Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Stickman again. Tip of the hat to you Sir. I have discussed him in the past. He is kind of an old icon out here; been talking about the expat scene in Thailand for years and years. I remember first coming out here and Stickman was the go-to place.

I thought of making this video after reading a recent article on his channel, on his website I should say, stickmanbangkok.com, that is stickmanbangkok.com. It is under Stickman Weekly, February 16, 2025. Quoting directly: "Speaking of staying in Thailand legally, there's a lot of angst in expat circles about announcements made by the Revenue Department last year about funds being transferred to Thailand being taxed. Let me repeat what I have previously said: I have no idea what this means for those who are retired/digital nomads/long stay tourists who spend more than 180 days in Thailand. You may have to file a tax return, and you may be liable for tax. There's a lot of conjecture, and no shortage of disagreement - even amongst those who should know." 

Well, who should know? Look, at the end of the day, all I've ever said - and I'm not confronting Stickman here - but all I have ever said with regard to this, each case is different. I refuse to get out there and give cookie cutter advice. I also refuse to be an illegal foreign tax stamp-pimp here in Thailand in complete violation of the restricted occupations. Quoting further: “With tax returns and payments due by next month." Well maybe, maybe not, depending on liability etc. "some expats have trundled along to their local Tax Department office trying to do the right thing." The right thing! Come on. What is the right thing here? Okay, I don't even think that the way that the Revenue Department claims that they are now being able to do certain things is even legitimate in my opinion, because again the Doctrine of Codification, if you want to say that just being here a certain period of time on its own, is enough to say you have got to file a tax return, it's my opinion they need to codify a law through Parliament to that effect. I'm not interested in seeing regulatory rule making create new law in Thailand. 

Quoting further: "Frustratingly, even Revenue Department staff aren't on the same page," - so what's the right thing if the Revenue Department isn't on the same page? Again, not attacking Stickman, he's just describing the situation and I'm describing my response to that situation. Quoting further: "Even the Revenue Department staff aren't on the same page and reports of what expats have been told, varies from office to office. When the very people who are supposed to know what is happening can't agree, what hope does your average foreigner have?" Well as we have discussed in other videos, it comes down to yeah, you need to get narrowly tailored advice if you are really worried about this stuff and figure out whether or not in your circumstances what your situation requires. Quoting further: "There have been plenty of articles written and YouTube interviews conducted with so-called expat advisors and foreign tax experts," - who are completely illegitimate and unqualified to talk about that stuff. If they are not a Thai national, then it's illegal, it's a violation of the restricted occupations. Tax Consulting is specifically mentioned and even the Amity Treaty doesn't overcome that. That pertains to local professionalism, local law. This is not hard. It's really getting annoying from this. By the way, where are any American Officials about any of this stuff? Where are the Thais, where is Thai Law Enforcement? This is getting ridiculous. These people are operating in complete contravention of the law here in Thailand; they are giving out erroneous information; they are causing all kinds of problems and consternation in both the expat community, and they are stealing money and jobs from the Thai community. So, where is Law Enforcement on this stuff because it's causing all kinds of confusion and problems without it. Quoting further: "But most of them just don't come off as credible, especially when they're sitting in a t-shirt and shorts, trying to sound professional and learned but coming across as anything but." Yeah fair enough. By the way, if anybody's ever met me, I walk around in shorts all day long. I am wearing shorts right now even though from the top I got the newscaster thing going on. Yeah, I wear a collared shirt. It's not a matter of how you look, it's a matter of do you know your stuff and are you qualified to provide the professional assistance you claim to be able to provide. That's what it comes down to. I mean who are you people out there that are actually hiring people who are in clear contravention of local law? Like how do you think that's going to work out? And by the way, if you do end up in a situation where you are trying to avoid taxes etc. etc., if you're dealing with somebody that's in contravention of the local law, you could be operating as a conspirator to something. You understand what I'm saying? If one underlying illegal act occurs, it tanks everything. This is why, if you want to deal with the IRS, you need a Tax Attorney, so you have attorney-client privilege, that to begin with. And even a CPA who has professional credentials, whatever you are doing with them, they can't claim you are engaged in a conspiracy to defraud whatever that tax system is. Same here in Thailand. If you're operating in conjunction with somebody who's clearly operating in violation of the local law, what does that end up being? That ends up you are conspiring to violate the law. Jailhouse lawyers are not qualified lawyers. I don't know how to explain this any more simply. Quoting further: "The one person whose take I value on this issue is Benjamin Hart, a straight talking, insightful, no-nonsense American lawyer who runs Integrity Legal in Bangkok. The Integrity legal YouTube channel has touched on this issue many times but to be clear, there's a lot of conjecture, and things are still very much up in the air." Yeah, I thank you very much Stick, much appreciated, tip of the hat to you Sir. 

Yeah, look I'm just trying to explain to people that the situation depends on your circumstances, and you should contact a legal professional. It doesn't have to be me. Contact any Thai Tax provider, service provider, accountants, Thai Tax Attorneys, whatever. But at the end of the day, talk to somebody who is qualified, okay? That's 98% of the problem here. Meanwhile, I think the Government has tried to pull a big fast one in conjunction with this OECD nonsense because I think the so-called Core Coalition Party has - for whatever reason - completely sold out to the World Economic Forum who along with the OECD seems to be pushing this stuff nonstop. It's not good for Thailand; it's completely against our national interest here in Thailand; it's terrible. It's awful and at the same time it's going to have a terrible negative impact on the expat community.

So, what are my thoughts on all of this? One, thank you Stickman. Two, Thailand, maybe let's think this through a little bit more. As I have said, I consider this the DMZ year on this tax issue. Maybe let’s promulgate some laws as we are closing out Parliament so we can actually get something in place that makes some sense and is actually in line with the underlying legal philosophy that we operate under here in Thailand. Long story short and the point I'm trying to make with respect to this, tax is an issue, it's going to be driven by the facts in your case. Those who are concerned about this, it may not be a terrible idea to contact a legal professional, gain some insight and guidance into how best to proceed.