skatewash

If you don't work in Thailand and don't have a work permit, then it's a whole lot easier to just go to your Thai bank beforehand and get the free tax withholding documentation for any tax withheld on interest earned. Go to the Revenue Department with this document and it will be readily apparent why you are there, why you need a Thai Tax ID, and they will give you the Thai Income Tax Return (PND-90) and often even fill it out for you.

Two benefits concern tax withholding on interest earned in a Thai bank account. If you have a Thai Tax ID and register that number with your Thai bank savings account they will not withhold 15% tax from the first baht of interest earned but only after you have earned 20,000 baht. For many people this will mean that they have zero tax withheld and therefore don't need to file a Thai Income Tax Return to reclaim any tax withheld for the simple reason that it is not withheld in the first place. Note this works with regular savings accounts but not fixed deposit accounts. Tax is always withheld on the latter and you would need to file a Thai Income Tax Return to reclaim that. Secondly, it allows you to file a Thai Income Tax Return to get back tax withheld on interest earned. You need the Thai Tax ID card to do this. With a Thai Tax ID you can file online. It can be done at the Tax Revenue Office. In fact, they are usually kind enough to do it for you at the Tax Revenue Office if they understand what you are trying to do. In fact, if you have the tax withholding documents you can get from your Thai bank then they will clearly understand why you are asking for a Thai Tax ID (despite the fact that you don't work or have a work permit) and they will issue you a Thai Tax ID and file out the Thai Income Tax Return (PND-90) for you. Get a copy of that form before it's filed and you can use as a template for future year's filings wherein only the numbers from your Thai bank withholding amounts change.

True, banks don't contact you when interest rates change. Of course, interest rates don't change during a term of a fixed deposit account. All other savings accounts can and do change. Banks do publish their interest rates on a monthly basis. One nice thing about Krungsri Bank's Mee Tae Dai account is that interest is paid monthly, so you can determine whether the rate has changed on a monthly basis just from your interest earned entry in your account, as compared to some other accounts which only pay the interest every six months.

I too have an SCB EZ-Savings account paying 1.5% APR interest, but it is an account that doesn't have a passbook and Phuket Immigration requires you to show your passbook and copies of the relevant pages (in addition to the bank letter and bank statement). So I am reluctant to be a pioneer and see if the EZ-Savings account would be accepted in Phuket. I have given up chasing the higher interest rates on my 800,000 baht deposited for retirement extension purposes. The amount of money at stake doesn't outweigh the complications of moving the money for me. I'm content with the 0.9% I get from my Krungsri Bank's Mee Tae Dai savings account. If you change accoutns during the year you will need bank letters and statements from each of the banks, so for me that's twice the work.

First, it's best to keep it as simple as possible and that means not changing accounts. However, if you have changed accounts as I did last year these are my recommendations. Open the new account if it not already opened first. Transfer the money in one day either electronically or a withdrawal from the old and deposit to the new. Write an explanation of what you did in terms of the requirements for maintaining a minimum balance: For example, assuming you applied for your last extension of stay on 15 January 2021, you did the transfer from one account to another on 15 June 2021, and then you will apply on 15 January 2022, then something like 15 January 2021 to 15 April 2021: more than 800,000 in bank account 1 15 April 2021 to 15 June 2021: more than 400,000 in bank account 1 On 15 June 2021, transferred 800,000 baht from bank account 1 to bank account 2 15 June 2021 to 15 November 2021: more than 400,000 in bank account 2 15 November 2021 to 15 January 2022, more than 800,000 in bank account 2 In other words, a clear explanation of how you met all the minimum balance requirements (800k three months after old application, 800k two months before new application, and 400k at all other times) since your last application for extension of stay to your new application for extension of stay. Including when the money was moved from one account to the other. This makes the IO's job of checking that you met the requirements easy. Making the IO's job easy increases the likelihood of you having a good experience getting your new extension of stay.

Effective 22 April 2022: From the second page of https://www.krungsri.com/Krungsri2020/media/Banking-Rate/deposit-rates/en/deposit-rates-21042565-en.pdf

You can avoid the 15% tax withholding on your interest earned by registering your Thai Tax ID with that account. In that case, interest will not be taxed from the first baht earned but only if you earn more than 20,000 baht in interest. If you don't have it withheld in the first place then you would not have to file a Thai Income Tax Return to reclaim the withheld interest. Also, perhaps some bad news if you were referring to the Mee Tae Dai savings account at Krungsri Bank which is now only earning 0.9% APR interest.

My experience in December, the new passport was mailed back with the letter requesting Thai immigration assistance to do the transfer of stamps.

No reason to regret not opening an account at the NYC branch of Bangkok Bank because it is only a commercial bank branch and does not have retail banking accounts. So it is not possible, but moreover is not necessary as using the transfer services of Bangkok Bank's NYC branch is already possible for any American customer who has a Bangkok Bank account in Thailand.

The US Embassy Bangkok unilaterally (UK and Australia also) decided to no longer issue embassy letters for income so that is no longer an available option for those nationalities. They have to do the money in the bank method (800K baht) or they must show a 12-month history of having brought into a Thailand bank 65K baht/month.

