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From Pattaya News On November 12th, 2024, Thai immigration officers in Tak intercepted a vehicle carrying five Chinese tourists who had been misled to believe they were en route to Pattaya. The tourists were reportedly shocked to find themselves at the Thai-Myanmar border instead of their intended destination. Officials at the Mae Sot checkpoint stopped the car on the Mae Sot-Tak road and, with the assistance of a Chinese translator, verified the tourists’ documents, which were in order. Upon inquiry, it was discovered that the tourists had intended to visit Pattaya but were instead driven toward the border with Myanmar, raising suspicions of potential trafficking. Tak authorities intervened just in time, as the tourists could have been taken to Myawaddy, Myanmar, where they risked being allegedly coerced into work by an alleged Chinese call center gang. Security forces in Mae Sot safely redirected the tourists to Pattaya, sparing them from an illegal border crossing and possible exploitation. In a related operation, Tak authorities are also assisting other foreign trafficking victims at a local human trafficking support center, coordinating with NGOs to ensure their safety and well-being. The driver of the vehicle and his identity was withheld, with immigration citing further investigation needed.

From Pattaya Mail By Barry Kenyon Those contemplating a move to Cambodia because of fear of the Thai Revenue Department are on safe ground as matters stand. Foreign retirees in Cambodia are not being taxed on their international transfers: officials at ABA and Maybank, two leading banks with foreign customers, said the subject was not currently being discussed. The Cambodian government in its tax-related publications clearly avoids the specific issue of retirees. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation states that a foreigner spending more than 182 days in the kingdom during a year is deemed to be a “resident” of the kingdom. The text continues that “residents” are taxable on their worldwide income and there is no qualifier that the cash must be remitted to Cambodia to be liable. There is a separate government requirement that sums exceeding US$10,000 must be declared to the Bank of Cambodia before the transfer. However, the context of the tax-liability discussion relates to “resident” foreigners who are working in Cambodia with a “salary”. The regulations state that their overseas income, if already taxed in the home country, can be credited against any further Cambodian Revenue demands. This ruling is not dependent on double taxation treaties. Cambodia has eleven DTAs but none with a country outside Asia. In other words, working expats are subject to taxation on their actual wages both in Cambodia and abroad. Given that companies submit tax returns in Cambodia, individuals do not normally prepare their own returns. Technically, Cambodia does not have personal income tax but is concerned only with cash actually being earned. By extension, there is no requirement for retirees to get involved with Revenue matters and websites promoting Cambodia as a tropical paradise seldom even mention the subject of taxation. The question is whether the tax-free haven for retirees could change. It would not be difficult for the government to do so, for example by divorcing worldwide income from the need to have a “salary”. However, there is no indication of that intention and the Cambodian revenue authorities are much less proactive and influential than their Thai counterparts. As a Phnom Penh bank official said, “It simply wouldn’t be worth the effort”. The Cambodian retiree visa costs around US$300, annually renewable, but must be based on a an initial E-class (formerly business) 30 days visa when entering the country. The use of visa agents is widespread, almost compulsory in fact, and very little documentation is required. Proof of retiree status and of steady income is sometimes called for. There is also the requirement