Mike Teavee

I'm in the Wongamat area & also quite new to Jomtien Immigration office but had more or less the same questions when I moved down from Bangkok last August & @ubonjoe/ @DrJack54we're kind enough to put me on the right path.

Only need the TM30 so no need to go to immigration until your 90 day report is due (TM30 & Extensions typically don't reset the reporting date so it's 90 days from entry or your last 90 day report). When your 90 day report is due, do try the new immigration site (https://tm47.immigration.go.th/tm47/#/login) it's much more reliable than the old one but if for any reason it doesn't work for you Maneerat (Soi 13/2 / Post Office) will do your report for 200 THB.

That wont help with the Apple App Store as they use the country your Apple ID is registered in, not where you are (or appear to be) located.

I really enjoyed "The Staircase" can you please share the name of the original documentary as I would love to watch a different take on the story (FWIW I though he was guilty).

Mystic River popped up on my Netflix feed tonight & I'd forgotten what a great movie/actors it was/has, IIRC it was also one of the 1st movies Clint Eastwood directed. Well worth a (re)watch.

Sorry X… I grew up in Warrington so am used to the scouse accent but can see how it could grate on people (mine isn’t better as people often mistake me for a Manc).., If you enjoy British documentaries then you might want to try this one… Have to say I didn’t but didn’t regret spending the time to watch it

Even though MF’s scouse accent is well dodgy, it’s worth persevering with ????????

That did make me laugh, especially the 1st call, I kid you not I once got a call from the E-Commerce director at Barclays Stockbrokers to say the code I’d written was printing upside down… After much scratching of my head (mainly around how the hell could I write code that would print upside down) I realised… They’d put the letterhead stationary in the printer the wrong way round Sorry I’m conscious of the fact that we (I’m) well OT now, maybe we need an IT “War Stories” Thread ????

You only need $10K Covid insurance which can be got for approx 600 THB up to the age of 85

I’m pretty sure the requirement is 3Million Baht but if it was 3Million USD it would be >100Million Baht! FWIW I have the Pacific Cross “Visa Friendly” policy which covers me for 3.5Million THB, $100,000 seems to be what they’re aiming for. 56 & with 100K Voluntary excess & no outpatient cover it came in at around 27K this year. it’s good to see that they finally understand not everybody can get insurance.

I get around this problem by having 3 different Apple IDs... Main Apple ID has the country set to Thailand A 2nd Apple ID which has the country set to the UK A 3rd Apple ID which has the country set to the US (I never use this but have it incase there are Apps that are only available in the US). No problem using any of my UK (or Singapore) Mobile banking apps with my Thailand Apple ID & I've never had to use a VPN to access anything (though I do sometimes use one for privacy/security reasons). NB One App that you won't be able to download if you don't have a Thailand based Apple ID is the Immigration App which makes doing your 90 day reports so much easier so well worth getting.

I thought I read that you only needed to spend 2 weeks in-country to retain your residency so I figured a 2 week holiday in the Algarve wasn't too hard to do ???? Beautiful country, awesome golf, steaks & wine and I'm sure that's where I would have retired to if I hadn't ended up working in Asia.

Have only read the topic title not previous replies (will go back & read now) but for me (as a Brit) Hawaii was simply not an option as I cannot get a Visa to live there (I probably could by investing a shed load of money or marrying an American but I'm not going to do either of those things). As a Brit my choice was probably more like "Why Thailand & Not Spain/Portugal" & the simple answer is after spending 12 years working in Singapore, I got to love the SEA (South East Asia) lifestyle, so when I retired I moved to Thailand. Only regret I have is not establishing EU residency before BREXIT as that would have meant any future move (Portugal is my "Plan B") would have been much easier.

Re-watching "The IT Crowd" (popped up on Netflix) for the 5th or 6th time, still one of the funniest series I've ever watched ????

When they had the "Checkpoints" at Sai Kaew Beach they would check the tickets on each entry (though in quiet times they would recognise you from previous days & wave you on), so I suspect it was a misunderstanding & the Chinese tourists didn't have their tickets with them so were asked to pay again. The 200 THB "Entry ticket" is valid for 5 days & many times I've shown a ticket bought days earlier & passed with no problems (They also used to check your ticket if you went to one of the other beaches & again never a problem if you have one purchased within the previous 5 days). Nowadays you purchase a ticket when you get off the ferry so if you visit for more than 5 days there is no need to purchase another ticket.

