@Phil ******

in Thailand if you open a bank account in a particular branch it will always remain in that branch even if you move to a completely different area. You can change your address with the bank but the account will always stay with the home branch.

In practical terms that means if you move to a different province you will pay a small commission for ATM transactions because your account is still at the home branch and always will be unless you close it and open another account in the different province.

@Nongnuch *******

well that's my point. I didn't need anybody to get me out of trouble because I wasn't in trouble.

@Dave *******

yes correct before I got my Thai license I used my British license which is not an IDP and got stopped many times without any problems.

@Nigel *******

not true.

@Nongnuch *******

that's not my experience. Although I now have a Thai license, I was driving in Thailand for 20 years with my British license and had one accident. The insurance company accepted my license without question and fully paid for the damages.

@Ulrich *******

yes there is a one year annual renewable Visa using marriage certificate. It doesn't mean you can live here permanently. You have to renew it every year and if you go for the lump sum route you have to have 400k in the bank. And there's the 90-day reports.

@Keil *****

there is no such Visa.

@Stephan **********

I can't remember the exact source but I saw an explicit statement which came from the revenue office quoted in the Pattaya Post I think saying that foreign pensions will not be subject to tax.

@Stephan **********

yes that's true but my point is this doesn't necessarily mean it's scrutinized by someone sitting at the desk at the revenue department. My friend who runs the IT department for a big European Bank told me that there is such a vast volume of information that goes to the revenue department which just sits on a computer somewhere. To have the manpower to individually scrutinize all of these transactions is something else.

@Stephan **********

the revenue department "knowing about you" and the bank's financial IT system automatically deducting tax from an account aren't the same thing.