TroubleandGrumpy

Good question - wait to see what they do - proposal then talk then committee then agreed payments then over to the public servants - then some time later (1 week to 5 years) there will be great fanfare and it is then approved within a week and takes effect immediately. Enforcement? Another process altogether - this one will start quickly (for media stories) but it will eventually include discussions over the amount of agreed payments.

I agree - but I think as a result of the very negative social media comments by Thais and Tourists about the issue, there will be a crackdown by the Police - once it is declared a controlled substance. At the moment anything that is keeping the Chinese tourists away is being addressed - and this is one of them. How long it will last - who knows - but in the early days it would be wise to keep the old noggin under the radar.

I must have not made that clear - my bad. The only 12 months non-immigration 'Retirement Visa' available from a home country is the O-A Retirement Visa. The 12 months O Retirement Visa is only available when you are in Thailand. Yes you can get a 3 month 'Retirement Visa' in your home country (some of them) but is is not the full O Non-Immigrant Visa - you have to then apply for the full 12 month Visa as the basis of your extension to stay in the country for 12 months.

He did - and I did not even start to read it. And as you suggest I have blocked him.

I agree 100% and have done what you suggested mate. Unbelievable.

He is a nutter mate - and he has totally destroyed the Aussie forum - he dominates every issue and refuses to shut up. Blocked him.

This guy is absolutely crazy and I have done what he asked and blocked him. There are none so blind ..............

Yeh - I can name at least 2 posters that worry me. Especially those that change their account.

Yep it will be easy for Expats to get a Dr's certificate as I said. And yes the cops will do that - but they will also want to nail some people when the laws change - to look like they are doing their job. And dont walk around the streets smoking it - at least for a while.

Anyone who wants to live in Thailand as a Retiree, my main advice is to not get a Retirement Visa in your home country. That is called the Non-Immigrant O-A Retirement Visa and one of the problems with getting that is that you have to get Thai approved Health Insurance which is a ripoff - and you are locked into renewing it each year for extensions. IMO the best way to go is to get a full Non-Immigrant Tourist Visa for 90 days (not the Visa on arrival etc.) and then when you have settled into an address, apply for a 12 month extension of your permission to stay under the Non-Immigrant Retirement O Visa. The O-A Retirement Visa from the home country is not as good IMO as the O Retirement Visa (extension) available once you are in Thailand. The bank account issue might need some checking out - rules changed recently.

Anutin has been pushed out so now the Govt can do what needs to be done. Whilst Expats and Tourists will be able to get around the medical requirements for usage, they will no longer be able to walk down the street smoking it, nor in bars and clubs. Most of the locals will no longer be able to easily access it though, and that is a big plus. Those Ex[pats whop own/run a cannabis shop better start getting prepared and make sure you are fully licenced etc. and when it it 'controlled' again, do not sell any to anyone without a medical certificate/letter. The number one way the Thai police will nail illegal selling, is by pretending to be a buyer.

The British were warned by Enoch Powell decades ago what would happen - and they chose to ignore him and instead he was branded a racist and old fashioned. Now the UK are swimming in that failure and are in very serious trouble with no rope or a life raft in sight. There is only one solution and it is clear and obvious - do what they do in USA (now) and China and Russia and Hungary and Argentina (now) and Japan and Korea etc etc - stop immigration to only what the country really needs, and actively deport all illegal migrants. Woke liberal left-wing politicians know they will vote for them if they are given voting rights - and that is the only reason they support them coming - if they all voted right wing they would have been stopped decades ago.

Atypical woke liberal hater. The POTUS announces a cease fire has been agreed to, and the potential for WW3 has been hopefully stopped, but you have so much dislike that you make a snarky comment like that. Why could you not give him congratulations for achieving such a result - peace through force seems to have worked. BUT - and listen mate - if you stop hating and start thinking, you might have realised that this could be Trump's 'Neville Chamberlain Moment' if it fails an Iran sends 100 ballistic missiles into Israel tomorrow. Although I believe Trump has made it clear that if Iran does that, he will wipe them off the face of the earth - and Mecca with it. And I am sure he has told Israel that he will withdraw all USA support and funding if they attack Iran like that - which means the Arab Nations will destroy them.

