AyG

I've got a 13 hour layover at CMB, I know i'll be given a hotel room, but doe's anyone know if i'll get my suitcase back that gets checked in at BKK?

If, when you check in, you ask them to check you in as far as CMB you'll get it back. However, you'll then need to recheck in for the next leg of your journey. Also that means that you'll have to get a transit permit, which can be done on-line and for free.

I understand that the hotels used by Sri Lankan are usually away from the airport - sometimes a 45 minutes drive away, and not great quality. When I flew back in October I was accommodated in the air-side hotel, though I don't know if this is always the case for business class passengers.

Incidentally (to the naysayers), it's Sri Lankan's policy to offer an hotel room to all passengers with a connection of 8 hours and more.

The best business class seats with Sri Lankan are with a totally different airline. See the comments on my experiences at http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/591778-srilankan-airlines-again/

You don't say where you're flying, but flying BKK-CMB-LHR and back in October I experienced (read "suffered") three totally different configurations - and only the outward bound CMB-LHR was half decent. Entertainment system, poor; food, dire; seats not up to par.

Rather than using a fork or a fancy gadget, use a pair of table knives. Knife in each hand, cut using a scissor-type action. This avoids compressing the pastry, which a fork will do, making it hard. Better than using your fingertips if you're inexperienced and/or have warm hands.

And definitely keep everything as cool as you can; I find it difficult to make good pastry without the aircon on for a good hour beforehand to cool not only the air, but also the work surfaces.

Chill the pastry after making it and before rolling it for at least 20 minutes. (Longer if it's a big ball.)

People down there haven't forgotten the old Sultanate of Pattani and its suppression by the Siamese in the late 18th century.

Actually, the southern states weren't suppressed. They had virtually total autonomy. They did, however, have to pay annual tribute to Ayutthaya. If memory serves me right, the tribute was along the lines of a single gold/silver tree model. The states were far too far away from Ayutthaya to be subject to direct rule or even significant influence.

Why is the OIC wasting its time whinging about the Thai government, rather than acting to reign in the terrorist tactics of the fanatical branch of its co-religionists?

Maybe they would act when they see some action from the Thai government to bring those (military & police) who carried out Tak Bai & Kru Be massacres (among other rights abuses) to justice.

The insurgent/terrorist acts long predate the (admitted) atrocities. Perhaps those awful events wouldn't have even occurred had the Islamic mainstream stood up again the lunatic Islamic fringe so intent on blowing up policemen, shooting teachers and beheading rubber plantations workers (both Moslem and Buddhist).

Why is the OIC wasting its time whinging about the Thai government, rather than acting to reign in the terrorist tactics of the fanatical branch of its co-religionists?

Wouldn;t expect the left hand to cut off the right now would you?

Actually, I thought that cutting off hands was something that Moslems were rather keen on.

Maybe I am wrong on this, but when you sign up to have payments processed by Visa and Mastercard don't they have in the contract that merchants are not allowed to assess additional fees to process the cards. Essentially for the customer it has to be the same as paying cash. The merchant has to eat the processing charge. Every time I see a hotel or restaurant try to take on that 3% for using Credit or Debit cards, I thought that it is against Visa and Mastercards policy. Am I wrong?

Just based upon UK experience, such extra charges are commonplace. Ryanair charges GBP 12 to book a ticket with a credit card; Toyota charged GBP 75 to buy a car with a credit card; even government organisations such as DVLA and HM Revenue and Customs charge extra for payment by credit card. (Source http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/borrowing/creditcards/8974365/Credit-card-fees-to-be-banned-in-crackdown-on-surcharges.html.)

If memory serves me right, the rules were changed a few years back to allow retailers to charge extra for use of credit cards.

(Actually, charging extra for credit cards doesn't particularly bother me, since there is an extra charge to the retailer. Charging extra for debit cards, however, really gets my goat.)

Why is the OIC wasting its time whinging about the Thai government, rather than acting to reign in the terrorist tactics of the fanatical branch of its co-religionists?

even though that book was written 10 years ago in 2002. I wonder how much tax laws have changed since then.

The only significant tax change I can think of is the change in inheritance tax for assets passed between a married couple/civil partners, though there may be others.

A non-tax area that isn't covered by the book is in the pension area: QROPS and QNUPS weren't about when it was written.

I spoke with somebody and they mentioned seeing a UK accountant who is used to dealing with ex-pats. They would know what to do, it was suggested. I think it really is something where some expert, personalized advice would be the necessary thing, but how much does that cost? And who would one talk to? It wouldn't be a very complicated case, I imagine. And there wouldn't be too many numbers to add up!

There are two areas you need to cover: taxation and investment planning. An IFA experienced in dealing with expats might be a better option than an accountant. An initial meeting with a IFA would usually be free, and you'd then be given an estimate of the cost of any work that needed to be done. Typically IFAs charge between GBP 100 and GBP 300/hour - possibly a bit higher in London.

