Mike Teavee

I wouldn't class Wongamat as a Tourist area (well not in the same category as say Jomtien) but it is absolutely swamped with Russians at the moment, my GF jokes that she sees more signs in Russian than she does in Thai or English nowadays & there's even what appears to be a dedicated Russian Tourist kiosk (NB I know the correct term is Cyrillic script & it is used by other countries than Russia but think the Russian's far outnumber any other nationality in Wongamat at the moment). As for them skimping on accommodation costs, we live in a reasonably expensive condo block (can get similar sized rooms for 1/2 the price at other condo buildings within 1km) & there are loads of young Russian Families that have moved in over the past year, especially since around Xmas time... I've read elsewhere that some are taking 12 month leases, paying the 2 month deposit and then leaving when their options for staying (Visas/Extensions) run out & forfeiting their deposit, I guess time will tell how true this is as, short of doing a Visa run, they will be coming to the end of their 45 + 30 days pretty soon.

This is how I thought it was but Wise advised to use the "Funds for Long Term Stay in Thailand" reason if you wanted it to show as an FTT & the only reason I can think of for wanting to make sure it shows as a Foreign Transfer is to use for property purchases (Dee Money doesn't check where you got the THB from when sending it overseas so don't need it there). There is an option on there for "Living Expenses which won't necessarily show as FTT (and will almost certainly arrive quicker) and there is also an option for "Property Purchase" (Which I've never seen mentioned by Wise and am pretty sure it wasn't there when they initially added the Reason field) that will also ensure it shows up as an FTT... https://wise.com/help/articles/2932335/guide-to-thb-transfers If your recipient Bank is Kasikorn Bank or Bangkok Bank: Set transfer amount and currency to THB Add recipient details Choose Kasikorn Bank or Bangkok Bank Public Company as the recipient bank Enter account number On Transfer Purpose: Select Funds for long term stay in Thailand or Purchase of Property Will find out when I go into the bank, worse comes to the worse I'll send it all back to the UK and then bring it back in for "Property Purchase" or buy the condo in the GF's name... Related to the 2nd option, if a Condo is advertised in the Foreign Quota it tends to come with a premium so can I expect a discount if I buy it in a Thai Name and if not can I be sure to be able to sell it as "Foreign Quota" should we sell it to a Non-Thai... I suspect the answer to both of these is NO, but worth checking.

I believe putting the reason "Funds for Long Term Living in Thailand" is just a Wise hack to ensure they route the transaction such that it shows as an FTT in your account (Transactions do seem to take longer when you use this reason). Besides, a condo purchase could be argued as part of "Long Term Living in Thailand" ???? I need to go into the branch to get a letter for my tax refund claim at some point next week so will ask about getting a Foreign Transfer Letter & see what they give me.

So if I've understood correctly, I've been transferring money over for years (past few years using the "Funds for Long Term Stay in Thailand" reason to ensure it shows up in my Bangkok Bank account as a foreign transfer - FTT) so can just go into the Bank and ask them for a letter confirming how much I've transferred into Thailand and use this for a Condo Purchase? Will the fact that all my money comes into my Savings Account but I've transferred the majority of it into a Fixed Deposit account (Both Bangkok Bank) change anything? E.g. Lets say over the years I've transferred 8Million from UK/SG (all FTTs), spent 3Million on living costs, moved 4Million into an FD account & have 1Million in my savings account will the bank give me a letter saying I've transferred 8Million I've transferred 5Million (The amount of money across both accounts) I've transferred 1Million (The amount of money left in the account that I made the transfers to) NB... These are all made up numbers, I'm just trying to understand my position as I was thinking that I had to send all of the money back to the UK & then bringing it back in again as a single transaction for the purchase of property but if I can use the money already here that would save a lot of hassle (& FX charges/losses). TIA MTV

I used to travel with just my passport, wallet & mobile as I had everything (down to a separate Laptop) that I need in my (rented) condos in Singapore/Bangkok so getting through Fast Track meant I could go straight to the Taxi Rank. BTW Limousine (& other paid for FastTrack services) are no longer available so when I was travelling back from Vientiane last Monday I chose to enter Thailand via Nong Khai & fly from Udon Thani just to avoid BKK Immigration. Edit: I hope your prediction that this will be applied for online before travelling is correct (& it could work by them checking the eligibility of people who don't need to pay the fee e.g. Work Permit holders) but I'd still prefer if they would just add it to the taxes already collected on all airline tickets. Still hope some of the money goes to increasing the number of Immigration Officers / Booths.

