spambot

About 10 years ago we were in BKK with our children who are luuk keung, who were in their late teens at the time .The wife decided it was time they went to see bangkok's famous temples. At the temple of the reclining buddha there are 2 entrances . 1 for Thais one for farang . 1 is free the other must pay. They removed their shoes and prepared to enter from the door designated for Thais. I had no interest and stayed outside. An official who seemed to come from the souvenir shop started shouting at my wife as loud as possible that she was a cheat for trying trying to take 2 foreigners . The aim was obviously to see her lose face. He succeeded an my wife and 2 daughters wete completely embarrassed.

I don't think I have ever been so angry as at that moment. I know the drill in these circumstances but still I went for him. Two police who wete there stopped me and to their credit apologised for the embarrassment caused but explained that this is how it is. We left without entering.

It is just so wrong. But TIT.

OMG - Brilliant story - Sad, but brilliant!

Its about the hidden thought and the real question is how many Thai nationals hold these hidden thoughts.

I was on a bus from southern bus terminal (511) - I waited prior to the bus setting off and when the conductor arrived she pointed to sign above my chair (Front of bus left hand side) and she said "seat for monk" so I moved to the identical chair across the walkway on the right and side front of bus. At the next stop a young girl got on and sat in this same seat I had been rejected from. This time the conductor did nothing.

I wanted to scream out at the injustice, but I did not - It was not my bus it was not my rules and I had little going for me in making any successful outcome since she was clearly differentiating one type of person against another.

So for me it is not the pricing difference on small items that is the real issue - itt the the hidden thought that drives the price differences.

Advice to spambot: Ask what the price is first, then make your decision to buy it or not. The vendor is entitled to charge whatever they want to whoever they want. And the customer is entitled to choose to buy elsewhere.

Entirely true point you make - Unable to argue this is good management.

But why should anyone have to do this when it doesn't happen to one race of people.

And really I do not want to forced into becoming watchful and suspicious of everyone and every time I make a small purchase - Its not about the few Baht saved on the fruit being bought that is available from good management - its really the feeling that it brings - When you stop investing in relationships and stop trusting the people you deal with - Every time you do this then something dies a little.

So maybe if you are one of the falangs who seem to constantly get ripped off in local markets you should ONLY shop at places like big C and Tesco where the prices are clearly marked......or of course you could simply shop around a bit and ASK the price at several stalls before you buy and make sure you have correct change? The last time I was in a market I didn't see any vendors putting a gun to anyone's head forcing them to buy from them.

Or you could send the wife/gf off to do the shopping at the local market and hope that she doesn't overcharge you.

It may be a good strategy to avoid the dual pricing, but the root is still cultural - A constant desire to differentiate on skin colour or ethnic origin will always be a barrier to true integration between Thai's and foreigners. Trust is a fundamental need in any relationship and relationships are needed for all forms of growth.

So I guess the question is: Does a Thai national or indeed the Thai Gov really at their heart seek a relationship with a foreigner or do they just believe that short term goals that focus upon systems of tax always working against a foreigner will always see them through?

Pay the little bit extra and jog on! Enjoy... Still cheaper than home, right?

Yep - True! But improving the experience to make it even better is not a bad thought.

My hotel in Hat Yai calls a tuk tuk to take me into town. Hotel tells me the cost will be 100 baht. Tuk tuk comes and man confirms my destination looks for a few seconds and said 150 baht. When questioned he just smiled. I did not want to wait on another ride so I just went with the flow. The normal price is 100 for sure as I have paid this a few other times. I can speak some Thai so it does not always happen but for sure this guy charged more because I was a farang.

He charged more because he thought he would get away with it, and you proved him right. If you'd refused to pay the 150 he probably would have lowered it to 100. It's hard to have sympathy with people who roll over so easily.

Do you think they would care [the thais who are overcharging] if they knew? I don't. A lady tried to sell me a 40 baht plant for 400 baht. When I went to the next vendor and purchased a similar plant for 40 baht [ and was very vocal about the price I paid] she did not care. She just waited for a more gullible mark to walk up. The same with most government run tourist traps. We make a lot less of a mess than the Thais who visit them. Yet they try to charge us a lot more. Do they care, no, not unless we all stopped coming.

Agree they do charge extra because they thought they could get away with it and ALSO frighteningly do not seem to care (if some caring existed then there would be scope to create change) - Hence my original question was all about how a Thai might be feeling about this - not just about the actual act of discrimination in their pricing.

