To The Millions Of Overseas People Who Read This Sight

[petercallen]

I am a Australian and proud of it even through i was born in the united kingdom, i came to Thailand in 2006 and fell in love with the country and its people, Thailand is much like Australia in the nineteen fifty's Australia lived lived of the sheep's back{which means our main source of export income was wool} and Thailands was rice untill 20 years ago,having a non o retirement visa means i have to have 800000 thai baht in a Thai bank account for 3 months before i apply for an extension of stay[ under 30000 aud], people are allways complaining on this sight about Thai immagration changing the rules. They change the rules becauce there are to many non Thais who find ways to stop in Thailand when they are not legally allowed to, if you want to live in Thailand it is not hard to do even if you are under 50 years old all the Thai government asks is you invest money in a business hear and employ Thai people and pay taxes, allthough i am retired from what i understand taxes are not high here, phuket is a great place to live the climate is good all the year round and it is not expensive compared to most countrys, pkuket is only expensive if you compare to other areas of Thailand. I hope no one changes this post to another sight because this is about living in phuket not anywere else in Thailand and i am sure there are other people like me who go by the rules and are very happy living in phuket and people who read this site who are interested in living in phuket and want to know.

[Somtamnication]

Ok. But a lot easier to read your rant with paragraphs.

[mrjohn]

Ok. But a lot easier to read your rant with paragraphs.

Even easier, but probably no more informative, if you could spell.

[pagallim]

These are the current tax bands, and the rate applied. There are a bunch of different criteria for allowances which obviously can influence gross amounts to be exempted. All values are in baht:

Taxable Income from Tax Rate

0- 80,000 Exempt

80,001 - 100,000 5%

100,001 - 500,000 10%

500,001 - 1,000,000 20%

1,000,001 - 4,000,000 30%

4,000,001 and over 37%

[pagallim]

Must admit, have read some of your previous posts, and whilst not always appreciating them, at least they were lucid. Has someone hacked into your account? Your post reads like a child's, with poor grammar and spelling.

[Colonel_Mustard]

Ok. But a lot easier to read your rant with paragraphs.

Even easier, but probably no more informative, if you could spell.

Ok. I'm intrigued. Where is the spelling mistake?

[Tywais]

These are the current tax bands, and the rate applied.

A corrected list:

0 - 150,000 (2008 onwards) Exempt

150,001 - 500,000 10%

500,001 - 1,000,000 20%

1,000,001 - 4,000,000 30%

4,000,001 and over 37%

Source: Thai Revenue Office

[pagallim]

These are the current tax bands, and the rate applied.

A corrected list:

0 - 150,000 (2008 onwards) Exempt

150,001 - 500,000 10%

500,001 - 1,000,000 20%

1,000,001 - 4,000,000 30%

4,000,001 and over 37%

Source: Thai Revenue Office

Thanks for the correction, I'll update my files accordingly! Bottom line is that Thailand has really quite low taxation, i.e. maximum of 37%, and that only for income over 4,000,000 baht/year. Also, there is no capital gains tax in Thailand.

[markg]

I agree with Pagalim. Has petercallen's account been hacked?

" I hope no one changes this post to another sight because this is about living in phuket not anywere else in Thailand and i am sure there are other people like me who go by the rules and are very happy living in phuket and people who read this site who are interested in living in phuket and want to know."

Is a rather strange thing to post.............it does sound rather childish and not the usual callen style posts.

Doesnt even sound like a native speaker.

[Tywais]

Just a reminder of Thaivisa's Forum Netiquette which can be found in the pull down Forum menu above:

3. If possible please proofread your post first, poor grammar and spelling can make the post difficult to understand. However be aware that not every member is a native english speaker and excessive posts regarding others spelling and grammar not only hijacks the topic but is poor netiquette.

[jfchandler]

Yes, but what exactly is "excessive"????

My definition would be... when the number of spelling-complaining posts here exceed the number of errors in the OPs post. Thus far, the OP is way ahead...not even close...

By the way, I had heard that Australians were not considered "native" English speakers... But the OP here certainly confirms that!

