oldcpu

Indeed. And so it has turned out (after POR.161/162) re: the separate and current BoI/RD interpretation re: LTR tax exemption. I don't have any predictions as to what may or may not transpire if, (major 'if' ) global taxation is ever introduced. I suspect there are some very wealthy and even more influential Thai who are opposed to any such change from remitted to global. As for those of us on the LTR visa, I suspect for many of us, the current DTAs between Thailand and our source income country may mean any potential/possible future change from remitted to global taxation won't have much of an impact on us (and for some others there could be an impact). But for now, the LTR-WP (at least in my case) is pretty good.

It was the BoI interpretation that was new. OK. BoI interpretation. I placed that in BOLD as you seem to have missed reading those words. BoI were queried at the start of the LTR visa and at that time they noted ALL remitted foreign income for LTR-WP, WGC, WFTP was tax exempt. OK? Again, BOI interpretation. OK? Further, the logic was, one does NOT pay tax in the current tax year, unless it is withholding tax (or unless one is remitting semi-annual tax return). If one is submitting annual tax returns, it is always the YEAR after the income is remitted that the tax return is submitted. Hence this makes such income "derived in the previous tax year" and hence the interpretation was that it was tax exempt. Show me one person who submits a tax return in the very same year in which it was earned. However BoI are now NOT using the words 'previous' tax year. The BoI interpretation is now 'remitted income from an other tax year different from the year in which the money is earned' is tax exempt. THAT is the new BoI interpretation. Again, my post was specific - BoI interpretation, where BoI have changed their interpretation. What part of Boi changing their interpretation do you not understand?

Different banks. Different policies. In the case of Canada, the Bank of Montreal nominally won't allow Canadians who are non residents of Canada to open an account and will not allow trading on BMO brokerage accounts. However Scotiabank and RBC will allow Canadians who are not residents of Canada to open accounts. My understanding is there is more paperwork for the banks which may explain policy differences. Questrade in Canada will allow Canadians who are not Canadian residents to open brokerage accounts. I suspect every country is a bit different.

In Phuket when I was on a Type-0A and later a Type-O, when applying for my yearly extension, I would ask the IO about my 90 day report ( if they didn’t automatically give me a piece of paper indicating when next 90 day repoert due).

I can't help but suspect that the person in Bangkok she spoke to was not knowledgeable with regard to Kasikorn policy - and may not have been the correct person in Kasikorn Bangkok main branch to chat with. I note you succeeded with another Kaskikorn branch ... where I suspect that individual (in the other branch) may have known of the correct policy (as opposed the first branch where they did not know). Clearly this is all very much speculation by me - but from what I understand from my wife's friend (who is a Krungsri branch manager), where this branch manager in a large shopping mall, that she regularly chats with and goes to lunch with the other different bank branch managers (there are 5 or 6 different banks in that shopping mall), is that branch managers need to be very careful if they do not follow their bank's central branch policy ... Some branch managers will 'take' a chance, but not all are inclined to do so. I have had this (curiosity about LTR) happen with Immigration officers, when entering Thailand. Where they called over other IO (from their booths, stopping momentary some airport immigration processing at other booths) to come over and look at the LTR visa stamp in my passport. Another example, when the local Transport office, reversed their decision (after initially refusing to give me an International driver's licence with me on an LTR visa), they asked if they could copy the various visa stamps in my passport, so to use it as a case study ( lol !! ). My passport had stamps of visa exempt, Type-OA, Type-OA extensions (both retirement & marriage), Type-O (retirement) , Type-O extensions, and the LTR-WP visa stamp. They stated they were going to put the photocopies of my passport's stamps in a local "training" booklet as a guide to their transport office staff. I suspect something as that may also be the case for Bank Branches, where they need some sort of procedure, or guide, so that they know based on which Visas they are allowed to permit bank accounts to be open. I am curious if others have experienced (in recent months) what you experienced with Kasikorn bank branches. When I (recently) opened up a new account with SCB bank, they not only knew of the LTR, but they insisted on seeing (and having a copy of) my "The Notification of qualification of Endorsement for Long Term Resident Visa" document, that all LTR visa holders get. ... The BoI web page says to expect that, but I failed to read that web page before hand (fortunately I had a copy on my smartphone). I was surprised that an SCB branch staff even knew about such a document. Clearly (IMHO) they (SCB) were better in updating central bank policy and then passing that information to various branches, than perhaps Kasikorn.

