Kerryd

Same. I put the 800k in a Fixed Term account back in 2011 and it's been there ever since. I have another Fixed Term account I use when transferring money from back home and a normal Savings account that I use for my day-to-day needs. Zero requirement to move your money to a different bank. Even if you changed provinces. Just go to the nearest branch of that bank and have the account "transferred" from your old branch. The account number doesn't change so there's no hassles about the "minimum 400k" business.

I wonder what will happen to the MILLIONS that arrive and "forgot" to fill it out, or didn't know where to find the app (not everyone has a smart phone with internet access and is tech savvy). Do they all get put into an IDC pen until they figure it out ? Denied entry ? Held by Immigration and put on the next flight out ? And how many weeks (or days) before a) the system crashes and b) the system is hacked and everyone's information is released onto the internet ? We know the problems they have/had with the simple 90 Day online report system and that only has to handle maybe what, a few dozen people a day ? (Consider that not everyone uses it and there are 365 days in a year.) I'm guessing that there will be MASS chaos starting from Day 1 and by Day 7 the program will be "temporarily" suspended because they couldn't handle the volume of people doing the online TM6s as well as the massive numbers of arrivals that didn't do it at all. Probably not a good time to be flying in to Thailand.

Pattaya usually starts 4-5 days before the "official" start date so you should be prepared starting now. The "official" dates are 13-15 April. Get your phone, wallet and money in zip lock bags just to be safe. Plan your days. Stay away from residential areas (where there may be lots of kids) and bar areas - where there may be lots of girls looking for fun. Shop and stock up ahead of time if you don't want to step outside between 13-15 April. Or dress for it and go out loaded for bear with your flowery shirt, flip flops and water gun loaded with ice water.

I think the idea was being used in some places in Japan some time ago as well as China. And you notice it's not the skinny people who whine about it ? It's the obese people who think they should also get a discount so they can eat more for less.

The Cdn $ was around 27 to one around 1 1/2 years ago (according the WISE transfers I've made). It dropped over 3 baht to the dollar in 18 months and has barely gone up 1 baht in the last 3 months. And that was before all the tariff nonsense. But Thailand sets the exchange rates and pegs the baht to the US dollar so it often doesn't matter how strong our dollar is, it still gets less than the US. When the Conservatives formed the gov't back in '06, our dollar started to recover from the years of Liberal mismanagement. At one point when Chretien and Martin were running things, the dollar dropped to it's lowest ever vs the US $ (0.72 -1) and those two were happy about it ! When Harper took over and the $ started going up, the Liberals whined that it would ruin our economy and there'd be huge job losses. Never happened. In fact, in '08 our dollar was trading at par with the US and our economy was fine and there were not job losses, proving just how incompetent the Liberals were. (They'd been trying to depress the value to benefit their rich buddies who paid for labour and resources in Cdn $ and sold it for US$. The weaker the Cdn $, the greater their profits.) At one point the Cdn $ was worth $1.10 US ! (Didn't stay there long but it was a h3ll of a lot better than 0.72 !) But ! The US $ was getting almost 37 baht and the Cdn was only getting 32 ! I was a little miffed (as in - pissed off) because I was getting paid in Cdn - wired to my Thai account. We should have been getting more baht to the dollar than the US but because Thailand set the exchange rates (instead of the markets) they deliberately kept the US $ higher. And as long as the Liberals are running things - it will NOT get any better. Historically, every single time they form the gov't (since the end of WW2) our dollar has lost value and every time another gov't (like the Conservatives) take over, our dollar gains in value. Sheesh - I just looked - it's at .70 to the US now. Worse than under Chretien and Martin ! But at least companies like Bombardier, Irving Oil, SNC Lavalin, Canadian Steamship Lines and other Liberal sponsors will be happy.

So basically what this thread is saying is - if you want the exact same breakfast that is served at almost every bar in the city - just go to any bar in the city. Because almost every breakfast shown was the exact same thing. 2 eggs. 2 weiners or pieces of boiled sandwich ham, 2 pieces of usually cold toast with nearly frozen butter, maybe some baked beans and a stewed tomato or two. And a cup of gahd-awful instant coffee. I've seen the same thing served in dozens of bars, pubs, guesthouses and restaurants in the city. Jolly's seemed to be the only one with any variety. Friends of mine have a large bar on Soi Buakhao. They used to serve the "cheapie" breakfast (2 eggs, 2 weiners, 2 toast and a coffee). Thy seems to think most of their customers couldn't afford more. I pointed out a couple places nearby that were serving larger breakfasts for a few baht more and a month later, they were doing the same. I asked why they used weiners instead of pork sausages (and sandwich ham instead of bacon). Cost. Weiners and sandwich ham are much cheaper and most of their customers apparently don't want to pay "extra". I always liked the breakfasts at Tigglebitties. A bit more expensive than the breakfasts you get in all those bars, but they are also a lot better.