It's a real option. It used to be offered in the past and now it seems it's being offered again. Two issues. First, insurance is required from everyone to enter Thailand at this time, $10K health insurance cover to include coverage for covid. Second, when you go to extend your stay health insurance is required for Non-OA visas and extensions derived therefrom, while it is NOT required for Non-O visas and extensions derived therefrom. People have reported that their Thailand Pass was approved with just 30 days of insurance coverage so that should be all that you need (despite the fact that you are supposed to have insurance for the term of your permission to stay which for a Non-O visa would be 90 days). No, it is not for Non-O. Only for Non-OA visas and extensions derived therefrom. Correct. If you apply for the Non-O in the US it will only have to be in a bank account the day you apply and can of course be a US bank. If you apply for the Non-O in Thailand (after entering Thailand visa-exempt or on a Tourist Visa) it would need to be in a Thai bank (no seasoning required, just the day of the application is fine). I would think it would be enough to show an official bank statement from a US bank, but if a "guarantee letter" is really required for the visa then I imagine it would follow the form of what is expected in Thailand which is the following: your full name, your passport number, your account number, your account balance on the date of the letter, when the account was opened, signed and stamped by an authorized official of the bank. It doesn't "guarantee" anything other than maybe the fact that you exist and have a bank account at that bank with the balance shown on the date of the letter. This might be a problem, because as she's not a doctor she doesn't have a doctor's license and that is probably required. You would have to get a doctor to sign off on the medical certificate (which by the way merely certifies that you don't have 5 dread diseases: leprosy, tuberculosis, elephantiasis, drug addiction, third state syphilis. In Thailand this is done by visual inspection and is frankly not taken seriously, costs 100-150 baht, but in the US they may insist on actually running expensive tests). In Thailand your 100-150 baht medical certificate is stamped with the doctor's license number, so if this were missing I think it would be a problem. Apparently it's not that hard to get actually, but there may be a wait as it has to be a state-issued or FBI-issued. In my opinion it's one of the things that make a Non-OA an inferior visa to a Non-O (that and the insurance thing which is the big reason). My feedback is this. Do the Non-O visa either in the US or in Thailand. This gets rid of the health insurance requirement when you go to extend your stay. I'm not against having insurance I'm against having to jump through the hoops of getting health insurance that's going to satisfy immigration's notion of what it should cover, when it should start, which company it's with, etc. In my opinion, whether I have medical insurance and anything about my medical insurance is my business, not the business of Thai immigration. You don't need an agent. Save the money. Learn the procedure. Big learning curve the first year, almost no learning required the second year. ???? I personally do the retirement extension (based off a non-O visa) every year for the last 6 years. Costs me 1,900 baht a year in immigration fees. Costs me 1,000 baht for single entry re-entry permit or 3,800 baht for multiple if I decide I wish to leave Thailand and re-enter during my annual extension of stay.

My reading of the chart you posted is that these are the minimum interval between doses recognized by Thailand. In your particular case, the fact that you received a Pfizer vaccination 14 weeks after your AstraZeneca jab satisfies the third panel (2nd does after 4 weeks, 14 weeks being after at least 4 weeks). As long as 14 days have passed since your second vaccination I think you meet the requirements of being recognized as fully-vaccinated by Thailand.

Of course that concern has to be balanced with the concern of further injury if left at the scene of the accident. Agree that medical training would be useful, but one must be able to make judgements and decisions on scene and if necessary take action. Hope the injured person recovers quickly.

1. LEPROSY 2.TUBERCULOSIS (T.B.) 3. ELEPHANTIASIS 4. DRUG ADDICTION 5. THIRD STAGE OF SYPHILIS http://thaiembdc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Medical-Certificate-Form-For-Non-Immigrant-O-A-Long-Stay-Only.pdf Costs about 100-150 baht at a small clinic. There is usually no examination other than visual inspection. No tests are performed. Often in and out in about 5 minutes. My opinion, it is understood by all that the form is a bit silly (outdated) and therefore the process of getting one is pro-forma.

Looks more like a Torx Security to me: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FButton-Security-Machine-Stainless-Resistant%2Fdp%2FB00VVIN3TK&psig=AOvVaw2gI_LKFKJvDpr1LH5IiwZb&ust=1650815239074000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAkQjRxqFwoTCLCPmpHEqvcCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAJ

You seem to be missing the point a bit. I'm not talking about a random congressman, I'm talking about the person's congressman. Congressional representatives have staff dedicated to constituent services. One aspect of constituent services is dealing with bureaucracy. If you think waiting six months for an appointment isn't a problem with a bureaucracy then I think we do disagree. If the embassy is treating everyone badly and failing to deliver a service than I fail to see how that is better than simply failing in one particular case. In any case, as Henry Ford observed once, if you think you can or you think you can't, you're right.