Nobody cares about the 300b, it's the extra time queuing up at these "Kiosks" waiting behind people who don't have Thai Baht so want to pay by USD, GBP, AUD, SGD, INR etc... etc... etc... or even worse with their credit card but they forgot to enable it for international roaming... CF waiting to happen. I already hate returning via BKK, so much so that in 2018 & 2019 when I was doing SIN-BKK every other weekend I paid 20,000b pa to Thailand Longstay Management for Fast Track access. Make it 3,000b & use the extra money to put more immigration officers in the booths, just don't add to the already tortuous experience of arriving via BKK (Don't get me started on DMK, gave up on that Dump years ago).

You mean something like this… Road travel There are a high number of road traffic accidents in Thailand especially involving motorcycles. The World Health Organisation (WHO) rates Thailand as the world’s deadliest countries for fatalities on motorcycles. To drive a car or ride a motorcycle in Thailand, under Thai law you must have the correct licence and appropriate insurance for the category of vehicle you’re using. You will need to apply for a Thai driving licence or, if you already hold a UK licence, an International Driving Permit. If you drive a car or ride a motorcycle in Thailand without a valid licence, this may invalidate your travel insurance if you have an accident or injury. Motorcycles or scooters for hire in beach resorts are often unregistered and can’t be used legally on a public road. Before you hire a vehicle, make sure you’re covered by your travel insurance and check the small print of the lease agreement. https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/thailand/safety-and-security

You do realise that this will be levied on the 20Million (2019 figures, Thailand expects this to go up to 100Million within the next decade) visitors per year so would equate to 6,000,000,000 (6Billion Baht) way beyond (by a factor of at least 10) what every non paying foreigner costs the Thai government in health care. And you want to change that to days, the average stay is 10 days so 60Billion! And exactly how much do us expats pay when we arrive... do we pay 300 x 365 (109,500baht) or are we supposed to book our next exit from Thailand before we arrive back. The whole idea is stupid beyond belief & will be quietly sidelined when they realised that people are voting with their feet (wallets).

Anybody who's been through a similar process (e.g. the exit tax in Indonesia or Philippines) knows this is a stupid idea that will cost the country more money than it brings. Just stick the 300baht on the price of an airline ticket (Charge 150 baht at the land borders) forget everything about not charging this kind of passport or that kind of permit and get on with it.

I look forward to my Health Insurance costs being reduced significantly as I'll be covered by the 300baht I'll pay each time I enter Thailand. Thinking about it, should I just cancel the policy as clearly I will no longer need it...

Yes Visa on Arrival... I don't mind paying for it (Was in Laos at the weekend where I paid $40 for a Visa which took 10 minutes at Nong Khai) but I do mind having to stand in a line for almost 2 hours to go through the process (My Filipina ex-GF was through in 30 minutes). In terms of entry to the country process, this 300baht charge is no different than getting a Visa on Arrival (I know immigration wise they are very different) as you need to mess about paying for it, getting a receipt, showing said receipt to the Immigration officer etc... The only reason I travelled back to Udon Thani and flew back to BKK from there rather than flying directly from Vientiane was so I wouldn't have to go through Immigration at Suvarnabhumi Airport & this new "Tax" is just going to make entering Thailand via BKK even worse...

So every airline/flight booking portal is going to update their website to ask if you have a Diplomatic passport or Work Permit and charge you accordingly? Oh & give you the opportunity to enter your receipt number if you're travelling on a re-entry permit? Obviously not so this fee will be charged to everybody (Including my Thai partner if I book us flights together) or (as I suspect will be the case) collected at the airport... Which will be a nightmare, will be canned after 1-2 months & cause irrepareable damage to Thailand's reputation as a tourist desination. Very few people care about the 300b but I'll never go to Bali again after having to stand in line for almost 2 hours to pay for a Visa to enter... It's not what I go on holiday to do.

Nobody https://m.imdb.com/title/tt7888964/ Ridiculous movie, but worth a laugh (it’s not a comedy) at just how ridiculous it is. It’s like Bob Odenkirk read the script & said well if Liam (Neeson) can do “Taken” I can do that… No you can’t ????

