55Jay

1 hour ago, webfact said:

He said that he would not be a true cop is he just passed by and did nothing

+5 points for having the right idea.  -20 points on execution.  Would of been much better had he sailed on by and did nothing.

One of the better stories I've heard was from my mate in Pattaya, at his Darkside local for a few beers and football when a handful of inebriated Thais came in, got loud and obnoxious.  Madam bar owner called her local BiB brown envelope collector, who showed up on a Hello Kitty Scoopi, drunk, bottle of beer in hand, wearing sandals, skin tight police uniform trousers, disheveled t-shirt, service pistol strapped on like John Wayne.  

Weaved his way into the bar, waved his beer bottle at the group, issued a slurred command for them to leave, and they did.

John Wayne re-mounted his Scoopi and wobbled away in traffic.  Sorted! 

33 minutes ago, Coyoti said:

Although I've never seen a physical skimmer I've gotten into the habit of grabbing the card slot on the ATM to see if it's loose.  I also always cover the keypad when entering my PIN.  Additionally, I always use RFID shielding when in my pocket.  Call me overly cautious if you want, but to date the only card issues I've had came from using my card online, and the card issuer refunded my money when the fraud was reported.

Just curios, is your card the RFID/Contactless payment variety?

4 hours ago, bttao said:

YES...

Yes, because some expats mentioned immg denied visa renewal because they don't see any funds being imported/added or spent ... just parked.

So, it makes me wonder if it's not better to have US Embassy affidavit for income instead...

Is the affidavit done just in one session... or have to wait until the next day?

Some people seem to have a h ell of a time dealing with Immigration or certain offices over others.  I haven't had that experience, at least not yet. ///

Suppose it comes down to what your priorities are with the money.

Do you "need" the interest and thus, willing to move it around periodically if another bank is offering a higher return? 

Or is the 800k not critical to your portfolio, and thus be content to park it and not fret over interest rates so much. 

FWIW,  I did the income letter with US Embassy first 2 years here despite having a goodly sum in a Bangkok Bank fixed account/CD - the residual amount from a larger lump sum I brought in when we first moved here full-time. 

When that CD matured in 2014, I moved that block of funds to Krungsi Bank (Bank of Ayudhya), into an account called "Mee Tae Dai".  It's basically a Monkey Market Acct, which you are probably familiar with.  It's currently paying 1.3%.  More than a regular savings account, but typically less than fixed deposits/CDs.  Works for me. 

Bangkok Bank is still my main bank for monthly transfers in from the US, and daily transactions, ATM use, etc.  I've used the mostly static Krungsi accounts for Immigration extension purposes 3, going on 4 times now, and never had a problem with them about lack of transactions.

I can understand how someone straight out of the US or UK without too much other experience, would think Thai drivers are off their heads.

IME, Thailand is rather tame in comparison to other garden spots, and I'm sure plenty here have similar experience.  I'm still amazed at how quiet the driving is here, rarely hear a horn blasted in anger.   Probably because there's a chance the other driver gets out and empties a 9mm pistol into your windscreen.  That'll shut you up in a hurry. 

What I don't yet grasp is how folks who've been here a long time fail to adapt.  Or maybe they have and just like to vent about how terrible the driving is.  OK.

Thais don't seem terribly complex in this regard, so not difficult to suss out common trends and  anticipate.  But right, sometimes you get an extra special space cadet, especially the slow ones, and I wonder how in the hell they make it through the day without choking on noodle soup.

46 minutes ago, Elkski said:

As I sat on the 14 hour flight to Taipei I remembered when there was a smoking section on airplanes.   The world does change for the better Sometimes.   What you complainers   don't  get it my right to my space not affected by your freedoms trumps your right to degrade mine.  

Anyway, sorry for the rude diversion on your thread.  But you left the world hanging after the text message.  What happened next?

Yep.  That's the regurgitated rhetoric right there ^.   It's like pulling the chord on the back of a talking doll's neck. 

