statman78

At the beginning of this month I flew from Chiang Rai to Bangkok and back and at both airports I used the system. I checked it at the kiosk and had my face scanned. At the gate I used the separate line for facial recognition. I did not need to show my boarding pass or id.

They have already introduced facial recognition boarding passes, at least for domestic flights. I’ve already used the system and it works well. Thai Airways makes people board by group number but if you registered your face when you checked in at a kiosk you can board anytime. It’s great if you have carry on bags.

Yes

I use a tax accountant to file my US return. His office now has Thai tax accountants so they also filed my Thai tax return. The money I brought into Thailand was a combination of US Social Security and money from savings. US Social Security is not taxed in Thailand. The excess came from savings which I had prior to January 1, 2024 so it is not subject to tax. Also, I was told that the amount I pay for my Thai insurance is also deductible as long as it is through a Thai company. In the end I had zero Thai tax liability.

US debt could be a problem. I see some nasty budget battles coming up. Last year the deficit was $1.8 trillion. That needs to come down.

Yes it seems silly to be required to show 12 months of deposits and 800k in the bank 2 months prior. I posted the same question last year and was told that was not the requirement. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the 800k in the bank because we bought another condo so I used the monthly transfers until method again for the 7th time. My extension comes up late January 2026. Right now I am planning to do the monthly transfers until October then make one last transfer if needed to reach the 800k. At that point in time I plan on stopping my monthly transfers. Is this going to be a problem?

Sounds good to me. I would even settle for a 3 point win just to keep the morning interesting here I Thailand. I’ll be at my favorite pub at 6:30 watching the game

I’ve been doing retirement extensions for 7 years without any issues. I’m always up to date on my 90 day reports and still use my TM30 from when I moved to my home in Chiang Rai back in 2018. While it appears that some offices change requirements, here in Chiang Rai I submit the same packet of updated documents every year without any issues.

I just came back from my accountant in Bangkok who always handles my US returns. He now has Thai tax accountants. US Social Security is not subject to Thai taxes. It doesn’t matter if it is directly deposited into your Thai account or if it goes into a US account then transferred into a Thai account.

CMBob, My drivers license does have my passport number but my pink card does not.

When I retired and moved to Chiang Rai my wife did all of the driving since she grew up in this area and lived here several years before i could retire. I spent my time in the passenger seat observing how both cars and motorcycles moved in and out of traffic and how traffic laws appeared to mainly “suggestions”. After about 3 months I got my license and now I drive everywhere. Those months of observing were great preparation.

Also we could use some rain in Chiang Rai. The last rain we had was back on 15=December.

I took some American friends to some tourist sites around Chiang Rai and I was able to only pay the Thai price for admission instead of the foreigners price. Also when I sent packages from Bangkok to my home in Chiang Rai I always needed to show my passport but now they accept my pink card. When I did my retirement extensions I needed a copy of the blue book and my wife’s ID card. Now I just use a copy of my yellow book.

I also have my pink card and it is also my TIN. I received it about 6 months ago. Mine also does not expire and was told it was because of my age. I’m not sure if it is something new because of the new tax laws but I was required to also apply for my TIN. Getting a pink card did not automatically register me for my TIN even though the numbers are the same.

Unfortunately my team, the Packers, will be one and done in the playoffs. Any predictions for the Superbowl matchup? I’m thinking it will be Detroit and KC although for the AFC it could also be Buffalo or Baltimore.