Oohwan

2 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

Ah, no! Sorry, I overlooked that minor aspect. :) 

 

In which case there's not a lot of choices out this way, Four Season perhaps but the gym is not that great plus it's pricey.

Yeah I was just looking at the Four Season website myself, but as you say I'm sure it's pricey.  

I'm mostly interested in a resort style gym and pool.  Sauna isn't really necessary. 

If anyone else knows what's the best option coming from Mae Rim please contribute. 

7 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

Top floor, Rumachock Plaza at Meechok, can't miss it - just down from Ruamchock Supermarket..

Thanks simoh1490

I've see this place before from the outside, but I do not think there is a swimming pool or sauna on the property is there?  

Can anyone recommend something close to Mae Rim or Fa Ham? 

2 hours ago, Happy enough said:

3 hours ago, Happy enough said:

**boi have different rules i think and my company a few years ago just wanted me on biz for control so they could well have lied to me.

UJ will know

 

Thanks for the contribution.  I'm looking forward to hearing what UJ has to say as well.

The main reasons I want to stay on my Non-O is because if I end up quitting, I wouldn't have to do the entire visa process over again.

Another thing that concerns me is my national government health care I've been paying into every month since leaving my previous job.  

Would I automatically end up ineligible for benefits?   

I'm starting to think there are some disadvantages to having a Non-IB

3 minutes ago, overherebc said:

I can only tell you my experience a good few years ago.

I was on a multi O based on being married and started work with a BOI company.

The company took to the centre in BKK and I had an extension issued by them along with a 2 year WP. At the the time the company still had 2 years left of the three under BOI rules/conditions.

I resigned after 3 months and had to go out and get a new multi O.

Sorry I can't be of more help.

So by what you are saying you were able to obtain a work permit from BOI while you were on a Non-O.

Were you on a one year extension at the time? 

When you resigned did you still have a Non-O?  And before resigning did you try to present 40K per month income or 400K in the bank?  Maybe if you would have done this before resigning it would have saved you a trip out of the country.

Thank you for you contribution overherebc

Hello Forum Members,

Could someone please tell me the rules for obtaining a work permit with a BOI company if I am currently on a Non-O one year extension based on marriage?  Can a BOI company get me a work permit on the visa that I'm on? 

Any official references would be appreciated. 

Thanks,

Oohwan  

Hello Phuket Forum,

Can anyone tell me where I can get a custom leather belt made within the next few days?  

I also need a good tailor for some shirts, any recommendations? 

Thank you,

Oohwan

Hello Forum, 

Does anyone know what is the cheapest method to send 1 bottle 500ml of coconut oil to the U.S? 

Supposedly Thai Post forbids sending liquids by airmail? 

Thanks again ubonjoe,

My first 90 day entry expires the 1st of July 2017, is it possible to get the 60 day extension 1 or 2 days before this date? 

Does the 60 day extension start from the day it is granted? 

Hello Forum, 

This past April I entered the country with a ME Non-O based on having a Thai child.  

The stamp in my passport says I need to leave the 1st of July.

I just wanted to verify again what the procedure would be to continue my stay here. 

When should I go to Immigration and ask for my 60 day extension, and what are they going to ask for?  Once this 60 day extension expires I'll have to leave the country either by air/land renter, and then I will receive an additional 90 days, which then I will be able to extend for another 60?  I can keep doing this up until my visa expires correct? 

BTW it will not be possible for me to legitimize my child, because we are waiting on marriage documents from my home country.  I do not think we will be married by the 1st of July, and I would rather wait to get married than having to pay an attorney to legitimize the child legitimization.

If I get married before my visa expires do I need to get a new visa?  

Once my current visa expires, and I have already gotten married what happens if I cannot shown the income or fund requirements in the bank for a new ME Non-O based on marriage?   

I will be moving in a couple of months, so I decided to call call 1506, and ask them what the procedure would be to enroll me in the new hospital.  They informed me I can make the change anytime, either in my current province, or in the new province.  They said it can be processed within 24 hours. 

