Mike Lister

The complete quote, had you bothered to read it in full, is: "Pointing out that foreigners pay sales tax and VAT is also meaningless, everyone pays it so everyone is the same".

Which if you are over 65, 500k of which will be taxable, some at the 10% rate.

If you heard this news in your own country, you'd believe and accept it without question. But because this is Thailand you suspect that somebody is going to rip you off and do something underhanded that will cost you money, that's simply paranoia that has np basis in fact or history.

Nobody is trying to tax inbound FDI, for goodness sake!

There is zero evidence that anyone is going to be taxed twice, that is the purpose of a Dual Tax Agreement. The fact that many foreigners are more wealthy than the average Thai is irrelevant. Anyone who moved to Thailand to live, did so on the understanding they would abide by their laws. If at any time they don't agree with those laws, they are free to return to their own country. Comparing the wealth of a foreigner to a rural Thai is inappropriate. Pointing out that foreigners pay sales tax and VAT is also meaningless, everyone pays it so everyone is the same. There is no evidence the amended law will put an extra burden on any one doesn't owe tax here other than to understand their own finances at a detail level.

Monaco is a tax haven, the Caymans is a tax haven, Thailand has only just recently emerged from being a third world country. Why anyone ever thought Thailand is a tax haven and that things would never change is remarkable.

But you can covert a three month O to a one year O, in country, can you not?

It isn't, he just upset. Any sovereign state can impose whatever tax rules and regulations it wishes, end of story.

There are various types of O visa with different durations, I'm pretty certain there are 90 day and one year O visa's but perhaps others more knowledgeable can confirm the range. Also, I don't know if you can squeeze 2 years out of an O but you can out of an OA by leaving and returning just before the visa expires.

You are wise beyond your years.

The original visa, which ever one you get, expires after one year or if you time it right, you can squeeze two years out of it. Thereafter, you don't have a visa but you can extend your stay, year by year, on whatever basis you decide upon. The reason for your visa and the reason for your extension of stay is all important, not the visa itself so much. My initial visa was an OA, for the purpose of retirement. When the new insurance law was introduced, I changed my reason for stay from retirement to marriage which meant I was excluded from the insurance regulation. As you can see, I may have had an OA visa at one time but all that matters now is that I'm granted an extension of stay on the basis of marriage, my initial visa type is largely irrelevant. If it was me, I'd go for an O visa, most people I know are on them but many very old expats might be on OA's because they were recommended at one point.

Possibly, only possibly mind you, perhaps the truck moved out to the left to begin the turn right, which many of them do. Why, I even see cars do that, the ones whose drivers think they're driving a 16 wheeler.

"when you pay someone in Thailand or withdrawing cash with the card then you are actually transfering money into Thailand". Thank you for clarifying that.

Be aware, I believe the OX and OA visas requires health insurance at a certain level.

Your first para is incorrect. Starting 1 January 2024, the Thai RD will require all tax residents (180 days or more in Thailand) who receive assessable (taxable) income in Thailand, over THB 120k per year, to file a Thai tax return. The onus is on the tax payer to declare that income and to determine what is assessable and what is not.

HbA1C blood sugar test and TSH & T4 thyroid hormone tests.

Not really, the pair has been very volatile, a different level of granularity shows it better. As the US Fed increased rates, so USD strengthened. As it did, capital flowed out of all EM's and Asia and into USD.

That's a USD strength issue, rather than a Thailand issue

You're right, the SET does not reflect the Thai economy, it would be interesting to see what percentage of GDP SET companies contribute. My guess is a majority of the SET50 support consumer spending rather than exports, AIS, True, BBL, AOT, Global House, HomePro, Kasikorn, Krung Thai Bank, etc etc.

If you read the article you'll see that developers are being warned that there are too many unsold units. My experience is that new build projects will be suspended until things become more favorable. I don't know what you mean by imploding. The big developers such as Supalai, Sansiri, L&H are sufficiently well capitalised to withstand economic downturns plus they tend to pick their projects carefully. Small developers will have big problems but we may never hear about their demise.

If you google, "developers warn over unsold homes" you'll see a Bangkok Post article that talks about the oversupply of unsold units and increased NPL's and borrowings. Almost certainly middle class Thai's are not the drivers of the housing market at present.

There are some clues in the link below: https://www.thailand-business-news.com/top-news/real-estate Foreign property buyers mostly, Russians, Chinese and others, almost certainly not a majority being sold to middle class Thai's. Cars will be mostly the native population of course who have easy access to credit. NPL's have been increasing.

Thai Immi has always had the dates I have entered and left, in 1995 one officer at DM showed me screen after screen of my comings and goings (I lived in Hong Kong at the time but also worked part time in Bangkok but on consultancy basis and without a work permit). And whilst I haven't done so for a while, it always was the case that banks wanted to see my passport when I changed money.

Is the middle class growing, what evidence do you have for that? If it is growing, it's growing on credit rather than on earnings, the GDP figures confirm that.

Actually, there wasn't so much a property bubble in 1997 as there was a uncontrolled surge in borrowings in foreign currency.