Caldera

Personally, I could go totally cashless in Bangkok. Between my Rabbit card, TrueMoney app, Grab and PromptPay QR code payments via K-Plus, there's almost nothing left that I need cash to pay for. A few street vendors that I use to buy from, but even among them accepting QR code payments is quite common already.

All that said, however, I "could" but I "don't". I still use cash quite a bit, more often than necessary.

The demographic that's interested in Netflix probably has at least a debit card, the TrueMoney wallet, or both. More than making Netflix more accessible to those who couldn't pay for it yet, looks like this is about giving the Netflix brand additional exposure in stores on those physical cards.

I don't think it's a scam as such. If they reject an application "invisibly", the applicant would likely just try elsewhere and that other embassy wouldn't know about the previous rejection. That more embassies and consulates use "void" stamps nowadays seems to be a deliberate effort to deface an applicant's passport to make that kind of "shopping around" harder. Yet another Thailand 0.4 solution for a problem that Thailand 4.0 plans to solve with a - much delayed - centralized database.

Instead of handing out cash as recently proposed by some silly official, maybe they should be handing out free face masks to arriving tourists.

The only thing that surprises me about this story is that the hag didn't take money when it was offered.

Smart car, dumb plodsters - not a winning combination in my book.

The stench of desperation is in the air.

16 hours ago, StayinThailand2much said:

What stops them from taking your money, then denying you anyway, while, at the same time, denying that they ever asked you and received your money?

If word spreads that you cannot trust a corrupt official you've bought and paid for, their income streams would soon run dry. It's a well-oiled machine, after all.

"The victim also believed that 100 million baht of his money was being given to deputy prime minister Prawit Wongsuwan as a present."

I don't usually blame the victim, but if this is true, for this reason alone he deserves to lose all his money. Anyone who wants to gift 100 million baht to the watchman is either insane or, more likely, morally bankrupt.

2 minutes ago, ThaiBunny said:

Could you give more detail on how you see this working in practice?

What problem do you see? People who abuse children abroad can already be tried at home in many countries, including the U.S.

I think there should be provisions for trying them at home, if they cannot be extradited to face trial. That would only be fair.

20 minutes ago, craigOB said:

This is good to hear, considering UTP is by far my 1st choice given my current location. But you're right, it's still a risk regardless, so I'm not sure if I will bother staying in the country past May.

If you decide to fly in, make sure that you have everything that they might ask for: a flight out within 30 days, a hotel booking, cash.

Even at U-Tapao, they might question you, but you have a better chance to pass than let's say at Bangkok's airports if you can give satisfactory answers.

Add the killer virus to your list of excuses, too.

At any given time, it's either "a bit too early" or "a bit too late".

6 minutes ago, gamini said:

My friend who is 88 would like to spend his last few years in Thailand. He has ample funds for retirement visa deposit and anything else, No insurance company will ensure him at his age . So what happens now

If money isn't an issue, getting an Elite visa would work.

They didn't discontinue ACH transfers altogether, but have started to accept them only in IAT format as announced early last year (but delayed several times).

My ACH transfers - which they confirmed to be in IAT format when I checked with Bangkok Bank last spring - still go through unchanged. That obviously doesn't help all those whose banks are unwilling or unable to send out ACH transfers in the required IAT format.

12 hours ago, CGW said:

Nonsense! who asks for old passports? though in all honesty I don't care - Bye

Well, both Bangkok Bank and Kasikorn Bank did ask me for my old passport when I just rocked up with a new one to request a new passbook or debit card, it's certainly not unheard of. So I think you are over the top when you say it's nonsense.

They never really insisted though, at least in my case. Bangkok Bank was a bit more difficult, I had to point them to Thai immigration's transfer stamp in my new passport which shows the number of my old passport (that they had on record). So the clerk made a copy of the page with that stamp as well, and that was it.

That's great news. I'll give it a shot, I already signed up with them last year.

Kasikorn Bank Staff: You have a new passport.

Me: Yes

Kasikorn Bank Staff: Do you have your old passport?

Me: No

Kasikorn Bank Staff: Okay

Just as well. Surprisingly enough, my name and date of birth didn't change. She updated their records.

Not sure how stamping out of Myanmar and transport across no man's land works if you come from elsewhere in Myanmar instead of doing a visa run from the Thai side.

You might even have trouble locating the Burmese immigration office (border post) to get stamped out - when I went on a visa run there, the van driver took our passports inside a nondescript shack to get the Burmese entry and exit stamps. That said, if you move towards the border as a foreigner and look lost, I'd guess someone will approach you and something can be worked out.