PDPA2024

2 hours ago, Grapefruit said:

The point is that some people prefer to do it that way and be guaranteed that there will be no hiccups.   You don't have to queue, don't have to worry about whether you've got everything perfect or have any conversations, in Thai, with the staff if you don't want to.  

 

If you don't want to do it that way you can do it whichever way you prefer.

Perhaps an agent is useful in some cases like dealing with "Non-" visas at Immigration, but it's really hard to mess up at DLT. Just renewed my DL today, needed passport copies (photo page, visa page, stamp page) and residency certificate - that's it!

Even if the staff doesn't speak English (which I'm yet to encounter), they'll point you in the right direction. No need for Thai wife or friend ???? Good luck to everyone! There's plenty of threads on this forum about getting a new DL from scratch.

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Any form of advertising or marketing communication of kratom is prohibited

How are potential buyers supposed to find it then?

I have a feeling kratom will be the same story as cannabis - "legalized" in 2016 or 2017, but still impossible to buy anywhere.

Nothing good in the supermarkets, unfortunately. Royal Project tea (if you find it) and 3 Horses are drinkable, but I'd try to contact farmers/roasters who have online presence and ask them to send you their produce by post. The stuff I got from Lazada wasn't great either.

For example, Cottontree roastery in Chiang Mai has premium quality local beans at good price and they agreed to mail them to me.

1 hour ago, mwbrown said:

I just got a Huawei 5G hotspot working for my home Internet service.  It hits 420 megabits/second and costs 1099 baht/month.  That's 8 times faster than my wired DSL for about 300 baht more per month.

 

Why? No fibre internet in your city?

12 hours ago, Jon1 said:

This is exactly what I'm thinking about. If I buy a new membership and the membership is active, shouldn't I be able to extend the permission to stay even though TE visa is expired?

 

If someone has knowledge if there is some special law regulating TE visas and especially that the visa itself, not only the membership has to be valid for the period of extension, would be very interested to know.

 

I think this is something I'll try to find out with the immigration and TE office if I'm still going to try to stay in Thailand with TE visa at this time.

Jon, you can try emailing them that if you're forced to leave the country, you won't buy the membership again. Maybe the bosses will see this and come to senses ????  Did you communicate with sales team or someone else?

That said, you'll probably have to clear some overstay after 26th. When I got my visa last month, they were already quite busy and setting appointments at CW two weeks in advance. This may be another reason for such answer.

I think people are confusing visas and Immigration stamps/extensions.

Visa = permission to entry

Stamp = permission to stay

So if Immigration stamped you for 1 year, you can legally stay during this period, hence 6th year is possible. Obviously, Thailand Elite isn't happy when someone is getting extra time for free, but they have no power to void the entry stamp. That's my understanding.

For example, tourist visa is valid for ~90 days, but you can enter on the last day and still be eligible to stay for 60 days and then extend it for 30 more, even though visa would be expired. Why would the rules be different for Elite visa, unless there's special law regulating it? (which I'm not aware of) 

I don't know much about Non-Imm visas, so i'm curious: if someone gets a 1-year marriage extension, then gets divorced, can they still stay until stamp runs out?

5 hours ago, BritManToo said:

I'd be up for a 2,500bht return flight and 500bht/night.

AirAsia keep sending me '990bht special offer' emails, but when I go to the website they aren't there.

 

Sounds like all the special offers are a scam.

When I can click and pay, without paging through nonsense, I'll go.

Bangkok Air had 2,500 thb for round-trip promotion last month. I've booked it no problem.

AirAsia is more annoying though - usually they offer only a few seats at special price and you can't see a list of discounted routes. I prefer to book when they have 20% off sale on all tickets.

Or try mashed mung beans, they taste similar. Better than buying imported stuff.

Maybe roaming is disabled on your number if you've never activated it. 

http://www.dtac.co.th/en/prepaid/services/roaming/preparation.html

5 minutes ago, TGIR said:

redpill17, you didn't read my post.......I am talking about transferring money from California to Thailand.  I did write them a check, in fact I wrote them two checks.  The first one worked perfectly and took 31 days to clear......the second one ended up in the boonies and I had to chase it around for a week......so yes, it can work, but it can also be a big pain in the rear.

 

 

I've suggested the check for original poster to send money from Thai bank to US bank without a SWIFT code.

You've mentioned you can't use TransferWise because of phone number requirement, but in fact you can use any supported number - doesn't have to be from the US. Hope this helps. 

35 minutes ago, ThaiWai said:

Are you saying you can send money from Thailand to the US with Transferwise?

No, at least not at the moment. I'm just saying there's no need for UK address and phone number for someone with UK passport to use it. Same goes for other nationalities. Bank statement or Internet bill is enough to verify an address in Thailand.

