Cnbc Article On "how To Retire Abroad: Thailand"

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

IMHO, a pretty half-a***d, superficial report on retiring in Thailand.

The author obviously didn't bother to find out the accurate info that prospective retirees would need/want to know.

How to Retire Abroad: Thailand

By Daniel Bukszpan | CNBC – 12 hours ago

For many people, retirement means that there's finally time to take advantage of newfound freedom. If that definition of retirement appeals to you, an ideal destination when you leave the workforce may be Thailand.

Known as “Land of Smiles,” the country has undergone significant social and economic development in the past decade. In 2011, the World Bank upgraded the nation's income categorization from a lower-middle income economy to upper-middle income.

"Thailand boasts a very favorable cost of living structure for retirees," Jonathan Galaviz, Chief Economist at the Galaviz & Co. consultancy said in an e-mail. "The US dollar, even with its lower global value, still goes a long way."

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[davejones]

It's not meant to be an in-depth report. It's just an article to give people some ideas.

[moe666]

I responded to the article as some of his info was wrong the retirment age of 60 being inaccurate. Even for general info the author should get basic info correct

[mahjongguy]

The writer wasted a lot of space talking about tax rates in Thailand yet the article is aimed at retirees, making it sound as if their pensions and other imported income will be taxable here.

[moe666]

The writer wasted a lot of space talking about tax rates in Thailand yet the article is aimed at retirees, making it sound as if their pensions and other imported income will be taxable here.

The info was very in accurate about the taxes and the retirement age, it may scare a few people off.

[IAMSOBAD]

Invest in any stock CNBC recommends and you will lose. They have the least knowledge on any subject...including retirement.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Thaivisa Connect App

[Soutpeel]

The writer wasted a lot of space talking about tax rates in Thailand yet the article is aimed at retirees, making it sound as if their pensions and other imported income will be taxable here.

Technically speaking if your in Thailand more than 180 days a year you could be taxed on your income, if not paying tax on it somewhere else, but at the moment one assumes the tax office thinks people are being taxed at source, there is nothing in the tax laws which excludes pensioners, so one day they may start picking up on this, so the writer is correct in some respects

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

If you're an American, which probably can be presumed to be the main audience for CNBC, you most probably ARE going to be taxed by good ole' Uncle Sam, no matter where in the world your income is earned. So the issue of Thai tax rates for Thailand-earned income for Americans pretty much become irrelevant, especially given the Thai-U.S. taxation treaty.

The OP article was talking about Thai tax rates on relatively large income amounts, which likely would be inapplicable to most retirees. Part of the problem with the article, which was supposedly aimed at potential retirees, is that it was providing a lot of information aimed to the contrary at people who would be earning a salary.

And that points to another basic flaw with the article, which spent the web-space talking about Thai income tax rates and then totally failed to explain to the uninitiated that foreigners retiring in Thailand (on retirement visas or extensions of stay) basically aren't legally allowed to work, much less volunteer.