topfield

Yes, it is unfortunate. But the new airport is just the most obvious case among many others.

I assume your 'why' is rhetorical? In any case, for those who do not know, the romanisation Suwarnabhumi is used due to the fact that this is a closer romanisation of the original word, which is Indic.

Words with Indic roots are often romanised with more regard to their origins than their pronunciation in Thai.

Indic ???? Really ?

I puzzled over such, to me, absurd (and misleading as no Thai can understand these romanisations when spoken by a foreigner) spellings such as Devakula for Tevakun , Sondhi for Sontee for years until some learned boff on this very section of this very forum came up with what he indicated was the true correct answer to this conundrum.

After a visit to the UK and Queen Victoria in the 1880's our learned king Chulalongkorn returned to Thailand and wrote a book on how Thai should be romanised so that Westerners could read the Thai names phonetically.

That book is still to this day regarded as the official correct way to romanise Thai hence our new airport having a romanised name that no Westerner could pronounce the correct Thai way.

<<snip -samran. "Discussion of topics concerning the King or other current or deceased members of the Thai Royal Family is forbidden.">>

Is the above an often repeated myth or is it correct ?

Can I offer you a word of advice Buddy....you are making one BIG mistake....You are dealing with Thai people and Thai problems and you are a FALANG.

No way can you do this !

Get a Thai...preferably an English speaking educated lawyer ...to find out the TRUE facts and any possible solution.

Agreed TV friends ?

I did my part to weaken the baht. I really believed it would weaken to 40 to a dollar by now. Five weeks ago I wire transferred a years worth of living expenses so I would no longer have to get sick because of the exchange rate. Maybe my luck is changing.

So you must have got 70-71 for your pounds Gary, ....right ?

Oops forgot you might not be British ...so 35 for your dollars ???

Ooops you could be an Ozzie.....sorry don't follow the rate fror that.

[ What a pity ones nationality is not given on the TV postings !]

Congratulations to john 45 as he has discovered and is using a new super benefit for non UK resident expats of the Nationwide card !

By opening a second account with Nationwide International IOM he is getting a good (but not the best)

tax free interest rate on his savings and is able to transfer almost immediately to Nationwide onshore monies he needs in connection with his onshore debit card.( offshore do not offer a card)

N/W IOM have a terminal in their office to make immediate free transfers to N/W onshore !!

Sadly not the other way round for IRC reasons ( when it will take a couple of days).

ps earmark rate today : 68.12

Astonishing article in today's Bangkok Post :

The confusion over the spelling is clear in promotional materials of the national carrier, Thai Airways International. A recent advertisement in local newspapers cited the name of the airport using the new spelling, but the airline's website is spelling it the old way. The ad says ''Smooth as silk via Don Mueang for THAI domestic flights,'' but a headline on the website reads: ''THAI announces domestic operations at Don Muang airport.''

Why the fuss when the 'other" airport's romanisation is completely and utterly different to the Thai pronunciation.

Did a snap survey at Changi airport asking staff there the name of the new Bangkok airport and not one of the twenty staff knew it was pronounced SUWANAPOOM .

Interestingly noticed at Morchit the marking on the buses "BANGKOK -SUWANNAPOOM AIRPORT" so it seems some Thai Co's realise that this is the only spelling falang will be able to recognise and pronounce correctly.

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

BOT urges dealers to buy dollars

Baht weakens amid volatile trading

The central bank urged dealers at banks to "adjust" their foreign-exchange positions, resulting in banks buying up US dollars and causing the baht to weaken against the greenback in afternoon trade yesterday, falling to 35.05 against the greenback from Thursday's close of 34.63/34.67.

................................................................................

.......

Headlines from this mornings Nation newspaper. No similar report in Bangkok Post today.

Rate given there :

EXCH RATES

Baht/$ 34.90/10

Bid/Ask

Any views on what's going on as above contradicts many earlier postings ?

Want to know the EXACT rate you will get using your N/W card ?

Today is THE day......Saturday.

Just make a 200/500 baht ATM withdrawal NOW.

Tomorrow morning /afternoon you will have the rate YOU GOT on your online banking statement.

You then have a period of twelve to twenty four hours to make withdrawals at the same rate .

This is because the rate will not change until Monday morning.

Arran, with regard to bonds there is very little over 6 percent. I assume you wish to stick to sterling.

The eurosterling bond with the highest rate I could find is Cable and Wireless which matures in 2o12 and yields 8.4 percent annually and 7.61 to maturity. Pierson plc 2014 is yeilding 6.43 to maturity.

