Jeffrey346

Quote from the BE website:

"This letter has previously served as a supporting document for obtaining a Thai retirement or marriage visa. The British Embassy Bangkok is stopping the certification of income letters because it is unable to fulfil the Thai authorities’ requirements to verify the income of British Nationals".

How come the US Embassy has no knowledge of this?

Has Thai Immigration singled out the British?

Why buy something that won't be used upon your return.

I would buy a new phone with a 6" screen like a Xiaomi for about the same price.

This will work in rural area's. Those in the city have numerous choices.

First year fees for those 7 to 20 years have been waived. What 7 year old has bank/ATM cards. My 12 and 14 YO kids certainly do not.

The 15B per transaction is outrageous but inline with the greedy 7-11 policies.

1 hour ago, abrahamzvi said:

Although I can't tell you what the premium rate would be, nor the limit per item if it exceeds a certain limit, I would strongly suggest you contact the MSIG, a Japanese insurance company, for a quote. I have been insured with them for quite a few years and I have no reason to complain

Have you filed a claim?

16 hours ago, marcusarelus said:

6.469 billion cups per year, that's 12,300 per minute.  You think you may be in error?  Are you another hater with no experience?  So, tell us how many kinds of Nespresso have you tried and in what kind of machine?

I have all the experience I need. In fact I have a Nespresso Machine for sale.

As stated, Nespresso is terribly over priced and their coffee quality sucks.

It's a 3G phone and you will never get any decent speed. Look at the Xiaomi MI A1 It's a great phone, runs Pure Android, updated every month and reasonably priced.

On 9/12/2018 at 1:45 PM, marcusarelus said:

Starbucks vs Nespresso at home.  I have 11 kinds of Nespresso coffee at home.  I like the variety.  Starbucks is bitter and boring. 

 

I drink either Espresso size or Longo size.  See below.  Starbucks is for folks who don't like coffee. 

 

For a reasonable Espresso pull you have to look at the bars of pressure of the machine first.  Then go from there.

 

First one should actually have a good cup of espresso and compare. 

 

Try one for free and then compare.  https://www.nespresso.com/th/en/nespresso-thailand-events

 

https://www.nespresso.com/sg/en/compare-coffee-range#!/by-range

Nespresso sucks and overpriced..  No real coffee drinker would ever drink that crap.

I had the same problem with my Vigo. Toyota plugged in the diagnostics and said 2 nozzles are partially clogged and need to be replaced at B10,000 each.

I called the local shop I use and was told to buy Liqui Molly Flush B750. Pour it in the tank, fill the tank half way with Shell V-Power, run it to almost empty. He said this should clean all the injectors and nozzles. He was correct the problem went away.

You can buy Liqui Molly on Lazada. For B750 it's worth a try.

I just ordered this one..

https://shoptenda.com/product/tenda-u12-1300mbps-wireless-usb-network-cards-ac-dual-band-2-4g-5-0ghz-wifi-usb-network-adapterusb-3-0-gigabit-router-partner/

Lazada has it as well for B200 more but you will get it a lot faster.

3 hours ago, wgdanson said:

Depending on how far away from your router the laptop is, a 20 metre CAT6 cable from Lazada @ Bht 210 is far faster than any WiFI......1000Mb/s.

It's 1000Mbs max if the router is a gigabit router. If not, he will get 100Mbs making the wifi a better option.

1 hour ago, avvocato said:

The B number is the evidence of coverage under my wife's medical. I received it from the Teacher's administrative office in KK. She is a retired teacher and covered under her prior employment. It is a "B" followed by 12 digits.The teacher's plan pick up the cost of my visits and any diagnostics I undergo. I am not sure what the official name of it is.

That must be for teachers only. I an covered by my wife's plan. She works for the Government.  I went to the hospital on Saturday for my 3 month checkup. The Bill was B22,530. and I paid B280. CoPay. Pretty good deal.

On 8/29/2018 at 11:53 AM, MW72 said:

I am in the process of doing this just now. It is taking a lot longer than expected and has been a pain in the butt. I live in the sticks so that doesn't make things easier. Here is what I have had to do so far. Could be different for different areas.

 

1. Visited local land office for advice. They showed me documents of 2 foreigners which showed me what was required. (Passport notarised by embassy and translation of notarised passport doc. Both then have to be stamped by ministry of foreign affairs.)

2. Emailed British embassy. Sent passport by EMS. Passport returned within the week with a document notarising my passport. 

3. Emailed a scan of my document to a translation service I used previously in Bangkok. They emailed the translation back to me.

