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gentlemanjackdarby
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Posts posted by gentlemanjackdarby
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9 hours ago, dotpoom said:
The only a/c I have is this one, TV.
My question would be....where is the phone addiction going to end. I now see farangs using it at the traffic lights ( and while moving) on their motorbikes.
I know a little about addictions being a recovered alcoholic....but as true as God I have never seen an addiction with this sort of obsession.
The addiction will never end for two reasons:
1. The cell phone allows too many folks to feel they are "important" because they just got an important text or there was an important update to their social media account or an important celebrity just held forth on an important new movie or there's just been an important news report on a natural disaster on the other side of the world or etc.
2. I'm an American, so if one is familiar with how cell phones and sell service is marketed and sold in the U.S., you'd better damn well better believe most folks are never going to put the phone down. After all, if one is locked into a 2-year contract to finance a USD 500 and up device and paying in the neighborhood of USD 100 per month for a talk, text, and data plan and another 20% on top of the service plan for governmental fees, taxes, and surcharges, it would be stupid to use the phone just for calls. Those would be some pretty expensive calls!
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3 hours ago, Kim1950 said:
You are a phoney, maybe among unprofessional colleagues you might call people "4th worlders" as referring to people who are socially backward, with alcohol / drug problems, violent, no education, unemployed, unwilling to grab the opportunities society offers them - and it's hereditary. But, not in professional capacity or formal dissertation other than how prejudicial the term is to people. You won't find it's use in any clinical material or training. And, it's not a clever adjective. it's demeaning, prejudicial, sweepingly generalized, sophomoric, and of no redeeming value. If you do have a license, it says plenty about your profession and you. You are so clever and professional, you don't even imagine how offending the term is to some people. That's why you are a phoney. By.
Yep, nothing like a good old ad hominem attack to demonstrate one's intellect, wit, and erudition as well as the validity of one's argument.
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13 hours ago, oldhippy said:
So I am blamed for describing the problems of the fourth world?
Is it better to deny the facts?
I am blamed for not offering solutions?
You overestimate my capabilities.
But it sounds as if Kim has the answers to the problem.
I am interested, let's hear it!
Hear! Hear!
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14 minutes ago, Kim1950 said:
The term Fourth World first came into wide use in 1974 with the publication of Shuswap Chief George Manuel's: The Fourth World: An Indian Reality. Manuel thought of the Fourth World as the "indigenous peoples descended from a country's aboriginal population and who today are completely or partly deprived of the right to their own territories and its riches. "
4th Worlders has nothing It has to do with drug addicts, alcoholics, criminals, a particular race, or uneducated people, so I confess, I don't understand your discussion. Unless you are inferring that indigenous peoples have been deprived of their rights because they are drug addicts, alcoholics, criminals, a particular race or uneducated people. If anything, they have been deprived of their rights precisely because that's how they have been self-servingly defined by the people who have taken their rights.
For those of us for whom RIF, we understand and accept that the meaning of words and the usage of language changes with the passage of time as can it's usage within different countries or (sub) cultures.
I see no reason why it should be any different for the term "4th worlder".
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2 hours ago, Kim1950 said:
You wrote. "4th worlders refers to people who are socially backward, with alcohol / drug problems, violent, no education, unemployed, unwilling to grab the opportunities society offers them - and it's hereditary!". I might add history is Fundamental. Maybe your depth of history is a Facebook Timeline. Your syntax without context is right from the Heinrich Luitpold Himmler Playbook. "it's hereditary"
So you or your culture changes the term , then it was "slave like souls". If anything you suffer from ignorance. You note symptoms to problems, not the problem, nor any solution. Humanity has not evolved without hope, redemption, and the will to help each other. Labels matter. Ask any ethnic minority. So what is your solution.
And while we are on the topic, if anyone in a professional capacity in US used a term like "4th worlders ", they more than likely would be out of work or terminated from employment.
Once again, RIF - Reading is Fundamental!
It was "oldhippy" that wrote the original post to which I simply replied.
And since you seem to want to expand the roster of things that are fundamental, let's add to it "not state conclusions from facts which are not in evidence".
Just like "oldhippy's" post which was, well, "oldhippy's" and not mine, nowhere have I made any mention of my knowledge, or lack thereof, of history.
And it seems to be only you who has mentioned the topic of "professional capacity" but since you brought it up, I do hold a professional license and work in a professional capacity the U.S. and the idea that anyone in my field, or for that matter an overwhelming majority of licensed professional fields, would be "out of work or terminated from employment" for using a clever adjective is so far beyond laughable that it's unthinkable.
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4 hours ago, Kim1950 said:
Would your 4th worlders, "them" socially backward, with alcohol / drug problems, violent, no education include people with mental health issues. Are autistic people or people with learning disabilities your "them". Not sure about Belgium, but this is not an enlightened view or helpful to the human condition. I suppose in your view, we could like years ago place "them" in "Nut Houses", how about lobotomies, maybe a Nazi SS solution to the 4th worlders. More like your view is below a 3rd World Country.
Kim 1950,
One trait that sure as s**t immediately and unfailingly identifies a 4th worlder is utter contempt for and mockery of the idea and practice of RIF - Reading Is Fundamental.
