oldcpu

Like many I was curious as to the implications. My Wise account and debit card is based on a German address so this doesn't affect me. However my wife has a Thai (address) wise account and this could affect her. Wise: no bank guarantee. Neither of us use Wise to 'hold' any more money than necessary. Wise provides no 'bank' style guarantees for the funds in Wise, and near as i can determine only provide trivial interest on US and on Euro funds. Don't time currency exchange with Wise/Thai baht. I always (with 1 exception) keep my foreign money outside of Wise, and ONLY when I want to transfer to Thailand, do I transfer funds to a Thai bank via Wise. So the conclusion is do not use Wise as a 'holding account' trying to time the exchange rate. Rather use one's foreign bank account - which means try to keep a foreign bank account (which is something my wife and I do). Foreign banks pay better interest than Wise: Our foreign bank accounts pay interest ( better than Wise). We only use Wise for transferring funds (with one exception). I should qualify the above by saying, I rarely have done such transfers to Thailand with Wise. In the past, my transfers to Thailand bank have been too large to use Wise (as Wise only has made sense for relatively small money transfers). For larger transfers to Thai baht, as strange as it may read, SWIFT can be better than Wise. Pensions: I have my pensions deposited into foreign bank accounts (and NOT directly into Wise). Possibly those who have pensions deposited directly into Wise, if they wish to attempt to 'time the exchange rate' (which frankly IMHO is difficult to always reliably do) then do so with a foreign bank account. Stop transferring all one's foreign pension amounts directly to Wise if one wishes to time the Thai baht exchange rate. Taxation: Reference concerns re:Thailand tax ... IMHO it has always been a risk that money remitted to Thailand via an institution such as Wise could be tracked (for Thai taxation purposes) - - so has this really changed ?? IMHO only changed for those who considered there was no past risk for remitting such funds. Transfer money out of Thailand is an improvement !! The big positive is (after the change is implemented) is it will be possible to transfer Thai baht from one's Thai bank to Wise (I think) and then convert to a foreign currency. Of course that assumes one keeps Thai baht cash in Thailand that can be transferred to Wise - which I suspect is not that many (as Thai interest rates are low). The big negative I see (which is the exception I noted), is one's Thai based wise card (if one can obtain such) is less useful outside of Thailand, if one's foreign income is used to fund the Wise card. Say one transfers Euros to one's Thai based Wise account. It will be immediately converted to Thai baht as an intermediate currency. Then, say one is going to Australia for some travel, when one transfers the Thai baht to Australian dollars, one ends up paying 2x currency exchange ... ie Euros > Thai baht > Australian dollars. That is a downside. i am currently travelling in Australia, and I am using my Wise debit card for most payments - where I converted Canadian dollar (from a Canadian bank) DIRECT to Australian dollar in my Wise Account (and fortunately did NOT have to go through Thai baht). Keep foreign Wise card if legal: So for myself, I plan to retain my German address for Wise (where I try to visit that German address every year). My wife, thou, with her Thailand address Wise account, needs to take note. At least that is my current viewpoint - but I am modifying my view as I learn more.

I have a protective jacket cover over my passport, and the auto gates do NOT work for it (in Thailand, Singapore, Australia, nor Canada) if I leave the cover on. However, if I remote the cover, the auto gates work fine! ... So for every immigration crossing (using an auto gate) I remove the cover. Is there any chance you have a protective jacket cover protecting your passport?

Yes true for the initial permission to stay. BUT it is more nuanced than that for subsequent extensions of one's permission to stay in Thailand. One can after a certain period of time, get an extension of one's permission to stay in Thailand, if on a non-immigrant visa type-OA, for reason of marriage. I did that. So have many many others. In my case, after my '2-years' that I managed to get with my Type-OA (retirement) were up, for my first extension on my Type-OA, I went for a one year extension of my permission to stay, for reason of retirement (and I paid for almost worthless (double) insurance (massively high deductable) from the Thai branch of a health insurance company). I was not allowed by Phuket immigration, for that very first 1-year extension of my permission to stay, to go for an extension based on marriage. But a year after that, for my 2nd one-year extension, of my permission to stay (on the underlying type-OA visa) I was allowed to go for a 1-year extension based on marriage -with no health insurance requirement. Basically, given the OPs situation, we are , I believe, nominally talking about the 1-year extensions on one's permission to stay. Your point thou is valid, for anyone initially contemplating to get a new type-OA visa.

