55Jay

Did my ret extension 3rd week of March (Korat).  The I/O told me verbally about the 800k 3 month after hold, but didn't give me a separate date to return for follow up.  Nor was there any mention of it added onto the usual 90-day report reminder slip they staple into the passport.  That was 2 months ago, could have changed by now.

I/O did say bank balance could be checked but didn't specifically say it would be.  Also didn't say I HAD to bring my bank book to the first 90-day report visit.   Not going to be in-country anyway, but if I was, would definitely update and bring the bank book just in case.  The potential for a Left Hand-Right Hand SNAFU between the main office and 90-day report staff, is strong on this one.

I had been following his blog a bit after he moved back to the UK.  Recall he was preparing for his Thai family's arrival there, sure they would enjoy the winter weather. ????

Ah yes, here's the blog site, last updated Christmas time.

https://mobithailand.com/

Bump to an old thread.  But it is relevant again as the TM30 "crack down" in 2017, or thereabouts, seemed to have died down, but has boomeranged with a vengeance recently.

Price of cucumbers in the UK is irrelevant if you buy them in Thailand. 

Because you live in Thailand.

Not the UK.

On 5/15/2019 at 2:01 PM, connda said:

For now.....
Here you go:

Right.... does feel like they are floating a policy balloon.  Immigration has been emboldened by their recent successes taking on sacred cows. 

18 minutes ago, losername said:

Forgive me, please, for not reading all 29 pages of this thread but what is the difference between O and O-A?  I have O issued in my home country followed by extensions based on retirement.  Thanks for your help.

Look at the visa in the photo on Page 1 of the OP.  Says "O-A".

If you don't have one of those, then you likely have a single entry Non-O, good for 90-days, extendable thereafter. 

Edit:  The Permission to Stay is extended, not the visa itself. 

Just now, spaceshuttle said:

Absolutely agree that it's not always. Loving the 'fog', LOL.

 

That "someone" is the giant pulsating brain located in the basement of HQ in Bangkok which they can't ignore. That they picked up the phone was a minor miracle in itself.

Ha ha, good one!  Just heard the computer voice of "Hal 9000" from that film, A Bangkok Bank Odyssey 2001".  Nice joking around with you, take care.  ///

Just now, spaceshuttle said:

Thing is you can't argue with them as you'll only hear cannot, 55Jay. 

LOL, yep.  Not always true, though.  I hit the "Can Not" wall trying to open my first BKK Bank account several years ago.  Wife did the heavy lifting but obvious this branch, a bit out of town, wasn't used to dealing with foreigners.  They had no idea what a Non-O was, so we got a canned answer, "Tourist.  Can not".   Which means go away, I don't want to deal with this.

Took the wife quite a while but the bank employee finally called "someone" as we sat there.  Got really quiet, then into the phone, "Kha.  Kha.  Chai, Khaaaaaa".  And then it was all good. 

Exactly the same process with a small Krungsi branch a few months later, but took a lot longer to break through the fog.

Just now, spaceshuttle said:

Which is absolutely laughable and shows the tellers haven't got a clue what they're talking about.

 

The OP was fortunate that he came across someone that knew that it was a simple matter of transferring funds from account number 1234567890 to 0987654321.  The teller didn't perform any minor miracles here just transferred from one to the other.

Indeed. 

Agreed, I perked up when I read the OP only because of my experiences dealing with banks here, not just on this "home" branch xfer issue.   Not a deal breaker for me, do most everything online anyway, loathe to enter a bank branch.

Just now, Pib said:

How would you know?  How did you look? 

 

Your money is in a bank account that starts with a two or three digit bank "branch" code....that is your home branch....to do certain banking transaction/updates they can usually only be done at that home branch.  It varies among Thai banks as to what issues only your home branch can work.  And when moving money from that account in branch XYZ you can get into inter-province/inter banking region transfer fees as your home branch is where you money is assigned to/located.

OPs experience is pretty nice though! 

Better yet, do away with this "home" branch thing altogether.   And house books.  And bank books, which I had forgotten about from my youth until moving to Thailand.  Opened my first BKK Bank acct, they handed me a bank book, and a stuffed animal, or maybe it was an umbrella.  ????

Just now, spaceshuttle said:

Funds don't sit with a particular branch the last time I looked.

You wouldn't think that normally, but at times it certainly does seem like branches operate like franchises.   And then the inter-province transaction fees..... 

I've asked 2 BKK Branches nearer to where we live now, about shifting my current BKK Bank "home" branch to theirs - closer, convenient, etc.   Existing branch about 50km away, but still same province.

Both times same answer - close the other accounts, walk the money to the new branch, open new accounts.  Or leave the other accounts open, up to me of course. 

Asked same question at Krungsi, same answer.

