Mike Lister

The sae happened to my wife and me at uob. We both have accounts but we wanted a new joint account. They wanted a resident certificate but settled for a copy of my tax return which shows my address.

It's just that I've filed taxes here for the past three years and never in any of my discussions with the Rd, has this possibility ever been mentioned and our local Rd is extremely helpful. Perhaps more importantly, it's never once been mentioned by anyone else in any of the hundreds of posts on the subject of Thai tax and deductions. So, I continue to believe this deduction does not exist for me or other retirees.

Fixed deposits are managed differently, all banks deduct 15 per cent from all of them. But savings interest is handled differently from bank to bank and customer to customer, depending on whether the customer has given the bank their TIN. Uob doesn't deduct 15 per cent on my first 20k but Bangkok Bank does.

That continues to make mo sense to me that a foreigner with an overseas pension is allowed to deduct any expenses be they actual or a standard deduction. But if so, does that standard deduction replace the 190k and 60k? If it does, it might make more sense.

You still have file a return of your income is over 60k per year (I think)

That is correct, 190k plus 60k and don't forget the first 150k of the remainder is zero rated.

Sure, but they don't repair microwaves. :))

My apologies if this seems pedantic or laborious but it still doesn't make sense. That deduction is under the heading of expense deductions, that means contributions on payments into a pension, not pension income that is received. Getting a deductions for 100% of pension payments MADE into an approved fund makes a lot of ence but only if they are made in Thailand, not made overseas.

Effectively you are paying interest on just the excess, the first 20k was tax free which equals the first 150,000 of income in the tax tables, being zero rated or tax free.

FWIW I think the el nino threat to agriculture is the biggest threat next year.

Nyom Panich near airport plaza, go round the back of this very large appliance store and there's a maintenance and repair department that will repair most electrical items, very reliable. Next to the Toyota dealer (I think it is.)

The biggest threat on this score that I see is the move to hive off consumer loans that are on watch, into another private company because that will distort the definition of NPL before long, even if it does protect the banks..

Yes, very possibly so. But we need to keep in mind that the debt to GDP percentage, rises and falls of its own accord, as GDP increases and falls. Right now, GDP of USD 503 bill. is below the USD 543 bill that it was pre covid which means the percentage increases, as GDP falls, it doesn't explicitly mean that more people are going into debt, just that the percentage calculations is higher.

Yep, I agree. Most figures don't include debt from the grey economy but neither do they include income from it either and this is massive. Unlike the US where the grey economy is quite small, the grey economy here is worth something close to 48% of GDP and that remains untapped from a tax revenue perspective. So US debt per capita share of income in the US may be lower but the untapped grey economy income here is the reason. It would be extreme and unnecessary to look at combined debt per capita, government and private debt, but the numbers would be telling. At this juncture, if and when the wheel does come off, it will be fairly easy for Thai's to go back to basis, less so Americans who would no longer know how to live off the land or fend for themselves, the relative extents of debt being the major reason why.

Answer the question, if you are able! A country's economy is owned by its population, debt per capita is an accepted way to measure an economy. Consumer or Household debt is something else entirely. Thai Consumer debt is somewhere around 89% of GDP and for comparison purposes, US consumer debt is around 65%. So what? That Consumer debt level doesn't consider assets that are owned such as land, bank account and other assets, it's just debt....are you getting it yet!

Thailand government debt equates to USD 3,300 per capita. Just to put that into perspective, the US debt per capita is USD 92,000 per capita. So tell us, how is everything all Thai's own on credit and they are all worth nothing? https://www.worlddata.info/asia/thailand/debt.php#:~:text=National debt in Thailand&text=Based on the number of,of 3%2C729 USD per person.

Rubbish! If you want to talk about a population buying everything on credit, let's talk about Western countries instead of Thailand! "Me thinks is an unfortunate choice of words!

