KamnanT

OP qoutes "A resident of Thailand is liable to pay tax on income from sources in Thailand as well as on the portion of income from foreign sources that is brought into Thailand"

My question then is, are we residents? I thought we are non-residents, tourists, providers, walking ATM's etc etc. Technically we are not residents, so income earned o/s is none of there business.

What am I missing here?

"Tax resident" and "Immigration resident" are distinct concepts. For immigration purposes, you are "temporarily resident" if you are in Thailand on a visa exempt entry, a Tourist Visa or a Non-Immigrant Visa. You are "permanently resident" if you have a Non-Quota Immigrant visa or a Quota Immigrant visa.

"Tax resident" is determined by a number of factors but as a broad simplification, if you are physically present in Thailand for 180 days or more during a calendar year, you are probably tax resident.

The two concepts are distinct. You could, for example, be illegally resident as far as Immigration is concerned (e.g. overstayed) but still tax resident and required, for example, to submit a Thai Personal Income Tax return.

The Non-Quota Immigrant Visa (not to be confused with a Non-Immigrant Visa) goes in your passport and is valid for one year. Your Certificate of Residence gets "endorsed" - a stamp in the certificate that is valid for one year. Endorsement costs 1,900 baht and Visa costs 3,800 baht for multiple entry (1,900 for single entry).

Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa app

I was in a similar situation. All Permanent Residents over the age of 12 must have an Alien Registration Certificate and children turning 12 must register within 7 days. I forgot to register my daughter after her 12th birthday and by the time I remembered, we were two weeks late. Registration proceeded as normal at the police station and after the book was completed, we were sent downstairs to the booking desk. There was some debate about the scale of the penalty to be levied and I was starting to get worried that some exorbitant sum would be demanded for our tardiness. They eventually decided that 100 baht was the correct amount. An official receipt was issued.

Far and away the most common reason for losing PR is leaving the country without getting your Certificate of Residence endorsed or not returning before the endorsement expires.

Bettlejuice - I travel very regularly between Thai and my western passport, and often enough to the UK. While I don't dispute your story, doing the passport swap as many have described is the way to do it. No need for British visa's in Thai passports, etc. A british passport is the ulitmate right of entry into the UK and trumps a visa any day.

Well, I'll dispute the part in Beetlejuice's story about the friend being detained for hours at Heathrow and missing her flight. There is no outbound immigration control in the UK, so who exactly "detained" this friend when she showed the "wrong" passport? Airline check-in staff? Random passers-by? Over-eager Boots security staff?

I have 3 passports and almost always find myself in the situation where I'm departing a country on one passport and entering my destination on another. The only places where this has been an issue:

1. Land crossings from Thailand into neighboring countries - no choice but to use the same passport here.

2. Landing in Vientiane on a flight from Bangkok. Laos Immigration couldn't find a Thai exit stamp in my passport and asked for the passport I had used to depart Thailand. I fibbed and said I had only transited at Suvaranabhumi and hadn't entered Thailand.

3. Ferry crossings from Hong Kong to Macau. Macau Immigration has insisted that I enter Macau on the same passport that I used to exit Hong Kong, but couldn't explain why this was required. Interestingly, no problem in the reverse direction.

Follow the general rule that you should leave any country using the same passport that you used to enter it and you'll rarely have an issue. The more observant immigration officers might ask about the absence of an exit stamp from your point of origin but most won't even notice. In the OP's case, having his daughter leave Thailand on her Thai passport and enter the UK on her British passport is the way to go - indeed, the UK requires its citizens to use their UK passports to enter and leave the UK.

Technically, visa exempt entries are for tourism purposes only and any visit for business purposes requires a Non-Immigrant "B" visa. In practice, arriving on a visa exempt entry for a single day's meeting is low risk.

Unless you use one of the automated entry/exit gates at Suvarnabhumi, in which case your passport doesn't get stamped.

The re-entry permit for a PR-holder is indeed different and it costs more. In addition you can not get it at the airport, as far as I'm aware.

You also use a different form to apply.

Actually, the annual cost of remaining in Thailand as a Temporary Resident (i.e. a Non-Immigrant) or as a Permanent Resident are comparable.

