Thomas J

I had a filling that disintegrated and used German Dental.  They did a very good job.  My regular dentist is Pattaya International Dentist.  He is US trained.  Very modern equipment and once repaired a crown that came off.   038 412 090 is their telephone number

You can transfer at your bank.  I have Bangkok bank and wire transferred back to the USA.  However be aware they will convert your baht to USD and you will only receive the buy rate which will be a noticeable reduction.  I don't know if you routinely transfer but some banks including Bangkok bank offer dual currency accounts.  You can have your home country's currency and a second in baht.  If you want to transfer to baht, you exchange when the rate is good and place in the baht portion of the account.  If you have money in the account in your home countries currency and want to transfer it back, you pay only the wire transfer fee since the currency is not being exchanged.  I have not used Dee Money but I do have an account in case I ever needed it. 

I purchased a used car from a dealer in Bangkok.  I looked at private sales on Facebook and even looked at a few of them.  The vast majority were from Russian sellers and some did not have the book in their name.  I am told this is typical when vehicles are damaged and then repaired and sold to unsuspecting buyers.  

I would buy second hand again since it is so much cheaper.  However, whether through a dealer or a private party demand that you are allowed to get the car inspected by the dealership who sells that brand.  So you buy a Toyota, demand you get the car inspected at a Toyota dealership. 

It is "easier" to put the car in the Thai persons name but not difficult to put in yours.  You go to immigration and get a certificate of residence and that goes with the book to change from prior owners name to yours.  That is what I did, and the insurance is in my name but anyone can drive the car. 

On 1/15/2021 at 11:03 AM, Antonymous said:

Now Thailand has followed suit with a similar scheme, which will see some of the revenue generated used to insure uninsured tourists.

I actually think the idea of charging tourists for entry is a good idea.  However it should replace the requirement that tourists have $100,000 USD covid insurance.  That is just a money grab for the insurance companies.  The more obstacles you place in front of tourists to come to Thailand, the fewer will come.  Far easier to have a 300 - 1000 thb fee to enter put in a fund to cover uninsured medical expenses for tourists than it is for tourists to have to obtain very specific insurance coverage with language specific to Thailand.  

4 minutes ago, bristolgeoff said:

When I travel or stay in thailand,I have travel insurance always.This is another  tax and people who have no travel insurance will beg on go fund me as usual please help I  had accident and no money

The point is that tourists now can not get into Thailand without medical insurance. 

18 hours ago, cheynewalk said:

Is it possible to buy a house in your thai wife/partner's name, then at the same time rent the house back from your partner at a peppercorn rent for say 20 to 30 years?  That would cover you in the event your partner decided to kick you out or even if you have a trusted partner and they suddenly died then the family could not take the house from you whilst you had the rental contract in place.

After losing one home to a former thai partner my neighbor did exactly that.  He purchased the home which is in her name and then went to an attorney and drafted a rental agreement whereby he is allowed to stay.  I am not sure if it is for a term certain like 30 years or a life lease but one way or another, she can not sell the home without it being subject to the lease nor can she kick him out.  

My fiancé is Thai and owns a single family home in a housing village of approximately 30 homes.  It has been determined that there never was a legal entity filed for nor a legal juristic entity.  In the USA there are typically bylaws of the committees of homeowner associations that detail the formation of the association (entity) and specifies the powers, responsibilities, and duties of the committee and the various members ( owners) that are part of the association.  Just like Thailand they are formed to govern common area maintenance, and grounds that are common to the various owner members. 

Does anyone know if there are samples that are used here in Thailand.  It would be helpful not to have to start from scratch in terms of forming the entity and have it legally formed.  

30 minutes ago, bangon04 said:

"showing that Sinovac is only 50.4 per cent effective"  - so only half of the political prisoners died during the tests.... not a bad result????

I think the trial vaccines should all be tested on politicians first.  That way if they still die, we didn't lose much if anything. 

