By Barry Kenyon

[Gaybutton]

the topic of "Thai Law & You."

I would rather they continue speaking about the tax and potential changes to visa requirements.

What do we need to know about Thai law that we don't already know? Obey the law and you're fine. Break the law and you risk being arrested, fined, jailed, deported or all of those.

[Dodger]

........However, the department will need to work out more details such as planning for the tax credit system in the case of a prior double tax agreement with the source country.

Whenever I hear the word "system" in Thailand I have to cringe.

Each and every "system" that Thailand uses to support the administration of ANY process, e.g., immigration, demographics (population), property management, vehicle registration, land taxes, etc. etc., etc., rely totally on the integrity of the information (data) being collected and stored in these systems to be able to manage the operations effectively.

I don't want to change the subject, but in all honesty, there's so much corruption in Thailand right now that most if not all of these processes are compromised to the point of sometimes not being functional at all because of the data which are severely skewed...intentionally falsified...and/or missing all together. For a country the size of Thailand to not even know what its own population is to the nearest millionth, let alone how many expats reside in-country at any given time, says it all IMO. It's not just the lack of modern systems and training to blame here, because even the most modern administrative systems - with all the latest apps - wouldn't be able to do their job if the data lacks integrity.

61 International Double Tax Agreements in play which were never standardized (all saying different things - different ways) would be an absolute nightmare for the Thai Revenue Dept to get involved with, thus the reason I don't think they're going to touch this with a 10 foot pole. Especially if there's no $$money$$ in it for them.

And don't worry about that "O-type visa holders having to have health insurance " crap either. because the guy with the loose lips who tossed this rumor over-his-shoulder is hung up right now in the middle of a huge corruption case...involving himself...

Welcome to Thailand!

[Gaybutton]

Pattaya-Jomtien immigration bureau launches new service

By Barry Kenyon

October 9, 2023

Chonburi immigration headquarters, at Jomtien Soi 5, today introduced a revamped, customer-friendly service for foreigners to subdue queuing and long waiting periods. Two air condioned glass buildings, “A” and “B”, have been completed in the former on-site carpark. The changes come about after many years of overcrowding, waiting in the hot sun etc.

Foreigners attending to do their 90 days address confirmation continue to report directly to Building “A” without prior registration. All other immigration customers first-of-all now report to Building “B” to obtain a ticket number for further service. Depending on the specific service they need, the ticket number will direct them to the immigration main building (all visa extensions for example) or to Building “A” (for TM30 address registration).

The initial reaction from foreigners on the first morning was positive. “I wanted a certificate of residence to apply for a driving licence and waiting comfortably in the air conditioned area until my queue number was called,” said a British expat Dave Miller. Photocopying and photo services are available in the adjacent law offices as previously. Separately, The Swiss embassy in Bangkok has announced the opening of a Pattaya consulate, in a row of offices near to Jomtien immigration, later this month.

https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/ ... ice-442634

[Gaybutton]

Russians to get triple time permission to visit Thailand

By Barry Kenyon

October 17, 2023

The Thai Cabinet has agreed to extend visa-free travel to Thailand by Russian visitors from 30 days to 90 days. The latest move starts on November 1 until April 24, or later if approved. Making the announcement, Thai tourism minister Sudawan Wangsuphakijkosol said almost one million Russian tourists had visited the country in the year to August 2023 and were the third biggest spenders in terms of gross income.

Currently, Russian tourists are able to enter Thailand visa-free for 30 days, but must then leave the country or take a visa run to the Cambodian border to obtain a further month. The latest move will enable the longer-stayers amongst the Russian visitors to open bank accounts, obtain driving licences and organize property deals if they wish.

The Thai prime minister is scheduled to meet Russian president Putin this week on his visit to Beijing where he will also meet president Xi. Last month, Chinese tourists were given visa-free travel to Thailand for 30 days, replacing the old restrictions of visa-on-arrival and 15 days. Rumours that the Thai government would offer 30 days visa-free travel to Indian nationals and enable Europeans and Americans to stay for three months visa-exempt without needing to leave the country have proved to be untrue, or certainly premature.

