Ricardo

Houston, we might have a problem, but ... nobody really knows yet ... watch this space.

I departed Chiang-Mai yesterday, and our desk for re-entry permits has now moved, it used to be a little-office next to the security-scanners, but is now to-the-right of the immigration-officers desks, where I was being finger-printed & stamped-out of the country.

Actually, I may have to take that back, as I just saw a recent list of countries which say they're reporting under CRS, but I would still take that with a very large pinch-of-salt ! Offshore banking-centres would IMO only give the most sketchy/basic information, that they can get away with. It's simply not in their interest to do more. And how much time/expertise/desire the RD would have, to deal with such a mass of information, well I still have my doubts. Colour me cynical. ????

IMO you file for a 365-day visa-extension of your non-immigrant O-visa, based on your being retired, up to 30-days before it expires, 45-day prior in a few (lucky) provinces. I don't see why you'd need to have done a 90-day report, unless you've stayed for 90+ days in one visit, which you say you haven't. However I would advise you to make sure that you have done a TM30, after your most-recent return, reporting your presence as the owner of the accommodation you reside in, or check downstairs with the condo-reception to see if they have been doing so on-your-behalf. They may well have done so. Ask them if they can print you a receipt, for you to show it's been done, when at Immigration. The receipt showing TM30-filing, after your most recent return, was definitely required when I did my own retirement-extension, mid-September in Chiang Mai Immigration.

When you say "most other countries", I rather doubt that the list includes places like the BVI or Panama or Channel-Islands. or Thai-elites and past-politicians would not be banking there. ???? People of that ilk dislike having their finances on display ... period ! ????

Thank-you for your devotion to research, hopefully that was single-malt-whisky-medicine, and Good-Luck with the hangover ! ????

Fifty years ago, as a teenager, I used to wash cars for pocket-money, will Thailand now suddenly want tax on that income ? Obviously not ! So the question is just how far back they will want to go, in trying to tax my earnings/investment-profits. We might eventually get clarity, but I'm not going to panic, or hold my breath either. When Immigration change the rules, which one tries to comply with, it often takes them years for it to come fully-into-effect. And in the past the older pre-change cases have often been grandfathered, for some years, one might hope that the same will happen this time, too ? It happens that I might find it convenient next summer, to spend a longer-than-normal trip to the UK or Canada, that too will buy me some further time, waiting to see how this is implemented while still having spent under-180-days in Thailand, next calendar-year. So again there, a bit of time for clarity to emerge from the general gloom, or sanity to reverse the possible new-rule. The main problem I see is that, for my annual retirement-extension every Autumn, Immigration currently tell me to bring-in 12*B65k monthly-transfers from overseas, whereas the possible new tax-rule/law sets a maximum of B150k before income-tax starts. This is an inherent contradiction. The two requirements ought surely to align ? But TiT. Lastly I would estimate that I've brought-in, and spent in the local-economy, some B50-million over the past twenty years, generating economic-activity of some B250-million within Thailand. Does the country really now want retirees like this to stop coming here ... it really would be cutting-off their own noses, to spite their face ? I have to believe (for now) that this is simply a mis-step, poorly thought through, which will turn out to be a false-alarm. But ... I am holding my breath, just a bit ! ????

One small observation ... if an expat happens to have an annual visa-extension due in January 2024, it might be wise to get it done early before 31st December 2023, so that you're not one of the guinea-pigs in uncharted-territory, turning-up to Immigration in the first month of this possible clusterf*ck ? ????

As a cynical old (retired) management-accountant, I would be surprised if that higher-return comes without higher risk, but I do sincerely hope it will work out for you. ????

OK, Thanks for the explanation, I see what you're getting at now. Might I suggest, since your OAA doesn't start until your 66+, you might find it possible to take the 25% tax-free from your private-pension, plus any further unused personal-allowance in your 65th year ? I missed that, and could have drawn over 30% tax-free immediately, in exchange for a slightly-lower annuity thereafter.

