JGA

I would like to file a joint US tax return with my Thai wife because I will get a fairly substantial tax deduction. However, to get this deduction, I must declare her earnings in Thailand (which are only around US$10000). After searching the internet for hours, I was unable to determine what's a suitable substitution for the W-2 form that is issued by employers in America. She works for a government university, so we were able to download a document online that specifies what she was paid for the year. Does anybody know if this document would be accepted by the IRS?

I also need to get her a US tax identification number, but this can only be applied for at the same time as filing the tax return.

JGA

About 15 minutes after I posted my message above, the seller of the Trident sent a message to me asking if I was going to take the bike home after paying for it. I guess he changed his mind without any prompting from me. I now have the bike, bill of sale, signed copy of the bank transfer, etc. I will get the green book from the bank sometime this week.

JGA

On a related topic, is it required that one must wait for the transfer to be completed at the DLT  before the previous owner actually gives the bike to the new owner? I’ve sold three motorcycles over the years here and I never waited for the transfer to be completed before giving them the property that they already paid for.

I am in he process of buying a secondhand Triumph Trident from a Thai owner. He’s being a bit paranoid about handing the bike over to me even after I pay and he gives the green book to me. He wants to keep the bike (which is currently uninsured) until the transfer has been officially completed. Is this normal and does he have reason to worry about me taking possession of a bike that is still technically in his name until the transfer is complete? We are going to use a local bike shop to do the transfer because otherwise both of us and the bike have to go to the Chatuchak DLT, which I would be a big hassle.

The green book is being held by a major bank (due to a loan). I have to pay him first, so that he can pay off the bank and get the green book. I don’t have a problem with that, but as far as I’m concerned, as soon as that process is complete, the bike is mine. Is my stance contrary to Thai law?

JGA

7 minutes ago, Twin Peaks said:

Glad to hear some approval success stories. Applied Nov 2nd and received confirmation email right away on gmail. Still waiting on QR code, fly on the 10th. If I do not receive confirmation in the next 24 hours I plan to resubmit using my CLEAR generated vaccine QR code and see what happens.

The QR code generated by CLEAR is time limited. If you try to scan it after a certain amount of time, it will say that it's expired. You then have to restart the CLEAR app and generate a new code.

JGA

2 hours ago, JCP108 said:

They still haven't fixed this. I got this after submitting the first page that had my travel date on it. Using Chrome on an iMac.

I got around this error by using Chrome in incognito mode. 

JGA

1 hour ago, No1Farang said:

Question.  I read that the document JPEGs must be a maximum size os 2,000k.  Is this for each document or collectively for all six documents

When I applied yesterday, the file size limit had been increased to 5Mb. This is for each document, not collectively.

JGA

49 minutes ago, stickymango said:

California has a SMART Health Card which will enable you to generate an electronic record of your Covid vaccines including a QR code.  Other states might have this too.

I have a SMART Health Card QR code that was issued by one of the large pharmacy chains in America. Unfortunately, the QR code needs a proprietary scanner to decode the information. The scanner app is called "Verifier" and is available on the Google Play Store. However, Thailand doesn't use the SMART system, so they aren't going to have a clue how to properly scan the code to display the vaccine information. I will include this QR code on my ThailandPass application later today because I don't think anybody in Thailand is actually going to scan the code and examine the results.

JGA

I already booked my airline ticket and purchased the required insurance. However, I'm tired of waiting for a reply from the quarantine hotels (contacted through the ASQ web site). Should I keep waiting or just book a quarantine package on Agoda? Will an Agoda receipt be accepted by Thailand Pass?

JGA

Has anybody from the USA been either rejected or approved on the new system using a CDC vaccination card which contains no QR code or passport number?

JGA

I’ve been living in Thailand for 20 years, but have been back in the US since May. I already have an extension of stay and a re-entry permit valid until next spring. I would like to return to Thailand next month on the Thailand Pass system, but I have no idea what the procedures are going to be. Should I assume that I will need a booked ticket before starting the process? I never did the COE procedure, so I don’t know if a ticket was required to start that process also.

JGA

Congrats on the negative tests. My test is tomorrow for a flight on Thursday.

JGA

22 minutes ago, wasabi said:

I will be flying JAL I see this on their website. There are 2 versions of the Antigen test. Quantitative and qualitative. I think I will just get the PCR to be sure.