Just a reminder of Thaivisa's Forum Netiquette which can be found in the pull down Forum menu above:

3. If possible please proofread your post first, poor grammar and spelling can make the post difficult to understand. However be aware that not every member is a native english speaker and excessive posts regarding others spelling and grammar not only hijacks the topic but is poor netiquette.

[Jonathanpattaya]

Ok. I'm intrigued. Where is the spelling mistake?

There are several.

[billythehat]

“To the millions of.....”

Yeah right. Listen oop, chuckles, given that one has enough to get by, most folk’s own country’s are great places to retire to.

[minefield]

OK so there are a few spelling mistakes,And he should have run it through a spell check.

He just a Aussie having his say, lets face it he loves phuket and thats great

[ScubaBuddha]

Ok. I'm intrigued. Where is the spelling mistake?

Apparently George Bush hacked his account. At least he got the third "site" spelled correctly.

[londonthai]

overseas people would be from the uk, usa, australia, but not from france, south africa or india.

anyhow, who would like more millions of foreigners coming to thailand? certainly, the cost of property and all services would go up

[LivinLOS]

These are the current tax bands, and the rate applied.

A corrected list:

0 - 150,000 (2008 onwards) Exempt

150,001 - 500,000 10%

500,001 - 1,000,000 20%

1,000,001 - 4,000,000 30%

4,000,001 and over 37%

Source: Thai Revenue Office

Thanks for the correction, I'll update my files accordingly! Bottom line is that Thailand has really quite low taxation, i.e. maximum of 37%, and that only for income over 4,000,000 baht/year. Also, there is no capital gains tax in Thailand.

Thats not strictly true..

There IS capital gains taxation.. Its just taxed under the 'income' levels..

The amount of people who bought and sold a home, then were surprised to find they owe 100's of k tax is always shocking, dont these guys research it ??

[petercallen]

Ok. But a lot easier to read your rant with paragraphs.

Even easier, but probably no more informative, if you could spell.

I see one spelling mistake sight instead of site

[lioness]

OK there's a few spelling mistakes, what the heck. Did you get the gist of his post, I did.

Sometimes our brains go faster than our typing and we make mistakes. for god sake he is human and he loves Phuket, good on yer Peter.

[LivinLOS]

Rather than fault the OP's spelling.. Its more important IMO to address the OP's post.

Yes visa issues are mildly annoying and time consuming, for the under 50's who are high net worth and can easily retire they claim to want us but dont offer a legit visa class (elite card anyone) they claim to want this class of visitor yet dont give a means to legalize a long stay.. Also more galling is the fact that married men, retirees, etc etc who can stay here a decade plus do not gain the right to PR and citizenship, we are constantly one rule change from being told to leave. Only large earning tax payers have a chance at PR which is emphasis on 'bring the money but dont get too comfortable'. So yes visa issues are easy to solve if you work on it, but less actually welcoming than any other country I have lived in when it comes to assimilation and long term future.

As to the cost of living being cheap. This has been done to death on threads galore.. Cost of living IS cheap, if you live Thai style, drive some crappy asian produced car, dont have first world 'normal' fixtures and fittings. Pretty much any consumer items I can think of, from quality bedsheets, to electronics, to vehicles, etc etc etc is more expensive. Yes anything with low skilled labour is REALLY cheap, having a cleaner, getting your laundry done, gardening etc is REALLY cheap, but technical things are often so expensive or not even possible in Thailand (I recently needed some pretty basic engineering done, after days calling around the country a very knowledgeable Chinese Thai in Chiang Mai flat out told me, forget that in Thailand, no one can do work with that kind of tolerances and accuracy.. This wasnt rocket science either). Factor in the breakages, and the 'no warranty' or post sales customer service and it adds costs when things need replacing or redoing over and over because they were not done properly first time (ask any builder).

Other non cheap.. A water in Patong 242 baht !! A bottle of water !! A burger and fries 700 baht.. I regularly drink in places where a mixer is >200 baht. Now maybe if you come from norway thats cheap, or japan, but compared to the USA or UK thats not cheap. However so what ? Phuket has evolved into an international party destination, with all that entails, so I would say you shouldnt expect it to be cheap.

