orientalist

I just received my latest life certificate. They are sent every 2 years. Usually i am in the UK around this time and a family friend - a JP - signs it. This year I will try my bank since the lawyer I have used for similar things in the past charges 1800 baht. 

Right. I made good use of the discounted movie tickets, but that's all.

I have fought with them before on this issue. When they said "Thais only" I pointed to their website and paper leaflet. They said those were wrong. A year or two ago they agreed residents with a Thai ID were eligible but insisted on seeing my actual tabien baan, which wasn't convenient so I didn't bother. This time I went into the Preferred lounge as usual and one of the hotties there said "Thais only" (groan), but since they are mainly selling funds they aren't familiar with day to day banking stuff so I asked her to check. It turned out to be OK. They accepted my one-page tabien baan extract from the District Office even though it was 2 years old. When renewing a driving licence it can't be more than 3 months old, so I was a bit worried about that. Apart from the tabien baan, they took copies of my Pink Card and passport. And of course there are multiple forms to sign. Not very Thailand 4.0.

Well, my fault really for going in after 2pm. I thought about transferring all the money online but that would have been a lot of 50K transactions.

Anyway, I am now the proud owner of a CIMB "Senior" account, 1.5% for 12 months, tax-free and monthly interest paid to my savings account. At the end of the 12-month period the account simply rolls over to a new deal with whatever interest rate is applicable at the time, and at that point I can add funds up to a maximum of 1.5 million. So all is good. Presumably these accounts can be opened with a yellow tabien baan, too.

I still have a bit too much money in Thanachart's e-Savings account, but it is handy to have it available. One year I had unexpected expenses and got caught with all my funds tied up in fixed deposit accounts and no cash readily available in December.

I have 3, but all Western-educated and computer/tech nerds like me. Having common interests makes all the difference. 

Gaah! I decided to put more money in, in addition to the cashier's cheque I had to start with. But they said in that case the cheque will have to go into the savings account first and will take a day to clear before I can open the new account. So I'll be back there tomorrow to open the new account... hopefully.

CIMB July... 

I was too late to open any account with a cashier's cheque, but after some argument they agreed I would be eligible for the senior account. We'll see tomorrow when I try again. Well spotted. 1.5% for a year is what I need.

I'm looking at today's promotion page: https://www.cimbthai.com/en/personal/news-and-promotions/promotions.html?c=promotion

Anyway, I'm going down there today so I will ask about the senior account. Previously they always insisted on seeing my tabien baan book, which is with my landlady.

It keeps on getting worse. As of July 1st:

Thanachart e-Savings: 1.20%

CIMB Preferred 11 months: 1.00%

LH 6 months 1.20%, 12 months 1.25%

This "merger" was first attempted in the early Taksin years, so good luck with that! All that has been achieved is that CAT became a public company without ever having an IPO - a state enterprise operating as a monopoly in some business areas that competes directly with the private sector in others.

12 minutes ago, moontang said:

That is still one of the better deals... unfortunately, I found their merger partner to be the most foreigner unfriendly, obnoxious, arrogant bunch in the entire country...so that would DQ them.

I was with Siam City for years before it became Thanachart and have been happy with them. Let's hope things don't change. I still get New Year presents from my original branch, but when my last fixed deposit with them matures next month, I'll only stay for the e-Savings account. Their mobile app used to be OK, but now it is slow. I prefer K-bank's app and LH or CIMB for fixed deposits.

7 hours ago, moontang said:

Looks to me like it is now 1.3% at Thanachart...and might be problematic at immigration, even though that bank has deposit insurance and are on the approved list.

Well, that's disappointing, but I suppose it was inevitable. Fortunately, I don't have to worry about Immigration.

You never know when the law or the enforcement of laws will change in Thailand. To be on the safe side, I put my bank interest from the UK into a UK account each year and then use Tranferwise to move it over to Thailand on January 1st the following year.

As I mentioned in the OP, the phone had no SIM. Find My Device is installed, but unless someone cracks the lockscreen pin code and connects the device to wifi or inserts a SIM, it won't show up. I'm guessing it will be re-flashed, and I doubt Find My Device will work in that case. 

