Mike Teavee

On 6/13/2023 at 1:14 PM, nobledomination said:

Said I need a longer term visa. Is it possible to open a bank account somewhere in Bangkok on a tourist visa?

Do you have a Visa or did you enter Visa Exempt?

I've heard from a couple of agents that since March 2023 they are no longer able to open a bank account unless you have a Visa (any sort) & have at least 30 days permission to stay remaining on it.

One (https://bio.link/majesty - In Pattaya) did say that if you had a Tourist Visa they could help you extend it (and so get an extra 30 days) and open a Bank account the same day .

There's a thread on opening bank accounts here... BM @Dghart001did report that he was able to open an account in Hua Hin in the end... 

In Bangkok, I used Siam Legal (3K) to open mine years ago BUT in the thread above the OP reports they would only open an account for him as part of the Non-IMM O Conversion package (38K). 

33 minutes ago, BritTim said:

My own interpretation of the rules is that, for the existing extension to remain valid, you need to have been in compliance for the entirety of the following year.

 

To me, it is entirely logical that there should be an insistence of the 800k being kept in the bank for three months after the extension is granted. This requirement is largely to prevent people using short term loans to satisfy the 800k for two months prior to the application. However, it seems totally unreasonable that proof of 65k+ transferred from abroad every month since the last extension not be regarded as satisfying the ongoing requirement. Essentially, that implies that you must have a minimum of 24 months of 65k+ monthly transfers before you can switch to the income method.

Technically the financial terms of an extension based on keeping 800K in the bank are:-

1. 800K in the bank for a minimum of 2 months before extension date
2. 800K in the bank for a minimum of 3 months after extension date
3. 400K in the bank for a minimum of a further 7 months
4. 800K in the bank for a minimum of 2 months before next extension date

Therefore it's not (Technically) unreasonable for the IO to ask for 800K to be in the account 2 months prior to your next extension even if you plan on using the income method for your next extension. 

I say "Technically" because those are the rules but you would hope that the IO would use their discretion to forgo point 4 if you can show > 12 months xfers of 65K+  

14 minutes ago, sirineou said:

But here is my thinking , I am sure people would not be happy not to have as much as they had before, I know I would not. But wouldn't they be happy to have more than they have now?

I agree with that but in my mind there are some Red Lines that would mean even if we had more than we have now, the price is not worth paying - The obvious one is the loss of our own currency which would mean that we wouldn't have the same "Tools" to use in times of financial crisis (You only need to look at what happened with Greece, if they'd have still had the Drachma they would have been better equipped to respond their financial crisis)    

14 minutes ago, sirineou said:

"Let me understand, you are claiming that it's not brexit that failed, but that you are incompetent?"

Totally agree with the last part... But I think it was an ill-conceived / defined idea which when happened nobody had a clue as to how to implement it...

It's all well & good to talk about a "Hard Brexit" but the 1st question that should have been asked, even before having the vote, should have been "What do we do about Northern Ireland" & a "Hard Brexit" wouldn't answer it.

IMHO, they've still not come up with a sensible solution to NI & i don't believe they can as there isn't one that would satisfy all of the interested parties. 

19 minutes ago, sirineou said:

Let me see if I understand this correctly.

Rejoining the EU would be (arguably) better for your country, but you will not do something that is better  for your country because you might not get the same deal you had before which (arguably) was a lot better. 

It sounds to me like the "Perfect being the enemy of the good" 

This is my personal opinion, (right or wrong)

Personally I think it is a matter of pride. And I am not saying this to be rude, I would also have the same pride issues. 

Also I think that the EU is better off without the UK, Not because the UK will not enhance the economics, and not because it will not straightened security, but simply  because without British interference the EU is more capable of making the nessacery integration  reforms to make the EU a better union. 

No you misunderstood me... 

I would like things to (sort of be) the way they were before Brexit BUT I believe that if we were to go back into the EU, the UK's position would be weaker than it was before Brexit so if people weren't happy with how things were before 2016, then they're certainly not going to be happy with how things would be if we were to rejoin - E.g. I wouldn't want to rejoin the EU if it meant we had to adopt the Euro.

