DFPhuket

When my 1 year fixed deposit matures and interest is deposited, I go to the bank and remove the excess, leaving about 801,000 in the account. Thai taxes are usually debited on the same day as the maturity, but make certain they have been deducted before you decide how much to withdraw.

I renewed mine in Phuket in July. The only change was that the map (which had been required in previous years) was returned to me and I was told it wasn't needed. All other docs needed were as listed on the volunteer's website. When you arrive they now give you (or you may need to ask for) a queue number. When it's your turn, the immigration official sitting outside who checks your documents is quite young, fast and efficient. He has a computer and checked it for something as he went through the documents. I'm pretty certain it was to check for a completed TM30 since the person ahead of me was told that was missing and to return after doing it.

El Al's flights from Tel Aviv to both Phuket and Bangkok (LY87 and LY83) continue to fly with no cancellations. I have no idea how full they are, but perhaps it would be cheaper, easier and faster to put them on commercial flights.

I'm on a Non-O (retirement) in Phuket and travel in and out of the country about once a month. I don't do a TM30 (I have the online reporting set up) when I return, except for the trip that immediately precedes my annual renewal. I doubt it's necessary, but it's just an added piece of insurance to improve the chances that everything goes smoothly with my renewal. With the online reporting it only takes 5 minutes or so.

I'd suggest Qatar, Emirates or Etihad. I've flown business class on all three and they are all superb. With them you can get to New York with just one stop, which would seem very important for someone in a wheelchair. Stopover (some can be lenghty), departure and arrival times would be another consideration. No matter how you go, the 12 hour time zone difference can be a killer. The other option would be Singapore Airlines non-stop Singapore to New York flight, if you don't mind being on the same plane for so many hours. .

It sounds like you're entering your previous login credentials in the box a the top. Scroll down further and you'll see a "register" hyperlink. Click it and it should open a window where you enter your email and other details plus upload your documents.

I was able to register earlier this morning. Although I had login credentials for the old system, as explained in the email, I had to create a new registration. Registering was straightforward. I got an email asking me to confirm my email, then logged in and created (reused) my password. After doing that I needed to add my address (I'm the owner of my condo) by going to my profile (top right) and using the + on the bottom right side. It was clunky since the popup wouldn't fill unless I used Google translate to enter the Thai word for my province, district and subdistrict. I logged in and out a few times earlier. But now it looks like traffic has overwhelmed the system since I'm getting a "500 Internal Server Error".

You need to get a US credit card with no foreign transaction fees. A large number charge a 3% fee on any foreign transaction. It sounds like yours is one of those. I use a Capital One card. They have a card with no annual fee and 1% cash back or another with a $95 annual fee with 2% cash back. There are other options at other banks. The exchange is the mid-market rate, which is a very good rate (basically what you see on any of the online currency conversion rate). Twice I've had no issues getting a charge back for a service that wasn't delivered. Using my card here whenever I can means I don't need to have as much money in Thailand and it's basically a "free" money transfer. I use it worldwide and get hundreds of dollars cash back.

I suspect that half of the people who are flying are carry some reasonable amount of pills, whether it be for hypertension, birth control, or just in case they get a headache. On an x-ray machine these must all look alike. Unless an airport has sniffer dogs for specific drugs, or there is something else that looks "bad" in the luggage and causes a search, I can't see how this could be effectively policed. I've taken hundreds of international flights all over the world in the past 3 decades. Never once have I been questioned about medicine I'm carrying. My quantities always roughly match the length of my trip.

While I consider myself a pretty good writer, I use it to see when I'm sending a email to see if it can come up with a clearer way to say something. It can improve on grammar and spelling When entering the above sentence in the chat box, preceded with "Write this more clearly:" it suggested: "Although I have confidence in my writing abilities, I use it specifically when sending emails. I hope it can suggest clearer ways to express my thoughts, as well as help with grammar and spelling improvements."

This post prompted me to look at the THB I’d get if I were to send 2,500 USD from my US bank today using the ACH transfer method. The following is how much (after fees, etc.) would be deposited into my SCB account. Wise - THB 87,650.30 US Western Union - THB 87,366 XE - THB 87,284.50 Western Union used to have a reputation for having poor rates/fees. Competition has certainly changed that.

See a Thai lawyer who speaks English to create a Will. It might cost you 10,000 baht, but not having one will means that a higher amount of your assets will have to be spent after your death on lawyer fees. I have both a Thai will that covers bank accounts, condo, car, etc. here and a US will for my investment assets there. I, the lawyer, and my executor have copies of the Wills. You need to decide which person will be named as the executor and be responsible for making certain that following your death, the money goes to those you've indicated. The person can be a friend. You can also provide funds to the person at your death for taking on that responsibility. He/she would work with the lawyer. Without a Will, your Thai bank accounts will be frozen for quite a long time.

