khunPer

It's depending of you payment method. If yoy have paid by credit card your refund will automatically be transferred to the bank account connected to the credit card, circa one week after credit. If you have paid by other means, you'll need to apply for a bank transfer, where you might be asked for uploading copy of your passport and name page of your bank book. To my knowledge, foreigners cannot use "coins".

If you apply for you non-immigrant visa abroad, you have the right visa upon entering Thailand to open a bank account for extension of stay; be aware of the two month maturing period for the deposit, so open a new bank account with the first two weeks after you entered Thailand. Most banks wish an address-confirmation for a Thai address, which you can get from your local immigration office, provided that your host has registered a TM30-form with your name and details. If you enters Thailand visa exempt or by tourist-visa, and intend to domestically change your visa to a non-immigrant, where you need a deposit of fund transferred from abroad, it might be a bit more difficult to open a new Thai bank account. The best advise is to shop around, as it's often up to the branch-manager to decide, if the branch will open an account for a foreigner.

Nobody know at present, how the new tax of foreign income will be implemented...

It's depending of the local immigration office. Where I stay – under Surat Thani Immigration – will any registered visit outside the province result in a new TM30 needs to be given. So if you are registered anywhere else – or has left Thailand and re-entered, even you have a re-entry permission – a new TM30 is needed. OP could check with his local immigration office about what they wish; some – if not most – places might follow that you don't need to re-register, but there are exceptions.

Carry a photocopy, that's the police's advise where I stay. You always need to be able to show picture identification, often a Thai driver's license or a pink ID-card for foreigners can do the job. In some areas of Bangkok I've seen hotel placing warning signs that tourist must all time carry their passport to avoid arrest by police, if checked for ID and don't have a passport to show.

International schools are normally paid per term – there are three terms in a year – paying a whole year in advance gives a small discount. So, as another mentioned, you don't need to tell for how long time you wish to attend. The last term ends mid July, and first term begins just around September 1st. There are numerous international schools, most of them use Cambridge curriculum.

Chiang Mai is great and worth a visit. However, many solo female travellers head to Koh Phangan and Koh Samui, the islands are among other things known as destinations for female travellers; so, that could also be a part of your planning. You can fly direct from Chiang Mai to Samui.

IMO: If you are frequent flyer and collecting miles or points on your card, then THAI might give you the best benefits, Qatar could be number two choice.

Read the New Testament, the part about the last supper – 13 is an extremely unlucky number, like there is no row 13 in an airplane, or room number 13 in most hotels.

The Temple of the Emerald Buddha is a must see – i.e., Grand Palace – Wat Pho with the reclining Buddha is number two and located nearby.

It's depending of the immigration office; no matter when I comes and apply for a new one year extension based on retirement, my extension runs for 365 days from last expiry date.

Do you by "in progress" mean that you have filled in the online TM47 and not received a conformation?

Imported stuff can be expensive. However, if you cannot survive a holiday without baked beans, then you can buy excellent baked beans from other brands for less than 100 baht for a can...😋👍

If you just follow the local laws, you most likely won't end up in a Thai prison; simple as that...

Yes, it's not the same all over, but where I live a Yellow Book is luckily (still) accepted by the Land Transport Office and others...👍

Living cost-budget is like the lengths of a rubber band – depending of what kind of lifestyle one is aiming for – when I had "fun" included in my monthly single-budget it was way over 100k baht... However, I can survive for much less and could live for 15k baht a month in a worst case scenario: You can rent a room for about 4k baht or less per month, and you can eat for 200 baht or less per day; so, you still have around 5k baht for all the other stuff, and even 10k baht if your budget is 20k baht...

Tattoos is no go for me – but I might be old-fashioned...

Seems like OPs "express fee" was inflation raised to 800 baht... –which might be going rate now, as I paid 500 baht 10-15 years ago, before I got my Yellow House Book...

I don't even have a "go bag"...😟

Yes, I buy a lot from JIB, but mainly in their physical stores, but a few times also online; I always had good service. I bought mong others, several PCs from selected items – i.e., chassis, mainboard, processor, graphic cards etc. – and in some cases I got it freely assembled by the store and Win-OS installed....

If they lose money, it makes sense to close the arrival duty free shops, but tourists planning to buy the stuff on arrival, might be disappointed, if they don't know id advance that they shall shop their duty free before departure. However, the difference might not be that huge, many products are quite expensive in the duty free shops. I remember when I was comparing Thai spirits in BKKs duty free store with prices in domestic 7-Elevens, the latter was about half price...

There are probably as many different relationships here, as in Western countries. Ans yes, there might be one face for others to see than what's happening at home – just like posting all the good stuff to make face on Facebook – some times I've heard loud arguing from private homes, but I can also hear that from foreign couples living here. However, from my experience and knowledge, many – if not most – of Thai ladies from relative poorer families have been taught from home that a good man is a good provider for a family. "If a man cannot provide, why do I need him!" We had the same in Western countries in old time; in my Scandinavia home country it was often talked about "marriage of convenience" when I was a child and even young. Thai girls are often taught that if a man can provide, love will follow. Foreign men are often considered rich, so they must be good providers, and supplied by success stories from other ladies that found a "rich" farang, they are men to look for; especially aften a broken Thai relationship, where stories are often heard about both drinking and side girls. If women are passive, it might just be the easiest way to co-exist. Often a Thai woman becomes the strong part in a Thai family and the husband is the passive partner, who just sometimes wish to get away and enjoy a little time together with pals. I've also seen many a Thai wife parking their farang-husband in the locals sports bar, where other Thai wives also parks their farang-husbands.. Apart from some culture gap, there is probably as many differences as in the Western countries. Sharing common interest – apart from the husband's wallet... – can be very individual. Both age difference and education might be a gap, as well as language. Even if one's girlfriend or wife might speak pretty good English, it might for example be difficult to discuss serious scientific subjects, also if the Western man speaks Thai at some level. Furthermore Thais are mainly interested in Thai subject – "Thailand number one" – not so much about the news or what else happens in the World outside. So if you share Thai subjects as interest, there might be a lot in common. In my view, a good relationship is base on both parties bent a bit to fit with the other party; however, might need to bent a bit more when larger age and/or cultural gaps. Ans yes, I have both encountered your mentioned stereotypes as well as numerous other variants.

Probably as safe as when wearing a big gold chain around your neck – I wouldn't do either of the two...

Try to smile to the Thais, it works well for me, it's really Land of Smiles...😊

Si Racha in Chon Buri Province.