Raindancer

Check to TV classifieds. There was a lifetime membership up for sale a week or so ago.....

Thanks

You will need to open a Foreign Currency Deposit account with your bank here.

No you don't. Simply open a standard account and transfer SWIFT, instructing funds to leave UK in sterling. That's it. Only benefit of a foreign currency account would be if you receive frequent payments in other currencies here. For a simple transfer from home, seems like a lot of hassle.

Correct, I have a standard savings account with Bangkok Bank, you do not need to open a 'Foreign Currency Deposit Account'....the front of my Bangkok Bank book just says 'Savings Account Passbook'.....just a standard savings account that I send money to from my UK account.

To save all the conjecture...let the OP open whatever account is admissible and maybe he can report back regarding his experiences and what actually was required..

I also have gone down this path and whilst I agree that my UK Foreign Deposit Account book is only named as a "savings account" ..It is a different sized account savings book from normal BKK savings accounts and ONLY holds UK sterling, and this book CANNOT be inserted into the ATM machines for updating because of the different in size in account book and currency held within the account. Therefore this account book can only be updated by branch held machines.. So perhaps posters will not take things out of context. and report true facts as opposed to snipping my posts and take the time read the full post that I published. And respond accordingly.

This is not an advert "For Sale" in the true sense of advertising in line with TV's rules and regulations.

So, does anyone know of any golf memberships for sale from members who wish to relinquish/sell their memberships, in the above mentioned golf clubs?

If so please PM me with details, to avoid clogging up this post and website.

Many thanks.

You will need to open a Foreign Currency Deposit account with your bank here.

No you don't. Simply open a standard account and transfer SWIFT, instructing funds to leave UK in sterling. That's it. Only benefit of a foreign currency account would be if you receive frequent payments in other currencies here. For a simple transfer from home, seems like a lot of hassle.

Try it and see what happens. It is still called a foreign deposit account.

You will need to open a Foreign Currency Deposit account with your bank here.

Transfer the sterling from UK by written authority to to your UK bank using the swift code and Thai bank account details complete with their address. Bangkok Bank will five you a slip of paper with all these details on.

Bangkok banking charge between 2-500 baht for the transfer and the UK bank will ordinarily charge you £25.00 irrespective of the amount. ( Nat West Bank)

Takes 3 days to get to your Thai bank.

Minimum transfer I cannot recall exactly, but £3000 comes to mind. This the minimum amount Bangkok bank will accept. But check it out with your own bank.

If you have on line banking with your Thai bank, you can transfer sums from your foreign currency deposit account to your current Thai bank account without charge. And it is done immediately.

If you do not have on line banking, it means a visit to your bank every time and that can up to two hours in some cases.

Finally if you transfer all your funds from your Foreign Currency Deposit account in the Thai bank to your normal current account, the Foreign Currency Deposit account is automatically closed.

So to keep it open for further transfers from the UK, you are required to maintain a balance of £180.00 sterling. All the above only refers to Bangkok Banking. I am unaware of other Banks ' requirements.

Regards

cheers for info i have account and ibank with bkkbank but no foreign currency account do you have to go in to your branch to open same or can it be done on line???

You will need to go in to the branch with your passport and sign the new documentation.

You will need to open a Foreign Currency Deposit account with your bank here.

Transfer the sterling from UK by written authority to to your UK bank using the swift code and Thai bank account details complete with their address. Bangkok Bank will five you a slip of paper with all these details on.

Bangkok banking charge between 2-500 baht for the transfer and the UK bank will ordinarily charge you £25.00 irrespective of the amount. ( Nat West Bank)

Takes 3 days to get to your Thai bank.

Minimum transfer I cannot recall exactly, but £3000 comes to mind. This the minimum amount Bangkok bank will accept. But check it out with your own bank.

If you have on line banking with your Thai bank, you can transfer sums from your foreign currency deposit account to your current Thai bank account without charge. And it is done immediately.

If you do not have on line banking, it means a visit to your bank every time and that can up to two hours in some cases.

