jayboy

Exactly.That's all I have ever said.Yes there was a bit of Nelson's touch about the loophole especially as money is fungible, but the Thai RD wasn't interested.Now things have changed.

But the RD did not expect retired expats to file a return and in the real world there is no penalty for not doing so.Almost nobody did except a few whose motives are obscure (reclaiming interest maybe) or simply didn't understand the system.Pleas for common sense on this subject get nowhere but it's all water under the bridge (unless some genius advises that RD gauleiters will be chasing down elderly expats for the returns not filed in the past). Of course going forward there's a different environment and many will need to file returns now.

Evidence? I doubt whether there is anyone who feels he should have been filing tax returns when there was no need to do so. I'm aware you have been filing tax returns for many years because you have advised the forum accordingly.Most informed people would have considered this unnecessary but it was your call and we can leave it there.However for most resident retired expatriates - and I know a lot - it is only developments over the last year that has turned their attention to the possibility of filing tax returns.I don't know any who believes he should have been filing returns in the past when it certainly wasn't expected by the RD.(On reflection there may be one but he has business interests in Thailand. which obviously would make filing necessary)

You are commenting on a different issue.The matter under discussion was the accusation that Rishi Sunak made his money betting against Britain as a hedge fund manager.The Bloomberg link provided referred to events when Sunak was already in the House of Commons. Actually talk about hedge funds betting against currencies or countries reflects misunderstanding of how these funds work.They definitely take long or short positions,but they do not create the weakness that leads to speculation.I could spend a lot of time explaining this but I doubt there's an audience and it's off topic.in the Asian crisis some people blamed Soros for "betting against the Thai Baht." But Soros wasn't the problem; the problem was the US$ peg and the unsound practices in the Thai financial sector.

A French friend advises me that his compatriots resident in Thailand can cast votes electronically at the French Embassy in Bangkok.Unlike the Brits no need to mess around with postal and proxy votes (though that's an option for the French as well). However conscientious British voters are there's a good chance our completed ballot paper will be too late to count.

So many questions to unpack here.But simply put, I don't believe a word of it - at least in the way it's expressed here.

Rishi Sunak was already in the House of Commons in 2016 so the link provided is irrelevant.

Please explain

You have answered your own question.

I think you are right but only up to a point. It is true that many medical conditions could be avoided if people took better care of themselves, didn't become fat, ate well, severely restricted alcohol and exercised regularly (and it must be said had good genes.) But after 70 it's not possible to fend off problems so easily.In Thailand relatively minor issues can be dealt with at moderate cost (though the best treatment is not cheap and getting more expenive.) I don't know how large your savings are but while say Baht 10 million would cover most major procedures, it definitely wouldn't cover a very serious condition and prolonged hospitalization.If you are single with no responsibilities it might be worth "self insuring" but even the I'm a bit dubious. So contrary to what you claim, you are the one taking the gamble.And to end on a depressing note I think many retired expatriates are relying on health insurance products - some of them referred to in this thread - which are substandard by any normal criteria.

OK my bad.But interesting the Embassy sent out the ballot papers.Something the Brits could learn from - but of course they won't.

Election is on July 4th and I believe ballot papers were sent out from most electoral areas around June 12th so you got yours very quickly.By the way that means the ballot papers were sent out 22 days before the election, not 7.

I have registered as a postal voter for the forthcoming UK General Election as I'm guessing have many on this forum. I expect to receive my ballot paper in the next few days. I'll return it in the same day as receipt but what is the quickest assured way for a letter to be received in the UK from Thailand? (please no facetious suggestions - pigeon post, take it oneself, what's the point? etc etc}

In my view it's an outdated form of colonialism for Western countries to pretend to adjudicate progress in an area of human rights where by many measures Thailand is in advance of their own.What exactly do these ambassadors think they are doing and why? I have little doubt that future generations will look back with bemusement at this kind of activity. Mathew Parris, a highly perceptive gay man and co -founder of Stonewall gives a typically articulate rejoinder to all this. https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/the-times/matthew-parris-heres-why-i-want-to-leave-the-lgbt-club/news-story/f546a783321780a0f03b3c1e0dfab849

Not sure about that.Biden probably has has the much better diet but he is old old whereas Trump is merely old, and has traces of vigor whereas Biden has none. I'm not a US citizen but hope Biden will win, and I also believe that he will. But as a well disposed outsider my concern is the not up to the job VP candidate who needs to be replaced as Wallace was by Truman in 1944.

