sonjai

1 hour ago, nchuckle said:

What gave it away. A big Z on his chest ??

into bodybuilding, no tatoos, no body hair, tight shorts

2 hours ago, The Hammer2021 said:

He looks Russian  to me but wherever  he's from ..KICK THE BEAST OUT!

concur. He does look Russian

My wife and I have had blepharoplasty done in Thailand. Hers was at Bangkok Pattaya Hospital and mine at Yanghee. Both were successful without any serious complications. I had a temporary problem with a stitch bit left under the skin, after their scheduled removal, and causing inflammation. This was rectified in a follow up procedure free of charge. However, a tiny bump in that place still remains.

An update. I'm in Italy now and have just bought  a local train ticket online using Wise VISA debit card. The payment was accepted. When I tried to pay for another train ticket, from the same Italian rail company and using the same card, while I was in France, the payment was declined. Perhaps many European companies do not accept online payments with Wise card when the buyer's IP's geolocation is in another country.

18 hours ago, sirineou said:

I am sorry to hear about your issues with your debit cards, It's no fun to have such issues especially when you are traveling. 

I am surprised that you would have problems calling wise support. I had an issue with a transaction last week, and called Wise four different times with no problem , They have telephone numbers in different countries , which makes it easy to call during the time deference's at your location ,

I called Wise USA : 1844 926-4381

and Wise UK : 44 20 3974-1321.

I used Skype to place my calls. 

I am following this thread with interest as we are flying to Europe in three weeks and I I was considering getting a Wise  credit card , and at the same time , we also have a Kasikorn debit card, But we also have a Bank Of America debit card, and a Wells Fargo debit card. 

Question, How long did it take to receive your Wise card in the mail in Thailand? I was thinking that it might take too long  and arrive after we left. and was considering applying after we arrived in Greece and having it delivered there. But I am not sure if they will deliver to an address other than the address they have on record. and the address they have on record is our US address. 

Complications complications LOL , I guess I should give them a call. 

I think it took me about 2 weeks to get the card by mail. My card was issued in Australia and I received it in my PO Box in Pattaya.

 

17 hours ago, RubbaJohnny said:

There are Wise debit card I am unaware thy issue credit cards?

 

I have use SCB, TMB. visa cards with Kasikorn ANZ, NAB, NW and Citibank over the years and now find Wise does all I need faster easier to track and cheaper, I  chose a Wise Mastercard to have max choice as I recall having all Visa cards rejected in Indonesia one visit despite of course having sufficient funds.

 

I am not sure they will send a card to Thailand and you cannot transfer baht out, use Dee money

 

I appreciate your frustration with so many variables and schlonky service by Easyjet.

 

Thank you for the warning.

 

What I don't understand is if your Easyjet  booking payment taken you would have received with flight ref email, a receipt? and proof of purchase or option to request the invoice, or have they changed since pandemic?

I had no prior experience with EasyJet and when I received an email confirming my booking and saw that the payment was taken from my Wise account I assumed that everything was in order and did not expect any further correspondence from the airline. However, you're right, there was no receipt included in the booking confirmation email and the support rep I cahtted with asked me if I had received an invoice confirming the payment from EasyJet. Only then I realized that a lack of such invoice email could've indicated a problem.

It's difficult to contact Wise for support. Their help/support article on the topic of declined transactions lists many possible reasons, some are beyond Wise's control. My Wise account balance in EUR was well above the value of purchases I tried to make. During the payment process in many cases I actually had to receive a code from Wise by SMS to authorize the purchase, and I entered it accordingly, but still the payment was rejected by the merchant's website. So it seems these were the cases where the merchants either did not accept Wise cards outright or a connection to Wise cards database was not correctly configured during the payment process.

Looks like AstraZeneca Covid vaccine manufactured in Thailand by Siam Biosciences is not currently recognized by Australia. Therefore immunization by mixed doses AstraZeneca/Sinovac, done in Thailand, won't be recognized in Australia either.

3 hours ago, MasterBaker said:

https://apply.joinsherpa.com/travel-restrictions/ESP?affiliateId=aerlingus&nationality=USA&departureDate=2021-10-10&returnDate=2021-10-17&tripType=roundTrip&transitType=noTransit&fullyVaccinated=false&language=en-US&originCountry=THA

 

always latest infor here for any country

Am I correct to assume that the above travel requirements summary applies only to travellers arriving in Spain on flight itinerary from Thailand? If one flies from Thailand, say, to France, spends a week there and then attempts to travel to Spain then the requirements will change to those applicable to travellers from France?

30 minutes ago, Karma80 said:

It's welcome news. But bitter sweet for Australians who have been locked out of their own country for a year and half. 

 

Fortunately, at least they recognised Sinovac vaccinations so Aussies in Phuket can get back.

Unfortunately, for us all who have been jabbed with AstraZeneca made in Thailand, Australia currently is not recognizing such vaccinations as valid.

I arrived on the 6th floor in Central at 1PM and was told by the staff that no more walk-in vaccine allocations were available. It's so unfair. Why did they start processing walk-ins before 1PM?

On 8/31/2021 at 8:55 AM, dutchweller said:

Thanks for the Information.

