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Oxx

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Everything posted by Oxx

  1. In practice, they are not. You need to go through ridiculous hurdles to have access if you're not an America . And even then, it's only one fund provider that's available.
  2. But earlier you wrote: So you've either kept your UK residence and can open a broker account in the UK and pay UK taxes, or you haven't and you can open an account based upon notional Thai residence and (with a bit of planning) avoid all taxes. You do seem very confused.
  3. They need this information for things such as withholding taxes on income. And I suspect that some brokers will turn away Americans because of onerous monitoring and reporting requirements. You wouldn't want to be treated as UK-resident. You would then potentially have to make a tax return every year and pay tax on your income and capital gains. Then there's inheritance tax. Saying you're resident in Thailand generally avoids the tax issues. (You'd still have withholding tax on US income, which is a very good reason not to invest in American instruments. Note that that tax will either be 30% or 15% depending on the broker used.) I am genuinely resident in Thailand, so it wasn't an issue for me. And I don't have a Thai TIN. I would suggest you go down the "resident in Thailand" route too, provided you can provide proof of a Thai address.
  4. Are you sure about that? If you spend more than half the year in Thailand you're tax resident there. Only people who are globe trotting throughout the year are not tax resident anywhere. Opening a brokerage account without being registered for tax is straightforward. You could easily open an account with Saxo (Singapore), Swissquote (Luxembourg), Interactive Brokers (USA) without a tax ID. (I've personally done all three.) However, you appear to want specifically to invest in mutual funds. Only Swissquote will provide access to a (smallish) range of funds with relatively high fees. Finally, you could open a brokerage account in Thailand and have access to a wide range of funds, provided you use an independent (not bank-owned) broker.
  5. Well, apart from the fact that it costs almost twice as much.
  6. I've asked in the past and been refused. Only one at a time, it seems.
  7. Didn't they do this a few years ago to welcome Chinese tourists and end up throwing away a massive amount of food?
  8. Earlier in the year vaccine manufacturers were talking about new versions of their vaccines coming out in April (or thereabouts) which protected against newer variants of the virus. Has anybody heard whether this is actually going to happen? And if so, when? (I've been holding off having a 4th jab in the expectation of something better for today's viral landscape, but if there's nothing around the corner, I'll bite the bullet.)
  9. Surely this has been posted already here, but the press are saying that people with work permits will not have to pay the 300 baht entry tax. Pensions, volunteers, non-working spouses are not so fortunate.
  10. What is it, then? Christianity pretty much abandoned the idea of pilgrimage centuries ago. Only a few religious extremists do so these days. Would a normal person refrain from clipping their nails, or from wearing deodorant in a desert? Is kissing a stone normal? Is throwing pebbles at a stone column rational? If it's not a sign of fundamentalism, then it's a sign of lunacy.
  11. It's the replacement for LTFs. A form of mutual investment fund that requires a minimum 10 year investment. Stands for the rather crass "Super Savings Fund".
  12. Really basic question: if one buys an SSF can one switch to another SSF if, for example, the performance is dire or one's investment objectives change, before the holding period is up?
  13. Well, that's one way to ensure that Thailand gets all the latest Covid variants from around the world.
  14. I presume the Danish embassy is more reasonable than the British one. The British Embassy charges 2,218 baht for each residence document - compared with Immigration's 200 baht. You're also now required to provide proof of address, and I don't have any document meeting their criteria*. When it works, the service provided by Immigration is far simpler and cheaper. * The accepted documents are: DVLA issued photocard driving licence, mortgage statement, tenancy agreement or Housing Association rent card, bank statement, letter from your bank, utility bill, council tax demand, Inland Revenue tax demand or a self assessment statement. They also don't accept documents printed from the Internet.
  15. I asked previously whether there was any agent able to handle getting the residence certificate. In short: no.
  16. Yes you do. And the address must match with the blue book.
  17. I've mentioned here previously that I needed two certificates of residence for selling and buying a car. Despite my failing health, I managed to hauled myself all the way to a remote and desolate part of Mueang Thong Thani, struggled to climb the dog-festooned steep steps, and made my application. Then came the (seemingly utterly pointless) two weeks' wait for the certificates. Imagine how thrilled I was to receive the two certificates, only for my elation to be dashed when I found out that one had my address quite wrong, and the other was clearly intended for someone else. Both certificates are useless. I guess I now have to waste a second day of my life and go to Chaengwattana to sort out this fiasco. I don't suppose there's any other option such as 'phone or email? Just curious, but if anyone else has had a similar problem with these certificates, what should I expect? Am I going to need to submit my documents all over again/pay the fee again/wait a further two weeks for the certificates?
  18. It's because Immigration has no conception of providing a service and treats foreigners with utter contempt if not revulsion.
  19. Stock markets are supposed to be risky. One accepts those risks in the hope of superior returns. The failure of individual companies simply underlines the importance of investing in a diversified portfolio of companies, so the failure of any one doesn't have a major impact upon one's wealth. The market regulation of Thai companies is comparable to that of most developed markets, with audits and filings of returns. The auditors are often (if not usually) familiar names. You can see a list of authorised auditors at https://market.sec.or.th/public/orap/AUDITOR01.aspx?lang=en . One of the major problems, however, as I see it, is companies being run for the benefit of individual families, rather than for the benefit of all shareholders. Before investing one needs to do one's due diligence. Incidentally, the SET publishes the names of the largest shareholders in each company on its website. This can be very helpful. I don't believe the London Stock Exchange does anything similar. Don't know about American exchanges. But returning to risk, foreign exchange risk far outweighs the risk of the odd company failing here and there. That's why for someone living in Thailand and intending to stay here, Thai stocks are avery good option to provide for the future.
  20. Offhand, I can think of Monex Boom and Phillip Securities. However, I don't know whether you'll be able to open an account with either of them.
  21. Moronic comment. Thai stocks are for companies in Thailand who (generally speaking) earn most of their income in Baht. Invest in any other country and you're instantly faced with foreign exchange risk, and FX rates can (and often do) vary by 30% in a year. For an investor whose expenses are in Baht, they are a pretty good investment (provided, of course, that one picks the right stocks). I don't invest in individual stocks, but I do invest in Thai mutual funds. Tisco Strategic A has returned an annualised 18.93% per year over the last three years. Can't imagine why anybody would be unhappy with such performance. (The 10 year annualised performance figure is 11.24% - still pretty good.)
  22. AFAIK all brokerages require a long term visa for foreigners. I think you're either going to have to open a brokerage account outside Thailand which allows access to the SET (there aren't many of these), or stick to buying mutual funds from your bank's asset management arm. Alternatively, you could buy a Thailand ETF such as iShares MSCI Thailand.
  23. I'm reminded of a speech given by Neil Kinnock (left wing British politician) in 1987: How right he was.
  24. I believe this products are not available over the counter in Thailand, so would not be stocked by the likes of Boots and Watson.
  25. Be aware that if you walk your dog in a public area there's a very real risk that it will be attacked by feral dogs. Even in my (upmarket) moobaan, my first dog (recently deceased, and pretty large by Thai standards) was attacked four times, first when he was a puppy by a dog owned by a builder, then three times by a female Siberian husky owned by a senior policeman who couldn't be bothered to secure his property properly. In all cases this was when I was walking him (my dog, not the senior policeman) on a lead. Incidentally, I suggest you learn the technique of taking off your footwear and throwing it at an attacking dog repeatedly. Very helpful in extremis.
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