RSD1

Great, but none if what you wrote addresses the issue of fees on currency exchange from Wise versus Revolut, which is the point of this whole topic. Perhaps you seemed to miss that?

If you have a Thailand address on your account then the feature to order both physical and digital cards won't be available to you. If you are able to use your UK address on your Wise account as your residence address then the card features will appear. Basically Wise is only licensed to issue cards in the UK, European countries, the USA and possibly a few other countries. That's why it's all based on your residence address on your Wise account.

As far as I know, merchants never charge for using a foreign credit or debit card. The foreign card fees are normally levied by your bank.

As far as I know, IBKR does not offer conversions into THB from other currencies.

First, I transfer a foreign currency (dollars, euros, pounds) into my Wise account. I then convert it to Thai Baht when the exchange rate is most favorable. After that, I maintain a Thai Baht balance in my Wise account to spend from. This ensures that all my transactions are made from my Thai Baht balance, avoiding conversion fees on each individual card transaction. Wise typically charges around 0.54% to exchange most major currencies into Thai Baht. Revolut, on the other hand, allows you to exchange most major currencies into Thai Baht at the interbank rate with no exchange fee, but only up to $1,000 per month on the free plan. After that, they charge a 1% fee on exchanges. In essence, if you were to spend the equivalent of $2,000 in a month using their cards, the fees would end up being roughly the same (around 1%) with both Wise and Revolut.

30% tax withholding on all interest earned is deducted and paid to the Belgian government. No refunds.

I don't understand what you mean. I make lots of card payments from my Wise account using both physical and digital Wise cards and it never costs me anything to use those cards. No fees of any kind. So how could Revolut be cheaper for this purpose?

In my opinion, neither Wise or Revolut is ideal for exchanging money between dollars, pounds, euros, or for holding cash in multiple currencies. A better alternative is an Interactive Brokers account, which can be set up online quickly. Once your funds are in the account, you can exchange between these three currencies as well as Australian dollars, New Zealand dollars, Canadian dollars, Japanese yen, Hong Kong dollars, and Singapore dollars. In total, Interactive Brokers supports 26 currencies, and all exchanges are done at the mid-market rate with no fees. By comparison, while Wise also provides the mid-market rate for most of these currencies, it charges an average fee of about 0.3% of the amount being exchanged. Additionally, if you hold U.S. dollars in your Interactive Brokers account, they are FDIC-protected, unlike with Wise. For spending purposes, you can transfer funds from your Interactive Brokers account to your Wise account. Interactive Brokers allows one free transfer to Wise per month, with subsequent transfers costing just $1 each. It’s also very easy to link an Interactive Brokers account directly to a Wise account, and transfers typically arrive within 24 hours.

Pacific Prime is a leading insurance broker with a branch in Thailand and offices throughout the region. They provide access to coverage from all major international health insurance companies offering expat health insurance in Thailand. For more information, visit their website: https://www.pacificprime.co.th/ Additionally, a few months ago, CIGNA ran an ad I saw which was stating that they offer coverage for individuals over 60 without denying coverage for pre-existing conditions. You can reach out to Pacific Prime for assistance with this or similar options.

What does that mean exactly? He has high blood creatinine? High BUN? Those baseline kidney tests alone aren't enough to go on to reach a complete and solid diagnosis. He needs to get a Crystatin-C blood test (the definitive kidney marker/function blood test) and an ultrasound done on his kidneys and reviewed by a nephrologist. Those tests will reveal a lot more about the state of his kidneys. He could also check his Blood Albumin. If that's high then that could also be an indication of poor kidney function. And do some urine tests for Urine Protein, Urine Creatinine and Urine Albumin to see if any of those are present in his urine. If they are, then that's another sign that the kidneys aren't filtering very well and that some of those waste products are leaching out into his urine when they shouldn't be. But before all those baseline diagnostic tests have been done then I wouldn't reach any definitive conclusions about his kidney function.

