oldcpu

Do you have a Wise debit card? I suspect (speculate is a better word) that when renewal time comes along, you will not be able to renew that debit card.

I believe if you already have a Wise account (with a Thai address), that if you have a Thai address you no longer can obtain a Wise debit card (although I am happy to be corrected). If you already have a Wise debit card I suppose it is possible they will refuse to issue a new card when that old one expires. i am just speculating. As to opening a new Wise personal account? I don't know. I do know it is possible to open a business account with Wise with a Thai address. My Thai wife opened a Wise business account for her brother's Thai company. I try to visit Europe for one to two months every year, and my 'base of operations' (to coin a phrase) in Europe is a friend's place in Germany - as I reside there a lot. So I use that address (with my friend's permission) as my Wise account address. I don't suppose there is a place where you stay a lot outside of Thailand, that you can credibly use as a Wise address?

Indeed ! Phuket has not always had a fast track line, so I have on multiple occasions gone to the Thai line (sometimes with my Thai wife, but not always). When entering Thailand (at Phuket airport), after receiving my passport back from the Thai IO (in the Thai line) I typically spend 15 to 20 second, not moving from my spot at the immigration booth, checking the 'permission to stay' booth. Typically the IO is watching me as i do not yet move away with my passport. After I confirm the permission to stay in my just returned passport is correct, I give the IO a very polite 'wai' ... and move on. That either gets in return a nod, a wai, or a gentle smile in return. But thus far no IO has waved at me to quickly move on. Instead they (thus far) seem to be content for me to do a quick check of the 'permission to stay' stamp.

i don't know anything about getting first LTR visa stamp (for one who applied outside of Thailand). I live in Phuket and applied for my LTR visa while in Phuket (i was on a type-O visa at the time). After having LTR approved, I went to Bangkok to BoI and the immigration there and had my passport stamped with the Visa. Then I returned to Phuket. Subsequent to then I exited and entered Thailand a number of times using the LTR visa. The first time i exited and entered Thailand (via Phuket) with my LTR visa, there was NO fast track line. None. But i was with my Thai wife, so we went over to the Thai line which had no one in line! (in contrast the non-Thai lines at immigration had at least a 45 minute wait, if not longer). The IO had never seen an LTR visa before, so they called over another Thai IO, who knew how to deal with an LTR stamp that was ALREADY in the visa (according to my Thai wife who was listening to the chat). But it didn't end there. That IO called over some more IOs (from their booths) so they could see what an LTR visa stamp looked like. They all had a good look at my passport. That was back in year 2023. Subsequently I have exited and entered a couple of times. There being no fast track on most occasions, I simply went to the practically empty Thai citizen line and I was accepted. On one of those occasions the IO in the Thai line had to call over another IO to confirm how to handle the permission to stay in the passport. I believe the last time I entered (although maybe I am confused with Bangkok) there was a sign indicating fast track (with LTR indicated on the sign) was same line as the Thai line. But I am not certain. My memory is fuzzy. Maybe it was Bangkok and not Phuket. Another important aspect I encountered, was when leaving Phuket, with an LTR, go to the area where Thai people enter the immigration area. One can save up to 45-minutes or more, as opposed to getting in the immigration line (with non-Thai) for exiting Phuket. I didn't know that, but when I checked in my luggage, the Singapore airline rep, seeing the LTR visa in my passport, told me to go to the Thai line for faster processing. ... Again , thou, as noted, i know nothing about the first LTR stamp. Have you asked BoI if entering Phuket (instead of Bangkok) ok for the 1st time?

Indeed. Unfortunately, banks are entitled to implement their own policy in this regard. If it costs them customers, its due to their choice. But as customers (and in particular as expatriates) we bear the brunt of their approach in this regards.

I note that the DeeMoney website ( https://www.deemoney.com/ ) is back up and running again, but for myself, I would be a bit cautious before sending them any money to transfer 'out' of Thailand. Perhaps send a VERY small amount first, to confirm the transfer actually works. I read from an unoffical news source that originally (but not a current article) : Its good to read that it may be back, but again, if it were me, I would do a very small amount of money test transfer first, prior to transferring any moderate amounts.