Addressing your point on being a non-constituent because, for example, I happen to live in Thailand. I and any other American can continue to vote in the last place they were registered to vote in the US, especially for a federal office like a congressional representative or a senator. Furthermore, which elections we have voted in is a public record, easily accessed even by congressional staff. People who live or die by electoral support have a fine sense of self-preservation and are perfectly capable of assessing what they have to gain or lose in addressing or not addressing a constituent's concern. Personally, I vote in every election (presidential, off-year, and local dog-catcher) and even though it's obvious in the public record which party I belong to I can't imagine a better chance of my voting for an incumbent of another party than if they personally helped me out in regards to my dealings with government bureaucracy (which in electoral politics would count as two votes, one vote for them and one less vote for their opponent). Obviously, your clout increases if you are a financial contributor to a congressional representative or a senator. Obviously, the front line staff isn't going to care, but I assure you that at some level in the vast bureaucracy at the Department of State, someone will care and they can if motivated properly make those downstream care. Note that I'm not saying that he will get his appointment next Tuesday at 9:00, but if enough heat about a subject is raised, sometimes there is light, too. Maybe more resources are made available so that someone doesn't have to wait 6 months for an appointment. There are no guarantees, but it's more likely if you complain than if you say nothing. My point is that if you start complaining with someone who cares (because it's in their self-interest to care) you might get further than complaining to a deaf ear.

Well, that's unfortunate. It would seem you qualify. Your Thailand National certificate or Mor Phrom app lists both Pfizer jabs? If not, you may be able to get that fixed at the hospital/vaccination center where you were jabbed or maybe at the Phuket Provincial Health Office in Phuket Town. The only other difference I can see is that you have had Pfizer --> Pfizer and I have had AstraZeneca --> AstraZeneca --> Moderna, although not sure why that would make a difference. As a practical matter is still possible I believe to get a Pfizer bboster if you attend the walk-in clinic at Patong Hospital on Wednesday mornings. Not sure what time it starts but you want to be early as they only do 50 doses per day.

That's exactly what I did.

Well, yes,if I hadn't made a math error that's what I would have meant, 15,000. ???? Thai banks don't close for lunch. We don't have siesta although it's certainly hot enough here to justify it. Another reason to prefer ATMs outside of banks is that they are less likely to have skimmer devices that people sometimes put on the ATMs to record data from your ATM card. An ATM in front of a bank is slightly less vulnerable to being messed with than an ATM in some dark, out of the way place. Not a huge problem, but something to be aware of that does happen from time to time.

A few years ago, I tried to use my Charles Schwab ATM card to withdraw 30,000 baht from a Krungsri Bank ATM. It was declined. Tried again. Declined again. Assumed the ATM must be out of money, so used the Bangkok Bank ATM right next to it. It worked, dispensed the most it could, 25,000 baht. Was looking at the exchange rate later that day and realized what the problem really was. The exchange rate that day was less than 30 baht per USD, so when I tried to withdraw 30,000 baht I was, in fact, attempting to exceed the $1,000 USD maximum withdrawal limit imposed by Schwab. ???? Hasn't been a problem since then, as the USD/THB exchange rate has remained more favorable.

You can get 25,000 baht from a Bangkok Bank per withdrawal. The best ATMs to use I think are the ones outside branches of the same bank as the ATM. Two reasons why. If used during the business hours the branch is open you can notify the bank easily if it doesn't return your card or short-changes you on the withdrawal. Sometimes they will even open up the machine and resolve your problem while you wait. Second, they tend to not run out of money as soon as some other ATM locations. Read the screen, sometimes it will tell you pretty early in the process (as soon as you indicate you are wanting to do a withdrawal) what denominations are currently available. So for example, if the 1,000s are gone and only 500s are available you are only going to get a maximum of 6,000 baht from a Krungsri Bank ATM in that circumstance. The machine will only dispense 30 bills at a time.

Did my retirement extension of stay a few weeks ago and my immigration office unbidden did the 90-Day Report as well as they always do, but this time I noticed they had even put transparent tape on my TM-3O address notification receipt which is stapled into my passport an is very old and is getting a little ratty. I didn't notice that at the time or I would have thanked them. Sometimes they surprise me. ????

Agree that it would be very difficult to proceed down this path without a yellow house registratin book (tabian bahn). However, I already have one. Also, agree that the amount of money in question is not large. However, my question is what the process is. Do you register your primary residence at the tax department of the local amphoe or tessaban office or some other department. It does not seem to be sufficient to give the tax department your yellow book which I have done two years now, but still ended up paying the property tax. Would like to hear of anyone's successful pursuit of this exemption and any tips they may have. For example, is there a form that you fill out to attest that this is your primary residence (or in my case, my only residence)? Knowing what is possible and what works in one case can be very helpful in other cases especially given the lack of my fluency in Thai and lack of English fluency on the part of the staff at the tessaban office. Knowing the process can make it easier for everyone involved.

I don't think the Issue is with SCB per se, I think the issue is having an online (no passbook) savings account like SCB's EZ Savings Account (1.5% APR interest). If your immigration office wants copies of your passbook for the account and wishes to see the actual passbook (as the Phuket Immigration office does, along with a bank letter and stamped 12-month bank statement) it may be problemmatic if you don't have a passbook.