jeffandgop

1 hour ago, EricTh said:

 

Thanks for the update but did the officer mentioned anything about keeping that 800k for another 3 months AFTER you got the visa as per new rules?

 

 

See posts 782 & 785

Seeing Cake Lover’s reviews my wife and I tried it last year. It’s good but we both thought better desserts are found at Oasis and Fern Forest Cafe. Both are restaurants with good food, slices of pies and cakes, and we have ordered whole cheesecakes from both to take away home. Check their websites/FB pages. 

1 hour ago, Thailand said:

And what was mentioned in respect of  new retention of funds rules in the 800K account?

I did not ask as I’m going, per the regulation, to keep that 800K in the account for 3 months past my 2019 date (3 June) deadline to have to have applied for the extension of stay

Should I decide come September to withdraw any portion of my fixed account, the balance will be kept above 400K; until it’s time to bring it back up to 800K for next year’s application. Per the regulation.

Yesterday went to apply for my annual extension of stay based on retirement. It’s my seventh year doing this. 

As in all years prior I use the 800K method. I always set up a fixed account 3 months prior to my anticipated date to apply. 

I arrived at 0611 and there were 8 seats occupied inside the IMM office being a que line. Later I realized 2 of the seats were agents; one was handling some 8-10 individuals dealing with an Ed visa requirement and the other was waiting for a client extending on the basis of marriage. 

At 0700 the officer assisted by a student invited the que, in proper order, to obtain their service ticket. I was the 2nd retiree. 

At 0715 officers started to call out the 90 day que tickets and at 0730 the first retiree extender was called to report to counter 8. Only one officer worked the retiree extenders while I was at IMM. 

That first retiree was missing something and was told to go obtain whatever the officer needed and I was called. 

I presented my documents which included the letter from the bank and my updated passbook I had obtained the previous day. Within 10 minutes I was finished and the waiting for the head guy’s signature and return of my passport began. An hour and a half later I was given back my passport and left. 

While I was being processed I took the opportunity to ask the officer what the current rules were related to bank letters and updated passbooks. In sum, bank letters are acceptable if obtained no later than 7 days prior to applying and SAVINGS passbooks had to be updated the same day as applying with the deposit balance on both the letter and the savings passbook matching. As for FIXED accounts, bank letter up to 7 days before but he didn’t need a passbook update so long as the balances matched. He said that he examined the maturity date of the deposit and so long as it was later than the day applying for the extension of stay that was satisfactory. 

Of course prudence dictates to obtain a passbook update anyway while your obtaining the letter. And you need to have copies of the passbook pages which show the balance as well as a copy of the page with your account information (name, account no, etc). 

7 hours ago, SheungWan said:

O-A does not require any baht bank balance.

SheungWan you are Wrong...Annual Extensions of Stay for O-A Visas require- and have for years- evidence of a monthly income or a sum of money in a bank prior to applying..  The current requirements are 800,000baht IN a Thai bank 2 months prior, and which must remain in the account 3 months after renewal and can then withdraw only up to 400,000baht keeping the balance in the account untouched; or proof of a monthly income derived from overseas and deposited into a Thai bank account no less than 65,000baht per month for 12 consecutive months prior to applying for the Extension of Stay renewal.

I have a 27" iMac (model 2010) that I would like to donate to an organization that needs or wants a computer.  It has been wiped clean and runs on High Sierra. I would appreciate any suggestions or leads.  Thank you.

9 minutes ago, Brightly said:

One thought I have is the Rotary.

 

They could possibly auction it as a door prize at one of their events, or I’m sure they could find a recipient in need.

 

just a thought.

Thanks for the tip. The Rotary Club is a good suggestion. 

I have replaced my 27" iMac, and would like to try to donate the old one (model 2010) to an organization that needs or wants my device.  I would appreciate any suggestions or leads.  I would also appreciate responses stay on topic, and not turn it into a debate of Apple v Microsoft, etc.

2 hours ago, elviajero said:

You haven’t been asked because it’s a general rule that they don’t ask.

 

Retirement funds are supposed to originate from abroad, whether it’s monthly income or a single transfer. Immigration only require proof if you apply for a non ‘O’ in-country ahead of an extension, but not if you enter with a non ‘O’ obtained abroad.

 

My understanding is that they don’t require proof at the point an extension is applied for because proof of foreign funds should have already been obtained by the ‘agency’ issuing the prerequisite visa.

My apologies. I mis-read your statement. Should’ve had coffee first beforehand 

I ordered the new iMac from the Apple TH website the first week of April & received it (shipped from China to Thailand via DHL) on 11 April. Absolutely no issues...I was in I7 Studio last week and they said that they were to start having inventory- or at least start offering the new iMacs within days.

Re " as a general rule, require proof that the funds came from abroad"; please explain how you assert this...in all my years of processing extensions of stay based on retirement using the 800K funds inn a Bangkok Bank Fixed account, I've never been asked where the funds came from.........

1 hour ago, KittenKong said:

I dont think that you need to worry particularly about which brands you go for. The beauty of Windows compared to Apple is that with Windows you can mix and match endlessly, with a choice of hundreds of suppliers/manufacturers to pick from. Unlike Apple where the choice is simply Apple or nothing, and where all the prices are fixed by Apple. If you spend as much on a PC as you might on an Apple you will get something at least 50% better than the thing that Apple sells. Apple are hugely overpriced.

 

If you do want specific manufacturer advice then I would say Gigabyte motherboards and Intel processors as both will probably last a long time. Mine are 6+ years old, in constant use and doing just fine. Which brand of memory or hard drive you buy is less important, though no-name brands should generally be avoided and it pays to look at user reviews on sites like Amazon as that way you can avoid brands/models that fail often. Video card is up to you, and for what you want to do a separate video card would not even be needed though you could get one if you want. A decent power supply is always a good investment, as is a decent case.

