oldcpu

A dump and that was before the hordes descended from the Soviet steppes and China. Traffic awful, everywhere trying to rip you off. Much nicer and more authentic places in Thailand. IMHO. I'm sort of glad you think that (and others too) as it should mean you will find other places, and if enough people have your view, the increasing trend of Phuket's population will hopefully stabilize with time. As to research and why - ANYONE who objectively did research would see the obvious - but some only want the fabulous sand and empty beaches of 1/2 century ago - something that has not been in Phuket for decades. I debated about posting the below, as I prefer not to have more flooding the island. I would be happy for this post to be deleted and during the brief time I have - I may do myself? What Phuket offers those expats who stay? I thought it obvious, but I guess not so let me note some of the points: International airport relatively close to the entire island MANY (relatively) quality hospitals near by most locations in Phuket Immigration office relatively close to most locations in Phuket Banking in many spots in Phuket Many quality stores / shopping malls English language cinema for those who want such Massive selection of good restaurants of many cuisines (especially relevant to expats in the know) A number of international schools Condos/villas with fabulous views Quiet scenic locations away from the crazy western tourist beaches (for those who take the time and effort to find such ) Many tours (diving and boating expeditions to near by islands ) originate from Phuket Easy to get by with English language For those (not me) tourists/expats who want night life? Phuket's scene is 3rd to only Bangkok and Pattaya Downsides? Its not the isolated serene beach that many dream of Its expensive relative to most of the rest of Thailand (but still cheaper than most of the western world) Main tourist beaches that the ill informed flock to are crazy and IMHO ugly due to the masses Traffic in main arteries is ugly in high season, and also ugly during rush hour in low season. My experience is many are ILL INFORMED and think before coming to Phuket it will be an isolated serene beach with all the modern conveniences. They are invariably disappointed. My hope ? That everyone seizes on the negatives, and go elsewhere than going to Phuket. I am not keen on seeing the traffic get any worse. I am not too worried about the quiet areas being discovered and properly assessed as most don't take the time and effort to properly do such. For me? That is good. Thailand has MANY great areas - so I urge others to find places OTHER than Phuket. Many ( not all thou) of the good points I mention can be found for a cheaper price in any single given other (than Phuket) location in Thailand. So go there instead !

I concede it can seem like you are going around in circles ... but I think if you stick with it you will succeed. My experience in different countries around the world when dealing with bureaucracy is that there can be 'hidden reasons for the delays'. If I had to guess I would say the individual who is handling/screening your case at BoI ran into issues in the past with another applicant, that has irritated that BoI individual screener's boss ... where the boss is pushing his employee to get more info than normal ... and you being the 'low man on the totem pole' here means it all ends on your lap. I went the $100K US equivalent in the Bank route for self health insurance instead of using my European Cigna (as their paperwork about coverage are simply too massive for BoI to find the very precise information they want to see) and this took me some time to prove (as some of my accounts were not accepted as it was possible to trade equities with them). What some have done is asked their Health Insurance company to write a letter saying one has a health insurance contract with $50K US coverage that expires on such and such a date (or maybe it is open ended with no expiry date). I did not go that route so I do not know the exact wording in the letter (from insurance company) that was acceptable to BoI. But when I go for my 5-year re-proof, I think I will try the 'letter' from the Insurance company approach. I took me ~5 months to have my LTR approved, but I succeeded in the end. Perhaps part of that long duration was my fault, as I only fed BoI the bare minimum for financial proof (as I didn't want to share the entire scope of my finances with them) and maybe that complicated things. Good luck !

Interesting link. Under the DTA section I immediately spotted this: That could be advantageous in some cases.

On the topic of Phuket - as has been pointed out to which I fully agree ... Phuket is SIGNIFICANTLY more expensive than most all other places in Thailand. For example consider Chiang Mai : Cost of Living in Phuket is 30.1% higher than in Chiang Mai (without rent) Cost of Living Including Rent in Phuket is 48.8% higher than in Chiang Mai Rent Prices in Phuket are 126.7% higher than in Chiang Mai Restaurant Prices in Phuket are 48.6% higher than in Chiang Mai Groceries Prices in Phuket are 19.5% higher than in Chiang Mai Local Purchasing Power in Phuket is 29.9% lower than in Chiang Mai From that I think one can see the places like Chiang Mai are much cheaper than most places in western Europe. Of course Chiang Mai also has its downsides. Air quality, for example, can be unhealthy at certain times of the year - FAR FAR worse than that of Phuket. I prefer Phuket, but I do know of some who have left Phuket for other less expensive places in Thailand. I think everyone needs to make their own decision as to what they wish and what is important to themselves. My having served on ship for years ... and having lived in sea side cities for years - I have a strong desire to be close to the sea. Most people don't have that as a requirement for a place where they wish to live.

