Prubangboy

Hey, imagine away. Vietnam has shown no interest (and much reluctance) to host retirees. Waiting for Cambodia to "build up their infrastructure" will def exceed your lifetime.

Even at Bumrungrad, it's at least half off of US costs. Plus: I can stroll into Chiang Mai Ram Hospital any day of the week and get seen. In the states, I'd typically wait a month for even a routine appointment. -Which brings me full circle to my very obvious point that has many a passive aggressive loser posting confused yellow faces and unconvincingly feigning confusion: -Living in Thailand is a super-deal. If they want some chump change from me for using their roads and sewage system, that's fine with me. If I'm a very low income retiree and that small amount will cause me some discomfort, that's on me, not Thailand. When I factor in my savings of state income tax, decreased medical insurance/costs, and not having to run a car; those savings cover all of my expenses, plus about $50 a day to spend. I am literally being paid to stay out of America. I am happy to take that deal.

My experience is very diff. Blood test in NC, USA =$250. In Chiang Mai = $42. What med stuff have you encountered that's only 30% discounted? Even botox is 50% off.

Ask any Kurd that you happen to meet about trusting America. We (means the entire west) only have your back if it's easy and cheap. This is why Taiwan is well-weaponized. And yet, even after Obama (who I love) reneged in a hurry on the Syrian Line In The Sand, poor countries all over the world still believe in America -with one eye kept open while they sleep. When there is no other game in town, an iffy one doesn't look too bad, European people begrudge even having the Ukranians as refugees. Taking money away from their broken budgets or giving up their lives for them? Def a hard sell. And Putin knows it.

Not too many living people remember WW2. I'm a left of center Biden liberal. As to rolling over for a megalomaniac, you may have noticed that we yanks are about 50/50 on doing that next year. Europe has its own rightward pro-Russian shift to worry about. Bottom line: If Putin grabs Latvia, do you want your son to go and fight in that war? Prob not. Shortest possible version: Putin is a very credible threat to use nukes. And that puts us on the back foot and makes us fight with one hand behind our back. I don't like it either.

Nimman is a big draw for Asian tourists and a second entertainment district.

You have def raised an important point about low-spending retiree's here. If your income is a grand a month, and say, $80 of that is now taken off the top, that's def a whack. It's a fluke of the tax code that you have to pay it and more affluent me does not, due to my tax credit. Back home, where 99% of retirees live, having no tax below $25K is a godsend. But no tax paid there means no tax credit to apply here. I have a lot of sympathy for people in your boat. What do you want the Thai's to do?

Who is this "we" you speak of? I am assuming that you, like me, are well, well past draft-age. Europe is broke. And up to their neck in migrants. They will bend over very backwards to split the diff and not fight. Like they did with Crimea. Like Obama did when he retreated from his line in the sand in Syria. It'll be a death by a thousand cuts for Europe, not a dramatic conventional war. If only there was a film about a superpower direct throw down to get the pulse racing. Wait a minute:

They don't love Russia, but a big fellow commie nation right next door being taken down is not in their interest. China's influence in the war has already raised their status. Would China mind if that neighbor was weakened? Sure. As long as we're comically pretending to be geopolitical experts, China's watching how Russia gets sorted out with an eye up the road to Taiwan. If it's a bankrupting slog to only get part of Taiwan, it's a no-go. If Russia can bluff and exhaust its way to getting what they want with no downside for the war, it's more of a go. It's a big bluff poker game. Putin maybe not be rolling tanks through the Arc De Triumph any time soon, but will French youth be willing to dodge bullets to defend Estonia? No. Likewise America's real desire to fight to defend Taiwan is an idea best left untested. I derive these opinions from reading The Economist.

It's not your back yard. Europe will set its pants on fire to avoid a land war. No appetite among brit youth to fight a Great War, partic one where nukes are a real possibility, despite your bland assurances. And China can not let an ally just get trounced. They're in the same quandary as us: how to de-escalate and manage a hot war with a crazy government.

Russia will ultimately win against Ukraine just by hanging on and not outright losing. They have more bodies and money. The USA consults with China before giving Ukraine new weapons. Because China is afraid of Russia using a tactical nuke if they start actually, noticably losing. Russia has a lot of problems, but also a lot of leverage. I wish it were otherwise, but long term, I'd bet on a negotiated settlement that is advantageous to Russia. If Trump gets back in, then it's Russia for the win, sometime in mid-'24.

