OJAS

And, for the sake of completeness, the rest of the article, which appears to be of greater relevance to those of us who use Wise's services from Thailand (as distinct from their shareholders), goes on to say: Wise today posted a more than tripling of pre-tax profits of £481 million in the 12 months to the end of March, while turnover jumped by a quarter to top £1 billion for the first time. The fintech, which does not have a UK banking licence, said it was unable to pay interest to account holders in a number of territories including the UK, where regulations prohibit it from doing so. The firm had set a target of returning 80% of interest income back to customers, which it had not met. Wise said it would use the profits to cut prices for customers, adding: “Striving to reduce prices sustainably over time is an important form of investment for Wise.” But the prospect of lower prices appears to have disappointed shareholders, who were unimpressed with the concomitant 15-20% underlying income growth forecast for its next fiscal year, which looked set to fall well short of the 31% growth in the previous year. Wise defended the move, pointing out that cheaper money transfer fees was a key driver in its popularity with customers, adding that clawing market share from rivals “can only be achieved through building the best global infrastructure while driving growth through relentlessly pursuing incremental improvements in price, speed and convenience.” “The announced guidance is disappointing at first glance given the price reduction,” Jefferies analysts said. “However, we think the cuts boost confidence in medium-term growth.”

IMHO the use of agents should, in general, be reserved for the truly difficult things in life. Like obtaining a visa to enable your Thai partner to accompany you on a trip back to your home country. Or renewing your passport it you're a Brit.

Tax residency doesn't come into it. You can claim the current Triple Lock rate for every day you spend in the UK or in any other country where the full Triple Lock rate is paid (just as I have done, for instance, in the case of a recent 2.5-week trip to Europe). And, conversely, your State Pension is frozen for each and every day you spend in Thailand.

IMHO they have no authority to demand proof of address, period, particularly bearing in mind that they won't mail your new passport on to you once received from the UK. That said, they may be acting under strict orders from their dim-witted HMPO masters back in the UK, of course.

Semantic splitting of hairs, I think.

All you need do is to apply for a further 1-year extension at your local immigration office in due course, but with the Reason stated in the TM7 form as being "Marriage to a Thai national" rather than "Retirement". Just be aware, though, that your initial Mk2 marriage extension will, after the initial "under consideration" period, be dated 12 months from when you applied for it rather than from when your current permission to stay expires (just as it presumably did when you previously switched from marriage to retirement).

In view of @SteveJames's aversion to what he perceives as excessive bureaucracy, it might, indeed, be better IMHO if he did travel elsewhere in order to renew his British passport! For instance, if he were to go to either Malaysia or the Philippines he would be able to renew using HMPO's online facility - which is denied to those renewing from Thailand for some ridiculous reason.

Kindly post a link to what Mario The "Wondrous" Swiss Blogger has actually said on YouTube, so as to enable us, if we wish, to judge for ourselves his utterances on this point.

Maybe the outcome of the latest European elections could finally serve as a wake-up call here???? https://aseannow.com/topic/1329349-european-elections-spark-political-upheaval-across-the-continent/ Although not planning to hold my breath for too long, personally.

We shall probably never know what lay behind the British and Thai negotiators' minds when the DTA was under discussion some 45 years' ago, but it does strike me that the "may be taxed" wording which has been used not just in Articles 7 and 14 is basically a cop-out. Either a particular item is covered (as is unambiguously stated in the case of Civil Service, etc pensions) or it is not (as per the deafening silence in the case of the State and company pensions). But, there again, it may not always be possible for things to be viewed exclusively in black and white - and it is (in the view of this particular cynic, at least) clearly in the interests of handsomely-remunerated tax consultants/advisers/agents/experts that they are not!

Once every 10 years for the antediluvian bureaucratic nonsense we Brits in LOS are required to endure at passport renewal time is once every 10 years too often as far as I am concerned. Why on earth we are not permitted, in the 3rd decade of the 21st Century, to avail ourselves of HMPO's online passport renewal service - the use of which they are seemingly encouraging practically everywhere else - is a complete mystery to me.