I like Hua Hin. I also like Pattaya. I have friends who live in both spots and I visit them on occasion. I live in Phuket in the far south far away from the tourist madness spots (where I note Phuket is not for everyone), but my living in Phuket does not detract from my liking those two other Thai locations.. I believe a great thing about Thailand is there are many different places suitable for those with differing views and requirements. One thing I like in that regard to the LTR visa is no more 90-day reports. The online reporting never worked for some of us, and I suspect if there are any LTR visa holders who live far from an immigration office, who like me could not get the online to work, that the LTR's 1-year reporting is a big improvement.

I was thinking the same - but I have more 'confidence' (?) , and I 'feel I am more legally compliant' by the approach I adopted. I clearly stated on the foreign bank paperwork that the tax # I provided (for Thailand) was not yet activated. I also had a Thai RD official advise my wife that my pink-ID number could be my tax ID if he were to activate it (but he chose not to activate it since I was not remitting money to Thailand). .

For the OP, when he (your friend) applies for the Thai TIN, he may also wish to mention to the Thai RD that he needs it to satisfy his foreign bank (or foreign trading, or foreign income source) account Financial Company requirements. I was denied a Thai TIN when I applied (as I was bringing no money into Thailand - I brought a LOT in years prior when not a tax resident and I am living off of that). But if I had pushed 'back a bit more' against the Thai RD rejection of giving me a Thai TIN, I think i may have been able to get a Thai TIN. Like the OP I needed the Thai TIN to satisfy a couple of financial institutions outside of Thailand. In the end I provided the foreign financial institutions my Thai Pink-ID number together with a written signed caveat that this could be my Thai TIN once activated, but with a written caveat that it was not yet activated. That actually worked.

I believe this may be Krungsri bank branch specific and YMMV (your mileage may vary). My wife contacted our local branch of Krungsri. They stated there was no point to use Krungsri Biz online, as that too would have it online closed in the relatively near future. Frankly - I don't believe that. But according to what my wife was told by the Krungsri rep, it is Bank of Thailand recent policy for all banks to have their computer based online banking (ie access via laptop.desktop computer) to be closed, while banking via the bank's smartphone apps, will continue. Again, according to that (which as noted I am skeptical) ALL banks will be, sometime in the future, closing their online computer based banking (but not their smartphone banking). Did I say I was skeptical? Reference the age-71 limitation. She was advised that indeed those age-71 and older could not activate smartphone if activating a Krungri smartphone app for the first time. But she was also told existing users of the Krungsri app could continue using their app. My wife also claimed she she was told that for existing users, age-71 and older, moving their app from an old to a new phone would not be an issue - but here I don't yet believe my wife ... lol !! ... my wife was 'fuzzy' in her reply and my experience is when that occurs, she is making up her own answer as to what the bank actually stated. And I have learned from experience, that unless absolutely necessary, not to press my wife on such things. If i want to find out for certain the approach of the branch of Krungsri where I bank, I will likely have to go to the bank in person, find a good English language speaker, and ask myself. Anyway - I came away with the view point - that quite possibly different branches of Krungsri bank will have different policies on the details of this topic.

At the risk of beating a 'dead horse' in repeating what I have posted in the past, i had an issue where a bank in Canada froze my funds until I could provide a Thai tax-ID. Further at the same time in attempting to open a trading account in Canada, I was asked for a Thai tax ID. I actually applied (on line) for a Thai tax-ID (my wife did this for me as it was in Thai language), but that application (which goes to Bangkok) was then forwarded to the Phuket office who contacted me. Since they spoke in Thai my wife handled all the communications. Since I was remitting no money to Thailand, the local Revenue Department would not provide me a Thai tax-ID. They did note thou, that if they were to provide me a tax-ID, that my Thai pink-ID # (which comes from the Yellow Book #) could be my Thai tax ID ( if they activated it as a tax-ID ) . But they had not done so since I was remitting no money to Thailand. I then passed to the Canadian organisations my Thai Pink-ID #, with a written comment from me that it was not yet activated as a Thai tax ID per the Thai Revenue department decision. Those organisations accepted that. .

