Barley

Hello,

It used to be (I read here) that TransferWise deposits couldn't be declared as foreign deposits, so therefore you could not transfer the money out of the country again when/if it was desired.

 

Were there any changes to that recently?

 

I am thinking of transferring a few 100thousand TBH from my Euro account to my Bangkok bank account, but would like to get the money out again.

Thanks, guys! Very helpful info! :)

Hello,

does anyone know of a reliable way to receive mail (including bank credit cards from European banks) in Chiang Mai?

 

I would like to change my banking address to Thailand and therefore my credit cards would be sent to Thailand.

 

But I will be out of the country a lot too, and therefore I am worried that when I have mail sent to where I will stay, it might not get reliably handled by the people who work here.

 

What do you think?

 

 

 

 

Also you can now get validity amounts of 90, 180 and 360 days for any True Move, DTAC or AIS sim online. 

 

It's a good service if you want to extend without hassle.

 

Otherwise for the 6 months validity they have a 49Tbh surcharge which one can save by doing six 10 or 20 Tbh top ups oneself.

 

They also can only extend up to the natural 360 day from purchase life limit of a prepaid Sim card.

 

What do you mean by counter transaction?

Getting cash from your Halifax card at the counter or changing cash at the counter?

I think a lot of the confusion comes in because of the different SIMs.

1.) Tourist SIMs which have a validity of several weeks to 3 months but some report that they can be converted to a regular SIM or extended by USSD codes at 2TBH /30 days

There may also be old Tourist SIMs which follow different rules.

2.) Regular SIMs which have a beginning validity of at least one month and can be extended by 10TBH top ups for 30 days up to at least a year or by USSD codes at 2TBH /30 days. Some report even longer.

There may also be old regular SIMs which follow different rules.

3.) Special long term SIMs like dtac"s Simply2Baht where every top up extends the validity to 365 days from the date of last top up.

It is unclear if these SIMs can still be purveyed.

 
 
That is wrong.  They get suspended if you don't top up within those 90 days. You can only have 90 days of validity in advance.

Could you clarify this please?

I got a new True card and did 10 top ups at 10Tbh ea. all on the same day, and my validity now shows 1 year.

I went to both offices, the one in the north said I have to be in the country a minimum of 6 months, the one in the east didn't care.

Both wanted blue book or rental agreement with copy of blue book and ID card of owner, and copy of my passport.

Also they wanted either work permit or bank passport that shows interest income.

Today I have been to 2 dtac places in 2 different malls and one AIS shop.

 

All of them said that they don't have the long validity prepaid SIM cards any longer.

 

They said that maximum validity is now one year.

 

I specifically asked about the Simply2Baht dtac SIM and they said it's not being sold any longer.

 

AIS said that 20 THB is needed to extend validity by one month (before 365 days are up) and I know from my own tests that True extends validity by 30 days if one makes a 10 THB top up.

 

Top ups can be made one after the other on the same day.

 

 

I find that difficult to believe.

 

In Europe the data rates are MUCH higher.

 

I have had people claim before that their domestic data plans from outside Europe worked in Europe, but then when they came back, they noticed that they were billed an incredibly expensive roaming rate. But since they were overseas the billing was delayed for a while, so they couldn't see it right away when they did a balance check.

 

It was quite an awakening when these people saw the amount they were charged.

 

Some operators in some countries have packages for overseas roaming rates but they are quite expensive. None of the plans for that SIM indicated above and in the OP indicated overseas roaming to be included.

 

 

[mention=74340]doodle[/mention]

That confirms my suspicion that the long range SIMs are a little bit more expensive.

 

 

I am not sure if still accurate but DTAC was killing off all numbers that had no activity call in or out for 46 days...regardless of balance.

 According to dtac T&C (and from what I heard all other operators too) they now reserve the right to disconnect your SIM after *90* days of inactivity regardless of validity date shown. But I also heard that this is not being practiced. Nevertheless, if you keep a high balance or really want to keep your number, and want to be certain then probably the cheapest way to keep it active while out of the country, is to send an SMS every 90 days to someone in the country where you are currently logged in.