Strongly suspect that VFS's hands are tied by their dimwitted masters in His Majesty's Passport Office back in the UK - who IMHO are to blame entirely for the complete and utter bloody shambles that it is the British passport renewal process from Thailand.

In theory it can, but in practice this would involve a convoluted process to set up which is probably not worth it for a one-off notification. You and your partner therefore need to visit your immigration office ASAP with a completed TM30 signed by your partner, plus originals and copies of their blue tabien baan housebook entry for the property in question, their ID card and, if available, any formal document proving the authenticity of your relationship.

The "may be taxed" wording in Articles 7(1) and 14(1) does, however, appear to contrast with the more unambiguous "shall be taxable only" wording for Civil Service, etc pensions in Article 19(2).

That is likely when the aircraft is due to land on the runway at BKK. It will then spend 10-15 minutes taxiing to the arrival gate - and, assuming that you're travelling economy, you'll then need to wait a further 5-10 minutes for business class passengers to disembark before you can.

Far from dual pricing being scrapped, much more likely that we would be clobbered for tax at special foreigner rates which were at least double those paid by the locals, I would have thought!

Your first port of call in determining whether or not you have any tax liability in Thailand should be the Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) between the UK and Thailand: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a80bddc40f0b623026953eb/uk-thailand-dtc180281_-_in_force.pdf Your UK rental income is (IMHO at any rate) covered by Article 7 of the DTA, meaning that it does not need to be included as assessable remitted income in any tax return you file with the Thai Revenue Department. As regards your pension income, it depends on its nature as to whether or not it needs to be included as assessable remitted income in any tax return you file with the Thai Revenue Department. Civil Service, military and other public sector occupational pensions are covered by Article 19(2)(a) of the DTA, meaning that they do not need to be included. On the other hand company occupational pensions and the State Pension are not covered by the DTA, meaning that they do. Incidentally, I am at a complete loss to understand how come you are paying £4,500 per annum by way of income tax against annual income apparently totalling £4,000 (unless, of course, you have other income sources which you have chosen not to disclose)! I would have thought it highly unlikely that you will need to update your existing TIN, but it would IMHO be prudent for you to check this point with your current Revenue Office.

Simply by writing the word "Retirement" in place of "Marriage to Thai national" (or similar) as the reasons for your extension of stay application on the TM7 form. As already said, though, your wife will need to accompany you to the immigration office for your first retirement extension application. Another point you'll need to bear in mind is that your initial retirement extension will be dated 12 months from when you apply for it rather than from when your current permission to stay based on your previous marriage extension expires.

Which looks identical to the following version which is also downloadable from the Immigration Bureau website! https://www.immigration.go.th/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/แบบคำขอหนังสือการรับแจ้งที่พัก-ผนวก-ก.pdf So presumably it is not exclusive to Jomtien?

And the lowest-rated Trust Pilot reviews referred to by @LOUIS65 can, of course, be equally fake and paid for by Wise's competitors with the sole and avowed aim of showing them up in the worst possible light, do you not agree? Oh, and by the way, my latest scheduled monthly Wise transfer duly showed up in my Bangkok Bank account yesterday at 14:01. I'm not sufficiently motivated as to get my knickers in a twist by lodging a complaint to Wise about this "outrageous" 1-minute delay!

The impression I'm getting from this thread is that it's mainly (if not wholly) about USA-specific issues/problems with Wise.

I wonder how many people are going to show up at the Consulate on Tuesday, completely oblivious to these new requirements and finding themselves gleefully turned away by Consulate staff with beaming smiles on their faces as a result?

Whereas changes which are arguably to our detriment (e.g. the Savanakhet procedural changes referred to in the thread at https://aseannow.com/topic/1328422-thai-consulate-savannakhet-policy-change/), on the other hand, can be - and, indeed, are - enforced with zeal and gusto from the word Go.

A further assumption which I presume that you are also making here is that the capital gains in question were all earned post-1/1/24? I am taking the view that the taxed capital gain on the UK property I sold in 2021 (and which I'm still transferring in dribs and drabs to Thailand) constitutes non-assessable income on the grounds that it was earned before 1/1/24.

Yep, bring back salt blocks! 🤑 https://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/vDn91YroQr-CC4OpxxEtDw