Lots of reasons why, in my case (Non-UK Resident for Tax Purposes for 15 years) it’s because I used to own a Limited Company & have never managed to shake the requirement for completing a Tax Return. My (ex-company) accounting firm files them for me, I’m not able to reclaim the £240 I need to pay them but they do a great job on staying on top of property allowances so I always seem to come in with UK Gov owing me a few £s in overpaid tax (Approx £24K pa from Rental Income & Dividends, No Capital Gain Tax unless you’re selling property).

Having a similar problem myself (though only when I bite on the front quarter of the tooth) so am hoping they can remove the crown, resolve the issue then put it back as I’ve just spent 35K on Invisalign retainers. If they can’t I’ll be “Biting” (don’t have a problem chewing) on the other side of my mouth for the next 3 years.

I got a lady who seemed to take forever checking peoples documents but was very thorough & stamped me in to the correct date (in the Visa class she wrote “Non RE” which I assume means Non-Imm visa re-entry permit). Oh & she also asked me what province I lived in (also Chonburi). I was one of only 2 Farangs crossing at that time (other chap was a nice guy, been here 26 years & lives in Udon Thani but I didn’t catch his name or whether he was a member on AN) & lots of (I’m assuming) Laos travellers being turned away, at the counter my GF said she overheard the IO next lane to ours tell a guy that he’s only been outside of Thailand for 1 hour so go away & come back later.

I’ve no personal experience doing this (usually travel to HH with friends who drive) but whenever I want to know how to get from A to B I use Rome2Rio… https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Don-Muang-Airport-DMK/Hua-Hin Also available as a mobile app.

I got a new passbook in Pattaya for my Bangkok Bank account opened in Bangkok. Only thing I’m aware of that I’d need to go back to the original Branch for is a new Debit card. As with the SCB post above, if you use cardless withdrawals at a Bangkok Branch ATM you can avoid having to pay the 15 (or is it 20, can’t remember) “Outside of Province” charge.

I’m sure you’ll have no problems getting back in & if you’re flying into BKK it might be worth a quick detour to Pattaya to do the conversion with Maneerat. However you decide to do it, try to get it done as soon as you can after arrival as you need at least 15 days on your permission to stay at the time of application. you don’t lose any days doing it early (Your new Visa will start from the end of the 45 days).

Forgot to mention, I got my original Non-IMM O in Penang so if you’d prefer to get yours whilst outside of Thailand contact these guys to see if they can do it for you http://bananapenang.com/main/

I very much doubt it if you don’t have lots of other overstays in your passport. If you’re really concerned about re-entry, fly to Vientiane (best to clear overstay at an airport) then come back via Nong Khai land border / Udon Thani (which is the trip back I’m just setting out on). Can do 2 Visa-Exempt entries via the land borders in any one year so you’ll have no problems.

Enter Visa Exempt & use an Agent to do the conversion to a Non-Imm O & your 1st years extension I don’t know where you’re based but Maneerat in Pattaya will do it for 23,500b, no need for any finances. [You mentioned an agent in Bangkok, if you’re based there then maybe try Thai Visa Center. ] Extending an existing Non-Imm O should be around 12,500 (with out finances, 8K if you keep the 800K in the bank).

Thanks for this nugget of info @sandyfI’ll be coming back via Nong Khai tmr & was wondering whether I needed to complete an Arrival Form (TM6). TBH I’m relieved to learn that I do so I can include my re-entry permit # & (hopefully) get stamped in to 26th September, last time I entered Thailand the IO stamped me in for 90 days based on my Non-Imm O Multi that had expired 4 years previously took him & his superior a couple of attempts to get the right date & then still missed it by 1 day.

Assuming he has a Visa that expires on 27th Feb 2023 & not an extension to a visa/re-entry permit that expires 27th Feb 2023 then it seems the Immigration Officer made a mistake. Best to go to Immigration asap to get it resolved.

Maneerat (Pattaya, Soi Post Office / Soi 13/2) can do it with 15 days left on your permission to stay & I thought that was the standard for most Agencies. Never had to do it (I got my Non-Imm O in Penang) but friends of mine who have done the Visa Exempt - Non-Imm O conversion tell me that 15 days is the very minimum.