Temporary Resident:

Annual Extension of Stay: 1,900 baht

Re-Entry Permit: 1,000 baht (single re-entry) or 3,800 (multiple re-entry)

Permanent Resident:

Endorsement of Certificate of Residence: 1,900 baht

Non-Quota Immigrant Visa (not to be confused with a Non-Immigrant Visa): 1,900 baht (single entry) or 3,800 baht (multiple entry).

So assuming multiple overseas trips are required in a year, both cost 5,700 baht. One difference is that even if the applicant never leaves Thailand, the Temporary Resident must obtain an annual Extension of Stay whereas the Permanent Resident doesn't have to do anything.

When you say your Non-Imm B "expires" on March 31, do you mean that is the "Use Before" date on the visa or is it the "Admitted Until" date on your last entry stamp? It's the latter that counts. If you last entered in late February, for example, your Admitted Until date will be in May.

If, indeed, it is your Admitted Until date that is March 31, then a one day overstay will not result in a fine (waived if you leave on the first day of overstay). You will, however, have an overstay stamp placed in your passport. There has never been any credible evidence that this has prejudiced a future visa application, though.

There had been two x Thai A340's parked at Don Mueang airport for three weeks now, both with all the eight engines covered in red protection caps. They must be losing money with them out of service! Wonder what's up with them?

Think those are the non-stop LAX planes..cancelled the route and trying to sell the planes, but nobody wants them. They are very specific in terms of what routes they can serve and their internals where done up all business class.

These are two of the four A340-500 series aircraft that Thai acquired to fly the JFK and LAX direct routes. Not all business class - they were identically fitted out with economy, business and, in a first and last for Thai Airways - premium economy seating. I used the JFK service a lot in 2005/2006 as it was very convenient. From memory, premium economy seats were routinely available for around THB 75,000 and were a good alternative to business at less than half the price. Unfortunately, the economics of ultra-long haul flights are tricky - so much of the maximum gross take-off weight is devoted to fuel rather than paying passengers or cargo. With so many competitors doing one stop services to both LAX and JFK, Thai could never seem to extract the premium required to make the service viable. In my experience, load factors were always high to JFK but Thai still couldn't make money. I believe JFK direct was dropped in 2008 and LAX followed last year. The aircraft used on the JFK service were redeployed on a new direct service to Oslo - not sure if they are still flying there. Thai has been trying to sell the planes ever since but no one else seems to want to dip their toes into the ultra-long haul pond, at least not with the A340-500. Even SQ is phasing out its legendary all business class direct service to Newark later on this year.

This website gives current rates for Super Rich and Thai banks for TT and notes.

http://bankexchanger...et/default.aspx

Lefty

And as that site demonstrates, the best rate for exchanging notes is often still worse that the worst rate for a TT. Handling cash incurs additional security costs for banks, particularly foreign currencies where the percentage of counterfeit notes received will be higher (who can expect every teller to be able to spot a fake in any currency?). No such risk with TT's.

If you have PR I thought you didn't need a WP? I thought you were treated as a Thai citizen for the most part, and didn't have to deal with all the bs the rest of us have to endure.

Permanent Residents still require work permits - only Thai citizens can work without one.

I received my PR book last week. So, I have to go to the police station (here in Bangkok) and apply for the red Alien's Book. Does anybody know whether they issue it right away, or how long it typically takes?

Also, do I have to wait for the Alien's Book before I can get listed in the Tabienban?

I need to time this, as I am due for another overseas trip and don't want to miss the deadlines and face penalties.

From memory, the Klong Tan police station took about 4 days to issue my first Alien Certificate, but I should imagine it depends very much on the station and the police officer. Often there is only one officer at the station who is responsible for alien certificates and if he/she is sick, on leave or just too busy with other duties, alien certificates take a back seat.

As for the 49% rule, I doubt it is ever enforced, except for when the annual crackdown on foreigners occurs.

The 49% rule is enforced continuously. When transferring ownership of a condominium to a non-Thai, the Land Titles Office will require a list from the condominium juristic person (condo association) of all the owners, their nationality and the percentage of the total floor area that their unit occupies. If the transfer would result in more than 49% of the floor area being owned by non-Thais, the Land Titles Office will not register the change of ownership.

