OJAS

Indeed, Ireland is a part of what is known as the Common Travel Area: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Travel_Area

Not just with you but also with some clueless idiot in HMPO feeding you duff info, I think!

Looks like you could well be jumping from the frying pan into the fire, then, if you're headed for Melbourne or Sydney! https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14445241/melbourne-crime.html https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/violence-is-coming-from-the-edge-sydney-s-horror-week-20240419-p5fl3u

They will probably think twice about paying 1,000 THB for a Big Mac should the Thai government decide on retaliatory steps aimed specifically at the US fast-food sector, though!

Even simpler 4 years previously. Make a trip to your local post office to send all relevant application docs to the British Consulate General in Hong Kong. Lo and behold a courier showed up at your front door 7-10 days later with your new passport! And even simpler up to around 2010, I gather, when the British Embassy in Bangkok ran the whole show.

Presumably you meant to say "With Wise you know what you will be getting". With Swift, anything but - unless you have succeeded in acquiring a crystal ball which will accurately predict the TT rate levied by your Thai bank at the time your transfer finally shows up with them. And, in my experience, while you may well be able to work out the charges levied by your originating home country bank and destination Thai bank, the big mystery is how much extra the intermediary Thai partner bank used by your home country bank will add for their services on top.

Accessing banks for account confirmation letters and statements needed for extension of stay applications can IMHO prove more problematical for those with limited mobility like myself than accessing immigration offices. For instance, my office (Rayong) is accessible via a ramp with railings to hold on to on either side. No such luck in the case of the Krungsri branch from which I obtain my account confirmation letters and bank statements, though - just a steep flight of steps which I find extremely scary to negotiate.

Or an abacus?

I get the impression that the OP seriously considers it to be his god-given right to be spoonfed with detailed info about each and every relevant law passed in Thailand (and presumably in his home country as well), which could impact on how he leads his life!

The whole thing is very poorly written IMHO - but, assuming that what has been said does, indeed, represent the official HMRC view on this matter, then it doesn't, I think, necessarily follow that it also represents the TRD's view. This point would presumably be up for discussion between them in the context of possible amendments to the DTA.

The absence of any specific provisions covering company and State pensions is IMHO a fundamental flaw in the existing UK/Thailand DTA (dating back to 1981), which I raised with HMRC a few months ago in the form of a complaint. This is what HMRC said in their reply: "Following my review I agree with your statement that there isn't, in the UK/Thailand Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) anything that does not include specific Articles covering the State Pension and company occupational pensions. Meaning that it is not within the agreement and therefore cannot be taxed by the Thailand authorities and are in breach of the agreement doing so and will need to take this up with the Thailand authorities." Not holding my breath for this anomalous situation to be resolved any time soon, though!

Those with permanent residency status won't, in fact, be excluded as things stand at present.

In the Nationality/Citizenship field it is. But not in the Country of Residence field.

And you will, of course, have encountered its British equivalent when renewing your passport recently!

Which, assuming a 1 May implementation, probably won't be forthcoming until 23:59 on 30 April.

And my understanding of the Guide is that even those with permanent residency status will be subject to this bureaucratic nonsense!

And Malaysians?

You could find yourself waiting 72 hours to get your passport stamped in any event if you were to find yourself stuck at the back of an exceedingly long queue of foreigners at Arrivals, with each person in front of you clutching a mobile for what could well turn out to be a lengthy process of accessing an app from it in order to squirt info into a QR reader, followed by an inevitably further long wait while said QR reader decides whether or not what you have squirted into it is deemed sufficiently acceptable to enable you to proceed forward!

The whole thing is basically a ***** of the highest order, as things stand, I think!

So presumably the powers-that-be in Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia & (?) Myannmar issue these passes to their nationals who live within striking distance of the Thai border, in the same way as their Thai counterparts issue such passes to similarly eligible Thai nationals if this link is to be believed? https://www.dopa.go.th/public_service/service_guide404/view405

From which the non-Scotland part of the UK appears to have been excluded!

And/or a new non-immigrant visa?

Those of a different cultural background excepted, of course.

Source, please. No mention in the OP.

What's that in English, please??