jazzbo

1. What Mrs. Helmsley forgot was that there is a big difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion.

2. You only have to report income in the current year; one could easily be living on income that was properly reported to the IRS and taxes paid in prior years.

3. I believe Mrs. Helmsley said upon being convicted "Oh Shit!"

Based upon being single under age 65, the IRS says anyone (who is not claimed as someone else's dependent) with a gross income less than $9,350 in 2010 is not required to file a 1040 unless you need to receive a refund of payments already made.

As per Post #16 a PO Box as in 'United States Post Office' Box can create complications these days as with most online registrations for legal / financial documents they will require a valid street address with a 9-digit Zip Code ... a 'Private Mail Box' or PMB at a mailing service is a different animal as the street address precedes the PMB info for 'look-up' purposes... requires USPS form 1583 as above.

I also have found handy a Florida area code telephone number via SKYPE in that it gives the US area code on caller ID -- even when activating credit cards that must be done from the 'home' telephone number... it rings on my computer and no one calling would suspect that I am here in Thailand and not in sunny FL.

BTW as per 1040 filing, I would quote (as per testimony of housekeeper) Leona Helmsley:

"We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes..."

As long as you have a valid address and can fill out a USPS Form 1583, you can use a 'Private Mail Box' at a UPS Store, etc. as a legal address for IRS, voter registration, DL, banks, credit cards, etc. ... but you do need the underlying address but not necessarily your physical presence at that address ...

BTW I do that in Florida with my brother however I was a legal resident of Florida for 10+ years before moving lock, stock, and barrel to Thailand.

http://www.usps.com/..._pdf/ps1583.pdf

As regards the anthropological study of (mostly male) expats in Ubon or any other place in Isaan, I would have a fundamental disagreement that the research method necessarily involves extensive observation and the interviewing of such expats. The far more revealing information IMHO would be what Thai persons in the proximity of such expats REALLY think of them and their residence amongst the locals...

... and M1514 might be surprised as to what a local might say of XYZ expat in his/her presence and then say maybe just-amongst-us-girls (possibly only in dialect) once the said expat is out of ear-shot.

My first 10+ years traveling around Asia was on agricultural junkets in PR China and Indonesia / Sumatra where -- as I was on government arranged treks -- I went to places you would never get to otherwise... even a CIA (DIA) person I met on the plane said I was in places (upper Yangtze valley) that they had never been to.

So having been thus spoiled now in Thailand I have turned into a home-body and do limited travel ... except for maybe like last summer when I tagged along on a Thai Ministry tropical horticulturist junket in and around Chiang Mai and similarly got to go places that are not otherwise easily reached or open to the public.

... and as (then) Governor Ronald Reagan once similarly and famously said of the majestic California redwoods: If you've seen one fish, you've seen them all."

I also opened this one thinking a musician was looking for a paying job on stage -- oh well, as long as I'm here: You don't as a farang go about finding a gig/gik; they find you.

The official Thai Immigration wording (their English translation of Thai language 2008 document) says that the 65K baht per month income for purpose of extension based upon retirement:

"Income could be pension, interest, investment payoff, etc."... so up to you and one's Embassy Consular officials about issuance of any such Letter.

The basis for issuing an affidavit of monthly income is unique to each country's Embassy in Thailand -- Canada does not seem to offer its criteria on its website -- however one way to establish a monthly income without pension is to have 2 accounts in Canada and have the requisite amount transferred each month from the 'master' account to the monthly income account.

You should contact the Canadian Embassy in Bangkok to better determine their criteria for such a letter... if possible it beats tying up 800K.

Nice narrative... 11 uses of 'good lady' in one post must be some kind of record.

Should you meet the requirements for obtaining a 65K baht per month income letter from the Embassy of Canada in Bangkok, that would absolve you of having to open a bank account at least for the purposes of receiving an extension of stay based upon Retirement.

For the 3+ weeks per year that I am in the USA, something like this before the TP works well enough -- keeps the irritation level down:

No security regime re: ATMs is fool proof in any country ... One thing you can do to protect yourself whether in Thailand or your home country is to maintain a 'Master' account with the bulk of your assets with NO ATM access. Then transfer amounts into a second (or third) account and use that account t for ATM access so there is never a large balance at any one time in the ATM-accessible account.