18 minutes ago, BruceMangosteen said:

 

Success. We went to another province and there was not any concern or request even for a house book, an ID, or even the original passport. Copies of the passport were of course in the package. There were issues with the forms. They as some know, are all in Thai. No English. None. At first it seemed as if they were going to send us away to complete the forms but they saw the tears in the eyes and didn't... And the staff searched and found someone with some English who was most helpful. The supervisor finally came over and I think told them just to get her to sign the forms blank. Our driver was asked if he prepared them(the one's we had). He didn't. He later said they asked him if she understood what was written in Thai? He said no of course. We were given a brochure dated 2015 which is in English. I think it's on the internet. It explains everything except....

 

Are there death benefits under section 39? It indicates a percentage of the deceased insured's wage but it's not clear about people in section 39.

Section 39 is what those who continue are under. It's actually 9 percent of a monthly amount of 4800 Baht.(currently 432. Baht a month)

 

The 90 days mentioned elsewhere applies to those under Section 39. If you fail to pay for three months, you become uninsured retroactive to the first month.

 

God Bless You All and my friend is so relieved. She'll sleep well without any drugs!

Congratulations!

Yes there are death benefits. There is also an old age pension benefits payable on monthly basis, or you can choose the old age gratuity at 55 yrs old which is payable in lump sum amount. If you choose the lump sum amount the SS office told me my health insurance would be void. There is also a child allowance, and maternity benefit.  You can qualify for them all under section 39.  

You can also designate a beneficiary who can collect what you have contributed along with your death benefit once you pass.  You can ask the SS office for a print out of how much you have contributed to date. 

All things considered I think the Thai SS system is exceptionally well set up.    

On 4/21/2017 at 8:35 PM, simon43 said:

The last time my ex did it, the cost was 50 baht at the local Tessabahn office.

 

 

I did not get any reply so I will update everyone on the procedure tomorrow once its "hopefully" completed.

Another question I had is when registering the sole proprietorship, will my partner need to register the name of the proprietorship with the same name as the website, or can she use a different name? I'm trying to help her fill in some of the forms printed off the DBD site this evening, but we are both a bit confused on what the registered name needs to be. 

Here is the form I'm dealing with now.  

http://www.dbd.go.th/download/downloads/01_tp/form_tp.pdf 

Any assistance would be much appreciated.  

7 hours ago, Bill Miller said:

I regularly transfer funds to my girlfriend from my US accounts, which are in my name, to her Bkk Bank which is in her name. I also sometimes send money to her from my Bkk account. I have never heard of a bank that requires both accounts be in the same name for transfer of funds, though anything is possible.
 

Are you saying saying that it is possible to send ACH from the U.S. thru BKK Bank NY to some other person's BKK Bank account in Thailand?  Are you still doing this now?  This is great if it is 100% percent certain. 

When you transfer the funds to BKK Bank NY how do you give them instructions to send it on to the account in Thailand? I assume this has to be done online? 

29 minutes ago, RichCor said:

Very off topic:

 

Dual Citizenship - What Are The Tax Rules?

 

Every US citizen or green card holder is liable to pay US taxes, regardless of whether they are citizens of another country too. This is also true of foreigners born in the US, and children of US citizens born abroad, all of whom are technically US citizens (assuming that they have never officially renounced their US citizenship), even if they have never had or applied for a US passport, or if they haven't even lived in or visited the US in decades.

Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, was born (to British parents) and lived in New York until be was 5. Never having renounced his US citizenship, over 40 years later he received a US tax bill on the capital gain he had made on a house in London he bought in the 1990s and then sold in 2009. After much deliberation, he ultimately paid up, so as to be able to visit the US again in the future. He later renounced his US citizenship, so as not to receive any more bills.

 

OUCH!!

 

This is just FYI. Don't be like Boris.

I have lived here for 10 consecutive years and have never filed a U.S tax return. I doubt they will hunt me down knowing I made less than 14K USD per year. If the IRS wants my money let them come and get it. 

34 minutes ago, RichCor said:

 

Not to mention, a Social Security Number (or Fed Tax ID) so you could pay taxes on the monies being transferred.