OP, maybe you can send them a check?

2 hours ago, TGIR said:

Brits can easily use Transferwise, but for me it's a no go because of the requirement for a phone number.....plus I'm not comfortable using a British company, a Thai Bank and a U.S. Bank to get a simple money transfer from one of my accounts to the other.  

You can register with Thai address, and phone number can be from any country. TransferWise makes life much easier.

On 9/8/2020 at 10:52 AM, Pilotman said:

I consider myself a 'citizen of the world', although UK born and raised, I have spent little time there and now have no interest in the Country, or its people, bar my kids and extended family.  However, I of course need the UK passport for purely practical reasons. It would be nice to hold a passport that is not affiliated to any particular country.  Maybe a UN Passport, that gives certain rights and privileges of travel,  but that doesn't align you automatically with a particular country or nationality.  As the UK Embassy is a joke and totally useless, so I would not miss their not being available me. I would sign up for that

OP, it's not possible to get UN laissez-passer, unless you work for a certain international organization. There's no universally recognized "world passport", so the only option to accomplish your goal is to become stateless. I'm not sure if UK allows to renounce your only citizenship, but if you do, you can get a 1954 Convention travel document, which can be used for visa applications. Of course, being stateless, you can forget about visa-exemption entry to most countries ???? 

More info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travel_document

If you just want a nice trinket: https://worldservice.org/docpass.html

A common scam is to resell this World Passport for hundreds of dollars, claiming it gives you certain rights, but it's not true - acceptance is on case-by-case basis, and it's not recognized by the UN.

4 hours ago, upena said:

If I don't need a mask when eating or drinking, why do I need one at all?

Face mask alternative:

19 hours ago, khunPer said:

Thanks.

Yes, Lomprayah has, according to their own website and a previous post, been operated their former catamaran routes by speedboats during the whole lockdown period.

Oh, I see. Strange, I was only able to find Raja tickets until recently.

19 hours ago, khunPer said:

I've been told that the Lomprayah company had let go of a huge number of employees, about 100 I was told. The catamaran ferries that use to dock by Maenam pier has long been gone. A few times a small ferry, probably one of the first, have been docking by the pier.

Yes, it seems there are only speedboats now from Mae Nam pier (20 min to Phangan, then goes to Tao). At least Seatran still has a comfortable ride from Bangrak (30 min to Phangan).

Also, there are regular Lomprayah speedboats from Mae Nam to Koh Phangan (and then to Koh Tao) again.

5 minutes ago, mrfill said:

Small USD bills are probably not legal tender in Cambodia, but are accepted widely. They can, apparently, be exchanged for other currencies quite freely.

Yes, but exchange rate for them in Thailand is a robbery ????

Are they still a legal tender though? I was keeping these bills specifically to use in Cambodia.

25 minutes ago, Bigz said:

No they don't violate anything. Grab and foodpanda takes around 20-30%. (One is 20 the other 30)

You're right about the first thing, at least for Foodpanda:

"We encourage restaurants to use the same prices for delivery as they do for their dine-in menu, although there may be exceptions."

Couldn't find this for Grab.

Regarding percentage, as of now Foodpanda is charging 32% and Grab takes 30%.

I like Foodpanda more, because they communicate with the restaurant. With GrabFood, you have to wait till the driver arrives to the restaurant to place order, and drivers often cancel themselves, wasting my time.

Also, GrabFood often lacks pictures and English translation. It's usable in Bangkok, but everywhere else is a joke.

On 8/24/2020 at 9:11 AM, Fairynuff said:

I never really thought about food delivery until yesterday when I wanted some Indian food. So I looked at Grab Food. I already know the menu from this restaurant and realised quickly that the Grab menu was about 30% higher. The difference in price amounted to 180 baht plus 30 baht delivery. So instead I used Grab Express, same result but menu price and 65 baht delivery.

I wrongly assumed that Grab Food was just about delivery, but with a 25-30% surcharge it’s a different ball game.

Normally, I see 5-10 baht difference per item on GrabFood and Foodpanda. If the restaurant is surcharging 30%, then they're violating terms of service.

btw, I'm curious - did you have to call the restaurant beforehand and order over the phone, so they deliver via GrabExpress? I always see coupons for this service, but never use it.

You don't need a special PromptPay card to use it, you just scan QR code with your banking app or transfer by phone number. It's easier to use for small businesses, since there are no fees and it works with their personal account. Credit card processing is a completely different story. If a street vendor has a bank account, then they can accept PromptPay.

Just checked tickets for Seatran's Bangrak—Koh Phangan route and it's now available!