Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing expat overreaction to certain aspects of Thai Policy regarding tax. I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Pattaya Mail, that is pattayamail.com, the article is titled: Foreigners and Thai law: the changing Pattaya scenario. Quoting directly: "It is worth noting that the submission of a tax form does not automatically mean any tax is due. Moreover, no supporting documentation is required unless the individual is chosen for audit. My personal view is that some Pattaya expats are overreacting to this issue." 

Well yeah, and it's my personal view, they're not only overreacting, they're completely misinformed in many cases and they are walking around telling other people the way ‘the cow ate the cabbage’ as it were, based on nothing. It has no basis in law or fact. As I have discussed in many other videos on this channel, yes we had an internal memorandum change the way assessability occurs within the Revenue Department. That occurred at the end of last year going into 2024. But overall No, the Thai Tax system has not changed and in fact this notion that it somehow must change, I find rather naïve on the part of even tax professionals because this is how Tax Law is. I've been dealing with US Tax Law for years. The raw law oftentimes makes little sense. We have to deal with how the regulations are going to be put into effect and then sometimes there will just be provisions out there sitting around, as a matter of practical effect aren't even implemented. Again this is kind of more of an American context and that's its own kettle of fish bunch of issues over there. But long story short yeah, I think overreaction is a good word for it. Many expats I just kind of want to say hey, "Jai Yen", just chill out, we're going to figure out how this happens. 

Now I do get it. people that are wanting to move over here, they want some level of certainty with regard to their taxes or their tax situation, but as I have discussed in in other videos, I talk to many folks that are looking to move to Thailand and we come up with very efficient to the point of zero tax liability or assessability sometimes with regard to the Thai System. So again, there are solutions out there. Those solutions just are not “one size fits all” the way a bunch of people wandering around basically talking a lot of nonsense in the expat space want to describe it. And long story short, people are not really looking at the fact that the law does not need to change in order for it to make sense. That's the way the Law works; that's what we do often times, legal professionals, tax professionals have to interpret how the Law will be applied in order to come to some form of conclusion for how best to structure one's situation in order to be as tax efficient as possible.