How long ago was it when you were denied opening an account in Kasikorn due to your LTR not being a non-immigrant visa? About a year ago (?) , when my wife was chatting to a Thai friend who at that time was a local branch manager of a bank in Phuket Central Festival shopping center, she advised she had only 'just' received approval from her bank HQ to allow foreigners on LTR to open Bank Accounts. She noted that most other bank branches in Central Festival had not yet been authorized to do so by their HQ bank in Bangkok (the local branch managers often go to lunch together and swap stories). Some bank branch managers may be more willing to take a risk (if HQ not yet authorized / changed procedure) than other bank managers. Sometimes, a very gentle and very very polite push back does wonders. Last year i was denied to get an International Driver's Licence (based on my Thai driver's licence) from the local Transport office (here in the province where i live in Thailand). We sat down with the head manager of that Transport office, and we agreed (1) i would contact BoI and advise them of the issue, and (2) they would contact the Transport office HQ and advise their procedure/rules did not allow them to provide an International Driver's licence to an LTR visa holder. Within a day, the Transport office called us back, and stated to come in and get the international driver's licence as Transport HQ approved such. Their 'procedure/rules' had not yet been updated. i suspect it the same for Kasikorn branch. Either the rules/procedures established by Kasikorn HQ had not been updated , or updated rules had not yet been circulated to the branch where you applied for an account. A very polite gentle push back, can sometimes help get the rules/procedures and circulation of such updated. Glad to read thou, you succeeded elsewhere.

Further to this , Thai tax law clearly states one has the option to choose whether they wish tax withheld or not, so by refusing you the bank is not following Thai tax law.

One aspect about withholding tax on interest earned on ones Thai savibgs account is that per Thai tax law, ... by such tax being paid, ones Thai tax obligations for that interest has been met, ... and that interest no longer is considered assessable income as part of the determination for assessing if Thai tax return is required.

This may be immigration department location specific ? I note for Phuket (according to the Phuket immigration volunteers site): https://piv-phuket.com/retirement/ Of course Phuket Immigration volunteers simply do their very best to advise as to Phuket Immigration policy ... and there is always the risk their description does not 100% match how the Phuket IO implement the Thai immigration policy.

Thanks. You are the 3rd person on this thread to note that BoI now advise (by private email only) that for LTR visa holders, foreign income earned to be exempt Thai taxation using Royal Decree-743 (assuming LTR holder a Thai tax resident) must be remitted in a year other than that in which it was earned. I though the BoI wording "according to the latest information provided by the Revenue department" especially telling. In essence it hints that they have changed their interpretation from what the vast majority of us were lead to believe when we first applied for our Visa. ie their previous (information) from the Revenue Department may have been different - or there was no previous information. The main impact on me, is I gave inaccurate opinions to others, as my opinion was based on an out of date BoI policy. I am annoyed now (with myself), that I ended up doing so. But how can one know when policy changes if no one is told? Its frustrating (from my view) that BoI did not go more public on this "latest information" ... Hopefully any LTR visa holders, who remitted current year income, can point to a DTA wording that helps make their income exempt Thai tax. I guess "This is Thailand" but this could be annoying for any financially impacted. .

