Flyguy330

I've been reading this thread since it started, though I haven't had time to read every page. Been busy with other stuff at times! I have a few minutes now and I'd like to make a few comments. My own story first. I'm an Irish guy based in Malaysia on an MM2H Visa. I first arrived in Malaysia for a short 1 year work assignment in 1992 before returning home. I met a lady here and brought her home with me. We became regular holiday visitors back to Malaysia and I liked the place a lot. The MM2H Visa program evolved out of a previous 'Silver Hair' retirement program and I decided I'd retire here on it when I became eligible. The MM2H program at the time was advertised as a tax free visa - which was the biggest draw of all. We moved to Malaysia in 2010 and have been very happily resident there, living completely tax free on my occupational pension. The tax saving is huge (about 40%) and the cost of living here is half or one third of back home. The weather is great. The food choice is superb. Property is cheap. Everyone (more or less) speaks english. I've never had a problem with the locals, they are generally friendly and polite. The country is modern - certainly KL is. The infrastructure is miles ahead of home. So what's the problem I hear you ask? Why am I on a Thai forum! The answer goes back to 2020 when Covid struck. Malaysia went into lockdown, and although I was fortunately 'in country' when that happened, many MM2H holders were 'locked out' and refused re-entry for almost a year. In addition the MM2H program was frozen and the interim Government announced they were reviewing the scheme. In October 2021 things began moving again, the lockdown restrictions on interstate travel were lifted and the new MM2H criteria were announced. They were horrendously demanding, and it was said they'd apply even to existing MM2H holders on renewal. They also moved the management of the program from the friendly Tourist Board to the nasty and corrupt Immigration Department. Applications for MM2H visas went through the floor. At the same time the Malaysian Government announced that on January 1st 2022 they were going to bring in a 'Remittance Tax' on all money sent into the country from abroad. They declared that this rule was forced on them by the OECD - and the USA - as a money laundering/taxation loophole solution. This was confirmed by major foreign accountancy firms in Malaysia (PWC etc) who said that it was part of a global push to ensure EVERYONE pays a minimum 15% tax EVERWHERE. They stated that Malaysia was being 'grey listed' by the international bank of settlements, and they could be completely black-listed and locked out of the global SWIFT system if they refused to comply. I know that somecontributors on this thread have poo-poed this excuse, but I do think there is no doubt the threat exists. Check this link: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/08/business/oecd-global-minimum-tax.html This news upset me a lot, and indeed it upset many Malaysians too - people who were living or working abroad and sending money home to support elderly relatives etc. Indeed the Sultan of Johor made a lot of noise about it, mainly because his state was the recipient of a lot of FDI from Chinese property buyers. The complaints grew so loud that - surprise surprise - the Government relented, and in December announced a 5 year delay on the implementation of their 'Foreign Sourced Income (FSI)' tax. We all breathed a sigh of relief. No change until 2026. In July 2022 I went home on holidays. When I got back to Malaysia one of the first news articles I read announced that the Malaysian Government had just 'gazetted' (ratified) the FSI law, and BACKDATED it to January 1st! A total reversal of what they promised, and with retrospective effect. This is another point that I've wanted to comment on while reading through this forum. Some posters have made rosy tinged comments about how 'stable' the rules are in Malaysia compared to Thailand. Do not be under any such delusion! Malaysian politics is a swamp and a nightmare. It is the worst thing about living in the country. There is a constant state of political turmoil. Just like Thailand. This is Asia. Things were relatively OK here until 2018 when the long ruling party UMNO were kicked out of Government. While that was widely welcomed, and there was great hope for the future when it happened, things have just spiralled out of control since then. I won't go into all the details - but stop believing Malaysia is in any way politically stable, or likely to be any time in the next decade. The other point to note is - they will change the rules of the game at the drop of a hat, and tough luck if you're caught out. Amazingly for me it was just around this time that Thailand announced the LTR Visa scheme. As you all know it included a 'Royal Decree' that LTR Visa holders would be exempt from tax in Thailand. On the face of it this was a perfect solution for me. If I could get the LTR Visa I could hop in and out of Thailand at will, reduce my spending in Malaysia, and even bring legal amounts of cash back with me on return to Malaysia. We do not want to leave Malaysia, especially since the DTA that exempts my Irish Pension from tax at source depends on the Malaysian tax residency remaining in force. I duly applied for the LTR Visa. The application process was superb. Great website, easy to complete, fast response from the BOI in perfect English, and a basic eligibility approval in 2 weeks. Another few documents were requested and provided, and I got my letter of approval in about 6 weeks since first application - the WP version. Everything was going ticketyboo, but a little nag in the back of my mind kept asking - if this 15% tax thing is being forced on all countries worldwide, how can Thailand be exmpt from it? I filed the thought away and enjoyed a couple of visits to Thailand this summer (BKK and Phuket). Had a great time - though I will say I found Thailand more expensive than Malaysia, less clean and organised, and the poverty of many of the people is much more striking on the streets. There's an air of desperation which I didn't like, and don't see in Malaysia. Of course you know the rest of the story. My nagging question suddenly became the news of the day last month. Thailand announced that all FSI would be taxable next January 1st! Forced on them by the Globalists! So the net is closing. All the 'little people' will be required to cough up. Wherever they are. There may be doubts as to the fine detail of all this, both in Malaysia (where a review of the MM2H rules is underway by the NEW government) and in Thailand where the rules seem to be a total grey area and may remain so forever. Sorry this was so long, I hope you found it useful, but the final takeaway is - don't believe that Malaysia is any better than Thailand when it comes down to rule bending and breaking.

Thanks for the replies. Opinions seem mixed. I’ll try them out anyhow since it may ease the cost of transfers from a UOB account in my home country to a UOB account in Thailand.

Anyone using UOB Bank in Thailand? Are you happy with them? I’ve read numerous threads about the other big Thai banks and there seems to be so much difficulty opening an account with them as a foreigner. I have a UOB account already in another Asian nation and I’m hoping that will make it easier to open one with them in Thailand. Any reasons not to use them here?