Swiss1960

You can still drink at home etc.

It's called "respect" however I wouldn't worry too much as noone will give any trouble for farangs drinking on those days I'm sure however I would try to keep it low profile just out of respect..

I am not so sure about not getting into trouble... as you said, it is respect towards the Royal Familiy... and you know which laws you violate if you fail to show respect towards the Royal Family... so if I would be in Thailand during said days, I would keep my alcohol consumption strictly within my own four walls...

Grow fast? AEON has been here a long time, and is well established, with 2.86 million Thai credit card users already.

It's an excellent company, and during the floods actually went out of its way to call my wife and say interest had been suspended and she didn't need to make a payment for 6 months!

Ever heard of Visa or Mastercard doing such? No way!

-mel.

Again some ill informed comment... it is NOT in the responsibility of VISA or MasterCard to make such a call to wave payments for a certain amount of time, it is the sole responsibility of the Card Issuing Bank (i.e. SCB, AEON etc.) to make such a call. And since AEON is the owner of the Visa and MasterCard credit cards that they give to their customers, it is / was their call to make the mentioned payment holiday....

Visa and MasterCard have nothing to do with the payment of the individuals credit balance.

But it doesn't change the actual exchange rate. Nor does it get the home country bank involved in setting the exchange rate.

Again, not completely true:

The exchange rate used by VISA and MC (or any other brand) is used for the settlement of funds between the Acquiring Bank (providing the ATM) and the Issuer Bank (providing the card). Actually their are different exchange rates used, as VISA and MC do only settle in certain currencies (i.e. in US$, EUR, but not in Thai Baht as one example).

The Issuer Bank has the right to set their own exchange rates for the conversion to their customer accounts. I could name one Swiss Bank who sets their own exchange rates (and those have nothing to do with FEE) for Euro (giving their customers better rates than VISA / MC), have worse exchange rates for GBP and US$) and using the standard VISA / MC exchange rates for the rest of the currencies.

As long as they publish them on their websites, that is completely legal.

exchange rate has a much larger impact than the fee with these kind of money,

so you'll want to have a look both at daily exchange rate and also compare different banks

When using a foreign ATM card in a Thai bank ATM, the foreign exchange rates generally speaking are set by the card network of the card being used -- VISA or MC -- not the bank that owns the ATM. So the ATM rates for the same card on the same day will be the same at virtually any of the Thai banks.

The only exceptions to that are when the ATM asks and the customer specifically agrees to something called Dynamic Currency Conversion, which is a ripoff that yields a much lower ATM rate. But most of the Thai banks are not engaging in that.

Almost correct:

- you are correct about DCC which normally should not be accepted (SCB offers it by the way when I use my Debit Card)

- you are generally correct that VISA and MC use an exchange rate for the currency conversion between the ATM owning bank and the card owning bank

however - that's the point you missed - the card owning bank can (and in Switzerland they all do) add a fee ontop of the VISA / MC exchange rate, depending on bank and card product this is anywhere from 0.9% to 2.5% and it is called a "mark-up fee" on the VISA / MC exchange rate and must be clearly reported on the transaction / statement

Can I use this in a conversation as what is the pull between me and those two big orbs in your dress, young lady?

Also is that the reason, gravitational attraction of those two orbs being pressed together to form a cleavage?

Why aren’t we asking the important questions here ...

... opps, I just read that you are a Sponsor ... sorry!

Sorry... have to... can't restrain myself...

You have to add another variable to your equation... age influence on gravitiy that will divert the horizontal pull to a vertical one...

did it ever cross your mind that your way of ranting about governments, banks, corportations, taxes etc. is completely incomprehensible for other people, specially for people who decided to (now or in the future) live in a country like Thailand, where the laws imposed on them are very much unfavorable for them, but those people accept these laws in order to have the quiet, comfortable, unpolitical, happy life of their dreams?

You have a long way to go to accept the reality of life and start to understand that ranting about the things you rant about is not very productive with regards to receiving "civil" replies... what goes around, comes around...

Thank you for your civil reply.

I really should get over ranting and get onto practical sharing of indormation. My challenge however, is that whenever I bring up subjects like 'how can we circumvent this Thai law without actually breaking it'? or 'Are there better places than Thailand that have more freedoms?', people seem to get upset. The only logical answer I can think of is that while this forum might be hosted in the USA, its owners live and do business in Thailand and thus are vulnerable to expulsion for challenging the state. But that has never been explicitly stated.

And I have tried to cut out the rhetoric and just discuss the nuts and bolts, and even then I get attacked.

Please also see my reply on your other thread. I think that the way you post your questions, i,e. Are there better places than Thailand that have more freedoms?', you imply already that you think there are better places... so posting such a question in a Thailand forum might offend some people who have chosen this country as their place of living, even though these people know that their might be less restrictions in other countries...