The ditzy gf's ditzy daughter once "lost" a handbag and phone in a club and didn't report it. When her mum called her a few days later a cop answered. It had actually been stolen and by coincidence the thieving foreign gang had been caught and a cache of phones retrieved. So she got it back, although she should have reported it.

5 minutes ago, Grumpy one said:

Look for new g/f it may be the cheapest option 

For sure.

My ditzy gf left my expensive backup phone (Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact) in the back of a taxi. She can't remember the colour of the taxi, let alone anything else. Since it was a backup for my Xperia X Compact, it had no SIM or SD card, and was used mainly as a camera. It had a pin code lock and my email address on the lockscreen, plus the gf's phone number in the Emergency Contacts. The details were reported on Jor Sor Roy radio but only resulted in a few heavy-breathers calling.

Given that whoever found it chose not to contact me, is there any point in making a police report? If I give the IMEI to the carriers here, could they block the phone or do anything else?

I assume by now it has been taken to a shop in MBK to be re-flashed and someone with a "finders keepers" mindset now has the only moss green Xperia XZ2 Compact in Thailand. ????

So, I called Ratchaburi Hospital a couple of times to make sure the Ganja Clinic had CBD, and was assured it did. I made the 3-hour trip down there yesterday, did the 1-hour hospital registration process in stifling heat, entered the well-hidden Room 59 and was told, "Yes, we have CBD but the doctor who prescribes it is on maternity leave for 3 months. Please come back in September!" ????

They said the only solution was to try the Traditional Medicine Dept. They also had CBD-THC in the same formula as the big Nonthaburi clinic, but again "not for foreigners." ????

They were nice enough people and suggested I buy some traditional medicine, which I did. But when I got home and translated it I found it wasn't suitable for my condition, consisted mostly of chilli-pepper, and was not to be taken for long periods, i.e. useless.

I think the problem with many of these clinics is they have only one doctor licensed to prescribe cannabis, so they are stuck with opening hours of one afternoon per month and no service if the one doctor is absent.

The officials who want to launch "medical cannabis tourism in Thailand" will have to step up their game a bit, I reckon.

19 hours ago, globalmax2 said:

This is a new service helping foreigners legally obtain medical CBD OIl and other medical cannabis in Thailand. 
 

420 Meds Thailand

 

I gave them a try and it worked really well. Met with a nice English-speaking doctor who prescribed great meds, which can be refilled via LINE and sent via post. 
 

A friend had no trouble getting a 90-day supply of meds due to travel. 
 

Hope this nice new service can help you too. 

Lol. $99 per year for the "international medical CBD card."

So I called the Thai Traditional and Integrated Medicine Hospital near Bo Bae Market and they said they had herbal treatments for all but the cannabis oil was only for Thais.

Then I tried Phra Nang Klao Hospital in Nonthaburi. They have cannabis oil but only for their existing hospital patients when other treatments have failed. So strike that one off the list. 

Any updates on where to get legit CBD or CBD+THC oil in Bangkok. A month without it has reminded me how much I need it for pain relief.

Anyone tried the Traditional Medicine hospital south of Bo Bae Market?

The Prachinburi clinic I went to before says they have it but I don't know if the trains are running normally yet, and anyway it's a long way to go and the clinic is only open 1 day a month.

Thanachart still has 1.5% for their eSavings account.

CIMB offered me fixed 11 months at  1.2% or SpeedSavings at 1.35% over 100K today.

AIS head office near Ari BTS and the branch at Keha market are open. 

Qantas gave me a flight credit for my cancelled Bkk to Lhr flight on April 1 but I selected the option for a full refund (since I don't know if this flight will ever be available again). A screen popped up saying 'refund accepted' but no reference number, no email or anything. I'll give them a few more weeks.

Thailand is now following the Chinese model and moving to payments via mobile phone rather than Visa Wave etc. 

It really is convenient to use an app  and there is no charge. You don't need to load the wallet with cash (although the Thais do that), you just link the app to your card or bank account. Most places will let you scan with your own bank's app (ie Big C), with 7-11 you can use True Wallet. 

Makro accepts Citibank cards only but I read they recently began accepting True Wallet as well.