JimGant

12 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Not if she cancels it .. as I was told by land office ...

Doubt she can cancel out of spite, as it is a legal contract between lessor and lessee. Certainly, if you the lessee dies, she can amend the chanote to cancel out the lease. Also, if you don't maintain the property by reasonable standards, probably also grounds for lease cancellation. But out of spite -- doubtful.

27 minutes ago, Pib said:

and the BoI knows the pension/IRA amounts on the tax return (especially a joint) return could vary very significantly from pension/IRA letters uploaded. 

If they really needed a breakout of a joint return, TurboTax (and probably other tax software) thoroughly divides up the supporting documentation to reflect each joint filer's numbers.

USA probably included for benchmark purposes.

This thread seems to be about UK transfer items. Are any Yanks here experiencing slowdowns or other items?

I just put in a transfer request of $25,000; direct debit (ACH) from my bank account (long established, and used many times before). This was today (Feb 15) at 7:00AM Thai time. Was told the transfer would arrive 8 days later, on Feb 23. Wow. That's the longest it's ever been, as normally only 2 to 3 days -- but never ever instantly. When I put in a less amount ($20,000), it said it would arrive on Feb 22. Now, for amounts between $3,000 and $19,000, it said it would arrive in 6 hours. For $2,000, would arrive in seconds. None of this was affected by purpose of transfer, as that check block was filled in after I got the transfer times.

Curious. Maybe as it's an ACH "pull" from my bank, there are different time frames for different amounts....... Unlikely, but dunno.

No big deal, as I'm never in need of immediate funds. But 8 days seems excessive.

Any folks out there with similar (or not) US to Thai transfer experience? I do know by reading these Wise threads that UK Wise transfers are on a different planet than US Wise transfers.

10 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

A bit long in the tooth I am I am - but only heard 16 - 33 1/3 and 45 RPM speeds during my youth.

Ah, you are a youngster. 78 was the standard in my youth.

5 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

The difference, though, is that I believe the BKK Bank tellers/reps on their machines can print a current day balance forward entry in your bankbook upon request. But I don't believe the accountholder can trigger that themselves just using the bankbook update machines.

Ah, maybe that's it, as I stop by the bank in the morning of my Imm visit, to pick up bank reports and then have clerk update passbook, as she can then photocopy that update, as required by Imm (and precluding me from having to stand in line at the photocopy machine at Imm). Obviously, then, Imm shouldn't need any activity, if today's recorded balance doesn't need such activity. (Not to say that some IO's don't confuse their training with reality.)

3 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

No reason to use PDF as you can stop/start online and printout when done.

Yeah, but a lot more efficient to dust off last year's FBAR PDF, unsign it, then fill in only that information that's changed. Of course, if everything has changed since last year's filing, I guess filing online wouldn't be any more onerous -- unless the power goes off.....

14 hours ago, ding said:

Yes, as an aside:  I was just trying to fill out a FBAR Report 114 PDF on Firefox with VPN paused... and the drop downs didn't work. It required a "city" and "state" too. So, my Thai address won't work. 

Filling out the offline PDF won't work with Firefox -- you need Acrobat (the free Reader version works). When you check Thailand in the country drop down box, the state box greys out. Interestingly, older versions of Adobe Acrobat, like version 7, also fail to activate the drop down boxes.

6 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

To further confuse things some immigration officers will want to see activity on the day (small deposit/withdrawal) and some will overlook it.

Per TallGuy, if you bank with Krungsri, Imm will need to see activity to get a current balance. But if you bank with Bangkok Bank, no activity needed. For readers trying to complete their checklist, what other banks like Krungsri will need "activity" to record a current balance in their passbook....

On 2/1/2023 at 4:17 PM, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

your bank passbook itself has to be updated with activity on the day of your Immigration visit before you meet with the officer.

Why activity? My Bangkok Bank passbook, when stuck into the machine, will move the latest balance down one line and add today's date. And CM Imm doesn't require any activity with an updated passbook. Is this peculiar to CW? Or just for some banks other than Bangkok Bank? Seems odd, since activity will now mean your passbook balance doesn't match that of your bank letter (not that the IO couldn't figure out why).

On 2/1/2023 at 11:44 PM, lextsy said:

I enter on Feb 10 and get a 5 year stamp either finishing on 6th Jan 2028 or 10th feb 2028..