Adding pages to a passport has not been an option for several years. When you run out of pages, you must get a new passport.

I've used MISG, AXA, AIG and Chubb in the past. I had a claim only with AIG. The policy included travel delays and they paid me THB10,500 for a 23 hour delay. It was paid pretty quickly. Thankfully, I've had no medical claims. Each policy has different levels of coverage and cost. If you contact an insurance broker, they can do the looking for you and probably have good insights into people's experience with claims. There is no added cost to you. I use https://www.aainsure.net/ (everything done online/by email) but I'm sure there are others.

My Grab fare is charged to my credit card automatically. I just get out of the Grab car and walk away. I wonder what the driver would have done in that case.

I've had a Capital One checking, high yield savings account and credit card for 8 years while living in Singapore and Thailand.The checking and savings are in my name as the trustee of my living revocable trust. I use my credit card extensively throughout Asia. I also have an American Express high yield savings account. The address on my account is my mom's house in the US. That has worked best for me so it's simple when they mail a new debit or credit card. I've lived in Asia for over 30 years and always found it easier to use a US address. I have a US SIM. For years I was using a Ting SIM, but when I was in the US in June I switched to a Mint Mobile eSIM. I've never had an issue getting SMSs with either. The cost is about $15 per month, but since I travel to the US a couple times a year that works well (unlimited calls and 5GB data per month plus free calls to the US when connected to wifi with wifi calling). Unfortunately to get a SIM, you have to set it up while in the US.

I renewed mine by mail from Phuket last year. It took exactly 3 weeks from the day I mailed it until the new one was back in my hands in Phuket . A relative of mine is a consular officer at a different embassy. He told me that those renewing from overseas have priority over domestic renewals (for obvious reasons). Essentially what happens is the consular officer will review and approve your documents at the embassy. The data is electronically sent to the passport agency in the US so it can be printed. That takes just a few days. Then it goes in the diplomatic pouch and is returned to the embassy. The pouch may only come once a week so that can make the return a bit faster or slower. The key is that you follow the instructions completely. If the embassy finds an error or missing item, you have to be contacted and resubmit, which slows things down.

The Bank of Thailand website updates interest rates daily for all Thai commercial banks. The site is here. Click EN at the top to view it in English. You can see the rates for 3, 6, 12 and 24 month deposits.

When I was applying for insurance in Thailand 4 years ago, I answered each of the applications honestly and indicated I was taking cholesterol and hypertension medications (which kept both well within the normal limits). Some policies would have excluded anything related to the heart as a pre-existing condition, while others didn't. Obviously I went with a policy with no exclusions. Had I not been going for routine health screenings and managing both conditions I would have been a much worse risk for the insurance company. I felt like I should have been rewarded rather than punished for monitoring and effectively managing my health.

You should look at Dee Money. Although I've not used it for four years, while I was working in Thailand (I'm now retired and send money the other direction with Wise) I used it many times to send money to my US bank. It was reliable, quick, and had much lower fees than a bank to bank transfer.

I drove by the scene the next morning and wondered what had happened. It is the very end of the Patong/Kamala hill road just as you're about to enter Kamala (where the landslide was last November), it's a straight road and I was curious what would cause a one vehicle turnover accident on a dry road (well, bad driving, speed or failed brakes obviously). The jeep looked worse in real life than it appears in the picture. I thought no one would have survived.

I've always been curious about what happens to all of the paper each bank transaction generates (and at immigration). Do they box up the copies of passports and other pages signed? Where does it go? I can't imagine the number of boxes of paper generated from the hundreds of customers from every branch in the country. Does anyone know anyone who works at a bank who would know? How long do they keep it and where? And could they find a single sheet of paper later if required?

In all of my years I've never seen any traffic law enforced anywhere except at helmet/license checkpoints, which are alway at the same locations. Patrolling? Pulling someone over who is breaking a traffic law? Never.

I watched him type in each person's passport number, but the screen was in Thai so I could not tell what he was checking. But he did turn the person away ahead of me after entering her passport number and explained it was due to a missing TM30, so that (and perhaps other data) was being reviewed. I did not provide a paper copy of a TM30 or any other owner documents.

My friend renewed his last month. When he went in at first (like you he had no appointment), they checked all of his papers. They then gave him an appointment to come back in 9 weeks. It was pretty fast when he went back - under an hour. As for the DLT eLearning website, choose the foreigner button (the bottom of three) so you'll get the information in English. Watch the video with English subtitles (it stops after every 15 minutes for you to answer questions) and then print out the document at the end. It's much easier to navigate on a laptop. The certificate is valid for 6 months and should be in the stack of papers you need (i.e., copy of license, medical certificate, etc.)