oldcpu

As for sunset views - here are a couple of views I took from my condo balcony. One is sunset. The other is moon set. Pretty amazing I think. (My camera is a 'cheap' Nikon CoolPix P900 bridge camera).

Agree there is something for everyone in Phuket - although one does need to take the time and effort to look. Compared to most other (non-Bangkok) places, Phuket is expensive. And for those on tighter budgets, that is IMHO a good reason not for staying in Phuket. Thailand has much more inexpensive places to live. As for the East Coast of Phuket - yes there are great places on the East Coast. I drove up and down it a lot , exploring it. One gets the morning sun there, and over 30 years ago, when working for six months (supporting a rocket launch campaign), I lived in Cape Canaveral, Florida (USA) in a East Coast beach front condo, with direct beach access. It was great, and possibly part of the motivation for me purchasing a beach front condo in Phuket. BUT I don't live in such areas in Phuket. I previously, in this thread, posted on the area where I live. For one who know Phuket (and many expats who live here for over a decade don't as they typically do not explore the entire island) ... but for those who do know Phuket, they will note from that post of mine where I noted the location where I live, that I don't get a sunrise view. I have a sunset view in Phuket, with the sun setting over Chalong and Rawai, and at times setting behind the Big Buddha. I have some fabulous images from my Balcony. As for 'great beaches' ... do you mean ONLY the quality of the sand. Because despite the fabulous quality of the sand of Kata, Karon, Patong (on the west coast) I don't consider those over crowded beaches great beaches. Just the contrary. I see them as horrible. Maybe during COVID times (when they were empty) they were great for solitude, but definitely NOT before COVID and definitely NOT after COVID - unless of course, one loves the shoulder to shoulder mingling with the crowds on those beaches as being enjoyable. In that case - yes, they are great beaches. When I go for a walk in the morning on the beach (and adjacent beach) where I live in Phuket (typically from 06:30am to 07:30am), I might see two dozen people in the space of an hour - and they are either walking on the beach too, or are enjoying a morning dip in the water. Thailand has many amazing places. I think thou many on this thread who claim they visited Phuket for a few days and decided Phuket was not for them, ... in fact they saw only 5% of Phuket (probably they saw the horrendous traffic on the North-South roads and they experienced the madness of Patong Beach crowds and hawkish trinket sellers on that beach). They never took the time to rent a car and drive to explore every nook and cranny in Phuket - because that exploration can NOT be done in a few days. From my selfish perspective. Good. Hopefully they find a great place outside of Phuket (and they should find a great place, as there are many such great places in Thailand outside of Phuket ) ... and its a win-win situation, as by their not moving to Phuket, its one less person who may stumble on the area where I live and start making it more crowded. Already real estate prices are climbing to be more and more expensive in Phuket (for both buying and renting). I feel fortunate I bought in 2016 before the current pricing madness took place. Its also becoming very difficult for people to find long term places (at a non crazy price) to live in the area I live - and I suspect that true for most Phuket coastal areas (especially those with sunset views like mine, or better). As an example of the view from my condo balcony - here is an image from last night (dusk) and this morning (at breakfast). As noted - I still 'pinch' myself in the morning.

Phuket is a big province. There are great areas in Phuket that are not over run with tourists that many simply aren't aware of. I lived in Phuket from 1997 to 1999, and returned, purchasing a luxury condo unit in 2016 with direct beach access and a fabulous unobstructed (and close) sea view. 15 minutes drive from Phuket town. My condo is over an hour drive from Kata/Karon/Patong/Kamala, but I never go there, unless I have friends from overseas visiting Phuket, and in that case, and ONLY in that case, I make an exception (to go to that part of the over run west coast beaches) just to see friends who are visitors (who elected to stay there in those areas). Let the masses of tourists hang out there - I much prefer the more quiet spot in Phuket where I live. Frankly - the average tourist AND the average expat never explore Phuket enough to find the quiet spots. Instead they delve into the over run tourist areas, they generalize, they note how over run such is, and then blindly believe all of Phuket is like that and leave Phuket. Please excuse my being selfish, but I am happy Phuket is not explored more by those who criticize. It keeps some less known areas in Phuket quiet, and that's good. It keeps the quiet areas for those of us who took the time and made the effort to explore it more, and kept such areas for those of us who prefer the more quiet spots. And those who criticize typically find good areas elsewhere in Thailand that they like - so it becomes a win-win. We each find what we like. I do grant, ... Phuket traffic, if driving north south is horrible. I also note one can also say that about some other areas of Thailand - so in that ugly aspect Phuket is not unique. I feel fortunate in my day-to-day life (because of the location I choose) I rarely have to put up with the worst of the Phuket traffic. Each to their own. Enjoy the part of Thailand where you settle. I sincerely hope you do enjoy where you stay , ... and I will continue to enjoy where I stay (I practically pinch myself every morning for my good fortune), as I sip my coffee and have breakfast on a quiet condo balcony, over looking the sea. And I enjoy the quiet sunsets many nights, and enjoy watch many a red dusk over the water, all of which can be fabulous, Honestly - the worst part of where I live is it demotivates me to want to travel anywhere else. Despite that, I do thou try (and manage) to travel for about 2 to 3 months outside of Thailand every year. Since retiring in Phuket, I am a lot more fussy now as to where I visit outside of Phuket, ... which IMHO can be blamed on me liking Phuket too much.

