kiakaha

KK, your math is pretty far off, regarding the cost of international wire transfers...

Most U.S. banks are charging anywhere between $40 and $60 for international wire transfers, regardless of the amount sent, apart from the smaller fees the receiving Thai banks here charge.

Given that the current 150 baht fee works out to about $4.25 U.S., that means you'd have to do more than 10 ATM transactions, at the maximum amount allowed each time, before a wire would become more cost effective.

There are exceptions, such as some banks that dont charge so much or at all.. But those are the exception, not the rule, when it comes to international wires from the U.S.

And then, there is the ability to do low cost online transfers to the BKK Bank branch in New York... But that only works for U.S. folks who know about it and how to do it (I suspect most people don't), and hasnt always been dependable in the past.

The simple question remains... why pay BKK, SCB or the others 150 baht for every foreign card ATM withdrawals when you can avoid the fee entirely by using Kasikorn, Ayudhya or GSB ATMS????

If you like to blow 150 baht every time for no reason, I'd be happy to take the cash off your hands....

my math ? for the last 14 years of living here fulltime my wires cost on average $5 USD over that period.

why dont the people on tourist visas stop pretending that they deserve some holier than though residency rights , get local bank accounts and use a local ATM cad charge free ? Seems pretty god dam_n simple to me.

Given the uneasy state of relationships between the politicians, the career bureaucrats and the military, what is the best way for Thailand to see its democracy move forward and progress from the admittedly non-functional state its in now?

I'd be interested in hearing others opinions on this dilemma Thailand faces.

Democracy IS the problem with Thailand.

Thailand is suited to an absolute monarchy , all today's vestiges of society, social structure,social hierarchies, power, control, importance, cultural dynamics etc... are relics of an absolute monarchy. All attempts to retro-fit democracy since 1973 have resulted in coups, what an exemplary and unequivocal display of utter failure .Square pegs dont fit in round holes.

The great American religion of Democracy may well suit their young immigrant culture , but it is not the silver bullet for all the world's cultures, especially those much older and ancient.

But, most non-Thais who live in Thailand also will have ATM cards from their home countries, and would be foolish to spend 150 baht on every withdrawal when they don't have to...

therefore they should just wire money into their local thai bank accounts and use their local thai debit cards, as legal foreign residents there should be no problem getting a local thai bank account (unless they are one of these "tourist visa residents")

the cost of 1 wire per month, coupled with the loss of any monthly interest from the foriegn account for the wire amount should still should still be less than say 3 or 4 150 Baht ATM cash withdrawls of 20K per hit using your foriegn card.

and of course, those that work and get paid in thailand already have some money in their thai accounts, hence no issues.

.

it is touriists that will get hit , and like i've said before, 150 baht in the context of their 2-3 week holiday is really an afterthought

get a mobile device running windows 6.1 with wifi and install skype mobile. i use it all the time like this. ie: just yesterday i was sitting in a starbucks in bangkok ,connected to the wifi, made a skype out call to a landline in New Zealand (a bank)...crystal clear, great performance.

Skype WiFi phones are easily available in Thailand. Manufactured by Belkin and Netgear etc.

yep, but in my opinion i'd rather carry 1 single converged device(such as an HTC running windows mobile 6.1 or an iPhone) , rather than multiple hardware devices for each specfic application(cellphone, music player, skype phone, usb drive etc...)

get a mobile device running windows 6.1 with wifi and install skype mobile. i use it all the time like this. ie: just yesterday i was sitting in a starbucks in bangkok ,connected to the wifi, made a skype out call to a landline in New Zealand (a bank)...crystal clear, great performance.

I went into the Australian Embassy recently to get an Australian Passport for my 2 year old son. Spoke to a thai woman at the front desk and presented all the appropriate forms which I obtained from the DFAT website for a passport for those citizens living abroad. My son was born in Thailand and has dual citizenship. When I presented the forms I was told by the thai lady that I need an Australian citizen to garantee that he/she has known him for 12 months to prove identity. I had the forms signed by his thai doctor who has been looking after him since birth as stated as one of the people who can do on the forms. We began to argue as she said this is wrong and it must be an Australian citizen. I don't know any aussies in thai who have known him for 12 months.