Ok. Sifting thru data on this thread, it looks like Imm knows LTR visas warrant five year permission of stay stamps, not ten. On page 20 of that long "LTR Visa is Now...." thread, ThailandRyan shows us the ink stamps he got from BoI when issued his LTR visa. Besides the 10 year visa stamp, there's a five year permission of stay stamp (with an "until" date expiring when the five year renewal process is due, i.e., five years from date of issue). And a re-entry stamp, also for five years and also expiring on the "until" date of five years. Thus, easy for Imm at the border to figure out what permission of stay to stamp, being highly familiar with re entry stamps, where the "until" date is used for the "until" date on the new permission of stay stamp.

But what about a sticker visa obtained outside Thailand? Look here to see aublumberg's Hong Kong issued sticker:

https://aseannow.com/topic/1265383-ltr-visa-is-now-available-for-long-term-residency/page/23/

Looks like lextsy's, right? His had an issue date of Oct 18, 2022 and an expiration date of 17 Oct 2032.

Now, look what happened when aublumberg entered Thailand a week or so after visa issue:

https://aseannow.com/topic/1265383-ltr-visa-is-now-available-for-long-term-residency/page/29/

He was stamped in for five years, beginning on the date he entered Thailand, not five years from date of issue of the visa. Had he a reentry permit like Ryan, whose LTR was issued in Bangkok, Imm at the airport would have had an experienced situation on when the five year permission stamp's "until" date should be.

Anyway, lextsy, when you enter Thailand, don't be overly alarmed on what your five year permission of stay's stamp "until" date is -- whatever it is, no problems with either. As Ryan pointed out, 60 days before your five year anniversary comes due, you'll get a notice from BoI about the renewal requirement. Whatever your permission of stay says at the time, would be irrelevant. [Now, when there's less than five years left on your visa, and you're still getting stamped in for five years -- well, yeah, that would need to be fixed.]

3 hours ago, JackGats said:

Capital gains on selling stocks are only taxable in the country where you are a resident. If the latter country turns a blind eye, like Thailand does, this means 0% on capital gains.

.... unless you're a US taxpayer.

9 hours ago, webfact said:

were used on private purposes

Give me a break. It's certainly not a "private purpose" to honor deceased members of the armed forces, particularly high ranking ones, with hardware peculiar to that service. And, in the interest of cost, the RTAF probably does what we (US) do for our flyovers -- after the divert for the flyover, redirect to the training area for a "bump heads" to satisfy towards quarterly intercept requirements. The article in question, for hype purposes, mentions the cost of this mission -- without regard that most of the fuel was for training (presumably), and that the cost attributed to pilot pay is a sunk cost, payable even when playing golf.

I guess if the deceased had been an Army general, and there had been a 21 gun salute -- then this disgruntled MP would have considered the howitzers used for private purposes.....

No "gotcha" here, folks.

On 1/27/2023 at 1:57 PM, lopburi3 said:

To send using Bangkok Bank New York the ACH transfer must be in international format

But, you can also send a domestic wire to Bangkok Bank NY, with your account number being that of your Bangkok Bank account in Thailand. BBNY will send those dollars across the pond, charging same as for an ACH (e.g, $10 for amounts between 2 and 50k dollars, plus 200-500 fee on receiving end).

Since domestic wire fees are normally cheaper than international wire fees, this method should be included in your comparison analysis.

On 1/22/2023 at 3:27 PM, connda said:

What does she need from the US Embassy if anything?

Maybe nothing, if the hospital doesn't need a release certificate (you might want to investigate that ahead of time). If a certificate is required, the embassy/consulate will need to know who the next of kin (NOK) is -- and this is automatically your wife, so just provide a copy of your marriage certificate. And you may want to get a "consular report of death of a US citizen abroad," which serves as a US death certificate, needed to cut checks to beneficiaries of insurance policies, etc. In my case, the wife would need a death certificate to  begin her Air Force survivor benefit payments. Interestingly, I queried the Air Force (DFAS), also Schwab and some other agencies she'll need to contact, about whether or not just a Thai death certificate, with translation, would suffice. Answer: Yes, as long as it's accompanied by a certified translation. (Don't know what constitutes "certified", but Star Visa here in Chiang Mai said, yes, they're certified translators, which I guess means they have a rubber stamp to make translations look official....) So, maybe she won't need to visit embassy/consulate at all -- very handy I would think, if you live out in the sticks..... (But, I would suggest that if you can get that "consular report of death....," I would do so, just in case I got some bum info.)