Seems Im missing the 2nd Dose details.
When I got my First I was given a form that has the first Dose details and a space for 2nd that was left blank...

Im not sure who to chase up MFAT have no idea..

 

I had written to my embassy about when to expect the 2nd dose for those who got vaccinated at the SCG, Bangsue, and they just replied:
"The Thai Foreign Ministry recently advised us that, for those who received their first shot of AZ on 18 July, the plan is to provide the second shot at the same location around 10 October. You will receive a text message from the Thai Government closer to that time, once the exact date is confirmed. At this stage, they do not have plans that will allow you to receive your second shot at a different location, or to alter the timing." They also suggested to check regularly for any updates to the current plan on the embassy's website and on social media, and to contact the Department of Consular Services (Tel: +66 2 203 5000, Office Hours : Monday - Friday, 08.30  - 16.30, excluding public holidays) directly regarding "your personal circumstances".
 

4 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

 

Quote

Saw an announcement recently that said the SCG folks are supposed to go to Bang Sue Grand RR station for their second doses.

That's interesting. Where did you see that announcement?

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think I'm in the same situation. I posted about this a few days ago but did not get any comments (https://aseannow.com/topic/1228905-thai-ruam-jai-website-vaccination-registration/). I got my 1st dose of AZ at SCG Head office in Bangsue, Bangkok in Jul and that vaccination event was arranged by MFA, on request of several embassies in Bangkok, for expats, primarily from Australia, Canada, US, and S.Korea.  The printed form I got after the jab has a logo of NHSO (Thai National Health Security Office), https://eng.nhso.go.th/view/1/Home/EN-US. I doubt that office will respond to enquiries in English. I was told by vaccination staff that I would get an SMS when my 2nd dose appointment is available. It would be good to know the date of that appointment some time in advance. I wonder if it's possible to try to do my 2nd dose earlier than after the standard 12 weeks period at walk-in vaccination venues in Bangkok. Would be interested to know if anyone has tried this.

I got my 1st AZ jab at the vaccination centre located at SCG Head Office, Bang Sue in Bangkok in July. I was given a 1st dose vaccination confirmation paper from NHSO and was told I would get an SMS with an appointment date for my 2nd AZ dose. This month I received an SMS asking me to report any vaccination side effects on Thai Ruam Jai website. After logging in on that website with my passport and phone numbers I could see information about my 1st dose and a link which supposed to allow you to download your vaccination certificate once you got your 2nd dose.
Has anyone registered on that website received 2 vaccine doses already and has downloaded the certificate?
I would like to get my 2nd dose sooner than 3 m after the 1st dose. If I manage to get another AZ dose next month at any currently available vaccination centres in Bangkok, without waiting for that promised SMS from NHSO, will information about the 2nd dose appear in my Thai Ruam Jai account automatically?

Red Hose used to be available at Big C but not any longer. Excellent beer. Since a few years back, when it disappeared off the shelves in Thailand, I've been looking for it in Pattaya to no avail.

On 5/4/2021 at 12:14 PM, natway09 said:

Legally, your bank man is correct.

If you have any income ( which they know about) & cannot prove that you file a tax return offshore they will not let you off the hook

I went through this 28 years ago but as I had a Thai TFN it was a bit easier.

I owed them about $2,000 & as was being paid here arranged to send them $500 a quarter.Once paid I declared amyself a non resident for tax purposes which they accepted. Never had any need to re use  the number as pay tax here on everything 

except dividends which are franked in Oz.

Let us know how you end up

I've managed to get hold of my old Thai TIN which I got 15 y ago when I worked in Bangkok. Looks like Thai tax office  (Revenue Department) maintains its database well. I went to their Banglamung office, told them that I used to work 15 years ago in Bangkok, showed them a copy of my old passport of that time, and a kind office lady found my record in their computer system in seconds. I did not even look at my current passport. I then gave the TIN to my Australian Bank and they were completely satisfied. So that's the end of the saga.  A huge relief. It seems to me that this CRS push to find tax dodgers and money launderers is indeed just a drive by my specific bank and not a general campaign by Australian Tax Office. None of my other Australian banks have bothered me that much about my Thai TIN. 
Many thanks to all posters on my thread for advice and support. 

I used iRobot in my condo many years ago. After a few months I decided it was not good enough and sold it.  The things about it that I was not happy about:
1) it could not get under furniture with short legs (I think the minimum height is 10cm or even higher)
2) it could not clean well under small pieces of furniture, like chairs, where legs were close to each other. Especially if chairs are standing close to each other, like around a dinning table.
3) It was difficult to remove hair wrapped around the robot's brush. I had a GF with long hair at that time so it was always a hassle to clean the brush after every use.
4) it did not pick sand or small stones off the floor. The suction power was not strong enough for that and living close to the beach meant there was often some sand brought into the apartment from outside.
 

Thanks to everyone who has responded to my post.  I will certainly attempt to get a Thai TIN and provide it to my bank.  What I find most annoying is that Australian banks are not uniform in their requirements in relation to this TIN issue. If they follow the same tax regulations and CRS guidelines one would assume that they all should ask their clients for the same in that regard. This is not the case in Australia. And if they do introduce their own additional requirements shouldn't they let customers know in advance about this and let them sort things out without rush and undue pressure before enforcing these new requirements? Where all the fairness in banking customer service has gone?

