Kalasin Jo

Probably by tomorrow

Surely you would have to have the money in your Wise account in baht in the UK first? Then it's easy to switch between currencies. If you are holding Thai baht in a Thai bank I don't think you can send using Wise as they have not as yet set up a Thai service with an IBAN number to make a transfer directly to them. Hence the need to use your Thai bank or Deemoney to send baht to your Wise account. The banks use SWIFT if they offer international transfers, Deemoney use currency fintech outfits, usually next working bank day so not weekends or official holidays. They don't always meet this but so far have offered me the next transfer free of charge.

Yes I agree, like farang 2 week millionaires, flash the cash and get kudos just as happens in the West. The fair weather "friends" who won't ever lift a finger to return the generosity but I've never seen a Thai guy with lots of pretties that they haven't brought with them at the level of venue I go to and the level of Thai society my wife is in. And yes with close family and friends I now know well I do invite along and pay for them, but the pre set budget still applies. I was moved by the now ex boyfriend of wife's young sister, who never seemed to hold down a job for more than a week or two even though a skilled electrician so was always broke, when he insisted on taking me to a bar and paying. I had by then given and paid him for several jobs.

Very bad news. It's the junior doctors that draw the short straw in working hours and pay. ( Just as in the UK). Their seniors ( consultants in western parlance) supplement their government salaries with small, pay to use, private clinics in the cities. This cuts out the inevitable 4 to 5 hour outpatient queueing, which with fewer doctors will surely get longer. That is, if you can afford to use these clinics, which are not too expensive as distinct from the private hospitals groups which charge a fortune, even though cheaper than in the West, which most thais cannot afford. For patients there is also the possibility of going private in government hospitals for better off patients with a much better level and speed of service, but it's the same staff, presumably on the same pay, so with less junior doctors I expect reductions even though a good income stream for government hospitals..

BBL moved unilaterally and without notice to me my Kalasin account from the Big C Mall there to the main branch in town when they closed the Mall sub branch, removing the ATM, cash deposit and passbook update machines too. It's not as convenient to head in to town and parking a bit of a 'mare at times. They have never had a branch or an ATM at Lotus's. So now I have to head in to town centre if I need to use the branch rather than an an ATM. And there are not so many BBL ATM's these days for a free rather than charged withdrawal either. Where I live in the boondocks cash is still king and the nearest BBL ATM is about 15 km away, Kalasin city is over 30km. Otherwise it's a govt bank ATM about 5km away which charges seemingly at random a variety of amounts, sometimes nil, sometimes 20 or 30 baht per withdrawal. And it's often empty from Friday pm until Monday even Tuesday pm which I put down to the proliferation of illegal gambling dens in every village, at almost every funeral party which the police of course do nothing about, being in on them.

Thanks. Very helpful. Will check it out next time I'm in Pattaya

Great news. Let's move forward now.

Looks good. Your link takes me to LK Metro. Is that where it is?

And that is the problem! Although that has never happened to me. But when I first came to Thailand and met the lady who subsequently became my wife she would often take me to restaurants and other night time venues she knew where " sisters" and / or " brothers " or simply " my friend" would appear, all very nice and polite, and at the end I would be presented with the bill for all at which point the said "sisters, brothers and friends" would say " sorry, no money" and fade in to the night sharpish. I soon wised up to that and would clearly set a budget and that I would only pay for drinks and food items that I had specifically agreed to before ordering and get her to explain this to them. This soon stopped happening.

I've used Deemoney and Bangkok Bank to do this. No problems with either. I had to register with Deemoney first which required uploading some paperwork, a couple of phone calls and an exchange of emails and took a couple of days to get approved. I was already a customer with Bangkok Bank and registration was online and approval within a day.

Nice one! Know what you mean.

You were lucky mate. Our nearest ATM has always been 5 km away and often empty. The next in the opposite direction is 15km. If both empty it's a 30 km trek to get cash usually at the weekend. One shop down the road, not a walk, now accepts QR payments. I guess others will follow.

Very very sick and/ or very scared. Early days but this sounds like a botched attempt to reduce the evidence to parts that fit in a bag or suitcase for removal from the scene.

In the UK that so called voice, named "the will of the people" there, gave it a bad brexit (unless you were/ are seriously rich. Those made millions from it) and loads more problems than as an EU member state which are still coming through for the ordinary guy plus increasingly far right policies from the ruling Tories.

Not just the weed shops up in smoke. I understood some serious money has gone in to planting home grown marijuana. What is required is regulation not re criminalisation. And I've not seen any serious effort to end the plague of yabba. Bold talk from the top for the media. Arrests and raids of small time dealers, runners and users at ground level, " fines" , rehab and imprisonment hasn't dented this plague. Then there's the other plague, of gambling and gambling dens. Everywhere especially in the villages. Openly carried on, even at many funeral parties. A pay off and left undisturbed

Very saddened by this news. Ubonjoe was an invaluable source of accurate information on visas and extensions. My condolences to his family in Thailand and in the US.

He might just be stupid and not recognise the difference.

Well the question sought a yes or no answer. I answered yes. It was business as usual but somewhat quieter with less queues.

Yes. I'm sitting in a government outpatient hospital department right now!

Our April bill to 21/4 is almost double that of March. Our consumption is too. The charges seem to be on an incremental banded rate scale depending on amount consumed if I interpret the bill correctly. It's worth getting the PEA app. In this you can review bills, consumption and cost graghics over the previous 6 months, including the latest. You can do some other things too

Truly bizarre. For a start how would you know for certain that your stay in another province has been reported? Most places I've stayed have taken a copy of photo of passport id page. I never gave it much thought as that happens in many countries if you are a foreign tourist My extension of stay commenced early October last. Before last Christmas I left Thailand staying a couple of nights in an airport hotel, returning in January I did the same. So stayed in a different Province twice as well as leaving the country. Both hotels copied my passport. No TM30 done on my return home. Approaching 90 days I registered for online reporting then did the report. A few days later I received confirmation and notice of next report date from Kalasin IO.

Yes, almost double. But in this heat where we are we have been using the Aircon much more. Probably twice as much.

Indeed. Incorporated in to the advertised ticket price for all including Thais I believe along with all the other extra charges if you care to look at the ticket price break down. The difficulty with the arrival tax is that there are all these exemptions. How does the airline identify them as exempt and as genuine at the point of sale? Why should they have to bear this burden? Identification and verification will have a cost.

Not the centre of the universe, the whole and only universe. Their village is the centre of that universe. That said, many other nationalities think the same of their home country and village or town.

555. Why wouldn't you want to ski? Downhill skiing is certainly difficult and frustrating as a beginner and expensive lessons, one on one to kickstart you, are needed, the more so as you struggle whilst experts whizz elegantly by looking so cool but once intermediate stage is reached there's no greater thrill imho. Thais love to see snow and mountains as it's a complete novelty for them. No need to try downhill stuff. Just travel up and back in a Telecabin or cable car. Spectacular views. For a gentler on the flat experience try cross country skiing and admire the scenery. Buy warm clothing designed for alpine use. The ladies will enjoy both choosing and wearing these outfits.