That is why I said "what goes around, comes around". If you try to omit the negativity from your questions, then you might get better advice and more civilized answers.

Perhaps the negative reaction is due to my including too much political rhetoric and expressing my opinions about 'the way it should be' (or was in 1978).

You have some valid points and the more you tell about your reasons, the clearer you can make yourself (am also referring to your other thread on the same subject of ranting and insulting you).

Let me just comment on the one sentence I quoted above: 1978 was my first trip to the US of A. Smoking permitted in the airplane. Gambling in Vegas and drinking Jack possible as I dressed like having money (which I did'nt) and nobody cared about my age (I was clearly underage for both activities). Nowadays I omit travels to the US of A whenever possible, I only go there if business forces me. Fingerprints on entry, machine guns pointing at me throughout the airport. Smoking nowhere near any building entry, no-smoking beaches in California, random police checks, shootings all over, religious nutheads allover, showing ID for having a beer at the bar (and clearly, I look my age)....

But I don't rant about, I accept that this is the society the American people have voted for through their presidents / governments and seem to accept and / or not change when voting for their next president / governors. So I have changed my place for holiday and later retirement to Thailand, KNOWING that the laws here are also not all in my favour (i.e. immigration reporting, ownership of land / houses, work permit etc. etc.), knowing that I will be Farang for lifetime even if I one day will speak and read and write Thai perfectly. BUT I do accept these laws and regulations and restrictions without complaining about them, BECAUSE it is the place I have chosen to live in my future.

Maybe, if you try to post your questions as questions ONLY whithout making the kind of political statements that you do, then you will get more "civilized" answers? Just a thought that you might or might not want to take into consideration.

RIP and condolences to the family.

What kind of physical and mental illness would it take to do that sort of thing?

I can think of many, but just to mention two: Alzheimer (must be horror to not know who you are, where you are, not knowing anybody...) or terminal cancer (horror of pain...)

Personally, I am member of an organisation called Exit here in Switzerland which helps with assisted suicide, given two independant doctor's reviews confirming your situation. Much better solution than having to jump off bridges / high rises / jumping in front of trains...

Yes, you come from a civilized country, health-care wise. The man in this case was American.

You missed my point, Jingthing, it is NOT about health care. Yes, of course having Alzheimer or terminal cancer, in Switzerland I could get lots of care in special nursery homes for terminal ill people (I know of some such nursery homes in Thailand also, one even opened by a Swiss expat), but that is not my message.

My message is that I do also seriously consider suicide being the better option than years long suffering from such a medical situation. I would not call an assisted suicide organisation like Exit a "health-care" organisation, but I do prefer such a suicide (they provide you with a deadly medicament cocktail) to jumping off buildings.

RIP and condolences to the family.

What kind of physical and mental illness would it take to do that sort of thing?

I can think of many, but just to mention two: Alzheimer (must be horror to not know who you are, where you are, not knowing anybody...) or terminal cancer (horror of pain...)

Personally, I am member of an organisation called Exit here in Switzerland which helps with assisted suicide, given two independant doctor's reviews confirming your situation. Much better solution than having to jump off bridges / high rises / jumping in front of trains...

Any foreign exchange booth, use a credit card, pay off card online. Best FX and low fees (depending on card of course)

I would carefully check your credit card issuer's fees for cash advance through credit cards... they might charge you a fixed / percentage fee for the cash advance and they might top up the (good) FX rate from the exchange boot by up to 2.5%

Speaking for Switzerland, the rule is NEVER use your credit card for cash advance abroad, ONLY use your banks debit card!

Fairly appalling responses to someone who is clearly in earnest. All too typical of TV these days.

Beginning to be worth every cent it costs.

What do you expect? ALL his posts are about moving his money around from safety box to safety box, because he does not trust governments, banks, corporations etc etc... ALL his posts imply that he has so much money that he needs to hide it in various places out of the eyes of tax and other governement authorities... Does he / can he expect sympathy on a forum like ThaiVisa?

May be the impression he gives about himself is completely wrong... but as I told him in another post... what goes around, comes around...

I guess the question is: who made you judge and jury? And why, if you have nothing helpful to say, do you feel compelled to talk sh*t?

Given your propensity for wrong answers (ATM transfer speed, remember?), maybe you could stick to answering things you actually know something about, however limiting that may be.

The guy simply asked a question. If it was skirting the legal line, the mods are supposed to get involved, which so far they have not. If you have nothing on topic to say, why not just move on?

Thank you so very much your Highness for pointing me out... for explaining to me that one ill-informed answer makes me have a propensity for wrong answers...

and thinking about it... may I humbly ask you to give me guidance on which topics I am allowed to post answers, which topics you, your Highness, think I know something about? Given my bad reputational index (which is equal to yours...), I shall dearly appreciate your recommendations for my future posts here in TV...