"Police Colonel Seehanat said that the new rules were proof of Thailand’s commitment to tackling money laundering acts. A spokesman for AMLO added that foreigners wanting to open a bank account would need a personal file providing proof of their lawful intentions as well as an interview with bank officials."

Of course, Thais would never launder money or support terrorism.

So marriage regstration 5,000 baht

Why would i flight cost from thai more then i am paying to get there my flight to bkk £564.00

And why so high to get a visa for the uk .. ??? thx

You do realise that as her sponsor, you will need to demonstrate that you currently have verifiable income of at least £18,600 per year? And that there will be additional fees for ILR and potentially citizenship if you wish her to remain in the UK indefinitely? If the visa fees are going to be a challenge, you might want to think carefully about whether this is the right course for you.

The Bank of Thailand sets a minimum salary for the issue of any credit card by Thai-registered banks - I believe it's currently THB 15,000 per month. Beyond that, it's up to each bank to determine its individual policies for issuance of "premium" credit cards, be that gold, platinum, titanium or plutonium. There may be some consumer comparison sites that show each issuers features and requirements, but I haven't found one in English.

Note that if your principal aim is to obtain accident insurance, you may find that purchasing a policy directly from an insurance company gets you better terms & conditions than the policies rolled in "free" with credit cards, as the latter tend to be full of exclusions in order to reduce the cost to the credit provider.

The British Embassy is in Bern, but oddly enough you cannot apply for a visa there. UK visa applications in Switzerland are submitted online and handled by a private firm, WorldBridge Services, who have offices only in Zürich and Geneva. Interestingly, the WorldBridge Zürich office does not process applications, they merely collect biometric information and then the applicant must send their supporting documents to the Geneva office, where they will be checked and then forwarded to the UKBA. Once processed, documents will be returned to the Geneva office and then mailed/couriered back to the applicant. And the Zürich office is rather inconveniently located in the distant suburb of Höngg. One could be forgiven for thinking that only a 2 year old could have designed this process.

WorldBridge does provide online guidance in German here. It would appear that visiting the Geneva WorldBridge office in person is probably the most expeditious way for your friend in Bern to obtain a visa. Whilst I'm sure visa agents exist in Switzerland, I should imagine they are not nearly as numerous as in Thailand. If your friend has a solid application (purpose, financial support and reasons to return to Switzerland) then I would suggest an agent wouldn't add much value.

Of course, if you need additional information on how to apply for a visa, WorldBridge is more than willing to help. You can call one of their "trained agents" on a local 0900 number (CHF 3.50/minute) or if money is no object, have your credit card ready and call their Zürich number and get dinged $14 (yes, US dollars, despite this being a UK visa application in Switzerland). Needless to say, WorldBridge's "trained agents" can only provide application information, they cannot provide immigration advice (or indeed any advice bordering on the useful). Oh, and in case you were wondering, "this service is not available in German", as so few people in Zürich speak that language.

The history of CA Wow (which is modeled after 24 Hour Fitness in the US) is it was founded years ago by either an Aussie or Brit guy who never finished high school with his first club in Hong Kong.

His name is Eric Levine and he's Canadian - here's a Forbes article from more prosperous times.

Small refunds normally come pretty quickly - 4 to 8 weeks. For a large refund, expect:

1. repeated requests for additional information and evidence to support deductions, received one at a time and spaced a month apart,

2. your file to be passed from the tax office for your residential address to the tax office for your employer's address and then back again, and

3. the auditor handling your case to avoid your phone calls in the hope that you will forget about your refund and go away.

At least that's been my experience. Most salaried employees have tax deducted at source, with a balancing deduction in December calculated to ensure the total withholding exactly equals your tax liability, therefore no balance to pay or refund to receive in March. In 2008, they temporarily increased the LTF contribution limit to THB 700,000 so I went in on December 30th and contributed the full amount, meaning I was due a large refund. All of the above happened and by July 2009 it was clear that this was a battle of attrition - they were hoping I would give up. Fortunately, I had a great PA who kept calling the Revenue Department every day, often switching mobile phones because the auditor stopped answering calls from the numbers she had already seen. Finally, in September, I got a cheque.