Similar to the Plant experience and the tuc tuc overpaying experience - I live few hundred yards from Khao san Rd and I tend to go to a small hotel just around the corner from Khao san to have a beer and read the paper. Here the tuc tuc mafia seem congregate (its not actually on Khao san, but about 50 m away). I catch a 30 Baht tutuc down to the bar and sit outside and I can see from here (mostly) tourists who are in a dialogue about the price with the tuctuc drivers.

The starting point from the drivers is usually at an initial 200 Baht to then around 150 Baht is the final discount (to take them to the identical place I just got on a tuc tuc down from). And they use the same tactic with every tourist - They set a price expectation of 200 Baht - watch the reaction - hear the counter offer and if its nearer 100 rather than 150 he will walk away obviously this is just to gauge the reaction (the driver never walks more than 10 m and waits for around 20 secs there with his back to the potential buyers - The tourist will either increase their offer or they will turn to walk away and if they start to pull away the driver then reacts to them by turning around and shouting "OK I will take you for 150 Baht".

- Hit rate at about 60/70%

And once I watched two drunken young American guys climb aboard after the driver called them over, asked them where they are going (which was same place I came from) - He offered to take them for 500 Baht - "OK" the guys agreed.

Would anyone say that this is just market forces at play in a market driven economy or is it actually something that is simply abusing a buyers lack of knowledge and so becomes unfair activity?

I dont know what it is but i never ever get charged more ,maybe its because i look as if i am a local living here in Pattaya ,at entertainment venues just show my driving licence and get Thai price ,only once been charged farang price and that was on the yellow sumbmarine ,but as it was our sons birthday treat could hardly walk away.

is it because you look like a tourist op?

Yup you are probably right - I knew I should have hidden my maps, stopped taking pics of the food I was eating and stopped asking every tuc tuc driver how much it costs to go to Central world.

Pattaya I feel, (but I do not really know for sure) works in a non dual pricing only if you do know the systems and how they should operate. I remember the first time I went to Pattaya and I got out the songthaew and asked how much - He said 20Baht (because I asked - He knew I didn't know and he then knew that there was an opportunity for gain) - Yep its only 10 Baht (Beach rd) and then also 6 weeks ago I took the songthaew from bus station to walking street - Everyone got off and I was the last - Chinese girl was charged 30 Baht and the same for two English guys - I refused to pay the inflated price. We only got back to the correct price when I pointed to the local bobby across the road indicating we ask him what the fixed price was.

But obviously when you know your way around then you don't walk into these tourist traps since you know they are there i.e now when I now get to the bus station in Pattaya I walk over the road and pay my10 Baht to a passing songthaew without the waiting and herding that goes on at the bus terminal for tourists.

The irony is Thais only pay 5 baht for a songthaew in Pattaya (short trip).

Ha - Brilliant! - I love it that I thought I was feeling so great about being a localised Farang with a few years behind me and thinking that I was in the know - And then finding out there was an extra layer that I had totally missed - Great info!

Same old, same old.

In a nice world free from government poking its nose into every aspect of our lives any seller would be free to offer their property to another person at any price they care to choose for any reason whatsoever. The buyer can negotiate and/or walk away. If a seller say, charges people with dark skin more then they are likely to lose business and suffer lost sales. Here in Thailand farangs are entitled to walk away when confronted with higher prices.

But different groups of people have different elasticities of demand and farangs here are likely to have more money and hence more likely to accept a higher price. Fruit sellers know this and overall make more profit from this strategy, it is nothing to do with racism but even if it is it should be up to them.

Certain businesses offer child discounts, they do not do this because they like children or feel sorry for parents, they do this to maximise profits. A child on an airplane takes a seat the same as me yet will often pay 25% or more less for the ticket but we don't hear people moaning endlessly about this. Most people don't gripe when night clubs provide free entry for ladies, the ladies like it and the men appreciate the greater quantity of ladies the policy encourages but again the night club owner does not hate men he simply wants to maximise profits.

Yet a fruit seller who prices her fruit differently to a farang likely on 100,000bt a month to a lady on 10,000bt is seen as racist.

I like this - Good balanced argument here.

Singapore has a better system for offering different rates for hotels: they promote the discount for citizens AND residents. It makes sense to discount to fill vacant rooms and does so in a way that doesn't discriminate..

