jayceenik

20 hours ago, jvs said:

Thai law for anything inside Thailand.

Foreign law for anything outside Thailand.

Need to make a Thai will for assets here and a foreign will for what ever is outside of Thailand.

 

Exactly.

In 2014 I decided that my TGF was the ONE and I wanted her to be sole beneficiary of my modest riches.

Indeed we're now married.

I have no NOK.

I made a Thai Will with a law firm in Pattaya for my Thai bank accounts (and motocy!). THB 10,000.

I flew to SIN and made a Will with a SIN law firm for my Citi SIN FCD account. USD 500 plus 50 for SIN govt registration.

And I wrote a holographic Will for my bank account in Belgium. Legal in Belgium. Wife will send it to a notary in Belgium for execution when I depart.

10 hours ago, oldcpu said:

 

From what I have read & videos (of Thai officials) watched, is the recent changes re: taxing money coming into Thailand, was not aimed at expats, but rather it was aimed at wealthy Thai who were avoiding paying tax on income, which the Thai government wanted to tax.

 

This 'income tax' was NOT designed to tax the 'rich nor poor expats' like I believe you infer - for as pointed out , it was aimed at the wealthy Thai.

 

It stands to reason that they would apply this tax law  to all expat residents and not just Thai citizens (who also reside in Thailand).  ... So expats are in essence 'collateral damage'.

 

The LTR is a separate case, and it was put in place in the hope to attract wealthy foreigners to stimulate the economy.  Presumably the thinking was that those who qualify for the LTR would invest & spend more money in Thailand than the average expats who can't qualify for the LTR.  As to whether that is actually going to happen, and as to how this actually plays out in the next few years - well ...  we will see, as this could all change. 

 

Further, as for well off expats not paying 1 baht in taxes for the rest of their life - I seriously doubt that.  Seriously seriously doubt that.  They will still be paying VAT, and they will still likely be paying tax in the home country(s) from which they derive their income.

.

I agree with you. I've been thinking all along that this law was mainly aimed at Thais with big overseas income kept hidden to RD and we are unintended potential collateral damage. Potential because I don't think they'll come after us happy ordinary LOS retirees. 

Taxing the big Thai guys-yes. Taxing rich resident farangs with big worldwide income-maybe yes. Taxing modest farang retirees on their monthly 65k (home-taxed or not), I don't think so....

Of course, what I think is not RD law... 😉

6 minutes ago, marin said:

For a slice of old time Bangkok go to Suda Restaurant soi 14. Been there for over 40 years, they own the building so costs are kept low. The area around it has been spruced up with some nicer restaurants but Suda's is still the same. Good Thai food at a fair price served by locals. Mostly outside seating but they do have and air conditioned dining area. Its located just about 100 meters into the soi. 

 I too went there many times about 40/45 years ago when I was vacationing in BKK.

At the time it was favored by a group of American teachers.

On 4/27/2024 at 8:23 AM, Mike Lister said:

Too many members fail to understand all the possible charges associated with these accounts, banks are in the business of selling products that make money, nothing is for free, even if it seems that way.

 

The model that most members seem to have in their minds is that they will deposit foreign currency into a FCY account and then when the exchange rate looks promising, convert those funds into THB and spend them. But what if the exchange rate never looks right and the funds just sit there, is there an annual charge and what about the loss of interest that would otherwise have been earned? And what if your circumstances change and you want to send that foreign currency back overseas, can you and at what cost and, as we heard from one member, does it have to be exchanged into THB first and then foreign currency purchased again, before it can be remitted! As for withdrawing foreign currency in cash, USD or GBP or similar, what is the process the bank goes through and what is the cost, even if the currency in the first place!

Due diligence will give you the bank FCD conditions and you will see the good and bad of a Thai bank FCD and judge if it's OK for you.

Me, I have a very satisfactory FCD in SIN but I'm thinking about ease of inheritance for my Thai wife.

