jayboy

There is no way the man is a retired judge.British judges are very well paid and enjoy excellent pensions even after a relatively short time on the bench.Most have been high earning barristers before being appointed judges.More to the point (and I'm aware it's a generalization) they are highly educated - typically public school and Oxbridge - and pillars of their communities.Socially they tend to be upper class or upper middle class with the cultural interests that implies. There is no way these people would be attracted to a Thai resort built on prostitution and populated mainly by lower class expats and their Isaan farm girls, many tattooed and obese and (even those purporting to be different,) speaking in cor blimey accents and pursuing the interests that chavs and pikeys have everywhere.It just ain't going to happen.Former judges can be as sex obsessed and kinky as the best of us, but they are not going to be fishing in Pattaya waters. My guess is that Dan has got a bit mixed up and his guy had some kind of legal auxiliary role.

I would bet the house that this divorced guy was not a former British judge.

Haven't heard of this before but am not really that surprised.Many here will be aware of pressure from UK banks on expat customers in Thailand to provide tax identification numbers with a view to clarifying tax residency.This is of course driven by Common Reporting Standards (CRS) and Thai banks are also interested in this information and for the same reasons.How much pressure the Thai banks are under on this issue from the Thai Government I have no idea.But the direction of travel is clear and the ratcheting up is inevitable.For those who have flicked off impertinent inquiries about tax identification numbers - or cobbled up excuses - from their banks over the last couple of years (including yours truly) I don't think this can be done much longer.I'm guessing the Thai banks will be less insistent but they won't give up on the quest.

If my grandmother had wheels, she would have been a bike.

Doesn't tax paid have to be proved at renewal time?

Sadly not

No, the tightening up is aimed at well off Thais with overseas earnings.Expatriates (or those affected) have been caught in the slipstream and were not the primary objective.Expats with work permits invariably pay Thai tax anyway Very unlikely at least initially They won't.As you note it's an honour system but one would be foolish not to maintain proper records. You are probably right.

Er, no it's not.Requirements are largely the same and in my opinion in some ways more inconvenient.It's cheaper though.

The Tilleke advice suggests that the position is even more constricted.Assuming the 49% limit isn't breached (in which case every foreigner inheriting would have to sell) one would still have to be a Permanent Resident (with red Book etc) or with investment promotion status.

In Bangkok of the 1970's Trink's NiteOwl column in the evening newspaper (Friday edition from memory) Bangkok World was eagerly read by the expatriate community.There is no comparison with Stickman because Trink's column featured some truly beautiful girls from the bar scene unlike Stickman's obese tattooed flat nosed monstrosities.I also find Stickman unreadable - a provincial New Zealander devoid of charm. I did meet Trink a few times, definitely a very odd man who couldn't be understood unless you grasped his New York background.The attraction of his columns lay in the fact he was so odd - keeping his readers informed on the availability of Dinty Moore Beef Stew and many other peculiarities (including his extraordinary body shape). In the 1970's his columns were really racy providing the numbers of outstanding girls at massage parlours etc.I think eventually somebody at the Post collared him and eventually as a result the column went anodyne.He was very loyal to his matronly Thai wife and had two sons (one a cop?) though one sadly died early.I don't think he drank alcohol at all, perhaps very occasionally. I liked him - an original and a great character.

The great mystery is not so much the boring and inane content but why any organization should think it's worthy of publication. Perhaps a greater mystery still is why I read this mind numbing junk and then commented on it.

I doubt whether anybody loses money.In practice farang working illegally are not displacing Thais from employment.In many cases these farang businesses are adding to employment opportunities. Still the law is the law and it should be respected. The actual danger - if it comes at all - to these businesses comes from Thais who want to exploit the opportunity the foreigner identified - often the foreigner's partner or a rival business interest.And it goes without saying the constabulary will always be sizing up the financial prospects.

There is no contradiction as would have been clear to those who read the post carefully. The Pink Card is definitely becoming better accepted and it is Government Policy to encourage its use (so I was told by a senior Immigration official) After a time one gathers a sense of where are the risk areas.I never carry my passport now when checking into hotels; the Pink Card seems to be accepted everywhere. I wouldn't yet rely on the Pink Card for any kind of bank transaction. Ideally the PInk Card format would be updated and improved to hold more information.

