Transcript of the above video: 

If you can't tell from the tone of my voice or my general demeanour, I'm just exhausted. I'm tired of dealing with all of these nonsensical Farang; I'm tired of dealing with all of these people that are talking about Tax matters in just a crazy manner; I'm frankly tired of everybody like thinking I have some nefarious agenda when all I am trying to do is keep people from running into something that could be to their detriment. And also, I have got to be honest with you, I'm just frankly kind of dejected, I don't know what the right word is, disappointed maybe about the fact that I thought the rules and the laws meant something here and it just seems like it doesn't. Let me just get into what I'm talking about here. 

So I initially thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Pattaya Mail, that is pattayamail.com, the article is titled: Pattaya expats receive updates on overseas remittances and income tax. The point here I am trying to make is we have discussed this before, and let me dig into this first. Let's go over here to the “Notification of the Ministry of Labour, Regarding: Prescription of Prohibited Occupations for Foreigners. Then you go in here under number (1) Occupations under List 2, Controlling, auditing, performing or providing accounting services, except for the following: There's like Internal, Work under International Agreements - that doesn't really pertain to us here, but over under Definition, under Subsection 6. Other services related to accounting in various branches, such as bookkeeping, auditing, administrative accounting, setting an accounting system, tax accounting" - tax accounting - "and education and accounting technology as well as consultancy, development and training." Consultancy, worth noting that. Then we move over here under Subsection 27, under Legal Services, services and legal proceedings: Providing services in legal counselling and then presentation of opinions as an expert." All of these in the realm of accounting and legal advisory insofar as tax law are prohibited to foreigners. This isn't unclear. Again, I am putting this all on screen; I'll put a link in the description below. There isn't any vagueness about these restrictions; it's black and white.

That said, going back over here to Pattaya Mail, pattayamail.com, Pattaya expats receive updates on overseas remittances and income. So again, this IRS agent that is basically acting as sort of an interloper over here. Quoting directly: "Answering questions Mr. Carden," - that's this agent - "said that the Thai Government had promised to honour double taxation treaties with 61 countries." So you are counseling on Thailand's policies regarding Double Tax Treaties? Quoting further: "However, these were all unique and could not be used as some kind of blanket immunity." Yeah? Again, you are counseling regarding Thai Tax Law? Quoting further: "He suggested that an expert should refer to the applicable terms in the submitted tax form by way of a caveat or alert. Mr. Carden several times stressed that the Government was deliberately widening the income tax base," - so you are advising regarding Tax matters in Thailand?  You are consulting broadly, on the record. - "but accepted that small fish were going to be caught in the net designed for bigger ones, especially rich Thais." 

Again, I don't know what to do anymore. First of all, I again warned folks from listening to people who tell you to go running into a tax jurisdiction situation that you may not necessarily need to go running into. To their credit, I have talked to Pattaya City Expats Club and I think I am scheduled to talk there next month, but I don't even know if I'm going to do it; I'll be in contact with them. I'm just frankly, I don't know what to say anymore. I mean do we have laws here or not? And what law has changed it has created any affirmative duty in Thailand to file a tax return to begin with? They talk about this as if it's all some duty that you have to do. 

Yeah, look I get it. Trump is coming down the pike now. We are looking at this new External Revenue Service of Trump's. They are looking at, it looks to me like changing fundamentally, at least in an American context, American Tax Law. Meanwhile, we have the outgoing Administration who would try to push this Global Minimum Tax which is, the byproduct of that is what we are dealing with here in Thailand through all of this OECD stuff where they are trying to come in and basically take over. I would view it as a form of colonization. I just don't know want to think at this point other than disappointment and frankly, I am kind of at the point of apathy because I'm just kind of giving up because it looks to me like, I mean why care about Thai Tax Enforcement? They are not enforcing the laws regarding Foreign Restricted Occupations and foreigners being restricted from advising people regarding Thai Tax matters. So, if they are not going to enforce that law, are people really thinking that, maybe they will go out of their way to enforce all this minutiae of tax rules for a bunch of people that probably aren't going to have to pay the government anything anyway, but neither here nor there. I am just at the point now where I don't know what to say. I don't understand these people that want to go, they send me emails they're like, "you're a terrible person for telling us that there are ways that you can structure things so you don't have to worry about tax jurisdiction, this jurisdiction or some other jurisdiction." Okay, believe what you want at the end of the day, okay? All I've been trying to do is try one, to note that Thailand is its own country, and foreigners coming in from outside telling us how our Tax System works, that's not right. And meanwhile, to have foreigners coming in here and stirring up all the folks in Thailand that are retired here, or that may invest here and to possibly scare them to the point where they will go away from Thailand because of their fears about tax, I don't see how that's good for the country. And frankly, I thought that that's what we have been working - we've been working in the opposite direction for these past roughly 3 - 5 years especially here in Thailand as we have been trying to build back after COVID. Really is a globalist scheme to scare away all of our retirees and all of our investors and put us under some kind of supranational taxation scheme? Is that what's good for Thailand? And meanwhile, the people that are doing this are in flagrant violation of our laws so I'm at the point of just throwing up my hands now because I don't know what else to say. At the end of the day, I don't think it's an invalid question. Why worry about tax enforcement if they are not going to enforce Thailand's Laws regarding restricted occupations for foreigners? I mean why would you presume they are going to operate with much alacrity regarding tax enforcement, if people that are operating in the tax sphere as foreigners, are operating in clear violation of Thai Law. Why worry about that?