I would recommend not losing sleep over it, unless your income is large and you managed to structure your foreign income such that it comes from a tax free environment. I speculate the vast majority of us obtain foreign sourced income (such as pensions) from a country with a DTA with Thailand, and for many (albeit not all) of those DTA, the pension (or incomes) has already been taxed. .... In the case of Canada, the pensions from Canada are taxed in Canada (and not in Thailand). However I believe in the case of Germany, the pensions are not taxed in Germany if one is not a German tax resident but rather if one is a Thai tax resident then there is a risk the German pensions could be taxed in Thailand dependent IF and dependent HOW any such speculative law is implemented). But I am not certain. Is any one certain?

Yes possibly - but I suspect only those Thai adults whose income is VERY VERY small would get money back from the tax man (ie not everyone gets 'negative income tax' ) ... and the remainder of the adults in Thailand would then need to pay more tax in order to fund the negative income tax so to pay money to those who are very poor. ... I could be wrong - but that is my interpretation.

Further to the above, I've been trying to decipher the Capital Gains section of the Thailand/Canada DTA. Its very easy to get confused when they refer to 'contracting state' and 'other contracting state' if they do not specify in the same sub-paragraph in which state one is a resident. With regards to disposition of capital gains (where I am specifically thinking of the sale of stocks, and mutual funds (including ETFs) , I read in an RBC document that there is likely no withholding tax. However when I read the Thai/Canada DTA, I note [where I inserted "Thailand" and "Canada" in the text to help me understand this better as a resident of Thailand😞 ... which suggests to me that even if no withholding tax on the capital gains, one may still need to pay tax to Canada on the capital gains. I can't find wording in the Thai/Canada DTA that states Thailand can tax the Canadian capital gain - but I could be reading the DTA wrong. What I interpreted out of the DTA contradicts some of what I read (and posted) in the post prior to this post about Capital Gains (from stocks and Mutual funds) in Canada. ... ie I believe they are still taxed in Canada - only there may be no initial withholding tax in some cases.

I think this clearly is a worry for some - but not for all. I think there are some of us, who before 1-January-2024, brought a lot of money into Thailand already - and we can possibly live off of such for a very long time. Also I think even more of us are in fact protected by Double Tax Agreements. Yes - further to my point above, I think there are also some of us, who before 1-January-2024, also have a lot of money OUTSIDE of Thailand. We were not living year to year on our foreign Pension and other foreign income, but had salted away large savings outside of Thailand long before 1-January-2024. So for those of us, we simply create a print out dated 31-Dec-2023 of our holdings outside of Thailand, and then proceed to maintain a basic spreadsheet (backed by financial records) of any money we bring in to Thailand, so that we can show it was from income before (in many cases LONG LONG before) 1-January 2024. Of course not everyone is in that situation. But as I already noted, Double Tax Agreements (with the country of one's income) with Thailand need to be considered. I think Thailand does want to tax any global income made by resident (to Thailand) expats after 1-January-2024. As to whether they will legally be able to do such in accordance with current Thai law is not yet 100% clear - but they (some in Thai RD) have been open in the press that that is their intent. At present the Thai RD appears to be laying the ground work for taxing some money brought into Thailand ... and later they hope to go a step further in the future. The Thai RD, when it comes to taxes will be thou, constrained by Double Tax Agreements. I suspect most resident expatriates income abroad has already been taxed in the source country - so again , not all expatriates (in Thailand) will be affected if there are such changes. Only those who were able to structure their global income (outside of Thailand) such that there was no tax will likely be impacted (and also any whose income was taxed by a country with no DTA with Thailand could also be impacted). As many pointed out, if one predicts they have a taxation year in which they expect a very large global income (that is not taxed) then that might as well be a good year NOT to be a tax resident to Thailand. Spend less than 180 days in Thailand for that given taxation year.

