TallGuyJohninBKK

Trying to come to some judgment about whether it makes any sense for me to try to get added to my wife's tabien baan for a house she owns in her original home town, which is NOT where she and I have been renting for the past 12-plus years here in Bangkok -- and whether doing so would create any Thai Immigration grief for me that I don't want or need. The basics -- I've been on annual retirement extensions for many years based on my rented home here in Bangkok, the same and only one I've had ever since I moved to Thailand. The Thai wife, who has a work career here in BKK, and I have been living in our rented BKK home ever since we were married. But several years ago, she entirely on her own (I'm not in any way legally or financially involved) bought a new home in her original home town mainly for her parents and siblings who live there now, but also potentially for her or us in the distant future sometime. Now this month, she's planning to travel back to her hometown to get her name removed from the tabien baan from the old/prior location she and her family used to live in her hometown before we met and married, and get her name added to the tabien baan for her recently purchased house (which for some reason she never bothered to do at the time of her purchase). So that creates the question -- should I be doing anything in all this to get added via a Yellow Book listing for her new home town property where she's the sole owner? It would be nice to have an official Thai ID document (in the form of a Yellow Book and Pink ID card) that I don't currently have. But I wouldn't want to pursue the Yellow Book route if it meant, for example, that somehow I'd have to start doing my annual retirement extensions there instead of here in Bangkok, or similarly, I wouldn't want to have to start doing my 90-day reporting (when required in person) in her hometown instead of here in Bangkok. But it's not clear to me whether getting a Yellow Book listing based on her house in her hometown would trigger either of those Immigration-related kinds of changes or not? Anyone have any feel for the answers to those kinds of questions? TIA

You're right about the prior comment being wrong... AFAIK, under Thai inheritance law, the spouse is automatically entitled to HALF of all the communal marital property.... In the absence of a will directing otherwise, there are various other levels of familial statutory inheritance under Thai law -- parents, siblings, children, etc. Assuming the children were the only ones living with such entitlements, they (in whatever number of them existed) would divide the other half.

And people say you can't live in Bangkok any more for less than $1,000 USD per month.... Well, Jack obviously found a way! But guessing he won't be having a lot of house guests coming over to visit! 🤪

You mean like this? "Spiv" is a British slang term, particularly used during and after World War II, referring to a man who lives by his wits and engages in dishonest or shady dealings, often involving the black market or petty crime. 😆

Do Thai probate court rulings control assets outside of Thailand?

One thing I've never been clear on in this area is.... does a Thai probate court have any real jurisdiction (control) over assets located outside of Thailand? My sense of that is NO, but I can't say I've ever seen any clear / authoritative legal opinion on that. But it also seems to fit with the notion of having two different wills, one done under Thai law for Thai assets, and the other under home country law for home country assets. The requirements for a legally valid Thai will are almost certainly going to be different from those in people's home countries, and Thai courts/judges almost certainly are not going to be familiar with the probate requirements and what is required for a valid will in multitudes of foreign jurisdictions.... Nor, AFAIK, would a Thai probate court's rulings alone have any legal force there.

The bank manager we dealt with advised that they would honor the terms of the POA until formally notified of the death, which would leave the beneficiary plenty of time to make the necessary transfer(s). Keep in mind, there's no department of the Thai government or Thai police or hospitals that run around contacting banks every time a farang dies in Thailand. It's a drawn out process that starts with the police and doctor/hospital, and then onward to the person's embassy, which ultimately issues their version of a death certificate. AFAIK, none of those entities have any reason to know or be concerned with what Thai banks a particular farang decedent may hold accounts with.

