Are retirees in Thailand considered tourists?

@Yann ******

That was strange one because they finished quarantine and flew straight to csmbodia

In addition we get the R.O 21, Taxation Payment Document.

Re-evaluate the stay situastion is the right word! We get the R.O 22 based upon the stay last year. It will never be given in advance.

@Olav *********

true.Had the old head of CM Immig. Explain this to me 12 or 13 years ago . When they were farang friendly .

@Olav *********

no. This is not how it works. Tax residency is utterly irrelevant to immigration status or repatriation to Thailand.

@Olav *********

tax residence is a thing, but it is not the only form of residence and it has nothing to do with immigration status.

What matters in the context of entering Thailand is immigration. Tax residence simply isn't relevant. I don't know why you keep banging on about it, if you were trying to get back in they would not consider this at all.

@Olav *********

for the last time, they are two entirely different concepts. Tax residence is not an immigration concept. Tourist can, technically, be tax resident. Someone with permanent residence immigration status can be non tax resident. Two entirely different things.

@Olav *********

I linked you the immigration law on residence above. Show me the tax law that even mentions tourists, as "tourist" is not a tax concept, it's an immigration one. Technically a tourist (immigration status) can be tax resident if they stay in Thailand over 180 days, because that's all the tax law talks about, it doesn't consider immigration status at all.

@Ivan ***********

Show me the imm law telling the difference about tourist snd resident!

@Olav *********

I linked you the Thai immigration law on residence above, go read that and note that it says nothing about 180 days or taxes. It's a different thing.

Tax residency after 180 days is a thing. That's "tax residency" and it has absolutely nothing to do with residency from immigration's perspective. "Tax residency" is NOT the only form of residency.

@Olav *********

they are not the same. Tax residency and residence from an immigration point of view are two different things.

This isn't just Thailand, either, most other countries I'm aware of they are different things.

@Olav *********

no, it's just not relevant. Tax status is an entirely different thing to immigration status. Immigration do not look at tax residency AT ALL when considering who is eligible for repatriation.

@Olav *********

this isn't how it works. Immigration has both a formal conception of "residency" defined in law (i.e permanent residency) and also visa categories they talk about informally as "resident", some of which are allowed to enter (workers, married, Elite).

None of this has anything whatsoever to do with tax residency. That's entirely irrelevant, it's an immigration issue.

No one is claiming your tax residency isn't a thing. It's just not relevant to your immigration status.

@Olav *********

I think it's you that doesn't understand, bringing up tax residence on a thread about repatriation, which is an immigration issue. How is tax residence relevant to that?

@Olav *********

they are two different things. This thread is about people returning to Thailand. That's an immigration issue, tax law has nothing to do with it.

@Olav *********

there is not only one law. I linked the immigration law above. No one is saying you are not tax resident. But it's not the same thing and it has no relevance to immigration issues.

@Olav *********

pretty sure you can stay 6 months , then be granted a 90 day extension on a multiple entry tourist visa ...you have to do a border run after 3 months, then a few days before the 60 days you apply for a 90 day extension ...so 9 months

@Olav *********

your confused about tax and immigration laws. According to the tax law you are correct but according to immigration laws not. The visa that most called a retirememt visa, non imm O or OA is a longstay visa that can be issued for periods from 3 months to 1 year and in case of the non imm O can be issued to people not on retirement.

David Broadfoot I'm glad you are not easily triggered.

Stuff to read on the internet is not reliable, so that's a possible yes.

I'll ask them anyway. Not to prove who's right or wrong on the topic for 2020, but to know with less uncertainty.

Lmao@"prick" 😂

I understand about O and OA. I never had an OA as the first visa was done here when I entered on an exemption stamp. The sublety of this part of your argument was not lost on me and I will mention it precisely when I go to immigration.

While I completely agree that IO are not always truthful or correct (I know first had from bad experiences), talking to one or two there is probably a better bet than old "case reports" quoted by you and an unknown "expert". I don't disbelieve what you said about Tod really, but I'd go with the IO information before his.

