jaideedave

22 hours ago, sqwakvfr said:

Dubai, where anything and everything is possible(literally). When I was there about a decade ago snow boarding and sking was possible at Emirates Mall(of course it was man made snow but the indoor facility was impressive).  I worked iin Kuwait for two years and Dubai was the closest place to go for joy, happiness and fun. It is expensive like Singapore but food from all over the world is available and the choice of adult beverages was unlimited.  Met friendly ladies from Ukraine, Romania, Nepal, Bhutan, the PI (many from the PI) and yes Chinese ladies as well. A day or two in DXB will be an eye opening experience. Maybe I will go back next year.

When I worked O&G  in Iran I usually had a couple days in DBX at each end of the hitch.Tons of p4p in some areas.I wouldn't want to live there though>Sharia Law<  Spent some time at the Irish Pub compound...lovely place. You could buy gold wafers etc from a vending machine on one of the upper floors of the Burj Mia Khalifa.

Great place to blow out the pipes after 6 weeks offshore. Mind you I was living in Pattaya at the time ,so...

16 minutes ago, JimGant said:

The Canada-Thai tax treaty does not have separate Articles for private and govt pensions -- unlike most treaties, including that of your cousins to the south. Thus, all your Canadian pensions, private and govt, are taxable ONLY by Canada. The "ONLY" word, per OECD definitions, gives exclusionary taxation rights to the referenced country. If "ONLY" was omitted from the language, then, in this example, Thailand would have secondary taxation rights. And if their taxation of these pensions was higher than Canada's -- then you pay full fare to Canada, plus the Thai taxes that exceed the Canada tax credit that Thailand has to absorb. But, this is not the case , as Thailand does not, per treaty language, have secondary taxation rights.

 

I don't know if I can say congrats on this treaty language -- 'cause if the treaty gave exclusionary taxation rights of all Canada pensions (private and govt) to Thailand -- and Thailand tax rates were below Canada's, well, then, you'd be in a better position in this situation. I don't know -- you'd have to run the comparative numbers.

 

But, for Canadians, nothing has changed when it comes to this new Thai taxation language -- you still file your Canadian taxes, with your pension data, per normal -- with no need to consider or file a Thai tax return. Eh?

JG,Eh? 555, anyway thanks so much, I like your interpretation of this word salad they love to produce (gov't) 

Like everyone else I'm just hoping it mostly affects the 'other guy" 

37 minutes ago, Presnock said:

I agree with you on the interpretation of that phrasology - In the US DTA it specifically says that a govt pension can only be taxed by the US govt, same as social security, whereas a private one or a state pension could be taxed by Thailand- BUT I believe that one phrase "arising in a Contracting State and paid to a resident of the other contracting state shall be taxable only in the first-mentioned state makes me think that all three pensions are exempt from Thai Taxation but one might have to read the Thai part of the DTA in order to see what it says.  Hopefully we will get a reading by later this week as we will pass into the 180th day of this calendar year and those who have been here the whole 6 months to date will be THAI TAX Residents.  Feel sorry for anyone negatively affected by this or the next program.

Finally, I am unsure as to the EXACT meaning of "Contracting State" and looks like Pension (arising in) earned under one country and paid to a (tax) resident of the other country shall be taxable only (BY) in  the first-mentioned country.  The in at the very last part makes me wonder if one would interpret that to mean you would have to be IN the country paying the pension.  Again, not seeing the Thai, or not really understanding what the Thai Revenue Dept might think it means could be different.  Once they print out the final program then I/we might be better qualified to answer.  The more I see of some of the DTA's, the more concerned I might be.  I am glad the US one was so expicit.  Sorry, I might have confused you but hopefully, they will just let all the pensions come in tax free as other ASEAN countries have done.

That would definitely make life easier.  Take care and good luck.

Thanks very much for taking the time to reply. I'm beginning to feel a little better about this whole debacle. Cheers

4 hours ago, Presnock said:

what does the Canadian DTA with Thailand say about your pension (is it a Canadian government pension?)?

Interesting. I always struggle with legal jargon, whats your take?

Two of my pensions are gov't and one is private (work related)

I'd appreciate your opinion...

