CK1980

True, it was probably more likely stashed in his suitcase to tide him over for the journey until he can get some in Thailand. Bad move. Now he has a big comedown, no coke and a possible stretch in the Thai penal system. Holiday of a lifetime.

Not sure about that. I don't think he 'forgot' about more than 4 grammes of coke. Considering his erratic behaviour, it's more likely he is an addict and couldn't bear the thought of the long journey and arriving without being able to get his fix, so took a stash with him. Utterly stupid and quite sad. I knew people like that from my home town which has a big drug problem. They wouldn't even go on holiday to places if they couldn't take drugs with them or get them on arrival. It's a sad reality for some. As for the over the counter meds, yes it's true that most people don't check, I've done the same as you with the paracetamol+codeine painkillers without even thinking about it. But this is not relevant to this article as he surely knew that cocaine is illegal. He was not inadvertently bringing a product sold to him over the counter in the UK.

What a stupid comment. What would that achieve? It is not the Visa exemption that made this moron try and smuggle cocaine in to Thailand. He could easily do that with a Visa.

Why would you offer them the easy way out? Let them rot in a Thai jail. I'm sure the local prison population will give them a warm welcome.

No idea if they are new, I'm just reading what it says in the latest document from the Thai Govt website...

I'm no expert but I think you have completely misunderstood what a DTA is. The clue is in the name, DOUBLE tax agreement. It is to avoid paying tax twice, not for 'anti tax heathens' to avoid tax. It is just for specific situations where you are earning money in one place and getting taxed on it, then living in another place where they try and tax it again. As I said, I think the confusion comes in as the tax should actually be paid in the tax residence country, so the DTA should be used to avoid paying tax in the original country.

As for the DTA, there seems to be a bit of confusion. As far as I can work out, you are legally required to pay tax in your tax resident country, if you stay in Thailand over 180 days you are considered a tax resident and it is here that you must pay tax. The DTA will stop you from paying tax in the country that you are not in (or at least not in for 180 days per year). So, if you are getting paid by a UK company but stay in Thailand for over 180 days then you pay tax in Thailand and the DTA will avoid paying tax in the UK. I may be wrong. This document seems to support this: https://iao.bangkok.go.th/storage/files/Personal Income Tax.pdf This document is also useful for working out deductions: file:///C:/Users/Owner/Desktop/TAX/Thailand%20-%20Individual%20-%20Deductions.html

I could be missing something here, but why would anyone pay a border bounce company for this? DTV is a multiple entry visa, perfectly legitimate to go to Cambodia for a week then come back. The IO should give you a new 180 day stamp on the way back in. Why do you need an agency to arrange this? I totally get that corrupt IO's can make up a reason to not let you in, as has been reported with people who have a lot of visa exemption stamps in their passport, is this the concern here? Will hiring a border bounce company ensure that you get through? But then, if this is the case then everyone should hire a border bounce company every time regardless of their visa, because the bottom line is that IO can refuse you entry if they want to. I get you would hire a company if your passport is particularly full of stamps and is looking a bit dodgy but the DTV is so new it's not possible to have that many stamps in your passport yet. In my case, I have a DTV which has never used a re-entry, I have a couple of visa exemptions and a tourist visa going back 2 years or so in my passport. It's not like my passport is bursting with entry stamps. Surely I can just go to Cambodia and come back again? IO would not have any good reason to refuse me? (of course they still can if they want to). Seems like in my situation, hiring an expensive border bounce company would be overkill. Can't you hire the company after you have been denied entry? I'm sure I've heard of that happening in Bangkok airport. This whole thing is a minefield. I've got a few months yet before I have to renew it. I'll keep my ear to the ground in the meantime but it seems to me the best way is don't worry about it too much and just have a week holiday in Cambodia near the time. You might get unlucky and get a bad IO, but this is the case in any border entry situation. I guess use a border bounce company for peace of mind if you can afford it.

