Tofer

10 hours ago, HAKAPALITA said:

Well he didnt say Ferang English Teacher, another bunch of penniless nutters

Not one of those either!

10 hours ago, transam said:

Yes I have driven in BKK and used the rail thing a couple of times. The thought of using public transport and getting to it on a daily basis for me would be horrendous unless one had too..

Ooops, I missed out car.."car vegan"....

Nope, not one of those either! Except when I lived in Manila for a year, I wasn't crazy enough to buy a car there, and the taxi service and public transport wasn't a patch on Bangkok.

The public (rapid transit) transport system in BKK is very good, stress free, clean and comfortable, except at peak rush hours, lots of lovely eye candy, a bit of much needed exercise up and down stairs and cheap. Conversely driving in BKK on a regular basis would be akin to a living nightmare, and, personally, I would feel I needed my head examining if I ever succumbed.

10 hours ago, transam said:

Yes I have driven in BKK and used the rail thing a couple of times. The thought of using public transport and getting to it on a daily basis for me would be horrendous unless one had too..

Ooops, I missed out car.."car vegan"....

Nope, not one of those either! Except when I lived in Manila for a year, I wasn't crazy enough to buy a car there, and the taxi service and public transport wasn't a patch on Bangkok.

The public transport system in BKK is very good, stress free, clean and comfortable, except at peak rush hours, lots of lovely eye candy, a bit of much needed exercise up and down stairs and cheap. Conversely driving in BKK on a regular basis would be akin to a living nightmare, and, personally, I would feel I needed my head examining if I ever succumbed.

8 hours ago, ronaldo0 said:

If you wanted a new car I would choose BMW 320D for a general use car. Quite spacious inside and warranty service etc makes it better than Mercedes for running.

As for second hand for 2.5m you can get a decent e class , 5 series and also Audi Q5 . I looked at some Q5 in bkk and the condition of them was immaculate with hardly any mileage at all on them .Would be my choice for SUV type vehicle if I was looking for that over a car .

"Hardly any mileage' - another statement that supports my argument for not bothering buying if you live in BKK. Then again if all you want is to flaunt your wealth then go ahead....

I bought a 1 year old Pajero in BKK with only 6k kms on the clock, as new, the guy lost over 500k baht in one year cos he was desperate to sell and return to UK.

Quite frankly, albeit a good laugh, it's total BS.

Why would the guy go to the dentist to get his dongler fixed up?

2 hours ago, canthai55 said:

Asked the wife about the ghosts in the mirror, and following tail lights home ...

Never heard of it.

Bar Stool BS

My wife agrees with your wife - total none sense.

Also I thought Thais on motorbikes only use their mirrors for checking their face and picking spots.

Why would you want a car in Bangkok for those few trips. As Thurien said make a contract with a taxi for your regular requirements. Taxis and sky train / underground, even buses are more than adequate, and you don't have the expensive outlay, the maintenance, insurance, congested driving (queuing), parking problems, nervous tension, inevitable prang repairs, police 'tolls' to deal with.

Hire a car for out of town trips away. 

You'll save a fortune and your sanity!

Could this be the creation of a new STD - WIRE WOUND or BRACELOSIS

2 hours ago, krabi local said:

Been told many actually take out the rear light so the ghosts can not follow them home.

We're not back on this ghost BS again are we..

I'll go along with the repair shop that says, in a previous post, it's customers are too cheap to pay 10 baht for a bulb.

Drove home from Krabi recently in the dark along a dual carriageway with traffic travelling at over 100 kms/hr as the norm, I saw a shadow ahead which turned out to be a car with no rear lights in the fast (read regular in Thailand) lane. Thankfully I was alert enough to spot it and avoid rear ending it. 

I see many a pick up on the roads in daylight that are far from roadworthy and wonder how they get away with it, never thought they were stupid enough to travel in the dark, oh sorry just remembered TIT...

16 hours ago, Rc2702 said:

The only time I recall lending money was 500 baht. A girl my Mrs knew from school was living near us and came to the house crying and needing a loan.  I was buzzing as I knew we would not get it back and we would never be asked again. My Mrs brother called us early morning last week to borrow 35000 baht for a car he found on Facebook.  "Will pay back in one month when sell all cassava" guys been banging on about a car for well over a year now I honestly believe if he ever gets one he will be a danger to himself and all road users. 

