Going Home. My 3 Year Stay Is Comming To An End.

[JSixpack]

Nobody enjoys paying tax but its one of the costs of living in a civilised country which attempts to take care of its infrastructure and its citizens less financially lucky/fortunate than ourselves.

Well, in the end the civilized country attempts mainly to take care of its government employees and politicians, who then end up the most fortunate. Too much of the tax money is therefore wasted on the middlemen who aren't actually producing goods and services but merely redistributing what others have produced by doing real work and taking a big cut for themselves. Investing in a property as did Naam takes care of Thai citizens and promotes infrastructure.

[flying]

Well, in the end the civilized country attempts mainly to take care of its government employees and politicians, who then end up the most fortunate. Too much of the tax money is therefore wasted on the middlemen who aren't actually producing goods and services but merely redistributing what others have produced by doing real work and taking a big cut for themselves. Investing in a property as did Naam takes care of Thai citizens and promotes infrastructure.

Tuu Tong !

[StreetCowboy]

Nobody enjoys paying tax but its one of the costs of living in a civilised country which attempts to take care of its infrastructure and its citizens less financially lucky/fortunate than ourselves.

Well, in the end the civilized country attempts mainly to take care of its government employees and politicians, who then end up the most fortunate. Too much of the tax money is therefore wasted on the middlemen who aren't actually producing goods and services but merely redistributing what others have produced by doing real work and taking a big cut for themselves. Investing in a property as did Naam takes care of Thai citizens and promotes infrastructure.

Not sure how investment in property promotes infrastructure in the absence of property taxes. Maybe it just overloads local services.

SC

[beginner]

what else can i tell you?

I don't know, you could always tell us how big your house is and how rich you are again.

i am convinced that any of my houses is bigger than yours (assuming you own one... which i doubt) and that goes for my financial holdings too.

next!

Yes, very droll.

But. Why would any rational rich man be concerned about paying tax? Tax is only paid on profits and most business people are able to use the skills of accountants and lawyers to lawfully avoid the worst excesses of the taxation systems.

It is not necessary to move offshore and live in an underdeveloped and rather unstable country where money spent on property is generally money gone. What you have 'saved' by not paying tax will most likely be 'lost' in due course as a result of the lack of enforced regulations here and Thai peoples amazing ability to transfer wealth from farangs to Thais.

If it makes you happy let us agree that any of your houses is bigger than mine but I at least own the land my properties are built on. Many people here take out a thirty year lease which in effect is paying thirty years rent in advance. Not sure that 'own' is the correct word.

Presumably it was Germany that gave you the education and wherewithall to make a financial success of your life. Don't you feel you owe Germany something? Don't those struggling immigrants and other low earners deserve a helping hand from those who are more than able to assist?

Avoiding tax seems like a very poor reason for choosing to live anywhere. The same truism is often said of financial investments. The worst reason for making an investment is to avoid tax. Other things being equal, a tax efficient investment is better. But tax considerations should only apply after all other factors are assessed, not as the first.

Many expats here pay taxes in farangland and have no qualms about it. There is a lot of waste as JSixpack said above but that's life. Nothing is perfect.

Be happy.

[Naam]

We can't all be tax evading slumlords.

when i hear "slumlord" i think of some grossly overweight individual who (according to his own repeated statements) lives in one room (perhaps in a slum area), appreciates Thailand's easy ladies, thinks of himself as a 'lord" because who studied at some obscure "Mel Gibson University" and quite obviously makes only a sorry amount of dough that tax avoidance is inconsequential for him.

by the way, there is a difference between "evading" and "avoiding" tax. one is illegal, the other one is perfectly legal.

Edited April 27, 2010 by Naam

[Naam]

Presumably it was Germany that gave you the education and wherewithall to make a financial success of your life. Don't you feel you owe Germany something? Don't those struggling immigrants and other low earners deserve a helping hand from those who are more than able to assist?

i did not study only in Germany but it is correct that the german taxpayer paid for my studies. on the other hand i rendered something, besides paying fancy taxes for years, that my country considered as service which i consider a shame because i accepted it for the benefits it provided. if you are interested in the details read:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Before-t1019...12#entry1736412

by the way, my education and the "wherewithal" were only some factors on which my "success in life" is based. the other factors were "the right man at the right place at the right time willing to work his àrse off 14 hours a day, 7 days a week and that for a number of years".