Even when I was a smoker and you could still smoke on planes, I didn't.  Too confined and out of respect for people around me + didn't want to reek like an ashtray on arrival at destination.  You wouldn't have known I was a smoker the way I evil-eyed them, especially the bloody chain smokers, one after another.  Really?  Come on!

10 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

The street beggars have recently returned to Chiang Mai for the high season. I wonder how they survive during the 6 or so months of low season. They don't look underfed either.

At the restaurant I like a couple of young kids always come along to beg from the farang customers.

 

There is one thing that gives the fake beggars away though, they never ask Thais for money, only tourists. Most Thais know the scammers for what they are.

I live a few hours drive N of BKK.  Don't get down there much, by choice, but did recently.  We walked lower Suk just to look around.  I was taken aback by the women with kid(s) sat on elevated pedestrian walkways in that area, and on the sidewalk toward Arab town by Rameez Supermarket.  Don't have any of that where I live, so it took me a few seconds to switch gears to Metro/Tourist area mode. 

Just now, thaibeachlovers said:

The younger the greater the pity factor. I'd say I've seen younger than 3.

In London the beggars used to carry drugged babies with them to beg in the tube, and the cops did nothing about it.

Roger that. 

IMO, he ought to see a Dr. right now, get a physical, and let them know what he's up to.  They've seen it plenty of times, can tell him what to expect, and if he runs into trouble and needs their help, they have recent background on him. 

He'll feel better in time, and simply cutting out the beer intake will shed some weight too.  

5 minutes ago, KarenBravo said:

Makes me laugh when people object to second-hand smoke from a cigarette when outside.

It used to be about that.  But once the wild-eyed non-smoking nazis got lobbying traction and law makers on their side, the real truth came out.  They really just don't like the smell.  My Dad is one of those <deleted>.  The mere whiff of burning tobacco, even far away in a (now nearly non-existent) smoking section, he's up complaining to the waiter that "their" air is messing up his personal habitat bubble. 

I get it and got it more after I stopped smoking, it stinks.  But I never became THAT militant about it.   Ex Drunks, Ex Smokers and Born Again Christians can be some of the most annoying people on the planet.

Just now, Thongkorn said:

   Typical response from someone who knows nothing , I have known her for 10 years, also i  don't Abuse any women , it's called friend, Something that many guys don't understand. Because there Immature dick rules their small brain.

No, I get it, good on ya, was just having a laugh, hence the "555".  Take care, good luck with the process.

So what happened next?

See some good rates on the bank rate link ^.   But until OP return and states his objectives, hard to say.   I did notice afterward that he's posted the same Q in more than one area on TVF, so maybe he's GTG already.  Dunno.

On 12/29/2017 at 10:21 PM, wood said:

Shouldn't she be home with her parents, is this still going on and allowed here ?  What to do ?

Well, you've been flamed sprayed enough already......   I would agree with you that 3 to 4 years old is a bit too young even for Thailand.  However I'm not surprised by your revelation as much as you seemed to be, so the impression you gave was one of a wide-eyed newbie.

I think that's what prompted some of the high handed responses.  I was also left trying to reconcile your OP with the suggestion you made later on, that you have been traveling Thailand for a long time.

Thailand is a rich, corrupt poor country.  Expect folks from the poorer provinces will be heading to Bangkok and other tourist/manufacturing zones for a long time to come.

That website you've posted in your OP, if you look at the whole thing, answers your 2 fairly broad questions.... unless I'm missing something? 

https://thailand.deposits.org/

Beyond that site, keep tabs on the Jobs/Banking thread here, guys often post latest fixed account promotions/offers as and when they run across them.  Or visit a mall and do some bank window shopping on your own. 

Are you looking for a place to stash roughly 800k Baht? (Immigration)

Anyway, the question was if anyone had gone through the police/bank process to secure ATM CCTV footage.  I for one am interested to hear how that pans out beyond what you've already done so far.  And hope your US bank reimburses the funds. 

