barryw52

In an Australian who did work in Thailand and is now retired here. Firstly the ATO and immigration are directly linked so they can see where you spend your time you have live in Australia for 6 months and 1 day every year to qualify as a resident for tax purposes. Your unlike to pay Australian tax if your only erring income here unless you have income from Sources in Australia like rental property which when then mostly be negative geared anyway. You will pay 15% withholding tax on any interest you earned in Australia. A good account who deals with expats knows this and a lot more. Pm me if you want a name.

Yes as your have discovered it not that easy to take the money out of Thailand. I book a ticket to Singapore (4000baht) you can take up to 20000 usd out of the country in cash and send it from there or open an account in Singapore if you been working in Thailand for over 2 years. Or just keep it in a interest bearing account you might get a little over 2% or a bit more if your lucky and use it when you need it here.

TMB Bank have a Nofixed account which is currently paying 2.00% as long as the balance remains unchanged or increases each month if you withdraw you loses bonus interest for that month drops back to 1.5% or something like that. Interest is paid to you twice yearly. That is best I been able to find here in the current environment. I have used this for last to years to renew my extension to say retirement.

What I am saying is do not use the Samsung update at all. Do your own windows updates and only use the Samsung drivers. you do not need to use Samsung software update just ignore it. You do not need to know what it doing Just that it may do stupid things so do not use it.

Most Laptop/PC's in Thailand are not sold with Windows installed it is up to you how and what you install on the Samsung laptop. If Samsung software interferes with windows uninstall it and only use the required Samsung drivers.

So your entering on Visa exemption not on a tourist visa. From what i can tell on the 6 entry you will be called aside and question and it likely to be your last entry but not sure if its just in that year only or for 12 months. As other have advised you can easily get a tourist visa or double entry tourist visa which can be extended at immigration for 1900 Baht for a further 30 days. Not sure how many tourist visas you can get before they ask you questions on entry. Please be aware that regulations have changed several times since the coupe and may change again.

Did my 90 day report at immigration Suksawat (Major Hollywood) today Opens at 10:30am. I arrived at 10:15 given ticket no 5 was immediately called to the counter. Process in one minute out the door before 10:20. This is absolutely brilliant service. Well done immigration Dept. For me it is a 20 minute taxi ride from Sathorn via Bhomipol 1 Bridge about 90 baht each way was back home by 10:40. So so much better than going to Changwattana. I guess the only thing quicker is a 90 day report buy mail might try that next.

They work best if your on the same power circuit i.e. both power points are on the same circuit breaker (ideally the same cable run) also the slower one 100Mbs will work over much longer distance than the faster one i.e. 500 Mbps.

I run my air at 27 and don't think any colder than 25 is necessary as it is to much of a shock to your body when you go outside. The bill for last month (April) is the highest for the year over a 3 year period that been keeping records here in Bangkok and yes it can be close to double or more for the cooler months here when i only us the Fan. It not only the Air Con that uses power in the hotter months your fridge works hard as well if you not home and the air is off. It also depends how many hours you are home each day with the air on.

This link allows you to check any web site to see if it is now patched for the Heatbleed bug

https://filippo.io/Heartbleed/

I have checked all the banks I use here and there now ok. They would have most likely have been exposed before and patched now.

I have not checked every bank here

1. Check your bank by cutting and pasting the secure link to the bank eg https://ibanking.bangkokbank.com/SignOn.aspx (link must start with https:) into the test link page above if your bank is now patched and now ok.

2. Change your password now.

3. I strongly recommend you change your password on every website you have an account on especially those with financial ramifications e.g. Banks PayPal, eBay, etc. etc.

There are many good programs like Dashlane https://www.dashlane.com/ to store your password securely and have more complex secure passwords that can help you with this .

If your try doing 90 report by mail in Bangkok and getting no reply it is because immigration at Chaengwattana is closed. This is the address for 90 day reports I believe.

I was at Sukwatsuk Immigration (one of the 2 temporary offices in Bangkok) last Thursday renewing my Non O Visa and asked about 90 day reporting by mail and the officer said you cannot use mail at the moment because of Chaengwattana being closed.

I presume there are all stacked up in a mail bag somewhere. I have not seen on the immigration web site a notice not telling people not to do 90 report by mail so not sure if your covered or not because of this.

Nothing has changed in the past week CW is still closed.