Finally if you transfer all your funds from your Foreign Currency Deposit account in the Thai bank to your normal current account, the Foreign Currency Deposit account is automatically closed.

So to keep it open for further transfers from the UK, you are required to maintain a balance of £180.00 sterling. All the above only refers to Bangkok Banking. I am unaware of other Banks ' requirements.

Regards

It is good that you can confirm that CM now also accepts two weeks before the due date. I wasn't sure about that, as there is not much experience with the relevantly new rule. It isn't advertised an many people are unaware.

(the official immigration webiste still gives 7 days before to 7 days after).

("This last doesn't seem to be the case in CM)" relates to not being able to send by post if after the due date.

Thanks for your reply .....If you post your application that is received and falls outside the due date.....I believe you will face the daily fines of late reporting.

Regards

Immigration expects the 90 day report bewteen 7 days before and 7 days after the actual reporting day.

Some immigration offices have started to accept reports up to 14 days before the due date and some only accept reports after the due date if you apply in person. (This last doesn't seem to be the case in CM).

Hi Mario

I have experienced different timings to those you quote....So I will bow out of this topic until someone comes up with clear evidence to the contrary. As I stated in my answer, my own experience is real and has worked in discussions with head of Chiang Mai Immigration and his staff.

So your post is somewhat confusing( Quote ("This last doesn't seem to be the case in CM)"unquote..

We are talking of Chiang Mai immigration and not "quote ' "some immigration offices". Maybe i have misunderstood your post.

The subject is about Chiang Mai immigration office.

Regards

Isn't the requirement if 90 day report mailed in at least 7 days in advance and if in person 7 days in advance or 7 days after.

This has been a much discussed subject regarding the amount of time "before and after" applying for a 90 day report using form TM 47.

According to the Royal Thai Police Regulation which has been amended and is now in line with the head of Chiang Mai immigration....the official "before and after" timescale of 90 day reporting is 15 days before and 7 days after.

I hope that this dispels all rumours and heresay on this forum.

If you are unsure ...just speak with the head of immigration to confirm the requirements. I only wish to pass on what I have experienced first hand.

Regards

Just what I was looking for - Very Grateful.

Well,it doesn't exactly dispel all rumour and hearsay as your succinct and tidy summary doesn't distinguish between applying in person and applying by registered post. I'd always believed that ,by post, it had to be 7 days before. "rumour or hearsay", I don't know.

Up to you Sir. I have tried it and it works. I was referring to both systems of postal and reporting in person. As I said .....It ( the postal system) has never failed for me. But to expand upon my previous post , I have always sent my postal application within 10 days of expiry to allow for workload of the office and any forthcoming Thai holidays , which may have occurred around the time of my application and expiry date. Also if you apply well before the expiry date, you actually lose the days before your expiry, based upon the receipt of your application.

But in reality, does it really matter if you lose a few days to your next 90 day reporting period, if you are saved the journey and waiting time of hanging around the immigration office. It is a trade off that I am willing to accept.

I hope that this clarifies my statement

Regards

Going to do my first 90 report in person soon, what do I need to bring?? Just my passport?

Thanks much....

After you've completed the Form TM 47 just take it ,with your Passport ,to the photo copy girl and she knows exactly what copies you need. No need for you to worry about that yourself. Then you get your queue ticket at the back of the room from the guy who likes to give you the once over, and wait for your number to appear. They work fast.

Why not just post it by EMS.....They have never failed to issue and return the new 90 day report. Saves queuing and clogging up the small immigration office, full of other applicants for various visas and extensions etc. :-) EMS only costs 37/38 baht, including the SAE ( stamped addressed envelope) to return it to you

Regards

Isn't the requirement if 90 day report mailed in at least 7 days in advance and if in person 7 days in advance or 7 days after.

This has been a much discussed subject regarding the amount of time "before and after" applying for a 90 day report using form TM 47.

According to the Royal Thai Police Regulation which was amended a long time ago and is currently in line with the head of Chiang Mai immigration's statement....the official "before and after" timescale of 90 day reporting is 15 days before and 7 days after.