Some other thoughts:

If your wife is sole heir and executor in your Will, and your sole asset is a bank account -- should be easy and recommended to avoid probate, since it could cost upwards of 50k baht, and take many months. Tons of info on this forum about this, so I'll let you do a search. Key related points: online banking; co-signatory; and bank has no legal requirement to freeze your account -- if they have no knowledge of your death, which they most likely wouldn't. Anyway, lots of info out there about this, although not necessarily conclusive.

Do early in the year things your wife would have to do if you didn't do them early. Like FBAR -- you can do it on Jan 1st, as I did. Required Minimum Distribution of your IRA (and her IRA, if applicable). Taxes -- I did mine thru TurboTax mid Jan, and got my refund check from the IRS 4 days ago. Yes, if she forgot to do your FBAR, doubtful anyone would follow up. However, your RMD has to be done before she can inherit your IRA.

Doing last year's taxes this year is one thing (assuming you got it out of the way, by doing it early). This year's taxes, i.e., taxes for the year you die, is another thing. Do you have a tax preparer lined up to help her? Can she download 1099's from the Internet? If all your income is documented with 1099's (except a few hundred in interest from Bangkok Bank), then you -- and more importantly the IRS -- know what your tax bill will be. Thus, why not set up your withholding and estimated tax payments to be a few hundred over your future tax bill? Then, the wife can choose to file late, or not at all. The IRS doesn't bother with folks who they owe money to (unless they suspect you have some non 1099 money out there, which I doubt applies in this scenario). So, if the wife never files to get that over-withholding back, she's probably ahead of the game, losing $200 to the IRS -- but saving $400 by not paying a tax preparer. Plus, not wasting time fumbling around for 1099's, especially if she's computer illiterate and the 1099's are only online....

Anyway, death planning can be interesting....

4 hours ago, tubber said:

Maybe it will work next week and they are genuinely trying resolve the issues. 

Have you got the "ugly" filter turned on? ????

Pib, seems we're finally regressing when it comes to automated banking. For my wife, it would be a lot easier to periodically visit our bank branch and conduct business with a real person. She could never set this up herself -- and I'm not so sure I could.... I guess it will take long lines of grey hairs at teller counters to get the message across that we're moving too rapidly with automation.

3 hours ago, bradiston said:

Phone. Can't read the screen? Try holding it nearer your face.

Actually, when you're a geezer, you need to hold the phone further away from your face. And past age 70, our arms just aren't that long. But, a business chair on rollers can very nicely accommodate distance to a  brilliant HD monitor.

6 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

It strikes me as odd that he's perfectly happy to accept the 'risk' of online banking but not the convenience and security that the phone app provides.

Christ, there's a lot more risk and lack of security with phone apps. And convenience? Surely sitting down in front of my desktop, with a keyboard I mastered in high school, and a screen I can readily read -- is far superior than a smartphone. That I can't conduct business in a busy, loud restaurant -- I'd never put myself in that predicament. [But, of course, I'd have my cellphone available for inconvenient emergencies.]

But, hey, if you've got 20 year old eyes, and fingers unaffected with arthritis -- go for it. But even so, your risk with a cellphone is greater than mine, conversing over 3BB fiber -- where old tried and true OTP has never made the headlines as being broken.

This gives a whole new dimension to the concept of LIFO vs. FIFO. Also, shows bureaucrats will trump the fungibility of money, if they can squeeze a taxable event out of it....

Actually, I'd have no problem with Thailand figuring out how to tax foreign income coming into Thailand, that tax treaties give them the right to tax. As a Yank, this would be a zero sum game for me, since what Thailand doesn't tax, Uncle Sam does. But, if Thailand finally does figure out how to take advantage of the tax treaties, Uncle Sam will match that tax with a credit. Thus, my fungible tax dollar/baht will go towards Thai infrastructure, not infrastructure in the Ozarks. Or go towards alleviating Thai poverty. Good, good.

But, with the rule about no taxation on income brought into Thailand in a later year in effect, not a lot is going to happen. Why? Because this rule primarily subsidizes fat cat Thais with business outside the country.

On 1/20/2023 at 6:46 PM, Stocky said:

The joint accounts, for whatever stupidity, are not accessible except at the ATM or the bank - it is what it is.

The wife and I both have online accounts with Bangkok Bank -- because you can't have a joint online account. My online account holds only one physical account, namely, the one I use for Immigration. Her online account holds three physical accounts -- two personal ones, and our joint account. The latter is accommodated because she's the primary holder of our joint account, making it akin to a single account, at least for accounting purposes. Not sure why Kasikorn couldn't use such a simple accounting procedure to allow joint physical accounts to be accommodated online........ Oh well.