If you want a perpetual you have Standard Chartered yielding 6.2 per cent...it yielded 8 percent in 2002if I remember rightly.

Please do not ignore what I wrote in my first reply namely that Anglo Irish allow you to take out 60k in your case, so you can take out and place with them this amount at a higher rate without penalty should rates rate.....and that is a unique offer .

Thanks topfield, for these bonds.

Where can these and bonds likes them be found, are they listed on websites somewhere ?

I do take your point on giving due consideration to the Anglo Irish fixed term bond. I find myself reluctant to invest money easily, therefore this fixed-term deposit is my favourite. However, that being the case, in the meantime I would like to spend time researching other forms of investments.

Arran

Eurosterling bonds are not listed/traded publicly....its an over the counter market .... a market between banks and brokers such as Meryll Lynch. Hong Kong /Singapore banks are where you get the buy /sell prices . Minimum amount usually 100K but sometimes lots of 50K available.

THB: Defying Gravity (Morgan Stanley)

I am no central banker but I did spend many years on a derivatives trading desk in London and basically the central bank here has not got a clue what they are doing. Obviously their disasterous capital inflow controls did not work and they rarely do when they have been attempted elsewhere.

The first thing they should have done was to cut interest rates a tool generally favoured by central bankers in making a currency less desirable to hold. This would have made even more sense when you take into consideration the slump in Thai consumer demand.

Another reason the exporters are so exposed to interest rate fluctuations is because of their poor productivity and efficiency what they could do would be to try and attract some more foreign investment and partnerships therefore gaining valuable expertise and technology. Ah but I forgot due to the governments plans to amend the FBA no foreign companies want to increase their investments here.

Bottom Line

Neither the central bank or the government have a clue what they are doing!

I agree, but would like to change your last sentence a bit....." ....The Central Bank or the Government don't know WHAT to do....-next-".

I have a very strong feeling that both (CB and Government) are afraid to take steps.....the first steps.

We shouldn't forget that the people who are running the country and the 'Baht' are all 'interim' and nobody wants to lose face and/or their jobs and image.

It's a scary scenario for the countries' economy itself.

Also, 95% of the Thai doesn't have a clue about the Baht and it's value and they don't care either; it's just the insiders and the exporters as well as the Expats who wish the Baht to go down.

Lowering the interest rates on the Baht will help a little but I'm afraid not enough.

My humble opinion? A drastic devaluation of the Baht against all MAJOR currencies.

Ooops...that's dangerous to say....

LaoPo

No....no need or even possibility of a devaluation against ALL currencies. A change against the dollar only is required and all other currencies follow automatically !! A technical point .

If you have internet banking with Nationwide you can see there exchange rate at the ATM when you access your full statement.

The link below will give you a fairly true exchange rate Natiowide are not normally far from this.

On the 21st at the ATM they were giving 68.042 Moneycorp as this moment in time are showing Thai Baht to UK pound as 69.031

hope this is of some use

No need to call N/W !! You will see the earmarked amount on online banking within seconds of an ATM withdrawal . This can function as a test before making a large withdrawal...ie withdraw 200 baht .

Finally can some one please explain

Moneycorp

as used in previous posting .

Thanks

Moneycorpe is a large company who will transfer funds for you..see www.moneycorp.com you agree a price with them..transfer funds GPB or whatever within 3 days and then the baht is transferred into your thailand account.

I have an account with them ..last tme I asked they would not trade the baht..so I used SWIFT (telex transfer) and got rhe onshore rate at Bangkok Bank...see earlier thread re limit of about 800,000 Baht without having to prove what you want the money for.

Thanks for the info on moneycorp !

Not sure why you posted it in this forum.

======Topic moved to appropriate forum=====

mea culpa! had no idea that one can/is supposed to post in a specific forum. now i am educated.

Thanks ! Was wondering how I found it and why in the Koh Samui section !!

Alliance and Leicester currently gives you 6.1% in a bog standard internet savings account and they ain't even an offshore account.

Actually Alliance and Leicester offshore are paying 5.60 on their base rate tracker ! Cassandra was probably quoting the taxable onshore rate !

Arran, with regard to bonds there is very little over 6 percent. I assume you wish to stick to sterling.

Erm it's only taxable if you keep the UK as your country of abode. If you are resident in LOS and have no foot hold back in the UK then it is not taxable and will be interest paid at gross as you will be able to opt out of paying tax on it with the bank.

Right and wrong. Cassandra

Right that no tax payable onsghore if the income is below your 5K or so personal allowance .