I been twice now to Suksawat from Sathorn in a taxi via Bhumibol 1 Bridge in about 20-25 mins and very quick service for Frang there. It maybe a better option for some than Lad Phrao depending where your living in Bangkok

I have my fist Non O visa for 90 day received it from Suksawat on 10 Feb (only 20min in taxi from Sathorn) was told to go back to Suksawat 30 days before it expires or Chaeng Wattana if it has reopened. I just want to confirm what documents I need when I return is it only TM7 and 2000 baht. i don't need to re prove 800,00 baht do I?

My experience with these cables is similar. The 100-150 Baht cables are generally not very durable and normally the Micro USB end fails. I have had better success with cables around the 300 baht level that seem to last a lot longer. If you use these cables ever day for charging and data transfer then be prepared to replace them when they fail and it worth having a spare already for when they do fail.

If you got a job offer you have to go to Vientiane or Singapore or similar with all the correct paper work provided via your future employer to get the non B Visa you don't need to return to Australia. Search for information on this visa forum.

Do you have the google account setup on your phone with the all option for Contacts ticked it be in settings/ accounts/google/ sync contacts. You can have it sync on regular basis like 1 hour or manually sync when you want to update. At least that what I have on my Samsung Galaxy 3 most android phones i see are very similar.

Just go to the Labour Department office, with some one that speaks Thai that can translate well for you. Take all your documentation, one thing that is done very well here in Thailand is to protect employees from unscrupulous employers. In 99.9% of cases the employee will win the case especially if they are manipulating the situation as after your worked for one year they have to pay you 3 months termination payment.

Open separate Paypal accounts one for Australia and one for Thailand and keep them separate. Same for ebay one from your Thai bank account one from your Australian bank account. i don't believe there any obligation with Paypal to even nominate an alternative card if you don't want to.

The only comment I add to what lomatopo has said is I have noticed that if your in a area where the 2100Mhz coverage (850/900Mhz also for that matter) is poor then the phone works harder by boosting its Power output to transmit data back to the nearest basestation. I seen this effect mainly in shopping centres and food courts also where there are lot people trying to use the same basestation. Around the Victory Monument area I have also seen very poor coverage on 3G but I think this is fixed now. So your problem may be related to poor 2100Mhz coverage by AIS where your spend most of your time. I am also on AIS 3G 21000 and don't have this generally but still see it in a couple spots we go to around Bangkok.

Each to his own I say. But you still need to show respect for 90 day reports and renewals visits to government offices. I do see a lot Thai men wearing shorts now at weekends especially the younger ones so it all changing.

The only constant in life is constant change.

Just an additional issue to take into consideration if you or your wife watch Thai TV (Thai Soaps maybe!!) via free to air TV then the new TVs with built in digital tuners are just starting to appear in store here. I saw one in Tesco Lotus a couple weeks ago and by end this year I would expect to see them on most TVs sold here in Thailand. It maybe worth either waiting or getting a bargain now as I think they are madly trying to sell their stock before this happens. With the current TV you will need an external Set-top box to view this digital channels.

I found this one one on ebay but you need to check settop box model number it might work.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.Xremote+for+samsung+true+settop+box&_nkw=remote+for+samsung+true+settop+box&_sacat=0&_from=R40

Mario2008 If i get the HR guys at the office to Cancel Non B Visa and WP on the 30th can I not go to Immigration on October 1st under 24 rule and do this? Also Total 800,000 is in two different Thai accounts if it need to be there for 2 Months as I did not know I was retiring is this ok, if i have document from both banks totally 800K? Do I need Medical Certificate?

Retirement Extension is the easiest but you will not get a Work Permit if you wish to start work again.

What is the process to get a work permit if I do get work again. Travel to Laos/Singapore with paper work from new employer to get new Non B Visa and then work Permit is that correct?

I been working in Thailand for 2.5 years was given notice of retirement from my job for 30 Sept. I am 61 and want to stay here. I am still hoping to find a new job in Bangkok (I am Senior IT Executive) but know it could be difficult. I am not married to my Thai girlfriend, we been together for 4 years. I am looking at a retirement Visa. Do I need to go to Laos or Singapore to do this or can I do it in Thailand because I am retiring here? I do have the 800,000THB in the Thai bank seasoned for 3 month already. Or is a Ed Visa\Student Visa a better option. I have been attending Thai school at AUA every Saturday whilst I have been working so I could easily just do the 20 hours a week for full time for a while but not for ever. I understand I will need to go to Laos to do the Student Visa. What are my best options please? Are there any other?