egeefay

The Bank of Ayutthaya has increased its 12 months savings interest form 0.25% to 3.25%, and loan interest from 0.25% to 7.25% for MLR and 7.75% for MOR and MRR. Meanwhile, Siam City Bank has increased its 12 months savings interest to 3.25% and its loan interest to 7.25% for MLR and 7.70% for MOR and MRR.

Pardon?

I think that should be by 0.25% to 3.25% and 7.25%

0.25% to 7.25% - I dont think so !

Yes. Unfortunately the article quoted was taken from "Thainews.com". "form 0.25% to 3.26%"

All other news sources are quoting only a .25% rise in interest rates...significant but nowhere near

the huge jump from .25 to 3.26...or 7.25!!!

This is a major issue! Try using a foreign (non Thai bank) Visa card when booking Nok Air and see how far you get! They're not interested as clearly they must have lost a lot of money to credit card fraud! They say they're updating thier credit card software, but they've been 'updating' it for 2 or 3 months now! Non acceptance of foreign credit cards must have an impact on their business.

In Malaysia, the problem is pandemic. My bank (Australian), to safeguard card holders, will AUTOMATICALLY reissue your credit card if it is used in Malaysia! Your old card is cancelled! After having several unauthorised charges to my card after use, I can understand why!

In Thailand, if my bank in Oz sees a charge of any significance on my card, they phone my mobile phone immediately to verify the charge. This usually happens before I've even left the store! How's that for service, but at the same time, it reinforces the size & magnitude of the problem.

Foreign tourists must feel confident that they can use their credit cards securely or without doubt, it will have an impact on tourist arrivals & dollar tourist contributions to the Thai economy.

Regarding credit card fraud in Maylasia

You might be interested in reading this article in the Malaysia Star claiming the credit card fraud in Malaysia is down

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?f...51&sec=business

The article boasts that credit card fraud in Malaysia is now down to about 5 times what it is in Thailand. That's something to really be proud of, isn't it.

I know that to buy a condo in Thailand the funds have to be brought in from overseas. If I were to sell a condo at the profit, could I put the proceeds into a new condo? Could I send the proceeds overseas?

We are looking at buying property in Thailand and have been told that you can take money out of Thailand as long as you have a paper trail showing that you brought the money into the country from the outside.

My understanding is that if you are going to buy property you should make sure that the money enters Thailand via a bank to bank transfer that states what the money coming into the country is for.

That way, when you sell and realize a profit, you will be taxed on the profit only.

If someone else knows more about this, I'd appreciate hearing from you.

I'm planning on visiting Thailand for a month but would like to stay in touch with my office here in the States

Does anyone have any suggestions as to the cheapest way to make phonecalls to the US?

Someone told me there are phone cards you can buy in Thailand that allow you to call from Thailand to the US for a reasonable rate from any phone in Thailand

Someone else said that if I took my mobile phone to Thailand I could have the sim card changed (I have Verizon) and make direct calls via my cel phone

Any suggestions

After spending a month in Thailand I think I answered my own question.

The easiest thing for me to do was to buy a used phone for $1500 baht from one of the many sellers at any one of the big shopping centers..

Then buy a prepaid phone card for international calls at any 7-11 store in Thailand. I think they come in 600 baht amounts

Just dial the access number on the phone card and call whatever US number you want.

When you run out of time , just buy another card.

They've got them for calling within Thailand and calling overseas too.

I liked buying my own phone in Thailand because I could give out my own number to friends and business contacts. I felt connected where ever I went and anyone could reach me. When I left, I left the phone with a friend who will use it to keep my number active. That way when I'm in Thailand again, I'll be able to keep the same number and everyone who added my number to their calling lists won't have to change a thing.

My Thai wife and I (American) are considering purchasing property in Thailand. I understand that only Thais are allowed to own land in Thailand.

We have no problem purchasing land in her name but have heard that upon my wife's death the property cannot pass to me (American) but will pass to her Thai relatives.

We were wondering if there was any way of getting Thai citizenship for my daughter so she could inherit the property should my wife or both of us die.