Airfares are more complicated: why does Thai airways charge 20% more for tickets issued in Australia than those ex Thailand? Eg, BKK-SYD-BKK is 20% lower than the reverse ( there might be some logic to it but nothing to do with tax as far as I know). Qantas does a similar thing.

Yup I sometimes found this the same travelling in Europe where it was always cheaper to fly away from one country than it was to fly into it. A large part is down to the airport / aviation authority and Government taxes per country - Usually paid and levied via the sales source.

It's very normal in thailand. Normally I get my thai friends to buy the things for me or just buy it online.

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If my Thai wife is with me she pays farang price. So we see what we want, I walk away and, hey presto! Cheaper price.

It's all part of Thai racism!

If the Thai Gov got to hear of this then - They would surely make it law - That dual pricing must occur for everything. So this then could be turned into one of their brilliant economic internal stimulus development plans for job creation and then Thai nationals can earn money again for work that is just totally unnecessary - A bit Like the visa run support industry they created

I dont know what it is but i never ever get charged more ,maybe its because i look as if i am a local living here in Pattaya ,at entertainment venues just show my driving licence and get Thai price ,only once been charged farang price and that was on the yellow sumbmarine ,but as it was our sons birthday treat could hardly walk away.

is it because you look like a tourist op?

Yup you are probably right - I knew I should have hidden my maps, stopped taking pics of the food I was eating and stopped asking every tuc tuc driver how much it costs to go to Central world.

Pattaya I feel, (but I do not really know for sure) works in a non dual pricing only if you do know the systems and how they should operate. I remember the first time I went to Pattaya and I got out the songthaew and asked how much - He said 20Baht (because I asked - He knew I didn't know and he then knew that there was an opportunity for gain) - Yep its only 10 Baht (Beach rd) and then also 6 weeks ago I took the songthaew from bus station to walking street - Everyone got off and I was the last - Chinese girl was charged 30 Baht and the same for two English guys - I refused to pay the inflated price. We only got back to the correct price when I pointed to the local bobby across the road indicating we ask him what the fixed price was.

But obviously when you know your way around then you don't walk into these tourist traps since you know they are there i.e now when I now get to the bus station in Pattaya I walk over the road and pay my10 Baht to a passing songthaew without the waiting and herding that goes on at the bus terminal for tourists.

That's also what I do, then get another bus from the Dolphin roundabout, 20 Baht all in. Probably a lot more if you get a baht bus in the bus station.

Yup its a good way - Sometimes I might walk down to Tescos for a cheap lunch / Breakie and sometimes pop into one of the hotels near the Dolphin for coffee - most have swimming pools and are not too crowded or picky about comers in to sit near the pool.

when i lived in phuket i had a table i wanted to sell, a lot of farang living near me so i put it out of the front of my house with "for sale 300 baht farang 500 baht thai i was told by thai people living near me i should take the sighn down as it might offend thai people and i might get hurt

Perfect example - Of the answer to if it was dual pricing other way around - What would be the reaction?

Honestly, most people I come across are honest and I make a point to be honest with them. However, you always have to be looking when dealing with people you don't know. My favorite (happened in Thai language):

Me: How much are the watermelons?

Vendor: It's called Daeng Mo

Me: Yeah, I know...how much is this one?

Vendor: It's called daeng mo

Me: I know the word, but how much is it?

....confused look, gears churning, just as they had been the whole time....he was trying to size me up as he was talking to me. I just told him "fine....other people sell watermelons as well" and walked away.

Always be ready to walk away, don't give them time to think, and be polite. I walked down the way for about 30 seconds and someone had watermelons of the same size with marked prices. PURCHASE. I see the guy all the time at the market and he knows that I am the "one that got away" as he sells a variety of products and I will not buy a single one of them.

This happens to me all the time. I ask: thao rai krab? annee sappalot......chai krabhom, thao rai krab? annee sappalot wan.... then i know i 'm being fooled and leave the place. I don't understand that trick of them, why they don't want to tell the price when i ask them?

It is the same when i buy plants, they won't tell the price but instead tell me what plant it is, from now on i walk away after asking it 1 time only. They are lucky anyway when i ask for the price because my rule is never ask the price, let them make a pricetag.

I noticed they do that especially for more expensive items in their shop. Fruitshops always forget to pricetag the Namdocmai mango's. The fishstand always forgets to price the big seafish (most expensive item in the shop). That fish they sell with the guts and all, so if you buy 1 kg of grouper you get the guts with it. If you order fillet then they weigh 1 kg and then make a fillet out of it but you still paid for the guts as well. I m so tired of that so i only buy in Foodland if i am near them.