I think the EU "Project" is hampered more by the inclusion of (financially) weaker nations & will never be fully integrated whilst you have smaller countries like Hungary able to veto the plans of the other countries despite being a drain on the EU as a whole. 

16 minutes ago, Eloquent pilgrim said:

 

Indeed. I find it remarkable that some people are still wetting their pants about the result of a referendum that took place 7 years ago.

It was decided by a majority vote of the eligible electorate that chose to use their right to vote;  there will not be another referendum, despite all the squealing from those that only support democratic decisions when they align with their own opinion.

I personally thought Brexit was a bad idea BUT it's happened so we need to just get on with it & whilst I sort of would like us to "Rejoin" the EU I think the cost of entry would put us in a weaker position than we were before we left so don't think it's an option.

But on the subject of Brexit, I did find this funny... 

Brexiter blames skidmarks on Remainer plot to ruin his underpants

A die-hard Brexiter has today blamed his ruined underpants on a secret Remainer plot to deprive him of his underwear.

Derek Williams, a retired bench-warmer from Basingstoke, told us that he has had to throw out at least two pairs of underwear this week due to Remainers determined to stop him from having full autonomy over his undergarments.

He told us, “If I was given the freedom I wanted – no, the freedom I voted for – then my underpants would remain pristine from dawn until dusk. The fact they do not remain so is not due to any unrealistic expectation on my part, but because Remainers are ruining everything.

“And before you say it, yes, I’ve heard it all before – ‘your desire for perpetually clean underwear is a fantasy not based in reality’, but that simply ignores the fact that it is the will of the people – well, me – that it be so.

“It’s my democratic right to underwear that remains clean, and the fact that they are regularly stained by an imperfectly wiped <deleted> is obviously the work of hardcore Remainers who can not accept that they lost.

“They really need to get over it and leave my underpants alone.”

https://newsthump.com/2023/06/16/brexiter-blames-skidmarks-on-remainer-plot-to-ruin-his-underpants/

13 hours ago, EthelCole said:

This format suits me best.

I find Mod’s over-dramatic acting puts me off her YT videos (same with bananathai)  what are the actual online lessons like with Mod? 

 

5 hours ago, doctormann said:

Sorry if this has been covered before but I am trying to navigate the ASEANOW menu and I'm failing!

 

Question:  has anyone here tried to book a flight with Qatar Airlines, using a Thai VISA debit card - NOT a credit card?  I'm not sure if this is possible as their website does not make it clear.  Several payment options are offered - including PayPal, which we can no longer use in Thailand - but debit cards are not on the list.

 

I know that booking through a consolidator - skyscanner etc - is a possibility but I much prefer to book directly with the airline if I can.

 

Thanks

I tried using my Bangkok Bank (Debit) MasterCard & it kept getting rejected, I had more than enough money in the account & had upped my limit to 300K to cover an approx 230K cost. 

The Qatar site seems to say the problem was with my bank rejecting the transaction but the price had already gone up by 5K each whilst I was messing around trying to book it so I ended up putting it on my UK Visa Credit Card.  
 

If you don’t have an alternative credit card that you can use, you could ask your Bank whether there’s anything you can do to stop the transaction from being rejected, maybe they can pre-authorise it or something. 
 

32 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

What are the numbers? Urgent!
16th is lottery day

The article says 380 (do I get a percentage if it's a winner ????  )

I did mine at Bangkok Bank Pattaya North Road (I was 30 mins early for my dental appointment next door so thought why not) https://goo.gl/maps/Y3vF5jy4BLV5wEmu9 

It took 5 minutes & confirmed immediately that I could uplift my transfer limits (had been blocked since the last mobile app update).

Appreciate you might not be asking about Bangkok Bank in particular but if you are, the Pattaya Nua branch is a large branch with (seemingly) not as many customers as branches in Central Festival or Jomtien 2nd Road where I'd tried to sort out facial recognition in the past.

1 hour ago, Lacessit said:

If you want the best in Thailand, Bumrungrad in Bangkok has an international reputation.

