Phil Conners

Tim Newton referred to this post on his Youtube channel today. I'm not sure what are the rules for linking these days, but search for Tim Newton Live *LIVE - Thailand's 'invasion', and all your questions & comments - February 3".  

Essentially his take, which I agree with, was, one thing is the rules, but in reality just keep trying branches until you find one that will open an account for you. TiT as they say. 

44 minutes ago, jaywalker2 said:

 

I've lived in Japan, France, Thailand, and several states in the US, and I never had any trouble opening a bank account until recently. I could open an account at Citibank from overseas. In Hawaii, I had an account that was happy to let me use a Japanese address. It's only recently that this nonsense has taken hold. If you're rich, I bet you don't have trouble opening a bank account.

Yes, living there, but not as a tourist. You won't be able to open saving accounts in USA or EU without a SSN or similar, which you won't get with a tourist visa.  As far as I remember you always needed some form of non-o visa to open a savings account in Thailand, not sure if/when that changed.

Hi George. 

I didn't know you could get a bank account with a tourist visa. Is that possible any other place in the world? 

Did anyone try the #71 train from Bangkok to Ubon?  There is preciously little information about it available online, at least in English. I'd be curious what classes are available and how crowded it typically is -- and any other personal experiences anyone has with it.

Debit card is fine for this as long as you got balance for the deposit required. They normally don't take the money, it's just frozen until the bill is paid.

Thanks for the replies and good info - and sorry for my late reply!

My wife and I are going together. We were thinking about going to Pattaya for a couple of days first, but decided to go up to the village near Kukhan, Sisaket, directly.  Taking the overnight train would have us sit around all day, and after a 10 hour flight we probably don't have energy to go shopping all day.

Long story short, I think we will take a driver / limo service / uber / taxi for the trip up and take the sleeper when we go back.

We used to have a regular driver, but haven't been back since 2019 and I guess a lot has changed since then?  Any recommendations? 

Planning to go up towards Ubon Ratchatani and thinking about ticking an item off my bucket list, overnight train ride in Thailand.

Normally there are lots of travel videos with people taking trains around the world but not so much to Issan.  I found the one below which in spite of the titillating title actually only have a few minutes of the actual train experience.  I was wondering if anyone have experience of this they would like to share? 

On 12/30/2021 at 5:49 AM, BangkokReady said:

But at the same frequency and to the same level of casual acceptance by society?

 

I can only speak for the UK, but the idea of a gik, a mia noi or young women having older men pay them for sex while at uni seem very rare.

Hmmm, look up sugerdaddy.  It is very common throughout the western world, Europe and USA too. 

Stimulus package, Thai style. Get the money into Thai pockets.

Well, thanks y'all. I've got a lot of good info! As always, Thaivisa to the rescue ???? 

Ok, that's a bit of a thinking-out-of-the-box solution. So no problem sending SMS to a Thai SIM in farangland then?

We live in farangland, but wifey still maintain an SCB bank account for ad-hoc needs, like occationally helping out the family. The problem is that they require SMS two factor authentication to a Thai number for all online activities.  I was wondering if any Thai bank offer alternative two-factor authentication, for example by email, using google auth, or anything else really.  

Bonus question: what is required for a Thai to open a bank account - just the ID, or anything else like tabien baen? 

Soi dogs are a menace, I vote to get rid if them. Several of them have been chasing me driving past on Nongprue road on bike at night. Someone wants them can take them home.

That is not exactly what I call well-managed villages. Have a look for example at Green Field Villas - you won't find any empty houses there.

How can it be on it's ass when traffic is worse than ever? Last I checked it was still mostly farangs in the cars. As for empty houses, not many in the well-managed villages.

25% is nothing. I have seen examples of BPH marking up 400%.

Bangkok Pattaya used to be good value up until about 12 years ago, now it seem to be about profit now. I will only go there now if it is for an emergency situation and then transfer as fast as humanly possible to another hospital. I did this recently and saved a ton of money. If you can get to Bangkok Christin Hospital up in Bangkok I highly recommend this place for fair prices and competent doctors as it is a private non-profit hospital.

That, and because it is just next to Chula University hospital a lot of the top professors/doctors from there have a private consultation in Bangkok Christian. HIGHLY recommended. Avoid BPH at all cost.

ebay.com

Try a few of the pawn shops. They might have something laying around. Also maybe that used shop on the second floor of Big C up off Pattaya Klang (the old Carre 4). I have seen some old electronics stuff laying around.

Do you mean Cashconverters? They closed a couple of years ago ...

Hi mate,

The only agent I will ever use in Pattaya is Alan Bolton Real Estate. They were in charge of the rental of my last condo, then they sold it for me, and then negotiated the purchase of my next one.

I have just listed another condo with them. Alan has been around for close on a million years, he is a gentleman, and all of his staff are professional to a tee. I would never personally deal with

another agent, especially unknown to me. here is a link. http://www.pattaya-property.net/

Call or email and ask for Toby or Steve.

Aussie John

I don't think Alan is still in Pattaya? I heard he has returned to UK, with someone else running the business here?

East Coast Real Estate.

I don't think I heard about them before, are they any good?

Many agents in Pattaya specialize in condos, so if you're selling a house on the east side, you need to find an agent who is good in that area.

Awful tragedy! Hopefully those responsible are brought to justice, and in the future the flight corridors are moved around such dangerous areas!