OMG - Mate - you need some help. I am serious. There is no way I have the time in my life to read and try to comprehend what the hell you are talking about, and to then write a coherent reply to it all - so I will briefly state the following. Please note - I am not really talking to you - I am providing answers for others to read - but I am talking to you at the finish 1. The ATO has changed their rules regarding 'residency for tax purposes' - those links I provided detail it all. There are 4 Tests. Unlike Thailand that has only 1 test - 180+ days. 2. All your fearmongering about pensions being taxed is based on your interpretation of the issues - IMO they are all wrong and the ATO will never tax age pensions. 3. You are completely misreading my points about domicile and most of the other factors. Mate - I suggest you need to drop this whole thing and let it all go. You have become extremely angry and argumentative which is a clear sign of severe stress. May I suggest you need to stay away from this and other forums for a few weeks and go for a few walks - take up a hobby - maybe try fishing. This picture below is provided to show you that there is something wrong. Clearly you are extremely emotional and others are avoiding 'talking' to you - and that is why you are the last person to comment on so many issues - way too many - this is not healthy. No I am not being sarcastic - you have to reassess things or it will all blow up on you one day. I recommend that you just ignore me - I will not agree with your opinions ever - and I will not play your 'court case lawyer tactics' game. You may think you are right and that is fine - but your constant 'attack dog' approach towards anyone expressing an opposing opinion is not healthy. There is a poster on AN who has been a member for a very very long time - he was the main Trump hating poster back in 2016 and was extremely active and negative all through his first POTUS period. Since Trump was re-elected he has been far less negative and much less active. He still does not like Trump, but he has 'toned it all down'. That is how it works - sometimes as old blokes we get too emotional and angry about something and go way too far. I once read that the reason for that is because it was nature's way to remove the old males from the herd so to speak - they would provoke and get killed off by the younger ones. Anyway - may I suggest that we agree to disagree and move on to other things. If the ATO does tax pension payments then you will be proven right and I will admit I was wrong. But if the ATO does not do that within say 2? years - will you do the same?? Maybe 3 years - being how long Labor might stay in power?

I see you are still banging on about this BS you claimed ages ago - and it appears you are still wrong. Please correct me if you are not saying the below points I make. To everyone else reading this - what KH has been saying is total BS. It is not simple matter of less than 183 days are you are a non-resident for tax purposes, and therefore you have to pay income tax on your pension payments. There are 2 things that KH has wrong in the past and still seems to be fear-mongering again about it. Number 1 - KH claims a person outside Australia 183+ days is a non-resident - Wrong. They might be - but other things come into the decision by ATO. There are 4 Tests to establish Australian Residency for Tax Purposes and if you satisfy one of them for residency, then you are a tax resident. The Resides Test The Domicile Test The 183 Days Test The Government Superannuation Test. https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals-and-families/coming-to-australia-or-going-overseas/your-tax-residency#Residencytests Number 2 - KH claims tax is payable on money received as Age Pension if you are a non-resident. The Age Pension payments are not taxed, but it is taxable income for the purposes of income tax calculations and for tax offset calculations etc. The Pension used to be non-taxable income, but with more and more people working while also receiving the Pension, they changed the methodology. So if you get the Pension and also earn $20,000 as income, the Pension amount received is the base amount and the $20K is added to that - so you basically pay income tax on $40K (allowances and offsets etc come into it). The point of the new method is to clarify that a person does not get the Pension for free AND another $17K tax-free threshold. When they made that change they introduced the SAPTO offset to ensure pensioners did not pay income taxes on their pension money. People receiving unemployment payments (and some others) do not get that benefit - and if they then earn a bucket of money during the year, they might have to pay tax on the dole payments they received. https://www.ato.gov.au/forms-and-instructions/individual-tax-return-2025-instructions/income-questions-1-12-individual-tax-return-2025/5-australian-government-allowances-and-payments-2025 (Part 5 of the Tax Return) https://www.ato.gov.au/forms-and-instructions/individual-tax-return-2025-instructions/income-questions-1-12-individual-tax-return-2025/6-australian-government-pensions-and-allowances-2025 (Part 6 of the Tax Return) https://www.ato.gov.au/forms-and-instructions/individual-tax-return-2025-instructions/tax-offset-questions-t1-t2-individual-tax-return-2025/t1-seniors-and-pensioners-tax-offset-2025 (SAPTO) On a personal note it is my opinion that I am still a tax resident under the Domicile Test. The reason for there being a domicile test as well as a residence test, is that some people travel overseas a lot and stay for long periods and dont have a 'home' as such in Australia. But because they have no legal right to stay in that country and could be sent 'home' at any time - they are not and cannot become a Resident and thus be a domicile in that other country. Not that it matters to me because the Pension is not taxed anyway - but as a technical point I am a Citizen of Australia and I still consider myself a Resident of Australia for Tax Purposes - I intend to return to Australia in the near future (certainly before I am 80 or if I of wife get a bad illness). I could not find anything 'legal' to establish that - but my read of the ATO rules (and I am good at that) is that I meet the Domicile Test. Plus Google AI agrees No, a person cannot become a domiciled resident of a country simply by visiting on a 12-month tourist visa. A tourist visa is specifically for short-term visits and does not grant the holder the right to reside permanently or establish domicile. Domicile is generally established through physical presence, intent to remain indefinitely, and other legal factors.

Mate - I dont mean to offend but that Utopian view on life and people is just not valid and never will be. Just look at what happened to John Lennon and Martin Luther King and many others - you can preach all the peace and love you want, but there are some people who will just never go along with that. Likewise all the leaders who have been assassinated by people who do not agree with their position. By all means love and cherish each other - but dont forget to protect - it is sad but it is true - that is reality. One day in the far distant future they are going to be able to 'test' a foetus for negative issues - like sociopathic, psychopathic, cystic fibrosis, autism, and other non-desirable outcomes in a human - and those that test 'negative' will be aborted. But meantime, we need to be aware of reality and be ready and prepared to deal with it.