That's not my experience, albeit I am over 1 year out of date. Statements and letters are both needed (at least they are in Phuket). In the case of my fixed account with Bangkok Bank, where I maintained 800k THB for years, for Phuket immigration I was required to have a signed and stamped statement of the account for the one year since my previous extension, plus an accompanying signed and stamped bank letter, AND the bank book. The Phuket volunteers web page still includes these requirements on their web page for 1 year extensions for Long term (Type-O/OA) visas t be provided in Phuket. In the case of Bangkok Bank, this was a bit annoying in Phuket, as the local Bangkok Bank branches insisted on obtaining this information from the main office in Bangkok, and they required about a week to obtain such. Hence I switched the 800k THB to Krungsri bank, where in Phuket I could obtain the signed and stamped bank letter & statement (and of course the updated bank book) on the same day (first thing in the morning) and show up at the Phuket immigration later in the afternoon. I am now on an LTR visa so this is no longer relevant to me ... but I do not believe that has changed for the Type-O/OA visa extensions.

Unfortunately , this old thread really got off track in terms of the tax treaty between Canada and Thailand, as it focused on a new Thai RD interpretation for taxation, and has multiple posts about major worries by some of a possible, yet to come, change to taxing foreign income. Yes - we all know that is very possible. But, can we please take a step back - and put some of those worries aside for a moment? And consider the current situation (BEFORE any such hypothetical changes implemented). I want to review the tax scenario so to better understand how any changes could impact myself as a Canadian expatriate, dependent on the visa I may hold. Canadian Pensions: For Canadian expat tax-residents in Thailand , I have read that Canadian pensions are taxed in Canada (and not in Thailand) - this is also my experience as I pay Canadian tax on my Canadian Old Age Security (OAS) and on my Canada Pension Plan (CPP). I also read RRIF payments are considered in that 'pension' category (ie they will also be taxed in Canada). The Thai/Canada Double Tax Agreement (DTA) also suggests that to me that Canadian pensions are to be only taxed in Canada. Canadian Interest/Dividends: I have read that nominally, for non-residents to Canada, who hold stock market shares in Canadian brokerage, that the dividends (and also interest in savings (?) ) are nominally taxed at 25% - but they instead 'may' be taxed by Canada (per the Thai-Canada DTA) at 15% tax rate. I suspect < unsure > that some Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) form (possibly NR301) needs to be completed to reduce the withholding tax to 15% for dividends and interest. ... I assume later, when one submits their income tax return to Canada - one could end up still being taxed at a higher rate than the 15% (and possibly higher than the 25%). I also read that withholding tax by Canada for mutual funds held in an account in Canada may be less ... and its withholding tax is at 15% (possibly as specified in the Canada/Thai DTA (and an NR301 form is not necessary in the mutual fund case)). Again, I assume after income tax returns filed, the actual tax rate could be higher. As to the above taxes - in my case, this is more a curiousity for me, in regards to the taxation of 'dividends' and 'interest' earned in Canada (with myself being a non-resident to Canada, but a resident of Thailand) as I don't receive much in dividends nor interest from investments in Canada. Canadian Capital Gains: It gets more interesting when it comes to Capital Gains (Section 116 of the Canadian Income Tax Act (ITA) and the Thai/Canadian DTA). If I understand the DTA between Thailand and Canada, then capital gains from Canadian investments earned in a Canadian brokerage 'may' be taxed in Canada (but not in Thailand). < unsure > However, further, I read (and also inferred to be more specific) from the Canadian ITA that that if a non-resident to Canada owns less than 25% of a public company listed on a stock exchange in Canada, then capital gains (on stocks, and also mutual funds, ETFS, ... ) on that equity are not taxed in Canada. .... Of course a non-resident to Canada is not entitled to the ~$1-million capital gains deduction in Canada, so perhaps not being required to pay any capital gains tax here is not so far off a speculation. I am NOT certain about this. Again, so to manage ones tax payments (or lack there of), a Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) form may be required for the capital gains. I don't know. I ALSO am not certain on this capital gains interpretation of mine is accurate and I could be 100% wrong here. This (capital gains) is of more interest to me, as I do have equities outside of my RRSP/RRIF in a Canadian brokerage margin account where, when I sell the equities from my margin account, I will have capital gains (which may or may not be payable in Canada). LTR Visa holder perspective I am an LTR visa holder at present. As an LTR visa holder, I may have some benefits here, above and beyond the clear benefits of the Thai/Canada DTA, which is why I am now becoming curious about this. If the money was small (ie dividends/interest) I would not bother much to review this, but for capital gains, this could be of substantial amounts and hence of interest for me sometime in the future. And yes - I fully understand there could be tax changes coming up in Thailand - but to better understand any upcoming changes which may or may not occur - it would be very useful to understand the current situation. EDIT : And for the moderators - please move this to the appropriate financial thread if and as appropriate.

