Expat dreams shattered in Thailand: cockup, conspiracy or just plain nonsense?
Critics say that Thailand is now only interested in the rich global expat.
YouTube, the world’s biggest search engine after Google, is currently hosting a number of popular videos describing the supposed transition of Thailand from paradise to tragedy so far as westerners are concerned. The common themes are retiree panic about taxes and visas, secret plots by the Thai government to get rid of all “non-rich” foreigners and shocking immigration plans to deport many of us.
Benjamin Hart, the irrepressible founder of Bangkok-based Integrity Legal and a Thai national, has recently done a good hatchet job on much of the hostile click-bait material in his video: Debunking Thai Secret Plan Against Expats. He acknowledges that expat life for farang has gotten more difficult in recent years – you no longer see the term “paradise” applied to western life here – but denies there’s a conspiracy to doom we westerners. Pattaya Mail comments below on some of the doubtful claims made by Hart’s opponents.
The grass is greener … A common refrain is to sing the praises of neighboring countries such as Cambodia and Vietnam, based for example on their assumed freer income tax policies. The argument is that Thailand will adopt the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development model to tax expats on their worldwide income, whether transmitted or not. In reality Thailand is wisely showing signs of avoiding that trap, whilst Vietnam and Cambodia are both cooperating with OECD about tax policies. Nothing is certain.
Ordinary tourists check out Pattaya.
Visa policies only target the rich. The 10-year Long Term Residence visa certainly does that. But the Destination Thailand Visa offers five years residency – but requires leaving Thailand at least once a year – and is hardly punitive in the financial sense. The Thailand Privilege Bronze visa offers five years for just over US$19,000. The yearly retiree “O” and “OA” extensions of stay cost US$55 to renew, hardly targeting the rich.
Unnamed immigration officers. It’s common practice for conspiracy-minded critics to claim anonymous police sources to justify claims such as all Thai expats now being subject to Big Brother artificial intelligence-assisted “social credit scoring” with a view to ensuring only the rich are allowed to stay here. Unnamed senior cops are also lined up to justify fictitious statistics about arrests and deportations of westerners. In reality, well over 90 percent of deportations from Thailand are nationals from neighboring countries.
Hospitals can cancel your visa. The problem of unpaid hospital bills has been a big issue for at least 20 years. But the idea that Thai hospitals can influence immigration to cancel your visa, or use data to track you down in other countries to force payment, is way beyond either their scope or their aspirations. Foreign embassies in Bangkok continually remind their nationals that the lack of health insurance (unless you can access cash) is likely to see inpatient patients denied significant medical procedures.
Income tax is punitive. Currently, the Thai finance ministry is submitting a new amendment that overseas income transferred here will be tax-free in the year of submission or the following one. But, of course, the conspiracy theorists will quote an unnamed policeman to say it’s all a temporary ruse to grab your cash. The whole debate about expats, especially retirees, and their cash has become both exaggerated and distorted over the past two years.
Conspiracy theorists say immigration rules are tightening visas.
Opening bank accounts. It is certainly true that tourists (those without a non-immigrant visa) have a near zero chance of opening a Thai bank account right now. There are indeed rumors that even some existing accounts may be frozen up to four months if banking authorities suspect the cash has been paid in by a third party to qualify for a friend’s or customer’s visa. The problem is that Thailand, unlike her neighbors, has been very lax about banking regulations for many years. A whole series of abuses, relating to fraud and money laundering, is leading to much tightening. It’s certainly a cockup, but for how long is debatable.
Conclusions. We all know that Thailand isn’t the wild west that some assumed it was 20 or 30 years ago. It’s become heavily bureaucratic and confusing particularly in the fields of immigration, investment and property. That doesn’t suit some, especially the backwoodsmen who remember bar fines of 200 baht and diesel at 8 baht per liter. Equally, the notion that dark forces in the Thai government are plotting to change the expat profile from married retirees and modest pensioners to rich global travellers and business executives is truly exaggerated. Whether the current government survives or there is a general election, or even a military coup, Thailand will always confound her critics and detractors. She has had enormous experience.
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