dave111223

All the online banks i've used have an English language option.

(THB, SCB, Bangkok Bank etc..)

No, I'm just saying if a Thai credit card is used which is supposedly stolen then above 5 minute rule generally applies, whereas, generally in a card from a western country (or at least a U.S. bank issued credit card.) you have much more consumer protection--no hard core 5 minute rule...usually you are only on the hook for a max of $50 if your prompt reporting and story holds up. I have used a U.S. credit card in a couple of Thai jewelry shops over the years (but they much prefer cash)...not to imply all gold/jewelry shops accept credit cards (I expect many don't)...I expect they all prefer cash to avoid card fees and possible charge-back problems.

I think a Jewelry shop is quite different to a Gold shop though. If you buy general jewelry (diamond earrings, gemstone necklace etc..), then you are going to lose like 30% or more when you resell the items to get cash, but go and buy gold bars and your getting 99% cashback when you resell it.

In the western world that might fly, but if it was Thai credit/debit card you would still be on the hook as generally the Thai bank policy is you are still liable for all charges up to 5 minutes after you have made the stolen/lost card notification and the bank acknowledges receipt of the notification by deactivating the card. So, that gold you just bought with the Thai credit/debit card but then shortly afterwards called the bank to report it stolen, well, you are still on the hook for the charge...but at least you got some gold. Remember, for Thai credit/debit cards there really is no consumer protection; just bank protection....they really should rename it Bank Protection.

So just to clarify Gold shops do not accept international credit cards, only Thai issued credit cards?

Gold shops here actually accept Credit cards...?

How do they not get hit up with a crap load of stolen cards?

Same way as every other business, I suppose.

But if I had a hand full of stolen credit cards and wanted to max them out at the highest return, first place i would head is a gold shop. Buy Gold, turn around and sell it next door for a 1% loss? That's pretty damn good return on a stolen card.

Doesn't even need to be "stolen"; I'm surprised there aren't a queue of scumbag who walk in max out their card, then call the bank 5 minutes later and tell them the card was stolen earlier in the day.

This situation is why you should not use a Debit card but a Credit card

If you had you would be using the credit card issuers money while this was being resolved

Really makes no difference at the end of the day:

Debit Card:

- You contest the charges

- If you win you keep your money

- If you lose you lose your money

Credit Card:

- You contest the charges

- If you win you don't have to pay the money

- If you lose you do have to pay the money

Unless of course you just don't pay the credit card bill, in which case you still get debt collector looking for you, your credit is ruin and you can't borrow again (not really an option over 16K)

Debit card you loose the money instantly, since it is debited from your account

Credit card you loose the money never, since you dispute the bill before you pay it

BIG DIFFERENCE

But if you used your debit card, you just then your credit card to buy the things that you would have used the available debit card money for...Either way you are going to have to pay the credit card bill eventually, or default on it.

This situation is why you should not use a Debit card but a Credit card

If you had you would be using the credit card issuers money while this was being resolved

Really makes no difference at the end of the day:

Debit Card:

- You contest the charges

- If you win you keep your money

- If you lose you lose your money

Credit Card:

- You contest the charges

- If you win you don't have to pay the money

- If you lose you do have to pay the money

Unless of course you just don't pay the credit card bill, in which case you still get debt collector looking for you, your credit is ruin and you can't borrow again (not really an option over 16K)

Gold shops here actually accept Credit cards...?

How do they not get hit up with a crap load of stolen cards?

Hopefully we'll see these in Thailand some time soon:

http://youtu.be/ZqEdBCKFPAo

Daive, are you in LOS yourself like I am just now? There's just one possible explanation I can think of that might conceivably explain all this; maybe because you are in LOS with a LOS IP address, you are being fed an "asianised" version of MTGox's website that makes a blinkered wrong assumption that since Japan is nearer to you than USA, then by their parochially blinkered thinking it *must* be more convenient for you to trade with their Japan branch rather than their USA branch, so they don't feed you with the same info as visitors with N.American IP addresses see. I know it's a long shot, but just possibly their N.American base has access to a Thai bank account where their Japan base hasn't. I know my LOS IP address has a bad effect on quite a few English websites when they in parochial and blinkered fashion automatically feed me prices in THB when it should be obvious I need them in GBP. Renting a car from a UK base is a typical stupid example of rental firms' sites quoting me in THB.

