Mike Lister

Yes, odd indeed.

It's time for me to dial back on US equities, valuations don't support the current levels so I've offloaded any above average momentum funds and halved my global tracker. The chorus from the strategists at the major investment banks is getting louder, utilities, health care and telecoms it is.

I had the original tear lasered and nothing more, I ignored completely the recommendation for 360 degree laser, on the basis of Dr Roys advice. One year later I had a piece of retina detach in my other eye and cause a large floater but it didn't tear. The logic I was given for having 360 degree laser treatment was that if one retina tears, the other will tear also. Medically, that was not supported by the condition of the retina's as photographed in high res at the Rutnin. The scuff/floater in the second eye a year later was not at the edge and would have not been prevented by 360 degree laser treatment. DTW, flashing lights are feature and have been for over two years, they are considered normal given the state of the vitreous fluid and my age. Wearing dark glasses helps a lot

I had a retinal tear that wasn't spotted for three weeks, eventually it was and it was lasered by a very panicked Dr. Later, I consulted a second opthamologist who recommended 360 degree laser treatment, in both eyes! I became very confused about this so I went to see Dr Roy at the Rutnin. Dr Roy did all the tests and took all the pictures before shaking his head at the previous diagnosis and suggested I get a new Opthamologist. This was in Chiang Mai two years ago.

If the money is proceeds of a property sale, the blue receipt showing tax paid, from the Land Office, will confirm that. If however the proceeds are from work legally performed in Thailand, the work permit will confirm that. All that remains is inbound FET's and money obtained illegally, you can see why the banks want to see something that confirms the source.

A separate will is required for each territory in which you have assets and each will should specific the boundaries of what it includes. Each will should acknowledge the existence of the other but should not attempt to manage assets outside of the territory that it covers.

The Baht has long been a restricted currency that is not freely convertible, the exchange control regulations applied equally to Thai's and non-Thai's. Over the years the BOT has relaxed the regulations to where it is now easier than ever before to export funds. Non-bank companies in Thailand still need a BOT license to export currency, inbound is of course not an issue. Those non-bank companies are also regulated by the same currency exchange rules.

Yes

No, no and no.

It doesn't matter for me that Biden is old and suffering from age related issues, those things are understandable and forgivable in a candidate, lying is not.

I suppose you can, as long as you can prove the transfer took place. If you can prove that, the question arises why you need the FET anyway? An FET is nothing more than proof the transfer took place, any credit advice will do the job.

The article only refers to domestic tourism, not international. Given the Thai economy is in the doldrums, is it any wonder that people aren't spending on travel.

My recommendation is to find a new tax consultant! The TRD will not have reinterpreted the remittance rule, without due diligence and intense scrutiny by the legal profession, otherwise, why has it not already been challenged in the courts, as others said it would be when it was first announced! The second aspect of this is the idea that a foreigner might challenge the TRD ruling and win, is the stuff of pipedreams.

Not true. FET stands for Foreign Exchange Transaction form, in practise, any official advice or notification form used by the bank to confirm the transaction, will suffice. Ask and you shall recieve.

Not a valid assumption, especially given the low rates of interest.

The banks are agents of BOT who carry out BOT policy, they just want to see something that shows the money wasn't earned in Thailand and that should be taxed. I went through my files and I've got over 10 mill. of credit advice notices/FET's covering the past decade whereas I've got much less than that in the banks here. Most people will be similar I think, hence it shouldn't matter if they keep the notice.

Yes, either an FET or any sort of advice notice informing you of the transfer.

Apparently it's illegal to sell non-Thai policies here so if you don't want a Thai company, look outside the country. Even the brokers can't recommend them.

Good post, true too, free spending expats and retirees have created the myth that everyone happily spends the same way and are happy for that to continue.

I went through this process last year so perhaps some aspects of my experience may help? Sheryl remains however the expert on these things so you should continue to be guided by her. In my case, the thyroid panel blood tests confirmed that something was amiss. My TSH number was very low whereas my T4 level was high, my thyroid was producing excess hormone so I was hyperthyroid. I already knew my thyroid was enlarged because I could feel it, especially in my neck, the question was, why. The ultrasound exam revealed an enlarged thyroid but the exam didn't show exactly how enlarged it was. The doctor who did the exam said it didn't look like a cancerous thyroid but he may well say that to everyone, I don't know. The biopsy was the next step and as said previously, this is painless and quick, it helps that it's ultrasound guided in order to zero in on the right location. Despite three different biopsies, all three came back inconclusive, these things are not always black and white so it was necessary to consult the risk tables to compare the cell types that were found, with the chances that cancerous cells existed somewhere. In my case, there was a 48% chance, which made the decision how to proceed even harder. I was given the choice of sending the sample to Europe to undergo more advanced testing but that would have required time. A partial removal of the thyroid, to reduce the goiter, would require a second op, if cancer was found in the section that was removed. The presence of scar tissue from the first op would complicated that. Eventually I consulted with two different Endocrinologists and a surgeon, all of whom leaned towards total removal, so that was what I chose. As it turns out, no cancerous cells were found but total removal was justified based on the size alone, which wasn't fully indicated by the ultrasound exam.

I've read many of your posts on this subject and said very little but I don't think it's reasonable to be so critical of older expatriates that don't have health insurance. When they expatriated twenty and thirty years ago, many with quite large sums of money, reasonable/good quality health care was available at a low cost. In the past ten years, things have changed and in addition to health care costs increasing by a far higher percentage than most other things in Thailand, those expats have grown older and now have fewer assets. Being critical of the decision they took twenty to thirty years ago to expatriate and self finance their health insurance, is not helpful, many decisions can be challenged when using hindsight. Neither people nor the decisions they make are perfect, rubbing in those imperfections even less so! New expatriates should take the lesson onboard I agree but let's not be too harsh on those that made flawed decisions so long ago.

As starter you could ask, "what's your name". As a follow on question you could ask her if she'll be paying tax under the Revenue's Por 161 ruling this year and will her DTA offer any relief........perhaps! 🙂

Part of the answer is that decisions about these things emanate from Bangkok and not Chiang Mai, so when reasonably well connected people from Bangkok speak, it's a reason to pay attention. Wherever there's smoke there's something going on so I don't think I'd dismiss either answer completely, at this stage.

So why wasn't she paying tax, if I might ask?

A bit more anecdotal info regarding the alleged review of visa's and the need for health insurance across the board. I saw my long standing, highly regarded and well connected visa agent today who normally gets to hear about any changes in the pipeline, before anyone else I know. When asked about he review of visa's he responded, "what review, the tourists visa's have been changed and that's it". When asked about the broader application of health insurance across all visa types, he responded, "they've just reduced the requirement from 3 mill to 400k, why would they expand it". Also, now that Big Joke is no longer in role, the risk appears to have been lowered. Maybe something, maybe nothing, like I said, anecdotal.