Wrong as even a non resident /non ordinarily residents are liable tax on income arising in the UK (with a few exceptions such as gilts.) Thats the reason why Channel Isles and IOM are used by expats...the income does not arise in the UK so not taxable for above people.

It really is stupid the UK does not exempt expats as they would then place their funds onshore and the UK economy and banks would benefit. Same as Thailand forcing expats to visit Penang et al every 90 days . Were the visas easily obtainable in Thailand the money would be used locally instead of in Penang et al....

If you have internet banking with Nationwide you can see there exchange rate at the ATM when you access your full statement.

The link below will give you a fairly true exchange rate Natiowide are not normally far from this.

On the 21st at the ATM they were giving 68.042 Moneycorp as this moment in time are showing Thai Baht to UK pound as 69.031

hope this is of some use

No need to call N/W !! You will see the earmarked amount on online banking within seconds of an ATM withdrawal . This can function as a test before making a large withdrawal...ie withdraw 200 baht .

Finally can some one please explain

Moneycorp

as used in previous posting .

Thanks

"Also did you read this headline in the Bankok Post this morning ?

"One trillion spent trying to weaken baht"...how long can the BOT keep this up ?"

-----

topfield,

if you post jokes than you should provide a clickable link to them. Bangkok Post is always good for a joke. but i rather prefer "Hagar the Terrible" as he generally utters more wisdom than some journ@sslists writing for the Post and the Nation.

Of course you are right but surely when a current article in the BKK Post or Nation is pasted most people know where to access/click if they want more details !

Hold on folks, this doesn't look good.

When will it stop ??

Just as a quick side point what is the highest and lowest members have seen this go to ?

Tek

In January 1998 the baht reached and closed at 92 on one day.. However stayed around 80 until March of that year.

Xmas 2004 the rate stood at 76.

Please understand the baht is quoted/traded against the dollar and not the pound. To know the baht pound rate you have to multiply the baht/$ rate by the pound/$rate.

The baht offshore rose to a high today of 31.7 to the dollar which equates to 62 to the pound at current pound/$ rate

The package described above is a complete waste of money.

Also as from yesterday ALL boxes and systems on Agila were knocked out !

As earlier rcommended , pm meerkat as he wrote he has a system showing everthing with a small subscription fee and ..............as he described it...I can confirm..........its the bees' knees !!

Yorkshire Building Society - Guarenteed Investment Account.

Minimum £3000.

Interest 14% minimum guarenteed!

Can go above this (dependant on FTSE 100 index)

But if the market goes pear shaped you still get 14% interest clunking into the account

Catches...

Money is locked in for 4 years minimum

14% over what period ? Obviously not per annum. I assume over 4 years ? Of so then it's equivalant to around 4.5% gross per annum, which is not bad considering that 4 year gilts yield around 5.2% and you have a call optioj on the stock market.

Do you have a link to more info on this ?

Here you are sonic......

A piddling 45k max allowed http://www.ybs.co.uk/investment/guaranteed-investment.jsp

Dear friend..............one cannot see what's going on by refering to the 'baht /pound rate' ...its like adding chickens and pigs...they are different. If you are interested in the baht sterling rate you have to look at

1. the pound/dollar rate

2. the baht/dollar rate

as the pound baht rate is purely a figure that arises by multiplying the above two rates.

I saw your posting and went to work and can now report an amazing new divergance of rates.

1. I checked the pound dollar rate...stable since last nights NY close at 1.965..so no change.

2. I checked the Bloomberg baht/$ rate. Unbelivably the baht has STRENGTHENED to a new high of 31.65

3. I checked the local onshore KrungThai Bank rate...mid rate baht WEAKENED to 34.95 !!

So there you have it folks. This morning the baht has weakened offshore but strengthened considerably offshore.

[private opinion :Great news for the banknote smugglers !!]

Also did you read this headline in the Bankok Post this morning ?

"One trillion spent trying to weaken baht"...how long can the BOT keep this up ?

Alliance and Leicester currently gives you 6.1% in a bog standard internet savings account and they ain't even an offshore account.

Actually Alliance and Leicester offshore are paying 5.60 on their base rate tracker ! Cassandra was probably quoting the taxable onshore rate !

Arran, with regard to bonds there is very little over 6 percent. I assume you wish to stick to sterling.

The eurosterling bond with the highest rate I could find is Cable and Wireless which matures in 2o12 and yields 8.4 percent annually and 7.61 to maturity. Pierson plc 2014 is yeilding 6.43 to maturity.