I'm just finding it incomprehensible that MtGox are showing THB as one of their currencies without having any facilities to handle that currency. If they can get away with this, why don't they list "Martian Rocks" as another of their currencies and handle them the same way?? [grin]

Mt gox doesn't have a "USA Branch" they are located in Japan.

Hmmm... not sure! I'm still puzzling over this one. If you look at http://bitcoincharts.com/markets/ you'll see there's a big list of different currency bitcoin bid and offer rates, including MtGox's own instantaneous THB rates. I could also be wrong, but this seems to imply that if you trade on the MtGox exchange, these are the rates which will apply if you trade with MtGox right now (less their 6% fee I believe). The way I see it, you'd be trading with MtGox as an agent, not directly with other THB users. MtGox make their money from the spread between their bid and offer rates and their 6% commission on every deal.

I suspect MtGox are more than simply an introduction agency between buyer and seller. To be able to offer THB bid and offer rates, they must have their own Thai bank account just as Trunknuk is saying, and no doubt they have a good reserve of bitcoins too, so I see them operating as an agency that buffers the deals between buyers and sellers.

If you were to get your Thai bank to convert THB to US$ before wiring, that would surely be introducing extra Thai bank exchange rate and commission losses and maybe some exchange control implications too, wouldn't it?

Then, assuming assuming it was bitcoins you were ultimately trying to acquire, you'd still be paying MtGox to convert those US$ to bitcoin.

I think you are making a lot of incorrect assumptions;

1) As you can see the MtGox THB volume is tiny: http://bitcoincharts.com/charts/mtgoxTHB

Most days there is no volume at all (meaning no THB to Bitcoin trades happened on those days)

2) Mt. Gox is completely operated within Japan; they do not hold Thai bank accounts. After doing a bit more digging I'm not sure that it's even possible to deposit THB to Mt. Gox. I changed my default currency from USD to THB in Mtgox, then went to the Add Funds -> Bank Transfer and this notice came up:

You can do bank transfers to our bank in Japan in the following currencies:

USD, GBP, EUR, CAD, CHF, SEK, DKK, NOK, AUD , NZD, HKD, SGD. Any fee

charged by your bank or an intermediate bank will be deducted. Our bank

charges a 1,000 Yen receiving fee.

Note that it does not list THB, and shows only their Japanese bank account details to make the transfer.

If anyone has already transferred THB directly to mtgox without converting it I'd be interested to know.

I see only this option when for sending money to mtgox bank:

Wire information:

Beneficiary Name (Recipient): MtGox Co Ltd, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan (IMPORTANT: if the beneficiary account name is not entered, our bank cannot assign the funds to our account)

Branch Number-Account Number: 210-1457705 (can be entered without the hyphen)

SWIFT: MHBKJPJT

Name Of Bank: Mizuho Bank Ltd.

Branch Name (if required): Shibuya

Bank address: 1-5, Uchisaiwaicho 1-Chome, Chiyoda-ku 100-0011 Tokyo, Japan

Recipient Address: Round Cross Shibuya 5F, 11-6 Shibuya 2-Chome, Shibuya-ku

Tokyo, Japan 150-0002

I do not see anywhere on their site with references to Thai bank accounts?

Here is what I am trying:

US Bank > free -> Dwolla > $0.25-> Mt. Gox ( exchange USD for BTC Fee: .6% ) > almost free-> bitcoin.in.th ( BTC for THB Fee: around 8%) > almost free-> Local Thai Bank

If it wasn't for the BTC to THB fee, this would be a great way to move USD into THB. Hopefuly it will improve.

