Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Retirement Visas here in Thailand. Now the quote or the title of this video, probably sounds more ominous than the conclusion so folks that are watching this video, first of all please don't get excited, we are not seeing a sea change in Retirement Visa land. If anything, this video should be acting as reassurance; you can breathe easy. It's nice to see a colleague, another tax professional, an actual legitimate professional here in Thailand is putting out some information and it is in line with stuff I have been talking about for some time now. 

I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Pattaya Mail, pattayamail.com, the article is titled: Lawyer updates retirees on Personal Income Tax. And it's important to note, this is an actual Thai Tax Professional. This is an actual person who can be and is qualified, dispensing advice regarding Tax Matters. I have been talking about stuff like this on here. I'm an American Attorney; I'm American Tax Attorney. I am a naturalized Thai, but as I've always said I am not a Thai Attorney. We have accountants here in the office. I am the Managing Director of the firm. We have Thai Attorneys here in the office; they administer and assist with Tax Matters here in Thailand. The point I am trying to make in this video though is, this is coming from a reputable source, and I am happy to spread and disseminate information that comes from reputable sources, not from these fake frauds from overseas who come in here and claim the ability to provide and dispense tax advice on Thai Tax Matters which they have no business engaging in and they are leading people into bad outcomes with their quite frankly fraudulent "advice". 

Now that said, I'm quoting a small excerpt of this article, quoting directly: "I will add that I do not believe that annually renewable Retiree Visas will be linked to a Revenue Department registration number in the foreseeable future." Great. I couldn't have said it better myself, and in fact I have made similar conclusions in the past. It is my opinion, and I have discussed this before in other videos, that Thai Immigration is not going to require tax documentation associated with extension of the standard Retirement Visa, and I don't think that is going to be happening anytime soon. Thai Immigration does not seem to want to get into the business of being adjudicative on matters pertaining to Thai Tax, and I think it would just create a lot of undue, unnecessary paperwork to start requiring Tax ID documentation associated with Retirement Visa extension. My colleague in this article - and I urge those who are watching this video, go check out that article in Pattaya Mail for more information - seems to agree with me, and I have been saying this for a long time. Until Thai Immigration requires tax documentation, it is really not something most expats need to worry about and as he points out, it doesn't look like they are going to be requiring that anytime soon. 

So retirees, please breathe easier. We are not looking at a situation where anybody's looking at coming down with the tax boom. If anything it's the fake foreign, what I have called "stamp pimps" in the past, charlatans, claiming to be some kind of professional here in Thailand and to be able to dispense Thai Legal advice as it pertains to tax, they are the ones that have caused all the unnecessary consternation, especially in the retirement community, and they should be blamed accordingly. And quite frankly, I think there should be some kind of penalties associated with coming here to Thailand and doing this, because it is having an undue detrimental impact on the community here, expat or otherwise, foreigners coming in here and illegally dispensing tax advice here in the Kingdom of Thailand.