phaholyothin

Just to update. I got out of there a few minutes ago. This is the first time I’ve ever gotten my extension done at CW before lunchtime. i usually judge how busy they are by how many empty seats are in the waiting area. Today there was never a time when all the seat were full. About 10-15% empty chairs on average. I did include a printout of the most recent TM47 receipt that I get via email, and they kept it. As usual, there seems to be something very mysterious or interesting in my passport because they always spend a lot of time carefully inspecting the stamps from ten years ago, even calling over other immigration officiers to have a look. Wish I knew what it was.

Nope, not "rattled". You totally read that into my post. If you don't have anything positive to say, not saying anything is always an option. Take it as a standing recommendation.

No particular reason other than I'd like to get it done before the holidays. 45 days before my expiration date would be April 9th; a Tuesday.

Thanks. What does your crystal ball say about going there on the 11th for a retirement extension? Super crowded or deserted because it's the day before the holiday?

Regarding the TM47 receipt, I never take this and never been asked for it. I assumed that they can see in their system if I'm current on that. Regarding the "tenancy agreement", I assume this means a lease? I have never been asked for a lease. I live with my family, so how would that be possible anyway? Is my father-in-law supposed to be charging me rent? I just take a photocopy of his ID card and housebook along with a statement from a notary (since FIL doesn't accompany me to CW). Regarding the three additional forms - I do remember signing some extra documents that were hastily put in front of me as she was doing the dance of the seven rubber stamps all over my paperwork. I'd like to have those documents ready this time. Can I download them from somewhere? Thanks.

Have they posted the days on which they'll be closed? On this page it says that Friday, April 12th is an "extra holiday" for Songkran so I assume that means the last day they'll be open is the 11th? Not sure if that page is official though.

I am not sure why, in some of the posts above, the phrase "bank statements" is plural. When I get my bank letter, they automatically produce one statement that shows the activity for the past year. Why would multiple statements be needed?

TM30: "I live here" TM47: "I still live here" Forms available here:

A second SIM? Does this mean it piggy-backs off your first SIM? A way to share your plan with another person?

The person I am trying to help out already has a pre-paid plan which is ungodly expensive. He's a minor and has a phone and a SIM that belongs to his bedridden grandmother - his only guardian. When he told me how much he usually pays to "recharge" his plan at the beginning of each month, I almost fell out of my chair. Over 750 baht per month?! I went to True Move website and see that postpaid plans are billed based on usage. I guess he is a heavy user. I asked him why he doesn't just get an unlimited postpaid plan. He is only 15 but I think he is going to have to grow up fast since his only legal guardian can't get out of the house. Why do people even get pre-paid plans if they are so much more expensive? My postpaid DTAC plan is only about 400 per month.

How old do you have to be here to get a sim card/phone number + internet service?

What's a 'combined transaction'?

There is an option for either a business or personal recipient. I chose business because I was wiring money back to help cover funeral expenses and it was going into the funeral home's bank account. I just needed the account number and bank name. Did not need the SWIFT code because, I guess, the system recognized the bank by its name. The only impediment I encountered is that you need to enter the request on a weekday during business hours.

I didn't have any problem wiring 50 thousand baht back to the US two weeks ago. There's even an option on the Bangkok Bank iPhone app that made it easy. No need to go into a branch or fill out any paperwork and no questions asked.

I got this about 8-10 days ago. I followed their instructions and used the only government-issued ID that I have; my passport. It did not accept the numbers (too short) so I just kept typing in random numbers until the submit button became active, then submitted it and received a warm 'thank you' screen. Maybe at some point down the road they'll actually get around to checking it and it'll fail verification. Who knows. But maybe that'll give me a few extra months of account usage before I have to fall back onto plan B.

As the hour of reckoning draws near, I figured it might be informative to bring this discussion back with any interesting updates. Oh, here's one: When I first copied item #7 from the PayPal FAQ, way back on page 1, here's what it said: Now, here is what it says: Unless I missed it before, the word 'initially' has been added to what was originally the last sentence, and an entire new last sentence has been added. I have not been notified about anything, although I do have a mysterious empty message from PayPal in my inbox:

I recall seeing a discussion a year or two ago where people were extolling the virtues of their pressurized water tank system. I can't find any such discussion when I search. The tanks I see on Lazada and Home Pro are all plastic or resin and I doubt they have the structural integrity to be pressurized. Can anyone recommend a dealer for such a system? My new place is just three BR and two people, so a 500 liter tank ought to be good enough. Thanks.

[Facepalm]... talk about mexed misseges. [edit - having read further, it seems like they are referring to the present "waiting period" before the official relaunch date, while PayPal is temporarily unavailable for people who want to open new accounts.]

If I have already linked my bank account, is there any benefit to linking the debit card too?

What's his definition of "an older account"? I have not received any emails yet.

How does Thailand know that money flowing into my PayPal account is always income? The little bit of genuine income I get into my US PayPal account is already taxed in the US. Just by moving it from there to here is counts as income again and gets taxed again? What if I'm just getting a loan from somebody and I plan to pay it back? Is that taxable income too? Money flowing into a bank, be it the PayPal "bank" or an actual brick-and-mortar bank isn't always income. And being charitable and granting the assumption that Thailand merely wants to tax all funds crossing over the border, if that's true then why are they blocking these inflows? That's a scorched-Earth approach: since we can't tax your money, we don't want it to come into the country at all! I stand by my earlier assessment: insanity.

This is money flowing into the country. They are insane to want to put up roadblocks to this. I just don't get it.

There is a FAQ but it's clear as mud. https://www.paypal.com/th/webapps/mpp/thailand-relaunch-faq For a long time now I have been seeing the "Paypal Thailand reopening in 2021!" splash screen when I log in, but since my account has always been working fine and it's nearing the end of 2021, I figured this was an old announcement just never taken down. Now I see news of existing business accounts needing to pass some government validation process. I tried to read through all of this but my eyes started to glaze over. Does this affect personal accounts or just business accounts? Mine is a personal account that has come in handy for sending and receiving money to/from friends around the world. I withdraw money from it to my Thai bank account rarely, maybe once a year. I get a little trickle of money into it from some writing work I did years ago that I still earn royalties for, depending on how much is sold. In the FAQ, it says: Bolding mine. As I said, mine is a personal account, not a business account. So is my account exempt from this validation process? The next FAQ item addresses personal accounts: I don't think I have ever used the account to make a payment, although I do withdraw from it once a year or so into my Thai bank account. My name and ID were already verified when I opened this account back in 2019, so that's already done. Since I'm a foreigner, and not allowed to have a business of my own, it seems like this should not apply to me. That's the main reason why I chose to open a personal PP account here rather than a business account - was afraid it might send up a red flag. But who knows. In the worst case, I would have to tell my depositors to send money to me via my US PayPal account and then I'll be burdened with SWIFTing it over here.