11 pages (so far) about an offensive t-shirt. Every year I see vendors at events selling full on Nazi regalia (pins, flags, shirts). In Germany and some other places, you'd be arrested for that. My friends have no clue what it means and don't care. Couple months ago my buddy bought a couple Japanese Rising Sun flags because he thought they looked cool. It seems the Thais have short memories as well (or just never learned about WW2 history which is likely). And people have worn Che Guevera shirts for decades - in North America - without having a clue about who he really was and what he really did. What is offensive to you may be completely meaningless to people on the other side of the world that know nothing about the significance of the offensive items.

In Thailand you have to wait 45 days after a person's death before the Will can be probated in court. In addition to (certified) copies of the Will, you will also need (certified) copies of the Death Certificate. (Translated into Thai preferably. Your lawyer should be able to help with that.) There is no "short cut" to let you empty their accounts before anyone else realizes the account holder is dead. The whole purpose of the 45 day wait is to allow relatives and creditors a chance to file claims on the deceased's estate in the event he/she owed money (or the relatives think they are entitled to a chunk of the estate). You, as the Executor, will have to swear an oath in court (promising to tell the truth) and the judge will ask a few basic questions and the lawyer will verify the Will and so on. Takes maybe half an hour if there are no wrinkles. Wear a white shirt with a collar and dark slacks (and shoes) when you go to the court.

Doctor, no. And cleary you are not either. However I've been a trained Emergency First Aid attendant (Level A) since I was 17 and during basic training my nickname actually was "Doc" (still tattooed on my arm) as I knew more than the instructors teaching us First Aid. Not to mention having been in the hospital (for operations) a couple times myself. Here's a clue - "multiple skull fractures and bleeding on the brain" - yet no IV's connected and the "family member" is wiping his (unbandaged) head with a cloth. Riiiggghhhttt. But in another photo (in the DailyMail) - the same people around him but suddenly he has an IV, a hand in a bag, oxygen tube in the nose. But LOOK at the hospital bed. Notice anything funny about it ? Like how it says "Paramount" on the end ? You know - "Paramount Healthcare Services" - in the UK ! This is the exact same bed. Yeah - get a brain. Seriously. I was admitted last year to get minor wrist surgery and they had IVs and tubes stuck everywhere. Same when I went in for shoulder surgery 6 years ago. Spent 3 days in the hospital with IVs hooked up even though I was concious and walking around and eating. Sheesh, I had 3 small incisions in my shoulder and the amount of bandaging they had on it made me look like a hunchback. And yes, the local media literally DO report pretty much ANY incident involving a foreigner. Especially one as serious as this, with Russians supposedly arrested as well. Here's another clue. LOOK at the guy in the bed. Now LOOK at the pics of the guy who is in an airport and the one of him under a tree. Literally the only resemblance is they both have "5 day beards". The guy in the hospital bed looks 15 years younger than the other guy. But hey - like I said for the last few stories like this. Surely some of you live in Phuket and can go to the hospital and take some flowers to the guy ? From the sounds of it, there should be a dozen Brits in the Phuket hospital right now. And no - you do not have to be a family member or on a list to go see someone. And if you try that excuse I'll know your full of it. I've visited people - and had people visit me - and never had anyone turned away or been told there's a "list" of who can or can't visit someone.

Facts ???? WHAT FACTS ? A story in a Brit Tabloid that specialises in selling "vacation horror stories" and was NOT reported in ANY local media is your "facts" ? Gahd - no wonder this world is in such poor shape.

We DON'T know ANYTHING other than what was in the DAILYMAIL article - which was suspicious in the amount of details they had - and what was left out. Pretty odd that within hours of the "accident" the family back home knows who supposedly caused the accident (their names and nationalities and even the type of motorcycle the Russian was allegedly driving). And they were able to tell all that to the DailMail - after they'd already set up a GoFundMe (to make sure the link appears in the article of course) - and get it online within a day of the accident ? When it looks and smells like a pile of dog **** on the sidewalk - then it probably is. And what is this now- the FIFTH story from the DailyMail in the last month about a Brit in a Phuket Hospital and there's a problem with their insurance and they need a GoFundMe. I've sent a message to my buddy in Bristol to see if he'll pop by this guy's place and wish him well.

