moana

3 hours ago, bamboozled said:

I wonder what they're up to? I can't figure the game

When you pay 1800 it stays with the immigration folks and no visa is issued. When you pay $40 it goes to the bank next to the gates. Nuff said.

On 8/28/2023 at 3:56 PM, Pib said:

I use my no foreign transaction fee U.S. credit cards that pay 1.5% to2% cash back to pay all my hospital bills, groceries I buy at Lotus/Big C, fuel for the SUV, just any where I can pay with my credit card

This is the way! +1

On 8/28/2023 at 3:56 PM, Pib said:

I use my no foreign transaction fee U.S. debit cards (no cash back) to do period counter withdrawals at Thai banks

Why not just use Schwab's debit card (or any other card that refunds ATM fees) and withdraw right at the ATM? Eliminates the human factor, available at all hours, saves time.

Btw, one of the benefits of using a card to withdraw cash is that it allows you to withdraw at the peak rate. The card networks set the rate only once a day, based on the previous day's lowest interbank rate. So, if it's not an emergency withdrawal, you can just wait several days until you see the current interbank rate drop below the card's day rate, and only then go and withdraw (=getting the previous day's rate, fully knowing tomorrow's card rate is going to be worse).

Of course, there's no guarantee beyond those 24 hours (it might climb right back up a day later), but it's still a huge perk, especially when the rate swings wildly.

On 8/24/2023 at 2:46 PM, uheuhe said:

There is a 14% tax on interest for foreigners

The 14% tax is applicable to non-residents, not "foreigners". If you can prove to the bank that you're a resident (not necessarily citizen/PR holder) then you get the 6% tax rate.

I've been able to convince all but one bank (out of 5 accounts) that I'm a resident and my 6% tax rate has never been questioned since.

5 hours ago, Sticky Rice Balls said:

i think im gonna try and adventure and ride my old honda dream..100 cc  1995.....

If you're not using a company to go then there's no reason to prefer CK (or, at least, no one provided a good one). CS is 30km closer and might allow USD on the Laos side.

4 minutes ago, novacova said:

Why would that be? Everyone I’ve met from and in Lao are very friendly. Why couldn’t you bring a wad of ฿?

This is about Laos immigration officers not accepting USD at Huayxay (=Chiang Khong), which goes against their own rules, in order to make a quick buck by demanding THB instead at an inflated exchange rate. See @elektrified's post in the previous page.

I really don't care whether it's by bus or boat. I just want to pay USD and optimize for time. If there are no special reasons to go for the Chiang Khong border then I'll definitely go for Chiang Saen.

7 hours ago, Bill97 said:

Great scenery, beautiful women, fantastic food, friendly immigration officers, cheap beer….

In this particular scenario (in and out, no time for anything else) I would only care about the "friendly immigration officers" part, but not accepting USD is the opposite of friendly. Any actual immigration/border reasons to prefer Chiang Khong over Chiang Saen?

Any reason to choose Chiang Khong over Chiang Saen for a border hop?

If Chiang Khong really doesn't accept USD (per @elektrified's post) AND requires an extra hour of drive time (+30 minutes x2) then I don't see why anyone would choose it over Chiang Saen. Ideas?

15 hours ago, NextG said:

Location?

Pretty sure it was in Hua Hin.

10 hours ago, JoseThailand said:

Yes, there are, at Krungsri. You just pay a higher fee for issuing the card, and then no annual fee for 3 years.

It's actually 100 issuing fee + 380 every 3 years. I guess it is technically not an annual fee, it's a triennial fee, but it's not great compared to 200 flat for 5 years.

Btw, if you try to get the TTB Lite card they will probably try to upsell you on the All Free account + card. Stick to your guns and take the Basic account + Lite card, a much better deal.

2 hours ago, NextG said:

I don’t know of any foreigners who have this account. Perhaps you can let us know if you get to open one. 

I have it.

2 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Then the question becomes, how is TTB when it comes to opening new accounts for foreigners?

As with any bank here, it's a luck-of-the-draw thing. In my case all they wanted to see was a passport with a one-year visa/extension and proof of address (=pink Thai ID). In and out in ~20 minutes or so.

Edit: Opened back when they were TMB, pre-merger with Thanachart.

9 hours ago, DanielFR said:

What if you have dual citizenship ?

Won't work. You will need a dual set of fingerprints these days....

23 hours ago, Danderman123 said:

I am not sure there's VoA for US citizens.

US citizens are certainly eligible for VoA.

VoA is also cheaper than eVisa, btw. $30 vs $36 for a T visa (a whopping 20% difference).

