Thanks very much. Is there one for visa transfer? Or does this implicitly cover both? I think I have two steps.

The Elite office can help me, but will charge me 4000 Baht to do so. The Elite advertises "unlimited government concierge", but the actual contract specifies just one assist for free, the rest are 2000 each, and they want 2000 for the stamp and 2000 for the visa. The advertising is dishonest in my opinion. (I don't know about the current new Privilege adverts or terms).

@Dan *******

that's horrendous! they book through booking.com, (and are owned by the same parent company I believe), but I hear about this much more with Agoda than booking. They should not be allowed to describe their bookings as reserved, people spend a fortune on holidays and you're very reliant on them.

Agoda are typically the cheapest, but they use the most confusing tactics to extract more money from you, and they cancel confirmed bookings at the last minute most, I think, going by fb complaints - they've never cancelled mine but they have snuck in charges.

@Chalante ******

which embassy / newsletter pls? Google turned up lots.

They bribe immigration officials, and to find a compliant official often get your visa in a remote / rural office, so you are then tied to that agency until you leave as the local office won't renew. Also the gov occasionally cracks down on widespread corrupt visas.

If you look at the linkedin article above, it gives details of the different DTAs. In the UK for example, the gov pension is tax free but not private pensions. The countries that are totally tax free are a tiny minority (three countries?).

Worth remembering that if you contributed to a pension, you did not pay tax on that income, hence it is taxed on withdrawal.

In sum, if you are earning or drawing pensions in 2024 and will be in Thailand more than 180 days in 2024, that income is taxable, whenever it is brought into Thailand. If you have pension withdrawals or earnings pre-2024, that is tax free whenever it is brought in. Hence my recommendation to keep any income 2024+ separated, if you can live off income from pre-2024. However it is all much rumor and social media misinfo.

This also suggests the critical date is the year money was earned:



"Example: In 2023, Adam resided in Thailand for 200 days total. He had a foreign-source income from rental property overseas, in which that income was transferred into his offshore account. Later in 2027, Adam transferred that money into his bank account in Thailand. Thus, Adam must disclose that money for calculating the income tax for the 2027 calendar year.

I thought it is the date you transfer the money in is the crucial date, not the date you earned the money, but maybe misread.

This article suggests pension income is treated as 'earned' on the year it is paid out (and some countries have carve outs):