February 16Feb 16 2 hours ago, TorquayFan said:I'm repeating this earlier post because, it's such a brilliant idea, (to increase the Thai pension to B3,000).To those who grumble about possible corruption when VAT rises, well maybe, (it's Thailand), but that won't affect the Pensioners who will still be entitled to the B3,000.And to those who say, "ah but the Pensioners will have to pay extra VAT too" - well yes, but at worst, that would mean the Pensioners paying the Govt. an extra B258 from the extra B2,400 they would receive, broadly a benefit of B2K plus -that's wonderful for them !!Pension of B600 @ 7% = VAT B42 pm.Pension of B3,000 at 10% = VAT B300 pm.So to the ten + tightwads who gave the dreaded red finger to my original post' applauding this proposal, I say, shame on you ! The vast majority of Falang Pensioners living in Thailand are likely to be on a minimum of B30,000 monthly, TEN TIMES THE PROPOSED THAI PENSION.'Tightwad' is putting in politely !!Thanks Guys - all good fun . . . .Come back and chat when the Thai pension actually rises to 3k per month. Saying they are going to do it, and doing it, are two very very different things.Maybe the red thumbs down that your original post received (I wasnt one of them) wasn’t because of the merits or otherwise of the proposal, but more because you have assumed that the Government will do what they promised. Spoiler alert, they rarely do.
February 16Feb 16 2 hours ago, Peter Crow said:But that's what I pay in Bangkok. When dining out with the wife and kids, our bill is consistently in the 5 to 6K range. No gourmet/luxury Fuji, Wine Connection, Monsoon, Savoy, Amritsar, etc..Thailand is too expensive at the moment indeed.. prices are same as Uk and EU for hotels and meals.. no wonder tourists stay away
February 16Feb 16 1 hour ago, wensiensheng said:To some extent this is an aside, but it is also indicative of the attitude of the tax dept. I recently wanted to open a new bank account in Singapore and the bank asked me for a tax identification number for the country in which I am resident. Which is Thailand.So I filled in the required form( which is only in Thai language), gathered my various documents and went to the local tax office to ask for a TIN.I took a queue number, went straight to the desk because there was no queue and explained that I wanted a TIN. The lady simply asked was I employed in Thailand. When I said no, I’m retired, she said no can do, TIN is only for people employed in Thailand. No questions about overseas income being remitted to Thailand, just was I employed. And I am not living out in the sticks, this is in a major farang area.So I left, pleased that there is obviously no intention to assess my overseas income or establish whether any has been remitted to Thailand, but not pleased because I didn’t get a TIN.I guess the point I am trying to make is that yes indeed, the Tax dept has no idea about who is resident for tax purposes or whether they should be paying tax, because they are not interested in expanding their data base. PAYE and corporate employees seems to be about as far as they go.I mean, it works for me and the reality is that I have no assessable income because I segregate my overseas capital from my overseas income, and only remit capital into Thailand. But the inland revenue don’t know that, only I know that. So, honor system it is.Every tax office is different.. A problem that occur in whole Thailand.. ask someone and you get an answer ask some else and it is complete different... I am retired and I have to fill in my tax here.. Last year I went to EU and immigrations did not stamp my passport with an out stamp but when I cam back they stamped in.. The tax office this year had a problem as they could not see if I was 180 days in Thailand they claimed.. I told them I am here already 20 years, I emigrated to Thailand, Happily I had my boarding pass saved and they were accepting it.. New people new things it seems.. So next year I don't need to fill in my tax form when they don't stamp my passport when I leave???
February 16Feb 16 That's a 42% increase in VAT. They're absolutely determined to kill the economy. Airlines tax hikesIncome taxesMeanwhile in Vietnam...If you're not retired here you would have to be an absolute idiot to go ahead and do so.
February 16Feb 16 On 2/15/2026 at 7:17 AM, TorquayFan said:IMO this intent is to be applauded. Totally.A Pension of B600 per month is pathetic and imo it's inappropriate for us Falang to feel aggrieved by a small raise in Tax, (given many of us might be benefitting from Pensions of B30,000 per month and upwards).Well done Thailand ! Might be a move in the right direction . . . .The 3% additional tax on everything is not targeted at "Falang", but the whole of the Thai population; every time they go to a store to buy anything, they will feel it.
February 16Feb 16 7 hours ago, VocalNeal said:Who was voted in by a huge majority in his home province. It's called democracy.THE supposed bastion of democracy elected a convicted (in his own country) felon as President.Most village shops don't charge VAT that is only shops using electronic registers mainly in urban areas. Yes there are urban poor but most shop in markets and the like so an extra 3% won't effect the majority.It's coming. The Thai government is working diligently to tie the nation's poor into the tax system. It was a recent article in the Bangkok Post on this.
February 16Feb 16 I guess the huge issue I have with it is that it's not yet implemented and yet they will push through the increase. Additionally, the money won't find its place to any purpose it'll be absconded like all the other funds. The reason the nation's in the trouble it's in is because of all of the graft and corruption. This scheme won't be any different.
February 16Feb 16 This rise in VAT won't affect many normal Thais too much as they all mostly buy stuff from the Blue Flag stores which are way cheaper than pretty much all other places... not sure exactly how these stores work, either they are VAT exempt, government subsidized in some other way, or the store owners buy everything from some specific depot that buys stuff in crazy amounts. However, anyone can buy from these Blue Flag stores, not just Thais.
February 16Feb 16 Government rise vat 3% and all goods get more expensive. So everybody, rich and all poors are paying.Instead of rising income tax and corporate tax so its the richest that for once did something to help less fortunate.But no-long live egoism :-)
February 16Feb 16 Should the Thai government make policies prioritizing foreigners comfort, rather than the locals? Some of us have left our own countries and settled down in Thailand due to the cost of living there...