I have a proper SIN lawyer-drafted Will but still she'll have a bothersome time to get to that SIN FCD.

Easier for her if I transfer that FCD to a Thai bank.

55 minutes ago, PJ71 said:

I could do it online with BKK bank, not sure about SCB.

 

Also, did not need anything to open FCD a/c with BKK Bank.

I live in Isaan. KTB in Ubon (where I have a THB savings account already) said no FCD for foreigners. KungSri didn't know what I was talking about. BKK Bank Ubon said the person in charge of opening FCD is not working there anymore and they couldn't do FCD. I contacted BKK Bank on their website and they immediately sent me all the info. I need 1} my valid Belgian passport, 2} my valid Non-Imm O visa (stay extension), 3} current Certificate of Residence (issued by Immigration Ubon}. I must also deposit equivalent €770 in THB for opening a Euro FCD account which I'll do at the BKK Bank HQ Silom BKK in the next couple weeks (have to fly there!).

Like previous posters said banking in Thailand is all dependant on the particular branch and employees you're dealing with 😊

At KTB interest rates on fixed terms deposits are inferior for farang held accounts.

Also, I was asked to get a TIN even though I already had a long time savings account with them.

I can't understand why the great majority of posters on this thread seems to dislike/hate Thais and root for a farang who has been so rude to a woman (because she is Thai she doesn't count as a woman?). That Swiss guy would pay hell if he had behaved like that in his country (kicking a Swiss woman or a foreigner).

As for the him being definitively shown the door it depends how much pull he has here in Thailand.

The oldtimers will remember that German in Pattaya that the Police wanted to get rid of (they had good reasons!).

It took a few years because the German was very influential and could muster powerful relations.

A Police chief and a Governor lost their jobs in the confrontation.

Finally a new Governor with extra strength support was able to sent the guy and his lieutenant on their way out.

15 hours ago, thaibreaker said:

The Russian troll factory is working on all 4 cylinders. Wow!

I will try not to make Belgium a no visit country for me, but this was hard to read. I always looked at Belgians as sane and reasonable people, but what on god's green earth was this .. Probably not a Belgian at all.

You should visit US vassal state Belgium. We are home to numerous US troops, US military Headquarters, and about two dozens US nuclear missiles.

I am a real Belgian!

BTW, in my adventurous youth I even enlisted in the US Army and did an extended tour in VN. 

My first TIN. 03FEB89. 9 numbers.

At the time I was renting a studio in Sukhumvit 22.

I got a job for an Aussie company in Papua New Guinea.

One month on - two weeks off. Airfare paid to BKK.

The then Thai govt decided to tax farangs who were spending more than a couple months a year in LOS.

That was me. We had to declare our overseas income and pay Thai taxes on it

No reentry for those who didn't get a clearance from the RD.

I declared a very low nominal salary, received a TIN by post and paid a token sum in 1989 ,1990 and 1991.

Then this new "farang" tax was scrapped.

I had completely forgotten about this TIN when I had to get one a few years ago when I made a time deposit account at KTB and they insisted on my having a TIN to open this time account even though I already had a savings account with them.

Today I just exhumed the old one while clearing my papers.

So, now I have two TINs!

1 hour ago, thesetat said:

Explaining it does not justify their actions while travelling abroad. These people who are like this as you described need to remember their place in society in another country. Your using their social misgivings from their history is wrong. People often use their countries history as an excuse to expect more or to act badly. It is no excuse. 

You talking only about Russians or do you generalize about all nationalities?

In other words, according to you is that only Russians who misbehave when in other countries?

Thanks for the info.

I was sure the employee was feeding me BS but it's good to be reassured by others.

They indeed said that I had better open this FCD account in the BKK Bank Silom HQ where there would not be this doublr currency exchange.

These FCD accounts are held and managed in the bank HQ  and are thus of no benefit to the oulying branches.

Just extra work that doesn't concern these subsidiaries branches unless one opens a concurrent THB with them.

