eisfeld

18 and 12 Mbps seem a bit slow. Though of course it depends on the server locations. Can some more people post speed results and their VPN provider? Would be interesting to see which providers have good connections to Thailand.

I already mentioned it, access to SEPA transfers within EU.

One usecase is getting accounts in regions that you normally can't get an account in so easily. I have a USD account in USA even though I'm european. That enables me to do free ACH transfers. Can't do that with a european bank for example. Same the other way with SEPA transfers.

There is no sinister ploy for these accounts and they are not useless. Having an account that can receive and send wire transfers from around the world can be quite useful. I know quite a few people and companies that use these Wise accounts instead of traditional bank accounts.

Exactly as I said, it's just the conversion fee inside Wise. Not related to any transfers.

Conversion fee for $2000 to THB is currently quoted to me as $12.13 which is roughly 0.6%.

Maybe because you didn't read that as no one wrote that they are worried about 65 cents ????

ACH is a system internally to the US. You can't send money via ACH from US to Thailand. What happens is you first have an ACH transfer from your US account to Wise US, then Wise internally converts the USD to THB and then issues a transfer in Thailand from their THB to your local THB. As mentioned, the cheapest should be to do an ACH transfer from your bank to your Wise USD account. Then issue a transfer in Wise to your THB Thai account. If you read all of the info from Wise then you will notice there's no fee to receive ACH USD transfers. And the transfer to your local THB account will likely cost something like 30 THB or whatever. The conversion though will cost a bit.

Unfortunately the apple website is really low on specs for this adapter. They don't write what speeds or wattages it supports. Ugreen is a respectable brand and I've been using their cables for a while without complaints. I start to prefer them over Anker even. Their adapter at least says clearly it's USB 3.0 with up to 5Gbps so speed should be good enough but not sure about charging capabilities. I saw also there exists a braided version and a version without cable, just adapter. Wonder if the non-braided black plastic ones are older versions?

It seems like only the 35W dual charger doesn't have the snap adapter? It's the first one in the charger pics I posted earlier. Its prongs just fold in.

Another thing I noticed in Thailand is that if you use the charger directly plugged into the wall without the extension cable you'll have electric leakage through the chassis of the laptop because there's no grounding which can be uncomfortable. The extension cord I have for my EU charger uses 3 metal contacts instead of 2 with the third one being ground and elimintates the current leaking into my hands. It seems like the new slower chargers can't be grounded!

Yes the M1 Air is the best value for money no doubt about that. And for most people the base model for $800 or thereabout will be just fine. But I'm using the laptop professionally and will keep it for quite a few years so spending a few hundred more to get something a bit better might still be worth it. The M3 is still about a whole year out (probably end of 2023). Not going to wait so long. Absolutely great to hear from someone who actually has the exact device I'm eyeing. If you don't mind, how long have you had it now and it does show some other signs of wear other than fingerprints? And if you had the chance to swap it for a silver one, would you do it? I've had silver Macbooks since the days they switched from plastic ones and Midnight is appealing to me because it would be a nice change for once and I don't like the grey or golden ones Hehe my 2017 Air has actually 10-20% lower CPU performance than the 2013 Macbook Pro that I also have so right now I'm working on a machine that is pretty much a decade old in terms of CPU and I'm kinda managing with it as you are doing with your 2011 iMac. The M2 Air according to Geekbench has 2.5x single core and a whopping 6x in multi core compared to the 2017 Air https://browser.geekbench.com/v5/cpu/compare/18681875?baseline=10507402 I am 100% convinced that Apple will hike the prices in Thailand with the next hardware refresh unless the Baht makes more significant changes. It certainly has been very volatile vs the USD recently. Oh wow that's easy to miss. Thanks for mentioning. But I guess in the worst case I'd just use a travel adapter. Not great but not a showstopper. But since you brought my attention to the charger options there is one more crucial difference it seems: the dual charger has the USB outputs on the under- or upper side of the charger instead of being on the opposite side of the prongs. In other words: with the old chargers, the new slow 30W charger or the new 67W charger the cables will stick away from the wall like most chargers while with the 35W dual charger they stick down or up.

The Macbook Air that I am currently using is a 2017 version purchased in 2019. I am not too bothered by the Thai keyboard to be honest but I'd prefer the US one for sure. I had to purchase a laptop in a bit of a rush locally and chose the older 2017 model on purpose because it didn't have the terrible butterfly keyboard that was so prone to breakage and was available in stock in the shop and reasonably priced. But I'm hitting the limits of it fairly regularily. 8GB RAM ain't enough for me and in video calls the CPU is also too stressed out and things start lagging. I have debated with myself a lot over the past couple months if I should get a M2 Air or a 14 inch Pro because as you said price wise they are pretty much identical when you spec the Air to match and take into account Pro discounts. So it should be a no-brainer to pick the Pro right? Well... Do I need the CPU/GPU power of the Pro? Not really though when keeping a machine for several years it helps having too much rather than too little. The screen on the 14 Pro has nice blacks and the speakers are much better. But then again do I really need these? No. I went to some shops to get a feel for the Air vs 14 Pro and the weight difference is really noticeable. Another thing I noticed is the air intakes that the Pro has on the left and right underside felt not so great when picking the laptop up. The Air also has vastly superior battery life (40%+) So while in the beginning I was leaning really towards the 14 Pro, I'm now leaning towards the Air. It is lighter and thinner and so better suited for taking it somewhere or while chilling on the coach or in bed. For the heavy lifting I have a desktop. And so while I wont get as great a deal like with a Pro I think the Air will be good enough for me. I was waiting for 3nm Pros but those didn't materialize this year so I'm approaching the end of my patience. They'll anyways bump up prices in Thailand with the next refresh I'm sure. So if you didn't do it already go to some reseller and see if you are about the added weight and feel of the Pro. If you don't and you get a proper non-refurbished 14 Pro for $1,600... not bad! I'm 80% leaning towards the Air at the moment. Just unsure about getting the Midnight color. It looked really nice online but in the shop it looked quite blue instead. I worry about the durability as I've seen enough examples of how easily the scratch and the silver shining through including in Central where the ports had silver corners even though nobody is plugging anything into those ports there.