I have lived for many years in the general area discussed in the OP. For me, the most annoying aspect of Sukhumvit Road is not the noise from tuk tuks (which does indeed occur), but instead is the totally unnecessary and massively louder incessant engine noise from the many many more MOTORCYCLES traveling the road. There's absolutely no reason the puny motorcycle engines on most typical consumer Thai motorcycles need to sound like Indianapolis 500 race car engines. But it's almost like Thais have some severe allergy to mufflers. Just to note how much of a difference can be made... Recently, a lot of the Grab drivers who ply our side soi have been switching to the electric motorcycles, as have some of the regular car taxis... And it's amazing, one or the other of them comes up behind you as you're walking down the soi, and you hear NOTHING. They are virtually silent... Just imagine how much more pleasant and hospitable Sukhumvit Road would be for inhabitants, tourists, sellers, etc if the incessant roar of fueled engines was replaced by that... Or at least, the Thai police began actually enforcing noise pollution laws and requiring working mufflers on motorcycles.

Jack, I haven't kept up with the issue of joint accounts for retirement extension deposits regarding Thai Immigration. But I thought there was a time in the past when Immigration, or at least some offices, would allow joint accounts for retirement extension purposes as long as the total joint account deposit was double the required 800K, meaning, 1.6 million. I don't know if that notion still is accepted or not by Thai Immigration these days.

I believe what you're referring to is the Thai version of what they call "power of attorney" on a bank account, which requires filling out the requisite form at the bank branch holding your account, and the beneficiary signing it as well along with presenting her Thai ID. That what my Thai wife have done with the Krungsri Bank account that holds my 800K retirement extension deposit, at the suggestion of the bank branch manager there. For starters, the power of attorney designation does not appear in any visible way on the bank passbook. So for Immigration purposes, it remains solely an account in my name only as an individual account. But behind the scenes, the power of attorney designation (prior to the point the bank is officially notified of my death) gives my beneficiary / my wife full legal access to and control of the account. And she knows that she should quickly transfer the funds from my account to hers using her POA status before the bank is notified of my death. According to the bank branch manager, AFTER the bank is formally notified of my death, my wife would then only be able to access half of any funds remaining in the account at that point (assuming there were any funds still remaining), but the other half would have to await the resolution of Thai probate.

And that's your food / shopping list and budget for the week, right??? j/k 😁

Cubic is a commercial, supermarket brand of various packaged breads here in Thailand. A lot of them with a lot of sugar to fit the Thai taste, AFAIK... And made to sit on the supermarket shelves for long periods of time.... Not in the same league as places like Bartels and Holey where they make and sell their freshly made breads on a day to day basis.

Yep, Bartel's regular sourdough is terrific, both sold in whole loaves and used as slices on their equally good sandwiches. Unfortunately, while they also make a wholewheat version of their sourdough, it's pretty hard to come by, AFAIK, unless you order it or get to one of their shops relatively early in the day. It's also considerably more expensive than Holey's version at about 250 baht per loaf, which also is actually a mix of rye and whole wheat flours. Last time I talked to them on the subject, Bartels doesn't make their wholewheat sourdough readily available as an alternate bread choice for their sandwiches, even upon request... And, while they do make and sell full loaves of their wholewheat/rye sourdough, those are only in pretty small numbers each day, meaning they're often gone relatively quickly.

Also, the chain of farang-founded Holey bakeries in Bangkok have a range of gourmet sourdough breads, including a non-sweet wholewheat version that's quite good. They sell their wholewheat sourdough loaves in their shops and via Grab delivery, with the latter running about 100b per loaf. It's one of our regular purchases for home consumption and tastes great! https://www.holeybakery.cafe/ Their Phed Mak Mak sourdough at the bottom of the list above also is quite delicious, with its combination of sharp cheddar and jalapenos blended in.

Thanks for posting those clips above... Yes, Thailand has long been one of the most expensive ATM fee countries in the world.... in terms of the ATM fees assessed against foreign cards. If you don't mind me asking, what was the source of the charts you posted above? Do you have a weblink for them? Also, be interested to know the timing of them, since they reference AEON ATMs.... and someone above mentioned AEON has withdrawn their ATMs in Thailand.