I went to the BKK Bank main branch in Ubon to get info for my opening a EUR FCD account with them.

I have a EUR savings account with Citi in SIN that I want to transfer here.

The bank said they need to see my Belgian passport and my NonImmO stay permit.

Fair enough, but then they want to see my Thai marriage certificate, my wife's house registration, and additional documents from my bank, immigration and amphoe.

They then told me the way to transfer my EUR Citi funds to that account is to have Citi SIN SWIFT transfer my funds in EUR to my FCD account, have these funds exchanged in THB and then re-exchanged into EUR to then be entered in my FCD account.

This is absolutely ridiculous. I don't want to convert my EUR into THB at this time.

Is that the way FCD in Thailand work?

I thought FCD were for keeping your foreign currency in your foreign currency until you decided to convert part or all into THB.

Decisions-Decisions!

I think the Ubon BaNANA Sunee branch is indeed bigger than the Ubon Central JIB so it's where I'll buy my new (first time) ASUS.

Present one is a Win10 AIO Lenovo bought online in 2017. Time flies!

It has started acting up so it's time to go to a new Win11 SSD AIO brand.

BTW I once DID work for 8 months in the PNG Highlands on contract to an AUS company.

So the "wild" picture brought back memories from my younger more adventurous days. 😀

In a couple weeks I'll leave my village to buy a new PC in town.

I know the model I want, I just would like to inquire here where it's best to buy: JIB or BaNANA.

Both have shops in Ubon (Central and Sunnee). 

Are they good same-same for buying a PC?

I have AN on Opera.

I've been getting often these No More Activity for a long time now.

I just hit the Reload button (curved arrow top left) and scrolling gets back to normal after reloading.

5 hours ago, prakhonchai nick said:

Normally the bank freezes the account when they have been advised of the death. No hurry for anyone to advise the bank -in fact probably not even necessary. Most widows (with the permission of their late husband before his death) will have access to his ATM cards and PIN numbers and will (illegally) drain most accounts. Fixed deposit accounts do not have ATM cards, nor can they be operated online!

Yes, it can be done like that. The bank has no knowledge of the farang husband's death and it is simple for the TW to withdraw money from the account if she has the ATM card of the deceased and the PIN. I know personally of a case like that here in TH. After her UK husband died in the village the TW got hold of his ATM card and somehow managed to find the PIN. She withdrew all the account money day-limit by day-limit. 

The account was in a Thai bank.

On 1/19/2024 at 8:53 PM, Moonlover said:

Surely a simple will naming your wife as the sole beneficiary and executor should cover this situation. Make sure the account number is clearly stated in the document.

 

There may well be other documents that the bank will require, almost certainly a copy of your death certificate.

Indeed. A few years back after I thought I'd like to have a long time relationship with a girl I met in Pattaya I went to a local lawyer and made a proper Testament-Last Will and made her sole beneficiary of all I had in TH. It included everything: the 800k+ bank account, my motorcycle and everything i had in my apt. Cost me 10k

We eventually got married in her village and I have a happy life with her. That Will is thus now redundant but TW says to keep it as it could make getting the bank money for her quicker.

Thanks to all the AN members who have voiced their info and opinion about my post.

Have all a great week.

Next time I go to Ubon I'll check with UOB and Bangkok Bank at their main offices in Ubon.

Wife definitely prefers a FCD in Thailand instead of SIN.

21 hours ago, BenStark said:

 

 

Most commercial banks offer FCD, no work permit needed. I have FCD with Kasikorn.

 

If your money is in Singapore possibly with Citibank, I suggest ask UOB first, as I understand they took over the Citibank branches in Thailand, as in my guess that would be the easiest option to move the funds.

 

Edit: FCD witjh Kasikorn only available in selected branches, and I guess it will be same for other banks

Yes, my account is with CITI SIN.

I read about UOB taking over CITI in Thailand. That's why I thought of UOB.

Thank you.