CharlieH

Been with BKK Bank for years and never needed to call customer service - there are branches in most malls/supermarkts, so I drop in, though the only problems I've ever had has been down to Barclays in the UK - twice! I find they have good service, good exchange rates and give a debit card with 50k limit straight off the bat with new accounts (Be1st). I also have other bank accounts,but tend to just use BKK.

Also been with BKK for several years, transfer money from Uk regularly, no complaints always very easy and straight forward in all my contact with them.

Easy to call in to any local office always helpful and efficient. Never ever needed to call the call centre.

Ok, thats great, all understood.

Thanks Lop as always for good clear advice.

One thing, do I do this at my "area" imm office or do I have to go to Bangkok ?

Thanks

I know this isn't the answer to your question, but, if you're married to a Thai you don't have to leave the country every 90 days, just report to immigration.

I think what you are stating refers to an existing 1 yr "extension" not a Non O Visa which requires departure/re-entry every 90 days.

Hi,

I am over 50,I currently have a Non O multi based on marriage to a Thai lady, (my 4th). I would like to ask if it is possible to switch this to a "Retirement" visa, if so, whats needed and how do I do it ?

I have an income letter from the UK Embassy stating in excess of 800k per year, obviously because of the marriage based visa I have all those relevant docs too but need to know if there is anything else I need ?

I want to change so I dont have to keep leaving every 90 days.

Any advice and info would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Except your yellow house book 99% of the time. There will always be an exception.

Clarify please, is it Accept or Except?

ACCEPT

Flights are always more expensive starting from BKK.

Try Mox Travel or MTT Travel.

I usually find going direct to the airline is better, Qatar are 29k baht at present, if you dont mind the short stop in Doha. (35 min)

BKK - LHR - BKK

You will both receive Visa on arrival. No problem

I did the same thing recently, no problems, I got a 90 day stamp (UK) the wife(Thai) was given 30 day stamp.

You dont state if you are British or not ? assuming you are, apply for a family visa for your wife and that will be much easier to obtain.

As I understand it, you will need a visa for both, one for the UK and one for Belgium, although technically they are both European Union it seems to be that for entering the UK you need a visa. To my knowledge the only place to get a UK visa is in Bangkok. You will need to support any application in writing.

Set up a HIFX Account and transfer funds straight to your Thai account from your Home account. Simple and reasonable exchange rates.

Could you elaborate on this please ?

What is a HIFX account ?

What amount is "reasonable" ? 1%, 2%, $5 ?

Thanks

My bank just raised the cash disbursment fee from $3 to 3% which for me

is an increase of 300%. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr

I use HIFX all the time, great service, quick and NO FEES guaranteed !! BKK bank charged me 500 baht each time the money comes in but HIFX refund it back.

Their exchange rate I think is reasonable against Thai bank rates.

As for ATM's, if you are using a card from the UK then go to an AEON machine they dont charge the 150 baht the other banks charge.

Well first of all shipping out anymore than US$ 10,000 a time will flag the system, so you will be under scrutiny, so it would need to come out in batches to get round that one.

Any form of electronic transfer will have a paper chase and is therefore traceable, but it all depends if HMRS are interested, taking out in small batch may not raise any interest.

Suppose the certain way is to draw it out in the UK and hand carry, that way it will "disappear"

Uk limit to carry thru without declaring is €10000 and as the exchange rate is quite low now thats about £8500.

I have often carried more and just kept quiet, no problems yet in 5 years.

You can carry any mount but over €10000 you have to declare it and prove where it came from. Ill mule it over or you for £200 a time ahhahahaha i come twice a year at least.

I had a similiar problem and when I enquired about limits in the Uk they "10,000" anything over MUST be declared. I just brought it over in several trips at 9999 each time. Either that or electronic transfer and again keep it under 9999 and no one is interested. (In my experience)

Have them stand on any one of the small bridges over any canal in Bangkok, drop the bag with the money into a boat paasing under the bridge and the long tail boat takes off at high speed to just about anywhere through the maze of canals and would be really hard to follow as it can divert or stop or throw the money off again just about anywhere.

Hi

I have an account in the Isle of Man with Lloyds TSB offshore and use Internet banking. they will make a wire transfer into a Thai Bank with a fee of £13 for a regular or £19 for an expidited transfer of up to £10,000. The regular service takes about 5 days or the faster service about 3 days. you have to use their phone bank service for this which merely requires a phone call (I use Skype) to the UK.

A much cheaper option than using ATMS and paying 150 baht plus a UK charges of 1.5% a time

You can avoid the 150 baht fee by using AEON, they dont charge a fee.

Great information and really helpful, thanks.

There is also a company in the UK that transfers money to Thailand with NO fees. and they also guarantee that if the receiving bank charges anything , like Bangkok Bank usually charges upto 500 baht, they will REFUND this fee if you send them an email showing a scanned copy of your bank book showing the fee charged.

I have used them many times, they are very quick, its all done online, and the refund of any fees is also extremely fast.

www.hifx.co.uk

Hope people find it useful.

Great information and really helpful, thanks.

