Mike Lister

Even though you're at a higher elevation, the area that you live in will have its own water table, often because rainfall is trapped in the rock and can't drop further. They say that water finds its own level, which it does, unless its contained within rock and can't get to a lower level. It's therefore easily possible to have a decent usable water supply contained inside the mountain that you live on, even though it's much higher than ground level.

Yes, agreed

On this business of aquifers': Not everyone has a large pool of water or aquifers sat directly under their property or bore hole site, in fact I doubt many people do. Most people rely of a bore haul that collects water from rock strata rather than tapping into a large underwater pond. The op needs to finds out what the water table level is in his area, this is the level at which water is first available and changes based on the season. Knowing the dry season water table level will help him better plane the depth of his well.

That is massively expensive, 1k baht per meter is the going rate in the North and that also uses a truck mounted jig

The bottom four meters of pipe are slotted which means water enters the pipe in that range but the water supply come from many many layers in the rock strata all the way from near ground level to the natural level of the water table. At some point the feed pipe hits the water table which must be closer to the surface than the bottom of the pipe. So yes, the pipe is submerged in water but that's not an aquifer, that's the water table or the level of water across a large area. As the pump removes water from the bore it is replaced by seepage as the water table levels out. An aquifer is typically a large pool or body of water, often under pressure. Most wells don't hit one of them, instead they get their supply from the rock strata that pools in the pipe. If I use my 15 meter well pump in the evening it will at times begin to run dry. If I leave it until the following morning, the water table will have leveled out and the water in the pipe will have risen and my pump becomes useable again. This happens because nearby farmers draw on the same water supply, albeit a mile away, and that causes water in my well to flow into their bores that supply their water.

You will need consider the type of pump you will need, based on the depth of the well. A standard centrifugal pump has a maximum lift of 10 meters and nothing you do can change that, despite what the sales guys tell you, it's down to physics at that pint. The next step up is a jet pump which is more pricey and more complex but it will get you to 25 feet. After that, it's down to a deep well submersible pump like a Franklin which will life water hundred of feet. For most people it's a choice between number one and number 3.

I'm pretty sure you'll find that the rate is determined by the banks online system which contains a feed to the BOT forex system.

Bore hole drillers don't lend themselves to starting on excavated land, just to save a couple of meters drilling, the equipment needs a flat surface to start. We have two wells, one at 15 meters and one at 35 meters, ths cost was 1k per meter but will likely be much more now I imagine. The chances of finding an aquifer are not great, most bores depend on collecting water for several meters of strata through seepage. Our water table in the North is still good, around 6 meters....fingers crossed.

If you don't remit any funds to Thailand, there is no need to file a tax return, the threshold for filing a return is 120k or 220k pa, depending on your income. Yes, it does appear to apply to rental income also but the rules are different, based on how much you remit when. "Rental income from overseas property owned by foreigners who are tax resident in Thailand is not liable to Thai tax on that income, as long as that income is not remitted to Thailand. If however that rental income is remitted, an interim tax return PND 94, must be filed if the total remitted within the first six months of the year, exceeds 60,000 baht. “A half-year personal income tax return or PND. 94 is the income tax filing of an individual whose income from January to June exceeds 60,000 baht”. As you can see from the above, the timing of the remittance depends on whether one or two tax returns are required each year, it will behoove you to remit funds only from months seven onwards, if possible, so as to avoid the need for the second return. You say you've been told that you will pay 100k Thai tax on your rental income but without knowing the numbers, I can't comment. Your total income, including rental income, will be combined and taxed at Personal Income tax rates, assuming your pension is not a government pension that is exempt under treaty (which I don't believe it is). You will be eligible for tax deductions and allowances (or TEDA as they are known) of at least 500k baht per year, perhaps slightly more if you are legally married or pay for Thai health/life insurance or have eligible Thai investments. You will also be able to offset overseas tax paid on the remittance, against any Thai tax that is due. Reading between the lines, I imagine you already pay UK tax so the Thai tax bill may be, lower than you have been told. Unfortunately, our understanding at present is that using that offset will mean invoking the Dual Tax Agreement which means paperwork, plus there is a timing issue since the UK tax year doesn't align with the Thai tax year. The other downside is that any overage in Thailand will result in a tax credit rather than a refund which cannot be carried forward. Once again, without knowing the numbers it's impossible for me to be more precise. It might be however that given the scale of your income that you would be advised to use a Thai tax CPA for precise guidance. I hope that helps.

The rates you see on web sites and boards are only indicative, exchange rates change in real time so you'll never know what the exact rate is, until you make the deal.

There are a number of variables involved. Currency exchange rates are based on the midpoint which is determined by the FOREX system, banks and money changers then add or subtract an amount to that to arrive at the buy or sell rates which vary for each currency. The additional amount that is added or subtracted, varies based on the currency that is being exchanged, in the case of USD it can be about 0.15 baht, in the case of GBP it can be 0.50 baht, this is because some currencies are more useful to them than others. Other factors that affects the exchange rate is the amount being exchanged and the denomination of the bills being exchanged, USD 50's will be cheaper to exchange than US 20's. Money changers make a smaller profit on currency exchange than banks do because they don't have the same physical overheads. It therefore pays to exchange money at a money changer rather than at a bank. Lastly is location, rates can be higher in tourist areas than in non-tourist areas, because there is greater demand. And lastly lastly, money wired by TT will offer a better rate than a sight bill. Soooo, you ask if SCB in Issan offers a better rate than others, that will depend on the currency, the bills being exchanged, the method of exchange, TT or sight bill and whether there is competitive demand near by. Generally, all the banks in rural areas offer similar rates, typically within 0.5% of each other which unless you are exchanging large amounts, will not make much difference.