Sheryl can advise on the specialists available. Good luck.

My mate look at Bumrungrad but ended up getting his hip replaced at Samitivej
https://maps.app.goo.gl/w8BoYdT5KoeEziEn9?g_st=ic as they (according to him) have the best reputation for sports/bones related surgeries. 
 

IIRC it cost him 600K & he was in ICU for 1 day (observation) & 2 days in a private suite.
 

23 hours ago, Geoffggi said:

All well & good but the main problem is immigration, how about employing more people at passport control.

Better still how about E-Gates for (at least) Non-IMM O/OA/OX, Elite & LTR Visa holders...

How many times do they need to take my picture/fingerprints?

18 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

 

I never keep my passbook up to date, which is why I always present the IO with bank statements. And I didn't need an agent to work that out for me either.

I believe you're on a "Marriage" extension & am guessing you don't use CW as your IO. 

As somebody who's on a "Retirement" extension who used to use CW (Jomtien nowadays) amalgamated bank book entries were not (normally) accepted by them & I would (most probably) have been sent away to get a statement from my Bank had I turned up with just photo copies of my Bank Book... 

As always, the caveat is that you might get a friendly IO officer who will use their common sense to see the balance didn't go anywhere near below twice what was required, but with my luck I'd have got one that would quote the rules & send me away.

As it was my agent sorted it all out & I had a very nice holiday around Phuket, Krabi & Phi Phi  when I would (at that time) have had to have been at CW doing my extension... 

On 6/11/2023 at 1:38 PM, mrbojangles said:

I found a place on Buakhaow. However, typical in Thailand. Got told I Rovers is open 24 hours and shows all Sports and even advertises it. Walked in, ordered a beer and thought I'd ask to make sure. Manager said, no not showing it, we close at 1am. Guess open 24 hours means something different here ????

 

Can confirm that Danny's Bar was open for the whole of the game,  as I suggested would happen, shutters went down around 3am, & music turned off but the game was still on & you could get a beer. 

On 6/4/2023 at 9:04 AM, Moonlover said:

I spend about 2 hours per year in our local immigration office. I don't feel as if I'm loosing out on a lot.

Last extension I did at CW (2021) I had 2 problems... 1) I rarely update my Bank Book (though it never goes below 800K) so had amalgamated entries not acceptable to Immigration & 2) I wanted to do my extension 45 days before it was due as I had travel

plans. 

Went to see my Agent who immediately spotted the problem with my bank account & took me to a Bangkok Branch to get the required letter/statement & the next day they took me to CW where my extension was processed there & then, 44 days before it was due despite CW only doing extensions 3 days before they were due at that (Covid) time. 

Without an agent I believe I would have been sent back because of the amalgamated Bank book entries 1st & then again because of the 3 day rule at that time & so would have wasted 3 days of my time & approx 2,400 in transport fees. 

End of the day it's 8K that I have as a budget line item so doesn't bother me... As I've said before, if it was 80b everybody would be doing it, if it was 800,000b none of us would be doing it. 

3 hours ago, oxo1947 said:

.

Fan-dab-idosy

1 minute ago, Kwasaki said:

Why care I have just given you another laugh. ????

Cool... 

Enjoy...  

3 hours ago, Laughing Gravy said:

I have a UK account with the bank for 56 years. It use to be a decent bank and it got raped by the big black horse and now is an awful bank.

 

I have been overseas for 25 years and still have a UK address. I pay my national insurance via the bank DD.

 

I recently tried to get another account from another bank/building society. As soon as I said i work outside the country they told me to Foxtrot Oscar. Santander actually gave me w card and once I gave my Chinese tax number, retracted it and closed the account without any reason.

 

I managed to get two online banks with Monzo and Revolut.  Both fine, set up no problem told them i worked in China. Actually and much better service than the black horse by far.

 

Speaking with friends in banking/finance it has to do with a few things. One is the fact that the governments can't get you on capital gains tax. Secondly with CBDC's on the agenda, it will be easier to run this out with everyone who are residents.

