doctormann

Khaotalo Visa Services <http://www.visakhaotalo.com/en/Home/Index> Just down the road from me, which is why I use them. Khun Thanita is the lady that runs the agency.

This rather depends on what you are using the agent for. Not everyone is trying to circumvent the 'money in the bank' requirement.

Maybe this only works if using an agent? No mention of needing 800k in the bank from mine. I did need to get an annual statement and account verification letter from my bank but this is quite normal.

Same here.

Me too. I've used an agent for the last three years with no issues whatsoever. OK, it costs a few Baht but it's worth it to avoid visiting Soi 5! I extended my permission to stay just three weeks ago, using the 65k per month method. Nice new stamp in the passport and, as you say, the signature is just the same as it always has been.

Ah, Play School from a more innocent age. Used to watch it with my kids, long, long ago. And what did Chloe Ashcroft do to Hamble?

Well, to quote a certain Jose Manuel Barroso, 'They must keep voting until they get it right.'

If you are using a VPN then try temporarily either turning it off or use it with a Thailand server. Worth a try.

Something to do with feet and metres (or possibly meters) maybe?

This gets funnier. If you can be bothered to read to the end take a look at this: name a farm animal with an F ChatGPT A farm animal with an "F" is a "Farm Sheep." User try again ChatGPT Apologies for the incorrect response earlier. A farm animal with an "F" is a "Farm Fowl," which refers to domesticated birds commonly found on farms such as chickens, ducks, or geese. User try again ChatGPT I apologize for the confusion. Another farm animal with an "F" is a "Farm Pig." User try again ChatGPT Apologies for the previous incorrect responses. A farm animal with an "F" is a "Farm Goat." User this is getting silly! ChatGPT I apologize for the repeated incorrect responses. You're right, it's time to get it right. A farm animal with an "F" is a "Farm Horse." User no need to preface every answer with 'farm'. we know that we are looking for an animal that is found on a farm. ChatGPT Apologies for the unnecessary preface. The correct answer is "Fowl," which refers to domesticated birds commonly found on farms, such as chickens, ducks, or geese. User any more? ChatGPT Certainly! Here's another farm animal that starts with an "F": a Farm Cow. User stop with the 'farm' prefix already! ChatGPT Apologies for the repeated inclusion of the "farm" prefix. Here's a farm animal that starts with an "F" without the unnecessary prefix: a Ferret. User OK, I agree that a ferret might well be found on a farm but I think that we are really referring to a domesticated farm animal, such as a cow or sheep or goat. ChatGPT Apologies for the confusion. You're right, the focus should be on domesticated farm animals. In that case, another domesticated farm animal that starts with an "F" is a Farm Duck. User stop with the 'farm' prefix already! ChatGPT Apologies once again for the repeated use of the prefix. A domesticated farm animal that starts with an "F" is a Goat. User no it isn't! No 'f' in goat. ChatGPT I apologize for the mistake once again. You are correct, "Goat" does not start with an "F." I apologize for the confusion caused. A correct answer would be a Farm Chicken. User and round and round we go! ChatGPT I apologize for the confusion and frustration caused by the incorrect responses. Thank you for your patience. To provide an accurate answer, a domesticated farm animal that starts with an "F" is a Farm Ferret. User Just admit that there is no domesticated farm animal with an 'f'! ChatGPT You are absolutely right, and I apologize for the incorrect responses. There is no domesticated farm animal that starts with the letter "F." I apologize for the confusion caused and appreciate your patience.

That seems legit. I was assuming that F had to be the initial letter but maybe not so. Who knows what goes on in the 'head' of an AI anyway!

I tried this. First attempt : pig Second attempt : horse Third attempt : fowl A bit tricky as I don't think that there is an actual farm animal with an F. Fowl is a bit of a generic term. How on earth the AI gets 'pig' or 'horse' I have no idea!

Irrelevant as you still need the stamp and signature and that requires a visit to the bank. Just printing off statements from the internet does not work at the Jomtien office. I am aware that the bank does not use 'special' paper - although they do appear to use paper that is pre-printed with the logo and bank details. Believe me, I observed the printer tray being loaded with such paper. As I said before, I can only speak for Jomtien - YMMV, as they say.

