KamnanT

On February 9, 2014, a "Referendum on Stopping Mass Migration" was passed by a majority of Swiss voters and cantons. The Swiss Federal government is now in the process of implementing the aims of the referendum, one aspect of which is renegotiating the Freedom of Movement Agreement between the EU and Switzerland. The terms of the referendum give the Swiss government 3 years to bring international agreements (like the FMA) in line with referendum's aims, which effectively means the re-imposition of quotas and limits on EU migration into Switzerland. The practical upshot for the OP, as a British citizen, is that it would be better to move sooner rather than later. The EU has already stated that they see freedom of movement without quotas and equal treatment of all EU/EFTA nationals as key principals of the FMA and it is not out of the question that Switzerland will have to unilaterally terminate the existing agreement in order to abide by the terms of the referendum.

https://www.bfm.admin.ch/bfm/en/home/themen/fza_schweiz-eu-efta/umsetzung_vb_zuwanderung.html

https://www.bfm.admin.ch/content/dam/data/bfm/eu/fza/personenfreizuegigkeit/umsetz-mei/20140725-schreiben-ashton.pdf

"Officials say they are still working on integrating all the passes together, according to Chusak Kaewi, director of the Highway Department."

Just like the BTS and MRT administrations have been working on an integrated ticketing system...for a decade. It will be interesting to see how many new ticketing schemes are introduced with the mass transit extensions currently under construction. One each?

I'm getting flashbacks --- remember the hidden Japanese railway carriage full of gold that was "discovered" in Kanchanaburi by some publicity-hungry senator? Turned out to be hoax, of course. I'm guessing this is a piece of flotsam washed ashore within the last ten years and that the stories of it being "ancient" are much exaggerated.

My understanding is that the 2015/16 season is the 3rd and last of CTH's current contract. After that, another round of bidding.

I also use 365Sport: economical and I can watch on my iPad, laptop or any TV with an HDMI input. Pretty consistent HD streaming quality even on my naff True broadband connection.

You must leave on or before 11:59pm on June 16th.

Wow...she even had an AMEX Centurion black card in the mix. Not only a crook, but a status-conscious crook as well!

Just goes to show that justice will always triumph over evil - after a measly 20 years of million-dollar corrupt payments, expensive "gifts", FIFA-funded jet-set lifestyle, five-star hotels, luxurious meals and never having to pay for a drink, these guys are finally going to face the music and will probably be fined several thousand dollars and told never, ever to do it again.

On the specific issue of the AEC and what impact it will have on foreign workers in Thailand, there is a broad misunderstanding, at least in the expatriate community, that the implementation will be something similar to the EU Freedom of Movement of Labour provisions. In reality, the AEC framework as currently defined introduces labour mobility only to a small number of defined skilled professions. It doesn't (and was never intended to) apply to unskilled labour, so I wouldn't anticipate that any of the immigration or work permit procedures will change for nannies as the result of AEC implementation.

Poor K. Somchai will probably be transferred to an inactive post and will have to experience the shame of being paid to stay at home.

Definitely better to go to PI and travel back with her. If you live in Thailand, there is also a declaration that you can fill out and have certified by the Embassy of the Philippines in Bangkok, basically attesting that you will support her and she will have somewhere to stay. Unclear from the thread so far whether you live in Thailand or not.

It also means that you are liable for the 49% of the debts and potentially any lawsuits that come up. Registration of a new company is so easy there is no point to purchasing a shelf company.

A shareholder's liability for the debts of an incorporated business is limited to the fully paid up value of their shares - that's one of the principal advantages of incorporation. So if your 49% costs you 490,000 baht, that's the extent of your liability. If the company goes bankrupt owing THB 50 million, as a shareholder you are not liable for anything beyond your original investment.

As for lawsuits and criminal charges, generally only company directors and managers can be held responsible for the actions of an incorporated body, not passive shareholders.

However, as konfuzed points out, if you only need the assets of an existing business, it may be wiser to incorporate a new company and acquire the assets of the existing company, leaving behind any liabilities, dodgy bookkeeping, litigious customers, etc.

Skeet, you don't make it clear what your domicile is. If you are UK domiciled and have any earnings arising in the UK you should be taxed on them in the UK no matter how few days a year you spend in the UK. The only explanation I can think of other than you being non dom UK is that airlines have some special deal with HMRC that regards the earnings as being not arising in the UK even though paid out in the UK.

