Sources and verification
Last checked: 20 August 2026 · Reviewed by Keith Kwai
This page explains where this site’s facts come from, how we judge confidence, how often we re-check, and the published register of every source the site relies on. The core principle is one: only an administering authority’s own current publication and primary legal instruments may substantiate a published fact. Agencies, forums and news reports may alert us that something is worth checking. They never constitute evidence themselves.
When we cannot find official support, we publish the gap rather than filling it with a plausible number. An empty cell is never rendered as a dash, a zero, “nil” or “included” — those all read as data.
Five tiers, and only two of them substantiate anything
| Tier | What it is | Examples | May it substantiate a published fact? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 — Primary instrument | The law itself: statute, gazette notification, royal decree, ministerial regulation, departmental order, code of federal regulations | Income Tax Act 1967 s.7 · Royal Decree No. 743 · Revenue Departmental Order P.161/2566 · 8 CFR 235.13 · Immigration Act B.E. 2522 s.37(5) | Yes — highest weight. Where a Tier 1 source contradicts a Tier 2 page, Tier 1 governs and the page says so |
| 2 — Administering authority’s own current publication | The department that runs the programme, publishing its own current rules | mm2h.gov.my · immigration.go.th · ltr.boi.go.th · immd.gov.hk · apec.org · thaievisa.go.th | Yes. This is where most of the site’s facts come from |
| 3 — Another official body on the same subject | A government source that is not the administering authority | A parliamentary reply · a ministry press release · a foreign affairs office guide · another economy’s page describing a shared scheme | Yes, with attribution to that body, and flagged where it conflicts with Tier 2 |
| 4 — Official-adjacent | A statement by an official reported by a third party; an undated official FAQ; a trade body’s estimate | A ministerial statement reported in the press · an industry association’s demand estimate | No. It may be published as what it is — “reported from a ministerial statement, not published as an official rule” — but it never becomes a fact |
| 5 — Everything else | Agency blogs, forums, news aggregation, AI-generated summaries, competitor sites | — | Never. It may identify a topic to investigate. It is not cited as support for anything |
What we do when a source is missing
We publish the gap. Three worked examples currently on the site: the legal instrument authorising the Thai DTV’s 180-day extension could not be located, so the extension is published with that gap stated; MOTAC leaves the processing fee blank for three of four MM2H categories, so those cells read “Not published by MOTAC”; and the Condominium Act text underpinning Thailand’s 49% foreign floor-area quota could not be retrieved from an official source, so the quota is published as universally applied in practice with the primary text not retrieved.
An empty cell is never rendered as a dash, a zero, “nil” or “included”. Those all read as data.
The confidence badges
Three states, defined here and used site-wide.
| Badge | Colour token | Means | Reader should |
|---|---|---|---|
| Confirmed | --lla-success | A Tier 1, 2 or 3 source states this, we have read it, and the access date is shown | Rely on it, and check the date |
| Changing | --lla-warning | A change has been announced, drafted, gazetted-but-not-commenced, or is otherwise in progress and not in force | Plan for both states. Do not assume the change has happened |
| Not confirmed | --lla-error | We looked for official support and did not find it | Not treat this as false — treat it as unverified, and verify it with the authority before acting |
The badges are never conveyed by colour alone. Each carries its text label in the page language, and the text is what the screen reader announces.
The review cycle
| Trigger | Cadence | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Standard cycle | Quarterly, every page | Re-open every source URL, confirm it resolves and still says what we said it says, update the Last checked date, log any change |
| Dated-expiry trigger | On the date | Any fact with a known expiry gets a calendar entry before it. Currently: Malaysian foreign-sourced income exemption at 1 November 2026 and 2 January 2027 |
| Announced-change trigger | On announcement | A gazette notification, cabinet decision or ministerial announcement affecting a published fact opens a review of every page carrying it, within five working days |
| Broken-source trigger | Immediately | A source URL that no longer resolves means the claim is pulled, and the gap is published in its place, until a replacement official source is found |
| Reader report | Within 3 business days of receipt | Triaged through the corrections workflow |
The published source register
Published as a live table on this page, filterable by cluster, and maintained as source-register.csv in the build directory. Every source used anywhere on the site appears here. A fact whose source is not in this register is a defect.
| Column | Content |
|---|---|
source_id | Stable identifier, e.g. MY-MOTAC-GUIDELINES |
publisher | The body that published it, in full, not an abbreviation |
document | Page or document title as published |
url | Full URL |
tier | 1–5 per the source hierarchy above |
jurisdiction | MY · SG · TH · HK · TW · CN · US · UK · APEC |
first_accessed | Date first used |
last_checked | Date last re-opened and confirmed |
next_review | Scheduled date |
status | live · changed · unreachable · superseded |
facts | Fact register IDs relying on it |
pages | URLs citing it |
Illustrative rows, showing the format only — the live register is generated from the build:
| source_id | publisher | tier | jurisdiction | last_checked | status | facts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
MY-MOTAC-GUIDELINES | Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia | 2 | MY | 2026-08-20 | live | A1, A7, A15, A16 |
MY-IMI-MM2H | Immigration Department of Malaysia | 2 | MY | 2026-08-20 | superseded | A22 |
TH-IMM-EXTENSION | Immigration Bureau, Royal Thai Police | 2 | TH | 2026-08-20 | live | E8, F10 |
TH-RD-P161 | Revenue Department of Thailand | 1 | TH | 2026-08-20 | live | G2 |
HK-IMMD-ABTC | Immigration Department, HKSAR | 2 | HK | 2026-08-20 | live | H10 |
US-CFR-235-13 | US Code of Federal Regulations | 1 | US | 2026-08-20 | live | H14 |
The superseded row is deliberately shown. A register that only lists sources we agree with is a bibliography, not a register.
General information only. Nothing on this page is immigration advice, legal advice, tax advice, financial advice or any other form of regulated professional advice. It does not take account of your personal circumstances. Official requirements change; verify the current position from the source before acting. Living Life Asia is not connected to, endorsed by or affiliated with any government body.