CMBob

I can understand your angst at the additional tests they required of you but, once you learned that you couldn't only get the one hearing test, why not simply decline at that point in time? But I am happy the cashier met your inquiry with silence (totally unfair to think the cashier could have explained or changed hospital policy).

If you entered (or converted in-country) to a Non-O Immigrant Visa, the answer is "no"; however, if you entered with the Non-OA, then "yes." You can check other threads for the insurance requirements.

Hopefully you didn't.....but trust you'll post here by the end of the week as to whether you got the approval (in spite of accidentally hitting the dreaded "x") or what they told you when you make the long trek to Immigration.

OP, as noted by others, what your received after you filed was simply a notice that you successfully submitted the report (not that it was approved). As you note, you know it's approved when you get the email (with new Receipt of Notification attached) and/or when you check online for a pending report and it tells you that you're approved. But you say you went and checked before you got the approval notice and clicked on the big "X." My bet is you cancelled your report and, as you're still within the 7 day window after a due date to do a report in person, you might want to consider doing that to avoid a problem and fine (unless you somehow get an emailed approval in the interim).

That's exactly what it is (it's what I call my "visa account" and I have never used it to spend for living expenses......although I have a couple of times lowered it a bit due to interest piling up in the account).

When I went to my bank (SCB) here in Chiangmai in December, 2021, for the annual extension information, I got two separate documents: (1) The standard old bank letter as in prior years that details my name, passport number, bank account number, and amount on that day in the account, and (2) A separate document that details the amount in the account for one year. Edit: I had never seen #2 document before (in over a decade of doing annual extensions based on retirement and funds in the bank) but just presumed it had something to do with proving to Immigration that my account never dipped below the required amount during the year (which, of course, my bank book copies showed anyway). I don't remember the cost (typically it's been 200 baht annually) but it may have been a total of 300 baht as the one poster mentioned.

As you can see, I am not shooting negativity at anybody that chooses to skirt the rules. As they say so often here, it's up to you. I am fortunate enough to be able to park 800k in a bank here (although the interest is lousy, I really look at it as a financial safety net in case I get into medical or other trouble) and chicken enough to not want any element of risk to my living here.

It will be interesting to see if the mods allow this thread.

".....a visa agent for a Non-O with financial assistance." What do you mean by "with financial assistance?"

Editing to correct as thought you were going from US to Thailand. As a US citizen, you don't need anything to get into the US; however, check with the airlines you are using as they might want something and also check with transit requirements in any countries you transit through on the way back.

Yes, free. I've done it twice and there's no charge.

"I think that I could have skipped the info desk check, by going straight to counter number 3, but there was no queue at all, so no time lost." Apparently, when transferring stamps to a new passport here at CM Immigration, one only needs to go straight to counter #3. When I transferred stamps to a new passport this past December, I waited 45 minutes to get through the information desk with my paperwork and, once they saw what I was doing, simply told me that I should have gone directly to counter #3. No big deal, only took another 30 minutes to get it done.

Not too bad, far better than I hear about from our UK friends. As I noted earlier, my application packet went by DHL from here in Chiangmai to the US Embassy on a Monday morning and I got the new passport, old passport, and letter delivered the following Thursday (11 days later). Incredible service in my book. I didn't opt to get the passport card so didn't have to include the extra 100 baht bank draft.

ช่างทำกุญแจ (chang-tam-goonjae)......yep, that's locksmith. Literally, it means artisan/maker who makes locks (กุญแจ also means keys).

As noted by FG, all the top-end hearing aids come with an app you can download to your smart phone and you can adjust several things from there. My aids are Phonak and I occasionally use the app (which connects to your hearing aids via bluetooth) to raise the volume in one ear. I rarely adjust other things (like level of background noise, setting the equalizer for different frequencies, etc.) but play with those parameters on occasion. Hearing aids today are so much better than 10+ years ago but, in my view, their biggest handicap is that they increase all noise (speech and background noise) levels. Give we're in Thailand where it seems nobody cares about noise levels, that can be a problem depending on where you are (e.g., you'll eventually get the drift of what restaurants to avoid due to horrible accoustics). But, for me, the absolute best things about the new bluetooth aids are (1) actually clearly hearing on the phone even in noisy environments and (2) using the tv bluetooth gadget (my neighbors appreciate that as the sound level in the room is near zero whereas I clearly hear all dialogue in my aids). You can also use the bluetooth feature to stream sound to and from your computer, tablet or whatever item has bluetooth capability.