As I said above, if you downgrade your lifestyle to lower end items, and live on domestic foodstuffs, dont drive a nice car, then life can be cheap. It always makes me smile when I see some 50 year old guy saying how cheap life is here, when he gave up a beemer for a scooter, and a western home for a Thai bungalow, its not really like for like is it ?? My mother lives a nice lifestyle in the UK for less that I could live here, however outside her window today its cold. We can go sailing, the airport has evolved into a hub so we now have really easy access to breaks around the region, we have more amenities and food options than we have ever had here, the hospitals are adequate for most issues, etc etc. Theres lots to love, tho 'cheap' isnt one I really agree with.

[petercallen]

Rather than fault the OP's spelling.. Its more important IMO to address the OP's post.

Yes visa issues are mildly annoying and time consuming, for the under 50's who are high net worth and can easily retire they claim to want us but dont offer a legit visa class (elite card anyone) they claim to want this class of visitor yet dont give a means to legalize a long stay.. Also more galling is the fact that married men, retirees, etc etc who can stay here a decade plus do not gain the right to PR and citizenship, we are constantly one rule change from being told to leave. Only large earning tax payers have a chance at PR which is emphasis on 'bring the money but dont get too comfortable'. So yes visa issues are easy to solve if you work on it, but less actually welcoming than any other country I have lived in when it comes to assimilation and long term future.

As to the cost of living being cheap. This has been done to death on threads galore.. Cost of living IS cheap, if you live Thai style, drive some crappy asian produced car, dont have first world 'normal' fixtures and fittings. Pretty much any consumer items I can think of, from quality bedsheets, to electronics, to vehicles, etc etc etc is more expensive. Yes anything with low skilled labour is REALLY cheap, having a cleaner, getting your laundry done, gardening etc is REALLY cheap, but technical things are often so expensive or not even possible in Thailand (I recently needed some pretty basic engineering done, after days calling around the country a very knowledgeable Chinese Thai in Chiang Mai flat out told me, forget that in Thailand, no one can do work with that kind of tolerances and accuracy.. This wasnt rocket science either). Factor in the breakages, and the 'no warranty' or post sales customer service and it adds costs when things need replacing or redoing over and over because they were not done properly first time (ask any builder).

Other non cheap.. A water in Patong 242 baht !! A bottle of water !! A burger and fries 700 baht.. I regularly drink in places where a mixer is >200 baht. Now maybe if you come from norway thats cheap, or japan, but compared to the USA or UK thats not cheap. However so what ? Phuket has evolved into an international party destination, with all that entails, so I would say you shouldnt expect it to be cheap.

As I said above, if you downgrade your lifestyle to lower end items, and live on domestic foodstuffs, dont drive a nice car, then life can be cheap. It always makes me smile when I see some 50 year old guy saying how cheap life is here, when he gave up a beemer for a scooter, and a western home for a Thai bungalow, its not really like for like is it ?? My mother lives a nice lifestyle in the UK for less that I could live here, however outside her window today its cold. We can go sailing, the airport has evolved into a hub so we now have really easy access to breaks around the region, we have more amenities and food options than we have ever had here, the hospitals are adequate for most issues, etc etc. Theres lots to love, tho 'cheap' isnt one I really agree with.

I must be going to the wrong places, water 242 baht a bottle and a burger and fries 700 baht, last good burger and fries i had and it was not recently i got at the aussie bar and cost 180 baht and a bottle of water 50 baht, same water 8 baht in 7/11 so they are making a good profit at that price.

[jfchandler]

Seems like some folks responding to the OP here need to head back to the classroom for some remedial time...

