Yumthai

In the Thailand I live in, apparently not the same as yours, most locals don't follow the ever flip-flopping unenforced (tax) laws and regulations. "When in Rome do as the Romans do".

Way more than impressive, this kind of consistent return over the last 40 years makes any trader belonging to the world trading hall of fame.

There's plenty of insightful information available online, I can't make it comprehensible for you. And again, it's OK. Great, keep on. Likewise I know many people who have made tons of money with real-estate, they won't touch Stocks/Forex because it's gambling as they say. Bitcoin and other top-tier crypto ETFs are also increasingly SEC approved. Perhaps these billion USD fund management companies along with US SEC have somewhat understood value in crypto... or is it just FOMO?

Let me rephrase you: "I don't understand the value of Bitcoin", and it's OK. As per W. Buffett saying: "Invest in what you understand".

No, I reminded her the rules orally but she was very firm with a "take it or leave" attitude. I didn't want challenging her further as it's more than often unproductive. As usual in Thailand each official can bring and apply his own interpretation of the regulations.

Well bringing Thai regulation and law was helpless, IO insisted I had to get a new TM30 record matching my last entry stamp (which I did wasting extra half an hour or so) in order to get my yearly extension be renewed.

Few months ago in CW IO stated a new TM30 record is required, even returning to same address, after each new entry stamp in passport. I then assume the last entry stamp should always be linked to the most up-to-date residential address/TM30.

One can keep an international insurance for good coverage and buy an extra Thai insurance with high deductible (that should be cheap even for old chaps and at least lower than proceeds earned from investing $100K. AXA, Pacific Cross, Luma offer specific plans) only to fulfill the LTR $50K coverage requirement.

"Flexibility" in Thailand is still a big, often underestimated, pro compared to western pseudo-democracies.

You might be surprised to see that people who hang out there are, for a substantial part, local staycationers.

You're not tricking them if they're tricking you at first. Under OECD CRS reporting rules made for financial institutions, providing a TIN is NOT a mandatory requirement. The individual just needs to give an explanation why he is not able to obtain a TIN from his country of tax residence. Banks/brokers that require such TIN are applying an over-zealous internal policy, interpreting and not strictly respecting CRS regulation.

You don't fail to comply, you provide a random TIN. There is no way financial institutions can check the validity of a foreign TIN.

Any random number would have worked as well. Authorities willing to implement rules that they cannot realistically enforce do not deserve strict compliance.

Many, if not all, real-life reports contradict your bold statement.

Estate Tax considerations????? Indeed. US estate tax is a major concern for non-US persons (unless they don't care about their heirs) investing in US domiciled assets (there are some tax exceptions as interests from US treasuries). https://www.deadsimplesaving.com/blog/us-estate-tax-non-resident/ "The challenge with using US brokers is the US estate tax on non-residents. If you die with more than $60k in ‘US-situs assets’ (i.e. investments considered to be based in the US), your portfolio will get hit by a hefty tax. For anything just over the $60k allowance, you pay 18%, rising to 40% over $1 million." https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Nonresident_alien_taxation "Although the US generally classifies US source interest as fixed, determinable, annual, or periodical (FDAP) income, and taxed at a 30% flat US rate, the wide range of exclusions means that in practice the US does not actually tax the most common types of US source interest that nonresident aliens receive, such as that paid by banks, savings and loan institutions, credit unions, and insurance companies. This means that holding US treasuries can be a tax-efficient way for you to hold some US assets. US source interest that does not fall under an exception may be taxable to the US for a nonresident alien. Examples include interest effectively connected with operating a US trade or business, and broker interest on cash deposits held at US brokers."