BalthazarBeefheart

I would be grateful as I was asked to help with this today. Is it possible for someone to change their 30 day visa on arrival to a 60 day tourist visa.

If yes how would they go about it ?

Many Thanks

Could someone tell me how many days before the 90 days due date one should now send the registered letter.

Many Thanks

I have attended Bumrungrad where the psychiatrist has prescribed me Olanzapine 10 mg at the considerable cost of over 300BHT per tablet.

I have stated repeatedly that I am on a limited budget so I am very surprised to learn a generic is available here.

I assume the generic is not available through Bumrungrad so would appreciate advice as how I would get a prescription for it.

Regards BB

Thank you both for your kind help in this matter.

Most appreciated.

Thank you for your reply, I did in fact write down the names and the staff checked in MIMS and said they did not stock.

I tried 3 pharmacies including Boots all who did not stock.

I wondered if anyone knows where to get.

Many thanks

I thought I'd post this so others don't waste their time as I have today.

When I tried to logon to this service I got the following message.

We are sorry. The service is currently unavailable. Please try your request again later. If this problem persists, please contact our Bualuang Phone Customer Service Representatives at (66) 0-2645-5555 for further assistance. (UI-00)

I kept trying as I wanted to make a transfer eventually this evening I called to be told I have to use Internet Explorer not Firefox as I had always done previously - sure enough It works with I/E.

Seems a very amateurish set up to me.

I was wondering if anyone knew if they were still playing in BKK.

Any info would be most appreciated.

Cheers BB

Tod - very interesting post. How do you compare AUA now to Walen? Price, Quality - Efficacy?

Sadly comparing Walen and AUA are like comparing apples to oranges Aside from both of them being fruit there are few similarities; so aside from both of them being thai language schools they have much more dissimilarities than things in common.

I still say AUA is NOT a beginning school, and if you know zero thai, you’re likely to come out of an hour’s lesson more discouraged than you entered. I know David Long disagrees with this, but seeing as there is NO in class interaction, NO ability to ask questions and NO speaking it’s my own personal take on their methodology. I guess I prefer to learn more interactively than passively.

However with that being said, ANYONE who knows even a smattering of thai can and will benefit from sitting their classes. The teachers do a sufficient job in miming out new vocabulary words so you can at least glean the meaning. They speak at normal thai cadence and speech patterns, so you’re exposed to regularly spoken thai, not a teacher over pronouncing words at a snails pace.

I’m gonna try to sit some more classes at AUA this upcoming week just to gauge the level of my comprehension. Last time I sat level 3-4 and easily understood the context of the hour long lesson.

The biggest drawback in my quest for speaking, reading & writing thai is my own doubts about my ability. The extreme reticence I have in speaking thai; even if I know how to say it correctly, with the proper structure has held me back much more than what ever school or method I would care to attend.

When I add in the fact I recognize written thai words via context and/or memorized recognition, instead of by the toning and/or pronunciation rules; it means I sometimes pronounce words wrong.

I still gotta take the time to learn the tone rules, but so far it’s beyond me.

Tod I am curious to know if you sat some more classes at AUA and what your experience was.

My flight BKK-LHR was also cancelled at the end of May and EVA called my travel agent to inform him.

It was annoying 'cos I had to re-arrange connections from LHR.

I was told at the airport by the supervisor called over by the check-in staff that it was cancelled 'cos of lack of customers and there would be a lot more cancellations.

I therefore kept a check on the eva website to see my return flight was not cancelled. i am pretty certain there were two flights cancelled in the week I returned at the end of June.

It would appear they have a policy to cancel flights when load factors are below a certain level.

I have flown QF/TG and BA previously and have found the cabin service on EVA to be much better.

The service was fine on the outbound flight.

However, sitting near the galley on my return to BKK I couldn't help but notice that whilst the premium cabins got a continuous supply of water and juices it was almost non-existent in economy.

As we are in the season of goodwill why dont you just give them away to those less fortunate than you - I think you will find plenty around. Alternatively find a bar willing to take them Cheap Charlies springs to mind.

Cheers BB

Never any shortage on our forums of people ready to give away others' money.

<snip>

As we are in the season of goodwill why dont you just give them away to those less fortunate than you - I think you will find plenty around. Alternatively find a bar willing to take them Cheap Charlies springs to mind.

Cheers BB

Could someone pls tell me where to buy a decent darts board in BKK.

Also anywhere in Sukhumvit area where one can play.

Seasons greetings to all BB.

Markets are improving dramatically. My family thinks now is the time to invest. I'm not sure, I think it's gambling.

Please discuss !!!

Yes you are gambling on the fact that the Government bank bailouts will work with no more bad news around the corner and also that the recession will be mild and short-lived.

Cheers BB

Hmmm. I've been out of Thailand a few weeks and don't plan to return there for some time. I'm a UK national and lived in Thailand for three years and have some savings. I'm just wondering whether I should leave my Thai savings as they are or else do something with them. I don't really know if I should do anything.