I don't presume to speak for "oldhippy" since he's clearly literate and can do so for himself, but I certainly appreciate and expect that if a BM is going to respond to one of my posts, he at least take the time to practice RIF and give me the courtesy of actually reading what I and, by extension, previous posters really wrote before posting a diatribe based on inferences that were never, by any stretch of the imagination, even remotely implied.
Neither I nor "oldhippy" wrote anything about people with mental health issues, autistic people, "enlightened" views, Nazis, SS or otherwise, etc. or even hinted at anything remotely resembling some dark "solution".
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3 hours ago, oldhippy said:
May I add some more confusion to the discussion?
In Belgium we use the expression 4th world for some of our citizens.
It refers to people who are socially backward, with alcohol / drug problems, violent, no education, unemployed, unwilling to grab the opportunities society offers them - and it's hereditary!
I'm not suggesting anything, but......
4th worlders - great term.
I'm going to use it at least once a day and see if I can get it to catch on in the U.S. - we've got a lot of 'em here.
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2 hours ago, oldhippy said:
Not an unworthy thinker, that Karl.
I particularly liked his "religion is opium for the masses" oneliner - but we (...guess...) added: marxism is opium for the intellectuals.
Real intellectuals don't believe in Marxism
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7 hours ago, Craig krup said:
No, it gives you more options in one "domain". I'd have loved to have won the King of the Mountain's jersey in the Tour de France, as Robert Millar (now Pippa York) did.
A hill climber - I like that!
The hills separate the men from the boys and damn sure can't be bought.
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On 7/21/2017 at 6:28 PM, Jim Turner Mad Punx said:
The problem with these constant income questions is that it's all subjective.
there is no required amount. Incomes range from a couple dollars a day to highly compensated politicians.
theres always someone above or below you.
these questions are really about what "you" are comfortable with, not what "they" make.
when you have figured that one out you have figured out everything.
On 7/21/2017 at 10:38 PM, thehelmsman said:Stop it with the common sense. Folks here want to hear from the guy living a great life on 10K bht/mo. so they can bash the guy spending 100K bht/mo. If the wife isn't bringing home a paycheck she must be a golddigger.
But, these threads made for good reading and entertainment, that's all.
On 7/21/2017 at 10:58 PM, Jim Turner Mad Punx said:well putting people down for being dull and/or immature is what i find entertaining. that's what i like to do.
and i don't care what you reputation is here or what fancy nicknames you have or posting numbers or what you want to see. i will still put you and your posts down like a dog anyway.that's what i like.
Jim Turner Mad Punx,
Boy, I really thought that I'd seen it all on the Thailand and Philippines forums to which I belong but I have to say, I've never seen anything like your posts in this thread.
The first one an enlightened post that boils down all the bulls**t contained in uncountable price and cost-of-living threads to their essence followed by a second post that can only be called a nasty, mean-spirited and sad response to what was intended as a compliment by "thehelmsman".
It's quite sad that someone would admit to putting others down for being "dull/or immature", finding it "entertaining" and something they "like to do".
You must be busy 24 hours a day, seven days a week because most people, most of the time are are dull or immature; that doesn't make them fair game for a self-appointed arbiter of what's interesting or mature to put them down. That makes them normal, more-good-than-bad people.
I'll bet people run to get on your side of the street when they see you coming just to bask in the warm glow of good feelings and positive energy that you exude.
Oh, and a bit of advice: one who takes it upon himself to put down the so-called dull and immature folks of this world should at least be able to recognize sarcasm and parody when it presents itself, so perhaps a little less "putting down" and a little more reading of say, Oscar Wilde, is in order? At most, an arbiter of whatever who is policing others should be above reproach in their writing, so maybe another couple of hours a day with a grammar primer and the Chicago Manual of Style?
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1 hour ago, Keith Bennett said:
The thing is, several Verizon reps said that the hotspot should work on foreign networks and couldn't for the life of them figure out why it wasn't. They said they knew of many other Verizon phones that did do this.
I'd like to consider a Google phone, but would want to examine one in person before buying it. Is that possible? I think you have to just order it online on faith.
This intrigues me...I played with Google Voice a few years ago but didn't take it seriously. I had an issue recently that it would have helped with -- the credit card attached to my Uber account expired, and I couldn't log in to Uber from Thailand because they required 2 factor authentication. Neither worked for me; 1) text message didn't work because I had suspended my US mobile phone, and 2) email didn't work because Uber refuses to send these emails to Thailand. So I had to open a new Uber account using a different email address.
I have had a Google Voice account since 2010, and just logged in to get a phone number. I keep on getting the error described at https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!msg/voice/3Dr8NcKDXVM/BcOq5VTdBQAJ.
I cannot link my US phone number because it's a VOIP (Vonage) phone number. I tried using my Thai mobile number, but it refuses to link a Thai number. I'm sitting in Suvarnabhumi Airport waiting for my flights back to the US, so when I get there, I'll get a mobile phone working and use that.
Thanks for all your help!
It's not my intention to seem disrespectful regarding Verizon reps, but their training and knowledge is geared toward selling Verizon service, the hardware that Verizon sells, or supporting service and hardware and it would be unrealistic to expect otherwise. In my experience, each cellular network implements certain things a little differently so it takes digging and experimenting to figure out how to accomplish things that, on the surface, should be so simple, like international text messaging (SMS).
