wordchild

Through business I have got to know quite a few wealthy Thais with assets outside country. I wouldn’t claim to know, in detail, what their plans are , because everyone is naturally guarded in discussing such matters, however I have some general impressions of what some of them think about the new tax proposals and how they are reacting . 1) Many wealthy Thais with assets outside Thailand are not that different from wealthy (non- Thai) expat who live in Thailand. Eg They have strong links to other countries where part of their assets are held, especially in places like UK,USA. They were often educated in these countries and own property there. Their children were also educated abroad and in many cases they have close family members fully settled abroad. They see themselves as semi-detached from Thailand and a very high percentage have dual nationality, and if they don’t , for sure their sons and daughters will usually have another nationality. I know one wealthy Thai with 4 daughters all of whom are married and settled in the UK. As he told me , they come once a year to visit but he doesn’t think they will ever return to live in Thailand. 2) Again I wouldn’t know the details but among the ones I know they seem to have plans in place for a variety of scenarios eg family trusts already set up in Singapore and the like. 3) Mostly they seem pretty unconcerned about the new remittance tax. They have a certain amount of wealth in Thailand already and i assume they will just be cautious about bringing additional funds back into country. A couple I know are just pretty dismissive of the whole thing and think it’s a storm in the proverbial, they have lawyers and other advisors and, as one of them remarked to me there are so many holes and ways around. it is just not going to work out in the way the RD expect. They expect light enforcement and a gradual walk back of the rules if it is seen as hurting critical parts of the economy. 4) a bigger concern for some is what will happen in the UK with the abolition of the non-dom status and, in particular, the possibility of an introduction of some form of inheritance tax on worldwide assets for those who were formerly classified as non-dom.

From a wider perspective its really difficult to see that Thailand has much to gain from a remittance tax on its own, in terms of the net financial benefit to the country. At least as far as expats are concerned we bring funds in for a variety of reasons but the linking factor is it’s money we intend to spend or invest , one way or another, in the country. Eg 1) daily living -finds its way into the tax system, one way or another. 2) purchase or rent somewhere to live, again moves funds through the system into the government coffers 3) travel and tourism activities, again some of it should generate tax revenue. the deeper problem in the country is the inefficiency of tax collection in certain sectors and especially the ease of avoidance within the “black economy “. It seems to me, that all this remittance tax will do (without addressing the fundamental problem above)is reduced the flows of funds into the country, and hence lowering the total tax take. I think this whole thing has been poorly thought through , and I would not be surprised to see it walked back over the next few years.

I spoke to someone at TE a couple of days ago. She confirmed that TE were in active discussion with the govt in order to obtain (tax) concessions for TE members. She said that she was not involved in those discussions and had no idea if anything would come of them. i have no idea where this is going to end up, but the fact that, at least one reasonably influential organization is raising issues with the government is ,at the least , encouraging, for all of us . TE members or not.

I spoke with someone at TE today who seemed to have been reasonably well briefed on the confusion caused by their newsletter, which, as a member, I had also received. 1) She admitted that the wording of the update was misleading, as it was simply a statement of the position that applies to any tax resident for the 2024 year. 2) However, she added that TE was in active discussions with the government regarding the tax position of TE members going forward. More than this she could not say because she had no direct knowledge of what was being discussed, only that discussions were taking place.

Excellent summary Whatever the self interested pushers of these schemes might argue on here, there is absolutely no genuine reason for any expat to lose control of their investments to schemes such as these. This world is filled with chancers and scammers we all need to be careful and watchful.

One way or another the (UK) definition of what makes someone domiciled or not domiciled is going to change fundamentally, most likely starting from the new 2025 tax year. Almost certainly the UK is going to move to a simpler definition of domicile , based on an individual’s history of residency ( or non residency) in the country, and not before time! Debating the old rules seems pretty pointless.

It looks like the UK,s ancient domicile laws will change fundamentally from next year (likely to be replaced by some kind of long term residency test). eg under the new proposal, if you have not been resident ,in the UK, for any of the last 10years then you will classed as non dom (as long as you remain non res), binning the old rules about where your dad happened to be born etc etc HMRC has a discussion paper out on this at the moment. However better to wait and see what the new government does when we see actual legislation.

Thanks for that, I have decided to go with Wattanasoth

I have recently had cancer surgery and now need to move ahead with radiotherapy ( and possibly immunotherapy). I am fortunate in that I am well covered from an insurance perspective. Any views on the best post-op oncology centers in Bangkok, in particular with a focus on radiology. my thoughts so far: 1) Chula, great doctors, advanced tech , incl the only proton beam facility in Thailand, and one of the only 22 such facilities in the world! However not sure that technology is appropriate for my case , and then there are the crowds. 2) Bumrungrad’s Horizon center, my regular general hospital, but not so sure about them in this area. 3) Bangkok hospital,s attached specialist cancer unit , Wattanosoth seems to be good reports about this place. 4) Vejathani and Rama 9 also seem to attract good reviews. Any thoughts most welcomed.

I have been UK non resident US/Asia for 25 plus years. I was advised by my then employer to open an offshore UK bank account and to close my UK bank a/c. I switched my Lloyd’s UK account to IOM. Have been with them ever since. Have always kept them informed of my up to date residency etc. Account can be operated on line, Debit/Credit/ATM cards plus bill payments etc exactly as any UK bank account. Never had any issues. Only downside has been Lloyds closed down their dedicated “offshore “ call center a few years ago. Service used to be friendly and efficient and fast. Now they have merged everything into their UK call center and things have taken a bit of a dive in terms of service. ps; I have heard good things about Standard Bank from friends who are customers so would agree with other posters that they might be worth checking out.

Thanks very much for that suggestion,

Thanks for that

Can anyone recommend a doctor for surgery to remove a (potentially) cancerous salivary gland? Because of insurance etc price not really a major issue, I am really looking for suggestions for the best doctor, in central BKK. Head and neck surgeon with special interest in the salivary gland.

I would second this. Pro corner recently carried out a slightly difficult repair on my old Dell; did a great job at a fair price.

Maybe they will come up with something like the NVDR scheme as used by the Thai stock market. It has worked pretty well since it was introduced a number of years ago, and it has been suggested before, that the condo market could operate in a similar way; Eg if F (foreign) allocation is available you can buy F, if not available you can buy in NVDR form, which means your ownership is via a centrally controlled entity which will hold the voting rights, however all other ownership rights remain with you. In practice this means you can get your dividends and sell your shares same as any other owner, the only thing you cannot do is vote at the AGM. Before the introduction of NVDR there used to be some ridiculous anomalies in the Thai stock market. When Thailand was popular with foreign investors there could , on occasions, be a 20pct+ difference between the F tradable shares and the local version. something similar to the Phuket condo market at times in the past. Since the introduction of the NVDR scheme this has all disappeared, foreigners can now buy local shares and convert them to NVDR form immediately and when they want to sell they can simply sell them as local shares. There is almost never any premium for F registered shares anymore, in practice there is a level playing field.