I would, however, stress the need to educate yourself about investment, and in particular asset allocation. since after investments are set up they need to be monitored regularly. Also, in my opinion, the model portfolios used by many IFAs, are not appropriate for expats who plan on retiring abroad since they're not sufficiently skewed towards the destination's economy and markets.

You express your opinions with such certainty. Perhaps you'd like to provide some official source to substantiate them? A link to the HMRC website which explains the "concession" which you claim to exist would be a good start.

Here you go: http://www.hmrc.gov....comegains.htm#3

"Savings and investment income (except rental income)

Savings and investment income includes:

• interest from bank and building society accounts
  
• dividends on shares
  
• interest on stocks
  

If you're not resident in the UK, you might still be liable to pay UK tax on any savings or investment income from UK sources. But the amount of tax you pay is limited to the amount deducted 'at source' before you receive the income - you don't need to complete a tax return to tell HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) about this."

The rest of what you said is just wrong, sorry.

I stand corrected. Thank you.

The tax liability for non-residents on dividends or bank interest is limited by concession to that which is withheld at source, and in many cases (FOTRA gilts, R105) it is possible to avoid any tax being withheld at source. The tax on dividends is notional and cannot be reclaimed, but nor do dividends generate any extra tax liability for non-residents.

There is no "concession" to the best of my knowledge that limits tax to what is withheld at source. When you are a higher rate (40%+) income tax payer, whether you are resident or non-resident, makes no difference. There is additional tax to pay on dividends. And the tax on dividends is not notional - it's real. It's just that it's accompanied by a tax credit which offsets the need to pay any income tax if you're a lower rate tax payer.

Also, when your income is above the personal allowance there is also tax to pay on bank interest, whether or not you've filled in an R105 or not.

You express your opinions with such certainty. Perhaps you'd like to provide some official source to substantiate them? A link to the HMRC website which explains the "concession" which you claim to exist would be a good start.

Is it a valid concern that foreigners are allowed to own condominiums in Thailand, but there is a possibility in future if they exit the country they, for whatever reason an immigration official comes up with (e.g. too many tourist visas or not really studying), may not be allowed back into the country to stay and manage the property (or just live in it) due to the absence of a highly appropriate visa?

Unless you are a very naughty boy (or girl) and get blacklisted, there'll always be a way to come back into the country, even if it's flying in with the 30 day visa exemption or arriving by land and getting 15 days. Given the country's dependence upon tourism, it's most unlikely that this sort of privilege will be taken away. So, in short, and in my opinion, not a valid concern.

AyG a small correction as I think you have transposed the numbers for the IHT threshold - it is actually £325,000 for the latest tax year.

http://www.hmrc.gov....ntro/basics.htm

Mea culpa. Thank you.

Non-imm B based upon investment of 10 million Baht in government bank deposit or government bonds.

5 year visa based upon purchase of Elite card.

I thought the Elite card was for certain nationalities, the OP has not stated where he/she is from.

Nope. Any nationality (except Thai). However, you mustn't be of unsound mind to apply. Some might say that's a Catch-22.

Yup. It looks like they're prejudiced against Firefox 17 + Mint. Chrome works absolutely fine. Firefox says "service unavailable".

Cant see any point at all in having an offshore broker as there are no tax matters for a non-resident. You dont have to pay UK CGT and you dont have any extra tax to pay on dividends.

For a non-resident, any income arising in the UK is potentially subject to UK income tax. Once one goes over the tax threshold tax has to be paid.

Furthermore, even if one is not UK domiciled all of your estate within the UK is subject to UK inheritance tax. It's therefore better to have no more than GBP 235,000 in any brokerage account in the UK.

Capital gains income though is not taxed , even if it arises in the UK, if you have been non-resident for tax purposes for a certain period...it changed recently , but I think it is 5 years now. It is clearly stated and can be looked up on the HMRC site.

Rent and other earned income arising in the UK is taxable.

Capital gains is gains - not income, but you're right it's not taxed for non-residents. The rule is that if you return to the UK (i.e. become UK resident again) any capital gains in the previous 5 tax years are taxable, but if you stay out of the UK you don't pay any capital gains tax from day 1.

It's not just earned income that is taxable. Investment income is taxable too, including interest from bond investments and dividend income from equity investments.

Cant see any point at all in having an offshore broker as there are no tax matters for a non-resident. You dont have to pay UK CGT and you dont have any extra tax to pay on dividends.

For a non-resident, any income arising in the UK is potentially subject to UK income tax. Once one goes over the tax threshold tax has to be paid.

Furthermore, even if one is not UK domiciled all of your estate within the UK is subject to UK inheritance tax. It's therefore better to have no more than GBP 235,000 in any brokerage account in the UK.

My broker (Internaxx) will only accept money from my UK bank account, and will only pay it back into a UK account - it won't deal with my Isle of Man or Guernsey accounts.

