MangoKorat

The reporter seems to be obsessed with the perp's state of dress. Mentioned 3 times.

Thanks Mike but I understood that much. Its the 12.5% House and Land Tax I'm concerned about. I presume (hope) that actually only applies to those who own rental properties in Thailand. I don't see how Thailand could have the jurisdiction to be able to levy a tax on foreign property.

Absolutely sure. I wouldn't work for the pathetic salary many English teachers in Thailand get.

Is anyone able to clarify that please? Whereas I understand that rental income is liable to income tax, would I be correct in saying that the 12.5% House and Land Tax does not apply to property outside Thailand owned by a foreigner living in Thailand?

I think that's a little out of date. The majority of Thai workers are on very low incomes but talking to those I know, I'd put the average salary at around 15,000 per month these days. Don't forget that it is quite normal for them to recieve an annual bonus = to 1 month's salary - I think in January. A lot simply won't work for 300 baht per day nowadays and leave those jobs to the illegals. My mate has a real problem getting Thai staff for his business and has had to increae salaries to keep them. I agree with your other comments on the whole though but many things are different in Thailand and don't always meet Western expectations. Insurance in general, not only vehicle insurance, can be woefully inadequate in terms of payout level and contain surprising exclusions. My house insurance didn't cover flood or lightning for example. In the example George provided above, the maximum payout for injury is 1 million per person with a maximum per accident of 10 million. 1 million wouldn't go far if someone was seriously injured. These days I think its better to remember that whatever you do in Thailand you are often very much 'at your own risk'. In the case of vehicle insurance, people should check their cover and consider 'upping' sections that are low. I believe that some insurers offer increased cover at a cost but it may also be available separately. The facts are that if you are held responsible for an accident in Thailand and your cover isn't enough to pay the hospital bills of those you hit, you can be taken to court for the remainder.

If you're friend wants to rent a bike next time - tell him to check out the travel insurance companies in his home country. Many don't cover biking but some do. All Clear's Gold policy (UK Company) covers biking and doesn't specify an engine size limit. It also gives you £15,000,000 (GBP) worth of emergency medical cover - much more than the amounts shown in the OP's example. The policy holder must hold the correct licence to ride the bike though and must be riding fully legally in all other respects (helmet etc.)

The only bike rental companies that I know of who claim to have proper rental insurance are the actual Bike Touring companies. A mate of mine has a resort and is often asked about scooter rental - he looked into insurance for scooters and small bikes once and told me he couldn't find an insurer that covers them for rental. Worried about being held liable, he decided to forget renting bikes.

I suspect he would be having more than 1 month off with broken bones.

That is almost certainly from a police roadside camera. Fines from the overhead/fixed cameras normally come from the Land Transport Office through the post and with all the details printed on them. I got one of those photos once but I was stopped near Korat at a regular place for checkpoints (ker ching!) - apparently the camera was 5km back. As per yours, no details whatsoever. I confirmed that I accepted the photo was of my car but that I was not speeding. I was told that I'd have to go and speak to the camera guys 5km back - I suspect as a ploy - them thinking I wouldn't bother. I said OK but I didn't go back and never heard from them. You're not going to be so lucky and it'll cost you more than the fine to go back

Maybe he thought he was at home?

I'm not at all criticising George here - it certainly is a very helpful post. However I'm not at all sure that Code 120 is correct in terms of being the correct insurance type. That number appears in the Vehicle Particulars section - is 120 possibly similar to the Insurance Group number for UK policies? I think the most important thing about the above policy copy is that it clearly states 'For Commercial Use, Hire or Rental Purposes.'

There are a hell of a lot of people, especially in the Pattaya area that are renting cars - most likely 'under the table' - I'd take a bet that many of them do not have the correct insurance for renting. I went to pick up one such car once and the guy said 'its insured for any driver but if you get stopped, you're my mate and I've lent you it OK?' I didn't go any further with that deal. Such things might seem like a good deal at the time because you're never going to have an accident are you? Until you do and then you can be in a world of $hit. Mind you, it seems rental insurance is mega expensive - Ok its for a nice car but 27K? and that's 8 years ago!

Why is Mr. Somebody confused about my previous post? Do you need further explanation Somebody?

