siam dreamers

7 out of ten if you count me!!!!!

I lived in Pai for 5 years and just recently went back for a visit. I still think it is well worth the trip .As a side not I took my family to the caves in Soppong (the next town over) It is a beautiful deive and the guided tours through the cave were excellent. 

Free on skype for sure without any money in account. I have been dialing toll free to U.S. for banks ect. for years.

I am sure that Schwab is following US law when it comes to international accounts. My advice is stay away from the schwab international account and use a U.S, address.

Of course no one told us  about the no beneficiaries and we were advised to open a joint account. We learned the hard way it still does not work for easily passing along assets.

On 12/23/2021 at 9:51 AM, gamb00ler said:

 

I think you can open an International account with Schwab using a Thai address.  I do think they have a minimum balance requirement of 10K $USD.  But I heard that a long time ago so it could be outdated.  The Schwab website is substantial and will likely answer your questions better than I.

 

I have a US based brokerage account so the limits I give may be specific to it.

The limit for ATM withdrawal is $500 per withdrawal.  There are more limits such as per day but I didn't record them.  The limit for withdrawal at the bank counter is 15K $US per day.  There is no foreign transaction fee and all ATM fees are reimbursed at the time the transaction is processed.

 

Personally I maintain a mailing address in USA that I use for Schwab and other institutions.

BE warned that when you open a Schwab International account with a Thai address your Schwab Brokerage account no longer be eligible to have have beneficiaries. It is a major hassle for your heirs to receive their funds. This is a summery of the process for your heirs to get your money from the international accounts. Even though my wife is joint owner on one account she can only get %25 until she goes through this process to get the rest

How to claim money from Schwab

  Schwab will require the following documents for the Joint and beneficiary accounts.

      1.      Copy of Probate or Succession Document issued by the Court naming the Executor/ Administrator of the estate. This would be from thai court.

       2.     Copy of the Executor/ Administrator’s valid Passport

       3      *IRS Transfer Certificate*. which requres

1. Copies of the decedent's last will and testament along with any codicils. Please include English translations if in another language.
2. One copy of each death tax or inheritance tax return and any corrective statements filed with taxing authorities other than the United States. Please include English translations if in another language.
3. One copy of the decedent's death certificate. Please include English translation if in another language.
4. An affidavit, which is a written declaration made under oath before a notary public or other comparable local official. The affidavit may be in the form of a letter. It must be signed by the executor, administrator, or other personal representative of the estate and include all of the following items:
   1. The decedent's date and country of birth.
   2. The date of the decedent's naturalization as a United States citizen, or a statement that the decedent had never become a naturalized U.S. citizen.
   3. A list of all the decedent's United States assets in which the decedent had any interest at the date of death (whatever may be their legal situs for U.S. estate tax purposes) and their values at the decedent's date of death. For any U.S. bank or investment account, please include the account number.
   4. The decedent's citizenship and residence at the date of death.
   5. Whether any of the decedent's U.S. bank accounts were used in connection with a trade or business in the United States.

If any of the above-listed items are not available, include a statement to explain why.

The time frame for the IRS to process the affidavit and supporting documents is six to nine months from the time the IRS receives all necessary documentation.

I used Lana Lawyers to draw up a semi complicated will that involved both Us and Thai assets that must go through Thai probate (don't ask why). Their fee and service were very reasonable and strait forward. The process took a bit longer than I expected but I am happy with the results and confident they can help my spouse if and when the time comes.

on every piece of land or home I have purchased in Thailand in my wife's name the land office required a "Letter of Confirmation"  stating that all money was hers. This is very easy/cheap to do at the land office but very difficult to accomplish if I was not present at the land office at the time of sale.

https://www.thailandlawonline.com/letter-of-confirmation

Thanks for the answer

I am reinstalling a Whirlpool 30amp electric dryer into a new house. Although I Can someone please tell me the proper wire size here in Thailand for 30 amp. thank You

Yes  2 part boy filler. see po

go to hardware store and ask for  See Po        Si po     I have purchased it may times

Time to get back to enjoying the bike. Glad you got sorted out.

After getting the taillight changed on our N Max this week for a whopping 30baht I now understand why 50% of the bikes in Muang Prachuap Khiri Khan have elected to go comando/lights out. Better to die than try.

I  have a Schwab international Joint account with my address in Thailand. WARNING!!! The account works very well but will be a real pain for my Thai wife and child to get my investment funds after I pass. She can only assess 25% of the joint account. There are no beneficiaries allowed on a Schwab International account and she will have to have my estate processed through Thai probate and then thru the IRS before she can get the funds. 

As far as phone calls to the us Banks to solve problems, I always use skype which allows me to call 1 800 numbers for free. really handy and much less stressful when you are not paying for the calls. As far as SMS alerts I am in the sam boat with you. What a Pain.

Hello I am in the Hua Hin area and am looking to purchase some carpets for my home. If any one has any experience with purchasing carpets from Oriental Carpets in Hua HIn, Bangkok, or Pattaya or have a carpets they may want to sell please let me know. Thank 

You

Thanks people for your advice and input. Happy to say that our first step of closing up the wood slat eves/soffits with 6mm scg cement board while leaving venting at the back of the house away from the road has reduced the noise in the house to more that an acceptable level, what I consider normal city noise. The next step will be to insulate the ceiling  due to the decrease in venting to retain the air conditioning. Any added noise reduction will just be a bonus. 

Thanks for the suggestion on covering up the windows and doors as another test.  I suspect a lot of the noise is from the ceiling because putting your head up in the ceiling is exactly like standing outside in the road and with a metal roof and the thinest sheet rock 6mm possible above my head I am pretty sure the eves and attic space is a huge megaphone. Of course I could be wrong and am willing to keep testing and working this out. So far I have closed up a good portion of the eves and will insulate. This happens to be a house with an open house plan that is extremely comfortable with the air condition on 29 degrees so even if my plan does not work the insulation should help the air con bills. thanks David

This house is right on the road with quite a bit on noise coming in from everywhere. Widow doors ceiling . At the moment the wood eves all around the house are open slat board with big spaces between each stat that is letting in an enormous amount of noise into the roof space that then comes down through a very thin ceiling. We are in no fantasy about getting rid of all the noise but just want to get it down tho a reasonable level. We are in the process on closing up the eves/soffits with cement board, leaving vents in the rear of the house furthest away from the noise, but will also insulate the ceilings  for any extra noise reduction and for the air conditioning that runs all day while we are there. The house has good thick glass with PVC window and if we were not directly ajacent to the road it would be much quieter. I purchased the house at a very good price with no other issues to work out except reducing the road noise during  the day. At night there are no problem.

Plenty of space between ceiling and roof.

Sorry this is to cover a hanging 6 mm sheet roc/gypsum ceiling.

Has anyone had any experience with using 15mm/6 inch stay cool and its effect on sound reduction. Our house has 6mm sheetrock and we are working to reduce noise coming in from the road. We are not able to use Rockwool safe and sound unless absolutely necessary due to the material cost being much higher. Any input is welcome.