It might be a myth, but someone did tell me years ago the Revenue Department auditors have a "budget amount" they have to collect in additional tax each year and any refunds they authorise are deducted from their takings.

Putting aside the entire debate over whether this is "Bad TrueVisions" or "Bad Grammy", I just think it's hilarious that the NBTC, established by the 1997 Constitution but not actually appointed until 2010 and after having done approximately nothing since then except botch the 3G license auction, has now decided that it is time for action. The broadcasting and telecommunications landscape in Thailand is littered with monopolies, concessions, self-serving license agreements and almost total ambiguity around what is and is not permitted with or without this license or that one. The NBTC has made zero progress towards creating a fair and level, competitive playing field for telecoms, yet turn the football off for 2 days and they are all awoken from their slumber and rushing through poorly conceived rulings to protect "the consumer."

Am off to Switzerland and the UK next year (after a lot of discussion with the missus), she is applying for her Schengen Visa at the Swiss Embassy, then applying for the UK Family Visa. We will be staying next to the Swiss/German border and obviously going into Germany quite often. But our arrival location is Switzerland so applying there.

On the form it asks about the country where you will land and spend the most time, maybe a bit of a white lie here is required for some people.

Just reading my own post made me realise I made a mistake on the visa application, ticked 2 entries, should have done multiple entries, as land in Zurich (1 entry), stay in Zurich fly to Heathrow, stay in the UK for a few days, return to Switzerland (2nd entry), then cannot go to German as no entries left,,,,,,,,dumbo.......

Not to worry Beano - Switzerland may not be part of the EU but it is part of the Schengen zone, so there is no passport control between Switzerland and Germany. Your wife will only require two entries - the initial entry from Thailand and then the return from the UK. She can move between Switzerland and the other Schengen zone countries as often as she wishes. Switzerland is one of the tougher Schengen nations to apply to - they have a nasty habit of issuing visas that only barely cover the itinerary you specify (e.g. if you say you're going to be in the Schengen zone for 13 days, they give you a visa valid for 15 days). They assume your plans will not change. France, on the other hand, generally issues visitor visas with the standard 90 day validity regardless of your itinerary.

_{Well I only want one if I HAVE to have one. Can I work for an Australian Business in Thailand without a working permit. I will be paying Australian taxes.}

_{Not that I wish to complicate matters, but I find it strange that you are planning to live and work in Thailand, but pay Australian taxes. If you are physically present in Thailand for more than 180 days in a calendar year, then you are deemed to be a tax resident of Thailand, not Australia (note that residence for tax purposes and residence for immigration purposes are two separate concepts). For the most part, you can't "choose" to pay taxes in Australian if you are living and working in Thailand - Thailand will tax you on your Thailand source income and Australia will tax you on your Australia source income. Income from working in Thailand will be considered Thailand source income regardless of where it is paid. On higher incomes, Thai tax is preferable anyway: top marginal rate in Thailand is 37% (Over 4,000,000 baht), marginal rate in Australia is 38.5% (on income from about 2,500,000 baht to 5,580,000 baht) and 46.5% on everything over that. On lower incomes Australian tax rates are lower than Thai rates.}

Quite a few threads on UK and Schengen visa applications on the forum - try this one as a starting point for the UK. The standard 6-month UK visitor visa is multiple entry, so assuming your GF qualifies, this part shouldn't be a problem. Schengen zone member countries each have their own procedures and guidelines - some are more "generous" with the validity period and multiple entries, others will issue the bare minimum to cover your stated travel plans, again assuming your GF qualifies at all.

As you will see from the other threads,the biggest hurdle for most applications is convincing the visa officer that the applicant has solid reasons to return to Thailand at the end of their holiday. From your post, it would appear you are residing in the UK and not Thailand, so this hurdle will be that much higher.

If you're planning for a July holiday, you have no time to lose. At the best of times, getting a UK and a Schengen visa would require at least 3 weeks and perhaps longer depending on which Schengen member country you apply to. With the London Olympics approaching, it would be safe to assume that UK appointment waiting times and processing times will get longer.