You people just - don't - get - it, do you ? Do ANY of you recall seeing this in ANY local news ? It supposedly happened just a couple days ago (Saturday) - in Phuket of course, "the Hub of Brits ending up in the hospital and needing GoFundMe donations because of problems with their insurance". Doesn't appear in the local news - until it's cut/pasted from a British Tabloid site where they're already got a GoFundMe set up which was literally set up within hours of the alleged accident. Despite him supposedly not being able to provide his insurance details - somehow "someone" was able to contact his relatives seemingly within hours. And within a day they had a GoFundMe set up, sold their story (er "told their story") to the DailyMail and were on a plane to Thailand. Tell me, does this look like a guy who has "multiple skull fractures, fractured ribs, a broken nose and bleeding on the brain" ? Remember, he was so badly injured they "didn't think he'd make it" and claim they're being charged £10,000 (435,000 baht - per day). And despite them supposedly knowing the names and nationalities of the other people involved, they don't appear in the news either for some strange reason despite (allegedly) being arrested. Yet the Nation had no problem reporting about 3 Brit tourists who hit a motorcycle with their truck and then fled the scene. https://www.nationthailand.com/news/general/40047403 But this accident (and alleged arrests) involving Brits and Russians apparently wasn't newsworthy in Thailand ? Where they literally report on ANY crime or accident involving a foreigner ? I know a guy in Bristol that has nothing else to do all day. Lets see if Mr Eury is still in Thailand.

"Connor Abbott was found dead at his hotel room in the Phra Nakhon district of Bangkok on Sunday, September 22, last year." "Jon Heath, senior coroner for York and North Yorkshire, said the cause of death was morphine toxicity. Identification was confirmed by a funeral director, the hearing at Northallerton Coroners’ Court on Tuesday (March 11) heard." From the GoFundMe link in the York Press article: "thank you so much everyone that has donated the response has been overwhelming we have spoken with wabbots family and will be closing the page down on the 16th Oct when wabbott will be laid to rest." ("wabbot" apparently was his nickname.) So he (allegedly) died last September. I'm guessing somehow it never made the news anywhere in Thailand at the time ? Somehow his body was returned to the UK (which usually requires a sob story published in a UK tabloid with a very large GoFundMe appeal already set up and linked in the article). But it took them until March 2025 to determine cause of death ? And he was (allegedly) buried on 16 Oct 2024 ? But it's just now making the rounds of the tabloid news sites - and Asean Now ? And the GoFundMe they supposedly were closing down last Oct was created on 27 Sept 2024, just 5 days after the alleged death. Strangely enough - they were only trying to raise £2K - but it's STILL OPEN and they've only managed to con people out of just over £1K so far. "Every donation, no matter the size will help ease the financial burden on his grieving family allowing them to give him the farewell he truly deserves." Uh huh. So they could afford to have his body returned to the UK (not a cheap thing to do) but need £2K to ease the financial burden ? Question - what do season tickets to that football club cost ?