to download the Foreigners Present in Cambodia address registration app. In other words, the retiree bureaucracy in Cambodia is much easier than in Thailand. Of course, the pros and cons of living over there are a much bigger agenda. ============ From Pattaya News Should Thai retirees escape to the Philippines to avoid income tax? By Barry Kenyon There’s currently much speculation about Thailand’s retirees considering a move to another regional country. They are hunting to escape the looming if still-muddy liability to pay Thai personal income tax on some foreign income transmitted to Thailand. They need to be watchful as Cambodian authorities, for example, can in fact tax foreign retirees on their worldwide income but choose, anyway for now, to ignore cash not earned in Cambodia. The Philippines is unusual in that it publicizes the non-taxation of foreign income such as pensions, inheritances and capital gains. So it’s worth examining the retiree entry regulations of Thailand and the Philippines because they are by no means the same or even similar. The Philippines has introduced the Ease of Paying Taxes Act 2024 but, contrary to some reports, this did not affect the tax-free status of retirees living on overseas assets. Although there are many retirement visa options in Thailand for those 50 years plus, the easiest without doubt is the non-immigrant “O” type. A visa-free entry stamp can be converted by local immigration to a three months non-immigrant “O” which then receives an extension of stay for 12 months (fifteen months in all the first time). Annually, the retiree returns to immigration for a further 12 months extension for 1,900 baht or US$55. Agents can facilitate the process for a service fee. The basic requirement, as is well known, is at least 800,000 baht in a Thai bank or proof of monthly remittances from overseas of at least 65,000 baht. Evidence of local address is required and there is an ongoing rule to report it every three months. A re-entry permit is needed for those leaving the country, but a medical insurance policy is not currently mandatory. Given that third parties can help with the cash bond, if required, the non “O” route is far and away the most popular track for retirees. It’s also the cheapest by miles. Retirees to the Philippines need to apply for the core Special Resident Retiree’s Visa (SRRV) which is multi-entry but requires an annual re-registration of the ID card. It requires a personal and not third-party bond of (usually) US$10,000 to US$20,000 in a Filipino bank which may have to be left there for the duration depending on whether investments are made. Family members can be included at a reasonable extra cost. Medical insurance is not required, but a medical report on the individual is needed prior to entry and must be authenticated by a Filipino embassy or consulate. Police clearance from the country of origin or recent residence is needed according to the government website. Compared with Thai immigration practices with the “O” type, the Filipino version is much more of a hassle to process. Not to mention the interview with the Philippine Retirement Authority or PRA. However, the extra perks are considerable. No exit or re-entry clearance. The status of a permanent resident from day one and the publicized chance to apply for citizenship after 10 years. The chance to work for an employer provided the (not too difficult) Alien Employment Permit is applied for. The facility to bring in US$7,000-worth of household goods tax free. PRA assistance is applying for a driving licence, or when dealing with Filipino bureaucracies. In summary, the longer term retirement visa bonuses in the Philippines are more bountiful than those in Thailand. But the Thailand “O” is certainly much cheaper to process and requires much less initial documentation. Perhaps Thailand’s resident expats should appreciate it more. https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/news/should-thai-retirees-escape-to-the-philippines-to-avoid-income-tax-479718