10 hours ago, herwin1234 said:

The 50.4% efficacy rate does not apply to you, because you are not a doctor. The Sinovac trials in Brazil can't be compared with others because almost all the 13,000 participants were medical workers. If the participants were ordinary people, the efficacy rate would definitely be higher because ordinary people are not exposed to infection all the time. That's why the Sinovac trials in Indonesia and Turkey showed higher efficacy rates.

That does not make sense.  You mean if you tested a group of people who lived in caves they would show the virus vaccine was 100% effective.   I am no scientist but I would think that testing would be done on a group who received the vaccine and exposing them to the virus to see how many did not contract it.  Otherwise the effectiveness rates would widely vary depending on whether the person was young, old, lived alone, went to work each day, or were health care workers.  That number would be meaningless. 

2 hours ago, phetphet said:

Forgive me for not understanding this, but if there is no legal entity, what could happen if you withhold all payments? Pretty sure they are not allowed to cut off your electricity or water, and if there is no legal entity, who could  sue you for the money?

This is a housing village not a condo development.  Everyone has their own billing for things like electric, water, etc.  The community fees are for common area maintenance and security.  There are small bills for electric, water, pool maintenance etc.  In terms of suing, it is my understanding that if one would sue, it would be the person who represented themselves as a juristic person and collected the money from the homeowners.  That was taking money on false pretenses that they were operating within the law. 

1 hour ago, phetphet said:

Why not make a point of using the poolside toilet? You are paying for it in your services.

 

I don't know if this would work, but maybe you could get a lawyer to write that he is withholding payment for services (in escrow on your behalf) until a bank account is provided by the President, as you need proof of payment or receipts for tax purposes.

 

There are several issues. The first and most important is that there is no legal entity and the person collecting the community monies is doing so only in cash and paying whatever expenses in cash. We can identify that she is taking in upwards of 50,O00 thb per month but only has two significant expenses amounting to only 19000 thb per month. She provides no written reports and of course with everything in cash no verifiable receipts

21 hours ago, bradiston said:

I can't see you're going to get very far on your own. It'll more than likely be a huge amount of running around with massive language barrier problems, not to mention cultural. For me, a lawyer would be the only way forward.

Fortunately my girl friend who owns the home is Thai.  Meeting at the land office went far better than expected.  The person in charge was infuriated that there was no legal entity and that the person had been violating Thai regulations for years.  He said a community has only 6 months following the formation of a governing body to register that with the land office.  He personally called the "chairperson" and scolder her for breaking the law and told her she had to get in to correct it within the next 24 hours. 

7 hours ago, timendres said:

If there was no contract, then it is likely the employee was never registered, and dismissing them would be straightforward

There is no contract.  They were talking about giving him a "contract" with a job description and if he failed to perform his duties as prescribed then terminate him.  I doubt he is registered but don't know.  

I found out yesterday that the community has been violating Thai regulations.  The committee has operated for years without forming a legal entity and correctly electing a juristic person.  The Land Office verified that yesterday and called the "chairperson" of the community informing her that she was violating the law, chastised her for going for years without properly forming an entity and that she was to report immediately..  So with that, I suspect that the security person was not registered.  I is paid in cash which would make it hard to document that he is or was ever properly employed.   

14 minutes ago, PGSan said:

US law and common practice is not at all relevant here, any more than is UK, German or Chinese! 

I would agree with that. In USA you would need a signed agreement between the homeowner and community association. There would be a formal document of bylaws stating what both parties were responsible for. Also even with permission a person would not be allowed to live in areas not meeting code for living quarters

2 minutes ago, bradiston said:

Find a lawyer, one that will take a case against a Thai. Maybe hard to find, but an overseas law firm used to handling "farang affairs" would take this, I'm sure. Combine with other residents if possible. The whole thing sounds completely cockeyed.

Heading to the land office today to get documentation that she is not a jurastic person in charge of a legal entity over the housing.  I hate associations.  Everyone complains but no one wants controversy so they just allow the infractions to go on.  No one wants the job so even if the person doing it is scraping money for herself no one wants to question it.  