You don't deserve savings if you need to ask what to do with them on this forum - anyone who knows the slightest bit about economics or finance soon disappears.

I think most of the posters are chained to their p.c's by their Thai wifes and fed a diet of Jagermeister.

I myself would put it in that King of currencies - the Deutschmark !

Cheers BB

i'd second that wholeheartedly Balthazar, but in my german mother tongue the Deutsche Mark is feminine and until now a female King is unheard of. perhaps there will be a change in future?

Sorry I didn't know we could have two Queens of currencies. I think the OP may be using Queen as an euphemism for Queer - since New Labour Mandelson, Blair and Brown the pink pound has become increasingly important.

Pound Sterling has a masculine sound to me so perhaps it should be King of Currencies. It's bouncing back today - I can see it back it over 2 USD by breakfast tomorrow - I am going out to celebrate.

Cheers BB

Yes the BOT will run out of dollars to sell at some point. I think that they are afraid of 1997 all over again so they feel if they can stabize the baht vs. the Dollar then they will have won half the battle, and if they can keep the baht at around 35-36/Dollar while oil falls, that when oil finally stabilizes then they will have been able to control any wild swings. The baht will likely gravitate back to around 41-43/Dollar when all is said and done, because that is the level it has seems to go to ever since 1997! Should the Pound not drop below 1.50/Dollar then you could definately see the low 60's when the baht/dollar gets to 42 or so

I wouldn't have thought history was the greatest factor these days - perhaps it would be better if you said because that is the level I would like it to go to !

Personally from all the wisdom I have gathered on here I can predict that GBP will fluctuate between 35 and 90 to the baht.

Cheers BB

Hmmm. I've been out of Thailand a few weeks and don't plan to return there for some time. I'm a UK national and lived in Thailand for three years and have some savings. I'm just wondering whether I should leave my Thai savings as they are or else do something with them. I don't really know if I should do anything.

You don't deserve savings if you need to ask what to do with them on this forum - anyone who knows the slightest bit about economics or finance soon disappears.

I think most of the posters are chained to their p.c's by their Thai wifes and fed a diet of Jagermeister.

I myself would put it in that King of currencies - the Deutschmark !

Cheers BB

Does it matter? If you are exchanging GBP for THB the rate is what it is, same for any currency exchange. I don't look at in in a light of strength nor weakness, my GBP's get me 58 THB which means Thailand is a little more expensive now. In a year's time it might be more expensive or it might be cheaper. Nothing I can do about it but be happy I have no Icelandic whatsits nor any money in Iceland.

That is a good attitude to take. The fact is as everyone should know the UK economy is in a mess and sterling will continue to weaken - it will get very boring if everytime someone gets a lower baht rate when they use their atm's that they then post the results on here. Take the prudent view that the rate will be considerably lower and plan your budget accordingly.

Cheers BB

I reckon the likely bottom on all of this is GBP/USD at around 1.60 and GBP/THB around 52. Not too bad if you're holding USD but distinctly poor if you hold GBP.

C.M., I use to think that the bottom for the pound would be $1.60-$1.65/Dollar range, but that was before I found out just how troubled the situation is in G.B. I think that the pound could easily test the $1.50 level (especially if oil breaks down below $60/bbl) sometime over the next 6 months, of course if you remember there was a voice in the wilderness here on thaivisa a few months back that told everyone to short oil and gold and get out of the Euro and Pound and go long the Dollar, at a time when the Euro was $1.60/Dollar, the Pound was $2.00/Dollar and oil was in the upoper $130's/bbl and gold was $1000/ounce. As you remember I was ridiculed by all the regular U.S. bashers here, but in the end I was correct and as we go further along on this journey I will become even more correct

But be careful not to trip over your ego on the journey !

Cheers BB

B.B., Trust me when I tell you that my humility is checked on a daily basis these days Cheers to you as well!

Well VV, would it be viable that if oil dips as much as you believe then the USD would appreciate against the THB - as a return to a rate of around 40 would help the beleagured Brits - well at least stop them crying in their beer so much - stiff upper lip I say !

Cheers BB

I reckon the likely bottom on all of this is GBP/USD at around 1.60 and GBP/THB around 52. Not too bad if you're holding USD but distinctly poor if you hold GBP.

C.M., I use to think that the bottom for the pound would be $1.60-$1.65/Dollar range, but that was before I found out just how troubled the situation is in G.B. I think that the pound could easily test the $1.50 level (especially if oil breaks down below $60/bbl) sometime over the next 6 months, of course if you remember there was a voice in the wilderness here on thaivisa a few months back that told everyone to short oil and gold and get out of the Euro and Pound and go long the Dollar, at a time when the Euro was $1.60/Dollar, the Pound was $2.00/Dollar and oil was in the upoper $130's/bbl and gold was $1000/ounce. As you remember I was ridiculed by all the regular U.S. bashers here, but in the end I was correct and as we go further along on this journey I will become even more correct

But be careful not to trip over your ego on the journey !

