champken

There is an unofficial minibus sevice from DM to Survanabhumi airport for 50b and can be found if you walk through the terminal to the car park. The minibuses leave when full and are refered to by people who work at the airport as the 555 service. From there catch one of the Pattaya/Jomtien buses.

7 hours ago, geisha said:

Hi, how much is a skin check up with each of these doctors please?

+1

When i did a similar trip, i jumped on one of the many waiting minibuses straight to Mukdahan and spent the night there in a cheap hotel rather than stay in Nakhon Phanom, then it was a simple 30b tuk tuk ride to the bus station in the morning.

51 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

Why would I do that ? As I mentioned in a previous post, the interest I earn on the 800k I have in a Fixed Term account is more than enough to pay for my annual extension and re-entry permit.

If I was spending that money I'd lose most of that interest and then have to remember to transfer enough money (and pay the associated fees as well as the possibly getting screwed on exchange rates) and do it early enough that I don't end up getting screwed by bank holidays or some other nonsense that results in me missing the "3 month" seasoning period.

 

Personally, I'd suggest having 2 (or maybe 3) Thai bank accounts.

1 Fixed term for your visa money that you never touch. The Interest can be automatically deposited into your Savings account every year or rolled over in the "Visa" account.
The money sits there but, if needed for any reason, can be easily accessed (though you'd lose the interest).

The second account is the one that you transfer whatever amount you want into (from back home or wherever), whenever you want it (once a year, once every 2 years, whatever) and then maybe (for some paranoid people) a 3rd account that you use for your routine spending. 

 

Then you transfer a month's (better yet - three month's) worth of money from your "Transfer" account into your "Routine" or "Daily" savings account to ease your fears about that card skimmers that some people think are able to scam every foreigner in the country every day.

That way the money in your "Transfer" account will earn a wee bit of interest (which is usually paid every 3 months on non-fixed Savings accounts) and if you happen to be one of the .0001% of the population that actually does fall victim to a card skimmer (or thieving g/f or whoever) then you've cut down on the amount you could lose. (Note - the quoted percentage was pulled out of my butt and is probably a lot higher than the actual number of victims.)

 

My pension money stays in my Canadian account and is used for bills and credit card payments as well as being a "rainy day" fund should it ever be needed. Many people (like most Canadians) can't do international wire transfers unless they are standing in a branch office of their bank (in the major banks that I've dealt with). So the only way I can transfer money from Canada to Thailand is to fly back to Canada, go into a branch office of my bank, do the wire transfer and then fly back.

 

Or take cash withdrawals on my credit card and pay the stupid "cash advance" fees even when I have a larger credit on the card than the amount I've just been "advanced".

Much easier and more efficient to have the 800k sitting in and account over here.

And no - most people are not earning "better interest" on their money back home - unless it is INVESTED in things they can't easily access if needed (like Mutual Funds or T-bills or other investments).
One account I have in Canada, which has more money in it than I have in my Thai "Visa" account, earns a whopping .31 cents a month in interest. That works out to the equivalent of 96 baht per year. Not bad, considering they charge me $15.00 a month for the account. 

Compare that to the 12,000 baht I'm getting (before taxes) on the Fixed Term account. I've looked at other (Canadian) savings accounts and they pay squat interest as well and usually have all manner of conditions on them which will reduce the interest if you don't meet the criteria (like having regular deposits of a certain amount every month).
Even if all my money was in one of those slightly better accounts, to get it here (where it's needed) would cost far more than the small amount of interest I might make compared to what I am getting over here (not even taking exchange rates into consideration).

But that's just me. ???? 
 

 

You forgot to mention that the 800k might also come in handy should you be unfortunate enough to need it for emergency medical expenses, which could be the case for those that find it too expensive for insurance due to age or pre-existing conditions

I also am about to change from non o's based on marriage obtained in Savanakhet to a retirement extension. The older i am getting has made the three monthly visa runs or trips out of Thailand a bit of a chore, i also reasoned that it would be quite sensible to have 800k readily available here just in case even though it's only earning me about 1.2% in interest

18 hours ago, Pattaya46 said:

About 2 minutes.... 

at the end of which you get a number ticket to get back your passport the following day.

So i could submit my application 2 or 3 days before my current 90 day right to remain entry elapses?

How long would it normally take to process a succesful application once all the necessary papers are submitted ?

I have to admit to anybody who is interested that as yet i still have not had my offending BCC removed and my excuse is that because my son was on a long holiday from school, which would and did mean lots of swimming and trips to the beach, and it was sensible to wait for a more convenient time.

I did however go and see the Doctor Sheryl suggested who in the end quoted me 9500b for a regular excision, plus i was charged 700b for a 2 minute consultation which took place in  the reception area in front of other waiting customers. I will say that i think she was under the impression that i was having the procedure done there and then, this was maybe because i had previously called for a quote which was then 8500b and that might explain the padding on the quote. 