Anyway we continued to argue about this point for about 5 minutes then I asked to speak to an Australian who may be able to help me she replied that the Australian working there do not handle the general inquiries or applications. I requested to speak to an aussie anyway. She said I was being rude and I can be arrested for insulting a thai government official and if I didn't leave she would call security and have me arrested.

Correct me if I am wrong but inside the confines of the Australian Embassy isn't that considered Australian territory. Are the people in there not working for the Australian Government and Australian taxpayer like myself. When was a law passed in Australia that you can not argue your point with a person working for the Australian government? I am sure all aussies have done so at some point. When did the thai authorities get the power to arrest someone for arguing a point with an Australian government employee on Australian territory.

I have found thai government employees more helpful than those at the Australian Embassy.

I never go to my embassy , but recently my wife and I had to vote in the NZL elections....so did so at the NZL embassy in Bangkok...I can concur that the NZL diplomatic staff were nice, polite, cordial and good at their jobs.....the Thai front liners were incompetent snooty little worms.

Yes I don't know what it is with the thais that work at the various embassies. Don't they realise in there they are the farangs not the nationals that attend. Maybe this is why they get so snotty

i think next time, we we will fly to Singapore to vote in our national elections

I went into the Australian Embassy recently to get an Australian Passport for my 2 year old son. Spoke to a thai woman at the front desk and presented all the appropriate forms which I obtained from the DFAT website for a passport for those citizens living abroad. My son was born in Thailand and has dual citizenship. When I presented the forms I was told by the thai lady that I need an Australian citizen to garantee that he/she has known him for 12 months to prove identity. I had the forms signed by his thai doctor who has been looking after him since birth as stated as one of the people who can do on the forms. We began to argue as she said this is wrong and it must be an Australian citizen. I don't know any aussies in thai who have known him for 12 months.

Anyway we continued to argue about this point for about 5 minutes then I asked to speak to an Australian who may be able to help me she replied that the Australian working there do not handle the general inquiries or applications. I requested to speak to an aussie anyway. She said I was being rude and I can be arrested for insulting a thai government official and if I didn't leave she would call security and have me arrested.

Correct me if I am wrong but inside the confines of the Australian Embassy isn't that considered Australian territory. Are the people in there not working for the Australian Government and Australian taxpayer like myself. When was a law passed in Australia that you can not argue your point with a person working for the Australian government? I am sure all aussies have done so at some point. When did the thai authorities get the power to arrest someone for arguing a point with an Australian government employee on Australian territory.

I have found thai government employees more helpful than those at the Australian Embassy.

I never go to my embassy , but recently my wife and I had to vote in the NZL elections....so did so at the NZL embassy in Bangkok...I can concur that the NZL diplomatic staff were nice, polite, cordial and good at their jobs.....the Thai front liners were incompetent snooty little worms.

most citizens and foreign residents here will have local debit/credit cards. no charges.

tourists might use the ATM a couple of times before they go home, a minor charge relative to the overall cost of their holiday.

I think you asre little bit crazy... If you go to an ATM in Germany other than your own bank you will be charged 7 EURO ... Can you please fifure out yourself how much Bt that is??? And then Stop quarreling about nonsense!

Or live a better oive at home.

crazy ? .. i am a foriegner , i live/work in thailand , i use a local debit card in thailand from my thai bank , no charges at ATM for cash withdrawls.

most people who live in thailand WILL have thai bank accounts and debit cards , therefore no 150 baht charge for them in Thailand,

I withdraw 20,000 to 30,000thb per transaction depending on machine and do it 20 times a month on average.

So I have to pay an additional 3,000thb+++ in addition to my issuing bank charges now just to bring money into this country using the most convenient method for me. Thailand is getting too greedy and is biting the hand that feeds it.