As has been mentioned earlier in the thread, "residence", "ordinary residence" and "domicile" are three distinct concepts that all effect liability for income tax in the UK. Extracted from the HMRC website:

One of the many factors that determine an individual’s residence is the number of days they are physically present in the UK. The only occasion when days alone determine an individual’s residency is when they are here for 183 days or more during a tax year.

An individual may also be resident in the UK if they are here for fewer than 183 days in a tax year. This will depend on how often and how long they are here, the purpose and pattern of their visits and their connections to the UK. This might include the location of their family, their property, their work life and social connections.

If the nature and degree of ties to the UK show that it is usual for an individual to live in the UK, they are resident in the UK.

Ordinary residence is different from residence. The word ‘ordinary’ indicates that an individual’s residence in the UK is typical for them and not casual. If an individual has always lived in the UK then they are ordinarily resident here.

The pattern of an individual’s presence, both in the UK and overseas, is an important factor when deciding if they are ordinarily resident in the UK. You will need to take into account the reasons for them being in, coming to, or leaving the UK and their lifestyle and habits.

Domicile cannot be defined precisely, but the concept rests on various basic principles.

• Every individual must have a domicile at all times. The law ascribes a domicile to those individuals it regards as lacking capacity to choose one.
• An individual cannot have more than one domicile at the same time for the same purpose. refer also to the note below)
• An existing domicile is presumed to continue until it is proven that a new domicile has been acquired.

It is, for example, entirely possible (albeit unusual) for an individual to be resident in Thailand, ordinarily resident in the UK and domiciled in Australia for the purposes of UK tax law.

Returning to the OP's original question, non-Thai source income (including income paid by a non-Thai entity outside Thailand for services rendered outside Thailand) would not be taxable in Thailand where the recipient was not a resident of Thailand for tax purposes (note that residency for tax purposes has nothing to do with immigration status). A tax resident of Thailand (generally speaking, someone who has been physically present in Thailand for 180 days or more in the calendar year) would be liable for income tax on such income only if it were remitted to Thailand in same year in which it was earned.

UK tax residence and domicile is a complex issue with a colourful body of case law. The actor Richard Burton was born in Wales, lived most of his life in the United States, died and was buried in Switzerland in 1984. However, the HMRC tax inspector concluded that he had never lost the domicile of his birth (Wales) and sent the estate a sizeable bill for inheritance tax. Apparently, one factor that influenced the inspector's decision was a photograph of Burton's coffin in Switzerland, draped in a Welsh flag.

Shiraz... If your girlfriend is from the Philippines, she can actually work in Thailand without any hassles now (according to the AEC 2015 agreement). If she works in any job, she can come and go (and stay) as long as she wishes (as far as I know).

Patently untrue. The very limited labour provisions of the AEC are not yet in effect and will apply almost exclusively to a small number of professions. "Blue collar" employment is not included, so there will be no influx of waiters, waitresses and bar tenders. I suspect that Thailand will quickly erect administrative barriers to even the limited number of professionals eligible under the treaty.

Do you your wife and child intend to settle in Thailand? If yes then the child would be better off born in Thailand, it will have Thai and Aust residency, two passports, if born in Aus then there will be only one passport and you will have double the visa hassle.

As the child will have a Thai parent, he/she will have Thai nationality regardless of where he/she is born.

The OP asked about costs. For a permanent visa based on marriage or a de facto relationship, the application charge is A$4,630. This covers both the initial provisional visa (Subclass 309) and the subsequent conversion to a permanent migrant visa (Subclass 100) after ~2 years. A visitor visa (Subclass 600) costs A$130.

Are these the same ones they have been trying to sell for quite a while,I thought

they were already out of service,or is that some other access stock they have?

regards Worgeordie

I believe you're thinking of the four A340-500 series aircraft that TG used on the ultra-long haul BKK-JFK and BKK-LAX services. Those were mothballed in April 2012 and are sitting on the ground at Don Meuang the last I heard. Thai has been trying to sell them but no takers - a difficult aircraft to sell these days.

Only children born prior to March 1992 to two foreign parents have access to Thai citizenship and only if they show an ongoing link to Thailand.

This is what I'd heard too. One of my friends is amongst the very last foreign-foreign children born in Thailand who has gained full citizenship.

I believe if both parents have PR, then their child born in Thailand has Thai citizenship (not that this helps the OP).

I do not know whether they have smartened up the procedures about dealing with PR applications, but I had an extremely bad experience over it! I applied for PR around late 2004, having worked in BKK for 14 years, and, to begin with everything went well. My employer helped with all the necessary paperwork, I submitted everything as required, went to Immigration for all my various appointments, did the multiple-choice Thai test and got 100% pass, and made the short video. To sum up, I jumped through all the hoops they required.