In many cases of course of Chinese heritage themselves. Don't however agree with your simplistic take on Thai attitude to foreigners.Thailand is far from being anti-foreigner but they like to be able to place people in an understandable context.

On this forum there is a small but vocal minority which is triggered by any suggestion that the pink card is less than every farang's dream of unqualified acceptance into this demi paradise, Thailand. The truth is rather more mundane.The pink card is quite useful and increasingly so.But it is not 100% reliable even for internal airtravel and certainly for banking transactions.It is however gradually becoming more accepted and is now risk free for hotel check ins.But it makes sense to have one's passport in back pocket - particularly for banking transactions and maybe encounters with the constabulary.

Probably not as I have mentioned elsewhere.Still hope beats eternal etc etc. I don't know why you describe the session with the Swiss Ambassador and a very senior official from the Revenue Department as a "debacle", especially as I recall you didn't have the time or inclination to listen to it.It was very far from being a debacle:in fact the session was very illuminating.I and many others found it extremely useful especially as it's the only time a RD senior official has presented on the subject. There are plenty of sources of information available on the subject.I had a long discussion with a senior banker who is following the expatriate tax issue very closely.His view is that there are many aspects which are very far from clarity.It seems sensible to wait and see and avoid any kind of prescriptive lecturing.He did mention that those who brought in funds before year end acted very sensibly.

555555555555555 Not while there are diversity conferences to organize. Can you think of one thing or initiative - just one - that the Embassy has done for the great mass of resident British expatriates who are not influential or connected? They don't even attempt to keep a record of those resident.They would respond by saying consular services are available which is true but I am thinking more of specific initiatives to support local British citizens.Unlike other Western countries this aspect is of no interest to them. Example? Think back to Covid and how the Embassy ignored hundreds of very worried elderly expatriates when vaccines were problematic.Just fatuous high level representations.Eventually the British Chamber had to step in.

“A second marriage is a triumph of hope over experience.” ― Samuel Johnson

I appreciate this is has been done for a laugh but It's a badly thought out and largely irrelevant exercise since most expatriates do not fit into any of the stated categories.The fact that it is so poorly observed suggests that the author/s don't really have the experience or range as regards expatriates in Thailand to make such an exercise worthwhile.What is the point anyway?

Interesting.Maybe once a TIN has been accepted for a number of years nobody is going to check to see whether it was properly authorized or not.It's also quite possible my initial assumption was wrong - ie no problem in using Pink Card number and no separate application for a TIN is necessary.

For foreigners subject to income tax, it's true your Pink ID number (if you have one) might be the same as your tax ID (TIN), but not necessarily (see below). My understanding is that for foreigners a specific application is necessary to the Revenue Department to acquire a TIN (even if the number provided is the same as your Pink Card). It's not possible in other words to submit a tax return without have specifically obtained a TIN. Anyway that's my clear understanding for those with PR.I might well be wrong for other categories of foreigners and in any case I'm not sure their TIN will be same as that on their Pink Card.Someone better clued up could advise.

I should have also mentioned the very capable and personable Mark Kent.

David Fall was never knighted though he deserved to be.In fact the only recent Ambassador to be knighted was the likeable James Hodge but this was really because of the Queen's visit during his time.For many years the British Ambassador has not been knighted whereas in the 1960's and before it was almost standard.Whether this reflects the decline of Thailand's importance in British eyes or mediocre Ambassadors, I'm not sure.In the last 40 years Christian Adams, David Fall and Mark Gooding have impressed.There have also been some real stinkers but I will not name them.

If a UK company pension has been agreed by HMRC to be paid free of UK tax (ie has been given an NT coding) does that mean it will be free of tax in Thailand if remitted here? I'm pretty sure that it would be taxable in Thailand but thought the question was just about worth asking.

Some people will never learn.In Thailand it is often possible to structure entities that are nominally legal (there are multiple lawyers who will advise on this though they rarely mention any downside) but are nevertheless in conflict with the spirit /intention of Thai authorities.Nine times out of ten there will be no problem and the entity can operate without significant issues.The problem can come when the entity is stress tested perhaps by an unforeseen event, a hostile local business man or a tightening up of laws to better reflect intent. A wise foreigner looks beyond lawyers advice and tries to ensure his operation reflects Thai policy as well as Thai legal niceties. There are I should say excellent legal firms who give non partisan decent advice - but they are expensive and few in number.The foreign cowboys rarely consult them.