On 6/23/2024 at 2:33 PM, Hummin said:

In my mid 50ies, more or less stopped drinking before 50, and in better shape than ever since my late 20ies. 

 

Incredible how much time and energy socializing with alchohol take away from a sustainable healthy lifestyle.

 

Everything most expats do in Thailand is combined with alchohol. Very few socializing arenas I have found except going to the gym is linked to drinking. 

 

 

Yes, whenever a venue was suggested in my past the very 1st consideration was "does it have a bar" or can I bring my own ?

56 minutes ago, Celsius said:

 

This form is used to reduce the tax withheld for non residents.

 

As in my example the condo I am renting out would be taxed at 25% before all the expenses. This form allows me to claim all the expanses and reduce tax to 25% AFTER the expenses. That is it.

 

Nothing to do with Thailand.

Prior to my NR5 ruling CRA withheld the standard 25% tax on Canadian income (pensions) as a non resident.Yes nothing to do with LOS but I'm concerned TRD will be taxing my monthly remittance in spite of the fact CRA does not. Waiting game.

7 minutes ago, Celsius said:

 

You are getting taxes as a non resident. NR5 form is not a form for non residents to get taxed as residents....especially not on world wide income 

There is also a Schedule 217 involved here.

" Form NR5, Application by a Non‑Resident of Canada for a Reduction in the Amount of Non‑Resident Tax Required to be Withheld"

This is what I did.

19 hours ago, Mike Lister said:

I didn't understand your post. Please confirm:

 

You are Canadian who lives in Thailand?

 

You receive your pensions from Canada?

 

The NR5 is a Canadian form that allows you to be taxed as if a Canadian resident?

 

You pay zero Canadian tax?

 

 

From a Thai tax perspective, what matters is how much assessable income you remit to Thailand, the NR5 letter doesn't mean much in Thailand, other than to confirm you don't pay Canadian tax which probably doesn't interest Thailand, unless you invoke a DTA.

 

 

 

 

Yes to all 4 of my statements. I'm beginning to believe that you're correct in that the Thai tax folks would only be interested in how much I bring into LOS...

On 5/12/2024 at 10:16 AM, retarius said:

I find the insurance policies in Thailand don't meet my needs at all, and are generally rip offs. I have a slew of illnesses and insurance winds up covering none of my illnesses, so I self insure. I have a US$ 400K investment off-shore in the event of health emergencies and I have a living will in Thai and English prepared to prevent, if at all possible, all the blatantly useless surgeries that private hospitals perform at the end of life. It spells out I wish to die at home in my own bed. I also have a contract with the lawyer who drafted it to visit the hospital to try to ensure that my wishes are carried out....and he's a bit of a bastard to be honest which is why I picked him. 

In addition between my wife and I we have about US$1 million in assets here in Thailand but I wish to avoid using this for my health costs. This sum for my wife to live on after I die. 

My Thai assets are less but nonetheless up there. I've had my wife and Dr (Thai) sign and acknowledge my DNR Papers/forms. I'm 73 and survived C and quad bypass surgeries. My ETNA insurance covers me from my chin up and my knees down because of the exclusions. I don't want my remaining assets blown away as a result of a week or 2 of ICU fees. It's been a hell of a ride... 

4 hours ago, AreYouGerman said:

 

You won't. Depending on the DTA you could even pay less. If no DTA, then you gonna pay double.

 

The main issue is however for probably most of retirees: Extra bureaucratic stress + you have to file for taxes, meaning you will have to document everything and pay an accountant.

 

Also, for people having f. ex. a dividend paying broker account under a Caribbean offshore company, de facto paying 0% taxes, suddenly have to file and pay income taxes.

AYG,I'm a Canuck non resident receiving pensions from Canada. There is a gov't form (NR5) you can file to have your income taxed as if you were resident.(based on worldwide income) I've filed for a few years now and have the  official letter stating I pay "0" tax which I don't. I'm wondering how Somchai at TRC will react when I present my letter?  

I suppose wait and see because there are no precedents.

1 hour ago, Hakuna Matata said:

 

Oh my God! Way too many Russians now in Thailand, especially in Phuket and Pattaya.

 

Unfortunately, 90% of them are not tourists. They are staying in Thailand for months and years, buying illegal ED visas. They are not good people. Many of them are involved in all kinds of illegal activities in Thailand.