[Naam]

Why would any rational rich man be concerned about paying tax? Tax is only paid on profits and most business people are able to use the skills of accountants and lawyers to lawfully avoid the worst excesses of the taxation systems.

i don't belong into the category of business people. i am a retired private person who is handling his life's savings. therefore i have no access to all those tricks such as avoiding or deferring tax till doomsday.

tax avoidance is not my only reason that i live in Thailand. if i built an identical home (the one i live in Thailan) in my home country i'd be nearly broke.

[Naam]

If it makes you happy let us agree that any of your houses is bigger than mine but I at least own the land my properties are built on. Many people here take out a thirty year lease which in effect is paying thirty years rent in advance. Not sure that 'own' is the correct word.

i don't bloody care if there is a remote possibility that the thai government seizes my "illegally" acquired land. i also don't care what the definition of "own" is. i smile when i read about "usufruct" and "superficies". the only thing i care is that i am living a very comfortably life and i do how as i please on the land which does not belong to me. besides, as far as "owning" is concerned... who is able to take what he "owns" to the crematorium or the graveyard? will you be able to do that with the land you claim you "own"?

[Naam]

Avoiding tax seems like a very poor reason for choosing to live anywhere. The same truism is often said of financial investments. The worst reason for making an investment is to avoid tax. Other things being equal, a tax efficient investment is better. But tax considerations should only apply after all other factors are assessed, not as the first.

i bow to your wisdom Beginner. but perhaps we could meet at the end of each financial year over a good bottle of wine and compare our yields/progress? loser pays for the wine

[tijnebijn]

If it makes you happy let us agree that any of your houses is bigger than mine but I at least own the land my properties are built on. Many people here take out a thirty year lease which in effect is paying thirty years rent in advance. Not sure that 'own' is the correct word.

i don't bloody care if there is a remote possibility that the thai government seizes my "illegally" acquired land. i also don't care what the definition of "own" is. i smile when i read about "usufruct" and "superficies". the only thing i care is that i am living a very comfortably life and i do how as i please on the land which does not belong to me. besides, as far as "owning" is concerned... who is able to take what he "owns" to the crematorium or the graveyard? will you be able to do that with the land you claim you "own"?

Yes you are absolutely right , I agree with the fact that in the end everything is in transitoriness anyway .

To become infatuated or to take the shadow of the subtance in afterlife is not possible .

That must be the clue of true hapiness .

[sarahsbloke]

i also don't care what the definition of "own" is.

If you live in the UK and have a female partner with children (presumed to be yours), you don't own anything, I certainly didn't own the house I bought and paid for, although for a while I thought I did. I didn't have any rights over the children that were presumed to be mine either. Strangly enough, if I had been living in Thailand I would have had the right to 50 percent custody of the children (but sadly still no ownership of the house)

In some ways Thai law is more fair than UK law.

Edited April 27, 2010 by sarahsbloke

[wintermute]

i also don't care what the definition of "own" is.

If you live in the UK and have a female partner with children (presumed to be yours), you don't own anything, I certainly didn't own the house I bought and paid for, although for a while I thought I did. I didn't have any rights over the children that were presumed to be mine either. Strangly enough, if I had been living in Thailand I would have had the right to 50 percent custody of the children (but sadly still no ownership of the house)

In some ways Thai law is more fair than UK law.

So you lost it all in the UK from a divorce and now you're starting over in the land of smiles reinventing yourself as some kind of upscale gentleman eh? No wonder you're such a bitter old pap.

[SomTumTiger]

Can't believe this stupid thread is still running. The guy is gone already.

[IanForbes]

Can't believe this stupid thread is still running. The guy is gone already.

True, but everyone else is having fun poking holes in each other's statements.

As I've become older I've come to realize that owning property is only something tying you down to one place. Some people NEVER realize that. I own a great big home in Canada and hardly even think of it as mine. I just consider it to be my children's inheritance and something I stay in temporarily. You can only occupy one room at a time and sit in one chair at a time and watch one TV at a time. You can only eat as much as your belly will hold, and a good meal tastes just as nice cooked in your own kitchen as it does in the fanciest restaurant in town. Possessions are just something to occupy your time. Too much sex eventually becomes boring, as does anything else done to excess.

I know people who own yachts, many different vehicles and fabulous summer homes, but they are no happier than I am. Having the same wouldn't interest me in the slightest. I can only drive one vehicle at a time and if it gets me to where I want to go then that is all that interests me. I've got more beautiful women at my beck and call than I can handle, and having any more doesn't interest me. The freedom to do what I want, when I want, where I want and with whom I want is all that I can ask for. And, I've got that when I'm in Thailand.

[canuckamuck]

As usual, any response by Naam is a highlight for me.