Why are you posting stats about US inflation in a post about the Thai economy and why are you not posting a link and telling everyone what that misleading graph is really about, and its source? I'll save you the trouble of posting the link which is below, I'll still be very interested to understand why you're being so decptive. https://www.shadowstats.com/

Is that not for expenses related to that income? What expenses are connected with expat overseas pensions other than contributions to a pension scheme? Thai Social Security contributions are deductible for example, because they are an expense from which the ultimate pension is derived but that deduction is from a salary or wage in Thailand, not a wage paid overseas. Have to say I've never heard anyone raise that before and I've been filing taxes here for several years and have had this chat about allowable deductions with RD several times in different ways. I'm pretty sure that it would have been mentioned previously, had it been allowable. If you can add further to this, I'll certainly listen.

The other point to make about exchange rates and the Baht is that the Baht is not strong at present, it is very close to a 10 year low, the covid anomaly notwithstanding.

I can only explain it to you that studies have shown that export volumes are not dependent on the currency strength or weakness of the seller, it depends on the buyers economy and currency as to whether they can afford to buy (as the link I supplied earlier confirms). Somewhere out there is a BOT study on this subject. You don't have to believe it but you really ought to do a little bit of research otherwise you'll end up looking silly when you ask question like the one you just asked me above about which exchange rate is better. Of course one exchange rate is better, but that has zero to do with export levels. Your problem is that you're using logic as the basis of your statement rather than the realities of what actually happens. "Weakness or strength in the baht has had a little impact on shipments", https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/thai-economy-seen-growing-3-4-this-year-inflation-fall-cbank-2023-02-28/

I thought we were discussing retirees, people over age 65 years, in which case that deduction doesn't apply?

Thailand's main trading partner is the USA, the link below confirms. https://www.worldstopexports.com/thailands-top-import-partners/ Impact of a firmer baht on exports is minimal, see Bangkok Post article entitled BOT warns baht will remain volatile, dated, 5 March 2019 "A study at macro-level found that the value of exports is influenced more by the economic situation and purchasing power of trading partner countries than Baht strength" https://www.bot.or.th/content/dam/bot/documents/en/research-and-publications/reports/annual-report/AnnualReport2022.pdf.html FDI flows and USD https://blogs.worldbank.org/voices/three-ways-strong-dollar-impacts-emerging-markets Thailand GDP USD 505 bill., Vietnam USD 366 bill....just google it. Exports to USA: Thailand Total Exports to USA recorded 4.228 USD bn in Sep 2023, compared with 4.870 USD bn in the previous Aug 2023 Thailand Total Exports to USA data is updated monthly, available from Jan 1971 to Sep 2023, with an averaged value of 913.730 USD mn The data reached an all-time high of 4.870 USD bn in Aug 2023 and a record low of 6.560 USD mn in Sep 1971. Exports to China: Thailand Total Exports to China recorded 3.088 USD bn in Sep 2023, compared with 2.803 USD bn in the previous month Thailand Total Exports to China data is updated monthly, available from Sep 1978 to Sep 2023, with an averaged value of 231.745 USD mn The data reached an all-time high of 3.788 USD bn in May 2022 and a record low of 1.990 USD mn in Oct 1980 https://www.ceicdata.com/en/indicator/thailand/total-exports-to-china https://www.ceicdata.com/en/indicator/thailand/total-exports-to-usa#:~:text=in Sep 2023%3F-,Thailand Total Exports to USA recorded 4.228 USD bn in,table below for more data. Next!

1. BOT studies have shown, as have external studies, that there is no relationship between the strength or weakness of a country and its exports. The key issue that effects export volumes is the state of the economy and the strength of the economy in the buying or importing country. 2. Do you have evidence for this, I don't believe any exists. 4. Every EM and emerging economy has lost inbound FDI to USD, Thailand is no exception. Lower interest rates here have however kept NPL's lower than they would otherwise be and inflation levels also. 6. Thailand's major export partner is the US, China is a developing export partner. 7. Vietnam is a developing economy, their GDP is two thirds of Thailand, it will attract some business because costs are cheaper but cost is not everything.

Yes sure. But 28 million tourists at a time when the world is recovering from covid and its economic effects has got to be a good number, Plus I don't know if anyone noticed but exports to the US have taken up a lot of the slack from the falling exports to China. The numbers are something like 13% and 3% and China isn't going to remain in the doldrums for long. I'm a glass half full on this, rather than half empty.