Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing tax assessability versus liability here in Thailand. Yeah tax isn't folks' favourite topic to discuss but it is kind of a topic that I think is rather important in many ways. Moreover though there has been just a lot of misunderstanding as a result of how things have sort of been framed out in the ether of the internet and then a lot of people walking around giving sort of one size fits all conclusions regarding taxation here in Thailand. That is not the way Tax works. Tax Law like any other law, is subject to interpretation and application to the specific facts in the underlying case. 

That said, I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Pattaya Mail, that is pattayamail.com, the article is titled: Several neighbouring countries compete with Thailand for foreign retirees. Quoting directly, and the thrust of this article goes in a different direction, I am going to quote a small excerpt here. I urge those who are watching this video, check out that article for yourself. Quoting directly: "Since January 2024, anyone spending six months or more in the Kingdom may be liable to personal income tax on remitted income." Okay. This is sort of an oversimplification. I would describe it as, although the sentence in and of itself is not inaccurate, it is using a fuzzy description; you are using very precise language and very certain language to describe a fuzzy mechanism, okay? What am I talking about here? 

Well first of all, let's get into liability. No, you may not necessarily just be liable for tax just because you have lived in Thailand for six months in a given calendar year. As we have discussed in other videos, you may have your situation assessed by the Revenue Department, but you may not be liable for taxes. Again liability is going to depend on a great many things. The nature of the revenue and income again is a presumption. Income generally speaking is what we talk about when we are talking about earned or unearned income; I prefer to use the more neutral term "revenue". Where did the revenue accrue? Where did you garner it? Does that jurisdiction have any kind of agreement with Thailand? Meanwhile, if you do bring that money in, and you have been tax resident in Thailand, is there some kind of Double Tax Agreement that thereby mitigates your possible liability here in Thailand, or do you even need to file a return at all? Whose duty is it to assess for taxes? Is it you the person or the Thai Government?

Again all of these questions have to be sort of weighed in the balance before they can be answered in any type of analytical way with regard to tax policy and how Tax Law will be applied; you have to lay all these factors out. It's not just, again the sentence in and of itself is not inaccurate, but again it's implying this kind of one size fits-all thinking that is not very useful when you're trying to determine whether or not you may have tax liability, under certain circumstances, here in the Kingdom of Thailand.