Thai authorities are rushing to extend visa-free travel to Russians to boost the treasury coffers at an uncertain time. There is some evidence that Chinese arrivals are weakening in the wake of the Bangkok murders by a schoolboy and a slowdown in the Chinese economy, whilst the violent military situation in Ukraine and Israel could threaten the stability of international travel if fuel prices rocket.

https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/ ... and-443257

[bkkguy]

the violent military situation in Ukraine and Israel could threaten the stability of international travel if fuel prices rocket.

perhaps the Thai government should be offering the same benefits it is offering to Russia to Hamas in its rush to boost the treasury coffers.

[gerefan]

Why leave it so ‘king late??

It’s only 6 weeks until the start of the high season and people need to make arrangements and book flights etc.

They need more than 6 weeks to take advantage of reasonable fares and find good accommodation for a 3 month stay.

As a Brit I have had to go through the “nausea”,and it was severe nausea, of obtaining a visa as I have heard nothing about us getting 90 days like last year. I hope all my work was not in vain.

End of rant!

[Jun]

As a Brit I have had to go through the “nausea”,and it was severe nausea, of obtaining a visa as I have heard nothing about us getting 90 days like last year. I hope all my work was not in vain.

Well, if you have a second passport, issued by Russia, you might benefit from this.

Most citizens of less favoured nations still need a visa for 90 days.

[Gaybutton]

I can understand why they are giving 90 days to Russians to boost tourism. What makes zero sense to me is that they are not doing the same for other countries for the same reason. Plenty of people go to Thailand from the UK, USA, Australia, Germany, France, etc.

If there is any logic at all to leaving out those countries, please explain it to me. Otherwise it's another item for my "I Don't Get It" list.

By the way, they are also talking about giving arriving Chinese tourists free SIM cards for their phones so they can have Thai telephone numbers. I'm not sure if they are considering doing the same for Russians. I have seen nothing to indicate they might be doing the same for any other nationalities.

If a farang who has been visiting China, then goes to Thailand on one of the flights carrying Chinese tourists, I wonder if they too would get a SIM card upon arrival or be told "Sorry. Everybody else on your flight gets a SIM card, but if you want a card too, you'll have to drop by a 7-Eleven and buy one."

[Jun]

I can understand why they are giving 90 days to Russians to boost tourism. What makes zero sense to me is that they are not doing the same for other countries for the same reason. Plenty of people go to Thailand from the UK, USA, Australia, Germany, France, etc.

Well, either the Russian tourists or Russian government have done something to please the Thai government.

There was a reference to high spending in an earlier article, but what counts is per capita spending.
Perhaps Russians are top of the per capita spending list. However, how would the Thai government know ?
If it's one of these things done by a survey, a lot depends on the culture of the people surveyed and whether they tend to round up or down.
For instance, when I have to put my annual income on the back of an immigration form, I always make a low interpretation of income. I don't want anyone thinking I'm good for larger tea money contributions.

I don't see how they could measure spending. The only other way is gathering data for net currency conversion to baht.

[Gaybutton]

Perhaps Russians are top of the per capita spending list.

Suppose that is the reason. What about those from the countries that come in second or third? Don't they spend a lot of money too?

From my own perspective, this is yet another case of farang expats living in Thailand apparently completely ignored. While holiday makers are spending their holiday money in Thailand, we expats spend all of our money in Thailand, not to mention the 800,000 baht held hostage in the banks - and I'd say that works out to a hell of a lot more per year than the average holiday maker spends no matter what country they come from. And yet it seems to me all that is done for expats are coming up with new ways to make things more inconvenient and difficult for us. The only thing that comes to my mind that actually makes things a little easier is the online 90-day address reporting rather than having to go to immigration.

Meanwhile, now at least Pattaya immigration is requiring retirement visa holders to include a TM-30 receipt in their passports. In all the years I've lived in Thailand, nobody has ever asked me to show a TM-30 receipt and I've never done a TM-30. For me, the online TM-30 application doesn't work because I don't have the documents they want uploaded, which means now I'll have to go to immigration to do the TM-30 so I can have the receipt and they can have more useless paperwork that will immediately be filed away and totally forgotten.

They have also managed to frighten a lot of expats about income tax. Most of the speculation is we will not be subject to it, but so far not an official or even unofficial word from Thailand assuring us about it. And there was also the uproar when "Big Joke" said the qualifications for the retirement visa are not expensive enough.

In short, how about doing something for the expats for once?