It looks to me as if MtGox have their own THB market http://bitcoincharts.com/markets/currency/THB.html, although I'm not clear exactly how that works, I'm wondering if using that could cut out the bitcoin.in.th step above? Can MtGox actually send and receive THB directly to and from a Thai bank? Anyone know?

Thanks for bringing this up. Just checked my account. You can have THB as your default currency. It seems you can then wire money to and from Mt. Gox to a Thai Bank, so seems no need for bitcoin.in.th at Bank Wire levels.

I could be wrong but I think if you use Mt Gox you'll want to send the wire transfer in USD.

*I think* If you send in THB and use a THB account you'll have to trade with other people who are using THB; which is basically no one.

Just have your Thai bank convert the THB to USD before transferring and set your Mt Gox account to USD, then you'll be able to trade with the highest number of people.

Remember Mt. Gox is an Exchange, where you are trading directly with other bitcoin owners, Mt. Gox owns no bitcoins (other than the fees); whereas all the local Thai dealers are "Over the counter"; meaning they hold/own the coins and sell to you, as such they charge a hefty premium to cover the risk associated with holding bitcoins.

Sounds like it's pretty clear the new owner of the company is responsible for the companies outstanding debts...

To measure would be very difficult as it is a large condo with many rooms. Too much room for error. I do believe they included the balconies in the floor space but I don't know if it included the balcony wall and railing. But since they would not let my put different railings of my choice (glass panels) I would think they should be responsible.

Did they object to all replacement railings, or just rejected the idea of glass panels (management might get a bit jittery at the thought of a glass panel falling on someone's head from 9 floors up)

I'm not religious as such, but it's God's decision to give a boy or girl

lol

Okay OP or any other Bitcoin expert. I have a question:

Situation: I wish to transfer money (using bitcoin) from the USA to an offshore bank account. My objective is privacy - not evasion of taxes - just privacy and not traceable by ordinary means by regular folks.

Say I wish to move $10,000 from a name brand U.S. Bank to a reputable trustworthy bank in the Cayman Islands, Singapore or Hong Kong using bitcoin as the transfer medium. Avoiding exchange rate fees and potential loss of value in the exchange would be great but not paramount ... just privacy of the exchange is the major point.

Okay Bitcoin experts - how can this be done explained as straight forwardly as possible. Thank you.

In theory you would:

1) Withdraw $10,000 cash

2) Meet someone on localbitcoins.com in the US and buy bitcoins from them

3) Contact someone in the Cayman Islands on localbitcoins and sell the bitcoins to them

4) Have them deposit the cash into your Caymans bank account

However at this time I was not able to find anyone locally in the Cayman Islands dealing in bitcoins: https://localbitcoins.com/country/KY

So this plan is currently not possible; until their are bitcoin traders in Caymans.

My parents are building a house in Thailand and plan to stay here for 4-5 months (continuous) per year.

They are aged 58 and 56.

I'm here on a type-O 1 year extension (Thai wife), and have 2 kids; so my parents have "Thai grandchildren" if that helps.

What would be the best visa to get considering the following preferences:

• They need to be able get Thai drivers license, maybe set bank accounts etc...(so tourist visa probably won't work well)
• They would prefer not to have to leave the country (do border visa runs) during the 4-5 months.
• Would prefer not to have to leave large amounts of cash in a Thai bank account

I'm thinking get a 3 month type-O visa before coming each year, based on "visiting Thai family", then get it extended by 3 months at immigration when it expires... is this possible?

i couldn't accept a boy as i am sure he couldn't accept the bastard that i would be with him ;-)

What do you mean by this? Why would you "be a bastard with him [a little boy]"? But you would not "be a bastard" with a little girl?

following the culture here a boy means retarded adult, gay, ladyboy or all these qualities...

It's pretty sick that you are so homophobic that you don't want a son because he might be gay...