Another image from my Phuket condo balcony, image taken just over an hour ago ... giving an idea as to how great it is to sit on the balcony and enjoy the ambience at night. I looked at condo prices in Spain, Portugal, Malta and elsewhere in western Europe, and I would be hard pressed to find anything as nice as I have now in Phuket, for the price I paid. ... As I noted earlier, I still "pinch" myself all the time that I am lucky to be living here. .... And as a retiree, I note Thailand has some VERY good private hospitals, which my European health insurance mostly fully covers.

For certain, the price of alcohol in most ( all ? ) European countries is massively cheaper in Europe than such in Thailand.

My experience is Spain in places can be more expensive than Thailand in places, and visa versa. For example surfing ( https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/ ) on a price comparison site on the internet, I note: In General: Cost of Living Comparison Between Spain and Thailand Cost of Living in Thailand is 22.9% lower than in Spain (without rent) Cost of Living Including Rent in Thailand is 29.4% lower than in Spain Rent Prices in Thailand are 45.9% lower than in Spain Restaurant Prices in Thailand are 53.3% lower than in Spain Groceries Prices in Thailand are 5.5% lower than in Spain Local Purchasing Power in Thailand is 55.2% lower than in Spain I think it clear - grocery prices are similar, and most else is MORE expensive in Spain. Lets look at some Spanish Islands (tourist areas) to compare with Phuket, a Thailand tourist area.. = = = = = = Consider the Canary Islands: Cost of Living Comparison Between Canary Islands and Phuket Cost of Living in Phuket is 1.2% lower than in Canary Islands (without rent) Cost of Living Including Rent in Phuket is 2.5% lower than in Canary Islands Rent Prices in Phuket are 5.5% lower than in Canary Islands Restaurant Prices in Phuket are 34.8% lower than in Canary Islands Groceries Prices in Phuket are 12.5% higher than in Canary Islands Local Purchasing Power in Phuket is 59.7% lower than in Canary Islands = = = = Consider Palma de Mallorca Cost of Living Comparison Between Palma de Mallorca and Phuket Cost of Living in Phuket is 23.2% lower than in Palma de Mallorca (without rent) Cost of Living Including Rent in Phuket is 22.8% lower than in Palma de Mallorca Rent Prices in Phuket are 21.7% lower than in Palma de Mallorca Restaurant Prices in Phuket are 48.0% lower than in Palma de Mallorca Groceries Prices in Phuket are 0.8% higher than in Palma de Mallorca Local Purchasing Power in Phuket is 44.5% lower than in Palma de Mallorca Yes - those are tourist spots in Spain. But so is Phuket a tourist spot. One REALLY needs to be more specific if one wishes to compare prices between the two countires, but statistics "in general" say otherwise (than claims that Spain is cheaper, which it is not). Overall the statistics say that Thailand is cheaper than Spain. Of course when deciding where to live there is a LOT more to this than just costs - but its important to set the record straight here. and selected spots in each country can be VERY inexpensive relative to other spots in the other country.

These are Thailand specific reasons ... not Phuket specific. Every part of the world has its upsides and its downsides. Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia in Asia...but even Malta in Europe or other islands of Spain also have their downsides. .... They all have their downsides. In fact Malta was one of the places I went to and spent a couple of weeks looking around (in addition to spending a LOT of research) when trying to decide where to retire. I did like Malta a lot. But despite typing that, I choose Phuket over Malta (as I like Phuket more), and I don't regret it for one second. I type that noting my criteria for living in Phuket may be very very different from those of others. I also note aspects that seem to irritate you - don't annoy me. I don't know what TM forms you refer to. I rarely have long lines at the Thai international airports (being 70, having a Thai wife, and an LTR visa), I've seen snakes in Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia (more in fact). Cost of living (compared to Thailand) is not so cheap in Malta (for example). Cost of Living in Thailand is 30.0% lower than in Malta (without rent) Cost of Living Including Rent in Thailand is 35.5% lower than in Malta Rent Prices in Thailand are 49.6% lower than in Malta Restaurant Prices in Thailand are 61.9% lower than in Malta Groceries Prices in Thailand are 13.8% lower than in Malta Local Purchasing Power in Thailand is 42.3% lower than in Malta We are fortunate to have many opportunities in Thailand , and also elsewhere in the world. If you find so much you dislike about Thailand, why do you waste your time posting on AseanNow in the Thailand (and Phuket in particular) area? Are you second guessing your own view?