Can the adult daughter of a Thai citizen get Thai citizenship based on her Thai parent?

If so, what is the process?

I too have bought land in Thailand. It is not mine and is in my wife's name. Am I worried about it? Not nearly as much as if I had set up a bogus company and had to pay taxes.

I realize I have no claim on that land. If we were to split up it wouldn't change my lifestyle so it's not a big deal. The person who originally wrote not to invest more than you can comfortably walk away from was dead on the mark.

My wife tried unsuccessfully to have my name put on her land and house papers. She is worried what I would do if she were to die. I wouldn't live there anyway without her so it doesn't matter to me.

Hello. Excuse me for jumping in here but could you inheirit the property if she were to die.

or could it have been set up so you own the house and she owns the land?

If I'm understanding the last few posts correctly, Thai courts are not bound by precedent through case law and so what a judge decides in one case may not be followed in a similar case. I suppose that this applies only to case law that interprets statute law but it's still very significant. It presumably means also that if a law has been ignored for some years, a judge could still enforce it in a particular case even though the public had assumed it had fallen into disuse.

Oh boy, am I glad that we didn't build our house on land that we bought through a mickey mouse company. Our Thai land belongs to my wife and there's no possibility that a court or tax man will be able to take it away from her. And there's no landowner to do that either

May I ask what would happen to the property if your wife were to die.

I've heard all sorts of things including "her family could come in and boot you out"

What have you heard?

Its no big deal. According to the new law, Thai can own land whether she is married to farang or not. There is no problems as long the wife does not die...

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What if she dies??? I have always wondered about that.

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I remember reading on here somewhere, that if she dies the Farang has got a certain time frame in which to sell the land. I'm not sure if it was 6 months or 12 months.

I'll try and do a search for something on that subject later.

In "Hua Hin Today" and article on this subject states :

Even if the Thai spouse dies, the foreigner has no claim to the land and there is nothing to stop the relatives from moving in (if they haven’t already) and booting you out.

If you want a house to call your own without the prospect of your spouses’ relatives circling hungrily, this is not a good option"

http://www.huahintoday.net/index.php?actio...ype=news&id=616

Sounds to me like the Thai property laws are something out of the past century.

What if both Foreign Husband and Thai wife are killed in an automobile accident? Sounds like their kids get nothing unless they are Thai citizens.

Makes buying property in Thailand like stepping through a minefield.

Was just up there last week visiting an old friend who's a longtime owner & resident at palm hills. Great guy and he'll probably be happy to answer any questions you might have. This is his place and you can contact him here if you like: http://www.bahtsold.com/detail.php?id=14781

There's lots of property available, take your time is the rule of course and ask lots of questions from those who are owners/residents in the area. Good luck

Thanks. I emailed him

I understand places like Palm Hills and Springfield are older communities...at least 10 years old I was told. That's why I was surprised to see so few houses built on the properties. A drive around revealed a lot of undeveloped lots. Most of the lots have been sold so I assumed that there were a lot of investors just hanging on to the property.

Another thing is that at Palm Hills it looks like they've just gotten around to building the sports complex.

It seems like everything ground to a halt when the economy went bad and is just now picking up.

Springfield had even fewer houses and more vacant lots...and the roads leading to some of the lots were not even built yet.

I was just curious if these golf developments were having difficulty getting up and running or are there just a lot of investors holding on to the land for speculation.

We are thinking of buying some land to build in the Hua Hin area and are looking at a couple of golf residential communities.

Palm Hills is one of them...conveniently located hear downtown. The other is Springfield...further away but less expensive

Both communities are largely undeveloped (a lot of lots sold but not that many houses built)

I'm hoping I can get any feedback or reviews from people who may be living there or who know of someone living there.

Thanks

I'm planning on visiting Thailand for a month but would like to stay in touch with my office here in the States

Does anyone have any suggestions as to the cheapest way to make phonecalls to the US?