While I agree that transferring the shares to your partner might cause bigger and more expensive problems in the future (both the understanding as you note and the expense/hassle of probate in England afterwards), you also raise the issue of trust (trust that your relationship doesn't break up and/or trust your partner won't be less than wise about the money). Presuming you have no significant tax issues by selling the stock, you could sell the stocks now and then simply transfer the funds to your own account here (presuming you have a Thai Will that transfers your assets to your partner....a Will you can change should the need arise). Transferring either the stock or funds to your partner now also risks what happens should the unlikely situation happen where your partner passes first (i.e., does your partner have a Will leaving assets to you and do you want to bother with a possible probate back to you later?).

My first generation Kindle died 3-4 years ago and, after doing a bit of googling, decided to replace it with a Samsung tablet. Really happy with it, it's backlit and easy to read, and, after downloading the free Kindle app, performs as well or better for daily reading than the Kindle I had. Plus, it's essentially a computer (which, frankly, I typically only use when traveling). Just my view but I see no reason to ever buy only a Kindle in the future.

One returned from Vietnam and one returned from Indonesia since the middle of July and they didn't report. Perhaps the new requirement is, as you have suggested, due to waiver of the use of the TM6 card.

I have no doubt you updated your TM30 as you state but you're the first person here in Chiangmai that I've heard of who has done that when leaving and returning to Thailand AND returning to the same address. I and several friends have left Thailand and returned to our regular (TM30 registered) addresses here in Chiangmai and we haven't updated [and have had no problems at CM Immigration with various tasks (including 90-day reports, re-entry permits, conversions to Non-O visas, annual extensions based on retirement, transfer of stamps to new passports)]. I'm not sure of the date but it's been 3-4 years when the rules changed and didn't require a TM30 update when returning to one's TM30 registered address. Edit: Apparently one or more IM officers are taking a different view of the need to do so.

The booster program at Airport Centran mall was conducted by Nakornping Hospital but is no longer being done at the Airport Centran mall. I understand you can still get a booster at Nakornping Hospital and a couple of other places as noted in other posts.

Yes, only date it where it is obvious a date is to be inserted. Would note that they usually require you to neatly print your phone number below your signature on the TM7. As for color of photo background....this won't help maybe.....the "blue" ones I have and which have been accepted in the past are of a medium blue color (not as dark or light as the colors you mention). But CM Immigration didn't have a problem with the one with white background that I attached to my TM7 in December, 2021. As for your scheduled appointment time at 1:30PM, I'd maybe get there shortly after 1; however, it's unlikely they'll call you before your scheduled time. Finally, would note that there are two "penalty" forms* that they usually require with the TM7 for annual extensions and you can find those forms there (when I last went, they were in some open cabinet thing under the awning thing outside before and to the left of the main entry door). If you haven't prepped those, give yourself another 5 minutes to do that. [*I call them "penalty" forms but one is titled "Acknowledgment of Terms and Conditions for Permit of Temporary Stay in the Kingdom of Thailand" and the other is titled "The Acknowledgment of Penalties for a Visa Overstay"......you can find both forms, #26 and #27] here: https://bangkok.immigration.go.th/en/downloads_en/

1. Date. Sure, you fill in the date where indicated (use the day you apply). Would guess the IM would fill in the precise date if you left it blank. 2. TM7. Yes, one piece of paper (both sides). 3. Photos. I've actually used both.....white and light blue background.....without a problem here in CM.

The OP says: "Frankly one days income for me here in Austalia is equivalent to the entire value." Given that, there is no reason whatsoever to get involved or do anything as the probate costs will exceed that figure (unless you make more than a couple thousand dollars in a day). As to the OP saying he wants "so and so" to get this or that, it's not up to him. The deceased had a Will and, as long as it's valid, the Will will dictate who gets what. And the suggestion by another poster that Wills are often held by courts to be invalid due to duress or mental incapacity is baloney (yes, it does happen on rare occasion when there is reasonable evidence to support such a claim); however, even if the Will was held to be invalid, the assets will go to the persons designated by Thai intestacy laws and not to any others.

That scenario is possible if nobody did anything; however, given the deceased left "vehicles and money in a bank" here in Thailand, it would be foolish not to file probate proceedings here. Ultimately an order would be issued by the court transferring those assets to somebody [to some relative(s) of the deceased per the provisions of Thai intestacy laws]. The only viable reason not to do so is if the assets here in Thailand have less real value than the hassle and expense of the probate proceedings (i.e., if the value is less than a few thousand US dollars, it may not be worth the bother).

Am presuming you mean you just bookmarked the SCB website and logged in from there. I've never needed an OTP to do that and, come to think of it, don't need one to get into the mobile (android) app either.