White Rabbit

That makes sense to me. Another type of visa would collide of course and not "re-newing" the visa after the first 5year have expired would make the existing LTR visa void. No surprises or opaque moments here. One could read into the wording that there's the usual competition between gov agencies going on (immi and BOI in this case but it really is a worldwide phenomenon) but I once was told by a wise woman not to assume... and she was right as usual.

Precisely - there are 4 different classes of LTR visas - and all allow to quite easily apply for a work permit. One of subclasses is meant for ppl working in Thailand - they then get a preferential and in may eyes reasonable flat tax rate of 17%. Income generated in Thailand is always subject to taxation. Income generated abroad - world income - is tax free for holders of LTR visas. This is certainly not unfair. Excessive taxation is unfair. There are many such schemes in the world, UK non-dot status is just one example; they greatly benefit the countries that introduce them but of course there's always the envious ones disguising their envy as 'looking for justice or fairness' or whatever. Life is neither. But individuals can act fairly. Governments can be clever at best and act in the best interest of their home country. Thailand is quite good at that. If you act fairly and respectfully Thais and most government agencies will mostly recognise such and treat you accordingly.

Whether that is a high or low threshold is of course debatable as all else ;-). However, to obtain passive income of 80k USD you'd probably need about 3 million USD of invested assets at around 3% mean dividend/interest so still a considerable sum of money. Of course it all is relative - and I assume you are much much wealthier than that as you are bringing this up - but from the Thai government point of view this certainly makes sense: those retirees spend their money in Thailand, pay sales taxes etc. No real downside as we oldies usually behave, don't drive like madmen... So I believe this scheme will remain in place and benefit Thais and foreigners alike hopefully for many more years to come.

Never had an issue despite several visits of two weeks each. Very considerate immigration clerks. 👏 does anyone have experience with longer tourist visa for Japan as we‘d like to stay for a month? Is such a visa hard to get from Japanese embassy in Bangkok?

Just to double-check - I have an LTR retiree visa - grateful for that. Now, if I travel outside Thailand at least once within a year’s time I never have to do the one year reporting? Is that correct? Actually I’m probably traveling abroad 3-4 times a year. And I’m also registered online with immigration on the same address as my yellow book states. Thanks for all feedback.