Following is the reply that I received from Wise, along with the two links they sent me which are posted below it. This basically doesn't really answer any questions. But in conclusion, I expect, if you wire transfer JPY into your Wise account, that it will cost you about $25-$40 for the correspondent bank fee. --- Thank you for your inquiry. To transfer Japanese Yen (JPY) into your Wise account, it would indeed require a SWIFT wire transfer to your Wise bank account in the UK. While we do not charge any fees for incoming wire or SWIFT transfers, please be aware that correspondent or intermediate banks may apply their own fees. These fees are outside of Wise’s control, so it’s always a good idea to check with the sending bank or intermediary banks for any potential charges before making the transfer. Please note that we do not provide local account details for holding a JPY balance. However, you can receive JPY along with other currencies using your GBP Swift account details. You can receive the following currencies into your GBP Swift account: AED, GBP, EUR, USD, AUD, BGN, CAD, CHF, CZK, CNY, DKK, HKD, HUF, ILS, JPY, NOK, NZD, PLN, SEK, RON, SGD, UGX, and ZAR. For more information on how to receive non-GBP currencies via SWIFT check here. Should you have any more questions or need assistance, feel free to reach out. Best regards, Wise Customer Support https://wise.com/help/articles/3KEJruODkhi59TZbSxO2xn/what-are-swift-usd-correspondent-fees https://wise.com/help/articles/3TLlYBP6W8m2aNZJZd3EpK/how-to-use-gbp-details-to-receive-other-currencies-via-swift

Yes, I already spoke to the sending bank. They looked on the system and told me that the system is suggesting JP Morgan Chase as the intermediary bank, but the sending bank told me that they don't have the option to choose the sending bank and also said that if Barclays could be used as the intermediary bank, then there would be possibly no extra charge, but again, it is not up to the sending bank. They said that they don't choose the intermediary bank and that I would need to speak to Wise. I've already sent Wise a support email to ask the question, but it can be days before you even get a response from them. You used to be able to just call and get phone support, but that's finished now. Nearly impossible to reach them other than by sending an email and then waiting for days.

Your welcome. Prescription glasses in Thailand are really very expensive. But with Zenni it's the complete opposite and you could afford to buy multiple pairs and keep them in different rooms in your house if you like.

Not quite. Club (Italian made) are definitely the thinnest and don't even have gum on them. The company is about 150 years old. Then you have Rizla (French made), which have also been making papers for almost 250 years. Their papers are thinner than ZZ, but a bit thicker than Club. Big Bambu Pure Hemp (from Spain) are really nice too, not as thin as ZZ, but not made from wood pulp either, and so no harshness at all. Beautiful design artwork as well, featuring the smiling, winking Spaniard with his Spanish hat. The iconic design-work is almost 150 years old now.

Yes, I’ve been using this method for a few years now. Another thing I do every few months is replace my digital card. If you go into the app, click on your card, and scroll down, you’ll find an option to replace it. I do this as an extra security measure, especially since card details often get stored in various Thai financial systems. I’m always cautious about the potential for hacks or data breaches in Thailand. I actually use two digital cards for different purposes. One is dedicated exclusively to my phone’s mobile wallet, and the other is strictly for online purchases. The online purchases card is saved in various online accounts with vendors, but I keep it frozen/locked in the app most of the time. I only unlock it temporarily when making an online purchase, then lock it again immediately after. This ensures no unauthorized transactions can occur, even if the card details are compromised by one of the vendors storing my information. The digital card in my mobile wallet, however, stays active at all times. As mentioned earlier, I replace this card periodically for added security. Another security feature you might find useful is the ability to create “jars” within your Wise account. These jars let you store most of your funds separately from the main balance linked to your card. You can transfer smaller amounts to the currency account you use for daily spending and link your card only to that account. For example, if you have ฿100,000 in your Wise account, you could move ฿80,000 into a jar and keep only ฿20,000 in your active Thai baht account. Then, you can link your card to the account with ฿20,000. This way, even if your card is compromised, the rest of your funds in jars or other currencies remain safe.

I think many Fintech companies that are operating in the US are using Plaid now to help prevent fraud when linking bank account accounts to a Fintech service account. It happened to me the other day too when I went to link a bank account to Privacy.com, which is another US based Fintech company.

To transfer Japanese Yen into a Wise account it requires a SWIFT wire transfer to a Wise bank account in the UK. As far as I know, Wise doesn’t charge any fees for incoming wire and/or Swift transfers. However, does anyone know if there are any charges from intermediate or correspondent banks when transferring Japanese Yen currency into a Wise account?

Latest update of 3 strains from Fis high 420. Looks pretty good for that price of ฿11 per gram. They look like decent buds.