I can only speak for Jomtien Immigration. They require a statement - and letter - from the bank, printed on official bank paper, with logo, and signed by the branch manager. it would be nice if all Immigration offices - and officers - sang from the same hymn sheet. Not likely to happen, unfortunately. TiT!

Also why would you go to ttb to get your 12 month statements for Immigration when if you also use their online banking you can print them yourself from there. Because Immigration will not accept statements printed from TTB online banking. They also require a conformation letter from the bank that you actually 'own' the account. Bank passbook - yes, we are still in some previous age - must be updated on the same day that you update your permission to stay and the balance in the passbook must match the figure quoted in the confirmation letter exactly. Crazy but TiT so we expect no less!

Which is fine if you actually have one! Barclaycard (UK) withdrew mine as I don't maintain a UK address. As you probably know, a foreigner getting a 'real' CC, in Thailand, requires a work permit. Not all airlines, for example, will accept debit cards. I am aware of 'one time virtual CCs' but I'm not sure just how they would work if one is required to show the CC that was used to make the booking, when checking in.

I went to TTB Pattaya 2nd Road branch last Tuesday to get a 12 month statement for immigration so I thought that I would try to get the photo ID thing sorted while I was there. I had previously received a notification from TTB that I should do this - only in Thai language so I phoned their help line for clarification and was told that I should call into my branch. Anyway, the branch staff seemed rather less than knowledgeable about this so I ended up speaking to the branch manager. I was told that the photo ID requirement applies only to Thai citizens, not to foreigners! However, being a bit cynical, I predict that this means that foreigners will not be able to make transfers in excess of 50kBaht, using online banking. We shall see. In my case, I use the TTB Touch app to pay my bills but nothing normally in excess of about 5kBaht, so likely not a problem. Purchasing an airline ticket might be a different matter, of course.

I might just end up flying with Emirates, who do accept debit cards. Pity as I really wanted to try the Qatar Q-suites. My UK bank (Barclays) withdrew my Barclaycard credit cards, some years back, as I no longer maintain a UK address - and now are closing my UK on-shore accounts, for the same reason. 60 years of banking history with them apparently means zilch!! Getting a 'real' CC from a Thai bank seems to require that you have a work permit. Not an option for me so I now have no credit cards at all. I do have debit cards from two Thai banks - TTB and Kasikorn - and one from my off-shore Barclays account, which they haven't closed and hopefully won't! I've read something about 'one-time-use' virtual credit cards which, as the name suggests, are created for a specific transaction and only work once. I don't know how well these work - what about having to show your CC at check-in, for instance? Some banks apparently offer these but I haven't looked into this yet.

Sorry if this has been covered before but I am trying to navigate the ASEANOW menu and I'm failing! Question: has anyone here tried to book a flight with Qatar Airlines, using a Thai VISA debit card - NOT a credit card? I'm not sure if this is possible as their website does not make it clear. Several payment options are offered - including PayPal, which we can no longer use in Thailand - but debit cards are not on the list. I know that booking through a consolidator - skyscanner etc - is a possibility but I much prefer to book directly with the airline if I can. Thanks

I heard 25 years - and that was back in 1962 when the Harwell Research Lab in the UK thought that they had it cracked with 'Zeta'. Turned out that what they thought was a fusion event wasn't. Still 25 years away from a commercially viable fusion reactor, it seems. The trick is not only to initiate a stable plasma but to actually get a sustainable net energy gain. There are alternatives to the Tokamak approach but little progress has been made with those. It will be great if they eventually get fusion to work but, unfortunately, I won't be here to see it.

Rated at 20,000 hours but, of course, that assumes continuous use. In practice, with normal on/off cycles you would probably achieve nothing like that. As you say, it's the driver units that fail.

I think that the easiest way, for a basic replacement, is just to fit a LED module. You scrap the existing ballast etc and just connect the new module to the mains supply. The rest of the existing hardware is retained. The LED module supposedly has magnetic attachments so, assuming that the existing base is ferromagnetic, there is no need for drilling new holes. This one is from Philips. 225 Baht from Lazada

I have the same problem with balance now. Just a year younger than you and everything is falling apart!

Just slightly OTT, I think!

Thanks for the responses.