https://www.facebook.com/3somespavietnam/

Phetboy is again offering promotion of 4 one-hour sessions for 999 bht. i was there tonight and booked newbie from Myanmar who lived up to all expectations. When I returned to lobby at 9p.m. there were seven smiling faces trying to encourage me to go another round. But I was completely depleted and had to disappoint them.

Literacy tests were used in the south to deny blacks the right to vote. Once we start hating and denigrating those who voted differently than ourselves, we become like them in every way imaginable.

Sounds like you’re suggesting a literacy test for right to vote?

From Bangkok Post The cabinet has approved extra public holidays for next year and January 2026, declaring long-weekends to boost tourism and the overall economy. Deputy Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said after the meeting on Tuesday that the cabinet approved the ministry’s proposal for additional government holidays in June and August next year and in January 2026. The extra holidays next year are both Mondays, June 2 and Aug 11, with the Queen’s birthday holiday on June 3 and Mother’s Day on Aug 12 — creating a four-day weekend. Another added holiday is Friday, Jan 2, 2026, stretching the New Year break to five days, from Dec 31 to Jan 4 inclusive. There will now be 21 public holidays in 2025.

From Bangkok Post The Transport Ministry aims to use the so-called "London Model" to collect traffic congestion fees in the inner areas of Bangkok. Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit, who also serves as a deputy prime minister, said Tuesday he has assigned the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning (OTP) to urgently study a model and methods of implementing the measure of collecting congestion fees in areas with heavy traffic, fee rates, payment methods and the results of successful operations in various countries including England, Singapore, Stockholm, Sweden and Italy. "We expect that study will be completed within six months, or in 2025. In addition, new laws may need to be drafted, as under the current law, the government has no authority to collect congestion fees, which is the authority of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA)," he said. He said an initial survey about the congestion fee run on the ministry's social media found that 60% of respondents initially agreed, but later the number of people who disagreed with the project rose. The main reason was due to a lack of details about the project. As such, the information must be quickly explained to the public, especially regarding who will be charged and in which areas, Mr Suriya said. He confirmed that people living in the designated areas where the fees are collected would be exempt. The income from the fee collection will be deposited into an infrastructure fund, which will be operated by the Ministry of Finance. Some of the money will be used to buy back concessions for electric train lines and support the government's policy of 20-baht fares for all electric train routes. https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2901148/london-model-to-be-used-for-road-fees

There’s an oft-quoted biblical reference that helps explain this. “Give us Barabbas.”

Here’s an attempt to demystify the bond market. First, traders dismiss politics and are focused on fundamentals: interest rates, duration, quality rating and price. As the interest rate rises, the price of a bond falls. In other words, you can purchase a higher-yielding instrument for less. The opposite also holds: when interest rate falls (due to what traders believe is fair value), this results in a higher offering price in the secondary market. Simply put, people want to own bonds paying a higher rate of return. And the currency of the country where the bond is traded in turn affects demand for that currency. And bond prices, like equity prices, change by the second as do cross currency exchange rates. What’s at work here are two motivating factors: greed and fear. The same that drive the stock market. Without both you couldn’t have a market.

In a matter of days since the election, the dollar has gained in excess of a full baht. As of this posting, it had climbed to 34.87. When I last changed currency day before election, I got 33.54. This is the result of the increase in the interest rate on the US 10-year bond (4.429% as of this posting). The pricing action reflects the sentiment among bond traders that Trump’s policies will increase inflation as the prospect of tariffs on imported goods will become reality and tax cuts will add to the national debt. Even the Fed’s recent quarter-point reduction wasn’t enough to persuade bond traders otherwise,

Some massage shops around Silom that were previously 500 for an hour have increased to 550 recently. Some at 590. Just the sign of the times.

I think we’d really enjoy hearing about your experiences. Would be interested in hearing more about kinky aspect of Taiwan guys.

I’m admittedly biased because I know many of the boys here, but I walked Soi 6 this afternoon and I’m persuaded that Natural Massage line up is tough to beat. Mostly guys from Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar, and you’ll find most of them sitting outside shop. The new Chillax bar remains a work in progress. Reports are that shops are getting noticeably busier the past week.

I was looking for a post office and found it in sub soi off Surawong, directly opposite Meridien Hotel. There’s a machine just inside door to get a number receipt for service. On left is refreshment stand that also sells standardized shipping envelopes at very reason cost. Woman was very helpful in finding me a “C4”.

Argentina carrier. You know, like Eva Peron.

Agree, And they have no one to blame but themselves. They had their shot and blew it.

+1

From Fintech News The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) has launched the Bakong Tourists app in collaboration with Mastercard at a ceremony in Phnom Penh. The app simplifies digital payments for international tourists visiting Cambodia. Tourists can download the app upon arrival and seamlessly top up their Bakong accounts using their Mastercard issued in their home countries. This allows them to scan KHQR codes and pay at over 3.3 million merchants across Cambodia, a major advantage in a country where only 60,000 POS machines accept card payments. The app is available for download on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

From Pattaya Mail Rescue teams responded to a report of a woman falling from the sixth floor of a condominium on Soi Bong Kot in Pattaya, at 4:36 a.m. on November 10. Upon arrival, they found a large crowd gathered at the scene. The victim, identified as 21-year-old Miss Savry Pich from Cambodia, had fallen from the sixth floor, hitting the roof of a classic blue Volkswagen van before landing on the ground. The vehicle sustained roof damage, and the woman was critically injured. Rescue workers administered first aid on-site before rushing her to the hospital. Friends of the victim reported that they had been drinking together in the apartment before separating for the night. The reason for her jump is unknown; however, friends noted she had previously attempted to jump from the 14th floor but was stopped. Pattaya police have documented the scene and informed Police Colonel Navin Thirawit. Investigators are reviewing CCTV footage to determine the circumstances of the incident.