Actually interesting to me from the perspective that your new branch was willing and able to  transfer funds from the other branch to facilitate new account opening at theirs, all in one shot. 

Glad you got it done so easily and efficiently.  Keeping larger pots of money in an account w/o ATM access and limited online permissions, is a good move. 

I used to get Half and Half at Makro.  It was in a small refrigerator next to the cheese/butter area, not in the milk section.

21 hours ago, skatewash said:

Unless something has changed very recently with TransferWise there's something additional you must do to ensure that your transfer will come from Bangkok Bank into your Bangkok Bank account (and therefore show up as a foreign transfer) rather than come from one of the of TW's other partner banks (TMB and Kasikorn).  If the transfer were to come from one of these partner banks it would end up in your Bangkok Bank fine, but might be marked as a domestic transfer which could cause a problem with immigration when you go to get your extension of stay.

Again, there is an additional step that you need to execute with TW (an email or phone call) to ask them to use Bangkok Bank as the intermediary bank in Thailand when transferring money to your Bangkok Bank account in Thailand.  You might think, "why wouldn't they," but their business model does not make that guarantee and it could work fine 10 straight times and then you could have one transfer that used say Kasikorn as the intermediary bank (for TW internal business reasons) and that one might be marked as a domestic transfer.  

Hopefully, someone will be able to provide you with the latest guidance from TW that you need to use with TW to guarantee that this doesn't happen to you.

Yeah, I remember scanning over something about that and thought it was only for those who don't use BKK Bank here.  Didn't catch that it is also a potential issue for BKK Bank customers.   

Important point for the guy who was asking, thanks for plugging the glaring hole in my response.

29 minutes ago, singburisam said:

This 38-page thread is too long to study, and I am confused.  Can someone please give me a simple answer?

 

Last week I'd never heard of ACH, IAT, or ABA routing numbers.  I'd been wiring myself money from U.S.A. using the regular Bangkok Bank Swift code.  No problem, for 2 or 3 transfers per year .... but with 12 extra transfers per year to keep Immigration happy, the fees will add up, and I looked for a better way.

 

Like others here, my U.S. broker offers free Domestic wires but charges $25 each for International wires.  I clicked Domestic, entered the 9-digit routing code for BKKBank New York; just now I confirmed the money is in my account with a total fee of about $10.  (I don't know what the BKKBank fee is the Swift way, but won't worry about $10.)

 

But then I see this thread: Bangkok Bank ACH Transfers will no longer be available.

Ouch!  My plan was to do these transfers monthly for the rest of my life.

 

But wait!  "IAT" transfers are still OK?  Just not ACH?  I've no idea what the difference is, but think mine was IAT.  How can I know for sure?

 

And did I read that an "International" wire will be billed as Domestic if I use the BKKBank New York Swift code instead of the regular BKKBank Swift code?  Is that correct?

The original cut off for the ACH transfers via Bangkok Bank New York was 1st of April this year.  Bangkok Bank sent out letters saying they'll "do their best" to extend that to 30 June 2019.

You should look into another option, such as Transferwise.  I was happy with my Schwab>BKK Bank ACH but with April 1st looming, needed a new Plan A.  Been using  TW for 3 months now, no problems.

3 hours ago, Xmas said:

Thank you for the info. Motdaeng it seems from your post that 2 months is the official position. I wonder if anyone has tested this recently?

Yes, I did recently, for my first retirement extension. 

The I/O I got had to ask the I/O at the next desk what the seasoning policy is, and she was quoted the old/former one.  2 months for the first (Ret) extension, 3 months for subsequent years.  Clearly I, and they, hadn't paid attention to the new police order, which says 2 months before. Period.

With the current level of inconsistency on this and other policies across the Kingdom, asking an I/O at the Immi Office you intend to use, is the smart play, IMO.

Start by picking up the rubbish around the billboards (in the photo), post on Facebook and try to get the local news rag to do a "good farang" article.  Once you're established with some Likes and Followers, you'll be more effective at tailoring your habitat so that its just right for you.

You might become an unwitting founder of a local Mee Too movement.   You might also wind up in hospital after a mysterious fall on slippery rocks at the waterfall.  Cuida te, amigo.

3 hours ago, humdrumdays said:

Just renewed my annual retirement extension. 

1. Had to pay a 800 baht fine as I had not reported in following a short holiday to Laos. Never had to do this in Korat before (been here 10 years) but now the new boss of immigration says we have to.

2. I was also told that if I have a hotel stay in another province, again I will have to report in within 24 hrs of my return to Korat? Is this true??? Unbelievable!

Any help thanks

Same happened to me last month during annual extension, got me for not reporting to Korat Immi after returning to Thailand the year before, March 2018.  Wife filled out a TM30 but talked them out of the fine. 

10 hours ago, Sunmaster said:

Only fools make fun of things they don't understand. 

