4evermaat

^^ Nice one. It's a nice little peace of mind to have, for 500 odd baht per year!

btw, did they mention that they debit the amount out of your account automatically each year?

The missus did ours and when I said it's almost time to renew them she said that's the procedure.

as stated before, it is 550 a year. I would imagine it would come out of the same linked account on renewal date.

Peace of mind? 5,000 Baht for hospital bills isn't much imho. I wouldn't have peace of mind with it. Or am i missing something here?

The hospital bill should not be over 5,000 baht in most cases. Mine was like 1000 or 1200 baht, and included 5 different prescription drugs, x-ray, and an arm cast (sling). I remember on a different occasion the bill was 200 or 300 baht to have a blood work drawn for gf's pregnancy. This was at a decent govt hospital. And if the thai person had their free medical coverage already, this is a great out-of-province emergency treatment. My understanding of the thai national free medical coverage is that it is only good in the same province that they are registered on a tambien baan. So if they move, they have to update registration after being added to a new tambien baan. Not sure if I misunderstood the gf explanation, I thought it was kind of stupid actually as people travel outside of their province, they are screwed out of coverage?

.........

The ED visa is a bit too blatantly abused as it is advertised everywhere in tourist areas on giant billboards as a smart and ready means to circumvent Thailand's immigration law.

If you think about it, for someone under the age of 50 who isn't married and doesn't plan to hold 400,000-800,000 in a thai bank, what other proper long stay visa is out there? Business visa, although I'm not sure the requirement beyond the invite letter.

i recently opened bank account at Kasikorn Bank, Chumphon Town. I was a bit nervous because there is only one in the town, but they make that one fully staffed. Several tellers and customer service desks open, but every station was full. They use that automated queuing system, but still had to wait maybe 1/2 hour to be served as there were several people in front. Had gf with me, but no requirement to show anything other than passport. (no work permit or any additional documentation requested from me or gf; they did not make a copy of my visa page either and didn't seem to be concerned about what visa I had). Standard 500 deposit minimum + 300 for visa debit card. I also got a second account with no atm card attached as part of the strategy to keep funds extra secure with ability to move funds quickly between atm vs non atm account.

With the debit card, i ended up getting the K-Max debit card for an additional 550 (per year) that includes the 5,000 baht accident insurance. Apparently there is no limit to the number of accidents you are allowed to have. If purchased separately, it is 2500 bt for the accident insurance. The rep tried to sell me the 2500 bt one, and I had to say it was only 500 baht. She did some checking with another rep and they confirmed that it is 550 when you do it in conjunction with a [new] debit card (I could not confirm for existing debit card holders.

The applications that they had appear to be 100% thai, so I do the 'sign only at the bottom' thing and they fill in the blanks. Make sure to check the printed application carefully before signing it. That one has your information pre-filled. Make sure things like your name are spelled correctly. she wrote the address in thai, so I have no idea how online purchases will go.

Internet banking and sms alerts can be signed up via ATM. You must wait 24 hours before getting your login pin, I guess to prevent fraud. I hope that is only for the first service. I'm guessing I may still have to have the second account manually added to the internet banking. One tip is to sign up for a bundle package; it might save you time (k-cyber banking + mobile banking + spending alerts + virtual spend card. It seems like every service is treated separately

A couple of things to look out for: they did not have a single pamphlet in english. I guess that's every thai bank i remember

now that I think about it, tourist area or not. Only the brand name of the product is in english. The queuing system and most of the signs were dual language, though. I remember the bangkok bank has many account related forms and some pamphlets in dual language.

K-bank seems to have a culture of its own that doesn't feel strictly like a bank. It could be the color scheme and layout of some of the furniture that seemed cozy. Maybe it was the representatives were more lively that normal. There were several only in k-bank t-shirt and jeans. Maybe it was that one (or two) in the tight lace mini skirt conveniently walking around couriering documents and stuff . Their flat screen tvs advertise various financial service products and even show some movie clips/skits. I guess the point is that it wasn't as boring as a trip to the bank normally is. Most other thai banks I go into it's much more machine-like atmosphere. This is not a bad thing per-say (after all, it's a bank).

No freebies for opening the account. Bangkok bank gave me a bag and TMB gave me an umbrella. Is that only in tourist areas? or seasonal?

