Singapore also imposes certification of tax clearance before a foreigner can leave the country.. if your employment pass (or other work permit) is cancelled you cannot travel if there is an outstanding tax liability.. your passport is blocked by immigration!

If you are a mature guy looking for a serious relationship with a 'wholesome' Thai girl / woman.. and are looking for a long term partner / wife.. rather than a good-time girl who doesn't share your aspirations.. then I'd advise batchelor boys to expand their social circle.. and focus on friending expat guys who are in longstanding marriages to Thai women.. either through sports affiliations or coffee clubs etc.. because their spouses have a huge network of friends and relatives that will include many single women who are in the market for a boyfriend / one-day husband.. and once you become buddies with the husband it will eventually give you access to that network of lovely women his wife knows.. either through invitations to social events they are holding.. or simply by being more direct and asking for introductions.. there's nothing that Thai women like more than match making.. because they want to see their girl friends happy and all loved-up.. but the point is that you will be farming in a much more socially up-market category.. and will reduce the risk of dating disingenuous women.. possibly saving yourself a lot of time and money in the process.. but this is where western men have got it all wrong.. in so much that it's not whether a potential Thai girlfriend is good enough for the farang.. if you are shopping in this league its all about whether the farang is good enough for them.. and I'm not talking about wealth here but in terms of character and good spirit.. because you have to get through the gatekeeper remember.. and if she gets any bad vibes then it ain't gonna happen.. no matter how big your wad might be!

Once you get a yellow book you should never need to get another residence certificate.. it's issued by the Amphur/Municipality where you live after meeting fairly stringent criteria.. and is prima-facia evidence of address.. akin to the blue book held by many citizens.. I've never been asked for a RC once when dealing with any govt agency here when I've produced my yb.. but this is not easy to get if you are on a tourist visa or are not married to a Thai!

@Tony ********

I'd be nterested to know what alternative service you have found.. just in case it becomes a viable option for me later on.. cheers.

If you want to avoid disclosing your overseas address to your bank.. or indeed other organisations you deal with in the UK.. take a look at ExpatFone which works through an app called Devyce.. for a fixed monthly fee you get a UK number with unlimited free calls and texts to UK mobiles and landline numbers (with a few exceptions).. it's app based so is effectively a VoIP service.. but the other party will never know it since it masks your location.. by giving a UK rather than overseas dial tone if somebody calls you.. and it presents your call exactly as it would if you were making the call within the UK.. so nobody gets to know where you are actually calling from.. you get free voicemail with immediate (single button) retrieval of messages.. and you can elect to port your UK mobile number over to it when you sign up.. if you want to retain your number.. and you can port it back out if you return to live in the UK one day and want to revert to a conventional network.. I've been using it for nearly a year now and it's solved all the issues of trying to maintain a UK mobile and use it overseas that plagued me.. especially as there have been reports that some UK banks are getting arsey about maintaining accounts for overseas customers.. or at least those that don't have large sums on deposit with them.. so provided you have a UK correspondence address registered with them.. such as a family members address.. then this service means they never need to know where you are actually living!

@John *********

Yes that is my understanding too.. I'm simply saying it's not a fair system.. since it effectively removes the home country tax free allowance from the equation.. so you could end up paying tax on what was considered exempt income.. the only way to defeat it in the short term is to avoid bringing money into Thailand altogether.. at least until common sense prevails!

@Bart *************

Except some countries (like the USA) tax you on worldwide income.. and it doesn't matter where that income is earned.. the reality is that income tax is not payable under any statutory law in many countries.. such as in the UK/US.. and the collection of it is actually not 'legal' but is 'accepted' nonetheless.. the answer is to abolish all forms of personal taxation on revenues and replace it with a single legislative tax on purchases.. along the lines of VAT.. which everyone has to pay since it's a point-of-sale tax collected by retailers.. so no tax returns to do and no liability to calculate in-country or cross-border.. and nobody can fudge it or avoid it and no headaches for us or the tax authorities.. simple, clean and unambiguous!