My experience is also if one makes a typographic error in the branch #/account#, there is a reasonable chance there is no such account. And if there is no such branch or account, the transaction will be reversed (as part of the failure), one will end up with their money again in their account (albeit there will be a small fee for transferring the money back). Still I agree that if you are uncertain, contact your bank and advise them of your error.

Further I find the section on 'dividends' in the Canada/Thailand DTA a bit murky. I extracted some of the Canadian/Thai DTA article 10 on dividends below. Again, where there are brackets and italics, that is where I entered "Thailand" and "Canada". If "Thailand" and "Canada" are seen below without brackets and italics, then that is part of the DTA 'as is'. With myself a tax resident of Thailand, my interpretation is Thailand may tax dividends I obtain from a Canadian company. But Canada may also tax me up to 15% of the Canadian dividends amount. Again, my experience is a pay more than 15% tax to Canada on the dividends I earn in Canada, ... but I need to double check that. Once again, this (from my view) is very murky (to say the least).

The use of the wording "may be taxed" appears in many places in the Canada-Thailand DTA, so its interpretation is important. I note in regards to interest from the Canada/Thailand DTA (where I substituted "in brackets and in italics" both the words "Canada" and "Thailand". Where there are no brackets/italics (and "Canada" and "Thailand" appear) then that is exact wording (with those countries mentioned) in that DTA: Honestly, I would be surprised if I can "get away" with only paying 15% tax of the gross amount of the interest from investments in Canada. My global income (from outside of Canada and outside of Thailand), that I am required to report to Canada as part of my Canadian tax returns (and also report my global income on my wife's Canadian tax return), is sufficiently high such that my experience is that I pay more than 15% to Canada on Canadian interest from investments (but I will need to check that to be certain). I also note that for the interest on Thai government savings bond (that I purchased to help qualify me for a Thai LTR visa) that my Thailand withholding tax is 15% ... which is greater than 10% but less than 25% noted in the DTA. For me ? This is all as clear as mud at present.

I don't think there ever was much of an exodus - if any. For every expat that left, I suspect one or more quality expats took their place.

And as I posted a few times already - a Thai tax ID is NOT so easy to get. My wife tried (for me) and failed. Some months back she applied on line for the Tax ID. That goes to a Bangkok office, and they forwarded my application to Phuket. She received a phone call from an official working in the Phuket RD who asked for (1) confirmation I resided > 180 days in Phuket per calendar year, and (2) where was my income source, and (3) was I bringing this income into Thailand. My wife replied (1) yes I resided > 180 days in Thailand per calendar year, and (2) my income source was foreign pensions from OUTSIDE of Thailand, and (3) I was not bringing money into Thailand at present, as I previously brought a lot in long before 1-Jan-2024. The official told her I did not need a tax ID as long as I was not bringing money into Thailand. Now my view is that does not mean the situation won't change in the future, but that was what she was told by a Thai RD official. The story actually doesn't 100% end there. My wife asked some questions of the Phuket RD official, one question being she noted my Thai pink ID number was rejected as a tax-ID by the online tax forms. Why was that? The Phuket RD official noted the Thai pink ID could only be used as a tax-ID in an on-line form AFTER it was activated. Mine was not activated. (and again he noted he saw no reason to activate mine). Another question my wife asked was, given I am on an LTR visa, if I were to have brought for a tax year (ie tax reporting year) income into Thailand, would I on an LTR visa have to pay Thai tax on such income (if not covered by a DTA?). The Phuket RD official noted they never heard of an LTR visa, and they would have to check on this and phone back. .... That was many months ago. They never phoned back. Clearly the Phuket RD are in no hurry to assign Thai tax IDs to foreigners (at least not in my case).

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.