4. Contacted MFA in Chiang Mai who insisted my docs could not be posted and that I should appear in person. 

5. Drove 160 KM to Chiang Mai, they looked at the docs and said that the translation wasn't acceptable as it was not the original. I explained that the company emailed me the scan but they said they needed the original!!! I asked if there were any translation services in Chiang Mai that they would recommend i.e. ones that knew the requirements of the MFA. I was told to Google it. Really helpful! Found a translation service nearby who did the translation in an hour. Submitted the docs and all seemed fine. About a week later I received my docs back from MFA stating the translation was not acceptable with a number of notes in Thai.

6. Drove all the way back to Chiang Mai and visited the translation service who told me they weren't quite sure what the MFA was requiring so they did 4 different formats of translation which I took to the MFA who once again rejected them. In all we went back and forth between the MFA and translation service 4 times before the translation was acceptable to them. Even then the last time they were going to reject it for some petty reason until the girlfriend complained about how far we had come and how much they were <deleted> us around. I think the guy took pity and accepted the docs and stamped them.

7. Returned to local land office with docs to be told we needed the GF's father as he is in the blue book as the head of the household even though he doesn't live there anymore and the GF has the Chanote. She has not had the blue book updated in a while. After a couple of hours of the guy typing into a PC the power cut off and he had to start over again! Eventually they finished and said they would now have to contact the bosses in Chiang Mai and get back to me.

 

This has taken me weeks so far and I am still not sure I will get the yellow book but I should find out shortly. Fingers crossed!

Your going to the Land Office and they do not issue Yellow Books.  I got my YB at the Amphoe Office in the Province my house is located. I only needed 3 photos, my wife with her Blue Book and ID Card and 3 witnesses. 

7 hours ago, avvocato said:

Same for me.  I needed it because of the hospital coverage but the card has no embedded info and no B number (for coverage). But now I have a PC and somehow the hospital presses on (and I always still bring my passport).

What do you mean by a B number. When I was at the hospital yesterday, all they required was the 13 digit number at the top of the card.

6 hours ago, khunPer said:

You more likely got it at the local tessa ban office, as that is where they make the house registrations and issue house books, at the amphor office you're eligible for having your pink ID-card for foreigners after you had your house book...?

I got my Pink Card as well at the same office.  I need it for my Cardiologist checkup as the hospital now requires it for Government reimbursement.

The only issue, the PC does not have any information embedded. The hospital could not scan it and had to take whatever info needed manually. Only in Thailand.

On 8/31/2018 at 2:47 PM, MW72 said:

I wish our land office was as easy going as yours. When they showed me the requirements I thought this would be pretty straight forward. To be fair part of the delay has been down to me putting off visiting Chiang Mai until the gf was due to go there for business meetings so killing 2 birds with 1 stone. The folks at the translation service said they were having similar issues with a German fella. My dealings with the UK embassy has been the easiest part. They couldn't have been more helpful or efficient.

I didn't get my YM at the Land Office. I got it at the Amphoe Office in the Province my house is located.

The ring was bought and given in the USA where the laws are that the ring must be returned, but in Thailand, what laws would apply as the ring is in thailand now?

In the US, an engagement ring is considered a gift and does not have to be returned. The only exception I know of is the State of Florida. 

Same applies here in Thailand.

17 minutes ago, miCRoSCoPiCeaRthLinG said:

Thank you. This is super helpful.

 

Do you require VPN connectivity while registering the stick? The reason I'm asking is ... I've been using my dad's Amazon account, which is registered against an address back home and I'm (surprisingly) able to view Prime content not available in Thailand. If I register the stick against this account, does that do the trick or I've got to explicitly have my IP located in the same country. 

I believe they look at the IP. If you hide the IP via a VPN, you should be ok. 

2 minutes ago, miCRoSCoPiCeaRthLinG said:

Awesome. Thanks for your super helpful reviews. I did some research myself and shortlisted the very same ones you've mentioned here. Like you said... you get what you pay for ?

FYI

If you do buy either, do not get them from eBay. eBay Global Shipping uses DHL and tho eBay guarantees delivery it will never arrive due to Thailand's ban on TV Boxes. 

I ordered the SkyStream from eBay. It took 2 weeks to get to BKK and Customs confiscated it and sent it back to eBay. eBay did promptly refund me in full.

I then ordered it from Amazon. It took 5 days via UPS to arrive, in and out of customs in 15 minutes and delivered to me the next day.

Looking at Amazon's shipping label, it has a code exempting the product from customs. I guess some kind of deal with Thailand.

3 hours ago, MW72 said:

I am in the process of doing this just now. It is taking a lot longer than expected and has been a pain in the butt. I live in the sticks so that doesn't make things easier. Here is what I have had to do so far. Could be different for different areas.

 

1. Visited local land office for advice. They showed me documents of 2 foreigners which showed me what was required. (Passport notarised by embassy and translation of notarised passport doc. Both then have to be stamped by ministry of foreign affairs.)

2. Emailed British embassy. Sent passport by EMS. Passport returned within the week with a document notarising my passport. 

3. Emailed a scan of my document to a translation service I used previously in Bangkok. They emailed the translation back to me.

