socrates28

Quiet on here lately lads, anyone would think you were battling against relegation

Not as quiet as your board at the moment!!

AVB had no tactics - there are no excuses lads - you were played off the park

West Ham should try playing like Spain without a Centre Forward and just pack the midfield - we showed we can pass the ball around

Back down to earth though - its one game and one win

I have no doubt Spurs will do very well this season

Up the 'Ammers

I remember taking out 6 girls from a massage shop in Samui in 2010 - I stood in the one spot with a fan in Green Mango open air disco - I was sweating buckets and I watched us beat Spurs

This was far more enjoyable!!!!

When I was sending money to Thailand for the payment of my property I simply loaded it onto my credit card (assuming you do not have outstandings on the card) then go to the bank & within the bank withdraw 999999THB per transactions until the required amount is achieved. That way, your bank does the conversion & no fees are payable.

And of course there would be no security check (taking 30-40 minutes) by your bank in the UK for such a large transaction made abroad - especially in Thailand

And I am sure you meant debit card and not credit card - as a credit card would be even worse than a debit card

Also as others have mentioned you need some kind of paper trail showing that the money was sent for the purchase of a property

And once you have the cash in your hands in Thailand - what do you do with it?

This advice is so wrong on so many levels

OH DEAR!!!!

Halifax online transfer is £9.50 for amounts up to £50,000

And £9.50 intermediary bank charges

Metro Bank doesn't charge anything, silly boy.

You know exactly what I meant - there is a 180 baht charge as its MC not Visa - which if I remember rightly I FIRST pointed out to you - and you ridiculed it - cannot be bothered to look back and show you

As to these cards you mention, I posted about them long before you obtained your info from MoneySavingExpert. So I know all about them.

You may very well know about them but others do not - the info was not for your benefit it was for others - and as you do not look at them objectively - you will never share the overall benefit of them to MOST people

By your logic supermarket potatoes are better than organic homegrown as they are more readily available.

You lost me there - but I am sure you are right

No doubt people would prefer not to cycle money in and out of an account if you can get a near identical account where you don't need to do that.

In your slightly obsessive world it might seem the normal thing to do. Forget and you are hit with a £5 fine.

How can you forget if you have standing orders set up

As for obsessive I am nowhere near as obsessive as you about always being right

It is useful to have VISA debit, especially in some South American countries.

Would not know about that - but I will take your word - useful information for all us

But to say it is the best, based on your odd habits, is just bizarre. I get a better exchange rate via Mastercard and I can get myself to an AEON ATM without drama. They also have the top CC on the market(based on the fact that they have one interest rate for all customers, not three) and I can administer all from one account.

I am not saying they are the best the Best Buy Tables say they are the best - I pick and choose the bits that are relevant to me and my situation in Thailand

Nothing wrong with the N&P accounts. I was among the first to recommend them, if not the first.

And that makes you feel good - doesn't it!

Why not be the first to tell us about your wonderful Travel Insurance policy I see you have failed to share that one so far - or is it made up just to prove a point?

So, take it easy.

I am very relaxed and will be back in LoS in 3 weeks

There aren't that many annual policies with a 90 day per trip allowance. For once you can look for it yourself, rather than copy and paste.

You stated the Nationwide account as the best whilst denigrating the suggestion of Metro Bank in a rather unpleasant manner.

For many, Metro Bank will be the superior option. The FlexPlus is a bundled account. No good if you don't or cannot make good use of the bundle, so you pushing it as the best is disingenuous to say the least. Perhaps just a poor choice of language on your part.

If the FlexPlus was the best for me, I would already have it. But 45 days is simply not enough and would leave me uninsured.

So nothing wrong with your recommendation of 'best in class' accounts, just be mindful of the way that you do it.

Like I said - none of this information was for you or for your benefit

Bottom line is - whichever player it is that has not scored for ages, or has never scored for his team - you can bet your bottom dollar he will do it against us (West Ham)

So rest assured all Soldados dreams will come true on Sunday - especially with Defoe breathing down his neck

Firstly did you fill in your reference number from your 60 day Visa on your Arrival Card?