There is another grey area.. regarding tax deemed to have already been paid in your home country.. in so much that in most countries your income enjoys a tax free allowance.. meaning the first X pounds or dollars are exempt from tax and then you pay tax on any excess income over and above said allowance.. so if the income is 30k and the allowance is 10k only the net sum of 20k is taxable.. however once this liabity is settled the whole 30k is considered to be 'tax-paid' since it has been assessed and agreed by the tax authorities.. but the resultant (or visible) tax credit will be for the actual tax payment you have made.. ie. the monetary sum.. and as currently written.. this is the figure that the Thai tax system will take to offset any tax liability in Thailand.. but this does not recognise that (in my example) the whole 30k is effectively tax-paid.. and by ignoring this they are effectively removing the tax-free allowance in your home country by taxing you on the total income.. which is completely unfair imo.. in fact the whole concept is flawed in its present form and needs to be reviewed.. otherwise they will sink under the weight of their own bureaucracy.. they should be focusing upon 'earned' income that has not been 'assessed' for tax in any jurisdiction whatsoever.. ie. that has not been reported in the home country or any other jurisdiction where an individual may have a home or the right of residence.. i understand there could be economic nomads out there that earn high sums from overseas activities.. but they avoid paying any tax in the overseas jurisdiction by limiting their time in said country.. preferring to spend more time living in Thailand where they have no 'employment' and consequently (past tense) no tax liability on the income they subsequently bring here to fund their lifestyle.. i believe these people are really the target of the new tax regime.. rather than foreign retirees that may have Thai families to support on (comparatively) modest income.. the easiest solution would be to remove all pensions and other retirement payments received by retirees living here from the equation.. irrespective of the overseas jurisdiction where it originates.. and only look at the income 'earned' by this group from gainful employment with overseas employers (or other organisations) that has not already been assessed for tax in the originating country.. and if it has been then the gross income assessed should be exempt rather than just looking at the amount of tax they have paid.. otherwise Thailand risks alienating many retirees.. not to mention penalising many Thai's who depend upon this income, in the process!

@William ******

Concur with what you say here.. but that income would only be taxed in Thailand if it is brought into the country.. if it remains offshore then it will escape assessment.. perhaps the solution for such individuals is to move that income onto an offshore based pre-funded Visa or MasterCard.. and then spend that money directly from the card.. or simply use a credit card and pay it off each month from the offshore account.. ways and means 😉

@William ******

The real aim is to tax income being earned by residents of Thailand that has hitherto escaped any form of taxation.. in other words 'catch' people who have (up until now) been able to dodge paying any tax.. because they weren't deemed tax resident in either their home country or in Thailand.. i don't think the intention was to punish retirees who are living here on a retirement visa or perhaps a married visa.. but those people who reside here but work for an overseas company.. they could have significant earnings that aren't being taxed by anyone.. unfortunately the draft legislation was written such that any deposits to a foreigner's Thai bank account from overseas would be considered a form of income assessable for tax.. which does not recognise that these deposits may not come from income at all.. but from savings or investments held offshore.. and which represent a transfer of capital not income.. overlaying this concept is the right to claim exemption from tax in Thailand if there is a double taxation agreement with your home country.. if it can be shown that the income you received has already been taxed (or is deemed to have been taxed) at source.. then it will not be taxed again in Thailand.. and most western countries (such as the Uk, US, etc) have DTA's in place which govern this very situation.. so that should be someone's starting point to see how the new tax regime might affect them.. when all is said and done i don't think they want to drive foreigners out of Thailand.. which would be counter productive for the economy.. or to harm those citizens who are married to foreigners.. and reliant upon this income to support their family and often their extended family.. but they were somewhat naive in forming this new tax code.. the fact they have not published the final 'act' suggests it is already under review.. as does the delay in releasing the full scope of its application.. so I'm expecting some major modifications to ease the burden on none working 'tax residents'.. which will hopefully take foreigner retirees living here on more modest pensions out of the net.. it would also be unreasonable to proceed with the proposals (even as currently tabled) without giving us foreigners full disclosure of the implications.. meaning a clear understanding to enable people to make financial decisions in good time.. so imo we should see the introduction of it postponed by at least 12-months.. you surely cannot be taxed on 2024 'income' when they have failed to clarify exactly how this will operate.. and given you the opportunity to amend the way you manage your finances to minimise the effect of the proposed taxation.. so I'm betting it will be 2025 income assessed in 2026 and that it will be less onerous than it looks now.. fingers crossed huh!