Took about 1/2 hour to setup everything once we got to a representative: 2 savings accounts, one with k-max card with accident insurance.

Visit the branch. These days, you should be able to do it via atm application, which I always attempt first. In your case, you have to follow up with branch and possibly do another paper application. Once you start one process, i think you cannot redo it with another channel until the first method is exhausted. haven't seen ian or dave around in a while. Even dave's bangkok bank email hasn't gotten any response the last time I emailed. Does dave still work there?

The good news is that you only have to setup the internet banking. Once you get it setup, any future accounts can be added with ease (and 5 day waiting period).

Is there a list of hospitals, or pretty much any govt/private hospital certified by ministry of health qualifies? what if a follow-up visit was required for the same accident? Does there even need to be an accident (police report), or you could walk into a hospital and get care?

No idea. We were taken to Phra Ram Gao. It's a very good, expensive hospital that is like a European hotel. Everything was covered immediately. Not one baht came out of our pockets. All x-rays and check-ups were okay and the medicine only needed to be given then and there, so there was no follow ups.

I'm sure that if you get a Thai speaker to enquire with K-Bank they will be happy to answer all the questions.

i love this clause in the k-bank card = Loss of life, organ, eyesight, permanent disability from murder, or

physical attacks, or motorcycle riding.

so its official riding a motorcycle is like being murdered

Good to hear a positive LOS "accident" story. Also thanks for the heads up on the K-Max Debit Card

It turns out that the estimate was overstated. It was 'only' 9000 baht, in which I paid 5000, and the other guy paid 4000. Looks practically like a brand new bike, except they didn't wash it or wipe it down until i insisted (the brand new mirrors were smeared with fingerprints and oil, etc).

Headed to Kasikorn bank and got the KMax card, which with 550 baht per year gets you the accident coverage. According to gf, you get unlimited accidents, but 5,000 max payout per accident, 30,000 baht payout to beneficiary if you are killed. 200,000 if die of natural causes. They also take 10 times the amount of money in my kbank account at the time and pay it to beneficiary. I specificially asked about the limit or how many accidents you are allowed. She said you could have 10 in one day if you wanted, but can only die once.

The insurance by itself is 2500 baht without debit card (purchased separately). Obviously it is more economical to get policy with debit card. Turns out the gf already has a k-max card already. Apparently she didn't remember paying the 500 baht when opening the account.

the itinerary just had booking reference, flight details and names of people travelling. anyway the g/f went back and was told counter service is 225 baht, they said they made a mistake and and gave her 2004 baht refund, now before anyone starts i didn't pay for these flights, she paid her mothers fare and the other 4 relatives paid their own

A nice happy ending.

could you imagine if the op walked inside with her what their refund policy might have been?

"The second best time to plant a tree is today" sent from TV android app (Galaxy Cooper).

Its really not as bad as a few proclaim

While waiting to turn right at a traffic light, I was rear-ended by another motorcyclist, causing damage to my bike and theirs. The crowd surrounded us and demanded I pay for all damages. You don't argue with a Thai crowd. You don't call the police when the "kangaroo court" has decided to take swift justice into their own hands. I paid on the spot and was let go.

All is not rosy in the L.O.S.

how much was it?

in my case, the police was called by someone. maybe some onlooker or the guy's mother. they lived at the intersection of the accident. very close to home for them.

"The second best time to plant a tree is today" sent from TV android app (Galaxy Cooper).

and one more question: is the bank insurance policy only limited to the account holder? or could my gf buy a policy on my name or could I buy a policy for her?

Another story of apparent Thai bank fraud...this time involving a Thai account holder with SCB.

July 7 from the Pattaya Daily News.

Wonder if we'll ever hear if the woman is reimbursed for her lost funds... From the bank or anywhere else? I seriously doubt it.

Thai law protects bank customers in the event the bank itself fails...but not from crime or fraud on the part of bank staff.

Nonthaburi Millionaire Reports 107 Million Baht Missing From Her Bank Account

A representative of SCB bank went to see the police Crime Suppression Division to report that a Nonthaburi woman millionaire apparently lost 102 million THB in her bank account. The bank revealed that they have stopped the responsible manager from working. The bank also formed a committee to investigate the manager, but could not contact him.