As for playing with a Google Nexus phone, I'd suggest stopping in to a T-Mobile store - that's what I do every now and then. They have been carrying Google hardware (at a much higher price), although after it's first available on the Google Store. The build quality on the Nexus 5 and 6 is a disappointment from the Nexus 4, which was my first smartphone, but it's about on par with phones in it's price range.
I've never been disappointed buying a phone from an online store - quite a few times I've been pleasantly surprised. The manufacturers with which I have hands-on experience (Google (Nexus), OnePlus, Huawei (Honor) and Asus) all build solid phones. Of course, at the price range at which I buy phones (no flagships), I get what I pay for - no cutting-edge screens or cameras, all-metal construction, etc. but I don't want it to be a thief magnet or such a big investment that if I lose it, break it, etc. I'm out a lot of money.
If you are interested in learning more about how two deal with one-time PINS in general and how they work with GV, I participated and wrote most of a very long thread on another forum for Philippines Expats (my screen name is the same over there and it's a "clean" forum, so my posts show up in Google Search) that lays it out in excruciating detail - as you can tell, the subjects to which I can currently contribute coupled with my writing style are not really forum-friendly. As I don't want to run afoul of the mods by posting a link to another forum, I can always PM a link if you're interested.
As for your GV error, GV won't allow the use of a forwarding number (such as a landline or cell number already used by GV) to get a new one.
As well, as I recall, you're currently in Thailand - awhile back, Google changed things so that one must be in the U.S. to set up GV.
And GV will not allow the use of a Voice-Over-IP (VOIP) number to sign up for GV - it must be a cellular number from one of the U.S. cell carriers or a landline plain-old-telephone system (POTS) number to sign up, so that leaves out Vonage, Skype, and "calling apps" such as NextPlus, Viber, etc. since those system use, for lack of a better term, "virtual" phone numbers.
I'd recommend getting GV properly set up when you're in the U.S. first - the cheapest way I can think to get that done is to buy a cheap, unlocked, GSM phone and a pre-paid SIM card with minimal load which will have a new number for the GV verification. Once GV is set up and verified, you can "attach" any of your existing U.S. numbers, such as landlines and cell numbers, to the new GV number.
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On 3/25/2017 at 9:35 AM, Keith Bennett said:
Thanks for the helpful responses (but not the others!
) . To clarify/respond:
My former phone was a Samsung Note 3 purchased from Verizon Wireless. It worked on their CDMA system but was unlocked and was GSM-capable, so I used it internationally without any problem, except that the phone did not permit mobile hotspot sharing on non-Verizon networks (!). After dropping the phone which broke the glass, the phone is now not working at all. I brought it to several repair places (including Samsung in Chiang Mai) and was told that it could only be repaired in the US. So I bought an inexpensive Asus phone here in Thailand that works fine; but I don't think it has the network band support necessary to run TMobile or AT&T in the US.Mobile hotspot sharing is a function of both the phone and the cell network. For example, if one had a Google Nexus 5 bought from Google, meaning it's unlocked and the Android OS is "stock" in the sense that it hasn't been modified by the cellular service provider, it will allow mobile hotspot on any GSM network on which it is used PROVIDED that cell service provider allows mobile hotspot. Most of the time this is a given. However, even though the Android is "stock", the cell service provider can still "see" how much data is coming from devices connected to the mobile hotspot and CAN limit that data. For example, I am with T-Mobile and my hotspot data is limited to 1 GB per month.
On 3/25/2017 at 9:35 AM, Keith Bennett said:
Using TMobile when I return to the US is appealing, but it would have to be a TMobile phone, because wifi calling would probably not work on non-TMobile phones, and I would want wifi calling since TMobile's network coverage is not that great. AT&T supports wifi calling, but only on postpaid plans and with their phones; I would want to use a prepaid plan.If the phone is an unlocked GSM phone that was purchased from somewhere other than a cellular service provider, it will have relatively "stock" Android and, unless it's from some off-the-wall manufacturer, it will allow wi-fi calling regardless of the cell network. It is POSSIBLE that the administrator of a specific wi-fi network is preventing wi-fi calling (or connections from undesired devices), but that's something that I would expect is relatively rare - it's also easily checked by connecting to another wi-fi network.
On 3/25/2017 at 9:35 AM, Keith Bennett said:
I was told by an AT&T rep that transferring my phone number from Verizon Wireless to AT&T could be done instantly at their store. I presume this would also be true of TMobile.
I expect to be in Thailand more than in the US during the next couple of years, so a productive phone is more important in Thailand than in the US. Still, I would want a good smartphone for both. (For me, good means >= 32 GB memory, reasonable speed, high resolution display, good battery life, current OS.)I'd recommend looking phones from manufacturers such as OnePlus, Google Nexus, Asus, and Huawei (Honor) - GSM and unlocked from the retailer. Google Nexus will always have the "stock" (vanilla) Android and updates are always rolled out first and fastest from Google to their phones. Also, these manufacturers' phones aren't the sexy "flagship" phones (with prices to match) but mid- to upper-range performers with mid-range pricing.