But even there they cheat, i bought many kg of meat there including a kg of chicken-thighs. It was in promotion for something like 90 baht. When i paid at the cashier i saw 135 baht on the screen, so i examined the bag and it was 1 kg. I walked back to the butcher and showed him the pricetag, he asked 135 while it should be 90. I ordered him to make a new pricetag which he did. Still 135 baht. I gave him the chicken back and told him i don't want any chicken, mai au kai krab (and don't cheat me in english). Then he came with me to the cashier and told her to get it off my bill. What a hassle but next time he won't cheat me again or i go to the manager as well.

Anyway don't let them cheat you! You have to check the Thai all the time. Also there are good Thai, i remember one day i had to pay 100 on the market and accidently i gave 1000 and walked away. The lady called me back and gave me the 900 change.

Also when you hire company's to do services to your house or car, ALWAYS check them. I can write 10 pages here how they cheated me all the time but they also do that to my Thai neighbours. They have no idea what quality is and if they damage something in your house then you pay for it. They have never heard of an insurance for that.

Ok enough Thai bashing for today.

I learned something new from your post - mai au kai krab - And I have been looking for what phrase to use in this situation occurs, but up till now I had no point of context apart from mai au (no want) - So thanks for the wisdom to help me now relate better to the cheating context using " mai au kai krab" and finding the key word "kai" - Good work here.

Didn't the fruit cart have some sort of pricing cards displayed?

Knowing how to read Thai numbers is a huge advantage for us all. I would recommend it. When I mention the prices, they all freak out and do not argue with me.

Actually that makes good sense and worth learning these for sure - Good input!

I am assuming that you are not saying that there is a different system of numbers and you are just referring to the written word, used to spell the number in Thai?

For example: Nine = เก้า

Google Thai numerals.

Great info - Thanks

Didn't the fruit cart have some sort of pricing cards displayed?

Knowing how to read Thai numbers is a huge advantage for us all. I would recommend it. When I mention the prices, they all freak out and do not argue with me.

Actually that makes good sense and worth learning these for sure - Good input!

I am assuming that you are not saying that there is a different system of numbers and you are just referring to the written word, used to spell the number in Thai?

For example: Nine = เก้า

I dont know what it is but i never ever get charged more ,maybe its because i look as if i am a local living here in Pattaya ,at entertainment venues just show my driving licence and get Thai price ,only once been charged farang price and that was on the yellow sumbmarine ,but as it was our sons birthday treat could hardly walk away.

is it because you look like a tourist op?

Yup you are probably right - I knew I should have hidden my maps, stopped taking pics of the food I was eating and stopped asking every tuc tuc driver how much it costs to go to Central world.

Pattaya I feel, (but I do not really know for sure) works in a non dual pricing only if you do know the systems and how they should operate. I remember the first time I went to Pattaya and I got out the songthaew and asked how much - He said 20Baht (because I asked - He knew I didn't know and he then knew that there was an opportunity for gain) - Yep its only 10 Baht (Beach rd) and then also 6 weeks ago I took the songthaew from bus station to walking street - Everyone got off and I was the last - Chinese girl was charged 30 Baht and the same for two English guys - I refused to pay the inflated price. We only got back to the correct price when I pointed to the local bobby across the road indicating we ask him what the fixed price was.

But obviously when you know your way around then you don't walk into these tourist traps since you know they are there i.e now when I now get to the bus station in Pattaya I walk over the road and pay my10 Baht to a passing songthaew without the waiting and herding that goes on at the bus terminal for tourists.

The issue about getting a new card sent to you is the address on the card account will be different to the address you need for your Thailand (delivery) address.

Someone I know well had the same problem as you and his bank would also not deliver a new card - However they would sent it to the British Embassy address in Bangkok (since they will check your passport on collection). I Was told that it is a service that the British Embassy advertise and offer in their marketing options at a cost of 3,000 Baht - Since i have not used this I have no further details of this. I can only provide you with a rough direction for another option.

Just recently I witnessed two occurrences at close hand of the double pricing policy in Bangkok - And It really hurts when I see this is happening.