BANGKOK- July 5, 2012 [PDN]; At 3 p.m. the Crime Suppression Division, Mr. Phongsit Chaichatpornsuk, assistant manager of SCB bank, went to see Pol. Col. Prasopchok Prommul, Deputy Commissioner, to give information to the investigating officer.

The case involved a Ms. Uermboon Jansama, age 60, who notified the police to assist in investigating the fact that her deposited money in a SCB bank account, Praram 4 branch, had apparently lost more than 107 million THB in the last several years.

She let the manager of this bank deposit money for her and had believed he took reliable care of her account. Mr. Phongsit said that after the incident occurred, the bank also worried about this matter and set up the committee to investigate and also ordered the manager to stop working.

After inspecting the manager’s account, it was discovered that this manager had more liabilities than assets from doing business. However, for the amount of lost money that the victim first claimed for 150 million THB, he confirmed that the victim informed the bank that she lost only 107 million THB. But bank inspectors found that she was also cheated for 1 million THB, which the bank had already notified to police at the Klongtan police station.

MORE:

So the lady continues to bank at the same bank after realizing that she was ripped off several million baht? People come in all the time with small/medium sized backpacks or a few bricks of money to deposit. They sit directly in front of the teller and patiently/attentively wait as everything is carefully counted. Then they sign off on the entire deposit when it is complete. It really sucks during rush hour when several of them may come in at once, but only 1 or 2 tellers available. That's easily 20 minutes with smaller bills. I usually think to myself "don't they have designated times for some of these people to come in and get serviced properly?" Perhaps it depends on the branch. Those mall locations can get flooded quickly, and those smaller 2-3 booth locations get overrun fast. And if the bank representative is chat-friendly, it takes longer. It's not the end of the world, but it does take time to physically count, wrap, etc all those bills (even with the counter machine).

My point is that if you were in the states and you deposit $1000 in cash, but the teller puts $900 on the receipt, and you don't catch it, the end result It's very difficult to prove after the fact. You check your deposit receipt before leaving the counter. A cheque could be re-evaluated later if something was mistyped. The article mentioned that "She [the victim] let the manager of this bank deposit money for her and had believed he took reliable care of her account." This sounds like carelessness on the part of the depositor. It may be inconvenient to wait 40-60 minutes for all of your bricks to be counted properly, but you could always hand it over to me if it's too much for you. If you are feeling a bit disoriented, bring a younger person with you who can more closely look at the bricks as they are being counted/deposited.

My mom taught me from my first w-2 job to write down all of your hours logged separately, and I did so on my wall calendar. i was able to calculate down to the penny the gross amount of every paycheck. You have to be proactive in safeguarding your interests. We can't victimize ourselves indefinitely for lackadaisical behavior on our own part. You want to talk about outright fraud? You are probably familiar with MF Global.....but the much more recent PFGBest fiasco where the owner has tricked regulators for over 20 years and has over $200 million USD of customer segregated funds missing.

.........

FBI agents arrested Wasendorf, 64, at the Iowa City hospital where he has been since trying to commit suicide on Monday. He was charged with making false statements to regulators, but prosecutors said they would seek more charges. He faces "decades in prison", Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Deegan said.

In the signed statement, left along with a suicide note and released as part of the criminal complaint, Wasendorf said he began forging bank documents after the business he built from his basement risked failing without additional capital. The timeline suggests his deceit lasted almost the entire life of his brokerage.

"I was forced into a difficult decision: Should I go out of business or cheat?" he wrote.

"I guess my ego was too big to admit failure. So I cheated," the note said. It was discovered on Monday in his car outside the company's new Iowa headquarters, where Wasendorf had tried to kill himself by funneling in tailpipe exhaust........

here is a link to a thread with discussion and links to numerous reuters and other articles/video interviews that cover the event. It's too bad the owner didn't finish the job. The CFTC with all the rules in the world will not be able to refund/reimburse the clients their money. But amazingly in Canada, just about all PFG Canada clients will be fully covered thanks to some required insurance fund. The PFG situation really cast a lot of doubt on the whole point of regulation. I did not have any funds with PFG, but did consider funding an account two years ago or so. Something told me to look in a different direction, but I don't remember what exactly distracted me.

How much will it cover?

K-Bank "K-Max Debit Card"

http://www.kasikornb.../KMaxDebit.aspx

covers 5,000bht per hospital visit + 20% discount on hospital fees.