That, IMHO is an EXCELLENT point. When I applied for my LTR visa in 2023, my Canadian tax submission (and the Canadian government reply with their assessment) was invaluable. The Canadian government assessment reply to my tax returns, stated my income from Canada was VERY small, and yes it stated the tax I paid to Canada was accordingly MASSIVELY smaller (trivial really), ... but the Canadian government assessment reply to my Canadian tax return did list my GLOBAL INCOME (ie from outside of Canada) where that was adequate to qualify me for a Thailand LTR visa. So for tax year 2021 and 2022 (for a Thailand year 2023 LTR visa application) my Canadian tax returns were very helpful as they 'proved' to BoI Thailand my Global Income (according to Canada). However the previous 2 decades of tax returns to Canada (while I lived and worked in Germany), which I had to submit in a lump sum when contacted by Canada, were in truth a total waste of Canadian tax payer money to process my tax returns to Canada. But the Canadian government is not about efficiency when it comes to spending tax payer's money. I suspect many governments are like that.

Thats quite possible. We have to see. But I do recommend not underestimating the Canadian government love for paperwork. To set the record straight. Canada, to the best of my knowledge, did NOT contact the German government. Rather when in Germany I applied for a German pension, Germany contacted Canada to confirm my previous employment there. At that point in time my German address at that time was shared between governments. Second - with respect, and I do mean that ("with respect") , I do not believe (by your statement of "collecting thousands of dollars on fees and penalties" ) that you have ANY experience with delinquent tax accounts on the very VERY SMALL scale of my wife and myself. That's not a bad thing. Its good that you likely were never delinquent for small amounts. But your statement there is blatantly misinformed. The total amount of fees for more than 5 years of not-submitted tax returns was less than $50 Cdn. Ok ?? It was small because no money to trivial amount was owed. So I have no clue who has been telling you (nor where you have been reading) that fees of thousands of dollars (YOUR WORDS) are liable when one's subsequent tax return proves no tax owed (my wife's case) or trivial tax owed (my case), but I seriously recommend you take such misinformed information sources with a grain of salt. Again - good on you for NOT being delinquent in tax submissions, but do take caution in the misinformation you clearly believed as to what happens in regards to fines with trivial delinquencies. Your statement is totally in the WRONG BALLPARK there.

Not a complaint. Just an observation. Now take Germany (in contrast). I earn a small amount of income from Germany (larger than what I obtain from Canada). Germany sent me a letter advising me to stop sending annual tax returns (unless my tax situation changes) because the amount I obtained from Germany was either covered by a DTA (with Thailand) or it was too small (ie interest) for them to want to process a tax return. Common sense prevailed there in Germany. I can't say the same about Canada - .... but hey - if Canada wants to waste their tax payers money by processing a tax return from my wife (and from myself) which they required us to submit so to receive NO EXTRA tax (my wife's case) or a trivial amount of tax (my case - which does not pay enough for the labour to review my tax form) - then go to it !! Sure !! By all means !! . .... fill the beloved Canadian 'boots'. A CLASSIC case of government inefficiency (dare I say over reach) to the determent of their tax paying citizens/residents. $13,000 ? Your case is VERY VERY VERY different. In my wife's case (and my case) ? Why transfer SIGNIFICANTLY small amounts that garner less than $100 Cdn/year interest? Why ? Why spend the time? The amount of money was so small it was NOT WORTH THE EFFORT. But Canada wants to waste their tax payers money paying civil servants to review tax forms where either NO MONEY or next to no money is collected. Hopefully Thailand has more sense than Canada - and takes a good look at how Germany does such.