Along the lines of what DrJack54 noted, the only reasons (in your case) that I can see for switching to type-OA to type-O is some immigration offices handle a type-O (based on retirement) quicker than a type-OA (based on marriage). if your marriage is shaky, or if your spouse health is shaky, that could be a reason to switch to a visa (retirement) extension now (so to avoid having to change from marriage to retirement visa/extension when under a lot of stress if thing go bad re; the marriage ending). However if on a type-OA retirement there is nominally a need to obtain health insurance from the Thai branch of a health insurance company (unless the local immigration office gives one a 'grand father clause exemption for insurance - but they may no longer be possible). Hence the type-O is preferred by many as it has no health insurance requirement for the single expat who has no Thai wife. I left Thailand (when on a Type-OA (extension) for reason of marriage) to invalidate the type-OA visa, and I returned visa exempt and obtained a type-O (retirement) because at that time, in Phuket, retirement extensions on a Type-O had massively less paperwork (and were quicker at the immigration office) than type-OA (marriage extension) to get. But note the 'retirement' extension/visa requires more proof of funds than a 'marrige' extension/visa. .

My having typed the above, in a recent seminar between BoI and LTR visa holders, held in Bangkok, and attended by an official from the Thailand Revenue Department, purportedly it was made clear in that seminar that (1) LTR visa holders are not taxed by Thailand on any foreign income remitted to Thailand, regardless of year in which it is earned/remitted (after obtaining the visa), and (2) LTR visa holders, if they have no local Thailand income, are not required to file a Thailand income tax return. ... So assume that Thailand RD official is correct, then there is no change in the LTR visa status, contrary to what I typed in my quotation above.

All wars are sad to read about and this war is no exception. I feel sad for every injury and live lost on all sides. In the case of this torpedoed Iranian warship, she was armed with Chinesese designed Surface to Surface Missiles (SSM) ... ie anti-ship missiles. These missiles ( with a +200km range) would presumably pose a threat to any American or Israeli shipping in the area. Also, the attacking submarine may have had constraints, .. constrants that we don't know about, which may have necessitated firing the torpedo at that time else contactwith the warship lost. Sadly, war is war. I pray a way to peace is found.

There is a big 'what if' there .. where 'what if' applies to many things in life and not just visas. One never really knows what the future will unfold. I think also, many of us, on an LTR visa, did not get this visa for the Financial (tax exemption) aspect. In my case, in the most part, DTA with the country(s) of my income source protect me from being double taxed by Thailand, for the income I remit to Thailand. I went for the LTR visa for a matter of convenience. Tax exemption was a distant second item. One need to read no further than read the unpleasant experiences of some renewing their non-immigrant type-O/OA visas every year (where some immigration offices are, dare I say, more difficult to deal with in regards to paperwork). With the LTR - only at the 5 year point need one again reprove finances. That was a BIG benefit from my biased (?) perspective. I seriously doubt Thailand will be able to throw-out / change every Double Tax Agreement (DTA) they have in such a 'what if' global taxation scenario. The Thai Royal Decree RD743, the Thai Ministerial directives PAW-161/162, and the various (many) DTAs, massively complicate any such 'what if'. For now, I think the tax exemption, with its tax exemption status confirmed by statements of both Thai BoI and Thai RD (main office) officials supports the assessment of the LTR-WP/WGC providing Thai tax exemption for remitted income. Yes. Agreed.

My foreign freehold condo unit purchase (back in year 2016) was in both my name and my Thai wife's name, so I could only use 50% of the purchase price of my condo. The purchase price was proven by providing a copy of the OrChor-16 . Only being allowed to use 50% of the condo purchase price, left me just over 1-million baht short to reach the prerequisite $250k US equivalent investment in Thailand. Note , one can't use the current investment value (as my place is now worth 50% more than what i paid for in 2016 - but unfortunately I was not allowed to use current price of my condo). So via Bangkok Bank I purchased 2-million THB in Thai government bonds (7 years term) (ie about equivalent of ~$64K US$) so to reach the $250k US$ equivalent investment. Bangkok Bank would only issue a Bond Book (and not a Bond certificate), so to satisfy BoI, I ended up having Bangkok Bank put an extra entry on the last page of the bond book that indicated the bond expiry date, and indicated the bond interest (plus provided from BKK bank to BoI a letter confirming I was owner of the bonds). My Thai government bond purchase + 50% of my condo purchase price, exceeded the $250k US$ equivalent investment in Thailand. For my renewal at the 5-year re-proof of finances (which is in two years), i plan to switch to the $80k US equivalent income method (and not renew my Thai government bond purchase), as this year my Canadian RIF income (at age-72) kicks in which pushes me above the $80k US$ equivalent yearly Income. I plan to use my Canadian tax return assessment, as proof of my income .. plus various official government pension tax slips and such to back up the tax return assessment confirmation of income.