500bht per year

BKB "Power of the Thai Be1st VISA debit card"

http://www.bangkokba...iBe1stCard.aspx

doesn't seem to cover hospital bills, unless death or permanent disability.

100bht plus 200bht per year.

Seems like kbank may be worth a visit.

Not sure about the amount but check it out.

It's something like 5000b immediate hospital bill, and I think there's 30,000b and 100,000b listed as well, presume they're for something like lost limbs and loss of life.

Really it's good for peace of mind if involved in a small accident. All you do is show your ATM card to the hospital staff at the time and that's it. You're good for ambulance, x-rays, treatment, and medication. You don't deal with anybody else such as insurance or bank people and it only takes two seconds.

It used to be called PA200 a few years ago and was 200thb, then it doubled in price and had some extras thrown in. We found it invaluable at the time as just after an accident you don't want to be worrying about being ripped off with hospital and ambulance bills. This takes care of everything, in very good private hospitals.

Is there a list of hospitals, or pretty much any govt/private hospital certified by ministry of health qualifies? what if a follow-up visit was required for the same accident? Does there even need to be an accident (police report), or you could walk into a hospital and get care?

I've often seen something strange about their website. It seems that the prices always increase right before my eyes. I'll look at it one time- do the booking procedure all the way through short of actually paying to see all of the extra charges. After that I'll go to Thai Airways, Nok etc for some comparison shopping. When I come back minutes later to actually book Air Asia, the prices are increased or the flights I was looking at are no longer available. Happened more than once - in fact seems like every time. It makes me kick myself and think that I should have just booked it in the first place. Made me wonder if their site is "sensitive" to multiple requests from the same IP address or something like that.

yes, airlines use what is called dynamic pricing and use all kinds of tricks to maximize profitability.

Thanks for all the replies So I guess the tattoo education for a visa sounds pretty much out of the question. Last year I was in thailand on an Education visa for diving, but the consulate said that it would be pretty much impossible to get one again for diving.

I've seen online courses advertised in both magazines and online that say provided you apply for the right amount of hours etc, then you can have the education visa also? I've also seen a couple of threads about this on thaivisa.. So perhaps this is still an option?? I will be living in koh lanta, which has a recognized school, however they only have intensive courses - so if I took a 90 hour course, it would only last a couple of months, so surely the consulate would not provide an education visa for 1 year?

As far as I'm aware, you can't get a visiting visa anymore, I tried it before, and so have many friends who have had it in the past and have been unsuccessful with that case..

Why is it so darn complicated?! Boo

I would re-attempt the diving or tattoo ed visa. Remember, an ED visa is ED visa....doesn't matter what the invite was for unless you were trying to extend in-country. Get the multiple entry visa.

It's not complicated....you're just being scared away too easily from the slightest technicality. Thankfully there is more than one thai consulate in the world. Find the one that works best for your situation.

www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com. I keep getting "connection timed out" errors in firefox 14.x and google chrome 20.x. A couple of days ago, google flagged IWT as having malware somehow. That flag has since been removed, but none of my browsers can access it. I have been using google chrome and firefox. I switched between OpenDNS, Google DNS, and the MyCat/Cat CDMA's own DNS servers.

I flushed the dns using ipconfig /flushdns from an elevated command prompt.

I have logged into a VPS located in USA and i can access the website just fine there. I'm trying to isolate the issue.

I find easiest and safest way is to have the SMS alert, anything moves in or out you get an sms immediately, worth the 20 baht monthly fee for the extra peace of mind.

My SCB account charges 10 Baht a month. I agree with the above post cover your pin input. Without a pin an ATM account cannot work. Credit card skimmers are totally different. If the credit card is out of your sight then there is a greater likelyhood of a fraud. Restuarants have the greatest vunerablility.

A assume your money was in a Thai Bank Account and not an overseas one ? An Aussie friend of mine from Jomtien Beach was tricked at the external ATM at the BKK Branch in Pattaya opposite 'The Living Room' . Briefly his card got stuck and a 'helpful' person standing behind went to 'assist' him and within, what must have been a flash of a second, retrieved the card, passed to an accomplice standing behind and returned it to the ATM slot and told my friend to 'try again' . His P.I.N was noted and within one week 190,000 baht was cleared from his account! He tried very hard with Bangkok Bank but they could do nothing to help him afterwards.

