skatewash

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.

Yes, you will get the daily country exchange rate for the network for which your ATM/Debit card is branded (Visa or Mastercard). This will be the same at any ATM as long as you don't ask for Dynamic Currency Conversion (where you see the withdrawal amont in your home currency and is NEVER a good idea). The standard fee is 220 baht per ATM withdrawal on a foreign ATM/Debit card, but AEON is only 150 baht. The maximum withdrawal amount varies by bank with most being 20,000 baht, but Krugsri (yellow) Bank being 30,000 and Bangkok (dark blue) Bank being 25,000. The information in this article is mostly good although they misstate the maximum withdrawal amount from Bangkok Bank which is 25,000 baht not 20,000: https://findyouthere.com/using-atms-in-thailand-rates-limits-and-more/

Just received the property tax bill for the freehold condo unit I own. I understand there is an an exemption from this tax on your primary residential property subject to certain qualifications: -- https://news.bloombergtax.com/daily-tax-report-international/insight-new-property-tax-in-thailand-from-2020 The exemption from the Thailand Land and Building Tax Act B.E. 2562 is specified as follows (paraphrased in English): -- https://mahanakornpartners.com/overview-of-the-thailand-land-and-building-tax-act-b-e-2562/ My specific question regards the second and third of the three categories specified above. Is a freehold condominium unit eligible for this exemption? If so, what documentation is needed to prove that the "owner's name is on the house registration book as of January 1 of that year." For instance, I have had a yellow house registration book (tabian bahn) since 2015 that lists my name as living at that condominium unit. Also, I am listed as the owner on the chanote for that condominium unit. Has anyone applied for and received this exemption and how did you accomplish that? Or is this exemption not available to a freehold owner of a condominium unit?

If it's the wrong product, I would be interested in knowing what product you did have in mind. A link to or even the name of the product would be most helpful. Fidelity is a big company.

Fidelity's ATM/Debit card on their Checking Account currently charges a 1% foreign transaction fee: https://www.fidelity.com/cash-management/faqs-atm-debit-card#:~:text=For each foreign transaction%2C there,debit card fraud text alerts.

The digging will continue until further notice ????

While I can't give you strength, I can give you this: See Royal Thai Police Order No. 35/2561 dated January 2019, 2.22 (Retirement), Criteria (4):https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ynNUtZj4uGrdcKAt-4r8DjxNR_7XwbOI/view

Why is it that the people who are wrong always seem to be the most sure of themselves? See Royal Thai Police Order No. 35/2561 dated January 2019, 2.22 (Retirement), Criteria (4): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ynNUtZj4uGrdcKAt-4r8DjxNR_7XwbOI/view

It's always 2 months before your application. For a retirement extension it's never 3 months, not even the first year. It's 2 months the first year, it's 2 months for every year after that. 3 months doesn't enter into it (before the application). It doesn't change depending on whether it's the first year or subsequent years.

The balance must be above 800k baht for two (2) months before your application, first extension or not.

What did it cost for you to use your agent the first year? 14K or more? If more, how much more? What is a CDB account? In that account you are saying you earn on average 13.31% a year. Is the principal at risk of loss due to market fluctuation in that investment? 800k baht in a SCB EZ-Savings account would earn 1.5% a year or 12,000 baht. Why would you put your 800k baht in an account that earns 0%? Also, your principal in the Thai bank savings account is not at risk. So you are comparing an investment where the principal is at risk (you could lose everything you have invested in CBD due to market fluctuation) to an investment when the principal is not at risk. Not surprisingly you would expect the rate of return in such an investment would be much higher to compensate for the risk of loss. If the average return you get from your CBD investment is 106,500 baht/year and you deduct the 14k you pay your agent every year (assuming that never increases and ignoring the fact that your first year you used that agent probably cost substantially more) then in 5 years you would have saved $13,732.18 USD at current USD/THB exchange rates, not $19,000 USD. I have a friend who also used an agent. This took about 30 minutes of his time, too. However, it took his agent over 100 days to get his retirement extension. How long does it take for your agent to get your retirement extension? When I say it only took 30 minutes of his time I mean his first meeting with his agent. I'm not counting the times his agent promised the extension would be received next week for sure but wasn't, but I'm sure you could imagine how many of those discussions were had given that it took 14 weeks for him to get his extension. There is a risk to using an agent. They can't possibly guarantee that you will get your extension in x number of days because they are at the mercy of their connections they have in immigration offices (in provinces other than the one you live in). If the personnel in those offices change it can adversely effect the time it takes to get an extension through your agent. All these factors are completely out of control. There is nothing to guarantee that if it was 14k in the past it won't increase in the future. Also, when your passport is out of your sight the risk exists that it goes missing. Again, something out of your control. Contrast that with getting your extension of stay by yourself at your local immigration office. The decision on whether you will be granted the retirement extension is made the day you apply. You are either given the extension the day you apply or (as in my case at Phuket Immigration) you see the immigration officer stamp your passport but you have to return the next day to collect your passport (so the officer in charge of the office can sign all the extensions at one time). So I know every year that my passport will be out of my sight for one night and that night it will stay at the Phuket Immigration Office. My cost every year for my extension of stay is 1,900 baht. I calculate over five years I save 60,500 baht over someone paying an agent 14k baht. Whenever I no longer wish to apply for a retirement extension of stay I can retrieve my 800K baht and I get to keep all the interest I've earned over the years. Finally, if you have been on the agent-assisted path and decide you would like to do it yourself for whatever reason, it's obvious to the immigration officers at your local immigration office that you have used an agent in the past (they can tell by the stamps) and there have been reports of people in that situation being told that they could not apply at their local immigration office and that they should just continue to use their agent. I don't have that problem when I visit the immigration office every year because my extensions were obtained in the province where I live.