"I am a Australian and proud of it even through i was born in the united kingdom, i came to Thailand in 2006 and fell in love with the country and its people, Thailand is much like Australia in the nineteen fifty's Australia lived lived of the sheep's back{which means our main source of export income was wool} and Thailands was rice untill 20 years ago,having a non o retirement visa means i have to have 800000 thai baht in a Thai bank account for 3 months before i apply for an extension of stay[ under 30000 aud], people are allways complaining on this sight about Thai immagration changing the rules. They change the rules becauce there are to many non Thais who find ways to stop in Thailand when they are not legally allowed to, if you want to live in Thailand it is not hard to do even if you are under 50 years old all the Thai government asks is you invest money in a business hear and employ Thai people and pay taxes, allthough i am retired from what i understand taxes are not high here, phuket is a great place to live the climate is good all the year round and it is not expensive compared to most countrys, pkuket is only expensive if you compare to other areas of Thailand. I hope no one changes this post to another sight because this is about living in phuket not anywere else in Thailand and i am sure there are other people like me who go by the rules and are very happy living in phuket and people who read this site who are interested in living in phuket and want to know."

[eljeque]

A corrected list:

0 - 150,000 (2008 onwards) Exempt

150,001 - 500,000 10%

500,001 - 1,000,000 20%

1,000,001 - 4,000,000 30%

4,000,001 and over 37%

Source: Thai Revenue Office

Thanks for the correction, I'll update my files accordingly! Bottom line is that Thailand has really quite low taxation, i.e. maximum of 37%, and that only for income over 4,000,000 baht/year. Also, there is no capital gains tax in Thailand.

Which is how the rich accumulate their wealth ...... and pay no taxes on it.

[Old Croc]

As someone heading to retirement in Phuket soon, I thank you for the encouragement given in this thread Peter.

For the usual crowd of Aussie bashers and spelling nazis ready to spout their anal rubbish at the drop of a hat, I say grow up, move on, and get with the spirit of the threads not the manner in which they are presented.

Incidently, from the OP's words, he is a reformed Pom (i.e. he got better).

It's very likely he learnt to spell in the UK.

Edited December 11, 2009 by Old Croc

[LivinLOS]

I must be going to the wrong places, water 242 baht a bottle and a burger and fries 700 baht, last good burger and fries i had and it was not recently i got at the aussie bar and cost 180 baht and a bottle of water 50 baht, same water 8 baht in 7/11 so they are making a good profit at that price.

Fact pricing.. Hard Rock Cafe..

Water 207 baht plus service charge and VAT = 242 !!

Burger and fries 690 baht (presume ++ also)..

The inflation that is bubbling up in Patong due to ground rent insanity is fairly crazy.. import beers in sound club up to 290 baht a bottle, regular heineken in the Ruski place 240 (IIRC.. Might be 10 or so out).. But when a 2m x 2m open air desk asks 250k key money, and beer bars have 3m 3 year asking prices its not the vendors that are gouging as much as the landlords. To make that money back for a break even given the competition needs major pricing.

Treated 2 of my GF's mates to a meal out recently, 10k baht for the 4 of us, thats +- 50 quid a head.. Sure the 9th floor is nice but thats western pricing IMO.

But Phuket isnt 'Thailand' and Patong isnt 'Phuket'..

[thaibutty]

Fact pricing.. Hard Rock Cafe..

Water 207 baht plus service charge and VAT = 242 !!

Burger and fries 690 baht (presume ++ also)..

The inflation that is bubbling up in Patong due to ground rent insanity is fairly crazy.. import beers in sound club up to 290 baht a bottle, regular heineken in the Ruski place 240 (IIRC.. Might be 10 or so out).. But when a 2m x 2m open air desk asks 250k key money, and beer bars have 3m 3 year asking prices its not the vendors that are gouging as much as the landlords. To make that money back for a break even given the competition needs major pricing.

Treated 2 of my GF's mates to a meal out recently, 10k baht for the 4 of us, thats +- 50 quid a head.. Sure the 9th floor is nice but thats western pricing IMO.

But Phuket isnt 'Thailand' and Patong isnt 'Phuket'..

Yes, Patong isn't Phuket, IMHO it is the worst place to be in PHuket, and the prices that you have indicated here are just another reason not to go to Patong.