Once the money is gone, that's it. The consumer protection laws are not the same here in thailand like they are in other western countries, particularly the USA. You must take extra care to secure your atm card, if you choose to have one issued on your account. There is a thread on this topic where strategies are discussed, but the main strategies are:

- remove the purchase (POS) ability by setting the daily purchase limit to $0. You can change this via phone banking at anytime when you want to make a purchase.

- you usually cannot remove the ATM withdraw limit completely, but you can set it as low as possible. You can always up it temporarily, make your transaction, and then lower it again.

- setup two bank accounts and DO NOT issue an atm card on one (or both) of the accounts. Move money around with phone/internet transfer to make major purchases on the account with atm card attached. Convenience vs security factor.

Also remember, you can make cash deposit at CDM without ATM card; you just need your account number.

- sign up for SMS alerts to get notified for any changes in account balance. Bangkok bank does not have SMS alert specifically for any change (above a user defined amount) in balance. Kasikorn and other banks do.

- use the atm that has the encrypted chip. Bangkok Bank has these and they are supposedly unskimmable, but you cannot use it in non-BKB atms that cannot read the chip.

- use atms only in trusted areas. The most trusted being atms located inside shopping malls right outside the issuing bank. Other atms in the mall are generally safe also. Atms attached to standalone bank branches and exchange booths are usually ok also. I'm ok with atms attached to 7-11 and other reputable stores in well-lit, fairly high foot traffic areas. The general rule is that the further the atm is physically from the bank branch, the easier it is for scammer to tamper with.

- in any case, always Inspect atm machine quickly, particularly the card entry point and keypad to see if you notice any loose or moving parts that shouldn't be there. Anything that looks funky disqualifies that atm for use. It may be a few km, but just go to the next one or pay the 20 baht fee to use a competitor's atm.

- protect your atm pin at all costs. shield the keypad with your body, other hand/paper/etc while you type. You should barely be able to see your own hand when you type your pin. pretend to press a few extra keys before and or after your real pin to mix things up. Not only your ATM card, but your automated phone banking is heavily dependent on that same pin #.

- Check your account balance daily via internet, phone, or atm.

- report any lost, stolen, or suspicious ATM card activity immediately. If you suspect your card is compromised, you can cancel the card and walk in to get a new one....not sure if you have to pay 300 baht again. I do know that you can get a free replacement for a worn card if you remember the pin number and bring your passbook (and maybe passport) with you.

- if you use internet banking, store your password(s) in a secure form filler like 1Password. secure that master password with a strong password (minimum 12 characters long, at least 1 lower case, 1 upper case, 1 special character, and 1 number). Avoid using 3rd party computer; use your own laptop and rent the internet connection only.

I don't check my balance every day in practice, but I do implement just about everything else. It seems like alot, but unless you are moving around a ton of money everyday, it doesn't take much time at all, especially shielding the atm keypad. I treat my ATM card as if my life depends on it, because it does. The Thai banks give out a lot of high limits for card usage and a lot of independence, but you must manage it carefully. I've seen lots of thai nationals drop bricks of 1000 baht bills for deposit at any given time either at the CDM or in the branch. It can actually get annoying if 3 or 4 larger deposit customers are back to back with only 2 clerks to count it all. I'm sure they are implementing similar techniques to prevent their accounts from being breached.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for sharing. More evidence that the "you are farang, if you weren't here, this wouldn't have happened" nonsense you hear some people spouting.

Can I ask what kind of license you do have, if any? Do you have a Thai DL or DL from your home country ? IDP? Were you ever asked to present a DL?

I have a DL from home country. no IDP. In fact I lost the original ID, but made a police report and carry the photocopy and police report around to not get a ticket (it was recommended by the cop to do this). I think one of the guys on the scene (not in full uniform) asked at the last second before going into the ambulance for what I thought was the ID, and I couldn't find it in the seat where I keep it. I was told to hop into the ambulance; after going in the ambulance, I was never asked for it later at the hospital. And when we returned to the police station, never asked for it. The only information I was asked for was my name (I wrote it down) and age. My gf took care of most of the conversation on my behalf. The accident guy's brother also did a lot of talking; I'm guessing to smooth things out.

gf only provided her thai id and motorbike greenbook as we were closing out the case on monday.