What do you think you mean by "VIP" table ? An exclusive, private table out of sight of the rest of the club where the girls dance just for you and your buddy ? Not sure if there are any of those around anymore. Used to be a high-end coyote bar on Soi (5 ?) years ago that had private VIP rooms overlooking the main stage. Not for your average "wife beater and flip flops" crowd (they had a dress code for starters and the price of a cheap beer was twice the price of most other bars). Many of the dancers were Penthouse (or other men's magazine) level models and the customers where usually wealthy local businessmen. Or do you just want seats in front of the stage where the "action" is so close that you have to be careful taking a drink or you may find your nose buried in a girl's rear end ? If that's the case, pretty much every go-go bar has seats around their stage where you can get close enough to smell the fragrance. Or - just do a bar crawl down Walking Street. Pick a random number between 1-5, go down the left side of the street until you hit the (whatever number you picked) bar, have a drink, then go down that many bars again, have a drink, do it again. Get to the end of Walking Street, turn around and start hitting the bars on the other side of the street until you're back at the beginning (or passed out in the gutter, or being dragged to some nearby hotel by the latest "Mrs Right Now"). And if you're still "thirsty" - go back and check the bars on Soi Diamond, Soi 15, Soi BJ. (Probably best to stay away from Soi 16 if you're a pasty white, English speaking dude that could easily be mistaken for an American.) Some of the go-gos can be pretty entertaining - especially if the girls are getting a bit drunk or have lots of "hansum" men to try and impress. (Here's a clue - if you have a pulse - you qualify as a "hansum man".) Pro-tip - do NOT buy "lady drinks" for the girls unless you KNOW what you are doing and how much they cost. There are usually signs posted telling you how much a "lady drink" costs - regardless of what's in it. (Note: - the girl gets a portion of the cost of each lady drink someone buys for her. Some clubs have quotas the girls have to meet in order to get their full salary for the month so they can be pushy. Also, in some clubs, the girls will try to get you to buy drinks for their "sisters" who are actually their room-mates or just friends that need to make their quota as well.) Pro-tip - ALWAYS check your "bin" after each drink (or round) you order. I have NEVER had a bar try to "pad" my bill but MANY tourists lose track of just how many drinks they've ordered - or how many lady-drinks they've bought for the girls. You get a cute girl gyrating on your lap while another one is massaging your shoulders and another one is trying to grope you and you can get "distracted" and lose track of just how much your bill is. As well, checking it after each drinks shows you the cost of the drinks and shows the staff that you are paying attention to what goes onto your bill. Clue - a "bar fine" is NOT "prostitution" or a "pimp fee". That is some old B.S. from old farts in days gone by that were too skint (broke) to bar fine hot chicks from bars. The girls in those clubs, be they service staff, regular dancers or "star" dancers - get paid a monthly salary. Most clubs have time cards and the girls have to punch in/out every day so they get credit for working. But - if someone pays the "bar fine" the girl can punch out early and not lose her salary for that day. The bar usually keeps half the bar fine to make up for the salary they have to pay her and the girl usually gets the other half. Think about it. If you meet a chick that's working in a 7-11 or MacDonalds or Makro - what are the chances you're going to chat her up and she's going to just drop everything and leave with you ? Not a chance if she still wants to have her job the next day. You can't just take staff out of normal working places or they risk losing their job. But some cheap charlies whine that they should be able to just smile and wink at any girl in a beer or go-go bar and she should just head straight out the door with them for some reason. (A lot of those guys will wait until the club/bar closes and try to get the girl to go with them "for free" because "they ain't never paid no bar fine". Yawn.) And yes, "star" super hot, lithe young hotties you'd never score in your wildest dreams usually have higher bar fines than the old lady that mops out the bathrooms and still has 2 of her own teeth. Just ask a waitress what the cost of lady drinks are if you don't see a sign and ask how much the "bar fine" is. It's not a secret and it's not something to be embarrassed about. Pro-tip - do NOT try to scam a bar/club by running up a bill, having the rest of your group leave and then pretend you are just stepping outside to take a call or some other BS. Unless you want to be a headline in the news the next day that is. There's always some joker who thinks he knows how to scam his way out of paying his bill and the staff at those clubs have seen them all. Probably a couple times a month or more. And here's another clue - you may not notice it - but there are probably a dozen sets of eyes on you from the minute you step into a club/bar until you leave and if you think you're going to pull a fast one on them and skip out on your bill - I suggest you read some of the headlines about other people that have tried the same thing first. It usually doesn't go well for them. Lousy way to end your holiday as well. But the good news is - hundreds of thousands of regular guys visit Walking Street every year and never have a problem.

Tried calling the Embassy - got a long, drawn out automated message, got to the "leave your message" bit, left a message - which they never responded to anyways. However they just responded (4 days later) to the email I sent at the same time. I had asked them if Mr Gagnon contacted them, could they give him my name/phone number/email address so I could arrange to get his ID back to him. And their response (minutes before they closed for the day) ? They asked if Mr Gagnon had contacted me but they didn't say if he had contacted them or that they'd given him my contact info. So I'm not sure why they would ask if he's contacted me - unless he did contact them and they pass on my info. If I haven't heard anything by end of day tomorrow I'll ask my friend to show me the passport and then if everything is good to go, take it to Immigration and see if they can track him down. If there's a problem (i.e. if he's on overstay) then it's probably best to just mail it all to the Embassy and let them deal with it.

I actually know a guy who screwed up one year when he was trying to transfer the exact amount (65k) each month and he was 100 baht short one month (according to him) because of fluctuating exchange rates. And his Extension was denied. He had to go back to the States and apply for a new Non-O and start over again from scratch. Because of 100 baht, one time. If you can't afford to send say, 66 or 67,000 (or even 70,000) each month to be safe and avoid such complications then there's something wrong. It's the ones who try to send the exact amount each month for some reason that run into problems. Kind of makes you wonder (not really, you know why they are doing it).

WATCH the WHOLE video. It shows the Brit was involved in a confrontation on the street, seemingly with maybe a couple people (one being a guy in a white shirt) in a pushing/shoving kind of match. But they don't let the clip run. They clip it and then show just the end part where he is aggressively following a security guy who turns around and belts the Brit. The clip is blurry and they keep putting the stupid graphics in there but if you look close you see the Brit and a guy in a white shirt dancing (i.e. shoving each other) which was a few seconds after the Brit had apparently been trying to confront someone else (possibly the Security guy as it looked like someone in a dark shirt). The clip ends and picks up again with the Brit following the Security guy and then getting laid out on the street. So it wasn't just some Security guy popping a tourist for no reason. It appears the Brit was involved with a couple other people before that (and you can see the other people all looking towards him).