I have read accounts of other's (on a new Visa such as LTR or DTV) that when the visas first came out, they could only open a Bank Account at Krungsri bank (in Phuket) if they could show a Yellow-book/Pink-ID in ADDITION to showing one's passport/Visa. I have also opened accounts at Krungsri in Phuket (when on a type-O/OA visa) but I can't recall if they asked for my pink-ID/yellow book (in addition to passport). They might have. I simply can not recall. I do recall at Bangkok bank branch in Phuket, when on a Type-O visa 1-year extension, and I tried to buy a Thai government bond (which I needed as part of my meeting part of an LTR visa application criteria) that the Bank Manager of that branch would ONLY let me buy the bond if I had a Yellow-book and Pink ID (which I had). Then when buying the Thai government bond, the teller at the counter filling in the online form, reached an impasse,when the form insisted I provide a Thai Tax ID (which I did not have). My Thai wife suggested they use my Pink-ID number (as the tax ID #) and the online computer form accepted that #. I eventually obtained the government bond. Over 1/2 year later, my wife out of curiousity, entered my pink-ID number as the tax ID # in an online Thai tax form (for a tax return), and the number was IMMEDIATELY rejected. A subsequent chat with a Phuket RD (tax) official indicated that for a pink-ID # to be used as a tax-ID, it must first be activated as such - and in the case of my pink-ID, that # has not been activated. .. Nor did the official think I needed to activate it as a tax-ID (but that is another story). I can only assume that the Bank of Thailand form (for buying a Thai government bond, where the Bangkok Bank teller used my pink-ID# to get me a Thai government bond) did not check to see if my pink-ID # was activated to be also used as a Thai tax ID #. I have also obtained some trivial discounts at some Thai park/venues by my having a Pink-ID, but frankly the amount saved is trivial and not worth while to get the Pink-ID. However the Pink-ID did come in handy for getting the government bond.

Obtaining a Thai tax ID might be more difficult than what some think. I posted on this a couple of times. Some months back, my Thai wife submitted an online application for me to obtain a Thai tax ID. That application goes to Bangkok based RD, and Bangkok referred it back to the Phuket RD. My wife obtained a phone call from a Phuket RD official. They wanted to know (1) did I spend more than 180 days in Thailand, and (2) what was my source of income, and (3) was I bringing any money into Thailand. My wife answered (1) I lived in Thailand full time, and (2) my income was ONLY pensions from outside of Thailand and (3) at present time I was not bringing money into Thailand. The Phuket RD official stated I did not need a Thai tax ID and that I did not need to file a Thai tax return. When asked if my Thai Pink-ID # could be used as a Thai tax ID, the official advised for me , no at present, because it was not activated as a tax ID. It needed to be activated FIRST to be used as a Thai tax ID, and the official would not activate it as they believed I did not need a Thai tax ID. My wife then noted I was on an LTR visa, and that I planned to bring money into Thailand while on that Visa. Would I then need a Thai tax ID and need to file a Thai tax return? The official replied they never heard of an LTR visa, and that they would check into this and call m wife back. That was many months ago. They never called back. I still do not have an 'active' Thai tax ID. I suspect to get a Thai tax ID, I would have to show up at the local Thai RD office in Phuket early in the morning and plant myself there for the full day, until they finally either kicked me out of the office, or gave me a Thai tax ID. I am not overly keen to do that. So this may not (at present) be as easy to get a Thai tax ID as one might think.