Surely there are plenty of understandable reasons for preferring one gender child over the other; but the reasons you have given are just F'ed up and make you sound like a sick individual that should be no where near kids.

Delaying orders from the April 4th because of Songkran...(days off for Songkran didn't start until atleast 10th)...I would have already moved on to a different company.

If they had the items in stock, there would be no reason they couldn't ship well before Songkran (especially if they promise 24-48 hours on their website)

I think the issue that will become very contentious with regards to Bitcoin in Thailand will be gambling.

Bitcoins really are tailor made for online gambling; irreversible, instant, anonymous etc... I fully expect all websites that cater to the Thai gambler to be switched over to bitcoins within in the next couple of years.

But then the question will become are you breaking the law by handled bitcoins that have been involved in gambling, even if you yourself were never involved in the gambling.

For example I sell some bitcoins to Somchai, he used them to bet on a Premier league match at XYZwebsite.com (and loses). Did I break the law?

Let's go one step further and say that XYZwebsite.com sells the bitcoins to me for THB? Did I break the law? Even if I never knew what Somchai or XYZ were involved in.

It's going to bring up lots of issues in the not so distant future

Been reading this thread with interest and would like to jump in and ask if anyone here knows whether purchasing Bitcoins in Thailand is subject to local exchange control regulations.

There is no "purchasing bitcoins in Thailand" to worry about. Bitcoins are purchased online (or between individuals) completely separately to any government body of any kind.

Nice contradiction....but if you purchase bitcoins online on a Thai website, or from a local person in Thailand then you are "purchasing in Thailand"

Currency exchanges are regulated in Thailand. You must register as a money changer, but this appears to be pretty straight forward; fill in some applications, and submit information about the exchange transactions you do.

Whether bitcoin qualifies as a currency in the eyes of Thai authorities...as far as i know they have yet to declare their position...so I guess you would have to assume it is NOT a "currency" until they declare is a currency...but I'm assuming that at some point they will issue some guidance on it and will probably say it falls under the same controls as other currencies. (just as the US did with their FinCEN guidance)

To all those who were previously banding about the "tulips" comparison....I wonder if Tulips did that after they crashed?

I have seen recent interviews with Google, Paypal, Western Union and others where they have stated that they are seriously considering adopting bitcoin. They seem to be people that have a clue and know whats going on, judging by their success.

I have to laugh when I hear stories about Paypal and Western Union "considering" bitcoin...as these are the exact companies that bitcoin will bankrupt.

But then again their "considering" could mean "We're pumping and dumping the crap out of it and praying to jebus that it goes away"

I guess at some point they will have to make a choice to either:

1) Evolve into some kind of Bitcoin service layer (such as exchange, off-blockchain transactions, wallet service etc..) at much lower rates/profits than they are currently accustomed to

OR

2) Try and kill Bitcoin

I'm betting they will go for option #2...shortly following by a swirly trip around the bowl before their permanent demise.

I could however see Google getting involved, as they have a lot less to lose from Bitcoin, as their payment processing a small part of their existing business, compared to Paypal who has 100% to loss if they get it wrong.

Lots of falang accusing Thailand of making confusing statements in their (presumably) English language marketing material. TiT!

{If you are all talking about the Thai language version then I take back my implied slight}

Yes, Thailand made some very confusing marketing statements to me.

Yes you can run computers without A/C but you need to make sure you have ample cases fans and airflow (make sure fans don't get clogged up, or that you blocking them etc..) Also make sure your case fans are installed with a clear airflow direction (such as sucking air in the side and out the back, and not trying to suck air in from every direction).

As others have mentioned you can get upgraded fans for CPU/GPU (or get crazy water cooling systems etc...) but I find that fan/heat syncs that come with CPUs are pretty good already. In the past CPUs used to ship with some really crappy fans.

I have noticed that I tend to go through Power Supplies and Video Cards rather quickly in Thailand. Not sure if this is down to the heat or irregular power input?