 

I have also heard that this is happening in many other countries and seems to be the MO in the UK.

 

I am still bewildered that people still use the excuse of Brexit for everything.

 

 

Sorry, you're saying that that you pay CGT on UK Assets bought 25 years ago!!! - Unless you're talking about Property (and that was pre-2016), you need to sack your accountant fella... 

I've been Non-UK Resident (For Tax) for 15 years & in that time haven't paid a penny in UK Income, Dividend or Capital Gains Tax, my accountant doesn't bother to ask me about Capital Gains Tax as they know it's a completely mute point (5 year rule). 

On 6/6/2023 at 10:02 AM, LOG54 said:

Hello

It is false to say that 3BB doesn t provide fiber in condos.. I had 3bb fiber in my previous condo in Najomtien and have it in the condo I live now in Ban Amphur

Have a good day

I'm currently on TOT/NT (they were the only providers & 50/30 up/down was the best speed I could get from them for my Condo) & noticed that 3BB have been advertising a new Fiber service to my Condo so was considering switching. 

TBH the TOT/NT service has been great and the speeds more than adequate for watching Netflix / streaming via my Android Box etc... but I'm semi-tempted to swap for the 3BB TV packages are these worth having? 

Somebody asked about the price of the unlimited 10MB AIS SIM only packages, I'm currently on the 349 Flexi (349B pm + tax) which is no longer available but they are pushing the 449 Flexi (449B + Tax) which is 20MB & 5G - Haven't felt the need to upgrade to it as I've never had a problem with speeds on the 10MB package. 

I don't have the full story as it was my mate's GF who was having the problem but it seems that my Netflix subscription (Premium 419b) has stopped working for them (they're in Bangkok I'm in Pattaya) so he's purchased his own subscription. 

Will check with the GF's mate who's also using it in Bangkok to see if it's still working for her.

Anybody else find that the block on password sharing is starting to take effect?

1 hour ago, mikebell said:

I don't live in Chiang Mai and will never visit it as I value my health too much.  I had a holiday in Samui in January where a simple short journey to the airport of under 3 kilometres cost 300 baht.  I will not return; ditto Phuket.  My post was a simple warning to avoid these pitfalls and to express disbelief that Thailand is at no 4.  I live in Pattaya which has no police force to enforce the use of meters in Taximeters.  Your simplistic solution of moving ignores the ties I have made over 18 years.

That’s a shame as we visited Chiang Mai (& Chiang Rai / Pai) in Feb and the air quality was fine, much better than we had in Pattaya a couple of months back when the AQI was > 150 even at the beach in Wongamat.

But the point is you don’t spend 18 years somewhere & suddenly decide the air quality is too bad or taxis are too expensive, you find this out early on & move if you don’t like it. 
 

On 4/24/2023 at 4:11 PM, DrJack54 said:

You must deal with one of those crazy offices that do not follow the change of rules regarding TM30 that occured in June 2020. 

 

I deal with CW and they follow the rules.

Returning to permanent residence after stays in other provinces and also from abroad a TM30 is NOT required. 

Outlined in this thread...

https://aseannow.com/topic/1169664-thai-immigration-announce-changes-to-tm30-reporting/

 

My (rental) agent insists that I need to do a new TM30 every time I come back from overseas to the same Condo we've been living in for 2  years & I keep telling her that I don't. 

Never had a problem just ignoring her but the day after I got back from my last trip to the UK I was a bit spaced out (jet lag) & she found out from my GF (They're Facebook buddies) that I'd just got back so decided to "Report me". 

This was 72 hours after I got back so I've no idea if I'm going to get a fine for not doing a report that I didn't need to do!!!

[Jomtien IO & Re-entry permit based on Non-IMM O "Retirement" Visa extension of stay]

1 hour ago, mrbojangles said:

Thanks for that Mike. Might give that a go

Come on City,

I’m a Man U fan but from that side of Warrington where we love to see the Manchester teams doing well????????

Was lucky enough to catch the Chelsea game on my last trip to UK where we qualified for next years CL so maybe it will be us this time next year ????