On 3/25/2017 at 9:35 AM, Keith Bennett said:
I am open to buying a high priced phone if it saves me a lot of pain, but was hoping to avoid it, not only to save money in the short run, but in the long run if I lose or break it; and for it not to be a thief magnet.
I do not want to rely on US phone service outside of the US. I almost always buy a SIM card in the country in which I'm staying, because I expect to use the phone more for local calls and messaging (incoming and outgoing) than those to/from the US.Very wise!
On 3/25/2017 at 9:35 AM, Keith Bennett said:
Having separate phones for US and outside-US use is an option I am also considering.
Google Voice is an interesting idea, but I wouldn't want to rely on it exclusively – I would like to be accessible even without Internet access.Google Voice is the smartest thing one can do - it gives one's contacts one number to reach you regardless of cellular or landline number changes. When outside the U.S., so long as one has a Windows PC (or better yet, a Chromebook) or access to one, a headset, and wi-fi, one can talk to the U.S. reliably and for free. And, if one uses one's GV number with one's bank(s), dealing with them is a whole lot easier, especially when it come to the one-time PINS, (SMS verification codes) that are becoming popular with most banks.
On 3/25/2017 at 9:35 AM, Keith Bennett said: -
11 hours ago, Jeffrey346 said:
Not true.. There are phones available with dual radios [GSM & CDMA] One popular model is the iPhone 7.
Cellular and WirelessModel A1660*
Model A1661*FDD-LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
TD-LTE (Bands 38, 39, 40, 41)
TD-SCDMA 1900 (F), 2000 (A)
CDMA EV-DO Rev. A (800, 1900, 2100 MHz)
UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz)
GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)Yes, that's correct.
However, the OP implied in his original post and I inferred from what he wrote that he would prefer to not have his choice of devices limited and that he is, from what he wrote, somewhat price conscious.
I'm neither an Apple hater nor an Apple fanboy but I think it's fair to say that Apple products are premium products with a price tag to match - a great choice if one is willing to pay a premium price for premium hardware and has no interest in exploring or dealing with, for lack of a better term, the "flexibilities" of Android.
I also inferred from the OP's original post that he's not a cell phone expert and it doesn't appear that he wishes to become one; as well, I don't want to see the thread degenerate into a discussion of cell phone hardware minutiae because there are a lot of great sites that one can turn to if one is so inclined BUT, in the interest of complete disclosure and to try to ensure that readers of this thread don't come away with the misunderstanding that ALL Apple iPhone 7 models are both CDMA and GSM capable, according to Apple's site, iPhone 7 models A1778 and A1784 are GSM ONLY; that is, they will not work with Verizon and Sprint.
In my original post, I also stated "My understanding from a Verizon rep is that some of their phones, ie; their more expensive models, have a spot for a SIM card and Verizon can activate the SIM slot if one is going outside the U.S." I chose to leave it at that believing that those who prefers Verizon as their carrier, if so inclined, would explore their options with Verizon.
My intention in my original post was to give a relatively succinct explanation of the issues that, because of the U.S. having two cellular network standards combined with ***most*** people buying their phones from cellular service providers instead of hardware retailers, make it confusing, difficult, and expensive for ***most*** U.S.cell phone users to use their phone abroad. As well, I hoped to give those interested some guidelines on the easiest, least expensive, and most streamlined way of "going global" with cell phones. It was not my intention to discuss individual phone models and their variants in detail.
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4 hours ago, Keith Bennett said:
I need a phone that will work well both in Thailand and the U.S. I'd appreciate any feedback or advice regarding my questions and my assumptions. More context:
My current US phone service is with Verizon Wireless. They operate on CDMA, not GSM, so I think I would have to buy a Verizon phone to work on both; in any case, I believe this guarantees that any phone I buy in Thailand will not work with VZW in the US, right?
One logical conclusion would be for me to buy a phone from VZW in the US that would work globally. I prefer not to do this because: 1) it would greatly limit my choices and increase the price, and 2) my previous VZW phone (now busted) did not permit Mobile Hotspot use on non-US carriers, which was really irritating.
Since Verizon Wireless (and Sprint) are CDMA carriers and AT&T and TMobile are GSM carriers, I'm thinking of switching to one of the latter, probably AT&T because it's larger than TMobile and likely to have better coverage (?). AT&T has their GoPhone prepaid service (https://www.att.com/shop/wireless/plans/planconfigurator.html?tab=gophone&plan=basic), and a chat agent informed that I could easily switch from full coverage to virtually no coverage and back at will using their web site (for when I leave and enter the US). This is in contrast to Verizon, who allowed me to reduce my rate to "snowbird" status, but only for a few months, then I had to resume a full charge plan. Also, AT&T checked and said I could carry over my old mobile phone number to their service.
Finding a phone whose bands and frequencies will work well with a given US phone service is time consuming and confusing – I found this for the AT&T bands/frequencies: https://www.frequencycheck.com/carriers/at-t-united-states, and I can look up a given phone's specs (e.g. http://www.gsmarena.com/oppo_r9s_plus-8394.php) to compare them, but I'm not very knowledgeable about which overlaps or absences are meaningful, and it would take quite a long time to do this for every available model. So, if anyone has any information about which phones available here in Thailand do work well with AT&T in the US, would you please share that information?
Thanks!