On this subject, there was a BBC Radio report broadcast this week. The reporter interviewed a doctor from the area who stated that the number of deaths from lung cancer where the deceased had never been a smoker was up 40% and he put the blame squarely on local burning of agricultural waste/forest fires. Another couple of interesting points from the programme was that farmers can legally burn their crop waste but they have to apply to do so on a special app. The story went that farmers can apply to burn but will only be given permission when air quality is not bad. One farmer they visited whilst he was burning said he had permission - this was recently when the air quality was really bad. Either he was lying or that system isn't working And........ apparently a lot of the smoke and thus, poor air quality is caused by forest fires in what the local officials called 'revenge burning' - done by locals who unhappy with being stopped from burning crop waste.

Not recent experience but in their reply to me, Savannakhet stated that If I didn't have 400,000 in a Thai bank account, I could apply for a single entry. However, you can usually get a single entry by application to your home country.

Documents also here. Go to the thread - I tried posting them here but it won't work. Second reply. https://aseannow.com/topic/1147974-power-of-attorney-to-sell-car/

That can all be done in 1 day - I did it. The only time it needs to take longer is if the vehicle comes from a different province and needs new plates - that can take another 2 or 3 days waiting for the plates. Insurance can be done online in around 10 minutes. By the way, 'getting the book transferred' and 'registering it under his name' are one and the same. OP: If the registered owner will not be present at the Land Transport Office to sign the transfer documents - don't forget that your mate will need a power of attorney form specific to a car sale, signed copy of the registered owner's ID card and Tabien Baan. The power of attorney can be obtained online or from a dealer.

Same reaction to this as I had to the first post of his I read..........what a load of bollo x

Why do you think you should do any of that? Short answer to your problem - get out, you're being used. Don't wait another few years to realise that - cut your losses and run. Seen this many times and almost bought the T shirt myself. None of those marriages lasted - yours will be no different.

You own something that you can sell. If you buy sensibly and the building is well taken care of, that should mean that you get more than your money back at some point in the future. Pay rent and every penny is lost. Apart from the Thai Land Law that prevents a foreigner from owning land, structures that contain more than one unit with shared spaces are very difficult to convey and maintain if they are freehold. Who owns the roof? Who's responsible for replacing the main entrance door? All sorts of problems exist. That's why, even in the UK, many such properties are leasehold rather than freehold.

To say nothing of the fact that its illegal.

One thing that has just occurred to me relates to the position in these cases regarding wills and transfer/inheritance taxes. To the best of my knowledge, if a wife leaves a property to her husband in a will, there is no transfer tax payable, partly because the property is not in fact transferred and partly because there is no transfer tax on inherited property in most cases. If that husband is a foreigner, he is not able to become the registered owner of the property and must arrange for it to be sold within 12 months. That sale would be liable for transfer tax. If that foreigner relies on a Usufruct agreement to protect their tenure, that agreement would almost certainly either severely reduce the value of the property or make it unsaleable. Therefore, if all the foreigner wants is to be able to stay in the property after the death of their Thai wife and not have to sell it - it may be better to protect that position by way of a Usufruct Agreement and for the wife to leave the property to a relative. As far as I know there is no transfer tax or inheritance tax payable on a property that is inherited by certain members of the deceased's family. The Usufruct remains in place no matter who the property is transferred to - the relative would have to respect that. However, if the foreigner, tries to transfer it to one of his wife's relatives after her death, not only would there be transfer taxes to pay, the relative may be due to some form of capital gains/gift tax. OK, so maybe they're getting a valuable property given to them but they may not too happy with having to (or indeed be able to) pay tax on it and will probably look to the foreigner to do that. If you want to cut and run with cash following your wife's death then just agree to end your Usufruct and sell the property. If the money doesn't bother you and you just want to be able to continue living in your home - sort out the will/tax issues. I'm not sure on any of the above and there may be some complex tax issues. Taxes are not the same in Thailand as they are in the West and I am aware that inheritance/gift taxes are rare but it may be sensible for anyone in this position to check this out before the couple decide on the content of any will. There will almost certainly be differences in the liability for transfer tax depending on which route is taken.

All of my e-mails have been copied to consular.complaint AT mfa.go.th

Interesting - not something I've heard of before - although it sounds very much like a Usufruct. In most cases, a Usufruct would convey the same rights. Whatever it is, if you haven't already, I'd recommend you get it checked over by a good Thai lawyer before you put your trust in it. The Thai courts have been known to overule other types of contract, even though they are registered at the Land Office. The bottom line is, if a contract doesn't comply with Thai law it can be challenged and is likely to be deemed invalid if it is. The Land Office may well tell you it complies but they are not either lawyers or judges.

I give up, you clearly haven't understood a word I've said.