Mike Lister

The key point to be made in response to the OP is that 5% for USD is not massively high. Not when the Fed Base Rate is 5.5% and US mainland financial institutions are offering as high as 7% or more hence 5% is not out of line with market offerings.

I agree that would be very useful, I'll point your post towards others here for their comments: @CharlieH and @Sheryl

Yes, I agree with most of that, I think we all need to be a aware of that primary and secondary scenario versus exclusivity, as in the case of SSc.

I don't think that U S credit reporting will be an issue. But the bigger problem might be your obligations in Thailand, under the terms of the agreement and where that might lead. Do you understand the ramifications, because you are a co-signer for a reason?

I was referring to banks that are offshore Thailand, (I haven't had my coffee yet).

No, I don't think it means that at all. You will need to know each year how much assessible income you've transferred to Thailand and that will determine whether or not you must file a tax return. I doubt that will be too difficult or very different from what you do presently. You are highly unlikely to have to supply supporting documentation with your tax return, you generally don't have to to do that anywhere. Supportive or backup information is only going to be needed, if there is something amiss with the return, the amounts are unusually high or you are called out for an audit, just as you would in any other country. Don't read too much into what you think might happen and what you think might be required, when the announcements are made, the reality if very likely to be vastly different and much simpler from what you think now.

Any banks outside Thailand, typically those that are close to the Thai borders, eg Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia etc. Onshore = inside Thai borders.

Many offshore Thailand banks are offering in excess of 5% for USD deposits, even on 2 month fixed rate, onshore US banks are offering well in excess of that. Singapore banks in particular seem to be attractive. In the US, short terms CD's are around 7% in some cases. https://blog.seedly.sg/best-usd-fixed-deposit-rates-singapore/ Meanwhile, onshore Thai bank FCD rates on USD are appallingly low, down to 0.50% at several banks. There is almost no international bank competition in Thailand which is probably the reason why (CIMB is Thai, UOB is Thai etc). https://www.kasikornbank.com/en/rate/pages/fcd.aspx CIMB Thai is offering 4% for up to 12 month fixed for both Thais and foreigners which seems reasonable because of the length of the term. https://www.cimbthai.com/content/dam/cimbth/personal/documents/rates-and-charges/deposit-and-withdrawal-fees-for-foreign-currency-deposit-fcd/en/Rate_FCD_no.7_01.02.2024_EN.pdf If I was holding or earning USD and looking for interest, I would fix for as long as possible, at the highest rate I could find because US rates will fall this year, that is as certain as anything ever is in life. And the forecast is they will fall by up to 2% and this will directly impacts the interest rates that banks pay on deposits. I don't think we'll be seeing USD interest rate offerings at the current level again, for quite some time.

From what I have read, it seems you may find it in specialist neurological hospitals rather than all purpose general hospitals. Below is a link to the Chiang Mai neurological hospital, it may be worth asking them. https://www.cmneuro.go.th/TH/index.php

The interpretation we're going with at the moment is the RD rule that anything 0ver 120k per year must be reported on a tax return. There is much debate whether this means income or assessable income or just money that is transferred and then exempted from the return. It will do you no harm to get a Thai Tax ID Number, there is no downside that I can see. If you had income over 120k during calendar 2023, you should file a return before 31 March this year.

You should be able to find the Orthopedic surgeon you want at Sriphat Hospital in Chiang Mai, the web site is listed below and all the relevant surgeons are listed. Without question, the best hospital for what you require. https://sriphat.med.cmu.ac.th/find_doctor?lang=en&doctor_name=&spec_name=13&special_name=31

Thanks for posting that. I think that raises as many questions as it potentially answers. Whilst it says that "income from property may be taxed in the country the property is located", it doesn't use the same verbiage as other DTA's I've seen where exclusivity is intended. In those other cases, the word "only" is prominent. I read that to say that the country where the property is located, has precedent....but that's just my interpretation. I'm struggling with the second point to see the link between the second statement and the UK State Pension, brighter people than me may not be however! Perhaps it would be useful to provide a link to the source of the quote so that everyone who is interested, can read it?

I’m trying to construct a detail level model for an investment approach I want to try. I’ve satisfied myself that trackers are the way to go but the scope of individual trackers needs careful control. It’s a simple enough task that just needs some time in order to find the right trackers. I want to remain invested in all the major markets but I want to have the flexibility of going over or underweight in individual markets, without altering my investment levels in the remaining markets. If I have global tracker, that pretty much guarantees me 60% in US markets which I cannot change. The solution, I think, is to identify the markets I want to invest in and to weight each market according to the economics of the day. Today I might opt for 35% in US markets because they are overpriced but in 12 or 18 months I may decide that 50% is more appropriate. My starting point is my asset allocation, which because of my age, I only want 60% in equities and as a counter weight (hopefully) I’m going for 25% in investment grade bonds which I’ll split between short and long term. I’ll put 15% into Money Markets because the rate is still good, that gives me a source of highly liquid funds that I can deploy if buying opportunities present themselves. Of the 60% that are equities, I’m going to use ETF’s because they are inexpensive and they are easily and quickly convertible. I’m also going exclusively for index trackers because they are proven performers. Equities Index Trackers - 60% (placeholder funds) japan 12% - ISHARES JAPAN EQUITY INDEX CLASS D dev asia 10% - VG FTSE Dev asia ex japan em 12% - iShares EM equity index Eur 11% - L&G Europe Index class c UK 8% - L&G UK Index US 35% - UBS S&P 500 INDEX CLASS C small cap - 12% VG Global small caps 100% Bonds Index Trackers - 25% VG Global Bond Index VG Short Term bond index Money Market - 15% Fidelity Cash It should be easy enough to adjust the weighting of the different markets, as the need arises and as risks increase in different regions. The above is my starting point, any thoughts, anyone?

