OJAS

So how then was I expected to know that, despite quoting my post referring to the 90-day non-O conversion, you were, in fact, referring to the OP's point 4? I therefore can only offer you my humblest apologies if my mind-reading skills are not up to scratch in getting to grips with what is lying behind confusing and ambiguous posts like yours, and cause you so much grief and anger as a result.

I think that's what the OP is planning to do in any event! EDIT: But he would IMHO be strongly advised not to rely on the 800k as a potential "emergency fund for absolute last resort needs". Otherwise he could find himself in deep, deep, deep, deep doo-dah when his next retirement extension is due!

That list and your comments relate to annual extensions of stay for retirement. Whereas I am referring to conversions of latest visa-exempt/tourist visa entries into single-entry 90-day non-immigrant "O" visas for retirement. Completely separate animals.

Do Khon Kaen have special requirements for non-O conversions for retirement which differ from those detailed in the official Immigration Bureau version set out in the link below (I'm not aware that they do)? https://www.immigration.go.th/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/9.FOR-RETIREMENT-PURPOSES-50-YEARS-OLD-NON-O.pdf

In that case, might not a Wise account be a suitable alternative? Or do you hold a significant balance with the awkward bank that you're unable to transfer elsewhere?

Presumably with the same due care and attention to detail as displayed by the captain of the Titanic in 1912.

Instead of faffing about with the Nationwide banking app, why not use Wise to make transfers from your Nationwide current account to your new payee (who, I assume, has a Thai bank account)? That's how many of us Brit expats living in Thailand (myself included) transfer monies from UK bank accounts to our Thai accounts. https://wise.com/help/articles/2932335/guide-to-thb-transfers https://wise.com/gb/send-money/

Certainly money laundering checks do now appear to be the general norm as regards USD transfers at least, based on the following statement included in Wise's latest Quarterly Mission Statement: Fewer transfers from USD were instant this quarter because we've updated our security measures to avoid speeding up transfers which could be fraudulent. However, this has caught more transfers, which reduced the total number being processed instantly. https://wise.com/gb/blog/q2-2024-mission-update-speed

Clearly the USD complainers on this thread have overlooked the relevant explanatory statement contained in this Mission Update. So please indulge me while I spell it out in full for their benefit: Fewer transfers from USD were instant this quarter because we've updated our security measures to avoid speeding up transfers which could be fraudulent. However, this has caught more transfers, which reduced the total number being processed instantly.

Just beware, however, that the first 90-day report due after your return to Thailand will, as things currently stand, have to be submitted in person or by snail mail (i.e. not online), as referred to in other recent threads.

It is, indeed, a Government Pension BUT NOT AN OCCUPATIONAL ONE (as is not the similar Australian Age Pension either, if I understand correctly). Whereas Article 19 of the UK/Thailand DTA is clearly restricted to Government OCCUPATIONAL Pensions. Therein lies the crucial difference - which even the most dimwitted numbskull of a decision-maker within the TRD who is worth but a solitary grain of salt should be capable of detecting, I would have thought.

Below in italics is the text of a "complaint" which this particular Brit has sent to HMRC. Not holding my breath for any reply any time soon, though, let alone a favourable one: For some mysterious reason the UK/Thailand Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) does not include specific Articles covering the State Pension and company occupational pensions. As a result it does not appear possible for UK nationals who are Thailand tax residents and in receipt of either or both pension types to seek relief from double taxation, as is certainly made clear in the case of the State Pension by Note 4 in the Thailand section of HMRC’s Digest of Double Taxation Treaties. The Thailand Revenue Department has signalled its intention to seek income tax payments on all remittances to Thailand since 1/1/24 covering what they consider to be assessable income including State Pension and company occupational pension payments. In these circumstances what steps are HMRC taking with the aim of remedying the glaring deficiencies in the existing DTA through renegotiations with their Thai counterparts aimed at securing the inclusion of new Articles specifically covering the State Pension and company occupational pensions?