I know of those who obtained ( at Phuket Immigration) the certificate of residence on Visa exempt, and also on Type O. No previous 90 day report required. They obtained such a couple of days after their arrival in Thailand. Edit: I see now others noted where you encountered this arguably rogue behavior

Most banks will allow one to open a bank account on a 90-day type-O visa. As was pointed out, one merely needs to go to immigration and ask for a residence certificate letter. Typically such is valid for a week or so. One needs a passport sized image of themselves to pass to immigration and possibly a TM30 (or other document). Immigration produces the certificate letter and gives it to the expat (for some nominal small fee). With that immigration residence letter/certificate, and the type-O visa in one's passport, one can then open a Thai bank account in most banks. (For example, here is the Phuket Immigration volunteers webpage on that document: https://piv-phuket.com/residence-certificate/ ). Typically then, this means one needs to obtain a type-O or type-OA visa from one's home country first, in order to establish a bank account in Thailand. There was a time when bank accounts could be opened on a visa exempt status (by use of an agent) but that possibility may have been closed recently ( i am not certain there).

The purpose ? I don't know. But in Phuket back when I was on a Type-OA visa and changed to my permission to stay for reason of marriage, to reason of retirement, they advised me they would drop by to pay a visit. In the coming weeks they phoned me a couple times to make an appointment to drop by my condo, but each time they phoned i was out of province. In the end, they never showed up. Then years later when on a Type-O visa (for reason of retirement - for my 1-year extension of my permission to stay), instead they exchanged "Line" social media contacts with me, and did a Video chat with me, where they had me walk to me condo front door and position my phone so that they could see my face and my door #, and then walk to the front of the condo complex, where they could see the condo complex sign and my face (all at the same time). They told me they were doing screen captures when they had my face together with the background they wanted to see.

I don't know what Krungsri branch you deal with, but a few years ago (when on a type-O visa) when I opened a new Krungsri account they wanted proof of residence. In that case I provided my yellow book/ pink ID, but the branch manager also noted a letter/certificate of residence from local immigration would also have sufficed, Recently when I opened an account at SCB, because I am on an LTR visa, they (SCB) required a specific piece of paper work from BoI (Thailand Board of Investment) - specifically the "Notification of qualification endorsement for LTR Visa". That is unique to the LTR visa. I doubt most Krungsri branches will allow one to open account without such proof (such as a letter/certificate from immigration).

My view. 1. no appetite 2. no appetite 3. This might be accepted if you can prove the paper trail 4. For me it was 2 years of income tax returns, but others have stated 1 year. Frankly, I speculate it depends on the specific individual in BoI who is handling one's case. ie. no standard at BoI. TiT. 5. I have read of others who had regular income sources, but no need to file an income tax return in their foreign income sources country have simply provided their income proof. That strikes me as a more difficult route than showing a tax return, but I believe it doable. For example the German-Thai DTA states if one is a Thai resident, that Germany can not tax one's German pension (only Thailand can tax that pension) so its possible someone on a Type-O visa switching to a LTR, whose pension is from Germany, will have no recent German tax returns going back years. So instead they need to show BoI their annual letter from the German pension authority indicating what their annual pension income is. 6. Good question. I don't know. I avoided this by simply bringing no money into Thailand. I brought a lot into Thailand in previous years when I was not a Thai tax resident, and then when Thai ministerial directives Por-161/162 came out, I bought a bunch more savings (dating back decades) into Thailand prior to 1-Jan-2024.

As noted before, I am sorry to read of your timing issues with Wise. I hope you end up with a more satisfactory setup. In regards to what I highlighted in bold, I do not believe that by simply paying Thailand bills by direct transfers from outside of Thailand, you will be legally able to avoid such 'remitted money' being subject to consideration for taxation. It is still money that you are remitting to Thailand. I do thou concede, that by transferring money that way (direct to an organisation/company, as opposed into your account), you do complicate the government ability to track and understand the implications of the money transfer. However it is still money you are remitting to Thailand. I think in such a case you still should still maintain records (if you have the money outside of Thailand to support what I note) to show that the money you remit to Thailand to directly pay Thailand bills, is from pre-1-Jan-2024 savings. Best wishes in your efforts.