-If only there were a way -perhaps using some kind of computer- where questions on stuff like tax could be quickly answered. Ooops, there isn't. As per the above, "There's no way to know that".

Yeah, def. Let's never interact in any way ever again. Cambodia's calling. And I hope you answer.

Nah, I'm just a person who knows the term, tax resident, and understands the very simple concept. Yes, you are NOT an immigrant. We agree on that. You have residency status, due to retirement (I'm guessing). Saying that you have no rights as a tax resident living in Thailand is nuts. You may not like your basket of rights here, but it's not like you live in N. Korea. You seem butt hurt that dirt poor Thailand isn't giving you NHS-level service. For free. The mind boggles. What onerous "duties" other than 90 day reporting are chafing against you here? Jury duty? Serving in the Thai Army? Feel free to do the math on a $25K remittance using those tax bands and see if you come up with a different number. I called you goofy due to your Ghandi-like passive resistance to basic arithmetic.

Existence is suffering is really the ultimate whinge. About everything.

Buddha said existence is suffering. And he never had a girlfriend who only worked as a cashier, never behind the bar.

Please look at your visa. It's not a tourist visa, it's a residency visa. A retirement visa is a kind of residency visa. When you become a legal resident, you also become a tax resident, for whom the rules are not printed on stone tablets, handed down from God, never to be changed. In most places in the world, residents (long term stayers), are subject to local taxation, subject to whatever is tax treaty is in place, because they are tax residents. Taking your ball and running away from a polite discussion belaboring this bit of obviousness (or from whatever a T game is) does not change this common sense fact. I lived in England, as a Non-Dom. I had to pay taxes to live in England, because I was a tax resident of the UK . A Thai tax resident living overseas has to abide by the tax rules of the country they live in too. People may feel aggrieved about perceived "racism" here, or complain that "it's not worth it". These hurt feelings are not relevant to a discussion of tax residents living in foreign countries. The local government has the discretion to define who is and who isn't a tax resident. Since every country in the world does this, the odd man out is you. * The $215 amount was the monthly amount of Thai tax due on a $25K remittance. Like I explicitly said. Your feigning complete confusion over this blindly obvious fact is a little goofy.

Taxation without representation and any rights of a citizen. You're not a citizen. So you have no citizen rights. You're a resident, so subject to the rules and restrictions therein. You are who they invented the term tax resident for. You may feel shortchanged here compared to the lavish (?) spread a Mexican who swims the Rio Grande gets. But you are using the infrastructure and various government services. It all costs something. And typically, Mexican workers are paying into Social Security, which they will never receive. Why should a Thai guy who drives a cab pay tax and not you? If 8% total world-wide income seems too high to you, what % works for you?

Will you change countries to save $215 a month?

I have read on this forum dozens of times of Trump-types outraged that migrants in the USA get medical care, social services, education when they are not US citizens. Therefore, I expect they will be first in line to pay Thai taxes with a smile, lest they be thought of as foreigner freeloaders. If you believe in America First back home, (or no benefits for asylum seekers in Europe), then what's wrong with Thai people believing in Thailand First about us -we who are much, much richer than migrants and asylum seekers?

This. Very sun-averse ladies. Now if they had fishing inside a mall.......

You can opt out of Medicare Part B. It would prob pay for your new Thai Tax bill. Most countries have some kind of tax for remitted income. In Mexico and Brazil, they tax ALL world wide income, whether remitted or not. At crazy high rates that kick in early Unpopular opinion: We live here, we use the road, police ect. So Thailand deserves some revenue for that.

I just googled: What countries have ended a tax treaty? 2 names come up Russia (to punish countries for the sanctions) and The USA against Hungary for failing to sign on to a minimum corporate tax. 'Couldn't find any others. It's a move by strong countries to punish weaker countries. I do not see mighty Thailand picking fights with The West on this.

Woody Allen said he wanted to come back as Warren Beatty's fingertips (because they wouldn't let him name his preferred Warren Beatty body part in the movie).