Presnock

On 4/12/2023 at 12:55 PM, ozimoron said:

What to do? Build a wall? That worked last time. The real solution is to interdict in the countries like Guatemala to correct the push factors driving immigration.

what to do?  IMHO our congress should not allow any illegal immigrant to ever become a US citizen until they are a legal immigrant and the same for all of their family including any birth in the US ( a necessary change tot he law too).  2nd, those that come into the borders and claim asylum should not be allowed to remain free in the US as it takes several years for the courts to even hear their case and from what I have read, by then the US immigration doesn't even really know where any of these folks are.  Our immigration laws are the easiest just about in the "free" world as so many do make it to the US and find greater opportunities than in their own country.  After all, the US is a nation for the most part on immigrants but times have changed somewhat and too many crimes are now involved in getting to the US and then remaining there for innocent and criminals alike.   We need greater efforts to curb drug use and control of immigrants.  my opinion anyway but I am so against the US politicians as it appears to me from what I read daily from around the world politicians of almost all nations are nothing but leeches that are more concerned with being re-elected than they are in solving the problems of their countries.

On 4/7/2023 at 6:26 AM, thaibeachlovers said:

I disagree that that is a bad thing. IMO house prices should fall by a great deal, so ordinary people have a shot at owning a home without mortgaging their future. If people paid too much for theirs, that's down to them thinking nothing would change. Many have been aware that cheap loans would not last forever, but some thought they knew better, apparently.

 

I doubt any government that wants to get re elected is going to tell the truth about a sagging economy, and Trump makes a convenient scapegoat, despite the economy apparently doing well on his watch.

yea. but he did't do anything about the pandemic upsurge which trashed the world economy together

with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  Trump and his lies together with most of the Republican Party

are destroying democracy in the US.  I hate Democrats even more as it seems ALL politicians want

to do is work towards re-election because stupid voters will keep them drawing a Govt check without

having to fix any of the nation's problems.  Biden and Trump both need to get lost and a younger

generation maybe won't be so corrupt.  My opinion only based on too many years of seeing the same

useless politicians re-elected over and over.

as I mentioned earlier, submitted mine on Saturday, a day later than the 15 day as I didn't get the

alert and by Monday AM I had my new date for the next 90 day report.  No complaint from me.

this is the first time I didn't get the 15-day alert that my 90-day report was due online.  So on the 14th day before it was due I logged in , did my email, password and clicked on the magnifying glass sign and the TM47 with all my data filled in appeared.  I acknowledged that all was correct and submitted it and then I received an email with the filled in tm 47 saying that immigration had received it.  this was 8 April 2023.

On 3/23/2023 at 4:38 PM, ChomDo said:

15 years but things seem to have changed a lot. Some hotels don't care and others might not let you check in without it. Also, the weird stuff I'm hearing from Phuket made me wonder how can people actually go anywhere without a passport if they might be asked for it while sitting on the beach...just in case they can find had a few days overstay.

I was going to take it all along but I don't intend to keep it with me so just wanted to hear some opinions on how others who live here long-term do it while travelling.

if you have been here for 15 years, when you renewed your passport, didn't your embassy need that

old passport to process for the new one ? just asking as before I just went to the embassy to renew

it but now I understand that they want it done by email for form and then registered mail for the old

passport and form.  Just asking

FYI,

I note that many people use a friend's or relative's address in the states

when they are opening or keeping a bank accout open..  This could in fact be

lying to the feds in an attempt to circumvent the law.  I am not trying to 

intimidate anyone but all should be aware of this fact.  The State Department

Federal Credit Union will open an account for you.  There are other banks too

that I have seen mentioned here that will open an account for you even with

your foreign address.  And, don't forget the FBAR if you are an AMCIT with

a foreign bank account.

racyrick,

I too am an Americitizen and had the same problem years ago (when the Justice dept in conjunction with many other foreign countries had a law changed so that amcits or other countries too, forced foreign banks to report the country of that foreigner's local account - you might have to change your local bank acct too) anyway, the way around it is for you to join the USstate dept federal credit union.  You do have to be an employee of the govt or any thing like that, just an American citizen, but they will require you to join one of a list of US groups ( I joined the American Citizens Overseas) where you will need to pay a yearly or

lifetime fee but some of those organizations are fairly cheap.  I have had an account with this bank (sdfcu.org) for 3 plus years and have had no problems.  You can get various credit cards, service etc with no problems other than they don't work weekends and are on a US time sched for daily work.  When I transfer funds monthly, it costs 30 USD no matter how much I transfer and I get it in my local account  the next day.  sdfcu transfers funds daily that are transfer messages are received by 8 AM est I think.  Anyway,

they will provide you with a list of services etc if you email them at sdfcu.org.

Went in BKK Hospital (C/M) for my yearly flu shot and dr recommended that I also get the shingles vaccine - not overly

expensive and age 75+ so I opted to get it at the same time.  No problems about 2 months ago.