Better yet - I will repost. Its not long: With regard to declaring, I suspect only if you meet some conditions, where it only needs to be declared if: (1) you remit the interest to Thailand when a tax resident of Thailand and (2) your combined income with this remitted interest meets or exceeds the Thai threshold for income tax filing, and (3) you don't have an LTR visa. However i am no tax expert. As always, its best to double check and obtain better advise elsewhere.

I am saddened to read of those having issues with transfers of money into Thailand taking longer than they want. Why not keep a small amount in a Thailand bank as a 'buffer' ? Why all this last minute money transfer of money? ie have enough money in Thailand to pay 2 months worth of bills, and continually, every month, replenish that, such that buffer is always in place and only drops when there is a delay due to Wise or Revolut, or Swift, or how ever one does the transfer. Then the delay has far less impact. Yes - I know, one will not get as much interest, in a Thai bank , for that 2 months of financial margin (as a buffer) that one will get in a European or North American bank, but unless one has a MASSIVE monthly expense, we are not talking about a lot of money, nor a lot of interest. To me keeping some small amount of money in Thailand makes all of this concern about a 'timely transfer' go away. Anyway - best wishes and good luck to all trying to get the most out of how you time the transfers. i do hope this works out for the better. Again - good luck and best wishes.

I find that strange/interesting. Are you certain that is accurate? Granted I obtained my LTR-WP differently (I applied from within Thailand) but when I went to the BoI for my LTR visa, and they walked me over to Thailand immigration (on same floor as the BoI office), the Thai immigration wrote in Thai language, a statement DIRECTLY UNDER my Type-O visa stamp, that the Type-O visa (for reason of retirement) was no longer valid since I was on an LTR visa. It strikes me as either strange (or an immigration change in policy) that there was no such writing underneath your old Type-OA visa stamp. Like I stated - strange/interesting, and not my experience with my LTR-WP.

Back in 2020 I was under a Type-OA visa, and my understanding is .... once a person (like myself) is residing in Thailand on the Type-OA visa, in order to obtain the annual one year Extension, the health insurance needed to be from the Thai branch from a Health Insurance company. Now initially, before residing in Thailand, I suspect to initially obtain the Type-OA in the USA, you may be able to use health insurance obtained in the USA. That only works for the initial visa (I believe) But for subsequent years, after arriving in Thailand, for yearly extensions on your permission to stay in Thailand, you would need to obtain health insurance from the Thai branch of a health insurance. Dependent on your individual situation, that could be a bad thing, or it could make no difference. In my case, where I had excellent global insurance coverage from Europe, that health insurance was NOT accepted by Thai immigration for extensions of my permission to stay in Thailand, as it was not from the Thai branch of a health insurance company. The big advantage (I believe) to get from obtaining a Type-OA (or Type-O visa) from outside of Thailand, is it makes it easier upon arrival in Thailand to immediately open a Thai bank account. This Thai bank account is pretty much essential for any subsequent extensions of your permission to stay in Thailand. In fact, I recommend soon after establishing a Thai bank account, BEFORE you are classified as a Thai tax resident, that you immediately transfer the 800,000 THB equivalent to Thailand. Thai only taxes remitted income , and so that will be Thai tax exempt. Note once you are a Thai tax resident, any money you remit to Thailand needs to be considered and decided by you if it is assessable for Thailand taxation, or not assessable for Thailand taxation. Things like one's Visa type (LTR is tax exempt remitted income to Thailand) or the Double Tax Agreement between Thailand and the USA may affect what (if anything) you need to do in regards to taxation in Thailand. In general, in regards to whether going for a Type-OA or a Type-O, I recall the big advantage of the type-OA is if timed right, one can stretch almost 2 years out of that one-year visa. However its massive downside is its health insurance requirements. I suspect if you were masochistic and if you then dug through the many topics on this subject (of type-OA health insurance) you will read of many expats on a Type-OA visa, who after having established a Thai bank account, deliberately left Thailand without a re-entry permit, so to deliberately invalidate/cancel their type-OA visa, and who then re-entered Thailand Visa exempt, and who then immediately applied for a type-O visa (90 day) which has no health insurance requirements. After getting the 90-day type-O, they then applied for a 1-year extension of their permission to stay in Thailand on that Type-O visa (with no health insurance requirements). And of course they procured a re-entry permit with their type-O so not to invalidate/cancel it when leaving Thailand. By having a Type-O visa, one is then free to obtain health insurance from anywhere in the world, and not be compelled to purchase health insurance from the Thai branch of a health insurance company. (or on a Type-O have no health insurance - which i do not recommend) If you still have a Thailand bank account from 2019, then skip the entire idea of a Type-OA visa, and simply enter visa exempt and immediately go for the Type-O visa. .... Unless of course, you have your heart set on buying Health insurance from the Thai branch of a health insurance company, in which case, the Type-OA may be THE visa for you.

