Random8

Yes, thanks. Good idea. I should probably try there before the Philippines, considering I'm an Isaan fan. The only problem is the short visa duration. I need/want 6 months. I have to research the possibility of doing visa/border runs there. Maybe in/out of Cambodia, since I have the Cambodia retirement visa already.

You don't know me, so you can only speculate. No offense taken. Health care is important to me. Hospitals there are not up to snuff. I've worked in health care for a significant portion of my working life. The assessment of poor health care comes from former Filipino colleagues. I'm not taking a crack at you, but I always think it's funny when people quote 7,700 islands. That's a ridiculous exaggeration. Most of those "islands" are not much more than sandbars with a few palm trees. Anyway, sincerely, thanks for your 2 cents. I'll eventually pass through there and will try to keep an open mind.

I agree with you about the craziness of frequent moves. Hopefully the money lost due to the inefficiency will be offset by the tax savings. Also, I really want to avoid a situation where a Thai government official is looking into my finances. They will not be erring in Farang's favor. I think, initially, there will be a lot of "overreach" until standards are set and widely known at the different immigration/tax offices. I'm a bit of a homebody. I'm actually grateful for the motivation to travel that this tax situation has inspired in me. I am happy to have traveled around Cambodia, though on whole I was disappointed with the country. I had high expectations. But now I know. I'm anticipating a similar experience in the Philippines.

Well, I only need one border/visa run initially. Hopefully the tax questions are resolved in 2025. Tax forms are due in March. I see what you mean though. I might have to travel around to convince the immigration agents I'm actually a tourist there. If I keep coming and going across the land border to Thailand, that will surely be a red flag. I'll probably mix it up by doing border runs to Singapore and Indonesia also.

I'm looking at the Philippines, but not excited about it. Pollution, crappy infrastructure and crappy food are my expectations. Catholic, marriage-minded women, no thank you. Also, if you stay longer than 6 months, you need some type of police clearance document before you can leave. I've heard that it's a hassle to get. I've heard of expats doing a border run every 5.5 months to avoid getting the police clearance. Border runs mean taking a flight. I'm also looking at Malaysia. 90 day tourist visa on arrival for Americans. Land border visa runs are possible for another 90 days. Great food (in my opinion), good infrastructure, good hospitals.

I was hoping to stay the full year as of 2025. I appreciate your comment. You make a good point. I suspect you are correct. If the new tax law was written primarily to capture taxes previously avoided by rich Thais who earned income overseas but didn't remit until the following year, your concern make sense. The definition of non-assessable income should be revised to state "prior year savings earned while not a tax resident.". It would be great if more people commented on this. I suspect the question of what savings is taxable is relevant for most expats.

I apologize if I'm repeating information that has already been discussed, but I don't have the time or tenacity to go through 400 prior posts on this thread or other similar threads. I am very appreciative of Mike's document explaining the tax situation. My goal is to create documentation that readily supports that the funds I remit to Thailand are not "Assessable" (as defined in section 10 of Mike's document). I hope to avoid the entire issue, by never remitting any funds other than savings. If anyone sees any flaws in my methods, please let me know. I suspect the biggest challenge will be to create a proper paper trail to demonstrate I am not remitting income earned in the same year. My plan is to open two new bank accounts in the US in 2024. I will stay out of Thailand for 190 days in 2024 even though I have a 1 year visa retirement extension. One bank account will be for current year income deposits only. The other will be only for cash disbursements to Thailand. I will switch the functions of each account on January 1st of each year. In 2025, all my income will be deposited into bank account "A". Some time in late December 2024, I will deposit a large lump sum into bank account "B". During the course of the year (2025) I will remit money to Thailand from bank account "B" while income accumulates in bank account "A". In 2025, if the Thai government wants to have proof that the remitted funds came from savings, I will be able to supply them with an annual bank statement from account B which will show a large beginning balance on January 1st, no other deposits in the course of the year, only remittances to Thailand. In 2026, if the Thai government wants to have proof that the remitted funds came from savings, I will be able to supply them with an annual bank statement from account A which will show a large beginning balance on January 1st, no other deposits in the course of the year, only remittances to Thailand. I will alternate bank accounts functions annually. The Thai government will never receive documentation demonstrating how much I actually earn (and pay taxes on) in the US. I will only supply them with bank statements showing large beginning balances and remittances to Thailand for the year in question. I hope to avoid the entire issue, by never remitting any funds other than savings. I will structure my bank accounts and remittances to easily demonstrate the funds are from savings. If anyone sees any flaws in my methods, please let me know. Thanks in advance!

I'd prefer to travel back and forth as little as possible. Unfortunately, I didn't like Cambodia as much as I expected. Probably won't even use more than 3 months of the Cambodian visa. Planning on checking out Philippines next, but my expectations are low. I'm hoping this is just a temporary situation. My goal is to stay in Thailand full time but to legally avoid Thai taxes. I don't want to jeopardize my Thai retirement visa extension while I'm setting things up.

I don't like the way the Thai remittance/income tax situation is developing (or not developing, still too many open questions), so I've decided to spend 190 days outside of Thailand in 2024. I will reevaluate in 2025 once the tax situation is clearer. Also, I'm setting up my finances to make my 2025 Thai tax burden as close to zero as possible. In Thailand, I'm currently on a 1 year retirement extension of a Non-O visa (800k in the bank). I went to Cambodia and purchased a 6 month retirement visa there. On my way back to Thailand (I purchased a reentry permit before leaving) the Thai immigration officer (land crossing, Poi Pet) took a long time processing me through. He kept looking at the Cambodia retirement visa, back at me, back at the visa, over and over again. It's as if he wanted to object in some way, but wasn't willing to start the discussion or whatever. Maybe his English skills weren't up to the task. Is anyone else traveling with two retirement visas simultaneously? Have you run into difficulties with either immigration department? The Cambodian immigration department apparently didn't object to issuing a retirement visa despite my having an active Thai retirement visa. Will Thai immigration (Udon) object to issuing a new 1 year extension if they see a Cambodian retirement visa in my passport? Will they say I don't need a one year extension because I don't plan on staying 1 year? In my opinion, it's none of their damn business, as long as I comply with their 90 reporting requirement, but they won't be interested in my opinion. Thanks in advance to those who can share their similar experiences or an educated guess.