Someone told me there are phone cards you can buy in Thailand that allow you to call from Thailand to the US for a reasonable rate from any phone in Thailand

Someone else said that if I took my mobile phone to Thailand I could have the sim card changed (I have Verizon) and make direct calls via my cel phone

Any suggestions

Anyone able to recommend some good Thai cooking classes? (Preferably ones that aren't hideously expensive).

Cheers.

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Thai Kitchen has just opened up a cooking school in Bangkok.

Here's some information on themThai Kitchen cooking school in Bangkok

alendronate and cholecalciferol

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The Fosamax Plus D bottle reads "alendronate sodium cholecalciferol"

70mg 2800 IU

I golf at our executive course in El Dorado Hills, CA for $10 for 18 holes. No cart, no caddy. It's well maintained and I consider it to be fairly cheap. That would be about 400 baht.

Does anyone know if you can get relatively new drugs in Thailand?

My wife takes FOSAMAX PLUS D for Osteoporosis.

It a Merck & Co, drug that was recently approved this year in the US.

It's rather expensive so we thought we might see if we can purchase it in Thailand while we are there.

Where does one find a list of prescription drugs sold in Thailand?

Anyone have any suggestion on a cheap but decent place to play a round of golf in Bangkok.

I like to walk the course and don't need a caddy

We plan to travel to Thailand and stay for several months (36 days for me..90 days for her)

Bit confused by this statement are you staying several months or 36 days?

I will be visiting Thailand for 36 days. But my wife will stay on for a total of three months.

Since there is no time for her to apply for a Thai passport (we leave for Thailand in a week) perhaps we can apply for one in Bangkok, or get one when we come back to the States. Would that be the thing to do?

The part that confuses me is that it will look like she has dual citizenship.

Is it possible to use her Thai passport when entering Thailand and her US passport when entering the US....on the same trip. There won't be any indication on the US passport that she applied for a visa to Thailand or that she ever exited the US at all. Might that be a problem coming back to the STates

Thank you for that suggestion.

We leave for Thailand in a week so there's no time to apply for a new passport.

We were thinking of having her get a new identity card when we get to Bangkok

After that she hopefully she can apply for a passport which she can use in future to enter Thailand.

The question becomes: If she uses her Thai passport to get into Thailand, will she have trouble getting back into the United States since she won't have a visa stamp in her US passport saying she just visited Thailand

On a similar question. My sister in law married a farang years ago and changed her name on her identity card to her new married name. When they went to buy a house in Thailand about 8 years ago, the Thai authorities said she was married to a farang and couldn't own property. They ended up having to buya house but put it in the name of one of her Thai sisters.

A few years later They sold that house and moved back to the States but now are seriously thinking of retiring in Thailand but want to know if the Thai laws have eased up any

Have they become less restrictive with the rules prohibiting Thai women marrying farangs from owning land? (She also has since become a US citizen but still has her name registered at a house in Thailand)

My wife intends to apply for her residency card (butt brachum doah) when she goes to Thailand this time. If she enters Thailand using a US passport..then mangaes to get her residency card and Thai passport during her stay in Thailand, can she exit the country using her Thai passport..and use her US passport upon arrival back in the states.. The US passport will be missing the Thai extension visa and show that she "overstayed" her 30 day tourist visa since she won't have applied for an extension but used her Thai ID to stay in Thailand

Thank you for your reply

I will look for those other posts and see if I can find more detailed info

My Thai wife became a US citizen many years ago.

Now we'd like to buy some land in Thailand and maybe move back there to retire

She never declared her change of citizenship in Thailand and still has her Thai passport (expired)

Anyone know what options are open to her to hold title to land in Thailand?

just cross a border and get stamped back in for another 30 days

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Thanks for your reply and suggestion. Short of having to travel to Laos, Cambodia or Malaysia, is it easy enough apply for an extension somewhere in Bangkok.

I once heard someone say that you can get an extension by paying a fee of a couple thousand baht but I never got more details than that

My wife is a Thai with US passport and I am a US citizen.

We plan to travel to Thailand and stay for several months (36 days for me..90 days for her)

We thought we could get a visa at the airport in thailand but I'm told they only issue 30 day visas.

What are our options. It's too late to apply at the counsulate here.

Thanks