roger101

I had this week planned. Friday after golf in the morning I would pop into the bank and get my Immigration letter and in the afternoon go to Immigration for my visa extenuation (my 13th) After waking up on Thursday with the wife at her mothers I thought 'sod it' dont put if off to tomorrow go today. So after breakfast and a xxxx, shave and a  shower off I went to the bank.

No problem, in and out in a few minutes. While there I checked with the girl about a Bank Statement for next year (embassy letter this year) and she said give it a week to come. So later in the day Off I went to Pattaya Immigration. Only to find it shut. A note on the door said '9th May closed Ceremony Day'.

Now what do I do. My bank book and letter are up to date on the 9th. Will Pattaya Immigration except these or will they say go back to the bank and get them redone. I know the bank only charges 100 baht for the letter but I dont want to make wasted journeys either way. Any suggestions would be helpful.

10 hours ago, TaaSaparot said:

Picture is from May 1st.

There website quotes 1250 baht for a single trip.

I dont know which country in the world has the worst postal service but Thai must be up there somewhere.I received 6 letters today, well actually 5 letters and 1 post card (business). The days taken to deliver them are as follows. 7,9, 13,34,35 and the final one a massive 64 days.

The last 4 are from 3BB and TOT so I dont know whether its just them being totally inefficient (as normal) or the Post Office but one way or another its terrible. I know what days of the month my 3BB and TOT bills have to be paid so its no problem but what happens when I'm actually waiting for something important.

Special talcum powder for the the I's.

I can remember a few years ago when they had an Election the bars were shut the weekend before the main event that is  this weekend.  It was to cover Early Voting. I cant see the point of shutting the bars anyway but its the Thai-way. So does anyone know if its the same this time.

Just as a matter of interest some friends of mine were going to have a party on the Sunday of the election ( got the tables and chairs from the local temple for the garden) then the boys in brown turned up and said it wasn't allowed. Go figure.

The other day I was cut up by a white plated m/c taxi. Nothing unusual in that you may say but it got me thinking.  I thought all m/c taxi's had to have yellow plates, a coloured jacket with an ID on the back,  So over the next few days while riding around I counted the number of m/c taxi's that were strictly legal.  After 6 days I had seen 10 (not a typo).  So I started counting white plates against yellow plates. When I reached 50 I gave up counting the score was Yellow Plates 26 against 24 White Plates.

This means that the nearly half the m/c taxi's  here are  illegal.  I take it that no yellow plates would also mean no insurance.

As an afterthought how many m/c taxi's have you seen on getting  checked by the boys in brown.

Just in case anybody's interested Tesco do a Decaffeinated Instant coffee and a decaf filter coffee as well.

7 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

Another 24 hour crackdown, sorry! I meant a 1 hour crackdown.????

It's actually a spelling mistake it should be minutes.

30 minutes ago, tlandtday said:

Being a brit there is likely a 90 percent chance he is drunk.????????????????????

At 11 0'clock in the morning I would think he's a diabetic in need of sugar rather than being drunk.

I have a couple of things that get my goat. Nothing serious like the British Embassy or Immigration  just annoying to me. The first is Sweetners. The ones I buy come in a small plastic dispenser.

One click and a sweetener appears except it doesn't. I takes anything up to 8 or 9 clicks and that's with shaking it, turning it upside down and back again. My brother in law when he remembers brings me over Sainsbury's Sweeteners . They have the same plastic type dispenser which works fine 95% of the time, One click one sweetener. It wouldn't be so bad if the ones here weren't so expensive compared to the UK.

One more thing. People sitting on my motorbike, I don't actually care if someone sits on my bike its when they put the back footrest down so they're more comfortable and then leave it there. So that when I walk up to the bike I kick it. If the wife's on the bike I make sure the footrests go back to the upright position when she gets off because I've barked my shins on them so many times I don't want to do it again.

If the last election is anything to go by the Alcohol Ban will be for the weekend before the election (16th and 17th) and the election weekend its self (23rd and 24th). The last election I was here for was in December and the bars shut for the Kings Birthday as well. 5 days in one month. The tourists I spoke to were not happy (come to that nor were the bar owners).

1 hour ago, damascase said:

You are not well informed. Only 4 Embassies have stopped issuing these letters. Check the facts before you write, please.

It might only be 4 Embassies but if you look at the numbers that's a large majority of expats.

What do I do? I want a UK web site to think I'm in the UK instead of Thailand. There are 2 websites that I want to deal with but they wont let me as they say I'm not in the UK.

I was out shopping this morning in Friendship (Pattaya). On arriving at the checkout a young man started to pack my bags as I paid my bill. When  I looked he had placed 5 kilo of shopping in two bags ( 1 inside the other) and the other 1 kilo of shopping in a much smaller bag. Apart from the fact that the two bags difference in weight would have made carrying them more awkward it also meant there we 3 plastic bags in all. 

I wonder how many plastic bags are just wasted by uneven packaging.

It's probably not his fault , he was probably told when he started that some things go in one bag and some things in another. Total ignoring the fact that everything is wrapped anyway.

PS I repacked the bags so that I had 3 kilo in each and only used 2 bags.

Does anybody know how many expats there are in Thailand. I'm thinking of the over 50s on Retirement extensions.

Many thanks. I'll have a go with that in the morning.

I have a Bangkok Bank account (Savings). How easy is it to set up an online account?

On 1/21/2019 at 12:24 PM, johng said:

Judging by the traffic jam heading south towards Sattahip at the Bahn Amphur intersection

the plod where out again collecting fines this morning ???? it seems to be their new favourite spot.

they also regularly have a stop point northbound just before the Ambassador hotel  ????  (normally afternoon /evening )

The one near the Ambassador Hotel has been there off and on for years.

Thanks for the information its given me a lot to think about.

While I'm here, for information I checked my old TMB bank books (before Travelwise) and my monthly deposit (swift)) shows up as a local transfer no sign in the book of being an international transfer at all.

I am on a retirement visa. I open a Bangkok Bank account (Central Festival Pattaya) about 15  months ago. The only thing they wanted (apart from passport) was a Residence Certificate.

I currently use Transferwise for my pensions. After reading various replies I realize that it looks like I'm going to have to go back to a Swift Transfer to guarantee the Foreign Transfer for Immigration. My bank (Nationwide) charges 20pounds per transaction and then there is TMB's charge on top.

So I'm looking for the best bank to change to. First Direct have the best reputation of any bank in the UK. They don't charge for the transfer but will not tell me (until I open an account) which bank here is there receiving bank so that I can find out their charges. I don't want to open an account just to answer that question. So is there anybody out there who uses Bangkok Bank or TMB who knows how much they charge for a swift transfer.

Also any suggestions on other banks or methods to bring money over monthly that meets Immigration's requirements.

There is a recipe on www.foodnetwork.com that uses dried green split peas and baking soda if you cant find marrowfat peas.

The 4th floor in Tuk.Com has 2 or 3 shops selling games. Whether they are genuine or not I cant say  but they do seem to have a great selection.

I have just had a reply from Transferwise. It states that a transfer to a Thai bank will show as a local transfer. I did mention Bangkok Bank and they said that was the same, a local transfer.

I have just emailed Transferwise to ask them what the code would show from a transfer from the UK. It will be interesting to see their reply.

Changing slightly one of the things overlooked is spending in the UK. Using the income letter (for many years) my net income is well over the 65000 baht/month needed. But after taking income tax and other commitments I'm left with (at the moment) 68,000 Baht a month. It doesnt take a genius to work out that any problem at home could bring my Thai Income to less than 65000 for a few months.