Cheers BB

I remember a few posts on here a while back saying that anyone who took less interest from holding accounts with the larger more boring banks was in short pretty stupid. I must admit that I hold cash with some of the bigger more boring banks and have in turn looked at all these good offers from Iceland, Ireland, you name it. Only to pass them all up. My reasoning was that when it got to the end of the year, you were going to have to put an awful lot of money into one of these accounts to be worth it.

These banks are in fact now following a pattern, which is they have all at some time come at the top in a search at moneysupermarket.com for high interest rates. In which case my prediction for the next one to go has to be Anglo Irish.

They are all still up there or have been at some time, Landsbanki, B&B, HBOS, Northern Rock, Kaupthing et al.

Somehow I can see the Irish being the next to go.

Somehow I can agree! I've changed my opinion on these things over the past few days and have now decided to shy away from AIB.

Yes I think you made a wise decision there - this article helped sway me http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/a...ck-1418369.html

Cheers BB

Thanks BB, that's very helpful

2 other questions:

1) If I open a fixed term accounht in the bank where I currently have my regular savings (Kasikorn), does the maximum insured amount (which I gather will decrease to 1 million baht by 2010) apply to each account or to all accounts in a person's name? Because if the latetr I'd do better to make the second account in another bank, although for convenience being in the same bank would be easiest...

Also - would money in HBSC count for retirement visa purposes or does it need to be a Thai bank (as opposed to a bank in Thailand)??

Many thanks

Sheryl,

In answer to the first question the maximum coverage will be 1 million baht per depositor per institution. As I am reading it the legislation came into force last month and the coverage

is as follows

The blanket guarantee shall be gradually phased-out to limited coverage of 1 million Baht

within 4 years as follows :

1st year : full amount of deposit

2nd year : 100 million Baht

3rd year : 50 million Baht

4th year : 10 million Baht

5th year : 1 million Baht

So as I see it the cover falls to 1 million in Aug 2012.

Here is the link to the Bank of Thailand where I took the information from http://www.bot.or.th/English/FinancialInst..._Insurance.aspx

I do not know about HSBC and your retirement visa - you may need to post on the visa section to find out. I would also consider Government bonds as another more secure means of investment which pay a higher yield than the fixed interest deposit accounts. There are also Government savings bonds which yield even higher but I am not sure if we qualfy for them.

I have heard the customer service is good at your bank - it would probably pay to have a chat with them to see if they can offer any advice.

Cheers BB

Sheryl,

I opened a fixed account with Bangkok Bank Emporium branch with a non-imm visa although that was a few years back. Here are their current rates

http://www.bangkokbank.com/Bangkok+Bank/We...posit+Rates.htm

I think you will find from another recent post that there is adequate deposit cover - in fact on the Bangkok Bank website it states deposits are guaranteed by the government.

Another possibility is Khrung Thai bank whose head office is situated between Suk Soi 1 and 3 they offer similar rates and are a state-owned bank so should be safer in uncertain times. I also opened an a/c with them on non-imm visa.

It may be best if you started enquiries at your current bank where you hold a savings account if the rules have changed hopefully they will waive them for you.

I hope that helps a little - if you have any questions dont hesitate to ask.

Cheers BB

Well I've actually listened to some of the so-called smug dudes / masters-of-money in here.

I've saved money because I listened to them.

At first I was in near-denial that the sterling would fall when the talk first started about two months ago, but fall the £ has.

How far down does the rabbit hole go?

nobody knows nothing. those who claim they know, know even less than nothing (although that is mathematically impossible)

I knew it was going to fall. Against the $USD anyway. You're right that knowbody knows why, including me; but unfortunately everyone gets stuck trying to figure out why, which of course, it's totally unimportant.

According to the FX technicals "GBP possibly forming a Significant Bottom" that is at Fridays close so maybe with the Fed looking to cut at the end of the month we will see some improvement.

I have looked into Foreign Exchange deposits with First Direct and wondered if others here had better alternatives please advise.

Anyway, I am off to the gyms in search of more significant bottoms.

Cheers BB

BB, While I can understand your effort to rationalize that a bottom has been put in for the pound, I really think that you are grasping at straws if you think that the FED will be lowereing rates at the next FOMC meeting! The FED will likely leave things put until January, but their next move will be up not down. I hope things went better at the gym!

VV I made those remarks last January - someone decided to resurrect this old thread - I wonder why ?

Cheers BB

PP

The min opening balance on issue 2 is £15000. They also offer 6.65% on a new 50 day notice account Min investment is £25000 min withdrawal of £5000. I could achieve both but all my savings are in issue 1. If I transfer £15000 to my 'nominated account' and them applied for issue 2 do you think they would consider it new money? I will ask them tomorrow and post the reply.

Thanks for your imput

Regards

P

OOPS Min withdrawal for 50 day notice acc is £25000 and interest on issue 2 is 6.5% - I should wear my glasses!!!

P Thanks for drawing my attention to this - I was wondering if you had a reply to the idea of transferring 15000 to your nominated account.

Cheers BB