The $ USD index has increased almost 10% this year.  As mentioned above, at some point, it will come

back down to earth and the $ will then be back to 30 or below before too long.  Depends on politics,

both local and the world, weather patterns wiping out many countries plans - look at China today,

first they had the WUHAN virus and came up with a vaccine. But through lockdown and their vaccine,

they stopped it cold there.  But then the variants started - now the last that I saw, one vaccinated with

the Chinese vaccines were 5 times more likely to get a bad case of the COVID variants.  So then once

the variants hit China, they locked down again but that became more and more widespread affecting

the pipeline for other countries manufacturing processes.  Now they and other countries are being hit

by the violent shift of weather - today China issued a warning to 167 cities of a high heat wave and asked

companies to shut down and conserve power.  In addition, they reported several days ago 166 rivers in

33 counties had disappeared totally.  Many well known rivers are drying up around the world, plus many

lakes too are fading away.  Who knows what exchange rate we will be facing in the coming months when

the winter storms begin hitting the northern hemisphere and shutting down countries.  Good luck to all

as I have been here since the 1997 - 57 baht to a $ days but before that even I was here when it went to

20 baht per $ many years before that.  If one is one the borderline for staying here based on income then

good luck with that.  I feel sorry for all

and hope all can survive.

did mine online...got an email from CM immigration on Sunday telling me it was due the next day.  So I did it on Monday and

received the success immediately and then on Tuesday the new printed date for 90 days in the future.  Can't beat it as it is

a lot easier and quicker than before.  Haven't had any problems since they went to this new system.  Just remember, to use

the on line you must first register and get a immigration generated password.  Is simple too.

club rental not that expensive.  since you want twilight or maybe night golf, check those courses in the areas you will visit to see if they have night golf too.  Bangkok Golf used to have night golf, I played many a day and night rounds there!

On 7/2/2022 at 9:42 AM, pagallim said:

When you say pension letter from the UK, I take it that you mean a letter from your pension provider?   It's clear in the PIV website, such letters are not acceptable, only a letter from an embassy/consul, which of course wouldn't be the case for a UK citizen amongst others.

as several people have mentioned, anything coming from a foreign bank or organization has no meaning for the normal IO, the 12 monthly statements of foreign transfers must come from one

of the THAI banks.  Plus you would normally need to update your bank book on the day you do the extension request and some IO's ask for a copy of "all" pages of the bank book.  As I previously mentioned, I do the monthly transfers and used to provide a lot from my stateside provided which this year the young IO just handed me all those documents and only used the local bank letters.  Less than an hour total at immigration.

On 7/2/2022 at 10:18 AM, Badrabbit said:

All I can do is try with what I have, Pension provider letter proving I receive a monthly Pension(UK) Pension pay slips showing monthly pension(GBP)Thai bank statement showing Monthly deposits, if they don't accept it its not a  problem.

I do the monthly transfers and have done so since the US embassy ceased to provide a letter. and I do my extension in Chiang Mai which may or may not be different but,  used to provide immigration with tons of documentation - i.e. statement from govt retirement income, letters of advice from my bank indicating what they sent each month, letters from Bangkok Bank indicating receipt of my money each month (12 individual payments, one each and every month), letter from bank indicating that I was the sole user of such account.  This year, the immigration returned all documents from my overseas contacts, only wanting the Bangkok Bank letters.  Guess they got tired of reading all those other documents.  Bangkok Bank indicates on the twelve deposits that such are from overseas and is a must.  The only sure way for you to know exactly that they might demand, you might visit with the immigration office there and ask/show them what you have or whatever you must have to do an extension.  Good luck!

9 hours ago, Stygge said:

Well, there shall always be a thread like this going so you can always start a new one of an old subject.
As I see it the two main contenders of the westernes interest are Thailand and the Philippines with Vietnam as a coming runner up.
Since this is a thai forum most posters here favor Thailand.
The pros and cons have been extensively listed and then it´s a personal preference of what has the highest weight for the individual expat.

 

I stay mostly in Thailand, because of the ease of flying there and the better infrastructure making a short holiday easier.
But in the long run I prefer the Philippines.
The most weight for me in the long run is the language. Even if the english language understanding is exaggerated in the far out provinces it´s still so much better than in thailand. I also experience  the filipinos so much more curios and inquisitive about the world than the thais. For me it´s decisive in the long run. I find the island country the Philippines far less insular than Thailand.
I also think the Philippines in the long run has better prospects than Thailand, mainlu because it´s much younger population. It´s going to make all the difference in the future.
The food is a minor problem for mie since I think food in Thailand generally has deteriorated the latest decade. Heavy on sugar, salt and glutamat it has certainly changed for the worse.
Most of us come for the temples and beautiful churches and other cultural activities of course, but a small, deprived minority comes to find women.
If I, reluctantly, put their glasses on, I can say there is not much difference between Thailand and the Philippines, but maybe the age difference in their respective populations makes the number of younger girls more protruding in the Philippines. If this is a pro or a con I wouldn´t know. Most expats maybe seeking more age appropriate 50 year old ladies and then I definitely recommend Thailand.
Otherwiise both are south east asian countries and the similarites are predominant.