 

Also not saying the FEDS won't ask for that sometime in the future anyway while telling you to pay back-taxes along with a fine, or ask the person giving/gifting you more than 12,000 usd/yr to pay it.

 

Forget I mentioned it.

 

 

 

 

One of the main reasons I don't have any direct financial ties back in the U.S.

Gifts to foreign citizens are subject to the same rules governing any gift that a U.S. citizen makes. If a gift exceeds the annual exclusion amount, which is currently $14,000, then they must typically file a gift tax return to report the excess. Often they won't owe any actual tax, because a lifetime exemption applies above and beyond the annual exclusion amount. Currently, that lifetime exemption is $5.45 million, so it takes a huge amount to generate actual gift tax liability.

Gift taxes only apply to the person making the gift, not the person receiving it. Foreign citizens generally don't have liability for U.S. gift tax and therefore don't need to report gifts for those purposes. 

Worst case scenario would be Schwab closing the account. 

8 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

At this point four pages into the discussion re this thread, I'm going to resist any temptation I might have to ask why the OP suddenly decides to mention now that he doesn't have any U.S. bank account of his own.... Have a good evening.... Good Night!

 

So you can sleep a little bit better, I'm a dual national and have never had a US bank account. This doesn't mean I don't have a bank account in the country I was born in. 

Earlier in the discussion I did ask about opening up a U.S bank account online, but I am no longer interested in this option since it seems so much easier for the sender to go the Schwab route.

Also if opening a U.S bank account online they would have asked for a drivers licence which I do not have either.   

My apologizes for not mentioning this earlier, and I thank you for giving me the answers I was looking for.  

25 minutes ago, Pib said:

I would just recommend you do not rely totally on a debit card as it can get lost/stolen/just stop working...be sure to keep enough money in local savings to cover such periods because such periods will occur (at the worst time)...hopefully not too often but they will occur.

 

I totally agree with you on this. Thanks for the heads up. I will make sure to tell her when she opens the account to mention she is a frequent traveler, and to allow international transactions. 

2 minutes ago, Pib said:

Since earlier you said the person was elderly and preferred dealing face to face with their bank, it's not like there is a Schwab brokerage/bank in each town to walk into...far from it.   Chances are the person will still need to deal with Schwab via long distance/internet/phone.   

I thought about that as well so I used their branch locator tool to find something close. I was able to find an independent branch 8 miles from the senders zip code.  This shouldn't be too much of an inconvenience for her.   

The BKK Bank New York looks like the best option, but unfortunately I do not have a U.S bank account. 

Having read all the comments posted I think I will tell the sender to open the Schwab account, and then have them send me the ATM card.

"Using a U.S. bank card that allows ATM withdrawals up to $1000 per day at least, and preferably, one that reimburses you for the Thai ATM fees and has no foreign currency fee of its own" TallGuyJohninBKK    

Thank you all for your contributions so far. 

5 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

See, you provide more details, and it becomes easier to suss out your situation.

 

So yes, if your sender's bank is really a federal credit union restricted to U.S. govt employees only, then that would seem to rule out you having an account there. Just be aware, some federal credit unions do have membership rules that in fact allow other types of people to join. State Department FCU is one good example of that.

 

But assuming you're right about being locked out of your sender's CU, you need to be careful about your terminology.

 

Direct deposit normally means setting up a payroll, pension or Social Security direct deposit into a particular account. I'm not sure that employers, pension providers and Social Security will permit people to formally have direct deposits of their benefits into bank accounts under other 3rd parties' people's name.

 

That said, your sender is certainly free to do whatever she wishes with the funds in her own account. You said she doesn't like to deal with online banking. I have an elderly father with U.S. bank accounts. And at least at his bank, he can call them on the phone, provide his identity verification info, and then the bank CSR will set up an online payment or online transfer for him out of his account. Whether your sender's FCU will extend the same courtesy, you or she would have to inquire of them.

 

The question becomes, if she doesn't like or do well with online banking, how's she going to get the $2000 a month from her FCU account into your Schwab or Fidelity (or any other) account. She could ask the Schwab and State Farm account ACH transfer to your U.S. account, if they're willing to do that. Or, in the case of Schwab, I do know that people can mail paper checks to Schwab made out to the account holder and with the account number written on the check, and Schwab will deposit and credit those to your account.