No, but you will only receive tracking information while it is transiting the US, once it gets to Thailand you get no further updates until it's delivered. But I've never had one go missing.

True, you won't get the blue car registration book until the car is paid in full, however, they should be willing to give you a photocopy of the book, especially the page that lists your address (in Thai). That's the only document I can think of that will have the address for that vehicle. If they won't give you a copy of the book (and they should because you are expected to have a copy in the vehicle) they should at least be able to give you the address as stated in that blue car registration book.

I think it might be the same in either case as the Thai bank waits for a foreign check to clear. Not sure the distinction between a cashier's check and a personal check figures into the equation. They would both take the same time to clear. The superiority of a cashier's check is only evident within the country in which it is issued, I think, where it is accepted immediately without waiting for it to clear.

Not sure why you got a big (nearly whole page) red stamp. The ones I've seen are at most 2 lines long. It does not seem to have any consequences in any case.

I was assuming a personal check. I doubt there's any advantage to having a cashier's check issued by a foreign bank in Thailand.

Another thing I recently discovered: if a couple takes 10k or more, it's not as simple as splitting it up, so each person has less that 10K, they count it as a combined sum; they do look for this a lot more than in the past, due to various schemes of global money laundering. Don't even have to be married, only traveling together. Regarding the check, that's easily solved. Just don't sign the check until after you've arrived in Thailand. ???? Agree, however, that there are much better ways than using a check.

I visited the Betterment website and found it wanting. I went back after seeing your clarification and looked at their checking product for which they provide no information if you don't give them your email address. Not impressed with Betterment's website at all in terms of providing information to a potential customer. When the company does such a poor job of explaining their own product I turn to a third-party for a review (for which I don't have to give up my email address): https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/banking/betterment-cash-management-account-review

The Schwab account is free of minimum balance and monthly service fees, which I can confirm as I have an account there. I believe the same is true of Fidelity as well, although I have no personal experience with that. However, Betterment charges a 0.25% management fee to maintain an account and has a nominal $10 minimum account balance. https://www.nerdwallet.com/reviews/investing/advisors/betterment

If in Phuket you can use the Phuket.win site to make an appointment for a free Pfizer booster shot. Select the yellow option at the bottom of the page: > > Booster-dose vaccination appointments for foreigners < < If there is supply you will be allocated an appointment (or choice of appointments). If not, check back, as new supply comes in on an irregular basis.

I'm having travelingMailbox forward me a credit card right now. $5.65 for USPS 1st class. Will take anywhere from 2 to 3 weeks. Not all virtual mailboxes let you pick USPS some make you use one of the couriers (FedEx, UPS, DHL). I only have credit cards forwarded all other mail I have scanned and read online.

If looking to receive mail in the US I recommend travelingMailbox.com. Scan envelopes as they arrive and allow you to choose to have contents scanned, mail forwarded, or mail shredded. Receive new credit cards here which I have forwarded to me in Thailand.

Minimum balance required: 800k baht 2 months before application 800k baht 3 months after application 400k baht the rest of the year