 

I believe that these rules are for actually entering Japan through immigration, not for boarding their planes in Thailand or for doing a short layover at the Tokyo airport before continuing on your final flight to America. However, the rules are not exactly clear about what the words "return" or "enter" mean if you are just transiting the airport.

The most common Antigen test used in Bangkok is the Abbott Panbio test, which is a qualitative test, so it wouldn't qualify for entering Japan. However, that doesn't mean that it's not good enough to get you to America on JAL. I would call the airline.

The following JAL web site specifically says that a PCR test is not required to transit through their airports...

https://www.jal.co.jp/jp/en/info/2020/other/flysafe/flights-service/quarantine-immigration/?m=coe06

Travelers connecting to an international flight

JGA

Here are a couple of PDFs from the CDC's web site that are useful for any flight to America...

Everybody is required to fill out the following "attestation" form and submit it to the airline at check-in...

https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/pdf/Fillable-Attestation-English-p.pdf

Good checklist to make sure that you don't miss anything...

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/pdf/Airline_Testing_Order_Checklist-p.pdf

JGA

2 hours ago, wasabi said:

 

I am worried about a false positive or even testing positive because I have Covid but am asymptomatic but I don't want any problems at the airport so I am going to take the PCR test. America has said they accept antigen or PCR but who knows what the staff is going to believe at the airport. If you don't have symptoms I believe ASQ Hotels are still an option. Hopefully I never need to find out.

 

If you have more information about the acceptance of Antigen tests to get out of Thailand into the US please post it here.

My girlfriend just called the Korean Air office in Bangkok. The employee who answered the phone asked for the destination country and when my girlfriend replied "America", the employee instantly said that only a negative antigen spit test is required. As stated previously in this thread, Emirates also has no specific requirements to board their planes in Thailand, other than following the testing rules of your final destination country. Don't know about Qatar and JAL (which are the only other two airlines offering flights to my destination city).

JGA

On 5/12/2021 at 6:35 AM, wasabi said:

My wife and I delayed our plans slightly. Test is now scheduled for this Sunday May 16th. It'll be a PCR test from Bangkok Hospital which we were told we can pick up the same day. Assuming all goes well we will be on a flight back to the USA on the morning of May 18th. Not planning to return until they allow vaccinated individuals to enter the country hassle free. 

I have the same plans... testing on the 18th at MedConsult, leaving on the 20th to the USA, and won't return until vaccinated people are allowed to return with minimal to no restrictions. My one-year visa and re-entry permit don't expire until next March, so I have time.

Still worried about getting a false-positive on the PCR test because I believe that they use a very high cycle count here (40). The thought of being forced into a field hospital for 14 days is quite worrisome. I would rather get the "antigen" test because the risk of getting a false-positive is very low with that test. However, I don't want to get into a situation where I get denied at the airport for not having a PCR test (even though the antigen test is perfectly acceptable for getting into America).

JGA

I am planning to travel to the United States soon, which requires either a PCR or Antigen test. I live very close to the MedConsult clinic on Sukhumvit Soi 49 in Bangkok, so I was planning to go there for the test. Has anybody travelling to the States opted for the Antigen test, which is cheaper and faster results? Do particular airlines have rules regarding which type of test is acceptable to board their planes or to do a short layover in the airline's home country? The main airlines flying from Bangkok to the eastern US seem to be Emirates, Qatar, JAL, and Korean Air. I just looked at the Emirates web site and they only accept PCR tests to transit in Dubai, so getting an Antigen test is probably a bad idea.

JGA

Thanks for the pointer to the Thai embassy in Washington DC. That's what I was looking for.

It appears that as long as you have a valid visa/re-entry stamp before leaving Thailand and they are still valid when you want to return, then you are good to go as far as applying for a COE.

JGA

The reason I am asking this is because I have an old grandfathered visa type that is never mentioned on official lists... the 3 million baht investment visa.

I am currently in Bangkok, but would like to return to the US in the near future to visit family and get the Covid vaccine (my State is opening up vaccinations to anybody of any age over 16 next week). However, whenever I look at the official list of visa types that are allowed to re-enter the country now, my visa type is never listed because it's basically an obsolete type that nobody cares about anymore. I'm not even sure that there is a letter type assigned to this visa. My extensions are just stamped with "Invest 3 million baht" in Thai language. This visa type is basically the same as a marriage visa or retirement visa in that I get one year extensions and wait in the same queue at immigration as these other types. The investment visa has been very good because immigration has never asked me a single question in almost 20 years of renewals, nor are there any bank account or other rules that I have to comply with. Just show the original deed to my condo, sign a bunch of papers, and I get my one year extension in about 15 minutes.