For the actual spec I would say 8GB of RAM, a 240GB SSD for the system disk and a much larger spinning hard drive for your data. By all means increase that spec if you want to spend more. Processor speed will depend on your budget, so fix the budget first and work backwards from there. My processor was mid-range 6+ years ago and is still plenty fast enough.

 

Go to any mall where there are assemblers and you will find many options for putting systems together. You dont need to buy a particular brand like Acer or HP or whatever.

 

https://www.jib.co.th/web/pcsetspec/main

 

Oh, and never accept the offer of a Thai pirated copy of Windows. Buy a real recycled activation key on Ebay or wherever, and install Windows from media downloaded from the MS site ONLY.

Thanks for your information. 

3 hours ago, Thainesss said:

 

LOL and my point flies straight over your head. Are they both OLED tech? 

 

 

Just go on Lazada and look at desktops you already said you use it primarily for streaming (TV). 

 

Or get the Nivida Shield and be done with it. All youre doing now is using your Imac as a "Smart Tv" anyway. 

 

It’s my question that I asked that went over your head. I didn’t ask for attributes or features that need to be considered, just what PCs people would recommend. I never said my usage was limited to streaming either and also did want people who might consider my question that I am not a gamer. Other than wanting PC recommendations as an alternative to an iMac that’s all I was looking for. Don’t think you’re so wise to know what is or is not understood by others. 

Just now, Thainesss said:

Pretty much any brand-name desktop with about 16 gig of ram (minimum) & solid state 1tb hard drive will perform those basic duties flawlessly. 

 

You should be more concerned with the monitor IMO. Tech has changed so much in the TV/Monitor department over the last 9 years that its essential to get something in 2019 thats top of the line 2019 tech. 

 

So at a minimum a 27" OLED monitor and a desktop that can run it with HDMI cables. 

I have a 27" monitor and use HDMI to stream from my iMac to my 50" TV...thanks....am looking for advice on specific manufacturer products recommended and I'll look at the specs from there.....

Need to replace 9-year old iMac. Would like recommendations of Window-based alternatives...principally used for streaming, and not gaming.....

At my house Maejo area 

On 3/13/2019 at 9:10 AM, jeffandgop said:

Here's an update to my original post...

 

Having still not received my refund, and being no change to the IRS "Refund Status" webpage ("In Process") after filing electronically 6 1/2 weeks ago, today I called the IRS' International Taxpayer assistance line; and to my surprise almost immediately got a live person to ask for my status...after waiting on hold for about 7 minutes, she told me that the IRS had made some sort of error when processing my return, and on 4Feb the IRS "re-processed" my return...and this resulted in the delay; and I needed to wait 6-8 weeks after their "re-processing" date (4Feb) to receive my refund (direct deposit).....

No more than 4 hours after I provided the update above, a letter from the IRS arrived in my mailbox.  The letter advised that my tax return had been flagged for possible identity theft, and I was required to call the telephone number provided to confirm my identity and verify I had indeed filed the tax return they had in hand; until such time I had called to confirm my identity the tax return was NOT going to be processed and no refund would be forthcoming.

NOTE that the date on this IRS notification letter was 12 Feb- 8 days AFTER the IRS agent had told me during my call earlier that day that my tax return was in process.

I called the IRS's identity verification hotline and confirmed with the agent my identity and tax return details. My tax return was flagged due to the reporting, for the first time, Social Security income on my tax return.  This IRS agent also stated that the information I was provided by the other agent was totally incorrect.  I was then told that my tax return would now be processed and to expect a refund within 9 weeks since it was being manually processed.

Today the IRS's "Refund Status" webpage reported I would receive the refund in my bank by the middle of this week.

Outside my home in Maejo 

Sent OP Thep’s tel by PM

Here's an update to my original post...

Having still not received my refund, and being no change to the IRS "Refund Status" webpage ("In Process") after filing electronically 6 1/2 weeks ago, today I called the IRS' International Taxpayer assistance line; and to my surprise almost immediately got a live person to ask for my status...after waiting on hold for about 7 minutes, she told me that the IRS had made some sort of error when processing my return, and on 4Feb the IRS "re-processed" my return...and this resulted in the delay; and I needed to wait 6-8 weeks after their "re-processing" date (4Feb) to receive my refund (direct deposit).....

10 minutes ago, kensisaket said:

Get a debit card for your U.S. bank account.  Then go to BKK bank accounts desk (you need to go to a bank, not an auxiliary).  They have a debit card machine that you can use to transfer large amounts of money.  My U.S. credit union allows me to transfer $4000 USD per day with no fee on either end.  I remodeled my house last year and transferred over a million baht that way. It's an instantaneous transfer takes less than 2-3 minutes. I'm sure every U.S. bank has differing policies; but, it would be worth looking into.

 

 

I do the same w/BKK Bank. HOWEVER, be cautioned that when you deposit the funds into your BKK Bank your bank book most likely will not reflect that the funds deposited were from outside Thailand, making it useless for supporting annual extensions of stay renewals (if you're are relying upon the 65,000 per month approach....).

I went Wednesday with the passport copies and the TM47 and previous receipt. At the desk to pickup my que number they returned everything but the prior receipt. When I got called the officer did ask if I would show her my TM30 which I had brought with me just in case. She didn’t take it from my hand to examine the details; just looked to see that I had one. 

Thanks

7 minutes ago, Pib said:

Maybe the govt shutdown earlier this year actually impacted refunds although the Trump administration tried to ensure the public there would be little or no impact/slowdown. 

The shutdown was over by the time I did my return...fyi...thanks...