We had exactly the same with my BIL, wanting 40k, I told Mrs tofer no, because if he can't afford to buy it he can't afford to run it. Now my wife's cousin keeps giving him her cast off cars.

Felt a bit of a heal later when every time we visited for a few days he would give me the keys and tell us to use it as we like. We of course got it serviced for him and made necessary repairs, filled the tank etc.

42 minutes ago, seancbk said:

 

Without you having any idea what she looks like.  

That's what brown paper bags are for!

I lent 3k to a neighbour for medication for a very obvious condition, never expecting it to be paid back, and hoping never to be asked again. Friends then told us he owed money all over? He paid it back and asked for 5k the next time, it became apparent this chap was quite smart, building up to a considerable sum somewhere in the future, so said no, he doesn't even acknowledge us in the street now. 

On 16 March 2018 at 2:53 PM, Guderian said:

 

I was quite happy with the service from Barclays in Dubai, but they require at least a million pounds to open an account. A bit more than my modest pension will run too, I'm afraid.

 

I was thinking more of the likes of HSBC, or even a non-British bank like Citi based in Singapore.

I had dealings with HSBC in Silom HQ, at first very helpful when I needed emergency cash from a late transfer from a Philippine HSBC account, then a few years later they refused to provide a certified bank statement  related to my UK account. So I would not recommend them.

Previously I held accounts with Standard Chartered in Jersey and Phuket and was always very satisfied with their service. The Phuket branch manager even arranged a chequebook account on a personal account with BBK when they closed their local branch.

Has anybody tried importing via Langkawi, Malaysia, duty free I believe, then obtaining a visa for it to drive in Thailand, for how ever long the visa lasts, and crossing the border each time to renew the visa?

A friend advised this would only be allowed 2/3 times before refusal on future attempts. Anybody had any experience of this? I know you can do it with boats.

Would immigration cross reference your personal visa to establish if you are living in Thailand on a more permanent basis and put 2 & 2 together?

16 hours ago, Russell17au said:

I thought about bringing my car to Thailand but all the rubbish that you have to go through before you can even think about loading it onto a ship. Then when it does arrive the customs officer will put the value onto it for you then they add the freight and the freight insurance and then they will add a bit more just for good luck. This is the car that I wanted to bring to Thailand. It is an Australian built 1989 Ford LTD Stretch Limo and it was going to cost me from leaving Australia to landing it in Bangkok and driving it off the wharf was 2,000,000฿. The car is still in Australia.

Best place for it!! 

10 hours ago, partington said:

You have to ask them specifically for the foreign credit receipt to be sent-this is what I had to do, and took a bit of explaining (I printed out the Thai part of a website explaining what you needed to be allowed to transfer money out, and highlighted the bit that referred to the documentation, which I identified by laborious spelling and looking up words in a Thai online translation site).

 

They understood what I wanted and suggested that they could email this each time I made a transfer.

 

Incidentally what I got looked exactly like, and contained exactly the same information as, the example FET shown in a previous post. The only difference is that it is not called an FET anywhere on the form, just a "Credit Receipt".

The 2 pictures I posted are 2 separate forms. What you got from your receiving bank branch was the 'Credit Receipt' or as I prefer to call it transaction report. The second picture is the actual FET issued by Bangkok Bank (in my case), not sure if your own bank can issue these or it has to be the clearing bank which is BBK in Thailand.

10 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

"Dark skinned"?

 

"Dark Skinned"?

 

Could there be anything worse than a "dark-skinned" man?

 

Run, Thai women, Run!!!

 

 

It might not be that bad, he could have had a penis whitening operation.

On ‎13‎/‎03‎/‎2018 at 10:00 AM, ubonr1971 said:

I wanted to know if you could post a pic of an FET with your personal details blocked out. I live in Isan and think its going to be an issue getting an FET. My language skills are not so good. Sorry if this is too much to ask but it would help if I can show them a pick even if its the top part of the page

 

thanks

Hope this helps, good luck but shouldn't need it, very straight forward.

5 hours ago, peergin said:

The Foreign Exchange Transaction Form (FET) says:

QUOTE

For transactions valued at USD 50,000 or above or equivalent at market rate.