If you did not then they will automatically stamp for 30 days

This exact same thing happened to me

Here is what I did:

On departure you will be sent to the section that deals with overstayers - one of the Customs Officers will manually rectify everything and just leave a small donation of 100 baht in their collection box

Metro Bank doesn't charge anything, silly boy.

You know exactly what I meant - there is a 180 baht charge as its MC not Visa - which if I remember rightly I FIRST pointed out to you - and you ridiculed it - cannot be bothered to look back and show you

As to these cards you mention, I posted about them long before you obtained your info from MoneySavingExpert. So I know all about them.

You may very well know about them but others do not - the info was not for your benefit it was for others - and as you do not look at them objectively - you will never share the overall benefit of them to MOST people

By your logic supermarket potatoes are better than organic homegrown as they are more readily available.

You lost me there - but I am sure you are right

No doubt people would prefer not to cycle money in and out of an account if you can get a near identical account where you don't need to do that.
In your slightly obsessive world it might seem the normal thing to do. Forget and you are hit with a £5 fine.

How can you forget if you have standing orders set up

As for obsessive I am nowhere near as obsessive as you about always being right

It is useful to have VISA debit, especially in some South American countries.

Would not know about that - but I will take your word - useful information for all us

But to say it is the best, based on your odd habits, is just bizarre. I get a better exchange rate via Mastercard and I can get myself to an AEON ATM without drama. They also have the top CC on the market(based on the fact that they have one interest rate for all customers, not three) and I can administer all from one account.

I am not saying they are the best the Best Buy Tables say they are the best - I pick and choose the bits that are relevant to me and my situation in Thailand

Nothing wrong with the N&P accounts. I was among the first to recommend them, if not the first.

And that makes you feel good - doesn't it!

Why not be the first to tell us about your wonderful Travel Insurance policy I see you have failed to share that one so far - or is it made up just to prove a point?

So, take it easy.

I am very relaxed and will be back in LoS in 3 weeks

Looks like Soldado is having trouble at the moment interfering with play.

Maybe AVB will give Lamela a run out at Anzhi Makaukelele.

Will be interesting to see what he does....Soldado needs an easy game or two and some goals to fire him up.

West Ham .....

https://www.metrobankonline.co.uk/Global/Metro%20Bank%20Online%20-%20January%202013/What%20you%20need%20to%20open%20an%20account%20-%20Personal/What_You_Need_PersonalAcc_223%20PF380-06.13.pdf

As for the other bits - there are a lot more people that do have a phone that costs money than do not

Interested to know who your Travel Insurance is with

And you are not paying £145 just for the insurance as previously stated

So you would rather have £2500 sitting somewhere it earns no interest?

And its not pennies interest its around £70 after tax (or so)

The hoop traversing is £500 in (electronically) and £500 out (electronically) - hardly hoops

I meant evidence that he told someone without a UK address to apply for it. It looked like a general suggestion to me. Your response was uncalled for.

Who says I have £2500 sitting around with no interest. My money works for me. The insurance is useless to me, as it can never meet my needs for travel. As I stated before, if someone can make use of all of the benefits, it can be good value. Otherwise you are paying for things that you do not need. Paying out £145 per annum and getting a lesser policy than I have now would not make sense. I pay around £57 per annum for my policy.

You yet to share with is who this is with

Traversing £500 in and out of an account is a hoop that you do not traverse with the Metro Bank products.

You do not get any added extras with Metro - so no hoop - no extras - simple hoops - you get benefits/extras

So rather than bandying statements such as "Best cards for UK people to use in Thailand are..:" ...you could simply write that they are amongst the best in group and let people decide for themselves as to whether they pay out £145 per annum and have £2500 sitting in an account that they won't use or whether they wish to cycle £500 in and out of an account... whilst bluntly stating that the Metro Bank card as a Mastercard will attract an 180 fee instead of an 150 baht fee from a standard ATM.