Post #35 And yes jazzbo. Really ... and Yes! Virginia -- there really is a Santa Claus ... I would give examples but then I would get vacation time for violating Forum Rules about discussion of (specific) moderations.

As our nationality does not affect our moderating ... Oh, really?

BTW 'Grow A Pair' has to be the most obnoxious over-used phrase on this Forum ... as in "I got'em; you obviously don't"

#15 Always use the sponsor - Thai Visa Broker... Stupid to go direct to a company. Another unsolicited non-biased opinion from this poster I am sure ... are you the ghost of BW?

Personally I would say it makes a big difference in using or not using broker when you are talking about property and automobile coverage -- when it is you and your broker against the insurance carrier -- versus medical coverage where the hospital insurance department is your ally -- once the hospital staff has determined your need for coverage -- in representing your interests and might work with the insurer a hundred times per day ... in that case the broker involvement might at times only complicate the issue.

My favorite typo that I caught first-hand was in The New York Times of all places:

Clam Prevails in Ecuadorian Election

Just to note that, before moving to Thailand, I spent extended periods of time in and around Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia, and that my only first-hand experience with the Islam population in Thailand is with those whose families are from the Minburi region of Bangkok Province.

Simon43 has it pretty well covered -- however in Thailand according to Section 1452 of the Civil Code of Thailand, a marriage cannot take place if either the man or the woman is already married to another person... however multiple unofficial wives or mia nois amongst wealthy Thai Islam men is common even among Members of Parliament ... in Indonesia having multiple legal wives is allowed.

If you marry a Thai Islam woman I would say it then becomes a function of how close you are to the family... Young Thai Islam women -- while respectful of their religion -- often want to get away from the strict conditions of their upbringing... and some Thai Islam women are some of the most gorgeous you would ever want to meet.

BTW Last time (May 2010) they posted a transcript of the webchat on the Embassy website so most likely not necessary to follow real-time. -- this notice is UNCLASSIFIED.

I'm a US citizen staying in Bangkok... You said in your letter that you are staying in Bangkok but I do not think you were making it clear to the Chicago Consulate official that you would be sending your passport et al while still in Thailand... maybe he thought you would be staying in Milwaukee or some place.

PR China is not currently a 'Visa Exempt Country' or free 30 day Visa available upon airport arrival.... A citizen of China qualifies for the Visa upon arrival good for 15 days and costs 1000 baht.

According to the TAT statistics for April 2007 (the latest available online) the average stay in Thailand for persons from PR China was 6.65 days... The average stay for persons from Europe was 14.26 days and from Americas 10.45 days ...

Regardless of the poorly written headline, the article is discussing eliminating fees for short-term tourists who are now paying Visa-on-Arrival fees not visas for persons who want to stay on a succession of tourist visas.

If you exit Thailand first into PDR Lao or Malaysia or Singapore, use your Passport ID to check into a hotel, exchange currency if no ATM card, etc. you could then attempt your scheme i.e. passport FedEx to family in USA having exited Thailand. You then would run the risk of not having your hard-copy passport on your person while in those countries but then not illegal as far as Thailand is concerned.

As the plan described on the ThaiVisa Insurance website is most likely the LMG 'Safe Travel Plan' (all the coverage details match) the duration per trip is priced up to one month and then coverage is priced for each additional 10 days... 90 days maximum policy duration

There is however an AXA Thailand 'Smart Traveller' insurance plan that does go up to 180 days but very pricey.

So for the insurer and/or underwriter it begs the question: If you take more than one 120 day trip per year, what is your actual country of domicile?

BTW the maximum duration trip for BUPA Travel is 60 days before one must again return to Thailand... but as my yearly USA trip is scheduled at less that one month, barring the unforeseen that isn't any problem.

Post #408 Love CM! We would live there if it wasn't so far from the sea (I'm a water guy!). So am I ... but after having lived in Northern California near the Pacific coastline with 3 to 4 meter waves crashing 24 hours per day the Gulf of Thailand or the Andaman look flat as a pancake ... I'll live up here in the sticks and download some wave crashing mp3s if I get nostalgic...