If you want a perpetual you have Standard Chartered yielding 6.2 per cent...it yielded 8 percent in 2002if I remember rightly.

Please do not ignore what I wrote in my first reply namely that Anglo Irish allow you to take out 60k in your case, so you can take out and place with them this amount at a higher rate without penalty should rates rate.....and that is a unique offer .

Best secure sterling investment I can find is 6.05% from Anglo Irish Bank (Isle Of Man - http://www.angloirishbank.co.im/personal-b...nd-account.asp)

Does anyone know if this can be improved/beaten? I'm investing a lump sum and then living off the interest.

Regards

Arran.

Yes Arran and in addition you are allowed back 20 percent of your deposit at any time. So if interest rates rise you can withdraw the twenty percent and place at the higher rate ! No other institution allows that !

If you wish to report my posts, there's a button in the bottom right corner for you to click.

Yes, I have made erroneus posts in the past, and have always accepted corrections that come from a credible person.

I have never claimed that I am "a person experienced and qualified in giving visa advice" as I have always admitted that I am an amatuer, as are most who post advice here (all except Scouse?). What are your qualifications, topfield?

The OISC have confirmed that advice offerred on internet forums such as this is not covered by the legislation. Check with them if you don't believe me.

Thank you for your honest and truthful reply, the first one ever which did not contain offensive or insulting language in relation to my postings which mainly relate to experiences of myself and others in twenty years of dealing with the Embassy and visa matters in general. Unlike yourself I do not use this forum to offer specific advice to TV members.. Please either continue in this polite non hostile manner or just ignore my postings but whatever you decide, kindly no more flaming please .

Thank you

GU 22 : You have been warned many times that flaming is a breach of the rules in this forum but it seems you do not consider yourself bound by the rules. Your hostile rude and impolite comments to each and every posting the writer makes, show you are a very sad and sorry person indeed .

Why not check with Mr Karny the Consul ( who by the way you wrote in a recent posting does not exist )

or with Mr Grant the Entry Clearance Manager or with Mr Arun. Manager in charge at VPS. all of whom have been contacted and are aware of the problem .

The facts are indisputable. The fee increase was reported on Friday afternoon to the VPS by Mr Grant and were in operation at the VPS on Monday morning . All applications with the incorrect fee were rejected .

As a final point, in view of the fact that this gentleman GU22 is constantly holding himself out as a person experienced and qualified in giving visa advice, TV readers should be aware that :

"It is illegal for anyone to offer immigration advice in the UK unless registered with the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner(OISC) or otherwise suitably qualified, i.e. a qualified lawyer, or exempt."

It should be known that this person GU 22 has no qualifications whatsoever , limited experience (as admitted in several postings) and therefore all his advice should be doubled checked by a qualified person before being acted upon.

I thank TV readers for their kind attention.

As no one else, including an acquaintance of mine who submitted an application at the VAC on Monday, has made any mention of applications being refused or even of a 6 hour wait, and given the past 'inconsistencies' by the OP, I recommend taking this story with a very large pinch of salt. Until or unless it has been confirmed by a reputable source.

Do not present TORN or notes with any writing or even a chop on them. They may or may not be accepted.

In Indonesia they accept these ......at a big discount on the rate or not at all !

A few years back I had the misfortune of getting a twenty dollar bill in my change which I did not examine .

It was one of several million which had written on the back in felt pen

F*** RODNEY KING.

It was impossible to change anywhere outside the USA !!

ps Remember who Mr King was ?

Spoke to both the Consul Mr. Karny and the Mr. Grant the Entry Clearance Manager.

Top marks for the Embassy as both were extremely informative and helpful.

The Consul said that as far as his section , the consular section is concerned, this problem would not have arisen as a refund of excess fees would have been made.

He also accepted responsibility for the change in the Embassy exchange rate about which the VPS were notified on Friday afternoon (yet the did not post on their notice board until Monday). He made it clear he was nor responsible for the VPS in any way and one should speak to the Visa Section about them.

The Entry Clearance Manager was not only prepared to discuss the issue but was aware and concerned about the matter. He had done everything possible on his side but pointed out that the VPS had their own rules. He mentioned the fact that they deal with hundreds of thousands of applications on the Indian Subcontinent so rules must be standardized throughout their ‘empire”. A change in the fees in India resulting in fee adjustment could result in horrendous complications for them hence the exact fee rule.

He nevertheless agreed to discuss the matter with the VPS at their next regular meeting.

Comments ?