UNQUOTE

 

"Equivalent" means other currencies.

 

I have found that the Bangkok Bank is extremely helpful in these matters and in anything else. Never a problem. 

 

However, I seem to remember reading not long ago that the FET form has been replaced by something new. Meaning FET forms will no longer be acceptable. Haven't found out yet. May be another Thai Visa member knows? 

I just checked my FET's and you're absolutely right, it clearly states USD 50,000.

I guess I will be out of luck with my smaller transactions.

Perhaps I will be ok with only the transaction reports for the smaller amounts as noted by a previous posts success.

9 minutes ago, maprao said:

What are the minimum transfer sums, if any, for Obtaining a FET?

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't think there is any minimum, although I cannot be certain. The ones I have were for quite large amounts.

I have one branch report for only £6,000, but have yet to have this converted to an FET. I would imagine, if there is a valid reason for the investment of the incoming funds, there should be no problem, and as I am building a property it should be perfectly feasible/ understandable that funds are being drip fed, fingers crossed!

A quick call to Bangkok Bank should get an answer for you.

21 minutes ago, ubonr1971 said:

When you say '' I get a transaction statement from my local branch and save them up until I next visit Bangkok.''

 

do you mean that I can log in and get a print out from my online statement showing the deposit... Then take this to the place and get the FET form? Or should I go in the branch and show my passbook and ask them for a 'transaction statement' print out from their machine?

 

Also, are you saying that I can get numerous back dated FETs if I follow this system. ie maybe I did a big deposit 3 months ago. And another one this week. Can I get both in one go?

 

thanks

I take my passbook into my branch and they print out a full report / statement for each foreign transfer. This report gives all the details of the transfer, incoming currency and sum, where from, date, reason for transfer, applicable exchange rate, fees and sum deposited in my account in THB. I don't think you can simply print out a copy of your online statement, but might be worth asking the head office in Silom, as I'm not certain.

Yes you can get reports / statements for earlier transfers, I do it all the time. Likewise you can take these reports into Silom at any time to obtain the formal FET certificate. There doesn't appear to be any time limitations, as far as I know and in my experience.

When I send money from my UK bank I always ensure the reason for the transfer is documented. In my case I frequently transfer funds for my property development and make it known as such. I believe the FET's are only issued against funds brought in for investment purposes. I doubt you would get an FET for your annual subsistence / visa money.

Definitely worth it. Costs nothing and is completely straight forward when / if you come to repatriate your money.

Bangkok Bank require you to visit the head office in Silom to get the FET certificates. I get a transaction statement from my local branch and save them up until I next visit Bangkok.

I used an old version of this back in 1995 when I returned to UK and took everything out without drama.

On 7 March 2018 at 8:47 PM, sanemax said:

You wouldnt be wasting your time, as I would like to hear about them

See post 163.

On 7 March 2018 at 9:57 PM, mok199 said:

me too!!

Look up my post on the subject " Things you don't do in Thailand because you know better, dated 15/07/17, to save me repeating myself.

I also had a neighbour offer to lend us their car anytime we needed it when we first arrived to settle in Krabi and we're looking around for a car to buy, with no ulterior motive. We took it 3 times including a 600km / 2 day round trip to Phuket. There was never any payment required although we, as a matter of decency, filled it with petrol, valet cleaned it and gave them some money towards their next servicing. These same neighbours, now friends, politely refused an offer of a loan when in a period of difficulty.

In Phuket, 23 years ago, I had several businessman offer better deals than what I requested in a show of empathy for our plight at the hands of some unscrupulous Thais who forced us off of a property and out of our business.

In the same period I had a Thai acquaintance, friend of a friend, lend us his Burmese workers from his development team to carry out some work for us at nothing more than actual labour costs. He also turned up with a trailer water tanker behind his jeep when he heard we had a water shortage - no charge.

Thai friends turned up with senior political and police figures to stand our corner in a recent neighbour dispute, with no financial consideration expected.

A taxi driver in Bangkok put his licence at risk racing into the city from the airport and back in a 2 hour stopover at the domestic terminal between flights, dropped me at the shop and parked up around the corner on a side street waiting for me to find him for the return journey, all at meter rate, trusting me to find him and pay his fare. Of course I gave him a good tip.

Is that enough to be going on with?