I hope that this dispels all rumours and heresay on this forum.

If you are unsure ...just speak with the head of immigration to confirm the requirements. I only wish to pass on what I have experienced first hand for a number of years.

Regards

Just been to the Chiang Mai immigration site and found "queue online" at this link

http://chiangmaiimm....quer_online.php

quote]

Not sure if this is the precursor of an online booking system?

If you are coming from Chiang Mai on the 1001 towards Mae Jo. Turn right at Meechok Plaza intersection......(Rimping Sansai).

About 300/400 metres on your left on the 3029 heading towards Sansai Market Intersection, there is a shop with five vertical signs about 30 metres tall ....just one shop past there and they make all sorts of screens.

If you are unsure of my directions please PM me.

Good luck

Immigration forms can be downloaded from the immigration webiste and from Thaivisa webiste.

Be sure to print double sided, not on 2 seperate papers when printing a document with more than 1 page.

I have sent my papers without being double sided....I think that that is rumour requirement from those who have never tried it or assumed that this is a requirement. it is totally unnecessary..

Over numerous times, I have photocopied my passport, plus visa extension authority, including the 90 day report and sent off the original 90 day report document accompanied by the TM 47 by EMS. To date I have always received back the new 90 day report document within 10 days and I have retained that for my passport.

Never had a problem.

Thanks Everybody

It's been a bit of an education as well as getting a couple of contacts to boot, so thanks for that. No disrespects Mcnaughty, but your response took a bit of deciphering, but I think what you were trying to say was that you'd had your air-con serviced at some point and it made a big difference?

KarenBravo: thanks for that, I never knew that some units having a switching option from cold to hot air was possible. Having said that, I never touch my units physically and only ever operate them by remote control, so even if they do have an inversion switch somewhere, it'll not be the issue in my case.

The issue with this particular unit didn't progressively get worse over time. It was giving a nice chilly blast last Thursday night as usual, and when switching on again come Friday, there was no more cold air generated.

I just hope that whoever I get to fix it doesn't use my ignorance on air conditioning units to charge me for stuff that doesn't need doing Maybe it's best just to request a service and not mention the air temperature problem as see what happens from there.

I'll update the post once done with resolution and costs. I think it pays to have air conditioning serviced annually, but it only got about 2.5 full months of use last year so I skipped maintenance thinking it had not had enough use to warrant a service. Probably a mistake on my part.

Cheers one and all

Aitch

I usually pay around 400 baht to clean and service my A/Cs. But through a lack of knowledge, they stung me 400 baht extra for the cooling fluid. Not sure if that is the normal charge. But he never mentioned it when I asked for a service charge quote. Maybe a wee bit cynical of me ...but that seems to be the way here.

Having said that, it is still comparatively inexpensive to have a cooling system that works. :-)

It sounds like your AC is out of cooling fluid of fluid or the temperature gauge is non operative. Can't find my engineers's number at the moment.

But I believe from previous posts regarding servicing, that Siam City Electrical on the Moat have engineers that may be able to resolve it.

Good luck

Anyone want to commence the timer?

Ok i am new here, can you tell me what i did wrong?

I started to write down all the things that you should be wary of about buying property here. But I stopped , because it is such a lengthy and complicated experience. There are so many more experienced ex pats than me who have investigated this subject. Have a look at all their viewpoints and experiences and hit the search button on this subject and maybe it will help.

Best of Luck...but 1 million baht at todays exchange rate is not enough to buy something that you might expect in Farang land, unless you want to live in the "ULU".

My apologies for the un - initiated ...but the "ULU" is an old african saying for living in a backwater or the back of beyond. i.e in the remotest part of a land with no facilities.

It never closed ...The owner has too many connections within Thailand!!

How many times must we hear of a Thai wife married to Farang who asks them to bankroll them into a business venture...

I know of several businesses - that are losing money hand over fist - where the farang husband insists that the Thai wife open and run it even though she had gainful employment that she enjoyed before which he made her quit.

It is not only Thais who know nothing about how to run a business.

Another good observation of failing businesses because the investor, Thai or Farang does not understand the Thai economy of supply and demand.