 

Good luck on your journey, too. You need it.

Thanks. 

1 hour ago, Sunmaster said:

Not quite. The first to tap into the unknown were the shamans. They were seekers who could navigate through trance states and used psychotropic substances to help them reach those states. 

The concept of God, as a personified entity came much much later.

 

What drives us forward is the search for knowledge and science is one of the tools to achieve that. There are other realities that by science's own admission, are not (yet) unexplainable, but can't be dismissed out of hand for lack of understanding. 

Take care bro, good luck with your journey. ///

15 hours ago, Sunmaster said:

No, the search for what is beyond the physical was there long before any established religion, and will be there long after all religions have died away.

Spiritual food is just as necessary as normal food. 

Agreed.  A less admirable trait of our species is we speculate in the baffles of the unknown, and start makin' shit up to fill in the gap(s).  I reckon "god" got started the first time our primitive ancestors had the shit scared out of them by thunder and lighting.  

Science "food" is what drives our species forward.  It will continue to fill the gaps where god and spirit conjurers ply their trade like mystics and fortune tellers at the county fair. 

Just now, Sunmaster said:

The fact that millions of people asked and are still asking the God question should be proof enough that it deserves space, in my opinion. A space free of religious dogma and secular prejudice. To dismiss it as absurd a priori is just as absurd to me and should be to any honest, inquiring mind.

So what? 

Gods are religious dogma, it's all the same stuff. 

I for one would certainly appreciate the total absence of religious dogma and, by extension, the gods won't survive for long either.  That's bound to happen to our current god characters anyway, as it has with so many before during and after them. 

Just now, Sunmaster said:

Sorry, but I have to strongly disagree on this point. From my own experience I can tell you that there is much more to it than you think. You look at it from the outside and judge it from that point of view. I can tell you from the inside, having been around it for the past 25+ years.
I'm not here to change your opinion and I'm not trying to look down on anyone, it just means I've gathered more info about it throughout my life to make a more balanced judgement of what it is about.
Again, I would like to emphasize the fact that I didn't start as a believer (I was atheist until 20yo), but do to a profound experience, I was left with no choice but to accept that there is more to life than science is able to explain. My approach to the "God" question is very simple: we already have all the tools necessary to find the answers to our deepest questions, no need for holy books or gurus. It's simple but it's not easy.

I'm a practical person and have no patience for empty rituals and superstitions. Hope this makes sense.

Yes, makes perfect sense to me.  I'm on board with you about being practical.  I don't do rituals and superstition anymore, and grimace when others around me do.   From there we part ways as, IMV, entertaining the "god" question is an irrational suspension of that practical approach.   Asking the question gives it credibility and space it doesn't warrant, or deserve.  

Most rational folks wouldn't expend much, or any, effort casting about for an answer to a question stemming from an absurd, fact-free claim. 

4 hours ago, Sunmaster said:

Some good points.
You say:
"Only believe".  That they limit themselves to a single source - science.  It's a soft shoe suggestion that, therefore, their understanding of the world and themselves, is limited.

 

Yes. I think that if you only use science to understand the world and yourself, you're using only one tool, when there are many more at your disposal. In that sense, the understanding is limited.

I normally don't use the word "God" as it evokes too many preconceptions of what we've learnt God to be. In Christian religion, a stern and sometimes vengeful father-figure, which is very far from how I see it.
I prefer to use "Spirit", because it's non-personal. Many though will associate this word with the New Age movement and Self-Help brigade. So be it.

 

For sure, every emotional response can be explained with release of hormones, but what comes first?
Hormones produce the feeling of love, or is it the other way around... the release of hormones are a consequence of the feeling? Honest question...I don't know.

The organized spirituality genre isn't going to tell you jack.  It's just you talking to yourself in your own head. 

In this context, Spirituality Inc. is repackaged, rebranded, gluten free "God-Lite".  Crafted by humans as a refuge for those who don't want / no longer want the stigma and dogma of one of the Majors, but still want to believe (or at least appear to) they are a special, unique being created by a god entity.  Popular fad again with the Millenials as they ditch their parents' religion but still need to round out their identity.

If you want to go on a "journey" and discover what makes you and I tick, and don't mind admitting your just an animal, try Behavioral Sciences.

Quote

- Information processing sciences deals with information processing of stimuli from the social environment by cognitive entities in order to engage in decision making, social judgment and social perception for individual functioning and survival of organism in a social environment. These include psychology, cognitive science, psychobiology, neural networks, social cognition, social psychology, semantic networks, ethology, and social neuroscience.

 

- Relational sciences deals with relationships, interaction, communication networks, associations and relational strategies or dynamics between organisms or cognitive entities in a social system. These include fields like sociological social psychology, social networks, dynamic network analysis, agent-based model and microsimulation.