You can't avoid VAT unless buying as a company or as a tourist and bringing it out of the country. Import duties for laptops seem to be 0%.

My point was just that currently there are only the 2021 Pros for 14/16 inch and that the discounts are offered only in US. You have a good point about re-shipping. Not sure how much the shipping costs would be but let's say $100. Adding also 7% VAT would mean we end up at around $1,800 which is still $200 cheaper than buying locally. But then there are the long shipping times and the potential customs headache. Not sure if that's really worth it. You said though you found a reseller that offers it for the same $1,600 so that would be really great if it's new and sealed and the Thai keyboard doesn't bother you. Can you please name the reseller?

Here are the two variations of the keyboards for US and Thai. Note for example the key left to "1" or the caps lock. Nearly all other keys are the same but the Thai version naturally is a much more "loaded" sight as most have 3 letters on them instead of 1. So for many people it might not be a big issue. I prefer the US layout even though I am currently typing this comment on a Macbook Air with Thai keyboard.

I understand the situation very well as I'm about to buy a new Macbook myself. But you and others have talked about 2022 models for the Pro 14/16 which simply don't and will not exist. The newer models are 4-5 months out. I have not heard of any reports of production of 2021 models having stopped. But the discounts through resellers are very real. It is correct that Apple does not really offer discounts but as mentioned they are offering a $250 gift card in the US for example. What you see on Amazon the "Apple Store" is sold by Amazon and not Apple and as far as I could see they don't ship to Thailand, it always says sold out when I choose Thailand as delivery destination. Which resellers who offer good discounts ship to Thailand? Haven't seen any properly authorized resellers here offering good discounts. What is the name of the reseller that you found?

Yes the resellers have usually just the base models and maybe one, two if lucky other configs so not much choice, especially regarding the keyboard language. But the base model of the 14/16 inch Pro models already start with 512GB SSD and 16GB ram so would be enough for the OP. I have not seen proper discounts for Macbooks in Thailand though. In the US the 14 inch base Pro could be had for an amazing $1,600 ($400 off) at some resellers. Apple also there offer currently up to $250 gift cards when ordering one of these Macbooks I think. There are no "older" models for the M1 Macbook Pro 14/16 inch. They are still the newest models and no new models will be announced until probably March next year. There are no 2022 models. Those with M2 only exist for the Macbook Air and Pro 13 inch.

The opening premise that Apple does not sell the 2021 models anymore is incorrect. There are no 2022 Macbook Pro 14/16 inch models anyways. Go and order directly from Apple: https://www.apple.com/th/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro/รุ่น-14-นิ้ว The Macbooks that are sold at resellers pretty much all have Thai keyboards. Not sure if that would be what you want.

I am not sure if the road is open to cars again but I saw even yesterday a lot of cars jamming up coming from the north and heading towards the Cherngtalay way.

Thailand Post can send huge items weighing hundreds of kilograms. So that part of the story is BS. As mentioned earlier they try to 1. Get customer lead exposure on Lazada 2. Not pay the Lazada and CC fees 3. Make you cancel the order so they get no penalty. I appreciate someone hustling to make his business work but not at my inconvenience and not under false pretenses. So in cases like that I'd let them cancel it and then buy somewhere else. They already have shown they are not afraid to lie to you so better not do business with them. It's the same on every platform. If the seller or Grad rider or whatever asks you to cancel then don't do it, let them cancel. Then negative pressure on them is needed to keep them honest.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that someone who is resisting so hard when presented with reasonable arguments that he also expects someone else to spend 16k THB with no upside just to prove him wrong in a silly online forum discussion. How do they like to say? Up to you ???? Now to come back on topic: @ OP: Last time (a few months ago) I was in Pantip Plaza it wasn't the IT mall it used to be. Just a few small shops left and most of it was empty so save yourself the trip. Better head to MBK but really you can get these power banks in pretty much every mall.

About eLoop: they are probably popular because they are extremely cheap and widely available in Thailand. They've been around for a couple years so can't be that bad? Haven't tried them myself. I didn't expect you to take the offer seriously after being presented the rules clearly. You already lost that one ????

The wording is terrible but not unusual for anyone around here long enough. "Not exceeding" and then a range is of course nonsensical. But if you look at the actual infographic it should become clear. If further in doubt then read relevant regulations by airlines. It's funny that you mentioned doing a test with 20 x <= 100Wh power banks because that's exactly what Thai Airways says is just fine. If you agree to fund the costs of 19 power banks then I'll be happy to ablige and actually do the test. I'll pay for the flight myself und bring one power bank that I already own. Deal? ????

Not sure where I was incorrect. Medium sized units refers to power banks in the range of 100Wh - 160Wh. Of those, you can take up to two units, exactly like I said earlier. It has nothing to do with AA, C or D battery cell formats.