 

I was thinking that it might be possible to make the Schwab or State Farm account in the senders name, and then have her FCU make the 2000 US deposit on a monthly basis.

I would then have her send mail me the ATM card.  

7 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Oohwan, is there some reason you're not receptive to the idea of you opening a bank account at the same U.S. bank as your sender? And then the sender can easily deposit their funds to your local account each month. And then you can online do an ACH transfer to BKK Bank, and your sending local account and your BKK Bank account will have the same name.

 

That seems no extra work for the sender beyond what they're already doing, and easy for you to handle the rest.  If you're already in Thailand, you could explore opening an account online with your sender's bank. And if the bank won't allow that, you could plan to open the account the next time you're back in the U.S. for a visit.

 

But as to your specific question, Schwab is the gold standard for expat banking. Fidelity is similar, but has more potential complications as Jing explained above. State Farm Bank is another with no foreign currency fee and reimburses Thai ATM fees, especially if you have a direct deposit with them, more limited if you don't. But beyond those, you get into the world of local area banks and credit unions that I can't offer any advice to you on since I don't know your "local".

 

A Schwab account probably can be opened online from Thailand, if you have a U.S. residence address you can use where they would send you account info and debit card upon issuance. I'm not sure whether or not they ask for a DL with an address that matches your declared residence address. But if you do apply online from Thailand, make sure you're always using a VPN or similar method that gives your PC a U.S. IP address.

 

I would not have any issues with opening an account same as the sender, but the senders bank is a Federal Credit Union.  It is only available for employees of the United States Government. 

The Schwab and State Farm account is something I will look into. If I use either of these two options I can have a direct deposit from the sender go into the Schwab and State Farm account, and then use the corresponding ATM to make the withdraw correct?  

46 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Yes, Lopburi is correct on this. The ONLY purpose the BKK Bank New York location serves is as a destination for you to send domestic ACH transfers to, en route to them arriving in your BKK Bank account in Thailand.

 

But you need to have a U.S. bank account that allows you to send (hopefully free) domestic U.S. ACH transfers. Any account that allows that will be OK for sending to BKK Bank NY. But as mentioned earlier, we're pretty sure the account names on the sending U.S. account and the receiving BKK Bank account need to be the same.

 

It sounds like the ACH transfers is the best option, unfortunately it is not going to work as the account name on the sending U.S. account, and the receiving BKK Bank account would not be the same. 

@TallGuyJohninBKK  Earlier you mentioned "Ideally, you want to me using a U.S. bank card that allows ATM withdrawals up to $1000 per day at least, and preferably, one that reimburses you for the Thai ATM fees and has no foreign currency fee of its own. Which brings us back to Schwab, Fidelity and a few others."

Would you please mention the few others?

I could have the sender open one of these accounts in person, or I could do it for them online from Thailand?  Then they can then send me the ATM card? 

28 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Here's one approach:

 

You open an account in the same bank or CU as your sender. He/she can go to his/her local bank (face-to-face) and deposit the funds into your local account as he/she wishes. Then, once they're in your local account, you use their (hopefully) online banking capacity to ACH funds to BKK Bank New York.

 

That way, the funds are being ACH'd to and from an account with the same name -- your account on the U.S. end, and your same name account on the BKK Bank end.

 

That's going to be a better deal than any kind of traditional international wire transfer, where the sending fees are likely to be quite high -- especially if you're doing a monthly send.

 

What if I tell the sender to open an account with BKK Bank New York, this is done online correct? Maybe I can do it for them, and then manage the BKK New York online banking account so I can transfer the funds to SCB which is under my name? 

19 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Here's one approach:

 

You open an account in the same bank or CU as your sender. He/she can go to his/her local bank (face-to-face) and deposit the funds into your local account as he/she wishes. Then, once they're in your local account, you use their (hopefully) online banking capacity to ACH funds to BKK Bank New York.

 

 

Is it possible for me to open a U.S bank account from Thailand?