Of course, I realize that I will have to follow all of the current re-entry rules... Covid test, COE, medical insurance, quarantine hotel, blah, blah, blah.

My fear is that when I go to apply for the COE, my visa type is not going to be listed on the application, so I'll be stuck returning on a tourist visa and having my investment visa cancelled.

JGA

Here are the mortar blocks that were under about 50 sq meters of marble tile. Also found some concrete spalling under the blocks that needs to be repaired. Another photo shows floors after being sanded down clean to the original reinforced concrete. At least the mortar blocks were easy to remove since they just peeled off of the floor. A team of three people removed the blocks in 3 hours with a demolition hammer and chisel. There was no reason to save anything in the condo... too much termite and water damage over the years (termites have been gone for 10+ years, but the damage was already done).

I just didn't want to deviate from the solid all concrete construction (especially in the bathrooms). The QCon blocks will provide a very good sound and heat barrier. I also didn't want to change how all of the EMT conduit, electrical boxes, and plumbing are chased into the walls. Not to mention that I already have all of the QCon blocks stacked up inside the condo.

JGA

I need recommendations for construction materials for rebuilding the interior walls of my condo in Bangkok...

I completed gutted the interior of my 25 year old condo to do a full renovation. All of the interior brick walls were torn down (all non-load bearing) and will be replaced with 7.5cm QCon blocks (with 1cm of render on each side). All of the floors are about 20cm thick reinforced concrete, but there was about 7cm of additional mortar or soft concrete poured on top to raise the floors up to the level of the hallway outside of the unit. I had all of this concrete removed and then the floors were sanded down clean with a 7" diamond cup grinder. I will post photos of what the floors looked like originally and you will understand why all of this crap was removed. I already have the QCon blocks and I'll be using QCon lintels for the doors.

1) The original support columns for the brick walls were the standard re-bar reinforced stuff poured on site. I wanted to replace them with precast 75x75x3000mm concrete posts bolted to the floor and ceiling, but I think that it's probably impossible to find this size and length. Does anybody near Bangkok make precast posts like this? So, I decided that 75mm square steel posts would be much easier to deal with. I would like to get galvanized posts, but most vendors only seem to sell regular carbon steel. I also want the steel thick enough to be able to either weld re-bar or screw QCon angle brackets to it. Is 2mm steel thick enough for these purposes or should I go thicker? Also looking for post holders to bolt them to the existing floor/ceiling. Since render is not going to properly stick to the steel posts, I will attach galvanized lathing across the posts and QCon blocks to provide a proper base for the render.

2) After the support columns are bolted into place, I want to pour 75mm wide by 100mm high reinforced concrete curbs between the posts to build the QCon walls on. Since I can't get a pile of sand dropped off in the middle of my condo, I will have to use bags of premixed cement/sand. What is the best brand for this purpose and what is it called in Thai language (compared to bags of cement only)? Where can I buy small pea-size aggregate to put into the mix?

3) What type of concrete will I need to re-pour the 7cm secondary floors on top of the building's reinforced floors? The original stuff was very soft compared to reinforced concrete and sandy beige in color (lightweight concrete?). That's all I really need for the replacement floors since they will just be serving as a foundation for ceramic tile or laminated wood installation. The total amount of concrete needed is about 14 cubic meters!!

JGA

I joined the Racquet Club this week. Now, I'm looking for other members to play badminton with. I'm available to play just about any day or time. If you are interested in playing a few times each week, then please send me a PM.

-Jeff

I would like to join the Racquet Club on Sukhumvit 49. They are currently having a promotion until August 31 for 10% off when two people join at the same time. If anybody is interested in joining, please send me a PM.

-Jeff

I ended up installing a set of 310mm shocks intended for the Honda PCX...

http://www.vpattana.com/product/63/yss-g-plus-pcx

They fit fine including the reservoir just barely clearing the opening in the plastic undertail. The back end is now jacked up 20mm, but it's only slightly noticeable when riding it. Now I need to upgrade the front fork springs/oil because they are very mushy and bottom out easily.

Where can a get heavier fork springs in Bangkok?

-Jeff