OP. This might help you: http://www.sawee.chu...id=30&Itemid=44

Thanks. That's what I was looking for on a wall poster somewhere . I take it at the very top, the rank goes from right to left, and then each line after that it is from left to right. Would have been less confusing to have a line break after each rank insignia photo. it would have made the page longer, but less confusing. I'm sure an official photo everything would be correct

I did see a photo chart of some part of the chain of command near the front office. They were in their dress whites or summer whites; didn't know they had those.

Last Saturday the 14th, had a collision not far from Chumphon Town where the other motorbike came out of a side street without looking. I t-boned him before I had a chance to react. Surprisingly the little step-daughter only got minor scratches. We both were wearing our helmets at the time...a real life saver. I was the one with most of the damage to the left leg and left shoulder. There was also no oncoming traffic on the other side for a few minutes; that helped avoid an even worst accident. The locals started to swarm the area, and they looked concerned for me. I remember one of the onlookers offering a large crystal water. I called the gf (not with me at the time) and had her do most of the talking. The first police arrived in about 10 minutes, and then more 10 minutes later along with ambulance. The other guy admitted fault and it looked like everyone concurred. I was only asked for my name. No ID or passport was ever given. The first priority was securing the scene, figuring out what happened quickly and making sure we got to the hospital.

At the hospital, the police asked for my name and age, and when the gf arrived, she gave other details. The brother of the guy who caused the accident really stepped in and offered to pay for the hospital bill and all sorts of stuff, including giving us a ride home. I think the hospital bill was 1000 or 1500 baht, which included the xray. Nothing was broken that I knew of. Very swollen, but not broken. The pain didn't actually kick in fully until the next day. By the time we left the hospital, police station was mostly empty, we were told to come back the next day, which turned out to be the day after (Monday) afternoon.

We return to the police station on Monday. Before we go, the gf asked if I 'wanted more money'. I took this to mean 'press charges' or sue for additional damages. I declined this (what else would I go after anyway?) and it would cost more money to the police, judge, etc. The wounds will heal, and the brother has already shown good will. It was interesting to note that I was offered the option. On paper, the other guy admitted fault and offered to pay for the full damage of the motorbike. Since there was no additional disagreement, we had to have honda mechanic come to the police station and make signed estimate for the damage to each motorbike. The head mechanic from one of the honda dealers came with a thick honda book and did the estimate (why they have white uniforms are beyond me). We went back into the police station and settled up everything. GF and guy causing accident had to make signed copy of their thai ids. Then we have to go to a different office, apparently the front desk, where the officer assigned to the case took his notepad and had another officer transcribe the incident into a more official, thick ledger. At the end of the transcription, 3 lines were drawn and I signed on one of them, the guy causing accident signed, and the officer signed the other line. Then we were told to go home. I didn't see any money change hands for any of the police services.

The police love TV. Every room seemingly had one.

BTW, the damage of my motorbike totaled 11,500 baht. The front wheel was smashed in so the bike could not turn at all. But it didn't look so bad from the outside (relatively speaking). It was only as you looked deeper you could see some of the loose internal parts that would need to be replaced. The motor started up fine though. The dealer gave us a free motorbike to borrow (with 1,000 baht 'bondsai') until the repairs are finished, about 2-3 weeks as some parts have to be ordered. On paper, the other guy is responsible for all of the cost. Off paper, he said he could pay 1/2 of the damages. In practice? I'll probably end up covering the full cost if I want the bike back in any timely fashion.

Now had the accident been my fault? I don't know how different the treatment would have been. I thought it was a relief that the locals were quite fair about the matter. I heard so many things here about how even stopping for an accident that you were not involved in is not advised for a foreigner because somehow you might get part or all of the blame. My experience was surprisingly straightforward.

PS: Is there a poster or chart that shows the different rank insignia for the police officers? I couldn't tell who had what rank. And some of the uniform colors....some people wore black. Some wore a lighter black, and some had a dark brown uniform. Not sure what that was all about either.

edit: The crashed motorbike id a honda click i auto 2010/11 model.

So if something breaks in the shop, like a window or a sign, does 7-11 corporate pay to fix that? Is it one of those things where one store is enough or do you need multiple stores to pull a decent profit? 7-11s are almost always busy; I like their brownies and oatmeal cookies.

In cases like a bus station where there are several 7-11s sometimes on the same floor, is it multiple owners or one owner gets the rights to the whole bus station and can scale as much as he wants (as many stores as he can cram)?

