gamb00ler

Oh... I see..... you so easily make assumptions with no experience or facts at hand. Were you in the market for health insurance as a two person small business? NO? When you know nothing, the best policy is to keep your lack of knowledge to yourself.

You overlooked so much in forming your opinion. Small business owners didn't get insurance from any employer and they also were unable to purchase a group plan. Therefore the insurance companies would charge very high premiums because of the increased risk. I bet you can't explain why the insurance companies risk was higher for writing policies to small business owners. My wife and I operated a small business and could not get affordable insurance until Obamacare came along and effectively made us part of a large group getting insurance. Insuring large groups is much less risky for the insurers so they are able to sharply reduce the premiums but offer the same coverage. Checkmate!

Like you, I used to make monthly transactions. If there were no transactions SCB’s monthly statement showed nothing, not even the balance. Eventually I didn’t bother and Immigration didn’t complain.

It is very common that what many consider to be the “rules” are often bent/ignored/expanded by different offices or officials. It is also quite obvious when presented with an official 12 month statement that contains ALL the identical information as the cumbersome passbook the Immigration officers can make an absolute determination that the required funds were on deposit for the required periods. Since I have almost no transactions on that account, the 12 month statement is much easier to assess. Unfortunately SCB has started paying the interest monthly so 10 more transactions every year henceforth.

Look before you leap. There were several AN/TV reports of successful extensions by expats using the SCB EZ savings account in CM before I “leaped”.

I use this Accor for my retirement funds. It was accepted at CM Immigration for my Feb ‘23 renewal

Computing power is continuously getting cheaper. The program to track those ATM withdrawals is not very complicated. As a retired software engineer, I find it difficult to assume that ATM withdrawals above a certain limit would/could not be monitored.

Maybe I'm lucky but both Kasikorn and SCB stopped withholding on my first attempt when I gave them my TIN.

In the 3rd post the thread author said he gave SCB his TIN. SCB stopped the withholding from my account when I gave them my TIN. I have heard reports that SCB is sometimes resistant/incompetent when adding the TIN to accounts to stop tax withholding. OP and I got lucky to be successful at stopping the withholding.

That could be their policy, but I don't think that is the correct interpretation of the tax law.

@matchar, don't listen to tax advice from a bank teller or even a bank manager. The 20K ฿ figure is actually the amount of interest that is exempt from taxation. There are several other exemptions/deductions that you may be able to subtract from your income to calculate your taxable income. I don't have the numbers at hand, but I think that the first 150,000฿ of taxable income is not taxed. For example if you have only deposit interest as income, the first 170,000฿ would be tax free. Go to the website of a big accounting firm for reliable information on taxation in Thailand. Try Price Waterhouse Coopers here: https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/thailand/individual/taxes-on-personal-income

Perhaps SCB is just withholding tax on your year-to-date interest. Did SCB withhold tax from your June 25th interest payment? I've given SCB my Thai tax ID so I don't have any tax withheld.

Unfortunately, I don't qualify for the stress waver given to the blissfully ignorant.

One more good reason for motorcycle drivers to drive in the same track that the car driver side wheels normally use.

The example they give is quite clear. The following uses the assumption that investor starts at age 45. You pay a premium of 983K each year for 7 years. They keep most of that money until you turn 77. At year end of each of those first 7 years they give you a cash benefit of 100K, but keep 883K. At the end of the 7 years the net total you have given them is 7 * 883K = 6,181K For the years remaining up to when you turn 76 SCB will give you 100K without requiring you to pay any more premiums. At the end of the year you turn 77 they will give you back the 6,181K plus another 819K = 7M. The total you receive from SCB is 10,100,000฿ and you paid in 6,881,000฿ So you come out ahead by 3,219,000฿ for SCB having 6,181,000฿ of your money for many years. To get that same total benefit you would need to let money earn compounded interest at 1.5% for about 28 years

I upgraded to a newer iPhone and it was very simple. I backed up my old iPhone to my Mac desktop. I then restored that backup to my newer model iPhone. All my apps were already installed. For the Bangkok bank app I had to go through a verification process. I didn't have to go into a branch. I can't remember the steps involved but I did have to have online banking already in place. I think I was given a choice to verify my identity using my debit card, but that option is only available to Thai clients.

The SCB EZ savings account is perhaps a better deal. It pays 1.5% APR on a balance up to 1M ฿. If you let the interest accumulate and compound in that account for 7 years the total return will be 10.98% provided you don't let the balance exceed 1M ฿. For example if you deposit about 901,000฿, after 7 years you will have very close to 1M฿. Of course you can start with less capital if you wish.

I think there are some small deviations but just looking around on the Imm. webpage, I was able to get it done.

Exactly... I needed a copy of the receipt to hand in with the request for a residence certificate. At least the receipt is free apart from costing me 20 minutes of waiting. Waiting at the Imm. office better than at many places because it's a good spot for people watching.

You need a tm30 receipt to get a residence certificate, which is required if you want to get/renew a driver license or to open a bank account.

I did have to wait about 20 minutes sitting in the office to get the tm30 stamped receipt. All the rest was done at my own pace on my desktop at home.

@Red Phoenix has put together a guide how to do your own tm30. If you send him a PM he will send the guide and other files to you. I managed to do it all from start to finish by myself using signed copies of Thai ID and blue house book from my wife, the house owner. I went to Immigration and got my stamped tm30 receipt and requested two residence certificates a couple of days later.

I think I mis-remembered. It probably was the bar code.

A few months ago the power meter reader guy separated the power bills incorrectly and I got one page of my bill and the other page was my neighbors bill. My section didn't have the QR code so I thought I would try and scan the previous months QR code and.... it worked perfectly for paying the amount currently owed. It seems that the QR code is just an easier method to input your customer number, etc.

For the cost of my time (I'm retired, so == 0) and a few electrons... I'm trying to connect with Onkyo Thailand via Facebook. Hopefully they can point me to a place to order parts such as a power supply for the Asian model of my receiver.