Mike Lister

Yes, and government debt.

I can't imagine why you think that. Every year I file my tax return here and I usually end up paying a small amount of tax, I file the return, pay the tax and get a receipt, it's not difficult.

I think you've already taken the giant step and showed that you're listening to the posting community rather than dictating to them and threatening them, which has been the dominant style for a long time. Posters and content don't provide fee income but they are the reason why people come here. I think if you continue to do as you are doing now and listen to the community, the community will develop and will make the site grow. Individual niggles about the minutiae will always persist, no matter what you do, you can't please all of the people....etc.

I was sorry to hear about your accident and also for not responding sooner. I'm happy to hear that you're on the mend and that the miscreant has been found, good luck with the insurance company, are you certain your wife wont need a hand with that? Anyway, get better soon and get over this whole thing, onwards and upwards.

I've always believed this was the case. I would hope that those people who filed fraudulent tax returns in the past that reclaimed tax paid on bank interest but ignored other income and the rest of the return, will be safe.

I appreciate the sentiment but this finding doesn't shorten my lifespan, if anything it lengthens it. The fact the problem was found and dealt with confirms that, which underscores the need for regular health checks by QUALIFIED people rather than these DIY blood tests that many like to do. My purpose in posting this was to tell people that there is first class medical help available from world quality professionals and that it doesn't have to cost a fortune.

The hospitals do have these but I think they are proprietary and apply only to their own hospital, otherwise how would they manage to provide these quotes to patients. There is for example a quote desk at Sriphat that uses actual costs paid by patients.

Fat grandmothers need love too, er, yours not mine mind you.

The Baht did weaken somewhat during covid but it was an overly strong USD that caused the real exchange rate damage, from 29 to 38 and it's still too strong.

That may not work, you may have to let word of mouth do the job. Previously banned members often use a new email address just to gain membership and then forget the password, er, at least that's what somebody told me, down the pub, you know how people talk.

Proof, as if it were ever needed, that Goat and Bignok are the same poster.

Yes indeed, but if the loss through tax evasion is greater than the benefit accrued from the current volume of cash inflows, they may see that taxing the inflows is the more cost effective path. And this is the problem, we don't have sight of the volume of overseas funds held by native Thai's that are being repatriated tax free, my guess is that it's huge.

Exactly, and you know which it will be.

The state pension is still under the PA threshold, even after the increase in April.

Bob Smithy, or BS for short!

We should call you sailor Bob, or maybe Captain Bob.

You have a boat, is it big?

Maybe he was after the priceless ancient gold artifacts and blue sapphires and gold rings

Much has been written about the high cost of medical care and also the poor quality of doctors here. I thought I’d report on my experiences of late, all of which were quite different from what many others have reported. At the end of September I was diagnosed with tumours on my thyroid so the advice was to have it completely removed. The biopsy was inconclusive but carried a 20% risk of malignancy. The cost estimate to do this at a well known private hospital in the North was about Baht 300k, the cost at Sriphat was Baht 130k and the cost at the CMU hospital, Maharaj, was around Baht 75K but would involve a wait of many months. It is interesting to note that I was offered the cheapest option, if I wanted it. Instead, I opted for Sriphat which is the semi-private arm of Maharaj, because it was the fastest, most cost effective and best route for me. The hospital stay is four or five nights. These costs don’t include the pre-op screening costs which amounts to a complete medical and came in around Baht 6,000 over several days. Interestingly, the cost does not include any food. It seems that everyone wants different food so the hospital stopped including meals in their pricing and leaves it up to patients to either order from their menu or from outside. The two doctors involved in my case can’t be bettered in the North. Associate Professor, Dr Ampica has been widely regarded as the foremost expert in endocrinology in the North for the twenty years I have known her. Her English is close to perfect and her interpersonal skills/patient handling skills are very good. Dr Ampica is semi-retired currently but still consults with new patients twice a week. Her recommendation for the surgeon was Associate Professor Dr Doneyrat, who incidentally was the first choice of everyone else I asked to make a recommendation, including moderator @Sheryl and two other doctors outside Thailand. Dr D. is very impressive and quickly confirmed that I was in the best hands possible. Interestingly, Dr D. spends all her time working out of Suan Dok treating everyday Thai patients and only comes to Sriphat to see new patients, on request but not more than a couple of hours, once each week. The pre-op was thorough and involved a consultation with a cardiologist who inspired similar levels of confidence as Dr D. The Sriphat facilities were first rate, modern and efficient with no shortage of good English language skills. I cannot find any faults with the hospital, the staff or the quality of medical expertise involved in my case plus I think the cost levels are very reasonable. There were no queues and very little waiting, it was all very efficient, it was easily on par with my experience at Bumrungrad 15 years before, albeit much cheaper! I have a fair amount of experience in and around the medical system in the North and previously worked for Mount Sinai hospital so I am able to make suitable comparisons.

Announcing the new measure before all the wrinkles are ironed out is classic Thai government. Get the headline out there and let the media identify the issues, if need be we can quietly drop it later if there are too many problems. In the meantime, we get the praise for taking bold steps. If the new measure is done properly and carefully it can be a very good thing because it will tax that Thai citizen income that is now flying under the radar. But taxing the average expat pension for example is unproductive, you have to believe they already understand that because everyone else does.

This is going to be an issue, which is why I think each tax district is now hiring a lawyer at each.

I agree very much with what you've said, especially about the role of moderators and a limited lifespan.

I disagree, politeness and civility cost nothing. If posters can't express themselves without resorting to vulgarity they shouldn't be published in public forums.

Nonsense

This reminds me of year 2000 onwards when the UK Pound was up around 75/80 baht but then trended downwards to under 40. At every step of the way, Brit pensioners here were saying it would go back up, the baht was being manipulated and anything else to reassure themselves. It did go back up slightly because of covid but all the forecasts are and always were, for sub 40 (against the Pound). I was lucky in that I decided to get out of GBP altogether and I went all in on THB some years ago and was very glad that I did.