It's the shortest for two reasons. A) we don't know enough about the Thai RD position as far as international Gifts are concerned, and, B) Gifting is a tax dodge of last resort, there will almost certainly be simpler measures established without needing to resort to this. Western countries surround Gifting with rules, designed to prevent tax avoidance. In the US there are low maximums, in the UK the gifter must survive the recipient by seven years, the RD is not stupid, they will know how easily this rule can be misapplied.

I had a new one installed at the Huawei repair center close to where we live in the North, my wife said, don't do it, it will die in under one year. I paid 1,000 baht and six months later it needs charging every day. I see a new phone in my immediate future, I hope you have better luck.

Your post is too long to answer in one go so I'll address parts of it now and the rest later. Hypothetically, the total value of your asset as of 31 December 2023 should be free of Thai tax, according to what has been said thus far, this whole business is alleged to start again new on 1 January 2024. Exactly how you document that value on 31 December 2023, is another story, simply, you can't accurately or easily do that. In theory, if you were to sell your house today and import those funds, the pre December 31 amount would be free of tax but the profit earned since, might be taxable, subject to all the usual caveats. You can see from that example how unworkable that sort of system would be, which is why there will almost certainly be a different set of criteria, other than value as of 21 Dec 2023. It may well be that the Thai RD says that all funds that come from countries with whom they share a DTA, AND where the asset that is being transferred has been through a local tax system eg local capital gains, those profits can be imported to Thailand free of Thai tax. That would make sense and is easily workable but the realty is that at this stage, we simply don't know. One thing is abundantly clear, the Thai property market needs overseas buyers who would disappear in a flash if their inbound funds, used to buy that condo in Phuket, were taxed.....I don't believe that will happen, not for one second.

Its premature to start worrying about those things, I cannot see the labor and paper intensive overhead of DTA's being something that regional, let alone local RD offices, will be capable of getting into, even of they wanted to. Not when the potential exists for twenty or more different languages involved and 90 or more different formats, it's simply not going to happen..

I like to use a number of different reference points when I buy funds which I try to look at from as many different angles as I can,..,,,I definitely over analyze, if there is such a thing. The risk index in the FT gives a good comparative view of a fund, vs it's peers and the RISK chart sometimes helps identify alternatives I had spotted previously, it's simple to understand and the LIPPER rating can be very good. I also like to model funds using Trustnet, I'll frequently compare funds over time to see which out performs to try and understand why. It's a free service so there's nothing to lose and their funds library is extensive. I also like to see what Citywire has to say about a fund and it's FM, you can easily see the standard deviation over short, medium and longer timescales which is helpful. Morningstar is of course the gold standard for these things, I've learned never to go against what they say! Note: I have portfolio set up within Trustnet which gets updated automatically, it's easier to log on to that and see what the number look like, rather than logging into by broker/platform with all its security.

The problem I have with investing in Asia, especially in China is the volatility, it can be a real roller coaster. The only solution is to spread the risk to include part of Dev Asia or to stay with the EM theme and include India and other EM markets. But EM are so susceptible to USD swings that it's difficult to know how to carve up that market to manage risk effectively. FM's seem to comingle EM and Dev Asia which seems right from a volatility perspective, another angle is to use Australia which is a proxy for China. Confusing.

Fund overlap is almost inescapable, unless you differentiate your holdings by capitalization. My two Asian funds also overlap on the likes of Taiwan but at 10% the percentage is so small and TSC so large that I think it's acceptable.

The second part of the post at least is correct, during covid there was a ban on international flight arrivals, for some time, except repatriation flights.

The Baltic Exchange has both Dry, Wet and Gas freight market information but things get messy having to cross reference several indices, Thus far there's nothing as convenient as Dr Copper. https://www.balticexchange.com/en/data-services/market-information0/indices.html

Your tax residency status can be conformed by the entry and exit stamps in your passport, the RD appears to use them as their guide. Yes, the RD deals only in THB so any foreign currency values will need to be converted. I'll look into this and add it to the list.

Now that I've re-read your posts, I don't think the answer is in the document...sorry! If I understand your question correctly, the only part that is transferred to Thailand is the 300k and since that comes from savings earned pre-1 January 2024, there is no tax top pay.

My iShares Japan is up 5% in ten days, it's worth a look. Yes, that's the problem with global trackers, always US heavy. It makes sense to cover off the US with a single index tracker and then sort out the rest of global in discrete chunks, that way you can better control the US percentage.