Rock on Klingon warrior.

[Ulysses G.]

We can't all be tax evading slumlords.

when i hear "slumlord" i think of some grossly overweight individual who (according to his own repeated statements) lives in one room (perhaps in a slum area), appreciates Thailand's easy ladies, thinks of himself as a 'lord" because who studied at some obscure "Mel Gibson University" and quite obviously makes only a sorry amount of dough that tax avoidance is inconsequential for him.

That does not sound like anyone I know. Maybe you missed the remedial reading classes when you were diligently studying The Protocols of the (Learned) Elders of Zion (the audio version) at Mel Gibson University.

Edited April 27, 2010 by Ulysses G.

[venturalaw]

He's upset with the chosen people because he believes that they stole his moniker. Herr Naam thinks that he is, without a doubt, the true Chosen one.

[clausewitz]

My father's social security is US$1400/mo. He lives meagerly in Wisconsin on this amount but 40k baht/mo would be rather comfortable in Thailand.

Hmm, after rent I would be left with 12,000 baht a month..

Hardly comfortable

[WOOHOO]

My father's social security is US$1400/mo. He lives meagerly in Wisconsin on this amount but 40k baht/mo would be rather comfortable in Thailand.

Hmm, after rent I would be left with 12,000 baht a month..

Hardly comfortable

What a silly thing to say. If you had a budget of 40k you wouldn't rent somewhere that was 28k/month would you!! So you wouldn't be left with only 12k.

[StreetCowboy]

My father's social security is US$1400/mo. He lives meagerly in Wisconsin on this amount but 40k baht/mo would be rather comfortable in Thailand.

Hmm, after rent I would be left with 12,000 baht a month..

Hardly comfortable

What a silly thing to say. If you had a budget of 40k you wouldn't rent somewhere that was 28k/month would you!! So you wouldn't be left with only 12k.

I guess that's why they call him closewits

Out of interest, Mr Malomker sir, how much rent does your dear father pay in Wisconsin? The cost of importing the snow and cold wind would be excessive in Thailand, but perhaps he could substitute melanomas for frostbite, and live without, though year-round sunshine can get dreary.

SC

SC

[venturalaw]

As usual, any response by Naam is a highlight for me.

Rock on Klingon warrior.

You must be a very lonely person.

[canuckamuck]

As usual, any response by Naam is a highlight for me.

Rock on Klingon warrior.

You must be a very lonely person.

I don't remember any of your previous posts, you must be irrelevant.

[sheela]

apparently you do remember him

[venturalaw]

As usual, any response by Naam is a highlight for me.

Rock on Klingon warrior.

You must be a very lonely person.

I don't remember any of your previous posts, you must be irrelevant.

Or you may have dementia. That could explain your idolatry for Herr Naam.

[flying]

The freedom to do what I want, when I want, where I want and with whom I want is all that I can ask for. And, I've got that when I'm in Thailand.

Nicely said young man

[InspectorRex]

As I've become older I've come to realize that owning property is only something tying you down to one place. Some people NEVER realize that. I own a great big home in Canada and hardly even think of it as mine. I just consider it to be my children's inheritance and something I stay in temporarily. You can only occupy one room at a time and sit in one chair at a time and watch one TV at a time. You can only eat as much as your belly will hold, and a good meal tastes just as nice cooked in your own kitchen as it does in the fanciest restaurant in town. Possessions are just something to occupy your time. Too much sex eventually becomes boring, as does anything else done to excess.

I know people who own yachts, many different vehicles and fabulous summer homes, but they are no happier than I am. Having the same wouldn't interest me in the slightest. I can only drive one vehicle at a time and if it gets me to where I want to go then that is all that interests me. I've got more beautiful women at my beck and call than I can handle, and having any more doesn't interest me. The freedom to do what I want, when I want, where I want and with whom I want is all that I can ask for. And, I've got that when I'm in Thailand.

Fantastic post and attitude to life Ian Forbes - I couldn't agree more with your thoughts.

Edited May 1, 2010 by InspectorRex

[BigPanda]

Why would anyone listen to advices of a man who came here for cheap and easy women at the first time ?

I stay here for business and work and am quiet happy !

[sarahsbloke]

Why would anyone listen to advices of a man who came here for cheap and easy women at the first time ?

I always listen, these people usually give good advice.

Those who don't listen often find themselves married to a 'good girl' with a puzzling number of tattoos.

Edited May 2, 2010 by sarahsbloke

[Ulysses G.]

I stay here for business and work and am quiet happy !

That's a good one.