In any association I have ever been involved with all payments always go into an account in the name of the association and all expenses paid out of it.  Here, she wants only the fees in cash and all payments for all bills are paid by cash.  Never not even once any accounting of monies coming in, or expenses paid.  I can't believe she does the job out of the "goodness of her heart" 

2 minutes ago, gwapofarang said:

guess I'll try to call Bank of America again and see if anything can be done. But I did try to install their banking app here from Thailand and received the same error message "restricted in your country".

You need to go to your phone and change the country from Thailand to the USA.  The app store or playstore will not allow you to download some apps depending on how you have your phone set.  I was not able to download some apps like Shopee or Lazada until I changed the location on the phone from USA to Thailand. 

The other "possibility" is that certain web sites will not allow you to access them if your IP address shows you as being here in Thailand.  I use a VPN from Nord for both my phone, computer, and phone where I can select what country I want my server to show I am based in.  If I get one of those messages not available in your country. I change the location to that country.  I had some forms to file for a Covid related cancelled flight in Spain.  I was not able to fill those out until I changed my VPN location to Spain.  

I would first go your settings on your phone and change the country to the USA Then after it is changed try and download the banking app.  If that does not work.  You will then need to subscribe to a VPN to show that your IP address is coming out of the USA.  I suspect changing the country code on your phone will be enough. 

These are snapshots from both Playstore and App Store (iphone)

I have never used or know nothing about Net Spend.  However the majority of banks in the USA offer apps that allow you to scan the front and back of a check and have it deposited into your USA bank account.  

In terms of your dormant account.  I would call the bank.  Typically the bank is marked dormant after a given period of time with no activity.  After I believe 7 years the bank is suppose to escheat the money to the federal government.  You can retrieve it but have to file papers to do so. 

I have received several checks while here in Thailand.  I have also had checks sent to my daughter in the USA who scans them, sends me the PDF file and I then scan and deposit those into my USA bank account without any problems at all. 

I have not opened a USA bank account while here in Thailand.  I have opened a couple of brokerage accounts by presenting my passport and in one case a video call holding my passport.  Again, I would call the bank and find out what if anything they may be able to do. 


 

15 hours ago, rabas said:

I doubt all SS recipients live a cushy life on their SS check. I lost significant supplemental income due to covid. 

I did not say SS recipients live a cushy life.  I am on Social Security and that plus my savings is what I live on.  However of the people impacted the barber, beautician, clothing store, waitress, bartender, taxi driver etc. have been far more impacted by Covid than seniors.  The truth is that my social security and there's has been totally unaffected by Covid.  So giving it in the name of Covid is just disingenuous.  Again, if deficit spending has no detrimental impact, why not give everyone $10,000 or $100,000.  The government borrowing from the future is no different than the person who runs up their credit card bill.  The live good for the moment but eventually the bill needs to be paid.  Somehow the public believes that the government is just a goose that lays golden eggs and it can indefinitely provide all citizens with a comfortable lifestyle just by borrowing.  A wise person and country "invests" in things that pay dividends and a return on investment.  A foolish one just throws money away spending it frivolously.  The infrastructure in the USA is badly in need of modernization.  Money borrowed and then then spent in the economy on disposable consumer goods will quickly dissipate and once spent that money is no longer available for those critical infrastructure projects. 

19 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

And how old are you?

I will soon turn 72 and no I don't want Covid but the steps they are taking are just plain stupid.  94% of all Covid deaths are from people with comorbidities.  My mother in law died they say from Covid.  She was 96 and in failing health.  Senator Elizabeth Warren's brother "died from Covid"  He was 86 had cancer and was in a rehabilitation home to recuperate from pneumonia before he contracted pneumonia.  If he had contracted TB would you say he died from TB?  If he contracted the flu and died would you say he died from the flu?  

Any person who has significant health problems and contracts any other disease is at increased risk for significant complications and/or death because of their underlying health conditions.  That is true for Malaria, Dengue Fever, Influenza, Bacterial Infections, Blood Clots, Phenomena and the list goes on. 

The reality is that 95% of people who contract Covid exhibit symptoms if any at all that are so mild that they don't even require hospitalization.  Covid is serious but don't make it out to have the same lethality as the venom from a Komodo Dragon.