How I view this is the normal price is (say) 200 THB but the Thai government gives a 90% discount to Thais to encourage them to visit & I don't see anything wrong with that. Claiming racial/xenophobic discrimination because I'm not Thai & have to pay the higher price would be like claiming age discrimination because I'm at an age where I can't get Student or OAP discount when using UK public transport.... I don't believe I'm being negatively discriminated against, but rather it's positive discrimination to help these groups of people (who in general make a lot less money than the age group between) to use public transport. At the end of the day, if the experience isn't worth the cost then simply don't go but to me places like Koh Samed & Similan Islands are well worth the 200/100 THB to visit.

I quite enjoyed The Accountant https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2140479/ Ben Affleck's acting has really improved over the years...

Whilst lots of guys are saying just avoid the National Park, one of my favourite Islands (Koh Samed) is now 1 big national park so you have to pay to enter when you get there (It used to be you only needed to pay when you went to the beach). The GF pays 40 THB & I pay 200 THB but the good news is it's valid for 5 days & nobody checks if you stay longer.

"No “ bribe” here" & I'm the "Naïve" one !!! - Yeah the Senior Immigration officer is doing it out of the goodness of his heart because you're such a great guy. I don't avoid any process, I simply use an agent to fill in all of the paperwork & "hand hold" me through the process, I still get the letters from the bank & go to immigration on the day like anybody who's not using a dodgy agent & having their extension done "Up Country" does. People who "Bend" the financial rules have clearly made it more difficult for the ones that do it the legitimate way (e.g. The need to keep 800K in the bank for 5 months instead of 2 & at least 400K all year round) as I've said, I keep 2 years spending money in the bank (Stupid I know as only 1Million of it is guaranteed) so this doesn't impact me but I am sure it has impacted other guys who used to spend down the 800K over the year and now have to maintain it OR use an agent. You claim not to do it on principal (I don't understand what principal you're maintaining that means you don't want to adhere to the immigration rules of the country you've decided to live in) others claim to not do it because the 800K earns them more money invested in their own country... Too each his own... At the end of the day you do it your way & I'll do it mine... Peace Out...

Don't get me started on the Red!!! Have a great night ????

Please see my edited post above... I thought I was replying to the guy in Phuket who pays his agent 22K to do his extension so he doesn't have to meet the financial requirements... Apologies again (And I will start drinking now but Singha never Chang for me, Tequilas for the ladies ???? )..

Major EDIT: Apologies I thought I was replying to the guy who pays his agent 22K to do his extension, if you do yours yourself then full power to you... Me... I hate paperwork & the the 6K gets amortized to 500 THB pm or less than 20 THB per day so it's worth it (To me) ... Last year I was in & out of CW in 30 minutes & that included going into Bangkok Bank to get my bank book updated & photocopied... No bribe to an immigration officer was required as like you I choose to adhere to the rules of the country I've decided to make my home....

What makes no sense to me is not having sufficient money in the bank to ride out any downturns in the stock market / GBP/USD etc... Surely Covid & the war in Ukraine have demonstrated that you need to need to have money at hand to ride out months of downturn. I keep 800K in the bank because I like the comfort of knowing it's there & I don't have to transfer money from the UK if I don't want to, if you micro manage your assets to the point where every penny is invested & generating 8%+ then wow, that's some achievement but sounds like a lot of stress & hard work to me so I choose to keep 5% in cash & it's easier for me to keep it here in Thailand, the fact that it satisfies immigration requirements is a happy coincidence rather than the reason I do it...

It has nothing to do with Laziness, it's simply how people choose to spend their money & I choose to spend mine making my life easier. E.g. last year when I did my extension at CW I would have been turned away twice... 1st time because I don't keep my bank book up to date (Stupid system) & needed an extra letter from the Bank - Agent picked up on this immediately & took me to the bank to get what I needed from them. 2nd time because for a short period of time last year CW had a rule where they would only extend people who were within 3 days of their extension date & I had a trip booked (funny enough to Krabi, Phuket & Phi Phi) so wanted to do it 44 days in advance, agent had no problem getting me in & extended. If a service is worth it to you then pay for it, if it's not then do it yourself... As for keeping 800K in the bank it's a no brainer for me as I like to know that I have enough money (locally) to last me for a couple of years should there be a downturn in the stock market/GBP so by choice keep multiples of this Which I acknowledge is a bit stupid as the Bank guarantee has recently been reduced to 1Million THB but the way I figure it is if Bangkok Bank goes bust the THB will be down the toilet & I'll simply bring more money over from the UK at a much better rate.

Triple post!