sandyf

He has now been moved to a government hospital. When he first arrived I warned him against the private hospitals but having a few bob in the bank shrugged it off. I think there was a mistaken assumption that he could be flown back to the UK, but that is a non starter in the immediate future.

There are always the clever dicks. I have known the guy over 20 years and salt of the earth, it is the family in the UK that has started the fund, doubt he had anything to do with it. I was asked to help and did what I could. He met and married his Thai wife in the UK nearly 20 years ago, brought up her children and when they were old enough to leave the nest he decided to retire here. Still in his 50s and unable to get insurance he took what steps he could. There is a difference between assets and liqudity and time can be a handicap to the latter. People are entitled to their opinions but should refrain from speculative assumptions.

Exactly. Rainy season = Low season, and always has done. These days there is always someone trying to put another theory forward.

Doesn't democracy require leaders to act like adults. Unlike beauty, democracy is not in the eye of the beholder.

We have all taken chances in life, some pay off and some don't. A good friend of mine has ended up in intensive care up in P'lok and in need of some help. He came here came a few years back thinking he could cope with what came up. His wife persuaded him to put quite a bit of money into growing rice and that is just starting to show returns. Unfortunately he has contracted a blood infection and now in need of open heart surgery. His family has started a go fund me and I just want to put it out there. I am fully aware of what many will think but nothing ventured nothing gained. s As they say, up to you. https://gofund.me/0b2d27a8

Feel free to say the same thing differently.

You are free to make up anything you want, but at the end of the day every foreigner in Thailand has a visa status.

Quite. The overseas application is by a form so diificult to see how should be any difference, but who really knows the ins and outs. Just glad I had no problems.

Before HSBC sold the retail business it was a Thai bank for personal accounts, and still is to a certain extent for business, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. HQ moved to London and renamed as HSBC Holdings when Hong Kong returned to China in 1997.

Quite. A couple of weeks ago there was a headline news article in the UK about a woman that died from rabies having contracted it in Morocco back in Feb. Apparently she was the second to die from the disease in the last 7 years, both having contracted it abroad. Reported that she never sought medical treatment following a scratch from a puppy. With Morocco averaging about 18 cases a year I didn't bother with the vaccine.

Only a certain mentality would think that every country has the same economy of scale. Many western countries use domestic consumers, without their consent, to fund sales in overseas markets.

We can live in hope that you will refrain from starting a post in the same way.

How can it be an extension if you change from retirement to marriage or vice versa, it is a conversion of visa status. Remaining on one or the other is a renewal of visa status. If your current visa status comes to an end and still in Thailand, your visa status would change to illegal.

Was that an overseas application?

Immigration want a letter from the Thai bank verifying the account and they want a 12 month statement showing the transfers that have been made. Depending on the office they may want verification of where the funds have come from or even the actual source of the funds. I supplied the remittance advice that was automatically issued by the remitting bank each time a transfer was made. Others have used similar documents without a problem. I have never heard of a case where immigration required a letter from a remitting bank.

I agree with Bill. I used to have my state pension paid direct to a Thai account and it was always paid early when any holiday involved. At that same time there were also many complaining about late payments. I believe it was something to do with the original set up and whether the payment went straight to the branch or not. Thailand uses a 8 character Swift code so if the branch code is not included it can only go to the head office. At the time I did mine, which was an overseas application, the DWP did not ask for the branch code but I supplied it anyway and never had a problem. I don't know how those that applied in the UK possibly over the phone would be dealt with in that respect.

A Cambodian bank in Cambodia, why not a Thai bank in Thailand? Wouldn't be whinging over fees.

But currency convesion much better than banks in other countries. Bit much to expect the best of everything where you happen to be. There was a time when you were only allowed to take £50 out of the UK.

Like everything else in life, your choice.

Strictly speaking you are wrong. It is a renewal, or possibly conversion, of visa status.

That is not the point, the banks are allowing local currency to be taken from a foreign account, they are providing a service. The fact that Thai banks charge more for that service than banks in other countries is irrelevant. You either want the service at that price or you don't. You should not forget that the Thai baht is still a controlled currency. In Cambodia they have separate ATM's, you can only get USD from a foreign account, not the local currency.

Everyone has been "conditioned" throughout their life, in my early days it was enforced by physical abuse. Some are now "conditioned" to rebel against changes in normality. At the end of the day it is all about who has the upper hand, some fights can't be won.

Exactly. And those withdrawing from an overseas account are not withdrawing the currency held in that account. Minimum charges are becoming more and more the norm. Where I am at the moment the company that runs buses at nearest stop only sells day tickets, a bit much to go one stop. Just like the bus, moving money is more economical in larger amounts.

Exactly the point. Nobody can say what an IO would know or what the documentary evidence would show. Just because one bank may use codes, doesn't mean they all do and even the same office can change from one year to the next. Always best to ask at the office concerned.

Indeed, but if they think there is something not quite right they are quite entitled to make sure the applicant is not involved. There are many on here that would say the applicant is at fault if living in an Airbnb, they would be wrong of course, but that is the reality.