A case in point - in some countries (Canada in particular) just because one does not have sufficient taxable income, does not mean one does not have to file a tax return. In the case of Canada, as soon as one who is a resident to Canada earns income more than the 'personal exemption' that person has to file a Canadian income tax return. Further, non-residents to Canada with Canadian income (such as pensions from Canada or small trivial amounts of interest from Canadian banks) are not entitled to 'personal exemption' and they also have to file a Canadian income tax return. My Thai wife has maintained a small bank account in Canada (kept from when she lived in Canada) , with interest less than $100 Cdn/year. While she was living in Germany as a permanent resident, she went for some years without filing a Canadian tax return. Revenue Canada subsequently contacted her in Germany and advised her she needed to file a Canadian tax return for all of the past years (where due to such low bank interest less than $100 Cdn she did not file a tax return). Revenue Canada did not care if my wife claimed she did not earn enough money to pay Tax in Canada (as the withholding tax more than balanced out the small interest she obtained). They didn't care. They wanted the tax return ! Revenue Canada wanted to be THE organization that decided on Canadian tax - and not my wife's (accurate) assessment. And further they wanted to know all of her Global income and also as her spouse, know all of my Global income, as part of her Canadian tax return. I don't know the Thai RD view here (my hope is that the Thai RD view is more enlightened than Canada's) but I do know that there are countries (such as Canada) who want to make the decision as to whether one's income is taxable in a tax return EVERY YEAR and they do NOT want the non-resident individual (who has had some financial connection to Canada) , regardless of the amount earned in Canada, to make the decision whether to file a Canadian return or not file a return.

I only recently had this thread pointed out to me. While scanning the thread (and thinking to provide my VERY limited experience here) I noticed your post. Some months back my Thai wife entered my Pink-ID # in an online Thai tax form. The number was rejected (we learned later why it was rejected). I had never filed a Thai income tax return in the past (I have only lived here on visa-exempt, Type-OA visa, Type-OA visa and LTR visas), and I have never worked in Thailand, but given all the speculation going on with this subject, she thought to investigate the application for a Thai Tax ID for me, using the online link. Accordingly she applied on-line for a Thai tax ID for myself. A few days later my wife received a phone call from the Phuket office of the Thai Revenue department. She was advised that the online application goes to the central Bangkok office, and from there it was passed on to the Phuket branch of the Thai Revenue department. The Phuket official wanted to know why I wanted a Thai tax ID? My wife replied she and I had read of tax changes coming that might require such. The Phuket official wanted confirmation I spent more than 180 days per year in Thailand, and they asked for my source of income? My wife advised my source of income was from pensions outside of Thailand. She noted that I did plan to spend >180 days in Thailand and she noted at present I did not bring any income into Thailand (as I had brought a lot of savings into Thailand in years prior). The official stated if I brought no income money into Thailand (and if I had no income from sources inside of Thailand) then I did not need a tax ID and that I did not need to file a Thai tax return. My wife then asked 2 questions, ... (1) at what point would I need to file a Thai tax return on bank/bond interest from Thailand (given withholding tax already deducted)? and (2) given that I was on an LTR visa, would I need to then file a Thai tax return (and hence need a tax ID #) for pension income brought into Thailand? The official replied that they had NEVER heard of an LTR visa, and they would need to look into that and call my wife back. My wife then noted I have a pink-ID, but that the number on the Pink-ID was rejected by the on-line Thai tax forms. The Phuket official noted that in order for a pink-ID to be used as a tax-ID, it needs to be first activated (by the Revenue Department) and that mine was not activated (as official saw no need for me to have a Tax ID). The official never phoned back. So that is my 'real life' experience in this regard thus far.

What user? What thread? What regional tax offices? My experience with Phuket regional tax office, is they never heard of an LTR visa. When (Phuket regional tax office) were asked if I would need to submit a Thai tax return and possibly pay tax on pension income brought in to Thailand (with my being on an LTR visa) they stated they would check and phone back. They never phoned back. I will be most curious to see what the tax form for 2024-tax year looks like when it comes out ( in November/December) ?

$50 for 3 months ONLY from Vietnam ??? That's crap !! The LTR is good for 10 years and one is not restricted to 3 months. Further, a GREAT thing about Thailand is there are many different Visas. Why pay $50 for 3 months in Vietnam, when one can enter Thailand visa exempt for 60-days, and then apply for a 30-day extension and get 90-days (ie 3 months) and not have to pay $50. Clearly Thailand' options there are FAR superior. Not to mention other aspects of Thailand are superior (for example, the superior quality of Thailand's hospital system comes to mind). Frankly? You can have Vietnam. I MUCH prefer Thailand and not just because of Thailand's superior Visa options.

