax numbers to people who only reside in TH and have no work permit as the majority of people here.

Do you happen to have a link to the document you mention, please?

11 hours ago, CobyW said:

I have reached out to my local BOI in Australia to see what their official thoughts are too.

Better talk to the LTR people in Bangkok because they are the ones who will approve or not approve your scheme.  And talk to them by email because you want a record of what is said and you want that people carefully consider their answer which will probably not happen in a phone call.

P.S.:  I concur with aublumberg that this is very unlikely to work.  But you can of course always try.  Good luck!

5 hours ago, Photoguy21 said:

What happens if there is a change of mind and the "visa" is cancelled y the government or changed in such a way that many of the subscribers cannot accommodate the change? will they get part of their money back? Very doubtful I would think.

Even says in the contract that they can basically do whatever they want.  The pretty much only exception would be if the company were shut down by government order, but the Thai authorities could do a lot of negative things without fulfilling exactly this condition.  So you buy at your own risk.  No compensation.  The likelihood of you being totally ripped off is however low since there are also reputational factors.

If you get it at the airport when flying into Thailand, I believe you need a lot less documents.  But maybe you have no immediate travel plans

4 hours ago, Mike Teavee said:

Does anybody have any recommendation for an Agent to use to do this for me, It would seem that it wouldn't cost me anything to use an agent & I'm in no rush to get the Visa so why not?

If you use an agent, you should only use an official agent, i.e. one of those also mentioned on the official website of Thai Privilege.  Then you might want to look for one who shares his commission in one form or another.  I think Siam Legal for example does this via gift vouchers and various other free services.  And for your own safety never make any payment to the agent, but only directly to Thai Privilege.

5 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

I can't help but consider the 'new prices' is a death knell and Thai Elite are about to kill their own business

I fear you might be wrong.  The number of applicants will certainly decline, but might well be compensated for by the higher fees per applicant. 

And if you look at neighboring countries, then Malaysia and even Indonesia are also quite costly long-term visa wise.  The Philippines for example is not, but there you also have high crime and various other problems which put off many people.  To be honest, the elite visa was quite cheap before the price increases for a country like Thailand.

So based on all this I fear one might also expect a significant increase in the price of Non-O visas in one form or another in the not too distant future

3 hours ago, sqwakvfr said:

The new package and prices were announced

Full details:

https://www.thailandelitevisas.com/thailand-privilege-introduced-new-elite-visa-packages/

11 hours ago, freeman01 said:

13 hours ago, K2938 said:

Where does it say this, please?

where do you think ? Thailand tax code.

Thank you, but unfortunately I did not find it there.  Neither there, nor in any of the commentaries on the Thai tax code did I find any hint that as you say "as a Thailand tax resident you are required by law to remit any money earn outside the country into a Thai bank".  So if you could kindly tell me where it precisely says this I would be most grateful.

7 hours ago, ukrules said:

It says payment must be made in 7 days on my form which is an upgrade form.

Yes, that is what the contract says, but the reality is that the invoice will then say 30 days I think

8 hours ago, El Matador said:

or going to another country such as Malaysia which is very tax friendly. 

In what regard would Malaysia be more tax friendly than Thailand?  It is the reverse

4 hours ago, Tuvoc said:

On this point, there is a clause in the agreement to say that if the program is cancelled, you will receive a refund of the "remaining membership fee".  I assume that is pro-rated.

Not sure what your contract specifically says as things changed over time, but the current protection clause is very narrow and so would most likely not cover you against a huge variety of imaginable adverse changes and really virtually anything could be structured such that it would not be covered by the protection clause which only applies:

"In case there is any order, rule, regulation or law announced by any related government authority which has an impact on the business operation of the Company to the effect that the Company is unable to continue its business or perform its operation as usual, the Company shall be entitled to terminate the Membership for the Member by giving an advance written notice to the Member."

On 8/18/2023 at 9:38 AM, fredwiggy said:

Shootings happen here daily, as much per capita as the US. Just not as many mass shooting, yet. You don't hear about all of them because the media focuses on gold thefts, snakes in Bangkok houses and kids attacking others 5 against 1 with sticks.

Gun deaths per 100k population:
US:  15.6

Thailand: 3.1

https://wisevoter.com/country-rankings/gun-deaths-by-country/

5 hours ago, JackGats said:

Ok, anyway it seems it is not recommended for the over 60 years old who never had dengue.

 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1477893923000583

In the EU for example it IS also approved for people over 60 years old based on extrapolated data

On 8/18/2023 at 2:06 PM, BE88 said:

You can get it from the notary near Makro parking  1000 B

And how long does this take there, please?

8 hours ago, soalbundy said:

There is a new better vaccine from France but it looks rather expensive, I shall ask my insurance if they will pay for it.

What is the "new better vaccine from France" you are referring to, please?  You do not mean Qdenga which is Japanese (Takeda)?

8 hours ago, JackGats said:

Qdenga is a vaccine for those without previous infections. I wonder if it's worth getting.

While approved in Thailand, it does not seem to be available yet in Thailand

On 8/14/2023 at 1:21 AM, wmlc said:

Dr. Jack is correct. This is an under consideration stamp. When your friend goes back, if approved, they will give him the Non O visa based on retirement. For the extension, some IOs are making you go back for a second time after you submit as well.

So just to make sure there is no misunderstanding:  You are saying it is NOT any longer true at least in some immigration offices that a Non-O based on retirement does NOT have a consideration period?  And if so, that only applies to the initial visa or also to annual extensions?