So, if the length of time which it now takes for your Direct Debit transfers to be processed is such a major catastrophic problem for you, why don't you try intiating future transfers directly from your home country bank account instead?

Including 2,500 THB for their express service, which is 500 THB more than the IMM fine for missing a report!

And if they aren't at the present time then equally hope that they won't be at some point in the future as you might then find yourself in deep, deep, deep, deep doo-dah at 90-day reporting time! In any event it strikes me that the longest you could continue with your planned strategy (even if you were able to get away with it for any length of time) would likely be until you next needed to renew your passport.

All the more reason to do this IMHO since, if it is subsequently rejected, there might still be time to use the snail mail option instead. Good to hear that English native speakers may not be the sole experts in the double negative! ☺️

And whether to the TRD or their counterparts in her late husband's home country may be dependent on the terms of the relevant DTA. EDIT: For example, my Thai wife will be entitled to a small pension based on my UK Government occupational pension after I've popped my clogs - which, according to the UK/Thailand DTA, wlll be taxable by the TRD (and not by HMRC back in the UK).

That can actually get you banged up in the Bangkok Hilton for defamation. The OP will probably find the food served up there much more to his liking.

I would respectfully suggest that you take the trouble to purchase a suitably reliable crystal ball in order to provide what you consider to be satisfactory answers to your various questions. If and when you have succeeded in making the necessary purchase, please then share the details of how you went about this with us since I can see no lists of suitable balls for sale on Lazada.

Looks like Miss D will soon be heading to the Bangkok Hilton for a lengthy stretch there, then.

Looks like whatever problems there might have been at the Wise and/or Bangkok Bank end in connection with these 2 transfers have now been sorted out. My latest transfer was duly credited to my Bangkok Bank account at 14:01 yesterday without a 24-hour delay.

@sometimewoodworker What you have said also appears to apply to the State Pension in the case of those countries where relief from UK taxation is available through the relevant DTA. But Thailand clearly ain't one of them, I'm afraid. However I certainly don't consider a "one size fits all" approach to the alleviation of double taxation across the board (in terms of both individual countries and individual income categories), as you seem to be advocating, to be approriate. This must surely all turn on what is said in individual DTA's (or not as the case may be when it comes to the UK/Thailand DTA and the State Pension). But at the end of the day we may well just have to agree to disagree between ourselves on this particular matter.

So what do the statements on pages 3 and 34 of HMRC's Digest of Double Taxation Treaties that State Pension "relief from UK income tax is available under the terms of many, but not all, double taxation treaties" and "Also, no relief for State Pension or ‘trivial commutation lump sum’" in the case of Thailand mean then? What you have said only appears to apply to the various income types specifically referred to in individual Articles of the DTA - which, with one notable exception, we all agree does NOT include the State Pension. In other words, upon which higher authority is HMRC's Digest of Double Taxation Treaties being subverted?

So precisely "what services of a governmental nature rendered to that (Contracting) State or subdivision or local authority thereof" have been provided by State Pensioners as a prerequisite to their receiving the State Pension? I await your reply with bated breath!

In the case of the State Pension I don't believe that there is (unfortunately) any way of avoiding double taxation through UK offsets of Thai tax. In support of this view, I would refer to this statement in relation to the State Pension at the top of page 3 of HMRC's Digest of DTA's: "..relief from UK income tax is available under the terms of many, but not all, double taxation treaties." and then to this one specifically relating to Thailand on page 34: "...no relief for State Pension.." https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5b05425fed915d1317445ed2/DT_Digest_April_2018.pdf When it comes to @Humpy's military pension I would have thought it unlikely that the issue of Thai taxes would arise since this is non-assessable income which, as things stand (i.e. subject to any clarification issued by the TRD in due course, along with (presumably) their 2024 forms), would not need to be declared in any TRD return. This is certainly the line I'm currently, at least, planning to take in the case of my Civil Service pension.