Occurrence 1:

A few weeks ago I was at the national convention centre in Bangkok and was considering a hotel destination package in the south of Thailand. I was looking at the pictures of the hotel package and the way the brochure was designed it was pretty clear that the offering was accommodation in the featured hotel for three nights at a price of 5,500 Baht. So after a little conversation with the girl at the desk about some of the detail I told her that I would buy the package. However up until this point neither one of us had mentioned the price (since it was very clear what this actually was), So when it came time to pay I was a little surprised when she then asked me for 6,800 Baht. When I began pointing to the price on the brochure she told me without any hint of embarrassment that price for a Farang to stay at the hotel is different. - And she continued to rub salt in the wounds by adding surely you know that is common policy with all things here in Thailand to charge Farangs more?

Occurrence 2:

Also few weeks ago I stood in-line behind a Thai national waiting to buy fruit and when it was my turn the seller smiles wide and welcoming as she recognises me (I had been buying my fruit from her cart every day for about 3 months) she gets my fruit and then asks for 50% more than the Thai national that she had just served with the same fruit moments earlier. Now thinking that I had been paying too much for a long time I pointed to this person next to me still with their change in hand telling her that his was a different price, but she just looks at me and she simply repeats the price again and then smiles (again). It was as if I had said nothing of interest in any way to her. So OK now I'm also thinking that I could have been mistaken in some way about the previous transaction. I am also fearing that I might jeopardize (what I thought was) a rather good relationship by pushing this too much. So I then signal to her I am sorry and obviously I had made wrong judgement and I start to walk away

But then another buyer goes to the cart and so I walk back and I stand and watch the next Thai national pay the same as the first Thai national for the same fruit that I had just bought for 50% more. Then I ask her this same question of why my fruit cost more when I buy it rather that when a Thai is paying for it and without a flicker of guilt she just smiles (again) and also again she offers me no explanation and so I have to just walk away.

Sad to say, but I never went back to her again and never bought anything again because I felt somehow like I had been betrayed (ok a bit dramatic here).

But why is this so widely accepted without any form of Embarrassment that this should be OK?

If a foreigner was to set their behaviour to be discriminatory only when a Thai national was involved what would be the judgement?

Say for example if you were to order some food and watch the vendor prepare it and then you decided to walk away once its ready and tell the Thai seller that you didn't want it any longer unless its 30 Baht cheaper than normal price - And just to make it even worse for them - Tell them you would not have done that to a Farang, but since you're a Thai national - it's OK.

Obviously its not OK to do this - I'm simply making a point of showing that treating any nationality with discrimination has an impact and this should be seen by both nationalities as being wrong. But I do not see any embarrassment in Thai culture when this happens - Why NOT?

This is a frustrating problem. You don't know the precise problem and if you push them too hard to find out you'll be seen as a troublemaker. If it was me I would try again next year and make sure there is no mention of a bank on the letter. I would also bring along solid proof of the source of the income in case of being challenged. If still getting flak then that would be the time to elevate the issue.

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I like your response because it is solid and has a common sense way forward - It is actionable info.

I am currently having a letter written (in Thai) - Outlining my confusion and then just simply is asking 1. What was the problem? 2. How can I fix it? - Which is attached with a second sheet of paper with a headed saying: "answer (in Thai) on this page please "

Then after the protesters have exited the Gov buildings around the area I will then make a visit and pass the letter to her directly.

It might work, but making her commit - Might have a different effect - And might not get my objective met.

It is a pain in the arse I know, but go to the UK Embassy and explain what you were told by the Thai authorities and show them the stamp/s. Tell them that as there are agreements in place between both countries that this behavior on the part of the Thais is unacceptable and should be looked into by the Embassy staff. For if it can happen to you, it can happen to anyone from the UK. That simple. However, I do think that it was the wording of the name of the bank that caused the confusion. No one here in Thai knows what York is or where it is or if it really is a real bank. Statements from them stamped/notarized by the Embassy might be of a help next time. But the Thais saying that you cannot submit documents from the UK Embassy is ridiculous and goes beyond the scope of the normal parameters and international law. An embassy is sovereign territory and as such is to be respected as such. Therefore information coming from them must be considered valid and acceptable under any circumstances.

The final sentence on the US Income Affidavit form says: I am applying for a Thai visa/ an extension of a current Thai visa and any assistance you can provide in this request will be greatly appreciated.

Request for assistance. No reference to any mandated agreement in place. Also, the Police Order 777/2551 says all the information listed for the various bases for extension of stay are 'Criteria for Consideration' and there is no implication that if the conditions and documents as listed are met that the IMM Officer is somehow obligated to provide the requested extension.