 

I spent 7 years in the Philippines and now 25 here in Thailand.  I opted to retire here due

to 1)no volcanoes erupting (yet), 2) minor earthquakes seldom only 3) no typhoons every

year.  But I speak Tagalog and Thai so the language doesn't impact me.  The food to me

is much better in Thailand.  However, I also was an avid scuba diver (over 500 dives) and

Thailand can't even begin to come close to the number of super clear water (can see the

moon clearly at 140 feet deep at night of course).  As a hasher, there are a lot less snakes

in the PI so that was a plus too.  Golf for me was a lot cheaper in the PI but that was 30 years

ago so...  Either way, I loved the PI and I love Thailand.  I do read that immigration activity for

the PI is better than here, but the last couple of years here, immigration has gotten a lot

easier for me - no change other than I can't get an Embassy income letter but that just saves

me about 50 USD a year plus the visit there so even that got easier.  Either country can be

almost heaven in my opinion and I also have lived/worked in many EU countries, some

African and many Asian countries and overall, Thailand is still my choice for retirement.

21 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

I am not aware of how the cancel option will work since have not done it or seen any reports about doing it.

I guess you could try doing it to see what will happen.

To avoid errors after doing the your first report you can select to auto fill your application after entering your passport number and selecting your nationality by clicking the the magnifying glass symbol.

 

Oh this is great!  Thanks Joe for sharing this tidbit, I normally just refill all the info and this

can save me a few minutes anyway plus don't have to concern myself with fat finger mistakes.

59 minutes ago, Pawpcorn said:

We always do it a month early, too, just following the monthly SSA transfer from the USA, and THEN adding the 7 days the bank takes to request and receive the year's worth of official bank-certified monthly statements from the main bkk-bank branch in Silom (which has the impound account).

 

Earlier-the-better, IMHO, in case there are any new paperwork complications, dreamt up by Immigration, in the prior year.

Actually, here in Chiang Mai they seem to have finally admitted that they have been collecting way too much paperwork.  Over half of the documents I had were given back to me as they only need:

from the local bank, 2 documents one indicating it is my account only, and the 12 monthly transfers from overseas plus of course a copy of my updated bank book.  Nothing was needed to verify my retirement nor any banking statements from the US.  easier and easier it seems to me after 17 years of doing these extensions.

When you decided to do the 90-day online report, did you register and get a password?  Was it your first time doing a 90-day report?  I just di my third 90-day report via the online method.  Absolutely no problem.  I got an email saying that my forwarding of the info was accepted "SUCCESS" they said and then I waited on day and had another email with the new reporting date for the next 90-day report.  This sure is easy and costs nothing but a few minutes typing.  In my opinion it is now much easier than it used to be for all immigration visits - I have been doing them for 17 years partially in Bangkok and now in Chiang Mai.  I only wear long pants once a year now - getting easier - some day maybe won't have to think about it at all.

For generations the US citizens have had hundreds of millions of firearms of all types but, since the VN era, parents have failed as a whole almost in the raising of their children properly.  The newest are more opinionated, lack morals of any kind, no religious feelings, spoiled rotten and just to much of a ""me first and only" society.  Too many of them feel entitled to benefits of all kinds yet have done absolutely nothing to deserve any benefits.  I read that Maine has the strictest gun laws but the lowest killings.  This is also true for many major cities including Chicago.  It is just about impossible to confiscate over 300 million firearms so more extreme laws against bad users of firearms should be passed to incarcerate those individuals for the rest of their lives.  That is my opinion anyway and I am a gun supporter though I don't need an AR-15 or the like, just a shotgun!

On 5/30/2022 at 7:49 PM, Nickelbeer said:

Not sure about the US not providing any aid to military ruled countries. The figures I have seen show at least 17.7 billion  dollars going to Thailand from the USA in 2019. That does not include aid for Covid.

but by then the junta wasn't ruling as they had an "ElEcTiOn"...

similar effect on the 90-day report which shouldn't be affected by the date of one's

extension but mine was, I did my 90-day report in late April as required, on line and when 

I received the immigration form, it indicated that instead of 90 days I had to do the next

90-day report on the date of my extension in mid-June.  Since we can do it on line fairly

easy now, I'm not really concerned but...

The US has been friendly with Thai governments for decades although military ruled countries cannot be provided any aid.  The US sees Thailand being wooed by the Chinese who are doing this throughout the world.  We at least allow foreigners to purchase land, businesses etc in the US but try that in Russia or N.Korea or China.  The wars we have been involved in are almost totally brought about by the UN and we provide military assistance including our soldiers.  We do this to prevent any of those people from starting a war in the US to protect our citizen as forethought.  I do not always agree with their support of poor leaders but then I am not in a position to do so.  Much of the people of the world today have more freedom than they would have if the US never assisted them.  Even the bad ones we provide some kind of assistance, many times having to borrow the money to aid them.  My analysis anyway.