A university degree isn't unreasonable request, although if someone is putting up the cash I would think they would be serious enough about wanting to run the store anyway.

England.

USA

Good to know england has sped up its banking transfers. But USA, how can you make an instant account-to-account transfer to a non-same bank? Wire transfer is the only way, and some banks used to be so cheap they would wait until 4pm to send out the wires "all at once" vs sending them as soon as the request is confirmed. ACH typically take 2-4 business days to arrive. USAA was one of the fastest banks i've seen at posting incoming ACHs when they see them. Most banks wait until midnight to post transactions.

Aeon it is so! Any ideas of locations of these in BKK.....Are there any at the airport?

Can I just ask if anybody has had trouble with the AEON ATM in new BigC (Ex Carrefour) in Chiang Mai. My card keeps getting rejected with a message 'Please refer to your card issuer'. Because of the 150Baht fee I don't want to try my card in other ATMs. I'm having to use the bank counters at the moment and they don't seem to have any problem with the card.

Try to use another atm card. was it successful? Try at a different time of the day. Or check at your bank issuer....it could have a soft block or something on the bank side.

Another tip for the AEON atm: you can only pull 1000 baht increments for a non-AEON atm card. But you get a maximum of 40000 baht per pull. So assuming that your card has the appropriate limit (or you can call the bank and request a temporary/permanent limit increase), there's quite some savings you can achieve over the 20,000 or 25,000 maximum pulls at Thai bank atms, and 150 baht per pull.

i dont care what atm i am using, i always shield the keypad with one hand or booklet/atm card holder and use my body to shield most of the screen during the pin typing. This protects against onlookers and hidden cameras, even if the camera was directly above the keypad. I do it in such a way that i can barely see my own fingers as i type the pin. I also fake-press extra keys before pressing the enter key. Afterwards, if I remember, I'll wipe the atm keys (briefly to smear/randomize the fingerprint)

If I am using a stand-alone atm, i do feel around the atm quickly for any fake/loose keypads. Anything looks fishy, I go to a different atm. AEON atms are inside with staffed people, and I still do the body/hand shielding to protect pin.

I rarely use my debit card for in-person purchases anymore, only online purchases. They'd have to get me at the atm or i lose my card and don't report it in time.

To reply to the long post about possible health issues (without posting it all again).

I retired 3 years ago after 21 years in the mobile phone system building networks in about 30 countries and I don't think I have any side effects.

I have colleagues who have benn in the businees since the early 1980s and are still in the business and who are also embarrasingly normal.

I went to the website, saw the video pushed by these people with no input from any other organisation, I have read their report and all I could see was a lot of could be's, perhaps'es, maybe's.

After over 10 years studies in many countries there is so far NO conclusive proof either for or against the use of mobile phones.

As an epidemiologist I have studied the evidence presented by the many investigations into the link between mobile phone use and adverse health conditions. There is no compelling evidence of a link. On the contrary, the evidence points to there being no link.

On the other hand, the main reason for not getting a 6-7yr old child a mobile phone is to not encourage the consumerism and mine-is-better-than-yours cult.

While I agree that the post about the potential health effects of mobile phone usage is a bit blown out of proportion, I can say from experience that the bluetooth earpieces can leave a stinging feeling in or around your ear. But you usually can feel this either immediately or after a few days of use, so it's pretty traceable. I don't see many people using wireless earpieces here anyway.

Hello.

I have an Education Visa and you can only really easily get one by learning a language at a recognised language school. I, and most people, are studying Thai.

You have a attend the school, and can not do it over the internet or home study. The school is required to keep record of you attendance to classes.

My school is called Pro Language, but there are many others. You need to make sure its a RECOGNISED SCHOOL with the Thai Education Department. Here are the details for my school, and they should be similar....except the prices...with other schools.

Student visa courses. Students who register for 180 lessons (Thai course), or 90 lessons (English course), and pay the full tuition fee of 23,000 baht/course will be eligible for a 1 year ED Visa. First, students will get a Non-immigrant ED Visa for 3 months and then a 9 month Student Visa by extending it every 3 months and paying a Government fee of 1,900 baht. The school will prepare all the documents from the Ministry of Education for the students to have the Visa issued from a Thai Embassy and to get it extended at the Immigration on Chaengwattana road in Bangkok or at another Immigration office.

