TheThai

1 hour ago, jwbrit said:

If you use 12 monthly deposits into your bank account, but spend as you go, what must the bank balance be when you apply for a O visa renewal? 

 

There is NO balance requirement when using the 65K monthly income method for renewal.  The only requirement is showing at least 65k a month being transferred into a Thai bank from outside the country.   You can spend the entire amount each month.

You won't have any immediate problems but the problem will catch up to you when you need to re-new your passport.  Norway will have an arrest warrant issued and you will NOT be able to renew your passport. 

At that point you will have to decide whether you want to stay in Thailand without a valid passport and how you will get around immigration issues going forward, i.e. renewing your visa, 90 day reports, residence certificates. 

2 hours ago, simon43 said:

IMHO, those who are using agents because they don't have funds are falling into a trap.  They are breaking the law, and that will be extremely easy for the Thai authorities to prove at a later date, if they so wish.

 

This will come back and bite you in the future, mark my words.

I would venture to say ... The paperwork filed looks as legitimate as any other paperwork.  So I doubt I/O would know who to look for based upon the paperwork.  If they decided to check at the next renewal phase... the word will quickly spread as to what is transpiring and those that chose to use agents will simply find the agents which have the clout with whomever in i/o that will be working with them. 

It's just like the bars ... too many people (officials, bankers, agents) making money for this to stop instantaneously    Things like this never stops instantly ... It changes in phases and from one person to another.   

 

2 minutes ago, SCOTT FITZGERSLD said:

interesting, but i am not a U.S. person, and anyway the problem is not taxes

but work permit.

my main question is if i can do some online sales white in thailand without WORK PERMIT,

will it be considered illegal by IO?

I know i can do it off the radar, but i wonder what the law says, because some

web sites, even in thailand, offer sales on line for foreigners even as individuals (not

corporations).

 

https://pages.lazada.co.th/wow/i/th/sell-on-lazada/sell?spm=a2o4m.home.header.d2.6a30719cODXoeI&hybrid=1

Yes I saw that on Lazada myself.  I can only speculate, but my guess would be you would need a work permit based on the fact you would definitely be based in Thailand, working in Thailand, banking in Thailand, and therefore paying taxes to Thailand.

Maybe Lazada provides information/Assistance with getting a WP for those interested in selling their products.  Maybe you should inquire with them.

If you have the money from sales direct deposited into a U.S. bank, file taxes in the U.S.,  You can still claim residency in the U.S. while living in Thailand.  They have agencies in states with no state taxes, such as Nevada, Florida, and Texas which provide an address to claim residency and will forward your mail to you, just to assist with avoiding state taxes.  You use their address for your bank account.  There is nothing to tie you to Thailand.

2 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

All they would have to do is pull your previous extension application from their files to find out your were not telling the truth.

Some may even do that as routine check. Easy for them to find your record since the file number is shown with your extension stamp.

My 1st thought would be the previous extension application would be filed as if it were a legitimate application.  Just because an agent is used doesn't mean the documentation filed at immigration looks any differently than legitimate documents.  Using an agent only means you are using a middleman with I/O to obtain legal document.  I would venture to say the I/O person that works with the agent is filing the documents so they look legit, to ensure they (the i/o officer) is not caught up if inspections do take place.  Therefore anyone looking at the records wouldn't know whether an agent was used or not.  It would look just like any other extension that was approved.

For those that say it would be hard to extend your visa in the up coming following year if you stopped using an agent. 

How would immigration know that your stamp from the previous year was not gotten by using the 65k a month income method, and that for this extension you decided to use the 800k method. 

A person could say for various reasons after they extended last time they no longer deposit 65k a month in Thailand, therefore they switched to the 800k method.  since you only need bank statements showing 800k from 2 months prior to your extension request ... and they would have those. ... why would I/O investigate any further.   Is a record of which method you used to obtain the stamp from the previous year.  Can't you switch from one method to the other. 