There is also a company in the UK that transfers money to Thailand with NO fees. and they also guarantee that if the receiving bank charges anything , like Bangkok Bank usually charges upto 500 baht, they will REFUND this fee if you send them an email showing a scanned copy of your bank book showing the fee charged.

I have used them many times, they are very quick, its all done online, and the refund of any fees is also extremely fast.

www.hifx.co.uk

Hope people find it useful.

Why run the risk of being arrested ? GET IT SORTED!

You could be stopped at anytime for a routine check and arrested, likewise of you had an accident etc so why push your luck any further.

Excellent info and good detail. However, the comment about taxi driver implies poor service of some form. I have been to KL at least four times in the past year and have found the taxi drivers informed, courteous and no hassle at all. And all the ones I met spoke english quite well. Taxi fares are prepaid at the airport or by the meter otherwise, and never a hassle (unlike BKK all too often).

Well the post is based on "my experience" and I found them to be rude aggressive and clearly trying to rip you off for as much as they can. On one occasion I had to go through 7 taxis before I found one that would use the meter which turned out to be less than 20 % of what the previous 6 wanted me to pay. This happened on no fewer than 4 occasions during my stay. At one point it was looking doubtful that I would even get a cab from the city back to the Hotel because of this. Ok, you had a different experience and have a different opinion which is fair enough but that wasnt "my" experience.

Now I know some of you will immediately say "nothing new", but this is a report on my trip for the benefit of those that maybe looking for something less than a few months or years old and are considering doing the same trip in the near future. I took a return flight from BKK to KL with Malaysia Airlines (6150 baht). The flight is a little over two hours. When you arrive at KL Airprot there is a Taxi Office near the main exit if you need a cab to take you into the city. You pay the office NOT the driver. I chose to have the Hotel I booked to collect me having never been before. Tip: It takes around 45 mins - 1 hour to get into the city from the Airport so make sure you allow for this. The flight timings were as such that I had to fly to KL the evening before to be at the Thai Embassy for when they open at 09.30- 11.30 for applications. I went about 9.00am and there were around 20 people already waiting and by the time they opebed the gate there were atleast 100 people waiting. This may have been partly due to the 2 day closure for holidays on Mon & Tues. If you dont already have the application form filled out they will give you another as you "sign in" at the entrance. You then go forward to a relatively small office and are given a number to wait your turn. There were 4 windows so things moved along quite quickly. I was in and out in around 40 minutes. I submitted: My passport Marriage Certificate copy Bank book copy (100k +) Wifes Tabien Baan copy Wife's ID copy 2 photos. 1 was given back to me. 550 RM payment. All the copies of my wifes information were signed by her. The collection of the Visa is the following day after 2.30pm upto 4.30, i arrived again slightly earlier at 2.00pm and once again a large queue was waiting, presumable all those who submitted the day before. Collection and out was around 30 minutes.I then took a taxi directly to the Airport for my return to Thailand having obtained the 1 yr O visa (based on marriage).Again make sure you allow the 1 hour for return taxi trip to the Airport. I am sure there are other ways to do it, and of course cheaper options along the way but this was how I chose to do it and hope it helps anyone considering doing the same for the first time in the near future. All in all quite painless and straight forward for the Visa. Kuala Lupur is another story, if you thought Thai taxi drivers in BKK were bad then you enter another world when you go to KL and you will love and appreciate the Thai taxi drivers when you get back. If you want to know more aboyt KL itself and my experience please IM me.

As I understand it, you have to leave the country and be "stamped" into another country before re-entering Thailand, I have read in other threads of people trying this on Land borders like Nong Khai, they have tried just stamping out and walking across the road and back in but hit problems because they dont have the stamp from the other country.

always wonder how people do expect to get any useful advice when they do not give the smallest hint about their budget.....

I can recommend or judge more than 100 hotels in KL, but you should at least let us know how much u want to spend / which "deluxe" level u require.

I know places from 50 RM up to 900 RM......

been there more than 50 times and 3 times during the past 2 months.....

I dont think anyone likes to pay more than they have to, I know from my own experience of other places that expensive doesnt always mean good and cheap doesnt always mean bad either.If the place is nice,clean, safe and within reasonable distance of the Embassy. I would guess somewhere between 250 - 450 MR would be fine.

In my experience the letter takes only about 10 minutes, its done pretty much on the spot and minimal charge.

Thanks for the suggestions so far, I am not necessarily looking for a cheap or budget hotel. Something nice, easy to get around from and ideally within easy reach of the Embassy.

I've always stayed at the Crown Princess, close to the embassy but it's not a budget hotel and seems to be closed for renovation anyway

Plenty of buget hotels in and around Jalan Petaling which is convenient for the Putra LRT to get to the embassy (get off at Ampang Park).

I believe KL now want to see 100k in a Thai bank for your multi-O (can someone confirm please).

Thanks for the reply, YES the 100k is a requirement as posted on the consulate website.

I am doing a Visa run to KL and would like any advice or recommendations for a hotel? only recent experiences please, I have searched the forum and i have only found "old" information and would like some more up-to date experiences or recommendations if possible.

Also any other tips whilst going through the Visa process in KL (Non O multi entry based on wife)

Thanks