In her defense, the above Doctor did seem to know her stuff and would probably have been competent in removing the BCC. I just got the feeling rightly or wrongly that there was a little opportunism going on there and i don't like that even if it is for small amounts

Thanks guys, just the info i wanted, and yes i currently have a multi entry. 

I currently have a non o visa which expires shortly, but before it does i intend to do a border run and hopefully get another 90 day entry and 60 days or so into that (seasoning period for the about to be transfered top up funds ) apply for a yearly retirement extension.

My question is, is that possible being that my non o will actually have expired when i apply for the retirement extension even though i will hopefully still be legally in Thailand with my last 90 day entry?

15 hours ago, thaisabai said:

thanks Sheryl

very helpful. might contact you again after my visit to the hospital

 

thaisabai

It would indeed be helpful if you could post back after your visit. I have had hoarsness and at times slight discomfort in that area for 2+ years which i think is down to LPR (not gerd) 

4 hours ago, vogie said:

England reveal new kit for Russian World Cup.

 

You're not far wrong there. Remember the last European football championship in France where highly trained, military type Russian hooligans attacked english supporters? Who do you think was behind that and then almost gloated over it? Yep, dangerous man is Putin

4 hours ago, wpcoe said:

 I was mis-remembering what mohs was, and after googling it, I realize now that Dr. Anna can do a regular excision -- that's what she did with my BSC.  So, @champken, (a) why do you feel yours needs "needs removing by mohs surgery" and (b) did you ask at BPH for the price of a regular excision with biopsy results later.

 

It was her that suggested either mohs surgery or she did say that as a cheaper (11,000b)  but less likely to succeed option i could have it basically shaved (at least that's what i thought she said, but that is what i think she did to it 18 months ago and it has now come back. At no time has she mentioned a regular excision, for what reason, i don't know.

 I will be calling into BPH to book one of their health check up pakages next week so while i am there i will ask the question at the Dermatology reception, for them to ask Dr Anna how much and if it is possible to have a regular excision there because unless there are medical reasons why, then that is what i would prefer to pay to have done. Where the bcc is located, i am really not concerned with having a scar ot even a hole there afterwards.

11 hours ago, Pattaya46 said:

 

You probably already wrote hundreds (or thousands?) post criticizing the Police, but I have 2 regular checkpoint at each extremity of my road, and fact is that it's many many years that I did not see a policeman accepting money there ! They all give you a ticket to be paid at the Police Station.

 

I am not stupid enough to say that it never happens anymore, but clearly Pattaya City and the Junta made a good work in past years to reduce hugely these old practices. Most of your critics are not valid anymore nowadays... IMHO 

I do my best to avoid police checkpoints because mostly they are nothing more than shakedowns, however, in the last say 6 months i have paid at least 3 bribes to men in uniform who asked if i would prefer to go down to soi 9 or pay a smaller fee there and then and be on my way, so believe me, old practices are still going on. I will say that on my last stop the cop asked me if i lived here and if i had a Thai baby, so either he had seen me around with my son on my scooter and or needed to establish that i was not a tourist because that was who he was targeting..

Thanks so much Sheryl,  that sounds just what i am looking for.

Thanks Sheryl, from a cosmetic point of view considering where the basel cell is i am leaning towards the simpler excision surgery as opposed to the much more expensive mohs sugery. 

I have a smallish basel cell on my ear that needs removing by mohs surgery. BPH want 19000b for the procedure which i thought sounded a bit steep especially considering i already have confirmation from a previous biopsy that it is indeed a basel cell.

While i appreciate that Dr Anna at BPH is a sound choice of Doctor to do this surgery, i am hoping somebody may come up with a cheaper alternative even if it means going a bit further to get it done?

On 22/02/2018 at 11:27 AM, scorecard said:

Another senior cop revealed to be unethical and should never have reached such a senior level.

 

Anybody keeping count?

And just think a word from a fuuuker like him has probably sent many a person to jail

2 hours ago, Thaiwrath said:

Not a very bright thing to do in Thailand.

If its true, and a motorbike taxi driver who conveniently rode off into the night? Hmmm perhaps the Cambodian security guard is being economical with the truth, after all why was he sent there?

17 hours ago, Banana7 said:

Why does it require the National Police Chief to order the Chonburi Police to make the raids in Pattaya?

 

The Pattaya Police are usually well informed, or ought to have knowledge, of criminal activity in Pattaya. If they did have knowledge, why was no action taken? Did Pattaya Police have some incentive to avoid taking action if they were aware of the activity?

 

If the National Police Police Chief can't rely on Pattaya Police and Bang Lamung Police to enforce the law, how can the Public and Tourists trust the Pattaya Police?

 

There needs to be some BIG changes in Pattaya and Bang Lamung Police, starting at the top

 

In the condo where i live some Russians are operating a restaurant/bar without a single Thai worker in sight, they are cooking, cleaning and serving alcohol, they have been running the business for well over a year now and the authorities have not been anywhere near the place, i wonder why?

OP,  could you elaborate a bit more only i have had tests done there and have been lets say suprised with some of the results.