It’s the revenge of of the anti-liberals. Presidential elections—like the World Cup—come every four years and payback’s a bitch.

I stopped by bar at 12:40 a.m. Boy who I met first night bar opened sat with me and I brought him at beer.). He filled me in on some details. - all boys who work there from Myanmar - boss is from US - Four boys dance on bar (shirtless) at following times: 9 to 9:30 10 to 10:30 11 to 11:30 1 to 1:30 I watched few minutes of dancing and tipped boy who had sat with me who was now dancing. His English is very good. He studied physics in uni. Other guys also spoke good English.

For the past few months it was been difficult not to find a daily news accounts of a pyramid scheme that is said to have scammed over 1,000 locals. Assets amounting to $3,8 mln USD have been seized. ———- From Bangkok Post Pyramid scheme charges filed against 18 The iCon Group suspects Warathaphon ‘Boss Paul’ Waratyaworrakul, founder and CEO of The iCon Group, is escorted by police from the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) to the Criminal Court in Bangkok on Oct 18. (Photo: Nutthawat Wichieanbut) The Department of Special Investigation additionally charged 18 detained suspects of The iCon Group with pyramid scheme and direct sales law violations. DSI deputy secretary-general Wisanu Chimtrakool said that DSI officials pressed the additional charges against the 18 suspects at the Bangkok Remand Prison and the Central Women Correctional Institution in Bangkok on Monday. They were charged with violating the Law on Loan Amounting to Public Cheating and Fraud (also known as the pyramid scheme law) and the Direct Sales and Marketing Act in addition to public fraud and computer crime charges placed earlier by police. Pol Capt Wisanu said that the DSI had consulted its plan on the additional charges with representatives from the Fiscal Policy Office and the Consumer Protection Board and collected enough evidence for the latest charges. “They had work processes and different roles… The combined roles shared the same objective that was public fraud-oriented borrowing,” the deputy secretary-general said. According to its statement released on Monday, the DSI said the suspects collaborated as they had teams of executives, team leaders who invited others to invest in The iCon Group business and teams of celebrities who presented their wealth from the business. The suspects operated direct sales and marketing business in the way that people were invited to join business networks with a promise to offer returns in exchange for their subsequent recruitment of other network members. Moreover, the suspects operated a direct sales business without a licence, according to the DSI statement. Withoon Kengngan, lawyer of the detained suspects, said on Monday that the business of the group was not a pyramid scheme. A pyramid scheme would not have had genuine business activities, would have paid money collected from older network members to new members and would not have had any merchandise, he said. The suspects were ready to expose the back-office system of The iCon Group to prove their innocence, the lawyer said. He also said he prepared about 3,000 defence witnesses for authorities to question. Police arrested the 18 suspects including The iCon Group chief executive officer Warathaphon “Boss Paul” Waratyaworrakul and several celebrities last month for public fraud and putting false information into a computer system. They have been detained at the Bangkok Remand Prison and the Central Women Correctional Institution since. https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2900196/pyramid-scheme-charges-filed-against-18-the-icon-group-suspects

Phetboy is looking to become your one-stop shop for various erotic needs.