14 hours ago, jacko45k said:

You have been fortunate.... what do you intend to do if one transfer is sent via TMB? Hence not indicating FTT but SMT? Do an extra monthly transfer, or try to persuade immigration it is legit, or accept not qualifying for the Extension? 

I use Bangkok Bank, 2/3 transfers by TW, OK, the first one went via TMB early this year. I decided to continue with 800k on deposit. 

I thought some arrangement had been made where an email would ensure each TW transfer went directly to your bank , hence got coded FTT. Is this no longer the case?

IF I see a transaction has other than FTT, I will deal with it at that point in time.  Until then I will continue to use Transferwise.  If you see post #85, the poster states he just did a Transferwise transfer and it appeared as FTT. 

As I previously stated I believe it can be a combination of reasons a transfer shows as other than FTT.  So far, for me tho,  transferring from my bank in the U.S. to Bangkok Bank using Transferwise for the past year ALL were assigned the FTT code.

I can't speak to anyone else's situation but as of JUNE 19th .. my last transfer, ALL of my transferwise transactions from the U.S. to Bangkok Bank state FTT.   I just had my bank book updated July 1st to keep it current.   I will continue to use them until I see otherwise.

It appears the problem with Transferwise is with banks OTHER than Bangkok bank. 

Will Immigration accept the equivalent of 65k baht being deposited every month into a FCD account for income method?  I can understand the idea of 800k being accepted because the total amount is used and can be based on the baht value day you go to immigration.  will they use the same principle and value each monthly deposit if you do FCD each month.  Since previous months, could have been lower or higher and that monies is now gone.  will they use the most current baht value to calculate the value for previous months?

From what I've read in the past they give you a document and it contains a date at the bottom when you should return to show the 800k balance.

1 hour ago, Thaidream said:

The only thing the US Embassy needs to do is ask the applicant to provide their award letter from either the Social Security Dept; Veterans Department or military; or as an alternate a  letter from a private pension or a letter indicating an applicant derives  income from another source such as house rental stocks/bonds.

An extra minute or two of scrutiny- an Oath is given which means lying is subject to a federal felony.  The Affidavit is signed-  A disclaimer is put on the affidavit indicating the Embassy is not responsible for any errors but Thai Immigration may ask for added proof such as a Bank account in the US showing the source of income.  It is my belief Thai Immigration would readily accept these letters-  the Embassy is losing income; applicants are having a hard time and  Thai Immigration has to work harder checking bank books and bank information. A Lose-lose situation for everyone.

 

 

Digital copying makes creating a fake pension document easy especially with the 1000's of private business pensions in the U.S..  American's gave an oath to obtain the notary of the income letter already.  So the threat of being subjected to a felony did not stop those who lied in the past and would not in the future. Either the embassy does actual validations or none at all.   They chose to do none at all.

39 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Apparently most transfers to Bangkok Bank do show up as clearly international, it is though, not 100%, as I have experienced personally and they just might bring it in via say TMB, and then domestic transfer to BB. 

It isn't the bank manager who has to be satisfied but an IO, and if one of 12 transfers looks different, that might be a problem. Hopefully confirming Transferwise receipt and identifying the transfer description as international yourself, may work. 

As of yet no one knows the clear definitive qualification that each individual I/O will want, since it appears each office interprets and enforces the rules differently.   I think it's fair to say, No one will know until after March 1, what will or won't be accepted, and even then it will be I/O dependent.  Maybe one office enforces the "FTT" requirement, while another just wants to see 65k transferred in each month.  We have to wait to see what each office will accept. 

13 hours ago, smedly said:

I talking about renewal in 12 months when the proposed checks will be carried out - an agent might take your money get you an extension now but come renewal - if you have broken the rules - what then ? will the agent sort it out for you ?