 

 

 

 

Over many years of buying stuff from Lazada I only got ripped off once. From a Russian vendor selling Samsung phones a bit cheaper than everyone else.6K gone and I blame myself for not doing due diligence. The red flags were there, no proper advert site, only contact to a personal number for bank details etc. Him insisting on a direct ATM deposit.I'm still kicking myself on that one.It won't happen again.

A complaint to Lazada resulted in a "zero" response.They're probably still laughing about my issue...555   one born every minute they say,

37 minutes ago, Flyguy330 said:

Where to begin......😑

 

Lets start with this - I am living a very comfortable retirement now, thanks entirely to my Union. My Union was not a huxters scam, or a mafia, it was a professional association of men and women determined to protect their job contract and conditions. It was not communist, or socialist, it was anti-corporatist, anti-elitist and anti-exploitationist.

 

If it was not for the solidarity of that group I would not have a pension now, and I would not be living a decent retirement in SE Asia. I would be broke and living in poverty in the freezing cold back home.

 

We stood up to all attempts of self agrandising managers to further their own careers by destroying ours. Yes, it sometimes involved having the backbone to strike. That only ever happened when we were pushed to the absolute limit by managers who believed they could break us. They always failed, and it cost many of them their own jobs.

 

It amazes me how brainwashed and deluded so many of the current generation are. Especially in the United States. Indeed it's a uniquely American product, one of their biggest exports. Workers have bought into the propaganda rammed down their throats by the Corporate Media daily - Unions are bad for you, they are Anti American, Unions are commies, save your money on Union fees, don't expect a permanent job anyway, it's a gig economy so get a gig, health insurance is optional, so get a side gig to pay for it, you have no right to strike, stop complaining, and when you're 60 <deleted> off and die quietly - and the sooner the better.

 

This same US Corporatism has infected much of the anglosphere.  I'm not from the US, but I see the same message sold every day in my home country. When we had our 'disputes' with the company it was shocking to see how certain newspapers simply outright LIED about the issue, about wages and conditions, how they would cherry pick their facts and how they covered up those that didn't fit their biased agenda. It's why I trust nothing I read, see or hear in the mainstream media anymore. It's only when you are directly involved in a newsworthy story that you begin to understand that everything they write is lies or misdirection.

 

The anti Union movement has been hugely succesful in the last couple of decades. It is an organised effort, driven by the corporations and aided by the media they own, and the politicians they buy.

The result is millions of ordinary people seeing their incomes falling year on year. Governments open borders to cheap goods which kill homegrown business, and import dirt cheap manual labour to erode native workers pay and job security. UKIP convinced the Brits that this influx would end if they voted for Brexit - which they obligingly did. But the influx continues, and indeed increased. The Tories are standing for election and making promises to stop it - but they have had 8 years since Brexit and it continued. Why? Because ultimately it suits the Corporate Agenda to destroy British workers wages and job security.

 

It's not just the Tories - Gordon Brown (Labour) perpetrated one of the most disgusting crimes against UK workers in 1997 when he changed the accounting laws on company reports which effectively made the elimination of Defined Benefit Pension Schemes inevitable in the UK. There isn't a single FTSE100 company now that still has a DBPS. https://theconversation.com/britains-great-pension-robbery-why-the-defined-benefits-gold-standard-is-a-luxury-of-the-past-100844

 

My Union defended our DBPS to the death. I'm very grateful, as are hundreds of my colleagues.

 

 

 

"My Union defended our DBPS to the death. I'm very grateful, as are hundreds of my colleagues"

Your situation sounds the sme as mine. At 25 I needed a job and it turned out to be a union shop. A lot of our disputes involved our DBPS, in not allowing the companies access to these funds. I'm grateful to the union leaders for preventing this.Like most I had no choice but to contribute via union dues. I quit after 30 years at 55yo.I have been collecting that pension for 19 years so far. I've met many non union workers over the years that come retirement age are given a watch or nothing at all but making the business owners wealthy. Love them or hate them,I've done well by them.      