And there are relatively few US citizens who’ll work in undesirable, low wage jobs in food processing. Trump knows that and will do what his backers tell him. There will be a big push to empower local police to check for status of anyone they stop for questioning and turn illegals over to Immigration authorities. Some states, however, prohibit this practice.The 2025 proposals see a way around this and it will end up before SCOTUS. Trump claims he wants to deploy federal troops to facilitate deportation but here he runs directly into the face of the “Posse Comitatus Act,” legislation originally enacted after Civil War to limit powers of government to interfere with states rights. It has even been strengthened over time and remains a cherished law, particularly in red states. The Posse Comitatus Act bars federal troops from participating in civilian law enforcement except when expressly authorized by law. This 143-year-old law embodies an American tradition that sees military interference in civilian affairs as a threat to both democracy and personal liberty. However, recent events have revealed dangerous gaps in the law’s coverage that Congress must address. What does the term “posse comitatus” mean? In British and American law, a posse comitatus is a group of people who are mobilized by the sheriff to suppress lawlessness in the county. In any classic Western film, when a lawman gathers a “posse” to pursue the outlaws, they are forming a posse comitatus. The Posse Comitatus Act is so named because one of the things it prohibits is using soldiers rather than civilians as a posse comitatus. What are the origins of the Posse Comitatus Act? The Posse Comitatus Act was passed in 1878, after the end of Reconstruction and the return of white supremacists to political power in both southern states and Congress. Through the law, Congress sought to ensure that the federal military would not be used to intervene in the establishment of Jim Crow in the former Confederacy. Despite the ignominious origins of the law itself, the broader principle that the military should not be allowed to interfere in the affairs of civilian government is a core American value. It finds expression in the Constitution’s division of power over the military between Congress and the president, and in the guarantees of the Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments, which were in part reactions to abuses committed by the British army against American colonists. Today, the Posse Comitatus Act operates as an extension of these constitutional safeguards. Moreover, there are statutory exceptions to the law that allow the president to use the military to suppress genuine rebellions and to enforce federal civil rights laws. What does the Posse Comitatus Act say? The Posse Comitatus Act consists of just one sentence: “Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uses any part of the Army or the Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.” In practice, this means that members of the military who are subject to the law may not participate in civilian law enforcement unless doing so is expressly authorized by a statute or the Constitution. Are all members of the military covered by the Posse Comitatus Act? No, only federal military personnel are covered. While the Posse Comitatus Act refers only to the Army and Air Force, a different statute extends the same rule to the Navy and Marine Corps. The Coast Guard, though part of the federal armed forces, has express statutory authority to perform law enforcement and is not bound by the Posse Comitatus Act. Members of the National Guard are rarely covered by the Posse Comitatus Act because they usually report to their state or territory’s governor. That means they are free to participate in law enforcement if doing so is consistent with state law. However, when Guard personnel are called into federal service, or “federalized,” they become part of the federal armed forces, which means they are bound by the Posse Comitatus Act until they are returned to state control. What are the main statutory exceptions to the Posse Comitatus Act? There are many statutory exceptions to the Posse Comitatus Act, but the most important one is the Insurrection Act. Under this law, in response to a state government’s request, the president may deploy the military to suppress an insurrection in that state. In addition, the Insurrection Act allows the president — with or without the state government’s consent — to use the military to enforce federal law or suppress a rebellion against federal authority in a state, or to protect a group of people’s civil rights when the state government is unable or unwilling to do so. What are the constitutional exceptions to the Posse Comitatus Act? There are no constitutional exceptions to the Posse Comitatus Act. The law allows only for express exceptions, and no part of the Constitution expressly empowers the president to use the military to execute the law. This conclusion is consistent with the law’s legislative history, which suggests that its drafters chose to include the language about constitutional exceptions as part of a face-saving compromise, not because they believed any existed. This has not stopped the Department of Defense from claiming that constitutional exceptions to the law exist. The Department has long claimed that the Constitution implicitly gives military commanders “emergency authority” to unilaterally use federal troops “to quell large-scale, unexpected civil disturbances” when doing so is “necessary” and prior authorization by the president is impossible. In the past, the department also claimed an inherent constitutional power to use the military to protect federal property and functions when local governments could not or would not do so. The validity of these claimed authorities has never been tested in court. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/posse-comitatus-act-explained