I don't know how many times it must be repeated or whether the statement is unclear or ambiguous, so let me say it once again, as clearly as I can...........Gift Tax will work where genuine gifts to relatives are involved, but it is highly unlikely to be robust where the gift is intended to be a work around, is not genuine and involves non-relatives. Anyone who thinks that as a blanket statement, the average person, "can live without tax in TH by receiving gifts and not paying in TH", is not being realistic. The problem with this concept is that others will read these statements and see them as approval to use Gift Tax as a way to avoid tax and get caught out. Some people may not have the highest opinion of the TRD but they are not going to be stupid or ignorant and will have seen all the "workarounds" before.

Once again, some genuine gifts will pass muster, but the concept below, as a general rule, is fantasy .

You can still buy original hemi crated, must be a fortune now, same engine they put in the 16 wheeler trucks for gawds sake.

That's a goat, either that or a Grand Prix or Bonneyville, circa 66

I'm sorry but I can't discuss this topic with you. I was trying to be helpful by giving you a link and now I find myself on the receiving end of a lecture about the objectives of the media, lessons in pseudo science and how an excess of coke cans is displacing seawater! Please, just leave it there between us.

I've read those too, it brings back memories. Being in the US there was a never a parts issue, it was actually cheaper and easier to buy an entire engine from a wrecking yard and install that, rather than replace any long block parts. I once went through four back to back removes/installs before I got a decent engine, I got to where I could do a round trip in about two hours. 🙂

I was at uni in CA in 1971 and had a part time job at a wrecking yard in Chula Vista. One day, the boss hauls in a 65 GTO with a blown engine, he'd paid 100 bucks for it. "Pull the trans, the doors and the panels then send the rest to the crusher" he said. I couldn't let it happen, I ended up paying him 400 for it but I was happy. I bought a used 389 with tri-power and fitted it over the weekend, boy did that baby sound good. It was the perfect car, for me, a fast mover that handled sooo well. I still miss ya goat (the car, not the poster).

You asked for evidence of rising seas and I gave you an article to read. Presumably you're not really interested in that evidence, otherwise you would have read the article I gave you and said thank you, alternatively you would have searched yourself for more news but from a journal that better agrees with you. Oh well.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/interactive/2024/southern-us-sea-level-rise-risk-cities/

What I wrote about this previously is the following: 63) "Note: Because Gift Tax is predominantly a domain of the wealthy and depends to a large extent on local practise, there is a shortage of confirmed information on this subject. One field of thought is that Gift Tax cannot be used to escape Thai tax by Gifting untaxed money from overseas. On the other hand, many Western countries, including the UK, do not tax gifts from overseas. Members wishing to exercise this option should seek qualified advice before using this option to Gift untaxed funds". In a country where the balance of wealth is held by a relatively tiny proportion of people, it would be unusual, I imagine, to find Gift Tax being used in the remaining larger segment. There is no reason why others shouldn't be able to use it, because as you say, the rules are the same for everyone.....at least they should be although my suspicion is they are not. I would expect any sudden and significant use of Gift Tax to come under close scrutiny, as it has in other countries where additional laws have been enacted to prevent abuse. If there is one candidate law that is open to abuse and fraud, it's this one.

I agree, I think it's OK to hold a variety of funds and instruments, I don't think the number of funds a person holds is material in any way, except that there may be easier and cheaper ways to obtain the same degree of investment. I'm holding four global equities funds with less than 5% overlap, the average charge is 0.40%. Why four and not one? The first covers EM and Japan, I hold this in addition to EM and Japan (sampling) trackers because it has returned far in excess of the benchmark for some time. The second is Royal London Select which has returned over 24% per year and has far exceeded the benchmark. The last two are average funds that return around 12% per year. One is JPM Global and the other is Guiness. JMP Global is my bellwether fund because the Fund Manager goes into cash when things get dicey, something that most other FM's tend to avoid doing, it also returns over 14%. Guiness? A mediocre but reliable income generating equities fund that has moments of stellar performance. So, four managed funds where the FM can and does adjust the investment, based on market conditions. Set against those four funds are four trackers, UK FTSE 350, S&P500, Japan Index and EM Index. I don't cover Europe specifically because the four managed funds are smart enough to do that for me. I could deploy a global Index Fund but that means I have to ride the storm down as well as up and I've no control over the geographics. By holding those economies individually, I can bail out of Japan for example, without needing to rebalance the rest of the world markets. Lastly on bonds: I hold the global bond index (the agg), both the full index and the short term segment, as well as the short term index (sub 2.5 years) as well as a strategic bond funds containing minimal junk. Finally, I hold some other bits and pieces that are legacy investments which on reflection, would fit well with the idea of commodities. But since I know nothing about commodities, this may be a job for Wisdom Tree or similar. Hopefully the above will help somebody, somewhere.

I do not disagree that Gift Tax has a place for certain segments of the population, which I suspect is the wealthier part rather than the less wealthy. The problem is that many will see Gift Tax as a panacea for everyone, which it is not.

If that capability was readily available, there's no point in have any discussions about commingled funds or capital gains or even private pension income for that matter. All everyone would have to do is to deposit all their income into a savings account overseas and then remit it here as a gift, job done! All except the first 500k which would cover TEDA of course, that could be their personal spending money whilst the rest goes to the spouse/.child, friend as a Gift, never to be returned in any way of course, cough cough. It's so simple, I'm kicking myself. I'll tear up the tax guide and make a new one that says, "everything's ok, not to worry, just claim all your remittances are gifts".

Is there a longer answer?