Don't mind me asking, which US bank?

11 minutes ago, Just Weird said:

"...possibility he's high on Yaba.."

"Probably just smoking weed".

 

You seem to know a lot about him, possibly, or maybe probably, or more likey, not at all.

You've cracked the case, got me dead to rights, bloody good work, Watson! 

1 minute ago, sfokevin said:

Banks do not readily reimburse for ATM fraud here...

 

To limit my potential loss I have two accounts with my bank... one where my monthly wire transfers are deposited and emergency fund is kept - this accounts ATM card is never used and in my safe... I then have a second account with an ATM Visa card for regular use... this account I put no more than 20,000 baht in by free transfers from my other account... this is easily done by my banks App on my phone. I also receive texts of all withdrawals and Visa charges...

Nice.    I do the same with BKK Bank, except the main account has no ATM card assigned to it.   The other account is joint with ATM cards, but I keep less than 100 Baht in it, only transfer what we need as/when required. 

Same thing with the Krungsi accounts.  

4 minutes ago, sfokevin said:

You say they withdrew 30,000 twice?... I did not know that 30,000 at one time was possible?... I thought the ATM limit was 20,000 a time... Or do you have it set higher and if so who knows you have a higher limit of withdrawal?...

OP's since responded.  TMB ATM= 30k each pull, up to his card's daily limit, which he said was $2,000. 

12 minutes ago, kenk24 said:

Thanks 55Jay... some good but discouraging info there... anybody ever try Hong Kong or Myannmar? 

Or Singapore.  FWIW, there is a (US) Navy Federal Credit Union on the Singapore (Sembawang) Navy base.  Getting access to the base and membership with the credit union are barriers though.  Thought I would mention if you knew someone down there or had mil connection of some kind.

http://www.military.com/base-guide/navy-region-singapore/contact/navy-federal-credit-union/16015

Indeed, I ran into that problem a long time ago shortly after the new bills came out.  Had a wad of 100s in my pocket from my credit union, didn't notice 2 or 3 were the old version.  Currency changer in BKK wouldn't take them even then. 

Found a fairly recent thread on this, maybe will give you some ideas.  One guy on page 2 said he was able to change old notes at a BKK Super Rich in the last year or so.  Good luck.

https://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/992105-how-long-is-the-validity-of-the-old-us-100-dollar-bank-note/

On 12/31/2017 at 7:45 AM, Berkshire said:

If the OP believes being in the USA is best for him and his family, more power to him.  But I'm not sure if I'd choose Florida....especially close to the ocean.

 

[A state built on real estate speculation, whose chief attribute was proximity to the water, now faces a whole new problem: There’s not enough land, high enough above the water, for its residents to pull back from the rising seas. By the end of the century, database company Zillow Group estimates, almost a half-million Miami homes could be — literally — underwater. That’s more than anywhere else in the country.]

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/floridas-real-estate-reckoning-could-be-closer-than-you-think/ar-BBHtiex?li=BBnbfcL

Interesting article, thanks.  I've cooled on Florida after we went and had a look around.  I could afford a modest house near the shore in some areas, but I reviewed municipal storm surge maps against the real estate listings, and it gave me pause.  Found some nicer, newer home developments on a patch of higher ground a few miles in from the beaches/lagoons, and they were more California prices.  Folks willing to pay a premium for that location.

Drove over to Pensacola for the day, stopped at a waterside municipal park and noticed a tall stanchion with a red line way above my head, at the 18' mark, with a sign indicating that was the high water mark during some previous hurricane.  

We drove up and down the middle on the turn pike, very rural.  Somewhere before, during and after Ocala, the oversized billboards along the highway were all Jesus all the time, every couple miles.  Kept hearing the banjo from Deliverance in my head, so we kept on driving. 

Enjoy the cooler weather, while it lasts.  We'll be back to "normal" in no time.