With regard to declaring, I suspect only if you meet some conditions, where it only needs to be declared if: (1 you remit the interest to Thailand when a tax resident of Thailand and (2) your combined income with this remitted interest meets or exceeds the Thai threshold for income tax filing, and (3) you don't have an LTR visa. However i am no tax expert. As always, its best to double check and obtain better advise elsewhere.

I agree with that. ... Although I add foreigner's buying condos in more than just tourist areas, has, in my opinion, driven up the condo pricing higher than it would otherwise be, making such more expensive for the average Thai. And yes, leave the tourist areas, and leave the big city areas where many foreigners reside, and prices drop. I do note thou that tourist areas are typically tourist areas due to something there being attractive to people. It can mean that Thai will pay higher prices in those areas (and locations close to those areas) if they also wish to participate / enjoy many of the 'attractions' due to the higher prices tourists will pay. Hence I still believe there needs to be a controlled balance. As you note some safeguards, such as foreigner's not legally being allowed to buy land, are in place, and condominium's having a 49% max foreigner purchase (of condo units) in place. I for one would be happy to see that 49% increased to 50% ... but as the saying goes, this is Thailand..

I have read at least one story of a way in which someone claimed they worked around such (to obtain an LTR visa), but it required some legal financial management/re-structuring that IMHO might cost more than the Thai Consulate NZ fee. What I recall is they set up a legal company (where such can nominally be setup I think for a few hundred (perhaps more? ) US$. That company's purpose is to provide advise to manage their ETFs, and as an employee (and director/CEO) of that company, every year the company pays them a dividend. The company has to have official minutes every year of the one annual meeting (attended by the one person - you ! ) where the first meeting records in the minutes that a dividend of ~$6,700 US$/month is paid to you. And have that amount every month transferred to your bank account. So the proof of this being a dividend are the minutes of meeting and the bank statement of the monthly deposits. Downsides to this are the company startup/registration costs, the annual cost to keep the company registered, the time taken to get 2 years (?) of dividend deposit records to satisfy Thai BoI, and potential New Zealand taxes if one sets up such a company. However there would be no Thai taxes on the dividends when remitted to Thailand, with an LTR visa. Still - perhaps the Thai Consulate NZ fee is cheaper ? Its unfortunate you don't already have a Thai bank account, and then you could simply enter Thailand visa exempt, and apply for a 90-day type-O visa as soon as you entered Thailand on the 30 or 60-day visa exempt status. As you note - consider an agent. I believe this is legal nominally - and in this case it is bank policy that you are using an agent to help over come. There was a time (and maybe still possible) you could do an EARLY trip to Thailand, and as soon as you arrive see if you can pay an agent to assist you to open a bank account in Thailand. I believe an agent will be massively less expensive than the Thai Consulate NZ fee. The issue (?) with an agent, is I read recently Thailand banks are cracking down on Bank accounts being inappropriately opened and i do not know if that has impacted the agent service for helping one to open an account when Visa exempt. Still you could consider that approach.

With respect ... IMHO, that's not entirely true. When large numbers of people from higher-income / wage countries stay in a less wealthy foreign country more-often / longer they can drive up prices such that locals can not afford local items. Hence there needs to be a controlled balance. That's not to say agents don't make a profit and not to say that government officials don't make money ... but rather its to put the overall statement more in perspective.