1 minute ago, simple1 said:

 

Sounds like the bank is carrying out due diligence. If you're not earning any income from working or assets in Thailand, inform the bank.

 

Westpac CRS department has been harassing me with emails all week. I explained everything to them in emails and called them in person -see my yesterday's post

The argument they keep making is that if I don't pay any tax in Thailand I'm not a tax resident of Thailand.  Idiotic, really, as in Australia pensioners, unemployed , and lots of businesses with losses to offset earnings, do not pay tax but are still Australian tax residents. These CRS people seem to be very aggressive in their correspondence with me and keep reminding that they can restrict my account.

I do

4 minutes ago, thasoss said:

So are you working in tailand?

No, I"ve been residing in Thailand on a retirement extension for years and naturally could not work here. I live off my savings.

Yes, I meant a Thai tax identification number (TIN). Wespac has been charging a 10% withholding tax on interest in my account for years.  I updated my internet banking profile regarding my Thai tax residency years ago. I'm at a loss why suddenly the bank's CRS department asked me to confirm yet again my Thai tax residency and is demanding my Thai TIN, which I don't have.

I wonder if any other Australian expat retirees here are having issues with their Australian banks regarding their tax residency. Westpac Bank, being OK for many years that I was no longer a tax resident of Australia and was residing in Thailand, is suddenly not happy with this and say they may block my account unless I provide a local tax identification number. Has anyone had a similar recent experience and what did you do to solve the problem?  I posted details on another forum (https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1215584-australian-bank-demands-thai-tax-id-tin/) but think now that perhaps my post would be of more interest here.

I'm an Australian and have been living in Thailand for 7 years as a retiree.  When I retired to Thailand I informed my Australian bank, Westpac, that I was no longer an Australian tax resident as I had moved to this country and intended to live here. I duly updated my internet banking profile declaring myself a tax resident of Thailand and changed my residential address to a Thai address.  Since then I've been paying withholding tax on interest earned in my bank account in Australia as a non-resident.
This month, out of the blue, I got an email from Westpac CRS department asking me about my tax residency. As if they don't see this information in my banking profile! They asked me to complete a tax residency declaration form.  The form gave 3 options in case the account holder is a foreign tax resident but does not have TIN: 1) the country does not issue TINs, 2) individual is under age, 3) TIN pending by the country's tax authority.  I emailed them back a completed form in which I ticked the 3rd option. In the email to them I explained that as I spend more than 180 days in Thailand every year I'm deemed to be a local tax resident. Also that TINs are normally issued only to those foreigners who work here. That I do not work here, live off my savings, and do not need to submit tax reports.  I also mentioned to them that other Australian banks, like ANZ, provide another option, more appropriate to my situation, on their CRS form, which is "The country does not required collection of a TIN".  I knew that because my relative with ANZ Bank account had to complete one last year.  I wrote to my bank that it is possible to request a TIN but this is not a common practice for the local tax office to provide TINs to all foreign retirees.
I've read many posts on thaivisa forums about Thai TINs and got one link to official CRS Guidelines. They state that it is not necessary to require TINs from foreign resident account holders when such TINs are not obligatory in the country of tax residency. I included that link in my email to my bank and added that Thailand actually has not yet implemented CRS.
My bank's CRS people wrote back, apparently ignoring the form I emailed them, and asked me to call them. I did that and a CRS guy told me that since I did not actually pay tax in Thailand I could not be considered a tax resident here.  I politely pointed out to him that many pensioners on age pension in Australia do not pay tax but they are still tax residents in Australia.  The guy told me that according to his information tax residents of Thailand have to have 13 digit IDs and asked me if I had one. He also threatened me with account restrictions if I don't provide that information. I had to explain that this is the case only with Thai citizens and foreigners do not get those Thai IDs.  He ended the conversation telling me that he would brief his superiors about our discussion and they will decide what to do with me.
I will appreciate comments on my situation, especially in relation to the following issues:
1)- can my bank indeed freeze my account and deprive me of my hard earned life savings just because I cannot provide a Thai TIN?
2)- why an Australian bank ignores CRS guidelines and still demands TIN from a country that does not require TINs?
3)- if my account is restricted, whatever this may mean, can I simply request to close it and move my money elsewhere?
4)- while my bank's CRS is considering my situation should I move all money from that account to another bank the first thing on Mon morning? Or will this look suspicious?
5)- what actions can I take to get my money back if the bank freezes the account? Sue the bank?
6) - Why these CRS people do not give any timeline and details of possible actions in advance to the account holder? Why such  a sudden bombing campaign with non-stop requests?
7) I recently moved half of my Westpac account balance to another Australian bank where I opened a share trading account.   Could this be a possible reason for their sudden interest in me?
And finally 8): why a person has to be a tax resident of a country? Plenty of us travel all the time and may not actually qualify to be a tax resident of any country. What the world has come to if such a lifestyle is no longer considered legal?