Why would you bother with it? Cambodia is doing visa on arrival again.

It's a simple and fast process, took less than 3 minutes from start to finish last month.

4 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

I don't think I ever stated you had to do the 60 day extension to visit your wife before you can apply for a 60 day covid 19 extension.

Very possibly a misinterpretation on my part. Based on this message.

6 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

The majority of offices require you wife be present to apply for the 60 day extension.

Are there known offices that don't require it? Would using an agent make any difference?

Thanks much.

My wife is stuck outside of Thailand and my current extension is about to end. I've been previously told by my immigration office that she must be present for any extension, including 60 day ones. So they will not give it to me. Do all offices require the presence of the spouse for 60 day extensions?

I thought maybe a covid extension would be an option, but then I've also seen @ubonjoe say that covid extensions are only possible after the 60 day extension option has been used, so I'm guessing that's not a possibility either?

Ideas?

8 hours ago, OneeyedJohn said:

My phone is only a Redmi Note 8, doesn't have fingerprint or face scan

????

Redmi Note has had fingerprint scanners since Redmi Note *3*. Yours certainly has one, if you stated the make and model correctly. You can also set up face recognition on it, if you're into that.

4 hours ago, phetphet said:

Went back and asked. Was told that I must go to Nathon Hospital to get Yellow Passport updated.

You asked the wrong person... At Central there was a girl updating vaccine passports at the leftmost desk in the final jab area (directly in front of where you're supposed to wait 10 minutes post-jab).

On the 25th she updated passports but didn't have the official stamp with her, so I had to come back on the 26th to complete the update. Still beats a trip to Nathon...

1 hour ago, Tmoney said:

At the moment the QR code is useless - just says 'coming soon".

Works now, with pretty glaring privacy holes (input any birth date and get a list of ids + names + phone numbers)... But hey, at least it's happening.

On 7/30/2021 at 6:09 PM, aussienam said:

KTB charge a 1% deposit fee (that's 8,000 Baht for 800,000) and a 1% withdrawal fee

Those fees are for CASH (paper notes) deposits and withdrawals. Wiring funds only incurs the incoming/outgoing wire fees (฿200 min/฿500 max for incoming). No other fees as long as you meet the account minimums.

1 hour ago, Mickeymaus said:

Interest earnings - no problem for my USD and EUR. But sadly not at the moment... I still get a very small amount for my USD at the Bangkok Bank. 

Sounds like you're using an FCD Savings account. The interest rate is ridiculous (to the tune of 0.01% IIRC). Switch to an FCD Fixed account and it will still be ridiculous but much better (USD was 0.9% last year, and 0.6% this year at BBL, EUR is a big fat 0% of course, just be thankful you're not getting EU-style negative rates).

Re bank book woes - I'm using an account that doesn't have a bank book and had no problems applying for extensions with it. The bank is able to issue the usual immigration certificate of funds, and that along with a current account statement seems to be enough for my immigration office.

Btw, whenever I suspect the exchange rate won't be high enough to meet the minimum required at the time of application I simply use another THB savings account to make sure I will meet the requirement with both accounts combined, and proceed to submit documents for both accounts. One particularly bad year I was only ~400 baht over the minimum using both accounts ???? - the IO did not appreciate that but still stamped it through.

A few days ago I signed up and got approved for online TM30 notifications in about an hour.

I signed up with copies of tabien baan and id card via https://extranet.immigration.go.th/fn24online/

An hour later I got an email to confirm my email address.

Immediately after confirming it I got an approval email with a login and password.

After logging in and changing the password, I can now easily add a TM30 record.

I still can't believe it was this painless...

I guess the main problem is CW being overburdened. Mine was approved in a known-to-be-friendly province.

2 minutes ago, gearbox said:

Do you know which banks can do that?

AFAIK, all of them. Mine is with BBL since transferring USD used to be easier.

2 minutes ago, gearbox said:

Do you need to transfer first in baht, then convert to AUD, and if you want to get the funds out need to convert to baht again?

No, you wire AUD directly to the FCD account and it stays AUD. No need to lose an arm and a leg on a silly back and forth exchange. You can then wire AUD back, never once having it as THB.

I never fill in anything on the departure card until I actually depart. Immigration doesn't care about that half when you're arriving.

On 3/10/2013 at 12:34 AM, elektrified said:

tried it at 2 banks and they both declined "mai dai". Ayudhya and SCB.

Krungsri charges 200 baht for cash advances, so you didn't miss out. BBL cash advances are free, for the meantime.