But the Metro does charge 180 baht (unless used in AEON) thats a fact - also they do not have the coverage of branches (yet)

They do not have to pay the extra £25 if they do not travel for more than 31 days or are prepared to pay an excess

I think you may find that many would prefer a no fee, no hoop jumping card as their best pick. Especially as they can avoid any ATM fee by withdrawing over the counter. Paying 150 baht each time you withdraw will surely whittle away any savings you may have made.

The products are good, but that does not mean that they are the best for everyone.

You are it sounds in the minority so when I said BEST it means for the majority as the Best Buys apply to majorities

https://www.metrobankonline.co.uk/Global/Metro%20Bank%20Online%20-%20January%202013/What%20you%20need%20to%20open%20an%20account%20-%20Personal/What_You_Need_PersonalAcc_223%20PF380-06.13.pdf

As for the other bits - there are a lot more people that do have a phone that costs money than do not

Interested to know who your Travel Insurance is with

And you are not paying £145 just for the insurance as previously stated

So you would rather have £2500 sitting somewhere it earns no interest?

And its not pennies interest its around £70 after tax (or so)

The hoop traversing is £500 in (electronically) and £500 out (electronically) - hardly hoops

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2301078/West-Ham-unveil-Olympic-Stadium-plans.html

Must admit I have lost sight of when you guys move to the Olympic stadium.... When is that going to happen?

2016 - unless by then we lose it to Orient!

^^^^^^

I never meant get rid of the Youth/Development Team

But in our current position we cannot really on rookies we need quality up front and we need it now - we had chances to sign players - Remy for one, Lukaku etc etc

Are you telling me in the whole of Europe there was not one available striker on loan - that calls into question our contacts and links - which goes back to the people who run the club

We aren't actually playing that bad. We just aren't doing the job up front. I would give Elliott Lee a go. He's banging them in in the dev squad.

I am sorry but there is no excuse

Carroll was always injury prone - they (we) knew that

They did not sign anyone decent as cover and when they enquired about Lukaku they were told he was going to West Brom and would not talk to them under any circumstances - they should have insisted and even flown a helicopter to wherever he was - you just do not take no for an answer

Upshot was 10 minutes before the deadline he signs for Everton - so much for not talking to anyone!!

Our problem on the transfer front is that we have Brady negotiating - like Tottenham we have learnt that the old style of negotiating has gone out of the window - they brought in Baldini and all of a sudden Levy is a Messiah - coincidence?

Brady may be good at running the club and watching how money is spent, marketing etc etc

However the transfer market is about Football people talking to footballers and agents - Brady just does not fit that mould

And as for bringing in young players and hoping they do well is not the way forward

I would go all out in January to get Defoe who may be disillusioned by then and even Adebayor until the end of the season - otherwise my fellow Hammers - we are going down

I hope you don't go down. The premiership needs great clubs like West Ham, and needs managers of character like Sam (and Arry). Many won't agree with that though.

Personally the minute Harry was sacked (released) by Spurs - I would have brought him to West Ham in whatever capacity - even if it meant Big Sam going

Harry had that fire in his belly like AVB had when Chelsea got rid of him - something to prove - Managers always do well when they have that attitude

Unfortunately on current form we are down and our next 2 games Spurs and Man City - probably two losses and minus 6 goal difference - shame we do not play Cardiff every week!

We aren't actually playing that bad. We just aren't doing the job up front. I would give Elliott Lee a go. He's banging them in in the dev squad.

I am sorry but there is no excuse

Carroll was always injury prone - they (we) knew that

They did not sign anyone decent as cover and when they enquired about Lukaku they were told he was going to West Brom and would not talk to them under any circumstances - they should have insisted and even flown a helicopter to wherever he was - you just do not take no for an answer

Upshot was 10 minutes before the deadline he signs for Everton - so much for not talking to anyone!!

Our problem on the transfer front is that we have Brady negotiating - like Tottenham we have learnt that the old style of negotiating has gone out of the window - they brought in Baldini and all of a sudden Levy is a Messiah - coincidence?

