ballpoint

As I said in (one of the many) the tax thread(s), I have the same issue. My fund managers send me an annual statement showing the earnings of each fund for that year (from dividends etc), which I get reinvested, but these rarely surpass USD80k. The true earnings are the combined gain in unit prices, which almost always do exceed that amount. But, until they are actually sold there is no proof of this gain, other than me showing the total value of the funds from year to year - which would be complicated due to the number of them. In any event, this wouldn't be classed as a capital gain, unless I actually sell USD80k worth of them. I suspect that even if I did so, they'd want to know that the amount was sustainable annual income, which would lead me back to the problem of showing the annual total increase in value of my holdings. I can easily see that, by trying to follow the Wealthy Pensioner proof of income method, my loss of investment from annually selling more funds than I need to, or remitting USD250k of my capital to Thailand, would end up greater than any taxes I'd be paying here. Maybe one day, when I'm not so interested in growing my holdings and am more interested in keeping things simple no matter the (affordable) cost, I'll jump through their hoops, but as I'm still under 60, that will be more than a few years from now. In the back of my mind, there's also the nagging suspicion that one day this, or a future, government will change the tax laws making LTR holders liable for tax, and taxing all overseas income, in line with other countries. Having provided documents proving that one earns at least USD80k per year, it would be very hard to wriggle out of paying taxes on that. No doubt this paragraph will be jumped on by LTR holders, and there's nothing what so ever to say that both those things will happen, and I strongly hope it never does, but it's not as if governments in general, and the Thai government in particular, haven't back tracked and broken promises before. The Australian government is doing it right now with their proposed changes to what constitutes tax residency, and redefining non-taxable Australian property. If I could easily get an LTR here, with no change in my current investment scheme, then I would, but if I'm going to be weighing up gains and losses through complying, then I'd rather stay under the radar until I reach a definite conclusion.

What this has taught us, and every despot globally, is that modern warfare is about owning nuclear weapons and threatening to use them should the enemy dare do to you what you have been doing to it for years.

He's certainly aptly named in the view of the dinosaurs, and their current pets. A right Pita for them. As others have said, I don't think they'll bother trying to disguise their steps to remove him and his party from the equation. (In fact, if they've learned from the previous dissolution of the party and its former leader, only to see it come back stronger in its current incarnation, they will do all they can to dissolve it and prevent its rising again). Nothing was done domestically when they stole the last election, and nothing will be done internationally when they steal the next (and next, and next...). The West will outwardly grumble, but keep on dealing with whoever is in charge. Any real punishment or sanctions will drive Thailand further into the China camp, and the West will happily do business with any unelected despot, as long as he's on their side. Unless there is huge widespread local protest at any attempt to dissolve them, with the army rank and file on their side, then nothing will change - though, that's easy for me to say, because I won't be the one to go to Bangkok and protest armed opposition. The patron-politics of Thailand, whereby one family more or less runs a province and pays for political support, and its own protestors to maintain that, is another large obstacle in the path of democracy here, into which MFP appeared to be making inroads. Things were never going to be easy with both the Bangkok and the rural elite against them - well demonstrated by the current army-Thaksin alliance. It remains to be seen just how far Pita, and other party leaders, are prepared to go should they be removed and banned. Will they come out with their hands on their heads, or on the trigger of a gun (so to speak)?

The SIM in my phone has been registered in my wife's name ever since SIM cards became a thing around 30 years ago and we went from our old SIMless brick phone at the time to the new tech. Sure, the card itself has changed size and shape over the years, but the registration name stayed the same. Looks like we'll finally be changing it - if I get this notification.

And this is the state that has decided at least one presidential election...