Sorry but this is almost all complete nonsense.Thais do pay income tax and those employed at a corporate level have it automatically deducted on the PAYE method. There are consequences to evading tax - without denying there is a corrupt element.There is no new tax scheme, rather a tweaking of what is already in place - bringing Thailand (eventually) in line with most other countries.The taxation on assessable overseas income is not aimed at foreigners, and elite families have nothing to do with it.The revised approach seems to come from the bureaucratic level and if anything it will be unwelcome to "elite families."

What is overlooked is the pressure from overseas banks for expats resident in Thailand to obtain a TIN with the threat initially muffled and then explicit that if one doesn't, then one will lose the account.My situation and I imagine the same for many is that I cannot function without an overseas account.I batted my bank off for years but finally I got a TIN.This has no impact on whether I file a return or not.

I don't disagree that one needs to keep across the issue to use your expression. But without disputing your account of hypothetical penalties for non payment, one also needs to exercise good judgement and common sense.Bear in mind we are talking (at least I am) about mostly late middle aged pensioners.Subject to any unforeseen developments, I believe they have accepted albeit reluctantly they will need to pay Thai tax, initially on assessible inward remittances and maybe thereafter on all global income.My point was that the Thai RD will process these returns automatically if all looks untoward especially as the in most cases the amounts involved will be modest. It is highly unlikely that such returns will be subject to audit, and even in the unlikely event of this happening the RD will not be concerned by - for example - use of off shore credit cards.In fact they wont know about it.

Surely it is extremely unlikely that if global income was taxed the RD would be checking such overseas payments through CRS UNLESS something untoward caught their attention in the tax return.In the instance of expatriate retirees tax returns I would suggest that risk would effectively be Nil.

Well thanks for that.I am sure all holders of Permanent Residence would be honored to be singled out from other resident foreigners for this discriminatory treatment. Quite why PRs in retirement, often living in modest financial circumstances, should pay tax on overseas income while much wealthier expat retirees are exempted, is not immediately clear to me. I don't think the US Green Card precedent is relevant because the situations are totally different,

Please don't confuse the issue by introducing awkward truths.We should just contemplate our happy "complicity" in war crimes to suit the ruling party's donors! What a meretricious and ignorant rant.Meanwhile the Europe we left is veering to the far right while our own country is about to move to the centre left.

Many years ago when hiso Thai girls often worked for a while at foreign company offices in Bangkok, I had a secretary - extremely wealthy Sino Thai family - who had medical malpractice issues with a major Bangkok hospital and in particular its anesthesia procedures which had left a relative in a coma after a routine surgical procedure.They weren't particularly looking for financial compensation, just some answers.Obviously I got all this second hand and don't remember all the details but I was surprised that a wealthy and well connected family got absolutely nowhere with the hospital.There was an internal investigation but I don't think it ever went to court. However what I do remember is that there were plenty of witnesses to the anesthetist's litany of errors and that under the investigative interrogation all medical staff lied and kept on lying.They would not tell the truth about a colleague.Whether this was organized or just a cultural reflex, I don't know. But since then I have always been aware that obtaining answers in Thailand on medical malpractice would be an uphill struggle.

I read it with interest.A good explainer.Thanks

Thanks.Got it now.

Haven't you got this the wrong way round? Most countries don't tax global income of residents.The US is the odd man out because it does require its citizens to pay tax on global income