Because GSM and CDMA are fundamentally different, it's not really possible to buy a phone that works on both systems.
The nice thing about GSM phones is that they work via a SIM card which contains the pieces that makes the cellular services work, eg; the phone network, phone number, etc. and is swappable from phone to phone. With GSM phones, their is no "activation" of the phone as there is when using CDMA; one simply swaps the SIM card from the "old" phone to the "new" phone and one is good to go.
My understanding from a Verizon rep is that some of their phones, ie; their more expensive models, have a spot for a SIM card and Verizon can activate the SIM slot if one is going outside the U.S.
Because pretty much everywhere else in the world uses GSM and **NOT** CDMA, it's not possible to buy a Verizon phone (CDMA) for both the U.S. and Thailand.
My recommendation for anyone who is thinking globally and living in the U.S. is to use T-Mobile.
T-Mobile is the U.S. arm of Deutsche Telecom, the German cellular giant and T-Mobile has a presence in damn near every country in the world, which is important because T-Mobile offers their U.S. customers unlimited DATA on their networks in other countries while visiting. It's not necessarily 4G /LTE - most of the time it's 3G.
I've been a T-Mobile customer for as long as I've had a cell phone and I've never had trouble with coverage in the U.S. - I live in the U.S. Great Lakes region and have no trouble at home and I've used their service in New York City area, San Francisco area, and Tuscon, AZ as well as travelling to and from those areas.
Generally when one owns a GSM phone and goes to Thailand, normal practice is to remove the U.S. SIM upon arrival, buy a local Thailand SIM (that will have all the pieces that make Thailand cellular service work, such as cellular network configuration, local Thailand phone number, etc.) and load (pre-paid minutes, texts, data, etc.), and install the Thailand SIM into the phone and start using it.
As far as GSM frequencies go, the beauty of the GSM standard is that the same groups of ***VOICE*** frequencies are used worldwide so, unless one has a very old ANALOG GSM phone, any recent GSM phone , no matter where one bought it, will have the proper ***VOICE*** frequencies built in. Of course, one must still have a local SIM card and load for the local cell company of one's choice.
***DATA*** frequencies, such as 4G /LTE are a different story - most phones from larger manufacturers have ***SOME*** overlap of data frequencies throughout the world so, more likely than not, one will have 3G data service in most countries, although possibly not 4G / LTE everywhere.
My recommendation would be to buy an ***UNLOCKED*** GSM phone from someone like ASUS, Huawei (Honor), OnePlus, or Google (Nexus) and, if you're so inclined, buy a dual-SIM model. With a dual SIM model, one can keep the U.S. SIM installed (but ensure roaming is OFF when outside the U.S. unless you HAVE to have it because it's expensive) and have a local SIM (much less expensive than roaming) installed at the same time.
The other advantage of buying ***UNLOCKED*** GSM phones is that because they come from the manufacturer unlocked, they don't have all the pesky bloatware, spyware, and annoyances that come pre-installed when one buys a phone from a cellular provider. It is possible to get a phone that one bought from a cellular company unlocked, but all the software and annoyances are still there.
OnePlus and Google (Nexus) sell from their own webstores; ASUS and Huawei (Honor) can be bought from their webstores or Amazon.com
I personally like the OnePlus 3T, but it's somewhat pricey compared to their earlier offering - that is offered with North America, Asia / Europe, and China data frequencies. Obviously, for someone living in the U.S., the North America model would be the correct choice. The NextPlus website clearly and simply shows the frequencies for each model and one can see the overlap in data frequencies among the various regions.
The ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe is also a nice phone and, because ASUS has a world-wide focus, the U.S. model has a lot of data frequencies.
I just noticed that you're in Thailand - I'd expect that phones from ASUS and Huawei (Honor) would be readily available there with probably more choices than what is available in the U.S.
Also, T-Mobile has the simplest and best pre-paid plan: USD 3 per month for 30 minutes of talk or 30 texts (or combination, in essence USD 0.10 per minute or text) to keep a line active; if one needs more, they make it easy to buy just what one needs.
And regarding your old U.S. phone number - U.S. law requires that both landline and cellular phone numbers are portable, ie; assuming it's one's own number, numbers can be moved from landline to cellular service (but not necessarily from cellular to landline) and from cellular carrier to cellular carrier. It takes a little while and requires a bit of patience, but it's easily done.
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12 hours ago, craigt3365 said:
I've been with USAA for some 35 years. Lately, their customer service has been really bad. I've had several issues over the past year and it's been a nightmare to deal with them. If everything works OK, then you are fine. If a problem crops us, good luck.
Yes, that's been my experience as well, although I've only been a member for a couple of years.
I plan to have a couple of backups in addition to USAA - Definitely Citibank because there is nothing that beats their Global Transfers service and, unlike HSBC, one can avail of the service without having a large "total relationship balance"
The only thing that makes USAA very appealing is the fact that they only impose the 1% VISA / Mastercard network fee on foreign currency conversions and they rebate USD 15 per month in "foreign" ATM surcharges - not as good as Schwab Bank, but every little bit helps
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10 hours ago, siamike said:
I've been making monthly $$ transfers for the last 3 years from my USAA Bank account to my Bangkok Bank account via the ACH system already mentioned in this thread. USAA bank does not require a OTP for $$ transfers, and you can open an account with them via the internet, as I did, and never step into one of their brick and mortar buildings.