On 5/27/2024 at 6:16 AM, Skeptic7 said:

Ex-mercenary...and I'm an ex secret agent man❗ 

Sorry but I can't talk about this case or else I'd half to k--- you 555

9 hours ago, webfact said:

Police from the Chonburi Provincial Police, Banglamung District, and Pattaya City held a meeting this week with security guards from entertainment venues in Pattaya to address concerns about tourist safety following a recent incident in which two foreign tourists were brutally assaulted by security guards.

The meeting, held at Pattaya City Hall on June 6th, was led by Pol. Maj. Gen. Thawatchakiat Jinda Kuansanong, Commander of the Chonburi Provincial Police. He was joined by Banglamung District Chief Weekit Manarojkit, Pattaya Mayor Poramase Ngampiches, Pattaya Police Superintendent Pol. Col. Navin Teerawit, and other officials.

 

Representatives from the Pattaya Entertainment and Tourism Industry Association, the Pattaya Nightlife Business Association, and the Pattaya Tourist Police Volunteers were also present, along with 300 nightclub owners and security guards.

 

The meeting was held in response to the previous viral physical altercation between bar guards and two foreign customers on Soi 6, where one foreigner was brutally kicked in the head after getting knocked down. However, the tourist, who is pursuing legal action against his assailant, was not seriously injured, The Pattaya News noted.

 

By Aim Tanakorn

 

Full story: THE PATTAYA NEWS 2024-06-08

 

Get our Daily Newsletter - Click HERE to subscribe

Appears to these old eyes that half the forum are otherewise engaged on their cell phones

On 5/27/2024 at 9:44 PM, Chris Daley said:

After good men spend a lifetime grinding their hands down to the bone for nothing, we are met with either cancer or heart disease.

 

How about you? Which one do you think you will get first?  I would like cancer first.  It seems more gradual amd less sudden.

In my case both came to the party.Quadruple bypass @59. Colon "C" @ 67. Survived each , kind of, but a lifetime of (functional alcoholism) will do that to a bloke. I've tapped on the brakes @ 73 but no real regrets as I've nothing to compare it to. Enjoy life's little pleasures.

What money I never spent on myself I spent on those who took care of me when I needed it most. Msg from "heavens waiting room"

I see in his future, an arm sling,neck brace,eye patch and let's throw in a wheelchair for good measure, oh and a face mask...

Or some sealed lunch boxes for the judge in case they feel peckish.

46 minutes ago, thesetat said:

why not just take it to a shop that does this.. It will be cheap enough and not waste your time waiting for delivery and doing it yourself. My fan also had the same problem but it was not the capacitor. You may find you are wrong about the problem and change that only to find it still does not work. The cost to fix my industrial sized fan was only 150 baht. Are you so cheap you can not just let a professional fix it? 

I had the same issue...I changed the capacitor but it still didn't work. Took it to Somchais repar shop and he fixed it for 200 baht.I no longer repair fans.

FYI >Sat,June1st> Wise users: I set up my monthly transfer @ 16:19 from my Canadian bank to Wise. Money deposited to Kbank @16:52. (30 mins)

All back to normal in my case.20$ fee up from 14$. My Cda bank used to rip me off for over 60$...before I found Wise.

I'm quite happy with this. My transfer the other day took 12 hours for some reason. PS: This time I checked "money for everyday expenses" as opposed to "money for long term stay", don't know if that made any difference.

On 5/29/2024 at 11:09 PM, JoeyMac said:

 

 

Fully agree. 

 

This has effectively opened the door to free for all. Those cheering because they don't have to file some paperwork, or go to immigration to get an extension will be the first to start complaining when the whole landscape changes as (their target) they hit 80 millions visitors (which is nearly 3 times as much as now) in 2027. 

 

This is not good news. 

 

Long term visitors are going to drag your rents up for a start. The rest ... well just think about how destructive it's going to be in regards of your experience. It's not going to be pleasant. 

Jo,I tend to agree with you on this point.Flooding the LOS with tourists from any old country could radically change the landscape for retirees like myself. During Covid in Pattaya you could actually drive to places without traffic being plugged up. However it put a lot of small businesses down. I'm living in "Heavens waiting room"  and it will get real busy but will take time. 

3 hours ago, fondue zoo said:

 

Checked again this morning, Wise have now added.

Keep in mind — It can take up to 2 working days for <recipient> bank to credit the account.