[Peterocket]

In my opinion its alot cheaper to live here. No road tax, no TV licence, no council tax, much less income tax, cheapest cigs in the world, cheap water rates (although its undrinkable), cheap beer, half price fuel, cheap electric, cheap phone calls, etc etc.

There are places that charge high prices similar to the other big cities around the world but comparing the most expensive here to the most expensive in London would still make it cheap here.

Its anything technical that really costs the extra. TV's, computers, high tech services, cars...Although they are necessities to me I would have thought most people could do without them.

[LivinginKata]

No road tax

Peterocket, Don't know where you get that idea. Cheap enough for motor bikes @ 100 baht/year, but a newish car costs me 6,896 Baht/year road tax.

[ScubaBuddha]

No road tax

Peterocket, Don't know where you get that idea. Cheap enough for motor bikes @ 100 baht/year, but a newish car costs me 6,896 Baht/year road tax.

Yes very true.

[lioness]

Rather than fault the OP's spelling.. Its more important IMO to address the OP's post.

Yes visa issues are mildly annoying and time consuming, for the under 50's who are high net worth and can easily retire they claim to want us but dont offer a legit visa class (elite card anyone) they claim to want this class of visitor yet dont give a means to legalize a long stay.. Also more galling is the fact that married men, retirees, etc etc who can stay here a decade plus do not gain the right to PR and citizenship, we are constantly one rule change from being told to leave. Only large earning tax payers have a chance at PR which is emphasis on 'bring the money but dont get too comfortable'. So yes visa issues are easy to solve if you work on it, but less actually welcoming than any other country I have lived in when it comes to assimilation and long term future.

As to the cost of living being cheap. This has been done to death on threads galore.. Cost of living IS cheap, if you live Thai style, drive some crappy asian produced car, dont have first world 'normal' fixtures and fittings. Pretty much any consumer items I can think of, from quality bedsheets, to electronics, to vehicles, etc etc etc is more expensive. Yes anything with low skilled labour is REALLY cheap, having a cleaner, getting your laundry done, gardening etc is REALLY cheap, but technical things are often so expensive or not even possible in Thailand (I recently needed some pretty basic engineering done, after days calling around the country a very knowledgeable Chinese Thai in Chiang Mai flat out told me, forget that in Thailand, no one can do work with that kind of tolerances and accuracy.. This wasnt rocket science either). Factor in the breakages, and the 'no warranty' or post sales customer service and it adds costs when things need replacing or redoing over and over because they were not done properly first time (ask any builder).

Other non cheap.. A water in Patong 242 baht !! A bottle of water !! A burger and fries 700 baht.. I regularly drink in places where a mixer is >200 baht. Now maybe if you come from norway thats cheap, or japan, but compared to the USA or UK thats not cheap. However so what ? Phuket has evolved into an international party destination, with all that entails, so I would say you shouldnt expect it to be cheap.

As I said above, if you downgrade your lifestyle to lower end items, and live on domestic foodstuffs, dont drive a nice car, then life can be cheap. It always makes me smile when I see some 50 year old guy saying how cheap life is here, when he gave up a beemer for a scooter, and a western home for a Thai bungalow, its not really like for like is it ?? My mother lives a nice lifestyle in the UK for less that I could live here, however outside her window today its cold. We can go sailing, the airport has evolved into a hub so we now have really easy access to breaks around the region, we have more amenities and food options than we have ever had here, the hospitals are adequate for most issues, etc etc. Theres lots to love, tho 'cheap' isnt one I really agree with.

I realise this thread is about Phuket, but a lot of retirees are looking to make their pensions go further. Who wants to downgrade their lifestyle to lower end items, who doesn't want a nice car, as a retiree, many who have worked their whole lives for this moment why make the move when you have to live a downgraded lifestyle?

Prospective retirees shouldn't be put off by these comments and prices, what you need to do is check out other places in Thailand. My particuar lifestyle here is much the same as I had in Australia and about 50 times better than the UK and I still live 60% cheaper than I did before. I don't go without, I have a nice car, a lovely home and more.

High tourist places have high prices, there are many beautiful areas in Thailand where your pension will do you very nicely and still pay for the trip "home" occassionally.