Mike Lister

Or perhaps you don't understand how it really works today. I invest in funds which are a collection of different company shares, there are funds to cater to all tastes, in every sector, every geography and every risk appetite. The funds are led by Fund Managers who manage the investment so that I don't have to. I typically pay 0.50% of the sum invested for the management of the fund plus I pay 0.20% for my platform fee. If I don't like the fund, I can sell it. In an average year each fund will earn between 8% and 15% profit. If I wanted to, I could buy shares in individual companies that I select but I don't because I don't have the skill so I pay a small amount to somebody who does. Where's the corruption? I'm buying a service that makes me money, it's all on the table.

Sorry to be boring but I can't get to the bottom of this one, despite several posters suggesting they know the answer but never confirming it. It has been said that there is a standard deduction for pensions that equals 50% of the pension received, up to 100k. The first I heard of this was a couple of days ago. The question is, does that standard deduction, replace other deductions such as the 190K and the Personal allowance or is it in addition to? My wife works as self employed and she has a choice between taking a standard deduction for costs or taking the total of actual costs but she can't take both, it's one or the other. In the case of pensions where it's said this 100k deduction against pensions received exists, I can't see why it exists since there are no costs involved, no pension contributions from earnings, no nothing. It's even more odd that it exists for pensions that arise from overseas! Granted, there is a difference between a deduction and an allowance so maybe the answer exists in that subtle difference. the 190K for over age 65 year olds is an age related allowance, the 60k is a Personal Care Allowance, noether are deductions. A most helpful poster posted an extract from Sherrings earlier but it was unclear if the example was only for Civil Servants and Military or whether it applies equally to everyone. Any clarifications, gratefully receievd.

Dunno, but if you want to show us where it was, feel free to quote it.

No problem, I'll send you my invoice for tax consultancy advice. BTW there's a house for rent just round the corner from me, I mention it in case you were looking for somewhere. :))

Wow, is that who the culprit was? That's truly shocking and surprising.

.....as long as the person is tax resident in the year the funds were remitted. But conceivably, a person could become not tax resident in Thailand for a year by spending 187 days outside Thailand and remit a wedge of money to their Thai tax account which would be tax free.

Yes, but does the standard deduction replace all other deductions?

That's correct, but they are part of a larger group which one might have expected would offer alternatives yet this didn't happen. None of which changes the outcome, there are valid reasons for people not having health insurance, one wouldn't plan for it to be that way but it does happen, through no fault of the individual.

No I do not, and no, flying over a country doesn't constitute a day spent in that country!!! Some countries ignore the day or arrival and the day of departure, others use midnight as the key reference, I don't know of any country that includes partial days.

There are none that are FDA approved, it's not something to tweak at will by buying this or that. There are plenty of prescription meds, best to see a cardiologist and see what he thinks.

They don't have an age cut off, they just decided it would be so and this was a global player that advertises on social network forums in Thailand and elsewhere..

The OP's BP is just fine, it's not too low.

Indeed. As of 1 December I also am now one of those idiots. My insurance company wrote to me to say they wouldn't renew my policy, despite me never claiming on the policy and paying over 150k Baht per year. It seems they think I am too old to be safely be insured with them any longer and health insurers here can do that. I have zero chance of obtaining any sort of decent coverage at a sensible price so at age 74 I am once again uninsured. Fortunately I have enough capital to support me through most average scenario's but that's not the point.

"From 2002 to 2006 two professors conducted IQ research in more than 180 nations. The result was their World Ranking of Countries by Their Average IQ, rank ordered by average IQ (with many ties due to identical results). Thailand ranked 16 with an average IQ of 91. Other ASEAN nations ranked: Singapore, 1-average IQ 108; Vietnam, 13-94; Malaysia, 15-92; Brunei, 16-91; Cambodia, 16-91; Laos, 18-89; Indonesia, 20-87; Myanmar, 20-87; Philippines, 21-86.[154"] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_rankings_of_Thailand#:~:text=Thailand ranked 16 with an,%3B Philippines%2C 21-86.

I had my thyroid removed at the CMU private hospital, it was brilliant, I couldn't have asked for anything better, anywhere in the world. Liverpool Loo was in the next room having a sense of humour transplant, sadly the op wasn't successful. :)

Sure, I just had surgery in a private hospital two weeks ago, I had to front 200k before they would even begin. But that wasn't immediately life threatening, had it been so they would have had to treat me or transfer me, if stable, to a government hospital where the law requires me to be treated until stable.

On the subject of reporting the days of your tax residency, it's where you were at midnight that counts. If you were on a plane at midnight, you were nowhere for tax residency purposes hence it's quite easy to lose many days per year as a result, if you travel frequently.

Rubbish! "Take it first in the morning before eating or taking any medications. Take it again in the evening. Each time you measure, take two or three readings to make sure your results are the same. Your health care provider might recommend taking your blood pressure at the same times each day". https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-pressure/in-depth/high-blood-pressure/art-20047889#:~:text=Take it first in the,the same times each day. And: Sit quietly before and during monitoring. When you're ready to take your blood pressure, sit for five minutes in a comfortable position with your legs and ankles uncrossed. Your back should be supported against a chair. Try to be calm and not think about stressful things. Don't talk while taking your blood pressure.

And not everyone takes there blood pressure first thing in the morning, just as they've got out of bed. It's a way of obtaining a normal result rather than a distorted result.

That's against medical code of practise and against Thai law, it doesn't sound like it was very acute.

First world....hahahah, really, I wonder sometimes!

Nope, I'm telling you how settle abnormally high BP readings in a clinical setting, aka, white coat syndrome. Think about it, how can you possibly fake your own BP results!

After many years of above average blood pressure I finally figured out how to solve the problem. Before you have your BP test, tell the nurse you want to sit for 5 of 10 minutes first in order to relax, this is not an unusual request. Next, make sure you clothing is not too tight, eg, loosen your belt if need be. Sit with your feet and knees together, fold your hands in your lap and close your eyes. Breathe in and fill your lungs with air then, release the air very slowly through just your mouth, this stimulates the vagus nerve which lowers BP. Repeat half a dozen times then test your BP, it really does work.

I misunderstood your post, my apologies, in my haste I thought you were referring to Thailand's economy whereas now that I have re-read it, you were referring to Hawaii's.

I disagree, customs exports or the export of goods represent over 55 per cent of Thai GDP, that's the first string to their economic bow, international tourism at 12 per cent is a distant second.