Then, the final decision, which was supposed to take the immigration department around 18 months, ended up taking three and a half years!! They offered me PR in October 2009, and only then because I knew someone who's father was high up in Immigration. Nobody else from my "batch" had heard anything by that stage. Unfortunately, by then, my job in BKK had finished, I was no longer in Thailand, and was not able to take leave from my new job in order to get back to BKK for long enough to complete the process. I had to give up on it.

I sincerely hope things have improved - I have VERY bitter feelings towards Immigration over it. . . . . . .

Sorry, but had to get that off my chest!

There were (are still are) long delays in getting PR applications finalized, but for once it's not Immigration that it is the cause, it's the Interior Minister. For some reason, many of of the Ministers since the 2006 coup have been reluctant to sign off on completed PR applications. But I'm surprised your December 2004 application was caught up in this: I applied in December 2005 and was granted in July 2007. This appeared to be typical for that batch.

The mortgage I had prior to this one with CIMT started off at 18,000 a month with 11,000 being interest. At 20 years , it was something like 5k a month.

I thought all mortgages started off with little coming off the principle but near the end, all was coming off the principle.

That's true but on most basic mortgages the total payment each month is constant over the entire term. Interest is charged on the daily outstanding principal, so early in the term the monthly payment goes mostly on interest with very little paying off the principal. As the principal balance declines, less and less of each monthly payment goes towards interest and more and more pays off the principal. But the total monthly payment is constant.

There are numerous variations on the "basic" mortgage, however, although not as widely available in Thailand as in North America and Europe. There are mortgages that start with a low monthly payment (often less than the interest charged each month, meaning the principal balance actually rises!), which then ratchets up to a higher payment at pre-set intervals. Originally designed for young families whose earning power was expected to rise rapidly, post-2008 they are considered a bit of a predatory lending practice.

Yes, it is possible - I financed my condo through UOB in Bangkok. The hurdle for most people is the requirement that foreigners without Permanent Residence must show that all of the funds for their condominium purchase were remitted from outside Thailand. A local bank lending you Thai baht does not satisfy this requirement unless the money were to be transferred out of Thailand and then back in again - something the bank is clearly never going to let you do (what happens if you and the money just disappear?). I have PR so this wasn't an issue.

Some of the local banks offer loans from their overseas affiliates (usually Singapore) and thus satisfy the overseas remittance rule. However, these loans are usually in SGD or USD, so you would have a currency exposure. As a result, maximum loan-to-valuation ratios are lower for these types of loans (50% to 70%) than they would be for a local loan (up to 90% in some cases).

I get RPO at all the ABBVs used on this TV. MBH is TMTB where ROF pontificate.

My apologies. If you be so kind to indicate which of the four abbreviations used in my post you did not understand (UOB, PR, SGD, USD), I would be more than happy to explain them to you. And I will speak very slowly.

I would speak at any speed that you feel desirable. But first, you must learn to speak with words. Do you speak this way with your friends? Do you know understand why they just nod their heads and look elsewhere?

No, they don't have to. They can figure out that when "Permanent Residency" is mentioned at the beginning of a paragraph, "PR" at the end of the same paragraph just might mean "Permanent Residency". Not challenging for most.

Yes, it is possible - I financed my condo through UOB in Bangkok. The hurdle for most people is the requirement that foreigners without Permanent Residence must show that all of the funds for their condominium purchase were remitted from outside Thailand. A local bank lending you Thai baht does not satisfy this requirement unless the money were to be transferred out of Thailand and then back in again - something the bank is clearly never going to let you do (what happens if you and the money just disappear?). I have PR so this wasn't an issue.

Some of the local banks offer loans from their overseas affiliates (usually Singapore) and thus satisfy the overseas remittance rule. However, these loans are usually in SGD or USD, so you would have a currency exposure. As a result, maximum loan-to-valuation ratios are lower for these types of loans (50% to 70%) than they would be for a local loan (up to 90% in some cases).

I get RPO at all the ABBVs used on this TV. MBH is TMTB where ROF pontificate.

My apologies. If you be so kind to indicate which of the four abbreviations used in my post you did not understand (UOB, PR, SGD, USD), I would be more than happy to explain them to you. And I will speak very slowly.

Still the definitive guide:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/74654-cameratas-guide-to-the-permanent-residence-process/