It's important to remember that one can only set up a USAA account if one has some affiliation with the U.S. armed forces, for example, on active duty, separated veteran, retired, etc. or the family of a USAA member.
It's certainly worth the time to check their website or give them a call to see if one can become a member since they reimburse "foreign" (non-USAA) ATM surcharges up to USD 15 per month and only impose the VISA or Mastercard 1% network foreign currency conversion fee for non-U.S. ATM withdrawals.
It's also a good idea to ensure that one understands the limitations of USAA's international wire transfer services - it's not as sophisticated as, for example, Bank of America's international wire transfer service or Citibank's Global Transfers, both of which can be done from their online (web-based) banking portals with no paperwork required.
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12 hours ago, charliebadenhop said:
Can someone perhaps "summarize"...?
Which cards offer outstanding deals with no downside?
Living in Thailand, is it not a bit hard to rack up more than $1,000 a month in credit card bills?
I am guessing the card company does not give great conversion rates when you buy here in Baht. Any idea of how much is "lost" in such transactions?
If the card has "no foreign transaction" fee, then the exchange rate used by the network to which the card "belongs", ie; VISA or Mastercard is the rate one gets for the conversion.
In other words, one does not "lose" anything.
In the real world, it is extremely unlikely that one would ever get a better exchange than that offered by the major card networks since, based on the huge forex volume generated by the networks, they are by any account major players in the forex markets.
Now if one is foolish enough to choose "dynamic currency conversion" when one makes a card purchase, that is another story altogether.
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I've spent a lot of time working on this problem and there are many things to consider when dealing with SMS OTP (One-Time Pins):
The first thing to understand is that international SMS (text) messaging is not reliable, and certainly should not be relied upon for something as critical as one's banking, because of the differences in how SMS is implemented by cellular providers in different countries leads to incompatibilities among the different systems and failed deliveries.
As well, most SMS OTPs are valid for relatively short durations, such as 5 or 10 minutes, which compounds problems when trying to receive them outside the U.S.
One **POSSIBLE** solution is to use Google Voice to receive the SMS OTP, but one must have a cell number attached to one's GV number for this to work since GV **CAN** receive SMS for designated cell numbers.
GV will then forward the SMS OTP to BOTH the GV web page AND one's GMail box meaning one can use any device(s) which can access those web pages to see the OTP.
HOWEVER, Bank of America SMS OTP **WILL NOT** work this way because GV DOES NOT have an e-mail to SMS gateway - this is important because, in a lot of cases, big senders of SMS (including BofA) actually send them as e-mails, not true SMS. Cellular providers HAVE e-mail to SMS gateways so, when the e-mail hits their gateway, the gateway converts it to true SMS and forwards it to one's cell phone as SMS.
If one's bank or other sender of SMS is sending as true SMS and NOT e-mail, GV will work fine.
A lot of banks, such as Chase, will send the OTP as e-mail to one's e-mail account.
Some of the large credit unions, such as Alliant, and large banks, such as USAA DO NOT use SMS OTP and they also refund "foreign" ATM surcharges as an added bonus.
Another option is to leave a cell phone with a trusted friend or family member in the U.S. to receive the SMS OTP and use an SMS forwarding app, such as PushBullet, to forward the SMS OTP to GV.
As well, because apps such as PushBullet route all forwarded SMS traffic through their own servers, one can also "see" the SMS OTP on the apps web page as soon as the SMS hits the phone.
A poster on another board to which I belong posed the same question and I wrote a series of detailed posts about how to make the cell phone-to-app procedure work and he wrote about the specifics of his implementation so, if you care to read more, I'd suggest reading that since I'm to lazy to go through it all again.
I'm not sure what the policy of TV is regarding posting other site links, but if you need more info, it will be easy enough to find the board and my posts since I use the same user ID there.
That board is geared to philippines expats and that board DOES NOT tolerate discussions about the seedier aspects of life in the PI.
I also just Googled my user ID and "PushBullet" and my posts showed up near the top of the search results, so that should make it even easier.
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You cannot compare say the US with Thailand.
The US would have 200,000,000 ATM cards being used.
Thailand maybe 30% of population has an ATM card.
Thailand has put all these ATM's in as a service to the farang tourists.
Now, stop your moaning or don't use the service
This is pure nonsense. Go to any city in Isaan where there is next to no foreigners. Guess what? Every 7-Eleven and Family Mart comes with an ATM, just like in tourist areas!
The Thai banks primarily are competing for THAI customers. That's the main reason for the large numbers of branches and ATMs here.
The presence of ATMs, and currency exchange booths, may be somewhat higher in tourist areas because of tourists and increased commercial developments like malls. But that's certainly not the reason across the whole country.
Those of us old enough to remember the introduction of ATMs to the world will recall that the banking industry introduced them as both a convenience to customers and supposedly as an efficiency / money-saving measure, since it's cheaper to run ATMs than hire and pays enough bank tellers to do all the same transactions.
Unfortunately, in Thailand at least, the local banking industry has turned that concept upside down for farangs, who get to pay far beyond the actual transactional/system costs to the Thai banks via the 200 baht ATM fee when it comes to using foreign bank cards here.
