OJAS

As alluded to by @Polar Bear, a particular advantage to those of us living in LOS of doing this is that your State Pension could then be frozen at a higher rate than would otherwise have been the case had you claimed when you first became eligible. For instance, even though I became eligible in August 2014 I delayed claiming until April 2015 so as to get at least 1 triple lock increase under my belt!

Yeah, right, so when are we likely to see YOUR version of the Simple Tax Guide on here, then? Or does carping negatively from the sidelines float your boat more?

Probably best for him to obtain a tourist visa if he's planning to stay in Thailand for more than 30 days IMHO.

But hello the TT ones, though

Top one for me (and, I suspect, a fair few other Brits as well) is whether we shall be required to file RD returns in respect of State Pension remittances, especially where these are the sole sources of our assessable income and bearing in mind the existence of various exemptions and allowances totaliing up to 500k pa, which could therefore, in practice, reduce the RD tax bill to zero (my perpetually frozen State Pension, for example, works out at around 300k pa which is, however, still well in excess of the 120k annual assessable income threshold above which tax returns are supposedly required).

Yes, I strongly suspect that Customs back in our home countries (as well as their Thai counterparts in the case of mail going in the opposite direction) are the true villains of the peace here rather than individual mailing services.

Not just us but also immigration officers! 😁

So does this mean that there will be a date after which all banknotes bearing the late Queen's image will cease to be legal tender, as was the case when paper notes were replaced by polymer versions not so long ago?

And when it comes to our Irish cousins, it would appear that the only way in which they can renew their passports from Thailand is by doing do online! https://www.ireland.ie/en/thailand/bangkok/passports/how-to-apply-for-a-passports/

Assuming that the office you'll be dealing with is Chaengwattana as stated in your OP, @TylerBKK's 4 March post in the following thread provides a comprehensive list of all relevant requirements in their case:

100% correct in the case of non-O visa conversions for retirement. For the benefit of the individual(s) who appear(s) to be suffering from a bout of confusion in reaction to your post, this is IMHO perfectly clear from the official guidance which has been issued by the Immigration Bureau: https://www.immigration.go.th/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/9.FOR-RETIREMENT-PURPOSES-50-YEARS-OLD-NON-O.pdf

Indeed, contrast the ease and grace with which our American cousins, for example, are faced with at passport renewal time, when compared to the cumbersome nonsense which HMPO have, in their infinite wisdom, inflicted on us Brits: https://th.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/passports/adult-passport-renew/

It should not be forgotten, though, that agents' fees (typically in the order of 5,000 THB) represent a significant additional cost in themselves - which is the point I was making.

Of particular interest to those of us renewing from Thailand is that the cost of a standard paper application when applying from overseas will increase to £112.50 for adults and £77.00 for children. Added to which are, of course, the costs of the 2 enforced route marches to VFS offices in Bangkok or Chiang Mai. Yet a standard online application when applying from overseas will only rise to £101.00 for adults and £65.50 for children! All the more totally inexcusable for those incompetent clowns in HMPO to steadfastly refuse to make this faciity available to those of us renewing from Thailand for some ridiculous reason or other. I think!!🤬 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/update-on-passport-application-fees

This appears to imply, however, that there may be other land immigration checkpoints in addition to these 8 at which the TM6 requirement will not be relaxed!

Don't know where you got that info from, but the version of the TM47 form currently downloadable from the Immigration Bureau website includes the following statement at the very end: (The fine of Overdue Notification is not exceeding 5,000 Baht) https://www.immigration.go.th/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/18.Form-TM-47.pdf

Surely no worse than the annual ritualistic 31 December / 1 January nonsense, though, from which there, sadly, appears to be no escape anywhere on this great planet of ours. Even if you try and avoid it by staying in as I always do these days, there's still no getting away from the pyromaniac lunatics who take great delight in terrorising their (and your) neighbourhoods by setting off volleys of loud fireworks just after midnight.😡

So he'll only be banned from entering Thailand again for 5 years. Had he been nabbed 15+ days later (allowing for the fact that 2024 is a leap year), he would have received a 10-year ban! https://www.tratimmigration.com/thailand-visa-overstay-regulations/

And not just Everton's record but also those of Nottingham Forest and Leicester City. As you say, contrast the zeal and glee with which the EPL are going after the small fry in the form of those 3 clubs with their foot-dragging in the case of the big fish like Manchester City and Chelsea. Might a steady supply of well-stuffed brown envelopes from certain quarters be influencing the EPL's priorities in this whole matter, I wonder??

I have come to the conclusion that the only surefire way of dealing with this totally unsatisfactory state of affairs in my case is through filing tax returns with HMRC. Even though I no longer, in theory, need to file tax returns following the sale of my UK property in late 2021, I have opted to continue doing so precisely because of the problematical issues referred to this thread. In completing a tax return I always instruct HMRC not to collect any tax due in respect of my State Pension through my tax code by checking the 2 appropriate boxes in the SA100 form. Instead I make direct on-account and balancing payments to them based on the actual State Pension payments total for the tax year in question as reported in that form.

Wonder whether @Nayet uses an agent for all his dealings with IMM? If he does, then it is surely still a good idea for him to provide said agent with printed proof of his current TM30 status, as recommended by @Caldera.

So much, then, for HMPO's apparent justification for the bureaucratic nonsense we Brits locally have been required to endure these past 10 years or so at passport renewal time (necessitating 2 physical trips an office building in Bangkok or Chiang Mai where VFS are currently hanging out in), on the grounds that we're supposed to have our passports on us at all times! 🤣

And long may that happy state of affairs remain as far as I am concerned. The Bangkok Bank mobile app always proved hit and miss in firing up on my smartphone and over time proved increasingly more miss than hit. So I then jacked it in disgust - and this thread exemplifies very well why I have no intention of returning to it any time soon. Long live internet banking, say I!

Likely no visa to revoke in this case, though, if this particular self-opiniated, egotistical, moronic Austrian was, unfortunately, admitted into Thailand on the basis of a 30-day visa exemption.

And a further key point which IMHO the OP needs to check is whether his home country has a diplomatic presence in Laos, in the form of an embassy or consulate. It it doesn't and consular-related issues arise in his case which need to be dealt with, he might find himself obliged to make physical trips to his home country's embassy in, guess where, Bangkok!