How many times must we hear of a Thai wife married to Farang who asks them to bankroll them into a business venture where the Thai woman has no concept of business practice nor research of footfall to support the wonderful dreams of her fantastic business venture and future proposed prosperity that bear no reality. All because she says ..."I need to keep busy".

Come on guys ...wake up....this is typical and normal "modus operandi" from the "phoo ying Thai"

Thailand does not offer a social system of old age pensions in the private sector.....thus Thai women believe that they can make it in business .....but they cannot do so unless a Farang helps them to start the business.....and even then ..I have seen so many so called businesses fail.

Why....because they repeat the same ill conceived business plans and this is a recipe for disaster and the Farang husband/live in lover just wants to keep his woman happy., because of his soft heart...thus he supports a failing business idea from day one, from his hard worked pension or savings. Eventually he may, through ill judgement, end up with nothing to show for it, including a so called loving wife.

I do not recall in all my time here, hearing of a Thai man bankrolling a Thai woman to help her build a business. I wonder why?

A bit harsh....but true.!!!

This is why they want to get married to Farangs.

spot on Semper...There is one born every minute. No apologies for my cynicism...Just plain truth. Buyer beware!!

How many times must we hear of a Thai wife married to Farang who asks them to bankroll them into a business venture where the Thai woman has no concept of business practice nor research of footfall to support the wonderful dreams of her fantastic business venture and future proposed prosperity that bear no reality. All because she says ..."I need to keep busy".

Come on guys ...wake up....this is typical and normal "modus operandi" from the "phoo ying Thai"

Thailand does not offer a social system of old age pensions in the private sector.....thus Thai women believe that they can make it in business .....but they cannot do so unless a Farang helps them to start the business.....and even then ..I have seen so many so called businesses fail.

Why....because they repeat the same ill conceived business plans and this is a recipe for disaster and the Farang husband/live in lover just wants to keep his woman happy., because of his soft heart...thus he supports a failing business idea from day one, from his hard worked pension or savings. Eventually he may, through ill judgement, end up with nothing to show for it, including a so called loving wife.

I do not recall in all my time here, hearing of a Thai man bankrolling a Thai woman to help her build a business. I wonder why?

A bit harsh....but true.!!!

I think that perhaps you are paying too much. No idea of the reason why....But to offer you a comparison for posterity. I live in a three bedroom house (two people) with three showers and a power water system. I water the garden three/four times a week and obviously have numerous showers. I also have a waterfall/pond which is turned on several times a week .....and I also wash two cars and two motorcycles weekly and my water bill has never gone above 120 baht per MONTH

Hope that helps.

Might I suggest that you call NIK... 0891929761. He speaks English and his call out fee is 400 baht, whether it is for i minute or for one day. He will sit with you and resolve the problem until it is finished....Same cost .

I have used his services a few times and I am totally satisfied with his expertise with computers and their varying problems.

I have no business affiliation with him ....just a satisfied customer.

Best of luck.

Depending on how long your language course is.......you may wish to consider hiring a motor scooter/motorsai for the same period of time.

It is about ten to fifteen minutes drive by motor scooter depending on the time of day, but if you use a tuk tuk, I am sure you will pay at least 50 baht a trip each way....And I am being kind in my estimation of the costs, bearing in mind that you are a Farang.

PM me if you need more help. I live next door to Payap and i know the route well from Thapai Gate. It is not that far away ......use your options. of the transport available to you.

Best wishes

Putting aside all of the hassle of initial paperwork and bureaucracy to establish a marriage visa, I have a simple question .....Does anyone with their experience of Thailand politics and immigration, believe that a marriage visa outweighs a retirement visa for a person married to a Thai lady, providing they have the ability to provide evidence of income for either visa based upon the following criteria/question.....

...Do TV readers believe that there is an advantage politically, of having a marriage visa over a retirement visa being married to a Thai, if the authorities have to choose between the two visas for those who can remain here should everything go pear shaped and reject the stay of certain types of non immigrants"O" visa holders?

Many Thanks