A reflection on how things have changed over the years:
In the late '70s, when I was 17 and had gotten my first real job that paid by check, I remember going to my bank's branch at the local mall (U.S. Great Lakes region) to cash my check and seeing the installation of an ATM machine.
The next time I went back, the ATM was up-and-running and all lit up - nearby was a sign that said the bank would ***PAY ME*** $0.50 each time I used it, up to a maximum of $5 per month.
Once I felt I could trust it, I thought it was great to be able to avoid the tellers and withdraw cash without even going inside the bank and even better to get paid for doing it - I never did trust it to make deposits, nor could I get my friends and family to trust it for anything.
Times change!
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Tourists should do their research befor travelling and make other arrangements such as travelers cheques or pre paid cards. Ex Pats should really have a Thai bank, over counter withdrawls or even Western Union transfers for only £2.90 bank-bank 5 days.
I've been looking into both travelers cheques and pre-paid debit cards recently and neither of those are a solution.
I'm in the U.S. and travelers cheques are hard to find - American Express no longer sells them from their website. They are, for the most part, only available from one's local bank and there are fees, generally 1 to 2 percent of the amount purchased. It's also difficult to find places to cash them and, in Thailand, the cost to cash them at a bank incurs a fee around 150 to 200 THB, probably deliberately set at this amount to ensure that they are not an alternative to an ATM.
Generally, pre-paid debit cards, since they are usually part of either the VISA or Mastercard network, are treated just like any debit card by the "foreign" (non-issuing bank ATM network) ATM, ie; they incur a surcharge.
The Revolut prepaid debit was a great alternative until they made recent changes - a "fair use" policy regarding ATM withdrawls (limited to 500 GBP or equivalent per month, above that incurring a 2 percent fee) and, unfortunately for Americans, there is no longer the option to top up using a debit card (International wire transfer only, with the attendant fees).
Probably the best options, for Americans at least, is either the Charles Schwab high-yield checking account, which reimburses all ATM surcharges or the Chicago-based Alliant Credit Union share draft account, which reimburses up to 20 USD per moth "foreign" ATM surcharges, including international ATMs. Alliant makes it very easy to become a member - I live elsewhere in the U.S. Great Lakes region, so I joined by making a contribution the Chicago-area based charity Foster Care to Success which, strangely enough, Alliant picked up.
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Both CDMA and GSM? link please? I have yet to see a phone that does both. These are completely different standards, nothing to do with whatever bands they support. GSM phones use SIMs, CDMA phones don't.
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/gsm-vs-cdma-difference-better/
Desimlocking a phone is completely unrelated to rooting it. Rooting a phone doesn't desimlock it and rooting is not always required to desimlock a phone.
Some flagship phones sold by the big CDMA carriers in the U.S. (Verizon or Sprint) are both CDMA and GSM in the sense that the phone has a GSM SIM slot. During normal use in the U.S. on Verizon or Sprint, the phone is in CDMA mode; when requested by the user for use overseas, Verizon will "unlock" and "activate" the GSM SIM slot so that the phone can work on a GSM network.
Keep in mind, this needs to be done by Verizon before going overseas.
Clarification: when the term "quad band" is used, it's generally used with GSM phones to mean that the phone can work on all four world-wide GSM VOICE frequencies, ie: GSM voice frequencies are the same world-wide, which means one can use a GSM phone for VOICE and TEXT worldwide.
4G or LTE frequencies vary worldwide by country and carrier, so a phone that is sold, for example, in the U.S. by T-Mobile will not necessarily have the correct 4G frequencies for, example, AT&T in the U.S. or a provider in Thailand.
When looking for a GSM phone to use FOR DATA (4G / LTE) in different countries throughout the world, phones made for sale in multiple countries by companies such as OnePlus, Huawei, or Asus are good one at which to look.
Also remember, if one has a GSM phone that was sold in the U.S. by a GSM provider (AT&T or T-Mobile), that phone must be "unlocked" (able to use a GSM SIM from another company) by the carrier prior to leaving the U.S.
In the U.S., if one purchased their phone as part of one's contract, the carrier does not have to unlock the phone until the contract is completed. Obviously, if one bought the phone outright from the carrier, the carrier will unlock the phone within a day or two of the request being made, but the request typically needs to be made to customer support. In my experience, carrier stores are unable to unlock phones.
If one buys an unlocked GSM phone through, for example, Amazon.com in the U.S., the phone will arrive at one's door unlocked and ready to go.
I would recommend buying through Amazon.com because, in addition to selling unlocked GSm phones from major manufacturers, it's easy to find dual-SIM phones which allows one to have both a "permanent" SIM for family and co-workers and a "disposable" SIM for those people one would not necessarily want to hear from once one leaves Thailand.