Which I've seen before but it wasn't displayed yesterday.

 

If I email them they will only point to that and say yes, our part is done/final, this is a bank delay.

It's a waiting game now.

 

Yesterday I experienced exactly the same issue as yourself. Normally its been a matter of minutes to receive my money. I'm going to have a look at Remitly. Wise has also almost doubled my transfer fee.

Maybe its a glitch hopefully.

16 hours ago, ChumpChange said:

Perfect place for you Bob Scat. Food is shiite, prossies up the wazoo, English accents annoying AF, filth of the highest order, violent crime highest in SE Asia, awful infrastructure, typhoons, religious evangelism, wholesale poverty, what's not to love about it? Just promise us you won't come back. And, if you forget to write us about it, no worries; nobody will even notice. Good riddance. 

Back several years a few of us went over for a look around. We booked a 2 week trip and cancelled after 1 week for all the reasons you mention above. I know 1 week isn't very long but we got ripped off at EVERY turn. The only place we could cash travellers cheques was a black market Chinese shop at a 10% fee.Alongapo/Subic area.The Yanks were just leaving and Mt Pinatubo blew its wad the year before.

The conductor on the Victory Liner bus charged us extra because we put a bag on an empty seat. That was only the beginning. Cab driver agreed on a fare and when we arrived he said, oh no, I meant each for 3 of you. Never ever again.

On 5/20/2024 at 1:38 PM, Dogmatix said:

 

Clearly things will be extremely chaotic in implementing a most likely unlawful re-interpretation by a bureaucrat without any supporting regulations or preparation whatsoever and involving the application of dozens of slightly different DTAs which RD officers have never had a reason to even look at, let alone fully understand how to implement them. 

 

I was giving some thought to what types of remittance will be easiest to handle and which will, in my humble opinion alone, be least likely to attract unwelcome attention from the RD.  I give my own rankings. Others will have different opinions.

 

1.  Documented loan from offshore company.

2. Gift to spouse.

3. Remittance from balance already in bank account prior to 1 Jan 2024.

4. Remittance of capital gains from stocks where no tax has been paid (this one is easy because no DTA tax credit is available - just pay Thai tax in full.)

4. Remittance of income from employment or pension claiming DTA tax credit.

5. Remittance of dividends or investment gains claiming DTA tax credits.

6. Remittance of rental income on a monthly or quarterly basis. (This one is a complete PITA because you have to file a mid year PND 94 with estimate of full year income as well as year end PND 90. In addition you will have to claim tax credits under DTAs.  Probably best never to remit post 2024 property income, sell the property and/or leave Thailand, if you are dependent on rental income to survive in Thailand.)

 

Just my ideas that don't constitute advice to anyone.

Will my simple theory work? Income 80k baht/mon.Transfer 40k to my wife and 40k to myself from abroad. Pay any taxes due on 480k annual income.

13 hours ago, CanadaSam said:

Thank you all for your valuable info and advice!

 

Tomorrow, a visit to Land & Housing Bank, thanks to FreeWorld's input!

 

And a last question for anybody still reading this, what about if I consider other options rather than banks, would you think Gold, or the Stock Market would be better?

I've always been a bit of a gold bug in LOS. It's instantly convertable to cash and it has appreciated in value since I arrived full time in 2004. I've also had a good dividend stock (CPNRF) previously thru Bualuang Securities.I've rarely left any larger amounts in savings accounts. Thats just me, there are a myriad of other ways to invest.I've been lucky I suppose. 

On 5/18/2024 at 7:22 PM, JimTripper said:

It's a thing in the USA now. They call it "Van-life". People live in the back of vans, go from place to place traveling the country, including Wal-Mart parking lots, to park overnight and sleep. There is an online community and app that tracks groups and shows where to park. They call it minimal living and freedom.

 

When I looked at it deeper a couple years ago online I discovered it was really not all that romantic though. There were a lot if semi-broke almost homeless people involved. You start reading about how they can't afford the designated campgrounds and toilet facilities and need that shopping center parking lot, etc.

In my younger days I considered the nomadic lifestyle in a full sized RV. With costs of fuel,RV  sites and crime nowadays a 1 br condo in LOS with all the amenities seems a much better option.