maewang99

I think what messes us up with this...  is we need to track TWO due dates.

right? always think of it as TWO due dates.

 

when we think of it as ONE due date... it's easy to be too late to mail it... or to ever even mail it in ever...

but man oh man is it easy to just pop it in the mail... even over using the internet it seems to me.


 

sorry thought it was another online thing.

but the self addressed envelope with a 9 Baht stamp is easy. 

keep a sign somewhere with your date due so you don't forget.
I don't like the online thing at all.  







 

but don't get me entirely wrong.....

Thailand and Northern Thailand is a hoot even if you only speak English.....

for sure.

but Pasa Thai is way overrated if you 'live with the natives' & you stay just about anywhere north of Utarradit. a really big thing I think, for me it is. so I also study Kam Mueang... for which the resources of learning are almost nonexistent and you have to DIY. which is also a pretty big thing.



 

if your practice isn't in Bangkok... I'm thinking Chiangmai.......

you will also want to learn Kam Mueang.... notwithstanding how many Pasa Thai language experts share with you that 'everyone' speaks Bangkok Thai.... that's actually a little bit of a stretch...

or they have a special theory that what they hear everyday but don't understand too well.. actually, don't understand much at all.... is a tad more than just a 'hard version' of 'Thai'
 

Pasa Thai works but.....
 

in normal social settings where folks switch to conversing in their normal daily language.... it just doesn't. 

maybe you can avoid that by staying only in certain circles.....  i.e. other doctors but I don't think of that as a good thing.





  

2 hours ago, Phuket Man said:

I choose the marriage extension because it needs less finances and is only slightly more difficult than the retirement option. 

 

I am married to a Thai so why would I not use that method? 

Certainly not to save a few extra minutes applying. 

well, if your wife doesn't have to work... because otherwise she has to appear at the office with you for anything you do.... even just a reentry permit. and for some of us the immigration office is several hours one way.. so it's an all day... sometimes beginning with a very early queue... for two people not just you!

my wife is always with me anyways! however..... retirement is also simpler. once you are over age 50 you stay that way, nothing to prove again! except money but that's nothing... you need a certain amount of money for a lot more than just immigration... even if you live in the sticks.. when you are over 50 some issues you can get are not just a clinic visit, eh?


 


 

 

everybody needs to have 20k THB on them unless Thai.

Immigration wants to apply a sledge hammer to the local economy.

no. I don't think so.

 

yeah, don't make the mistake I did and put it in a joint account with your Thai wife.

go ahead, have a few laughs on me.... :-)

even for a marriage visa.

for several reasons... not just immigration ones. 

for those still excited about the 20,000 THB thing for tourists who are not tourists....  when I got here it was 200,000 THB for a marriage visa, but I was a little lazy and missed the grandfather date by a few days [they changed the rules/law just as I arrived here on retirement]... I just didn't know.. should have read Thai VIsa.com but hadn't.... didn't even know about the 90 day police report and when I did I and my wife thought it didn't apply to ****us****!!!!

anyways... so instead of having to show 200,000 THB in a bank account... I had to have (or had until very recently) 1.6 million Thai Baht stuck in two bank accounts... anyone who has been here for more than 2 months can easily fill in the blank on how that happened to me... with 800K stuck forever basically. 

but now I get enough pension income I only have 800K stuck in a retail bank... and can keep the rest in the Thai stock market which still pays beau coup dividends and a 7/3 Thai tax refund to boot.

no, I can't get the 800k back. two signatures needed? yes?

 



 

from what I know, worry only about what you do online.

anything else... as long as you don't work as a salaryman....

no problems ever. not having to worry about stuff is one of the reasons for being here, isn't it?





 

I didn't reads the entire thread....

but hey... you have a work permit.... you are not a tourist....

and need a re-entry permit... and there's a reason they call it a reentry permit... I hope!
 

at least, this is all of my understanding on this. 

this 20k thing is way over the top too exciting for some reason... so we figure it applies to all of us.... but it don't.     

 

there's no other way to do this, is there? just swear to it.