February 16Feb 16 4 hours ago, ikke1959 said:Simplicity .... This is not how VAT works...... It is not on you income but on the articles/services you buy...example 1000 THB with 7% VAT bills makes 1070 THB with 10% VAT it makes 1100 THB... a raise of 30 THB...same for water, gas, petrol and all other products you buy.. It will make daily life more expensive..... and with a result that prices are rising...and we all know that 1 THB more will not calculated it will be at least 5THB...we could see it if we buy noodles and the gas price is 60 THB more expensive my noodles rise 5 THB ....Sorry Mate but as I say, Tightwad !Very good for the poorest Pensioners, (as long as they can keep the Family away ☹️). I would be really sorry if you had to pay B5 extra for your noodles NOT. ATB
February 16Feb 16 4 hours ago, emptypockets said:Yes. A competent government should work for the people not have their hands in their wallet.Cut the bureaucracy and cut the waste.So without taxation, how does a government get money to provide services to its population? I won’t list the services because there are so many.Yes, reducing bureaucracy and waste is a great idea, but that won’t reduce costs to zero, merely reduce them. So where does the money come from for the remaining cost?Singapore is as efficient a government as I have ever seen. As a result income tax is comparatively low, there is no capital gains tax and no tax on investment income. But there is SOME tax. Because the government needs to spend money on providing services to its citizens. Wanting those services to be provided in as efficient a way as possible, is entirely different to not wanting to pay any tax at all.
February 16Feb 16 On 2/15/2026 at 7:17 AM, TorquayFan said:IMO this intent is to be applauded. Totally.A Pension of B600 per month is pathetic and imo it's inappropriate for us Falang to feel aggrieved by a small raise in Tax, (given many of us might be benefitting from Pensions of B30,000 per month and upwards).Well done Thailand ! Might be a move in the right direction . . . .Quite right, but how much tax did we pay to get our pension, and how much tax does your average Thai pay to get their pension? my wife gets her state pension; she has not worked at a tax-paying job in 25 years, you only get out what you put in.What other country in the world were the government's biggest source of income is the lottery not tax income, and where, last figures I read ,only 16% of people pay tax? That figure I can believe, in our very rural agriculture Soi , only a few people work paying tax, and one of those is a woman ,bottle wash and cleaner at a local bank. Bringing more people into the tax system would do a lot.
February 16Feb 16 1 hour ago, TorquayFan said:Sorry Mate but as I say, Tightwad !Very good for the poorest Pensioners, (as long as they can keep the Family away ☹️).I would be really sorry if you had to pay B5 extra for your noodles NOT. ATBIt is a pity that many people here only talk about their own situation, but not see what the results will be in reality... I don't care about the 5 THB more for noodles. It is only used as an example that things will be more expensive than 3%...... And not only that... It is a plan to raise to 3000THB ... I must see it that is becomes real first....In Thailand are many promises but not many are fullfilled
February 16Feb 16 8 hours ago, emptypockets said:By definition the black market pays no tax at all. Nothing will change there.Ok, but VAT and GST demonetize black market transactions. This has the effect of reducing the activity. The gray and black markets will never be eliminated because the black market in large part relies on criminal activities, such as the trade in stolen merchandise, goods sold off book, defective goods and personal services. However, in jurisdictions where the rate is reasonable, compliance rates in turn are high. e.g. Canada and Australia. . In France and Italy where VAT is 20%+, tax avoidance is chronic and part of the culture.
February 16Feb 16 Consumer spending and tourist/foreigner spending has already dropped. Adding burden to the economy makes no sense. In fact in such times, one would need to reduce the VAT to reboost economy and tourism and make better incentives to bring the foreigner retirees back to Thailand. As it's the retirees who have homes in Thailand for their winter months who are some of the big spenders. But try to explain such basics to bureaucrats.
February 16Feb 16 4 hours ago, SingAPorn said:Consumer spending and tourist/foreigner spending has already dropped. Adding burden to the economy makes no sense. In fact in such times, one would need to reduce the VAT to reboost economy and tourism and make better incentives to bring the foreigner retirees back to Thailand. As it's the retirees who have homes in Thailand for their winter months who are some of the big spenders. But try to explain such basics to bureaucrats,Perhaps the 'Bureaucrats' have it in mind that to help the Pensioners is the greatest priority. Many Thai Pensioners are extremely poor in a Country which has the 6th worst inequality in the World.It's surely worthy to perceive this as a greater need, (or a better vote catcher), than to bring more Retirees over from abroad - and they would be right IMO !Frankly, Thailand may already have enough Falang retirees. 'Tightwad' Falang objecting to this move will be seen as intrusive and frankly, cocky and self-important.Really Guys, if Thailand puts the poorest first for once, three cheers I say ! ATB
February 17Feb 17 Reviewing the shopping list of the government as far as submarines are concerned, reviewing the priority list of a bridge to Samui and other ideas spring to mind. So, be honest, and do not misuse the "elderly ticket" for smoke screening matters again :-(
February 17Feb 17 On 2/15/2026 at 9:36 AM, ikke1959 said:indeed a good move, but how much will the pension rise??? 2 % a month???and how much VAT more does the people pay from their pensions?? 25% for daily groceries???Sadly that you don't understand that the money is not spend for the elderly, but only to fill the gap in the budget of the Government , which exists by extreme costs.. They should start to cut that first, instead of getting the money away at the people who must contribute to the economy...And in a few months after it is implemented we will read that the inflation is not up..but prices are going up already by the expensive THB, the VAT, the profits of the shareholders and the extreme salaries of the CEO's....Who said that the extra 3% VAT tax receipts would be spent on pension increases?
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