This seems unusual. Offshore accounts with UK banks generally have UK sort codes and are generally part of the BACS system, with some notable exceptions. I use my offshore accounts almost exactly as I use my onshore accounts for both sending and receiving money. Possibly that broker has trouble setting up direct debit/direct credit instructions with your particular bank.

Not the particular bank. They will only deal with banks in the European Community, which Guernsey, Jersey and others of that ilk aren't. (I understand it's a money laundering issue.)

The book is at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zurich-Expatriate-Tax-Investment-Handbook/dp/0273662171

Yes, shares have historically provided better returns than other usual asset classes. However, over the last 10 years in developed markets they've basically gone nowhere. That would be pretty bad news for you if you only invested in shares. It's pretty much impossible to predict which asset class or market will do best, even over the next 12 months, so you need to have a mixture of asset classes (developed market shares, emerging market shares, bonds, commercial property, alternative investments, etc.). Some classes will do better than others, but at least you won't be putting all your money on one horse. Incidentally, I don't agree with your view about the USA going strong in the future - the conditions are right for there to be an irreversible decline in the USA's fortunes, just as there were for the Roman Empire.

As for 40% inheritance tax, this only applies to the value of your estate about GBP 235,000. And yes, it does apply even if the money was earned and kept outside the country. In some circumstances HMRC will agree that a person has severed all links with the UK and consider them "non-domiciled" in the UK. However, the tax man is extremely reluctant to consider someone non-domiciled, so it's not something you can count on. (And to make life difficult, the taxman neither tells you what the rules are to be considered non-domiciled, nor usually will tell you during your lifetime whether you are non-domiciled.)

I don't know of a good website on such issues.

An offshore bank account is, I would have thought, a must for any expat. However, I don't think it helps much with offshore brokers. My broker (Internaxx) will only accept money from my UK bank account, and will only pay it back into a UK account - it won't deal with my Isle of Man or Guernsey accounts.

Without wanting to appear patronising, I think you need to do a bit of background reading first. I'd strongly recommend the Expatriate Tax and Investing Handbook published by Pearson Education Limited. It covers the details of tax planning comprehensively and investment strategy at a fairly basic level.

Commenting specifically on what you've written:

(1) If you're not planning on returning to the UK to live, there is no point sending money to the UK just to use up the ISA allowance. Invest offshore.

(2) Rather than thinking about investment products (ETFs) and the ETF provider (iShares), you should be thinking about in which asset classes you should be investing (e.g. shares, hedge funds, corporate bonds, emerging market bonds, corporate property, &c.) and only then decide which is the best way to invest in these asset classes. Sometimes using ETFs will be both possible and appropriate, but you may do better using investment trusts, OEICS, index tracking funds, &c.

(3) Go for an offshore broker, not a UK one to keep tax matters simple.

(4) You make no reference to inheritance tax planning. If you want to avoid giving 40% of your wealth to the UK taxman when you die you should be looking into QROPS and QNUPS.

(5) You don't mention your age. That has a big impact upon how long the investments will need to last. To be cautious you should take no more than 4% of your investments each year. That means, for example, that if you want an income of GBP 20K/year you'll need investments of GBP 500K. That's quite a lot of money for most people to save in ten years.

Non-imm B based upon investment of 10 million Baht in government bank deposit or government bonds.

5 year visa based upon purchase of Elite card.

I love the idea of "authentic" Chinese chicken curry. Wasn't this chicken curry invented in a takeaway in the north of England?

To quote chapter & verse (from the Thai Nationality Act)

Section 7. bis. A person born within the Thai Kingdom of alien parents does not acquire Thai nationality if at the time of his birth, his lawful father or his father who did not marry his mother, or his mother was:

(1) the person having been given leniency for temporary residence in Kingdom as a special case;

(2) the person having been permitted to stay temporarily in the Kingdom;

(3) the person having entered and resided in the Thai Kingdom without permission under the law on immigration.

My interpretation of this is that both parents would need to have PR for the child to acquire Thai nationality.

Virtually all Thai curries start with a curry paste. You should be able to buy these pastes at an Asian grocery store. (I don't know about the US, but in the UK supermarkets also stock a range of them.) When you're in the store, also pick up a can of coconut milk, fish sauce (as Jingthing intimates, Squid brand is very good) and palm sugar. You now have the basics to make a range of curries. All you need now is a collection of good recipes. If the recipe says to make your own paste, don't bother - just use the appropriate packet of paste.

On-line, http://shesimmers.com/ is very reliable. http://tesathome.com/recipe-collection-2/ is also good - but isn't just for Thai food, more pan-Asian, really. http://www.chetbacon.com/thai-html/thai.html is also useful, but the recipes tend to assume a higher level of understanding than the other two sites.

Page 14 of the user manual. But in short, pressing Function Key 2 toggles wifi on and off.