Mike Lister

I dunno and I'm not get a ladder out and going outside to look, it was some years ago. Just go to HP and tell them what you want, they're not expensive.

He didn't say he wasn't there but he did say it was 90% and I have no reason to disbelieve him. You having a sense of humour lapse or are you always like this!.

Far too much worst case scenario, what if, far fetched, exception rather than rule....why even have that discussion!

I believe the onus is on the tax filer to state what they believe in respect of those funds and to file on that basis. If you genuinely believe they are tax exempt, so state and file accordingly. If you believe they are not, complete your tax return accordingly and if necessary, pay tax. The contents of tax returns don't have to be agreed between the filer and the RD beforehand, that's not the way it works in any country. AS Grumpy correctly stated, it's based on the honor system so you need to be truthful. Whether or not the RD choses to challenge your return and demand supportive evidence is the same as in any country. In the UK, people with a certain profile are selected for audit periodically, the same will be true here. So no, you don't have to convince the RD before hand but you need to have that research available, in case you are asked. And that evidence or audit trail can easily comprise a series of statements and fund transfe documents, the sort of thing that would be readily available anyway.

I'd rather have the BSA Bantam 125 than the telegram.

Yes.....we agree, there is a god after all. :))

Stop trying to make it sound more fun than it actually is. :)

We've got one is the sala, we bought it from HomePro, on high speed it'll blow the knickers off a gogo dancer twenty meters away.

As it happens I did have a stent installed but there are remaining blockages of less severity that can't all be sensibly stented because there are too many or because of their location. The other point to consider is that if you are found to have cardiac artery blockages, chances are very high you will blockages elsewhere in your body, PAD for example..

TBH that's not a bad way to go, it sure beats months of suffering, operations and pain. One day you're at the cafe enjoy a latte and next, poof, gone.....that's for me my boy! :)

Umm, I think in the first instance, the tax payer has to file a return and make a financial statement regarding their income and the tax they believe is due on it. That is after all what a tax return is, in any country. For that to happen, only the filer needs to understand the detail hence there is no need to translate documents or to obtain specialist assistance, unless the filer doesn't actually understand how to file a simple tax return which I think is unlikely. The second step depends on whether the RD accepts the return and gives it a check and pass, if they do, that's all the effort that is required. The problem, potentially, is when the RD decides they don't like the return and they think there is a reason to challenge it. Factors that might cause that to happen include very large amounts or a history of unusual financial affairs, I imagine. Personally, I don't see the RD challenging very many farang pensioners over their monthly pension payments, they are primarily interested in much bigger fish plus don't you think they understand the language issues involved!

Me too, it wasn't until an exercise stress test that I found out and one of my blockages was 85%. I guess that's why they call it the silent killer.

Partially blocked arteries are not an unusual finding in many older people, the issue is the extent to which they are blocked. You might think that a 40% blockage is a major cause for concern yet the intervention threshold is above 50%. And findings of 75% and 80% are not unusual, often they are asymptomatic, mine were.

You still have file a return to account for the funds, the source and origin of those funds is not relevant.

I do all those things, plus I close my eyes and my wife tells me what to do, slow down, turn left, move over a lane.....she does that during the day time so why not at night too.

Night time, dark and 90% tint, what could possibly go wromg!

It's not his fault, those poles in Chonburi are renowned for jumping at vehicles in the night.

I get involved in this buy and hold debate frequently, I don't believe in either but only because I'm 74 and not 21. If I was 21, I would be a big believer, it's just that at age 74 I can't afford to wait five years to recover my losses. I don't think for one minute that Buffet and Munger are crooks in any shape or form. I've read a lot about both people over the years and there is ample evidence to believe the opposite although that's not a narrative that goes down well with the younger set, because they're both old, fabulously wealthy and they think Bit Coins are rubbish. I think that Buffet/Munger are probably the last of the old school investors, they got it right and they stuck with it. If you do some reading on their lives and view them objectively, I'm pretty sure you'll see the facts support what I've said.

Except Charlie made money and gave 75% of it away to universities and the like, he was a huge believer when it came to education being the best way to improve peoples lives.

For many years I used to reclaim the tax on bank interest, like you I had several bank accounts plus I brought over a fair amount of money. I got used to the same people at the RD office who were very helpful and obliging when it came to completing a tax return and reclaiming the tax. Then, about three years ago, one of them that I knew well asked me if I wanted declare any other income such as pensions that were deposited directly into Thai banks or transfers that I'd made. This was a significant point in time for me because it led to a discussion, for the very first time, about what I should declare on my tax return. I came to realise that by reclaiming the tax paid on bank interest whilst not declaring other income, I was potentially filing a fraudulent tax return, a point the RD had tried to get across in a very subtle indirect way. The following year I decided not to reclaim the tax on savings income and that it was better to let sleeping dogs lie. Then, the following year, I was with my wife in the RD offices, completing her self employed business return when the issue came up of deductions and allowances she could use and I casually asked if there was some way she could deduct the cost of my health insurance. The response from the RD lady was telling, she said yes, but that might mean that we have to take a closer look at your pensions and the source of your bank transfers....this was about four years ago. Since that date I began to file a complete tax return and I declare everything, fortunately it doesn't cost me very much in tax, some years it doesn't cost anything. Today, my relationship with the people at the RD is very strong and easily back on a solid footing.

An excellent piece, it's just unfortunate there are no facts in it! The price of gold is the same, regardless of whether it is purchased in USD, THB or using conch shells.

What utter nonsense and rubbish!

I understand the nervous/fear by older expats because of concerns that a tax take could derail their finances during retirement here. I also understand the curiosity by younger people, many of whom are not tax savvy in the West, let alone in Thailand. There's a third group that are in the middle, many of whom are afraid the new law will short circuit their long "holidays" here, many of whom are pretending to be somewhere else and who could get found out. Everyone's got a different concern about this, hence the nervousness and second guessing. Personally, I'm in the clear in all of this so I don't have any concerns but I would like to see as many people as possible understand what the basics are and to bring an end to the paranoia and deliberate misinformation which is seriously unhelpful.

Sadly, I'm bound to agree.

Once again your post doesn't make sense. The price of gold today is USD 2,041 per Troy ounce or THB 71,665 per Troy ounce. Gold in Thailand is sold by the Baht weight which equals 0.47 Troy ounces and today is Baht 34,000 per Baht weight, exactly the same as if the gold were bought anywhere, in any currency and in any amount. You say that reflects that the value of Thai flat money has been discounted by 65% which I say is utter nonsense and totally incorrect. The value of Thai Baht to USD and gold is exactly the same.