Brady may be good at running the club and watching how money is spent, marketing etc etc

However the transfer market is about Football people talking to footballers and agents - Brady just does not fit that mould

And as for bringing in young players and hoping they do well is not the way forward

I would go all out in January to get Defoe who may be disillusioned by then and even Adebayor until the end of the season - otherwise my fellow Hammers - we are going down

The guy was telling someone who was overseas without a UK address to apply for an account with Metro - who clearly WILL NOT open accounts for people without one!

Flex Plus has loads of benefits which you have chosen to ignore and with £2500 deposited receiving 3% interest so the £10 is reduced greatly , WW Travel Insurance and Mobile Phone Insurance - plus other benefits - is that not worth £5 a month (if £2500 deposited) or even £10 a month without?

there are added benefits like pay an extra £25 per annum and you can travel more than 31 days and up to 45 days and ZERO excess on any claims on your Travel Insurance

Personally I do not like to withdraw in branch - I do not like carrying my Passport around and I have a K Bank which I send money to via Halifax

The cards are as a back up and for taking advantage of all the products available as extras

I have all the cards mentioned apart from Clarity

I stick to the AMEX Starwood card which gives me 11k miles on sign up - £75 annual charge and point per £ spent and an extra 5000 miles once I reach 20,000 points (20,000 miles)

Oh, I stand corrected.

The 150bt fee was added on to my total withdrawal amount rather than as an extra and so I missed it.

Even so, the fees still feel extortionate.

You're right it is extortionate. I'm going to do wires from now on.

I just hope they don't rob every Baht from my Thai account.

Right, those fees from home bank will eat you alive. I'm not from the UK but aside from Charles Schwab, if you can get it, some UK folks saying Metro Bank is good for expats re: ATM w/d overseas, etc.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/669317-best-uk-bank-accounts-for-expats/

Do not follow that persons advice - he is clueless

Metro is an OK account but it is MasterCard so its 180 baht for withdrawals

Best cards for UK people to use in Thailand are:

Nationwide FlexPlus £10 monthly charge but has many benefits and if used correctly will cost you £5 a month - 3% interest on up £2500 - for that you will get Worldwide Travel Insurance, Mobile phone cover (without registering). Breakdown cover and extended warranties on all relevant goods (do not need to purchase them on card and covers you for goods you own prior to owning account) Commission Free Overseas Withdrawals

Norwich & Peterborough Gold Classic Account - free just credit with £500 and send straight out again - Commission Free Overseas Withdrawals - FREE - also get Sentinel Gold Cover - you can read more on this link -

http://www.nandp.co.uk/current-account/gold-classic-current-account/

Quite useful for a number of reasons - especially if you encounter problems overseas

Halifax Clarity - I will not cover this as not everyone can get it

In ALL cases you are charged an ATM Fee by the Thai Banks of 150 baht (Visa)

Interesting thread - good solid info here (most of it)

Quiet on here lately lads, anyone would think you were battling against relegation

Can you allow us to eat our Lasagne in peace please?

And to answer your original question

10,000 Euros or £8k (roughly) per person

But be aware Customs are allowed to ask you to provide proof of the source of your money above £1,000 and if you cannot provide it you can have the money confiscated

So for cash the easiest thing to do is carry £1000 each - job done!

Get yourself a Nationwide Flex Plus Account before travelling

£10 a month BUT you can deposit £2500 and earn 3% interest on it - so ends up costing you £5 a month

For this you get fee free overseas withdrawals (local ATM charges apply 150 baht a pop) worldwide travel insurance for the family, mobile phone insurance for all the mobiles in your family and no need to register them like other providers, card protection (worldwide with emergency cash), breakdown cover and extended warranties on purchases

Perfect all round account - and when you travel you call them to let them know you will be abroad

Alternatively look at Metro Bank (only if you have one local to you) and Halifax Clarity Card (credit card not 100% you will get one) both fee free look into terms for Clarity Card

Take a mixture of cash and cards - TC's are a messy option especially in Samui

Spurs top 4 finish in the EPL.

The Portugese twa* from the Bridge knows this.

Moyes probably does too.

And if you do not - what happens?