That is wrong. A complete fabrication. a TOTAL fabrication. There is no such annual re-qualification. I qualified back in May last year. I have had ZERO interaction with BoI and ZERO interaction with the local Phuket immigration since. NONE. The ONLY interaction I have had the past 18-months is with airport Immigration when I enter and leave Thailand, and they look at and stamp my passport. Typically I travel out/in Thailand twice a year and if I maintain that, I will NEVER have to do a report ( compare this to the 90-day reports I had to do on a Type-O/OA ). I will thou in about 3.5 years (at the 5-year point from first getting my LTR visa), need to show proof of my finances again. I look forward to that, as I now know the technique to use (and have BoI accept) my European Cigna Health insurance, and I then won't need to keep $100K US equivalent in a bank account for self health insurance. The insurance requirements for the LTR are, IMHO, massively superior to what is in place today on an Type-OA visa extension (for reason of retirement)

Yes I agree. Lets keep fingers crossed with the LTR. In regards to change in policies with visas, one need look no further than the Type-OA. When I obtained my Type-OA, there was no requirement for proving Health Insurance. But by the time my close to 2 years (on that one year visa) was up, health insurance requirements (with insurance from the Thai branch of a health insurance company) were put in place. A number of us then left Thailand (either sooner or later) without a re-entry permit to invalidate our Type-OA visas and re-entered Visa Exempt, and then applied for and obtained Type-O visas which did not have a Health Insurance requirement. Many nay sayers claimed (and still claim) that there will come a day when Type-O visa holders will have to get health insurance (similar to Type-OA) but that has not happened yet - but it could happen. And it might not. Still, I like the LTR visa approach to Health Insurance, where one can either self insure (by proving $100k US$ equivalent in any savings account around the world), or show commercial health insurance up to a Thai specified coverage, where BoI do NOT require this (for LTR visa) to be from the Thai branch of a health insurance company. Instead if one can show (to BoI satisfaction) that the foreign health insurance meets their specified health insurance requirements, then that will suffice (where I have read some users have done that by a letter which specifically states the BoI health insurance required coverage). My speculation is as the years roll by, the health insurance requirements, and the requirement in how such coverage is shown, could continue to evolve - possibly for both the Type-OA and the LTR Visa, and maybe other visas as well. As you note, governments and policies change.

Deleted post (mostly duplicate of previous post) - see above

From us as expats on 'the outside' it can look that way - although we do only pay the 50,000 THB once at the start - no additional money need to be paid at the 5 year permission to stay renewal point. Its possible thou, the approval process on the inside at BoI may be different (possibly quicker - less paperwork for them ?? but same paperwork for us as expats ??? ). I guess we won't know until the first individuals who obtained the LTR visa, start going for their second 5-year permission to stay period. How difficult will be the financial proof then? The same ? Worse? Easier? As for the 'permission to stay' terminology being different from visa dates - that has been around for a while with other visas (albeit applied differently). A classic case is the Type-OA visa multiple re-entry , where one could get that as a 1-year Visa from outside of Thailand, and then say one obtained the Type-OA on 1-July-2018 and it was valid with a Visa date from 1-July-2018 (start) to 1-July-2019 (expiry date). My recollection is one could FIRST show up in Thailand border on on 1-July-2018 and obtain a permission to stay in Thailand until 30-June-2019. But say one then left Thailand on 25-June-2019 (say a week or so before last date on the visa) and re-enterred Thailand on 29-June-2019 (re-enter 2 days before Type-OA visa expiry date). In one's passport, using that as the underlying Visa, one would then obtain an additional permission to stay until 28-June-2020. ie one almost gets 2 years permission to stay on the one-year visa (despite last date on visa being 1-July-2019). ... further say on 1-June-2020, one then goes to immigration inside of Thailand and applies for a 1-year extension (say based on retirement). If approved, one could then get an permission to stay until about 27-June-2021 (where note the last date on the original Type-OA visa was almost 2 years earlier being 1-July-2019), again on the underlying Type-OA visa. So already, on a 1-year visa, one has obtained almost a 3-year permission to stay. Each year one can keep going back for a 1 year extension (assuming one continues to meet the requirements) despite the last date on the visa being many years in the past. And technically, the Visa is NOT being renewed - but rather the 'permission to stay' is constantly being extended (or renewed) on the basis of the underlying visa. ... and apologies if my terminology is not exact and if that reads confusing. Best I can understand, the validity dates of a visa (in Thailand) are different from the 'permission to stay dates' in a Visa although clearly there is a relationship between the two. I do understand the confusion here. It puzzled me for a while as well. And as for the LTR - yes I agree having to go back after 5 years to reprove finances for a 10 year Visa does make one wonder why its called 10-years ... but we don't know yet exactly how smooth things will be at the 5-year point (for permission to stay extension for remaining 5 years), nor for that matter at the 10 year point. We have been told there will be no more money asked for at the 5-year point.