I believe that you're mistaken about that ... my UK Old-Age-Allowance definitely forms part of my taxable UK-arising income, or I wouldn't need to be making an annual-return to HMRC, and paying a trivial amount of UK-tax, every year. My two minor private-pensions would not be sufficient to take me above the (currently frozen) Personal-Allowance. Or by "Taxed Pension " do you mean something other-than the regular Old-Age-Allowance ?

Sorry to disagree, but that's certainly NOT my own experience, my combined-income from two small personal-pensions and my OAA slightly-exceeds the personal-allowance for income-tax, all are paid Gross, and I need to make a self-assessment return & payment-by-cheque every year !

Agreed and it's currently under-construction, although rather delayed due to the Covid-slowdown, I take a look at the latest progress every time I land at Swampy. And I wonder where they will move all those parked-up Thai-Airways B747s & A380s to, once the new satellite-terminal comes into use ? Perhaps just leave them to continue to rot, where they already are, and paint over the airline's name ! ????

Well Winnie-the-Poo does love Honey ! ???? Perhaps they might rename one of these dozen-or-more new artificial islands, being built in the South China Seas, 'Tai-Won' ? So that the PRC's honour is satisfied, and both countries can continue to live more peacefully, together. ????

I agree that they are inexplicably rather slow, to credit the slight-increase to one of your next (4-weekly in my case) payments, but take the view that once I've dropped the claim-letter into the post-box on-arrival, my claim has been lodged ... regardless of how long they then take to action it. Perhaps I'm over-optimistic ! I must admit that I think it's rather poor service, that one cannot just complete an online-form with the visit-details, and that only a letter or phone-call will do. Typical out-of-date British bureaucracy in fact. I live in hope that the UK will become more up-to-date, one of these days, but I'm not holding my breath ! ????

I think I'm right in saying, you can also claim the temporary OAA-increase if you're visiting the EEC-countries, even though you don't actually enter the UK ? I visit every few months, and send in my claim by letter on-arrival, the extra sum takes a few months to be credited, but it does appear eventually !

The OP clearly has outdoor/underground-pipes on his system, we sometimes detect cracked-pipes or slow-leaks at joints underground, by looking for permanently-damp ground or suspiciously-green plants, indicating a slow trickle which is watering them. We also have had, over some twenty years, pipe-joints being stressed where they leave the main-house and run under the surrounding-terraces, which were never tied-into the main structure and so have gradually subsided as-a-result. Just a couple of ideas there, FWIW.

I can confirm that Chiang Mai Immigration are still using the old rules, for inter-province travel ! My online 90-day-Report was declined ten-days-ago, because I had stayed at a Chonburi resort in November, and their report of my (temporary) hotel-stay had overwritten my permanent residential-address, which has been on my most-recent TM30 (back in 2019). There was a 3-4 hour queue at CM-Immigration, when I went in and tried to correct their records, so I gave up ! And will try to re-do it next September, just before my next visa-extension is due. No point doing it before then, as I have several overseas-trips planned, and also some inter-provincial travel, before then ! A temporary trip to another province logically ought not to over-ride one's permanent-address, as notified on 90-day-reports and used on all Immigration paperwork for the past 19-years, but it does in Chiang Mai ... one can only live with it, until it changes again ! ????

I guess doubling fares would increase revenues, although they're still 20%-short of the previous level, according to the article ! ... "the airline’s current monthly income of around 12 billion baht, down from 15 billion baht before the pandemic." So when will they offer to refund my cancelled-ticket from three years ago, then ? ????

So when exactly will TG be refunding me the B22k they owe, for cancelled-flights in Summer-2020, or when will they even be willing to communicate about doing so ?

Nobody is talking yet about the branch off to Laem Chabang & Maptaphut & Sattahip, which is slightly odd, since without (or even with) all the Chinese-freight heading for Thai ports there's absolutely no way that the new medium-speed line will be profitable enough, to repay all the construction-loans and initial operating-losses. I mean, how many tens-of-millions of Chinese tourists per-annum are there, who want to go to just Bangkok alone ? There are very few profitable passenger-lines in the World. The pre-Covid charter-flights were to Phuket & Chiang Mai & Utapao, not just Don Muang, and aircraft can switch capacity to new destinations at the drop of a hat, as demand changes, compared to fixed-infrastructure like a railway.