I mentioned nothing about your perceived 'rights'. I just highlighted the fact that only a moron would consider beating the <deleted> out of everything as a solution to this. Do you think you have the 'right' to do that? Why don't you try it? It makes you worse than the perpetrator, and will probably land you in a spot of bother. But I'm sure it seemed like a good idea from behind the safety of your keyboard. Don't try and palm this off as self defence advice. Your mindless and aggressive 'solution' speaks volumes about you. And no, I'm not from Switzerland.

What a horrible suggestion. So you want to solve this by beating the <deleted> out of everything with a weapon? You are worse than the aggressive animals in question. Also a very stupid thing to say, why would you incriminate yourself by violently assaulting the dogs and owner? Also guaranteed that you are a pathetic keyboard warrior who would not have the <deleted's> to do anything to anyone, but feel the need to spout your aggressive nonsense on here to make you feel better about your shortcomings in reality.

Thanks so much for all the advice everyone, this is much clearer now and a weight off my mind that we wont need to pay a large chunk of cash for the birth. All the best

Thanks for the replies, very helpful. So my understanding is that the birth itself will be quite expensive, but will be covered by her work health insurance (she can check the criteria for this with her company). Failing that, the govt 30 baht scheme will cover her if we use a govt hospital which is part of the scheme (which I hear are pretty good anyway). Then optional extras can be added and paid for as we go such as private rooms etc.. Even the prenatal check ups should be covered by this, although that's not such a problem, it's the birth cost itself I'm concerned about as it's quite a chunk of money. This seems to make sense, I hope it's correct, please correct me if I'm wrong. As for the govt 30 baht scheme, it seems from my research that any Thai citizen can use this in any approved hospital without prior arrangement, you just need to make sure that the hospital you are using is approved by the scheme and show your Thai ID card when you arrive to receive free treatment? It seems you don't need to pay in to National Insurance or anything like that as it is covered by standard taxation and available to all citizens regardless if they are employed or not. Anyone got experience with this? As I said, the GF is clueless and my concern is getting a massive bill after the birth because we didn't register or fill out a form or something, or because she hasn't paid in to the scheme. If anyone out there has recent experience with this and can clarify the above details this would be a great help. Hopefully this is helpful to anyone else in this situation too. Thanks so much guys.

Hi, I was hoping someone could help me out with a few questions and advice regarding the costs of pregnancy and birth in Thailand. I have recently moved here and my Thai girlfriend is pregnant. I don’t have a great deal of disposable income and I’m a bit worried about being able to afford everything up to and including the birth. She works here in the finance department for a Thai company but will soon be off work until after the birth. My girlfriend is not too clued up about what free health care she will receive if any. She will need a monthly maternity check up starting this month, I was wondering what the cost of these appointments will be in a local hospital/doctors/clinic or if this will be covered by the government health care system either through her work contract or otherwise, and then the cost of the birth itself, and again whether this will be covered by the government system or not. Any advice and rough costs involved would be greatly appreciated so I can try and budget for everything. Thanks in advance!

Yes good point, even a TV doesn't guarantee anything. When I say 'official' line, I mean the information coming from the Thai Embassy in London, who I called and they confirmed that you are allowed 2 VE's per calendar year. That is about as official as you are going to get but it doesn't really mean anything as the 'IO discretion' policy covers them for making the rules up as they go when you get to immigration. I guess it's always going to be a bit of a lottery if you are entering Thailand multiple times in a year, regardless of what visa 'rules' are in place....

I'd honestly buy a Tourist Visa mate, it's £30 well spent for the peace of mind. The immigration officers can use discretion and there are plenty of stories of them making up the rules as they go. Like the 90 in 180 day rule that I am worried about, I think this used to be a rule but there are reports of it still being used to deny entry. The official line now is that you can use 2 VE's per year, so I'd be very cautious of trying to get in on a 3rd one regardless of previous ones being only 30 days. Getting a TV in advance will save you so much stress, I wish I'd done it. It's not worth the gamble for the sake of £30 IMHO.