 

NOTE: This does not apply to *TOURIST* SIMs - they will get disabled after about 90 days of purchase anyway.

 

I know from other Asian countries operator's that the balances on inactive SIMs were a target for making easy money, so much so that some governments needed to step in to protect the consumer by legislation.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mention=33357]Jdietz[/mention]

 

Great!

 

Now we have the codes for dtac and True (For True *934*{30 or 90 or 180 for desired days}# - same prices as dtac, i. e. 2TBH/30 days) for extending validity in this thread.

 

I assume AIS will also have a similar service. Maybe someone else will know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mention=10102]thaifann[/mention]

When you say you are using it in Germany what do you mean?

 

Are you saying you can use these data plans without a roaming surcharge in Germany just as you would in Thailand?

 

How is that possible?

 

 

 

 

Is it *1013 or *1013#?

Dtac dial *1013  ( 2 THB per 30 days extension, max 365 days outstanding)

@Kerryd

 

Again thanks for this very helpful information.

Wow that's great! Very interesting information! Thank you!

Do all providers have this one year SIM?

How/where would one be able to get it?

Is the one year feature reflected in any way in the price?

And does it give your address on the Tax Id card?

Thanks!

Today - being Labor Day May 1st - I assume it's not open.

Thank you very much for your help.

 

Would you also know how I can find the opening times of these offices?

@CMBob

Were you able to get your tax ID right on the spot or did it take a while?

 

 

Are you sure we are talking about the same two shops?

I thought the shop you mentioned was in Loi Kroh (NE of old city).

The shop I was talking about is close to Wat Phra Singh - going from Singharat Road into Rachadamnoen Road the 1st exchange place on the left side. Thus shop usually gives around 0.50 TBH better exchange rate than all the other shops I compared it with.

Definitely not 5 minutes apart (on foot or bike - at least according to my slow speed).

For me, I don't need a comparison, because your shop is too far away, anyway.

I suggested the comparison for the sake of the OP to find the best exchange rate in CM.

But anyway, the OP has these two options now, and he can compare them for himself if interested.

Thanks for the info and tip about extending.

 

According to your link:

 

*934*180# will extend validity by 180 days on True for a very reasonable 12TBH charge provided your number has been active for at least 90 days OR you had at least 200TBH accumulated usage.

 

CAVEAT: Not working on Tourist SIM!

 

 

Are you close to that area?

If I went by the place in old city and gave you the rate, could you compare to the Loi Kroh rate the same day, so that we can see which one is better?

Couple of days ago I spoke with True customer support - gentleman spoke very good English :)

 

I was asking how to keep my SIM card valid.

 

Here were his answers:

Tourist SIMs switch off automatically after 90 dsys

 

Normal SIMs can be valid up to one year. Initially the SIM has a short validity but then every recharge of at least 10TBH of a normal SIM extends its validity by 30 days up to 1 year after which the SIM can no longer be extended.

 

He also says that I don't need to worry about having activity on my card to keep it active (if for example I go overseas for 4 months). If I don't use my card during that period it will still be active when I come back, provided the validity through recharges on the card was long enough.

 

Now I made my own test re. recharges and validity, and I found the following on my card which I bought around 17April:

10TBH recharges extended validity by 30 days until 12 April 2019.

 

The next 10 TBH recharge only extended validity by 17 days to 29 April 2019.

 

In the forum I read of some members keeping their prepaids active for many years. How do they do it?

 

Is activity needed or is recharging sufficient?

How can I activate voice mail on true in English?

 

When I dial 9600 I get recordings in Thai language only.

Can I get a cheap health certificate in Thailand and use it in my visa application at a Thai consulate in Europe about 3 months later?

Hello,

 

Could someone please tell me what is the address of the Revenue Office in Chiang Mai?

 

I need to apply for a Tax ID.