Thailand is notorious for the right hand not talking to the left hand - but - but its not beyond the realm of possibility that BoI might pass their records to the Thai RD. I don't see that for a cause of worry (at least not in my own case). If one has the an LTR-WP/WGC visa, and given the BoI emails that a couple forum members recently shared re; the updated BoI position on tax exemption for those visas, its likely a good time now to start ensuring one is remitting money to Thailand from a year other than the year in which the foreign income is earned. Start planning now. As for past remittance? If one has concerns due to remitted foreign income, take a second look at the Double Tax Agreement (DTA) one has with one's source country, so maybe that is a factor here that in such a case a DTA may reduce Thai tax exposure, dependent on the DTA wording. And also take a look at one's foreign savings status (outside of Thailand) on 31-Dec-2023, and perhaps that amount can be used to show any remitted funds in 2024 and 2025 were 100% tax exempt. (It could be useful to show such if the LTR Visa tax exemption is not met , or if the relevant DTA does not provide tax exemption) . The above being due to Ministerial Directives Por.161.162 governing remittance of any income/saving from before 1-Jan-2024. The devil is in the details - and there could be lots of legal solid reasons, why no Thai tax return is need as the remitted funds to Thailand do not meet the Thai tax law (as amplified by Royal Decrees and Ministerial Directives) assessable income criteria. Best wishes to all here.

Yes, but I have my CPP and OAS deposited in to a Canadian bank. Then I transfer the money from the Canadian bank to Wise. And once in Wise I can leave it there (to pay for my travels outside of Thailand) or I can transfer the money from Wise to Thailand. I used to use BMO (for CPP/OAS receipt) but BMO have made it difficult for me to access my BMO account as a non-resident of Canada. So last month, when visiting Canada, I opened a Scotiabank account (where they have my Thailand address as my residence, and my sister's Canadian address as my mailing address) and I initiated a change with Service Canada to have my OAS and CPP go to Scotiabank. That should take place end-December. As soon as that OAS/CPP transfer to Scotiabank is confirmed (end-December), I plan to close my BMO account. I have yet to try a transfer from ScotiaBank to Wise, but i don't anticipate any difficulty. Do you still have a Canadian Bank account? Both Scotiabank and Royal Bank will allow Canadian citizens, who are non-residents of Canada (but who are residents of Thailand), to open Bank accounts with them.

I don't think its hysteria. If a resident of Thailand (and thus considered a Thai tax resident) it really depends on one's foreign income source, the amount of one's income, and whether one has both Foreign and Thai savings, and how much money one is remitting to Thailand, and whether that is savings from before 1-Jan-2024 or income derived since. All of which forms a picture as to where one's money is from in order to live. And whether there are tax obligations. Depending on one's financial situation, it may make financial sense not to be a resident of Thailand. There are many other countries that are good to stay in. Of course as one is getting older, travelling to spend time outside of Thailand for > 180 days per year gets more and more difficult. If one has a lot of income (earned from between 1-Jan-2024 and now) and yet also wishes to remit it to Thailand tax free, then what those retirees are doing (to stay outside of Thailand > 179 days) may make perfect sense (if no DTA protects their post 1-Jan-2024 income). In a year in which they are not a resident of Thailand they could remit a massive amount of money to Thailand, legally Thai tax free. Then in subsequent years stay in Thailand and live off of that already remitted money. However there are downsides to most approaches. In that case (remitting a bunch of money to Thailand when not a Thai tax resident), one likely will earn far less profit off of that money when the money is in Thailand, in comparison to the money one may earn if the money is kept outside of Thailand. As one gets older thou, and travel becomes more difficult, one may then decide simply to remain in Thailand, and deal with any Thai tax 'hit' if and when it occurs - paying for such to avoid the inconvenience of leaving the country.

I suspect it depends on what you mean as "to be doing nothing" in regards to "burying ones head in the sand". I brought a large amount of money into Thailand years ago ( as a Thai non resident) and have been living off such since. My wife pushed me to get a Thai tax ID but the local RD office refused to grant me such. I obtained the LTR-WP visa and actively monitor Asean now forums and follow up on my own reviewing Thai tax law ( translations), reviewing relevant DTAs with my source income countrys, review relevant Thai Royal Decrees on taxation, and try to stay up to date with Thai tax interpretations as they change. Have I filed I Thai tax returns, No. Have I paid Thai withholding tax on Thai bank interest? Yes. In your case you have the LTR (?). You went to a local law office to inquire . And you monitor this thread and likely others. I don't call that sticking one's head in the sand. Rather I call it an approach based on a considered assessment. That is not to say mistakes can't be made. We all make mistakes but we can still try our best.

Excellent. I didn’t know that ( I mistakenly thought otherwise). Thanks for the clarification.