Does your girlfriend or wife ever stay in temples? If so, why? And how does it help or benefit her?

Maybe your girlfriend just needs a time-out from you??? Just thinking...

Fairly appalling responses to someone who is clearly in earnest. All too typical of TV these days.

Beginning to be worth every cent it costs.

What do you expect? ALL his posts are about moving his money around from safety box to safety box, because he does not trust governments, banks, corporations etc etc... ALL his posts imply that he has so much money that he needs to hide it in various places out of the eyes of tax and other governement authorities... Does he / can he expect sympathy on a forum like ThaiVisa?

May be the impression he gives about himself is completely wrong... but as I told him in another post... what goes around, comes around...

even more pissed...

http://www.thaivisa....295-whats-more/

EDIT: Could be worth a nomination for the Troll of the Year award

did it ever cross your mind that your way of ranting about governments, banks, corportations, taxes etc. is completely incomprehensible for other people, specially for people who decided to (now or in the future) live in a country like Thailand, where the laws imposed on them are very much unfavorable for them, but those people accept these laws in order to have the quiet, comfortable, unpolitical, happy life of their dreams?

You have a long way to go to accept the reality of life and start to understand that ranting about the things you rant about is not very productive with regards to receiving "civil" replies... what goes around, comes around...

If you don't like their rules, go somewhere else

Good advice... and seems you will be following it...

But until I see a change in attitude and practice, by administration especially, I am leaving this forum.

bye bye and good luck shuffling money from safety box to safety box

30 days water fasting??? You mean WATER ONLY???

Well, you definitely loose weight....

You definitely endanger your health (you'll be missing every vitamin etc etc.)

You might end up very dead...

Maybe the thought of being stuck ANYWHERE near a Swiss Tourist is too much to bare, causing suicidal tendencies ...

That is mean... we are not ALL that bad even though have to admit some I see on here are pretty...

You can not expect a transfer from bank to bank to happen in less than 24-72 hours. First bank has to send the transfer order to the Thai exchange network and the second bank has to receive the order and has to process it through their internal processes to your account.

For the timing, it all depends

- does your transfer out of your bank account happen before the deadline your bank has for sending it out to the Thai exchange network

- does the Thai exchange network process your transaction to the incoming bank during bank holidays / weekends

- does your incoming bank process transactions online or only nightly in a batch (bulk) process

As an example, in Switzerland deadline for an Swiss internal e-banking transaction is 2pm on Friday, would be handled by the outgoing bank on Friday night, would be transferred by Swiss Interchange on Monday night, arrive at the incoming bank on Tuesday morning and would be available in your incoming account on Tuesday night / Wednesday morning.

And... another nomination I don't want to withhold from you:

harper100

for this thread "my-current-situation-and-nighttime-entertainment-in-bkk" to be found here seriously asking for

"i plan on attempting to get local women without paying for services. nothing special here, but i know the demographic that women go for in los and i fit in."

you just have to like that kind of members

Seriously, guys.... am getting disappointed with this thread... have to re-think my nominations... so here is a goodie in my "in love with a thai girl" category, nominating

ShanePashen

Starting his first thread on Feb 13 "serious-question-about-relationship-with-thai-gf-serious-replies-please" to be found here

Then his next one on Feb 16 "please-help-failed-676-visa-application-despair-has-set-in-what-next" to be found here

And now fighting for the Visa with this thread "i-would-appreciate-a-good-recommendation-for-an-agent-to-handle-an-australian-676a-visa" to be found here

You'll find all the right ingredients... 16y age difference... one meeting fall in love... of course she never ask for money... of course Aussie embassy should have given Visa... etc etc...

Anybody competing against me finding a more worthy member for the "I fell in Love with a Thai girl" category???

I was about to put down a nomination from troll of the year award in my favorite category "I met a bar girl"...

BUT reading your posts up to now, I withdraw and give you two more pages to write till I make my selection...

my troll post of the year selection is however clear

Can I suggest two nominees for the troll topic category?

1 ) Everything with "... met this bar-girl ..."

2 ) Everything with " ... UK pension petition..."

Received a WARNING e-mail from SCB today that their are scam e-mails going round and that SCB does NEVER send out mails and asking you to verify your identity...

So to the OP, yes this is spam, delete it and forget it.

How they got your e-mail address? Can be bought 1'000 for few $

Yes i guess you are correct regarding the mail addresses. There is no privacy nowadays.

That is why I have several mail addresses... the one I have for banking relations (like with SCB) is never used in any other place, I have another one for close friends (knowing that sometimes THEY loose my mail address to fraudsters) and for newsletters, open forums, social websites etc. I have again a different mail address... and for special cases, I am using 10-minute mail accounts or open a hotmail throw-away account.

Takes some logging to keep track, but this way I can be pretty sure what I receive where and which accounts are exposed and which are not.