Lemsta69

This has been discussed here ad nauseum. Your experience is not universal. Some people get asked, some don't.

You must be new here. The old-timers call it Bangkok Pattaya Hospital ????

still better than England.

Lucky you but your experience is not universal. Some people get asked for onward ticket, some don't. Depends on the location and other factors.

Requires a lot of money too, Bangkok ain't cheap if you want to live it up ????

Basically It's an on/off switch. I'm with AIS prepaid and you can turn it on or off in the app (see attached image). There are three separate protocols that the telcos provide; voice, SMS and data. The telcos don't let you enable roaming for just one of the protocols, it's all or nothing. So when you go overseas you need to enable internal roaming but when you get to the other country you have to disable mobile data and don't make or receive any calls. If you'll get charged like a wounded bull ????

Thanks for pointing that out and yeah brain fade. The B12,500 is for renewal. Last time I checked was in late January and the price for 15 months (O visa+extension) was B26k including a single re-entry permit. I expected you'd get a discount for having the funds in the bank so I'm a bit upset to hear otherwise. Did you ask why? ????

Google search. Here's one random result... https://airlines.iata.org/analysis/document-verification-travel-trouble#:~:text=Fines average out at %243%2C500,to a fare-paying passenger.

They're simply doing their jobs. It's a Thai government requirement for an onward flight ticket for visa exempt entry, not the airline's. Airlines will get fined at least a couple of thou USD if they deliver passengers that don't meet the official requirements. There's also the attendant administration costs, bad publicity etc so it's in their interests to pre-screen the passengers on behalf of Thai Immigration. Thai Immigration, in principle, should be double-checking every passenger to see if they have onward tickets and the minimum amount of cash. However that's not practical as it would take way too long to clear the queues hence the current lassez-faire approach. It works well and the only reason it's an issue is because some people are unprepared for any questions when they are checking in. I only found out about this sort of stuff when I turned up at BNE many moons ago on my first trip abroad with a one-way ticket to Bali and the check-in staff forced me to buy an expensive refundable one-way ticket from Medan to Penang that took forever to get my money back from. Much easier now with internet access and onwardticket(.)com et al.

Not going to happen. Get your initial visa & extension in Pattaya using agent for convenience then when you move to another province simply submit, or ensure your landlord or property agent submits a TM30 in the necessary timeframe (24 hours I think). Then you do your first 90-day report (TM47) in-person. This won't be a problem if you've use the agent for 'hand-holding' and have the 800k on deposit and seasoned correctly. Your bankbook will pass muster if requested. Subsequent TM47s can be done online. https://tm47.immigration.go.th/tm47/#/login All they need is your passport number, nationality and your registered permanent address which was reported via the TM30. Agents shouldn't care if you don't use their services for 90-day reporting. If they're charging you 500 baht you're getting ripped off, Maneerat do it for a measly roi baht. Contact Fon at Maneerat for pricing. It's B12,500 for the Full Monty and a few thou cheaper for hand-holding. Best to hit them up on LINE, that's their primary contact point. Caveat: above is based on personal experience from end of 2021, start of 2022.

Via Translate is one way to do it but you have more options if you launch the Google Lens app itself. Eg. you can use one of functions, Search I think it is, to scan say a restaurant menu that's only in Thai, without having to keep taking photos. This helps me in the 7-11 as well. You can also load screenshots into Lens which can come in handy if you have only one device with you and need to translate, say a Lazada page.

Why not, easy to switch on global roaming at no additional cost and incoming SMS are free.

Use Google Lens to translate the writing. You don't even need to take a photo, there's a way to do a 'live' translation whilst hovering your phone over the label.

Thailand is sick of freeloaders.

Your opinions are boring. Constant sniping at the Thais is tiresome and achieves Sweet Fanny Adams.

It does, however the OP wants an 87 not a 47! ????

I live just down the road from Centralworld, this be great for me if it gets off the ground as it were. Bye bye Ekkamai! I don't think I'm their target market though as I have no intention of spending one single cent at either Central mall ????

we've already done that dance. they dumb it down because it's easier to explain. what they put on their website, assuming it's not ten years out of if date, is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the whole visa/extension knowledge base.

Correct, because there is no such thing as a Retirement Visa.

Except it's not as simple as that, as @DrJack54has explained above. If someone says "my retirement visa is expiring on 3rd June what do I do" then you need to know the exact details of their situation in order to give the correct advice. Make the wrong assumptions and you could end up hurting rather than helping. It takes a while to learn this stuff and you have to put in a fair degree of effort, not just snipe from the sidelines.

They dumb it down for the hoi polloi and for themselves probably. Easier to outsource the technicalities to volunteers on websites like this.

Possibly a mask issue? Thankfully I haven't encountered that yet in my little Bangkok bubble.

Branches can do what they want, even opening accounts for people on Tourist Visas with just a passport if you believe the claim made by a very special poster ???? Th. Surawong branch wants a letter from my Embassy confirming the reason why I need the account. Aussie Embassy will laugh in my face if I ask for that. Ergo, no new account for me so I'll have to go branch hopping to find a more lenient branch, or part an agent an extortionate fee. There was another onerous requirement but I'd switched off by then. I'll go in on Monday if I'm not too hungover and ask for a copy ????

What's so odd about it? There's been a tightening of the AML rules recently so it wouldn't surprise me that an individual branch has added this extra requirement. You know that each branch can set their own rules, right? It says on the BBL website now that one should contact the local branch. That list of requirements for opening an FCD account that you keep referring to is most definitely not in force at the Surawong Rd branch of BBL as of a month ago. I didn't take a copy of their new, more onerous requirements but I'm happy to go back and get one and upload a photo. The staff member that I spoke to apologised for the even more burdensome requirements and mentioned it was because of "these times", presumably referring to the fallout from the Chinese mafia business of late. IIRC that list didn't include a home country drivers license but again it wouldn't surprise me that another branch is requesting this; I was asked for the same by Zipmex when I was going through their KYC process. I don't understand why but maybe they think it's less likely for a person to have both a forged passport AND a forged drivers license from the passport country.

dive bars on Patpong I & II. It's only a few stops away on the BTS or MRT ????