A further piece of trivia on this, ... according to the Phuket volunteers web site https://piv-phuket.com/retirement/ In Phuket, like other immigration offices, one must apply for the Type-O at least 15-days before the visa exempt permission to stay expires. In the case of Phuket thou, one can also apply for the type-O as early as 45 days before the visa exempt permission to stay expires - where that 45 day down to 15 day timeframe window (before the Permission to Stay expires) gives one more flexibility as to when they can go to the Immigration office. I don't believe all other Immigration offices allow one to apply for the Type-O as 'far away' in time as 45-days before the initial Visa exempt permission to stay expires.

Yes. nominally tax free in your example. Per the 'latest' BoI emails to a couple of forum members, if on an LTR-WP or LTR-WGC, nominally the remitted foreign income to Thailand , if it is remitted in a year other than the year in which the money was earned as income, is tax free. So for your example, foreign income earned in 2024 outside of Thailand, and that same income remitted in 2025 to Thailand, should be tax free per LTR Royal Decree 743 and per the current BOI interpretation. A point that was being made thou, was say you received that income in Dec-2024, and remitted the income to Thailand in Nov-2025. That Dec-2024 income would be exempt Thailand tax per the LTR Royal Decree, ... but any interest/money profit earned in in Jan-2025 to Nov-2025 from that Dec-2024 income, if that profit remitted in Dec-2025, would be possibly taxable in Thailand (despite one being on an LTR visa) dependent on what the DTA between Thailand and the income source country states. One needs to wait to 2026 to bring that 2025 profit into Thailand to be tax free (if DTA does not make tax free). ... This is per the 'latest Boi emails" (that forum members posted about), where such notes the LTR visa does not exempt profit earned in the same year it is remitted. .

Maybe I worded that wrong. The DTA route might augment the LTR, not nullify it. .

I don't think anyone knows the answer here for certain. I suspect it is up to the Thai RD and any political objectives/intent they may have. Assume you have account-A outside of Thailand (where your income goes into) and account-B (outside of Thailand with lots of money invested). In this example, in calendar year 2026, assume as noted your income goes into account-A . And you had 10x as much money as your past (many years back) income in account-B (earning lots of profit). But you elected to bring money from account-A into Thailand in year 2026 (ie same year and same account in which you deposited that year 2026 earned that money), then IMHO the Thai RD could state that money is clearly income from year 2026, bought into Thailand in year 2026, and hence not exempt Thai tax per the Royal Decree 743. and ... and .. .who knows. .. Maybe given your massive amount of money in account-B, they would ignore that account-A money brought into Thailand in year 2026 was also earned in year 2026. But I would not gamble on that hopeful view of the RD. IMHO (my opinion, NOT tax advice) is to separate clearly the income, into a different calendar year the remittance submission, and have a solid paper trail of earnings to remittance. .

I don't think I fully understand the details of your question. With regard to this new BoI interpretation of the Royal Decree 743, ... My understanding (ie 'understanding , not advice) ... is if you earn foreign income outside of Thailand any time in year 2026, but wait until anytime in calendar year 2027 or later to bring it into Thailand, then per both Royal Decree 743 and the RD/BoI interpretation of the Royal Decree, that money is free of Thailand taxes. It is not to be considered assessable income in Thailand and not to be used in assessing if a Thailand tax return needed. For example, income on the last day of December-2026, could be bought into Thailand on the 1st day of January-2027, with no Thailand Tax obligations, as it is a different calendar year. Note this does NOT apply to profits earned on that year-2026 money gained in year 2027 (ie profits if the 2026 money is invested). For example if you receive income from the last day of December-2026 (and don't yet bring into Thailand), and if you invest that Dec-2026 money outside of Thailand, and then in November-2027 you decided to remit that money into Thailand, you could remit the amount earned in December-2026 to Thailand tax free. BUT if you included the profit you made from Jan-2027 to Nov-2027 (on that Dec-2026 income) in that November-2027 remittance, then that profit (only) might be taxable in Thailand (DTA content dependent). To keep it simple, you would need to wait until calendar year 2028 to bring that profit into Thailand. Clear as mud? This is my understanding - and it is what I am using for my own guidance. Take such or leave such as I am not a tax advisor.