My understanding is when first applying for Type-OA from outside of Thailand, the foreign embassy will, if appropriate criteria met, grant a Type-OA visa. Yes in effect, if you handle the exit/entry timing very very carefully, one can squeeze two years out of a Type-OA visa. However the 'devil' in this is when one attempts to get a 1-year extension of one's permission to stay in Thailand (based on retirement), when on a Type-OA visa. At that point in time, the original foreign insurance, one used to get the initial type-OA visa, can NOT be used for a one-year extension (based on retirement). Instead, if going for a 1-year extension of one's permission to stay in Thailand, based on retirement, with an underlying Type-OA, one has to use the Thai branch of a health insurance company. The visa actually is not renewed. I know - I know - that sounds surprising. Rather if one enters Thailand, and the last valid day of one's Type-OA visa, one is granted a one year permission to stay in Thailand. After that, if one is in Thailand (and only if in Thailand) one can go to a Thailand immigration (typically 30 to 45 days before the permission to stay in Thailand expires) and get an extension on the permission to stay in Thailand (despite the visa being expired). Its not an extension of the visa. I know, that reads to be strange ... but that is the actual technical detail. The problem (as noted by others) is when on a Type-OA visa, about 30 to 45 days before your permission to stay in Thailand expires (on your no longer valid entry Type-OA visa) , when you go to Thai immigration in Thailand, they will insist you have Health Insurance from a Thai branch of a health insurance company. The foreign branch of a Health Insurance company (even thou initially successfully used to get your Type-OA) is not acceptable for a permission to stay extension. This fact, resulted in many of us, deliberately leaving Thailand in a way to invalidate our Type-OA visas !!! and we re-entered Thailand Visa exempt (giving us 30 to 60 days permission to stay in Thailand) and then applied for a 90-day Type-O visa. After getting that 90-day Type-O visa, when there was 30 to 45 days left in our Type-O visa permission to stay in Thailand, we applied for a 1 year extension on the 'permission to stay' in Thailand on that underlying Type-O visa. For the Type-O there is NO health insurance requirement. Which is why, most of us recommend a type-O and not a type-OA. I think Dr.Jack54 summed this up better than I did. Best of wishes in your approach. Be certain, as soon as you enter Thailand (on a Type-O or OA visa - what ever approach you use) to open a Thai bank account. Do NOT delay there. Open the Thai bank account ASAP, as you will need money in that bank account to qualify for an extension of your permission to stay in Thailand on the underlying visa.

I think it varies ... possibly dependent on the BoI 'screener' (reviewer of one's LTR visa submission) and dependent on the BoI screener's relationship with their boss. Also possibly dependent on when in the year one applies for the LTR visa. I ended up providing 3 taxation years of proof !! in part due to bad timing on my part for applying for my LTR visa. I applied in January-2023 for the LTR. Since January-2023 was too early for me to submit a 2022 tax return to Thailand, i provided BoI with my year 2020 and year 2021 tax assessment from Canada. However BoI deemed year 2020 and 2021 too old for a January-2023 LTR application. So BoI insisted I provide a more recent year-2022 tax assessment, which I note that I could not yet obtain in January-2023, as I still needed to get year 2022 tax receipts from my various foreign income sources for tax year-2022. So it was some months before i could submit a year-2022 tax return to Canada, to get the year-2022 tax assessment from Canada, that BoI requested. So I ended up providing quantity 3 tax assessments (year-2020, 2021, and 2022). Ergo - my applying in January-2023 for an LTR-WP was not the smartest timing, on my part.

There must be many UK citizens in receipt of UK pensions in Thailand. Some likely also have an LTR Hopefully one or more of them will chime in and advise if it was possible for them to get a UK NT tax code as a Thailand tax resident. As noted I would be most happy to have my assessment ( when I researched this ), proven wrong. The handful of UK citizens who I know in Thailand never mentioned such as possible in the chats I had with them. I am about to depart that for over a month, but when I return I will make it a point to ask them. Or better yet maybe some of the forum UK expats will chime in and hopefully show me to be wrong. Best wishes.

I understand that. My point, is due to content of Thai-UK Double tax agreement, as a Thai- tax resident, you will not qualify for a NT tax code.

I don't need to contact them. I am only trying to help with regards to pointing out what I believe is an error in your approach. But if you are happy to proceed with your approach - and if you are confident your research is correct, then by all means, do proceed with your action. I assume therefore, you have significantly researched this then - but your outright dismissal of Double Tax Agreements gives me pause as to whether you have. Honestly? It makes me think otherwise. I hope - for you- that I am wrong, and that you are right. So - regardless as to my doubts (as to your view) ... please ...all the very best in your approach.

I believe you need to pay more attention to exact wording of the relevant Double Tax Agreement. I could be wrong, on the NT code aspect but your Singapore example is IMHO not a good one. There is a VAST difference between the Singapore-UK DTA, and the Thailand-UK DTA. And DTAs are incredibly important here. To dismiss such is in my view not a good approach.

I am still going through your post ... but note the Singapore-UK DTA is very different from the Thailand-UK DTA. According to the Singapore-UK DTA, if i read it correctly for any UK pension that is not UK civil-service or military, then only Singapore can tax that UK pension. This is VERY different from the Thailand-UK DTA, where the UK can still tax those other pensions. Do you see the difference? It is significant. I still need to go through the remainder of your post.