OK, I won't bother getting back to you one way or the other then because Tod's opinion and internet X files are more valid than (I agree they are not 100% reliable) immigration officers.

David Broadfoot your link to Thai visa is opinion. Recounts of "cases" by people on thai visa are no better than conflicting opinions.

I did not shout. I marked one word only in upper case to emphasize it. Please stop being arrogant and obtuse, regardless of these all important faRcebook debates.

I do not know who Tod is. Never met him. Never heard of him. I only have your description to go by, but I'll take your word for it.

Any "case reports" Tod quoted are not visible to me, as I said earlier. You said "we quoted".

I will take the word of an immigration officer (yes, unnamed, and despite the fact they they are not always truthful) over a facebook debate, and your "expert" whom I have never heard of and whose comments I cannot see (one of us has blocked the other).

I have no desire to post scans of my passport pages to satisfy you or make you feel validated.

I will however, double check with this question stated as accurately as possible on my next visit to immigration.

I am no longer on a retirement visa, but I do have a WP, so I am not in a rush.

And who the Hell is Tod and why should I care what this unknown to me individual says? Perhaps he has me blocked or I have him blocked because I do not see his comments here.

I am not insisting that I am right. I am insisting that you are wrong 😃

I don't consider conflicting reports on Thaivisa or you accusing me of calling some unknown person a liar as reliable information.

I often find the opinions on Google or Facebook wrong. Google is not infallible.

I was told by immigration that the retirement visas are not valid for work. I know of no pne on a retirement visa that was able to work. Mine was an O and stamped as not eligible for work.

If the extension was granted for retirement purposes you cannot work. I had such an extension. I had a retirement visa in 2018-2019. You cannot get a wp with that David Broadfoot.

@Tod ********

verify please as in all my years here I have never heard about people on a non imm O getting a work permit ?

David Broadfoot Correction, I KNEW of people on retirement extensions who held work permits BUT this last couple years the ministry of labor was telling them either switch the reason for your extension (to marriage to a thai if they're married or based on employment) because they couldn't get a work permit anymore on a "retirement visa"..

David Broadfoot a non imm O is a visa granted to different people and they granted for different reasons. 1. They can be granted to people older than 50 years of age the so called retirement visa 2. They can be granted to a foreigner mareied o a Thai national 3. Hey can be granted to a foreigner that has Thai children. A foreigner with a non imm O visa based on marriage can apply for a wp. Not now, never in the past and not for the near future can or could a foreigner apply for a work permit with a non imm O based on being over 50 years . Whoever told you that talks BS. You are confusing people with wrong information.

David Broadfoot you cannot work on a retirement visa. You are wrong.

David Broadfoot I was setting out the different types of visas and trying to define a tourists vs a permanent resident. The student in Oz that work does not become a pr because he/she work. They stay a foreign student that under the countrys laws are allowed to work.

David Broadfoot wrong wrong wrong. You cannot work in Thailand with a retirement visa. You can work with a longstay visa based on being married to a Thai national.

David Broadfoot people on retirement visas CANNOT get a work permit in Thailand.

David Broadfoot Interesting, didn’t know that.

David Broadfoot I see

David Broadfoot fair enough re the possibility to convert in Thailand. However I don’t see the relevance of the Australian eg.

Not even for free I would enter a muslim state....

Malaysia My Second Home has MUCH higher financial requirements compared to a Thai retirement visa. 350,000 MYR in the bank which is 2.6m THB at current exchange rates, it was closer to 3.5m a few years ago.

As such it has far lower takeup. They have only 40,000 people on it and reject 90% of applicants. It's very niche compared to Thai retirement, it's more akin to Elite.

And if that money isn't a problem, Elite would be an option for you.

/02/more-than-90-of-mm2h-applications-from-sep-nov-2019-rejected-claims-agents-association

Once you leave downtown KL, it quickly becomes very un western.

@Michael *******

check Malaysia as they recently banned a lot of nationalities from entering the country for the rest of the year, irrespective of what visa they have.