4. Contacted MFA in Chiang Mai who insisted my docs could not be posted and that I should appear in person. 

5. Drove 160 KM to Chiang Mai, they looked at the docs and said that the translation wasn't acceptable as it was not the original. I explained that the company emailed me the scan but they said they needed the original!!! I asked if there were any translation services in Chiang Mai that they would recommend i.e. ones that knew the requirements of the MFA. I was told to Google it. Really helpful! Found a translation service nearby who did the translation in an hour. Submitted the docs and all seemed fine. About a week later I received my docs back from MFA stating the translation was not acceptable with a number of notes in Thai.

6. Drove all the way back to Chiang Mai and visited the translation service who told me they weren't quite sure what the MFA was requiring so they did 4 different formats of translation which I took to the MFA who once again rejected them. In all we went back and forth between the MFA and translation service 4 times before the translation was acceptable to them. Even then the last time they were going to reject it for some petty reason until the girlfriend complained about how far we had come and how much they were <deleted> us around. I think the guy took pity and accepted the docs and stamped them.

7. Returned to local land office with docs to be told we needed the GF's father as he is in the blue book as the head of the household even though he doesn't live there anymore and the GF has the Chanote. She has not had the blue book updated in a while. After a couple of hours of the guy typing into a PC the power cut off and he had to start over again! Eventually they finished and said they would now have to contact the bosses in Chiang Mai and get back to me.

 

This has taken me weeks so far and I am still not sure I will get the yellow book but I should find out shortly. Fingers crossed!

I got my Yellow Book in Khon Kaen and only needed

3 Photos, my Passport, my wife with her Thai ID card and Blue Book and 2 witnesses. Done in 20 minutes.

2 hours ago, khunPer said:

The procedure of having a Yellow House Book for foreigners variate in different areas. Some places it's a fairly easy maneuver at tabien ban, other places it's almost same procedure as applying for permanent residency, apart from the language test (talk from experience).

 

Benefits from being in the Yellow House Book is a Thai ID-number and easy proof of address for, for example Driving License or vehicle registration, opening bank accounts, extending permissin to stay in the Kingdom, etc. Furthermore you're eligible to apply for a pink ID-card for foreigners at the local amphor; however, they might not have the pink film.

?

My Yellow Book has an ID number and my Pink ID card has a different ID number. Now how much sense does that make?

CORRECTION:  I was looking at the wrong number.. Both are the same..

43 minutes ago, Tambs2020 said:

Google chrome cast is what we use. Just watch on our phone or ipad and stream to the tv via wifi to the chromecast! 

 

Or are you talking about something different?

There are 3 Chromecast models. The only one that casts 4K is the Ultra. The cost is B2990 and all you can do is cast from another device. IMO not worth it. 

1 hour ago, miCRoSCoPiCeaRthLinG said:

 

 

@Jeffrey346: Any good 4K box suggestions? 

Most boxes claim they can play 4K but can't play Netflix in HD. From what I have been told, there are reasons why but the primary reason is they are not DRM certified boxes. The Chinese manufactures just don't like to pay the required fees.

Some people believe it better to buy the cheapest box at B2000 or so, and when it dies they just buy another. 

I believe you get what you pay for. I want a TV box that works. I don't want to spend hours trying to figure out how to make it work. 

That's why I have a Nvidia Shield and a SkyStream Two. Nvidia has the reputation of being the best streaming box. IMO it is and it works right out of the box.

There is always a down side. The Nvidia runs The Real Android TV OS and Google restricts the Apps you can install on it. Only Apps on the Android TV Play Store install easily. Yes, you can get around it but that requires time and know how every time you want to install a new App or APK. Nvidia has customer support via email.

The second downside is the price.  $225 delivered from Amazon. 

The SkyStream Two is awesome box as well. Designed  in the US and the specs are up there with the Nvidia.

The difference is SkyStream comes loaded with 90% of the streaming Apps you will ever need. SkyStream updates the Apps when links go bad and replaces them with new working links. All at no charge. It's truly a lazy man's TV Box. 

SkySteam is also totally open and allows you to install anything you want. They have email and telephone support.

If you want to compare the the quality of the two, they are about the same. That includes picture quality and build quality. These two boxes are designed properly and do not run hot to the touch. 

I forgot to mention, if you are into gaming, Nvidia is the way to go. Gaming is their thing.

The price of the SkyStream is the same as the Nvidia. My timing was good and bought the SkyStream 2 weeks ago on sale at Amazon for $202. delivered.

If you are in this price range, you will be happy with either of those TV Boxes. If not, this box   MAGICSEE IRON+ 3GB/32GB is available on Lazada for B2990 and has the same specs as the 2 above. It may be worth the time to check it out. If it doesn't meet your needs you can return it within 7 days.

If you have any other questions, let me know. Good luck..