'all income from any source' (the basic US Code provision where income tax law begins, speaking as to the USA) is gross income..... but there is no filing requirement unless that pension income is taxable past a threshold. so there is nothing for the Embassy or Consulate to use... even if they had all the time in the world to confirm stuff.... because of that... plus..... bank secrecy laws.

we won't be asked to disclose overseas bank deposits because there is no official or recorded way.... for now... for anyone to know this stuff for any other official purpose... and.... there are bank secrecy laws that prevail. just copies of bank statements.. but not anything officially tracked or reported.

so... because "pension income" as needed to be known for Thai immigration isn't necessarily at all related to a taxable amount in the USA... i.e. previously taxed or exempted trust distributions.....

there's ****no**** way to verify other than bank accounts.... and regardless of FATCA so far, bank secrecy rules the day. I can't file a correct Thai tax return because my Thai holdings are kept in a secret nominee name. bank secrecy requires it. even in spite of being a clear and open and shut violation of a tax treaty (US-Thai Double Taxation... Non Discrimination Clause). copies of brokerage and bank account statements are not at all acceptable by Thai Revenue (at least not in Chiangmai they are not).

so.... all they can ever get is an affidavit. 

but as for me, I would not be able to swear to a false amount.... I have too much German blood in me.... I guess... that's why my mom still points out to me sometimes that I am 'Pennsylvania Dutch'.







   

why would any of the rules need to make sense?  that's a western perspective, where we can ask why and find some kind of reason.  because there is one usually, and we expect some rationale.

but this is Thailand.  

think about it. school for instance, students are expected to copy someone else's work.  to comply with a requirement, something that a 'student'; is supposed to do... and does.  in the west, it would be a negative thing.  here it is 'going thru the motions'.. 'jumping thru the hoops'... same for us at immigration.

don't look for reasons. if you find the real reasons.. if you look really good and find out what they are... you will only regret it.. and still be left having to comply.

how can anyone have any kind of life here and not notice this? 











 

does it take a day job away...... from a Thai?

no. 

and I'm a tax accountant... in the USA (a required disclaimer)..... meaning that I am used to everything being more complicated than it should be...

but on this one.... Bitcoins? I don't anything very complicated.









 

just drop it in the post.  huh?

the only extra work is to track 2 dates instead of one. when to send, when to expect it back. no one cares who mails it.

 

why go to the immigration office?






 

easy one. 

I always have had private cover (Thai) even when I had to pay the silly Social Security thing...

and wait 3 months to even get the useless card from the ajarnite. and most of the big schools have an arrangement with a clinic or even a local hospital anyways.... and didn't even ask for my SS card when I did have a serious accident.

but if you need some real hospital care.... ISO stuff.... private insurance, Thai issues. and there's only one. the stats are on the official Thai govt Insurance website.

what are you complaining about?

if you just keep 800k Baht in a bank account, and keep it somewhat active but not below 800k for the 3 months before you renew once a year... all you pay is a small fee at the bank.

as for the income method.... it needs to be a procedure that is the same for everyone.... and there is no way to track or prove retirement income as needed for Thai immigration purposes... so you swear to it.  

and no translation needed... Immigration is quite familiar with the form letter that the US Consulate in Chiangmai, and US Embassy in Bangkok,  processes... so it is in English only and 100% okay as is.




 

drive the young crowd... especially females... CRAZY!
 

since Kam Mueang is not a written language anymore..... you can use most of the Pasa Thai letters and locals do.... but also..... since we ain't learning Pasa Thai and.... [ yeah repeating it ]..... Kam Mueang is not written anymore.....

we can quite legitimately, without needing any kind of excuses.... adopt our own spelling methods to make Kam Meuang easier for an English L1 to learn....  one caveat.....

I've been working on this for more than ten years.  that's meant as a caution... but socially in groups of Thai... we cannot expect.. nor are Thai folks even aware.... as well as many farlang.... when they collectively switch to Kam Mueang from Pasa Thai... not just when farlang are present.. or other foreigners.. but when Thai folks from Bangkok are around as well.  and we are then all left out.  which is horrific. 

so.... ten years and counting.....  but the good news is you can reduce all of the Thai vowels  [ and actually could all of the Thai dialects maybe... but why bother? ]  pretty much, and very successfully, to just 13 graphemes.

which is very familiar and comfortable for English L1 especially because we butcher all of ours, and we have just as many as Thai do.... down to just 5 placeholders. 5!
 