If you have already paid tax on the income in the UK at the rate you noted, and if it is covered by a DTA, then IMHO the worst aspect might be having to file a Thai income tax return, which means get a tax credit (?) from the UK. If so that would be a PIA (but only cost time , not money). But I am not certain on that. Nor am I certain that even it necessary for you to file a Thai tax return for the money you remitted (where it reads to me that you assess its not protected by LTR / Royal decree 743 but you claim is addressed by a DTA). If it were me, my focus would be on assessing if a Thai tax return needed, and if it is necessary, focusing on how does one get tax credits. Study carefully what the UK-Thai DTA says in regards to your income. Having typed that, as I noted, i don't know the answer. .

Not really. Not at all. I suspect you are making inaccurate assumptions. Only Thai tax on profits if remitted in same year. So don't remit the profits in same year earned. Only remit other year income with out the profits they incurred for past year or two or more. Also, it depends on size of one's portfolio .. with regard to investment liquidity, ie high interest account or other higher yield non liquid investment. ie type of reinvestment were DTAs may come into play in regards to the reinvestment. I prefer not to go into details nor size of my investments in a forum such as this. I suspect I am not alone in that regard.

Google appear to be implementing an update to Google translation , such that (IMHO) it can better compete with the more dedicated earbuds : Bringing state-of-the-art Gemini translation capabilities to Google Translate ( https://blog.google/products/search/gemini-capabilities-translation-upgrades/ ) Go to the link for the full article (date 12-Dec-2025). Here are some extracts: So it won't be until sometime in year 2026 that the improvements will be rolled out for the Thai language. .

Thanks for asking ... It does read there has been a shift in the BoI tax assessment that is important for LTR-WP and LTR-WGC to be told about. I am a bit surprised BoI have not gone public about this, but instead only discretely advise if, and only if, they are questioned. I guess one could say, this is Thailand. As noted previous, I find it interesting. It suggests that those on an LTR-WP or LTR-WGC, if their current year foreign income remitted to Thailand is not Thai tax exempt due to a DTA, then they likely need to do a small amount of book keeping to show to Thailand RD (if ever asked) that any money they remitted to Thailand was earned in a tax year different than the remitted tax year. I speculate that most LTR-WP and most LTR-WGC visa holders will have no issue in investing ALL of their CURRENT year income OUTSIDE of Thailand, ... keeping that money OUTSIDE of Thailand for at least 1 year (and likely more) prior to remitting the money to Thailand. There are great investments outside of Thailand. So for those LTR visa holders , I suspect just keep an end of the year (31-Dec) record of ones money/assets in their appropriate foreign international institute, so to prove any remitted money to Thailand was from a previous year. ie. simple booking keeping. Having typed this, "other" year interpretation for no tax on remitted income is puzzling to to me if the BoI intent managing LTR visas, is to have money invested in Thailand. This 'other' year interpretation, simply encourages LTR visa holder foreigners to invest their current year income outside of Thailand (which is likely a good thing to do anyway, but it simply re-inforces such, to the detriment of less investment in Thailand). ie.... from a desire to invest in Thailand perspective - that interpretation is cutting off one's nose to spite one's face .. or shooting one's self in the foot . But again, as the saying goes, This is Thailand. As I noted before, I believe this 'other' year interpretation, will likely only impact those who barely qualify for the LTR-WP/WGC and whose remitted income is not covered by a DTA.

Based on your description, the Timekettle One-on-One mode is NOT the touch mode you describe. Rather the Timekettle one-on-one mode corresponds closer to the Free Talk mode you described. One person has right earphone. The other has the left earphone. And they just talk (in different languages) . No more button pushing required. The phone's mic/speakers are not in use in this mode. I also learned the about 8-second lag I observed is likely due to my having an older very basic Android phone, where that lag can be cut by 1/2 to 1/3 of what i experience now if I go to a newer (or more powerful phone). I guess I should move to a newer android phone, but i hate doing that, as i find it a PIA to change phones.