Some agents don't deposit money in the banks, they pay immigration officers to bypass the need for bank deposits.  The I/O officers simply take the money, process the documents and everyone is happy.  Simple as that.  As long as your agent will be around and I/O doesn't change management .. it will remain business as usual

On 2/8/2019 at 6:59 PM, skatewash said:

There was another poster who claimed that over the course of a year 10 showed up coded as FTT and two did not.  Also, customers have corresponded with TW and the emails received have been posted.  TW's position is that it has no control over how their partner banks code the transfer.  The pathway is not guaranteed.  What happened this month may not happen the next month.  I assume you're speaking about customers who have used TW into Bangkok Bank and you're correct the vast majority of those transactions seem to be coded as FTT.  The same does not seem to be the case with Kasikorn and I haven't seen any reports about people trying with TMB.  As you say it's absolutely not a problem right up until it becomes a problem --

Yes I'm using Bangkok Bank.  It seems the MAJORITY of people tho receive FTT consistently.  Also it seems to me, the worrying is a bit premature as you have stated, No one knows to the degree of scrutiny that will done for verification.  Also the inconsistency between each Immigration Office.  What happens in Chang Mai, may not be the same as Bangkok vs Jomtien.   People from each area will have to wait til it is clear how each office is handling the situation.   My renewal isn't due til Nov, so I'll have time to make any adjustment needed.

I think I read somewhere you are only allowed 90 days within a 6 month period on tourist visa.  This is what she may have been trying to enforce.

5 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

I have read more than one but I am certainly one such poster. But you cannot use the word 'always' in that last sentence. Be prepared to argue the toss with immigration if one of the monthly transfers is not labelled FTT. and they take issue with that. A copy of the TW PDF receipt may swing it. 

I personally use transferwise and EVERY single transaction for the last 8 months has FTT.  I'm transferring from a U.S. bank.  Maybe it's possible from other countries there are other methods used, I cannot speak to why or how those others got other than FTT codes.  But until I see something other than FTT on mine I will continue with transferwise.  

Also, it is speculation at this point whether or not this will even be an issue.  Each TI office seems to enforce things differently, so we do not know which will or which won't make an issue of seeing the FTT codes.   Merely seeing a minimum of 65k deposited each month may suffice. 
 

23 minutes ago, skatewash said:

Glad to hear that it worked for you.  The problem people are having with TransferWise is that it isn't guaranteed to work month after month.  The TW business model doesn't guarantee the path the money takes from your home country to your Thai bank.

So far there has only been 1  poster that stated that one and only one transfer didn't have the FTT code ... and no one knows the cause of that situation.  It seems people are too worried about what appears to be an anomaly, rather than the normal practice.   Everyone else seems to be getting the FTT code ALWAYS with their transferwise transfer. 

40 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Wasn't there a report that sometimes TW transfers going into BB show up as domestic? So you could have five international and then get tripped up, right? You don't have control on how they do it, right?

I have read this BUT it is only 1 poster that I read state this, so as I see it,  It is a RARE occurrence rather than a probable one.  I have transferred using Transferwise for over 8 months and ALL have FTT codes .. so until I see otherwise, they will be my process for transferring funds. 

19 minutes ago, Vacuum said:

Yes I can see that in your link. But the coverage is only 30K, the same you get on the compulsory mc- insurance.

But for at 2500baht for an entire year ... 30k is not a bad deal.

31 minutes ago, Pib said:

Does it really show Bangkok Bank "New York" or just Bangkok Bank? 

 

 Mine just says Bangkok Bank in the receipt's "Sent To" area because my account is at Bangkok Bank here in Thailand  and the receipt's "Paid Out From" area says Bangkok Bank.  No mention of Bangkok Bank "New York" anywhere.  Take another look at your Transferwise receipt.    

 

If it does indeed show New York on the receipt, what SWIFT code for Bangkok Bank are you using?

I stand corrected ... You are right.  It shows to Bangkok bank THB.   and actually it states from Transferwise LTD.  so I'm not sure what that means, whether it's some kind of monetary holding company.   But in any case ... My transactions ALWAYS show a FTT code ... so I'm happy with that and will not change my process until it shows otherwise.