[ plus a simple trick for Kam Mueang that quickly indicates pitch tone, contour and "duration" as well ]

that's a huuuuuge advantage over Pasa Thai..... and you need those advantages with Kam Mueang because 3rd party material is all but nonexistent for non Thai L1.
 

yeah and 6 tones. with what I have found where I live that****both**** of the high tones, and only the top two (in pitch).... have glottalized stops... one of them quite distinctively..... that drive the local and younger crowd... especially female ones... absolutely nuts!!!!!! and older Thai folk, around my age, look like they are in cardiac arrest.. but only at first and then they want to talk to me.. in Kam Mueang.. at 5,000 miles per hour!!!!

so it's fun!!!!!

the young girls will always go "that is not how the *****Thai***** people pronounce XXXXXX!!!!!!!" [ in spite of that statement being 100% incorrect, and I know it....... and so do they..... but they still have to repeat the mantra.... it's quite a system and..... it ****is**** what it means to be "Thai"........... it's the whole ball of wax ].


that they either go nuts or have a heart attack is proof.


it's also why *****EVERYONE****........ including farlang....... will tell you to study Pasa Thai...... and give you all kinds of nonsense and crack jokes etc. as they always do when they know they are rubbing up against the very reason and only thing that makes them Thai.
 

but it is how we speak where I live. 24/7/365... even so in 2560.

unless someone has their TV turned on.
 

US has a new law on this, so my only 2 cents on this is that you check what his home country's policy is. right? it can vary quite a lot. what country is it, I didn't see you mention it.
   

not only not so useful paperwork wise....

a TEFL earned outside Thailand program usually revolves around lesson plans for 20 or fewer students.... not 50 or 100 students for learning "conversation".... which is the norm here at public schools and university, at least that I worked at.  

just a simple assessment of speaking and listening skills of that many students..... is absolutely exhausting. barely possible sometimes.
 

On ‎4‎/‎22‎/‎2017 at 10:14 AM, YetAnother said:

from usa use bangkok bank branch  in nyc; it is a domestic transfer within the usa; low service fee, good exchange rate; been using it for years

yup.... and they have the still exclusive US Social Security direct deposit relationship, yes? 

no shennanagins all the way around.

the other games folks play that are worried they need to hide that they are here... etc.. but for which the USA has no assurances on.... BBL makes sure you don't have an ATM on the Soc Sec deposits.... most likely would have all kinds of ways to get fees and things off the fx rate in X decimals... plus... down the line.... issues and hassles for not just using BBL and showing your face at the counter.

isn't that the skinny?

the green motif bank Kasikorn has the same deal on transfers but from LA, but not any deal on USA Soc Security, the last I know. 



  

 

no, but perhaps you may be surprised by big refunds on your next Thai tax return. on the pro rata share of corporate taxes ****ahead**** of Thai dividends. not always so easy to figure out... Thai Revenue is usually very helpful.

not much information? because it's pretty blasé to be a SET investor. it's a retail investor led market, computerized and online,  with bids and offers displayed with a regular retail account. in fact, a big advantage to trading here is that unlike when we use a non Thai bank or broker... an "overseas" broker... for Thai securities.. they will be held at the TSD in our own names and as well not commingled with other customers... which for most of us is a good thing... re: the tax refund mentioned above.

 

 

I'm lucky, I can keep it simple with a passbook account with no ATM.

... and I don't like 1,000 Baht notes... so I have to go to a window anyways...

most important, I can't ever go under the 3 month limit... I can always plainly see the balance before I withdraw.

how can that not work?  

I'm probably one of the guilty guys... an expat that spoils Immigration by letting them see withdrawals and deposits from the same account I get a statement on... sorry! and all because I don't like 1,000 baht notes!
 

3 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

If you build a house on somebody else's land and you don't have a good agreement on paper, you have nothing. 

not quite nothing. there will be a house on somebody's land. and going forward from here, it's gonna be quite different than the past.

depending on where it is located... the land owner might have gobs of trouble just finding someone to stay on their property to keep an eye on it.  and renting will be something of the past. 

in my village only old people are left, and a few younger folks who are barely here to ever do anything except watch a little TV, "ab nom" and sleep. and there are fewer and fewer of those.

depends on where you are... and... 

the demographics esp. in Thailand mean going forward land is something you pay taxes for owning, can't divide up to sell in small patches before you die.... and maybe can't ever even sell at some point.


 

this is Thailand.

it's a WHO you know country.. not a WHAT you know... none of the rules here need to make any sense at all.... and certainly not by western standards.  

the rules make "sense" simply be being issued by the government.

in the west we generally follow rules because we agree with them... we question them and can usually see some kind of logic... and so we generally comply....

here it's different. you should just comply, and whatever you do don't question things. at all.

  
 

1 hour ago, catman20 said:

 You cannot just leave 800,000 baht sitting idle in your account all year.

 

 

WHY NOT ??????????

some officers want to see... from the account info in front of them..... that you are not working....  that's always key.  if you are not spending from your "Big" account maybe you are up to something more than just being retired...  

makes sense.