OK, no word from the Embassy (as expected). Tried searching for the guy on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Even did an address search and contacted a "Gagnon" I know that lives in Quebec though that is a huge longshot. (I'm sure you've heard the stories where you tell someone where you are from and they say something like "Canada ? I have a friend in Canada ! His name is (Joe Smith) - do you know him ?" Meanwhile, I'll ask my buddy if I can take a look at the stamps in the passport to see if the guy is "legal" or not. If he's good to go I'll tell buddy (who will likely just give it to me) to take to Immigration to see if they can track him down. If he's not "good to go" then the best thing would be to just mail it to the Embassy. I may try calling them again this morning to see what they say.

Asean Now - the Hub of GoFundMe scam stories lifted directly from the pages of various British tabloids. Surely there are AN/TV members living on Koh Samui that could go visit this poor guy and bring him some flowers or something ? I think that's why all these scam stories happen in Phuket or Koh Samui. Places where apparently no one cares enough to maybe go check on a fellow countryman and offer help. It's also why these stories never have any specific details. Want to bet this never made the local (or national) news when it happened either ? Lol - you have to donate to the GoFundMe in order to make a comment so I can't ask which hospital he is in - which I doubt would get a response anyways for some reason.

I've never heard of them frisking anyone or "torturing them" either. But I have heard of them asking foreigners to produce their passport and it is possible they could demand to see it. Especially if you were stopped at an alcohol checkpoint and maybe had a bit of booze on your breath. A regular person - with nothing to fear - wouldn't need to toss his ID so he could claim he "forgot" or "lost" it, which could lead police to ask for proof. Would it happen ? It would depend on the cops - and the person being questioned. But if you have something to hide, are you going to take that chance ? Of course it could be something simple like he was driving down the road and his wife was angry and tossed his ID out the window. Or he was riding down the road and hit a bump and his passport, driver's license and bank card just fell out of his pocket. In ANY event, one might assume he'd like it back if at all possible, which is why I've taken the effort to try and locate/contact him, regardless of how it ended up on the side of the road.

You can't think of any reason why someone wouldn't want the police to look at their passport. During a time when there's a big crackdown on foreigners ? From a current news article in the Thailand News forum: Gee, if someone was on overstay and saw a police roadcheck ahead, what do you think would happen to him if the cops checked his passport ? You KNOW what would happen. He would immediately be arrested, sent to Pattaya jail and then to the IDC in Bangkok where he'd be charged, ordered to be deported, blacklisted and have to sit in jail until he could arrange a flight out of the country. Or maybe he tosses his ID on the side of the road, expecting to come back for it later only to have someone else find it first. Pretty sure if someone knew they were on overstay they would stay as far away from the police as possible - especially if they had their passport on them.

Called them and sure enough - automated menu and recorded message. Left them a message but unless someone there is really pro-active (lol - gov't employees so not likely) I probably won't get a response until Monday. I suspect he won't go to a police station as he probably wouldn't know where one is, probably wouldn't trust them and if he's read ThaiVisa at all, would worry that he'd be arrested for not having a passport. (My Thai friends are usually adamant that one never contacts the police unless it's a dire emergency.) And as I have no idea what the guy's Visa status is, it might not be a good idea to go to the police anyways. (Maybe there was a police check on the Railway bypass road last night, being Friday and such, and the guy tossed his ID in case he was stopped, thinking he'd come back for it later.) Who knows how it ended up on the side of the road. Couple weeks ago I pulled up at a friend's shop on my Harley. Put the kickstand down, leaned the bike over - and my phone fell to the ground. Swung my leg over the seat - and my wallet fell on the other side. (Needless to say, never wearing those pants on a motorcycle again. Straight into the rag bin when I got home !)

Roger. Message sent. C-r-a-p - it's Saturday and they are closed until Monday. I'll try their phone number just in case.

I was thinking of going to Immigration. They should be able to run the name and come up with a phone number/address. (Have to check his stamps first - in case there's a reason that ID was "lost". The passport is valid but buddy only posted a shiny pic of the face page and cut the passport number off.)

Friend of mine found some ID (Canadian Passport and Quebec Driver's license) on the Railway Bypass road near the Khao Talo crossing. Luc Gagnon from Terrebonne, Quebec. Contact me and I'll put you in touch with the guy who has it.