Same sentance is on the British Embassy letter - So it feels like the best I will get from British Embassy is their cooperation in sourcing information to close the gap in understanding what went wrong.

Total success would be getting the Embassy to communicated with immigration and get guidance on how the Embassy should actual word the letter differently if other documents are presented (if simply its the banking docs that are the source of the problem).

There is no question that the Embassy has an obligation to understand what the gap is and look at processes to close this information gap for its users.

But getting any Embassy to communicate with Thai immigration in a meaningful way is the hard part - If they take a position that is they only go so far with helping its users of its service and they do not intend to enter new communications since this matter has been defined for all countries Embassy's via some or other document or decree or act of government etc - The process of defining a more accountable and predictable outcomes is going to remain difficult.

It is a pain in the arse I know, but go to the UK Embassy and explain what you were told by the Thai authorities and show them the stamp/s. Tell them that as there are agreements in place between both countries that this behavior on the part of the Thais is unacceptable and should be looked into by the Embassy staff. For if it can happen to you, it can happen to anyone from the UK. That simple. However, I do think that it was the wording of the name of the bank that caused the confusion. No one here in Thai knows what York is or where it is or if it really is a real bank. Statements from them stamped/notarized by the Embassy might be of a help next time. But the Thais saying that you cannot submit documents from the UK Embassy is ridiculous and goes beyond the scope of the normal parameters and international law. An embassy is sovereign territory and as such is to be respected as such. Therefore information coming from them must be considered valid and acceptable under any circumstances.

I have sent a letter as the first step both to British Embassy and Thai immigration.

They both received their letters 3 days ago - I would expect the British Embassy to at least respond in the next 5 days with a position that I can follow up on.

I was going to go directly to the British Embassy immediately, but I have seen a few times complainers (about other issues) attempting to get someone (other than the girl behind the counter managing applications) to talk with them, but usually the outcome is they get little satisfaction or traction to go forward.

So if I get a positioning from a British Embassy with a response I then have some traction before I visit. If I get a general letter saying "sorry to hear about your problems, but...." I will research the response a little and then find out who I should be asking for - Try to arrange a meeting making a phone call.

If still nothing - I will go pay a visit to British Embassy and try and stand ground on a "please contact the Thai immigration because this position is not satisfactory".

Its not a perfect method and I might have to adapt and pivot along the way.

Tried to read all posts saw nothing about you being barred for the future. I find this most extraordinary.

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Not sure I get your meaning - However I think you are saying that I have no direct statement of being barred / prohibited from making an application for extension using an income letter method.

I have been forced to make a written signed statement that my future application will only be made by via a Thai bank method and with a verbal directive that income letters will not be accepted in any future applications from me.

I thought that was identified to be the case in earlier posts - Or was you making a different point?

Agree with Rawhod. Presume you are a Brit as it is Yorkshire Bank. CM immigration can be a bit fussy if the letter from the consul is not very recent. However I give original P60s and DWP statements and Nationwide Bank statements showing monthly incomes, marriage certificate and wife and childrens ID cards and house book to the CM consul. She writes letter confirming address, marital status, monthly and annual income and source. I give CM immigration the original letter from UK consul with embossed stamp. They are only interested in Income. Never had any problem over 10 years.

Maybe the answer is move to CM - Its a thought!

Interestingly the immigration officer may have researched the ownership of Yorkshire Bank and found it is in fact a subsidiary of National Australia Bank...a little more historical research may then have given her concern as to the origins of your banks funds and therefore by default your income!..joking aside...thanks to all who have contributed to this thread as it raises important points on retirement visas and the possible future changes.

I agree - There is some top class input here.

One of the recent changes here in Phuket is any person providing a letter from an Embassy or consul must also provide evidence of the source of the funds.e.g. pension fund annual income statement etc. The supporting documentary evidence has to show regular income. There are people, for example, who get regular income from their work as consultants outside of Thailand and can retire here provided they show evidence of regular income. Did the officer ask you where the money came from in your UK Bank account?

No they did not ask - And this might have cleared up some of the confusion and I would then know what the actual problem was - Since the only line she was saying was "Yorkshire Bank" - And I kept asking and what problem with Yorkshire Bank - And all I got was body language. There is still the grey area of not knowing what needs to be fixed. Was it the name of the bank? - Was it that there was no source behind the bank? - Did she know that this was a bank? or was it something that was entirely different to any of these guesses of the problem on my part.