Hope this helps you. good luck with you time in Thailand!

Why some people insist on the long way is beyond me. I guess to each their own. As long as you have a letter proving you intend to study long term (12 months) + a thai consulate with straightforward paperwork requirements, you should be fine for non-imm ed multiple entry (always attempt the multiple entry). It does not have to be a thai language school. I used a dive school for 2 years (two different dive school each year) and already anticipate a 3rd year of rigorous diving study. Do you have any nearby honorary thai consulates?

I still know a consulate that may do 'o' visa for visiting friends, but you still need an invite letter from friend, and your passport would need to be physically located in the USA to make it happen.

Whatever route you take, always attempt the multiple entry visa up front if you are planning a longer stay in thailand, at least for the first year. You will not have to worry about extensions, just a border run every 90 days.

Sorry to hear of your problems. One person's experience, I guess.

Having been to the Phuket IO now over 10 times in the past 2 years, I have never encountered any of the issues you've experienced.

Is it efficient? Well, I am typically in and out with my approvals in 15 minutes but I always have my paperwork perfect. How do i do that? I phone first and of course research or ask questions on TV.

Bad attitude - just smiles from most of the personnel and sometimes an especially efficient officer who says nothing.

Everything you mention sounds like a different office to me. Strange.

To those who hold everyone at immigration in contempt but smile and act polite notwithstanding, maybe your fake attitude is not as good a ruse as you think it is.

I have had the same problem with Phuket immigration officers, namely a bunch of arrogant numbskulls. The last time I went to renew my retirement "Visa" I also had a new passport so I took both along to show them. The small runt then said I would need to pay him 500 baht extra because I had 2 passports, and I refused to do so, saying politely that this was not what I understood the case to be.

From there on in it was all downhill for me. I had all of the correct documentation and the letter from the bank stating that my 800k had been safely in the bank for 3 months, complete with a printout for that time. However he asked for copies of my bank book going back for 12 months!!

I suggested that this was not needed and he curtly replied that I should shut up and listen to what he was saying and that was what he wanted. I had to go back home to Patong to get the book and get the copies he wanted. This of course took some time and I managed to see him again in the afternoon and he had me going up and down the steps, on 5 separate occasions, to the copy room underneath for various copies of anything that took his fancy just to show that he could do it. None of which by the way I have ever been asked for before.

I was determined that I was not going to be beaten by this idiot so I did everything he wanted and eventually got my extension of stay and a multiple entry visa. The whole episode would have taken the best part of a day.

It would probably have been so different had I paid him his 500 baht "incentive".

I have absolutely no respect for this bunch of idiots, apart from one gentleman issuing the re-entry visas, and dread returning to this hotbed of corruption............... I say corruption because on many occasions I have seen "the plain envelope" being slipped to the officers and surreptitiously put into a drawer.

Is it really easier the 2nd time/subsequent time around for the marriage extension at the immigration office? Or do they expect all the requirements every year? I understand that everyone's milleage can vary, perhaps as much as opening a bank account. At the same time though, one can do a lot of things with 400,000 baht. Is the extension process worth it (as opposed to multiple entry xx visa) if you have the cashflow?

just to be clear, is this for the ed visa, or in-country extensions? people often confuse the two. looks like op was referring to extensions, and only in phuket.

"The second best time to plant a tree is today" sent from TV android app (Galaxy Cooper).

bugger, i have a 9000 baht novatel mifi 2200 at my house on koh phangan and i have just confirmed i will have to buy a new device.

Apparently 3g is up and running though.

Been using CDMA for the last 2 years here in Krabi without many problems. Called CAT Krabi and they didn't know anything about the service being cancelled. What will happen to us monthly subscribers ? I pay 845 baht/month for CAT CDMA so if their dongle doesn't work anymore in the nearby future they have to give us something else..... we are paying monthly for a internet connection, aren't we ?

they wanted to sell them to TOT

milk out the cdma connection as long as possible. i guess a landline connection is the only flexible option for unlimited internet combined with the new 3g+.

i can also vouch for cdma being great most of the time. the maintenance must really outweigh the revenue brought in. i cannot imagine cat letting a cash cow go so willingly.

"The second best time to plant a tree is today" sent from TV android app (Galaxy Cooper).