Agreed - but they cannot make new IQ tests that are reflective of any significant demographic - such as educated 30-40 year olds, against uneducated or under-educated 30-40 year olds. The IQ tests are seen by many as a true and accurate measurement of intelligence - but they are at best a very rough guide - especially when performed over large numbers of people. One bloke who worked for me decades ago had 3 degrees and an MBA and his IQ was 140+ but he was an absolute idiot. He worked in 3 different industries and ended up owning and running a macadamia farm down the south NSW coast. I also knew a bloke that was a plumber and he made $500K+ a year (after taxes) in the early 2000s - he ended up owning $millions of business property as investment and retired early to th an absolute mansion on the Sunshine Coast in QLD - he was a very smart bloke - and although he never did an IQ tests I get it would have been around 100/110 - he said that he left school at 16 and started working for his Uncle as an apprentice plumber.

Cannot disagree with that logic - yes they can and do 'calibrate' results across demographics. The issue I was raising is not that though - it is that in the west (especially) we have a lot of over-educated idiots that get higher than realistic IQ test results because they have been educated. Not enough to re-calibrate tests across 100 million people (or more) - but they are there and in plain sight - and they have far too much of a say in what goes on and what does not go on in our society.

Thanks - that is the best laugh I have had all day 😂

I do think and you are not thinking rationally and logically. You are saying a woman with a beautiful head of hair that has been created after years of expensive hair treatments (like a model or movie star) has exactly the same hair as her sister who never looked after it much and is a drug addicted homeless person. What you are given at birth is the 'base' and what is done with that in your life makes a huge difference. The issue - the point - the fact - is that IQ tests were initially designed for teenagers in the western education system - to tell who is really smart and who is not - for allocation to the A and B and C classes in High School. The fact is that the basis for an IQ test fails to take account of the affect an education that already has had on that person's ability to do the test - because it was designed based on all participants having the same education already. Listen carefully this time - I am saying that the IQ Tests do NOT accurately measure a person's intelligence. If you practice IQ Tests you will get better results - fact fact fact. This below is based just on a small amount of practice - if a person has years of doing things like those in an IQ test - they will have a massive boost in their IQ Test results. Hence what I said before - there are far too many over-educated idiots in the western world who think they are smart and intelligent. Performance on cognitive tests does improve with practice. For example, a study found that just taking a common nonverbal reasoning test twice increases scores by roughly the equivalent of eight IQ points. https://theconversation.com/iq-tests-can-you-improve-your-score-by-practising-233153 One day there will be a 'test' that accurately measures a person's brain functions - physically and chemically probably. It will not involve completion of written tests - it will be a 'plug and play' method.

Only an ignorant person would claim that because something did not hurt them, it is OK for everyone else and there should not be any argument about their safety and efficacy. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9021367/ https://scitechdaily.com/researchers-discover-mrna-vaccines-leave-lasting-mark-on-the-immune-system/ Those above are two quick links I grabbed - read them and find others - if you really want to know. But like many people, you would rather not know, and keep your head in the sand. That is OK, but it means you should really keep your mouth shut or you will choke and look silly.

I agree with most of the views of Kennedy in USA. The Pharma Industry has taken control of the organisations that are supposed to be managing and controlling them - many ex-Govt employees get very well paid jobs in Pharma, and that should be banned. He has sacked all the Biden appointed 'scientists' advising the CDC on vaccines - most of them are what he calls 'industry hacks'. he has stated that he plans to regulate that all Pharma must have all new vaccines to be tested against placebos, and that they are to develop new vaccines without using mRNA technology. Of course the Pharma industry will be spending their billions to push for protests by their useful idiots, and complaints from the Dems, and many stalling tactics - but Kennedy is going to win in the end. He is not against vaccines, he is against how Pharma has taken control of all things related to medical regulations and he is going to tear that all down. The only reason MRNA vaccines got the go ahead for Covid was because Pharma would not develop them for immediate release unless under the existing regulations it was declared a serious pandemic and there was no alternative medical solution/s and thus under emergency laws they could release a new product and not get sued if it did not work out. Anyone who does not realise that fact needs to reassess their views about MRNA vaccines and the whole Covid BS - it was all driven by Pharma.

I think many posters and the media are focusing too hard on one person - the real culprits are those behind that one man and his daughter. Thaksin 'represents' the uber wealthy Chinese families that dominate Thailand with regards to political, business, industrial and government operations. Han Sen was the Dictator in charge of Cambodia for decades and is now the Senate Head - he is a member of the uber wealthy Chinese ethnic families that also do the same in Cambodia. He is like an 'Uncle' to the current PM in more than name - he is a very close to Thaksin and has been for decades. That is who the anger and distain should be pointing - the wealthy Chinese families that run Thailand (and Cambodia) - not to one man who they can and will replace as and when they need - just like they did with Srettha. Whoever was the staffer in Cambodia that leaked that phone call will never be found. IMO they are already feeding the fish deep down in the Gulf of Thailand.