ronnie50

Not naive, but you're right, I should have said "wealthier expats" or "more well-off expats". It's that upper-middle-class expat I was thinking about - the 4-5 million baht a year types. The yacht reference was a jibe.

Thanks. Very useful.

Yes, correct. With a million other people doing a million different things there. Never any place to park, but, yes, that one near Chatuchak. Do you recommend another place?

Changwattana for the O visa and the main Land Transport Dept for the Thai license renewal. I recall they also make you watch a video and then take a color/colour blind test. I guess a medical can be done at a clinic (not a hospital?)

My Immigration office appointment is coming up to change from Exemption stamp to 'O' with the intent to apply for retirement extension. I have the TM30, lease agreement, receipts, etc., and I already have a bank account (my name only) with the funds transferred and more. Do you think they (IO) would also give me a Certificate of Residency at this stage, or would I need to wait for O-Extension? (I lived and worked many years here, so fingers crossed I have enough docs to make it a one-stop wonder). I ask, because my Thai driving license is coming up for renewal next year, my passport number on it is old, and I read somewhere they ask for a Res Cert to renew (and would an O visa be sufficient?)

Is your friend single and does he own a place in Thailand? That's the ony way I can see that working. If you rent a condo, in Bangkok or Pattaya, or wherever, it's probably on a one-year lease, but I guess there are ways around that..

That's true enough (cooler though still humid). Rainy season takes a break usually mid-July to mid-August. But Sept/Oct can be pretty heavy.

Now, that's cutting it close!

Sure, decent plan, but Autumn in Thailand is rainy season and September and October are the worst (flooding, downpours)

Does anyone know (for a fact) if foreigners are not offered the better locked-in rates? In other words, are Thai customers at the same bank accessing better rates than foreigners with existing accounts there? I noticed the adverts above from Krungthai are in English - are they in Thai too?

Okay, this is just for fun. We don’t know how/if income taxes will be applied to foreigners, and while it probably wouldn’t be a huge hit to most of us, a Thai tax on ‘global income’ for very wealthy expats who’ve lived here for years, precisely because they’ve avoided paying income tax, would be a great concern. So, they could probably afford to move around each year while still making Thailand their main digs, but not long enough to pay tax here. Example – using the best weather months to meet the 179 day max stay in Thailand (to avoid tax) January through April – Thailand – 120 days May through October (29th) – 182 days (summer in either Canada, Japan, Portugal, Spain, etc. – all countries where tax residency doesn’t kick in until 183 days or more – Japan is longer/different). October 30 to November 8, stopping in one of the other countries above (en route back to Thailand) – 10 days November 8 through December 31 – Thailand – a final 53 days (then repeat) …………………….. I think the math is right. Again – just for fun – and yes, for the majority of expats that don’t have existing homes in these other places, the costs of spending half a year away wouldn’t make any economic sense. But, if you were one of those uber wealthy above (maybe you are), how would you do it? On your yacht?

Equally concerning should be the increase in methanol-spiked alcohol in tourist joints of SE Asia. It can be deadly. A dodgy barman at a cheap resort, or even the owner of one of these cheap beach booze bars, can be mixing the real thing with methanol (to make the rum, gin, whatever drinks cheaper by using less of the real thing). Last month 5 died at a cheap hostel in Laos, and 5 others were sickened and hospitalized on Fiji this week. The more this idea catches on amongst ropey resort 'bars', the more deaths we will see.

Okay thanks. So the IO is not expecting to see the last entry in the bankbook to be the foreign transfer (for change of visa type), is that right, but s/he is expecting to see activity in bankbook on the day of the appointment (small deposit, etc.)?

I transfered the 800k foreign currency into my own Thai bank account nearly 2 months ago and I have the first appointment for 'change of visa type' in early January (change to O visa for eventual extention for retirement). Question: As I already had considerably more than that 800k amount in my Thai bank account before the transfer, can I withdraw anything from that account before my appointment at Immigration? Or will they accuse me of spending the money intended for the retirement extension (even though there will still be well in excess of 800k in that account in any case)?

This report in the Bangkok Post last week is getting some pretty negative comments. It seems many are pessimistic that the US airlines will ever return to BKK. Not sure why, since that daily Air Canada non-stop is pretty popular with both Canadians and Americans travelling to SE Asia (and Thailand specifically) - but it's high-season only. As some background, the US FAA reccently upgraded Thailand's airport ratings meaning US carriers can return to Thailand after at least a ten year absence. Personally, while I like Singapore Airlines, I can't really understand why anyone who is Bangkok-bound would want to fly all the way to Singapore then connect, and backtrack another 3 hours. https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/general/2914942/united-states-airlines-urged-to-launch-direct-thai-flights