Yes, just about anything that gets delivered through the post office now into Thailand will have a small fee on it of a few Baht. I'm not sure how it's calculated, but I just received an order of vitamins from overseas that was valued at right around ฿1500 and I have to pay a fee of ฿63 for it when they deliver it. I had a similar order a few weeks ago, same valuation in the order and that time the fee was only ฿28.

I would do the same as a temporary solution. Can always find those around in outdoor markets. They won't have very clear or sharp lenses, or last very long, but good for a short usage period.

6200 Baht for a pair of glasses is a lot more than I'm used to paying on Zenni. Were yours progressive lenses or something more costly like that? Meanwhile, good chance this whole topic is a windup, but I posted that information about Zenni earlier just in case it's helpful to anybody else really looking for eyeglasses at the moment.

You can quickly order prescription eyeglasses for reading or distance online for as little as $12 per pair from Zenni, an American company. By selecting one of their lowest-priced $7 frames, my usual choice, you can keep costs low. Occasionally, I splurge on a $10 or $12 frame, but even then, the total price of a pair of glasses remains incredibly affordable. I recommend choosing one of their lightweight frames, typically around 11-13 grams, as the weight is listed in the detailed description for each frame. Lighter frames are much more comfortable for all-day wear and won’t leave red marks on the bridge of your nose after a few hours. I’ve tried heavier frames (over 20 grams) in the past, but they weren’t as comfortable for extended use. The lenses are free if you have a simple, single-vision prescription. For just $5 more, you can add non-reflective lenses, a worthwhile upgrade in my experience. This means a $7 frame with non-reflective lenses totals $12. I usually skip another option they offer of upgrading to a higher lens index (thinner lenses) since it adds unnecessary cost to the glasses for my needs. Zenni also lets you upload a photo of yourself to try on different styles virtually, making it easy to see how various frames will look on your face. I’ve been ordering from Zenni for years and have always been satisfied. Manufacturing your order and shipping it to Thailand usually takes a total of about two weeks until they are in your hands, sometimes less, and they charge a flat delivery fee of $10, regardless of how many pairs you order. To avoid steep import duties in Thailand, I typically order no more than 2-3 pairs at a time, keeping the total cost under 1,500 Baht (approximately $43). If ordering more than a few pairs, I would split the order into 2-3 orders to avoid the import duties. If you’re ordering for the first time, Zenni offers a full refund or replacement if you’re unhappy with your glasses or make an error on your prescription, no need to return the glasses to them. Zenni offers exceptional quality at an unbeatable price in my opinion. Their non-reflective, high-quality plastic lenses are durable and rarely scratch. As long as you know your detailed prescription information and pupillary distance, you can expect perfect results every time. https://zenni.com

If the symptoms don't improve soon then I would visit at least 2 more doctors to get additional opinions to ensure that diagnosis is correct. Maybe you should also see a doctor who's not just a skin doctor, but may be a GP or possibly even an infectious disease specialist, a toxicologist or an allergist. The fact that you've now got it on both legs, and that the rash didn't appear on both legs simultaneously, makes it more confusing.

Yes, they also did well, but nobody knows. I wouldn't make any assumptions. You might outlive them both. 👍🏼

Lovely. You are a lucky man. There used to be another foreigner who lived on my floor many years ago and chain smoked cigarettes in his room. He lived there for years, and I never even met him once as my understanding was that he was incapacitated and never left the apartment. He also drank incessantly. Once every month or so, I would see a case of the large sized Sang Som bottles, empty and placed out in the corridor for the maids to dispose of. There was another woman living on my floor, who despised the smell of smoke, and she used to plaster the walls outside of his apartment door with no smoking stickers on a regular basis. It didn't change anything though. He probably never even knew the stickers were there. In our building, we also have an air ventilation system, which feeds into every bathroom, however, all of the ventilation of everyone's bathroom is connected to the same line of air ducts. A terrible design. So it means if somebody is smoking down the hall, the smoke will eventually pass through the ventilation ducts in the bathroom and into your apartment. I discovered that early on and plugged up the ventilators in my bathroom. So I never have to deal with anybody else's smelly backfires. I think the guy who smoked heavily eventually passed away, either during Covid or just shortly before then. While he was living there, I used to see his girlfriend or wife going in and out of the building regularly. She was always very polite and I always said hello, but I never inquired any further about him. Then one day, the smell was gone and so was she. So I just assume assumed that he passed away and she moved out. So sometimes time can also fix a problem.