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I never used my USAA Debit Card in Thailand because their 1% foreign exchange fee was more than their ATM fee reimbursement, this is also the reasons I gave up their Master Card
Getting rid of their Master Card was like one of those horror stories you hear about people trying to cancel Comcast
If you live in the US you are constantly blasted with TV commercials for USAA, definitely no longer low key and they wear their Fortune 500 ranking like a Commendation Medal
Their latest boondoggle is that you now must have a text enabled cell phone number in your member profile to receive OTP's or you must call them and perform certain banking transactions on the phone. A problem for me that was solved by a fellow Thai Visa member who's solution was to obtain a Google Voice number that can be used to accept text OTP's
I can just imagine some poor grunt in Afghanistan trying to do banking and having to deal with their CSR's by phone in a war zone
Sorry to see such a fine organization that was initially set up to assist US service members become a money grubbing for profit business
Thanks for mentioning the Google Voice option for USAA OTPs - I'm glad to hear that GV works with USAA.
GV doesn't work with Bank of America or Wells Fargo OTPs - Based on my research, it isn't GVs fault. BofA and WF either "do something" to the text format so that it fails when sent to GV or they've found some way to "discriminate" against GV numbers. Of course, neither will disclose what the problem is.
I've had GV for several years and it's great, especially being able to see the OTPs on the GV web page - eliminates the need for a cell phone except for the "problem children" of BofA and WF.
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This will probably be of interest only to U.S. expats and visitors, but while reviewing my December USAA SAVINGS account statement this morning, I came across the following disclosure:
EFFECTIVE MARCH 1, 2016, TRANSACTIONS AT ATMS LOCATED OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY NOT BE ELIGIBLE FOR ATM USAGE FEE REFUNDS. SEE FEE SCHEDULE ON USAA.COM
This disclosure WAS NOT on my December CHECKING account statement.
So, I dutifully tracked down the USAA Fee Disclosure, effective 3/1/2016, on the website which had the following disclosure:
USAA Bank refunds up to $15 in other United States domestic banks’ ATM usage fees per monthly statement cycle. Transactions at ATMs located outside of the United States may not be eligible for ATM usage fee refunds.
So I then dug up the USAA Depository Agreement and Disclosures on the website and, under the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) Cards and Debit Cards section of the Electronic Banking Services section, found no disclosures whatsoever regarding what “... may not…” means, ie; what are the new rules effective March 1.
The link to the USAA Fee Schedule and Depository Agreement and Disclosures is:
After spending one hour on the phone with two different USAA drones-on-the-phones, the only thing I could get out of USAA was that the definition of “may not” relates to U.S. service personnel who are on deployment outside the U.S., ie; USAA “may” rebate ATM fees for armed service members - anyone else is SOL and, to add insult to injury, USAA confirmed that the rules under which “may not” applies is not disclosed in writing on either the Fee Disclosure or the Depository Agreement and Disclosures.
I won’t presume to judge whether the existing $15 per month rebate scheme is significant to any BMs (don’t want to ignite another tiresome “Cheap Charlie” thread) - just came across the change and thought it might be of interest.
All-in-all, pretty shabby treatment by USAA of its customers, not so much in the fact that the non-U.S. ATM fee rebate is disappearing, but what amounts to, effectively, “non-disclosure” - a statement on savings accounts but not checking accounts and no complete and comprehensive disclosure on the Fee Schedule.
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GabrielB,
The United States taxes its citizens on world-wide income, ie; it doesn't matter WHERE one earns one's income, Uncle Sam takes his bite.
The Internal Revenue Code does have a foreign tax credit (within certain limits) for income tax paid to a foreign country on income earned in that country so, unless one is earning big money, one only pays income tax once.
One should ALWAYS, ALWAYS file an income tax return even if one's income is below the filing threshold or, if for some other reason, one is not required to file a return.
The reason for this is because of the statute of limitations for auditing a tax year and assessing additional tax, penalties, and interest. The statute of limitations for U.S. federal returns is 3 years from the date of filing of the return or 3 years from April 15th if the return is timely filed prior to April 15th, assuming the return is not fraudulent.
Until a return is filed (and that return is not fraudulent or frivolous) , the statute of limitations does not begin, so the tax year is open for audit.
States (and cities) with with personal income tax also have similar statutes of limitations.
Generally speaking, if one has not filed tax returns for a number of year, the big shock, beyond the tax due, is how much is due for interest and penalties.
Depending on factors specific to your situation, such as the number of years for which returns were not filed, the amount of the tax liability, the complexity of your tax circumstances, etc. it would be wise to consult a CPA in your state of residence or legal domicile. You can contact your state society of CPAs and they can recommend qualified CPAs with whom you can discuss your situation.
It is advisable to consult a qualified professional because, depending on the amount of tax due, interest, penalties, etc. the IRS may accept an offer-in-compromise, which is essentially a "deal" to get you on the straight-and-narrow and your case off the IRS agent's desk.
) . To clarify/respond:
why many people are hooked to facebook despite the spying, censorship and its unethical behavior
in General Topics
Posted
I have to disagree with that.
When social media such as Facebook started, I tended to believe the same thing but I've come to see that a lot of people take a big interest in what one does on it.
It has been widely reported that most employers in the U.S. will review one's social media presence when one is in the running for a job.
There have been many reports of law enforcement taking an interest in it while investigating a crime.
Employers will also review it to "check up" on the behavior of there employees.
I know of one particularly odious Philippines YouTube vlogger whose outlandish statement on various social media platforms was used to bring to light some of his particularly unsavory behavior by other YT vloggers whom he chose to insult, ridicule, and basically "go to war with."