I note Tim K you posted about experience in Phuket. My post is a bit off topic, but when I was on a non-immigrant Type-O visa a couple of years back, I opened a few different accounts with Krungsri (branch in Central festival in Phuket) with no problem. It was not difficult at all - although I note the Bank Manager at that time was a friend of my wife (where that manager has now moved to a different branch in Phuket). I also have a yellow book/pink-ID but I don't recall being asked for that to open the Krungsri account (maybe I was - maybe I wasn't - I just can't recall). I also deposited a moderate (more than basic) amount of money which I think helps the Bank Manager who can show they attracted new customers who deposit a bit more than the average amount. I like the Krungsri account for if one keeps a total of 5-million THB in the bank (in different 'forms') with the Krungsri Exclusive, one obtains a LOT of perks (use of their VIP lounge, 2 passes to Thai Airways lounges every year + 2 Dragon Pass lounge access passes every year), plus 8 passes every month to two different health clubs in Phuket (Club Asia (in Royal Phuket City Hotel) and Alpha Club). The main reason thou for me opening a Krungsri account at the time was I could get yearly printouts (needed for the Type-O visa year extensions) much quicker than I could from Bangkok Bank. The 'total' amount in the bank can be in different currencies, mutual fund via the bank, etc ... (it need not all be in cash). Obviously that perk is NOT something of interest for most, as many on a Type-O prefer NOT to even hold 800k THB in a Thai Bank. With a substantial amount of money in Thailand now, it also means I don't have to worry about bringing money into Thailand for a number of years, until this entire 'tax residency' speculation aspects are more clear. Back on topic : While I don't know anyone personally on a DTV visa, I am reading this thread with interest, and I hope more people with a DTV visa post on it and share their experience. I have many friends who don't live in Thailand often pepper me with questions and its nice to have a bit of information on other visas. A DTV might be suitable for some of them.

Renting can be a good approach as long as rents don't sky rocket. In the (foreign freehold) condo where I live (and purchased in 2016) typically monthly rents were 75,000 to 80,000 THB per month for a one year lease (year 2016). During COVID years this dropped to ~55,000 to 75,000 THB per month. The asking price today (year 2024), for a one year lease, for the same properties, is 120,000 THB/month. That is a BIG increase. Many renters simply moved out due to the price increase (and new renters with more money moved in). I purchased a foreign freehold condo in the complex where I live in year 2016 and I am glad I did. Asking prices then for a foreign freehold condo in my complex were about 18-million to 19-million THB. The CJPM/Committee have done a good job in maintaining the complex, and asking prices now are 23-million THB per unit. This is always the risk with real estate, and that is especially true in Thailand. I know of condos in Thailand whose prices have fallen by 50% since their original offerings (by the developer) as the complex was never maintained well by the CJPM/committee management. Those owners of condos are disappointed at the price drop. And I also know of condos (mine being one) where price has increased. Its VERY difficult to foresee the future here. Also, if buying a condo in your Thai wife's name, that means it will be a Thai freehold. My experience is that the liquidity of Thai freehold (especially for luxury condos) is much less than the liquidity for foreign freehold. If it was in your name, the condo would be a foreign freehold. So if you and your wife want to sell a "Thai freehold" condo, it might be on the market for a long time before it sells. In contrast a foreign freehold on average sells much faster. And I assume you have taken into account the risks that (1) if disaster should occur and your wife pass away, you have one year to sell the Thai condo (as a Thai freehold condo can not be owned by yourself as a foreigner), and after the 1 year if not sold the government will auction it off at a dirt cheap price, and (2) if another disaster, such as your wife and yourself having irreconcilable differences, then she could evict you from the condo. So there are major risks with a foreigner having their Thai wife purchase a Thai condo in the Thai wife's name - and these are aspects that need to be considered as well.

I suspect there is a growing concern among many, that those who Thai immigration are able to determine spent >180 days in Thailand in a given calendar year, could be flagged as possible tax residents and that information could be passed to the Thai RD. Clearly that is speculation, but it is not unheard of for immigration to have communication with the Thai RD. If there is such a communication, then the "Tax residents the RD are aware of" could be more than just those who hold a Thai TIN. I believe this is an aspect many of us will be observing to see how it all plays out in the coming few years.