Instead of changing my convenient method, I will end up spending less here, and not tipping for any service including restaurants and bars to recoup this fee. Your loss again Thailand.

whom are you trying to bullshit?

with that sort of monthly activity , surely easier to do 1 international bank transfer to a thai bank account and then use your local debit card as needed, charge free.

most citizens and foreign residents here will have local debit/credit cards. no charges.

tourists might use the ATM a couple of times before they go home, a minor charge relative to the overall cost of their holiday.

I am looking for a bar, where I can smoke, have classy music (jazz/piano), not too noisy, great environment. Outdoor preferably, with a nice view. Reasonably priced.

Bamboo Bar at the Oriental. They even have their own cancer stick shop adjacent. Indoor, but the Chao Phraya is only 20 metres down the cloisters, where you can smoke with a view.

I'm am told that the mall vendors, street vendors of clothes/shoes/accessories etc.... buy their stuff wholesale from ประตูน้ำ (Pratunam).

i know a guy who has been working in bangkok 12 years for a large company, reads/speaks thai fluently ,is well off, doesnt drink/smoke , is happily married, mostly keeps to himself and his friends, is the quiet guy at the bar, not the loudmouth, on appearances one might assume he's a khao san backpacker or "fresh off the boat" , is under 35......

be careful of baseless presumptions and stereotypes about someone you "observe" in Bangkok...i've been surprised more times than not over the years.

but lets get practical for a moment.....at the end of the day, just another big mouth, the world's full of them, blah blah blah.....actions are all that count.

Xenophobes make poor hosts.

Seconded.

Totally agree.

I'm afraid that I totally disagree. In my experience (10yrs), you learn the language, learn the culture, understand the religion and Thais will treat you as one of their own. Be different and expect to be treated differently.

thailand is an entirely different world when you can read,write,speak thai to a good standard. B eing able to read everything around you, understand everything being said, and communicate precisely what you want to say is the best way to go from being an outsider to an insider.

the wingers and moaners though would rather just carry on crying as opposed to actually doing something within their realm of control towards improving their situation (like learning to read, speak thai well)

And one for the Maori Battalions :

(kia kaha starts singing)

Te Ope Māori Hīkoi kia toa

Te Ope Māori kia kaha ra

Te Ope Māori hikoi kia kororia ai

Mauria te hōnore o te iwi.

Ka hīkoi mātou ki te hoariri

Whawhaitia tae noa ki te mutunga

Mō te Atua! Mo te kingi! Me te whenua!

AU-E!, ake ake kia kaha e!

(kia kaha ends singing)

look for a point of difference...super cheap internet shops are a dime a dozen.

I would offer free internet services and then make money from other goods and services that you could push on your captive audience.

dual pricing for TOURISTS exists, deal with it.you cant change it , but you can change your residency situation

For legal residents and citizens there is no problem(in mine and everyone i knows experiences)

No real difference, just because you got a drivers licence, bank card, work permit, visa or PR....dont mean you are any better than Joe Public on holiday here with his two kids and both should be treated equally.....

For completely private institutions , things could be done better.

For public places I have no problem native citizens and thai personal income tax(PIT) payers getting a cheaper price than tourists, after all we do pay for the place.

do you have a picture or scan of the pricing information written in thai ?

dual pricing for TOURISTS exists, deal with it.you cant change it , but you can change your residency situation

For legal residents and citizens there is no problem(in mine and everyone i knows experiences)

hi all, as of april 17,all banks in thailand now charge a fee to use your foreign atm cards.

the fee for transactions are 150 baht. thai citizens are not charged unless they us a atm that is

different from the bank where they have an account; but if they use it at a different atm more than

3 times they are charged 5 baht!!!

the fees have nothing to do with the card holders nationality.

foreign debit and credit cards will attract the 150 baht fee.

local debit and credit cards wont attract the fee.

this will obviously annoy tourists , but foreigners who live here, for the most part, will have bank accounts in thailand, and therefore local debit/credit cards.

I try not to advertise that my residence is occupied by foreigners.

before anyone jumps up and down and shouts ,i love it in Thailand and always have.our neighbours are terrific and i have a good familly who never want anything(except her young brother,lazy sod),but its those in charge ,who always seem to want our money ,but give us nothing in return .things like double pricing,150 baht charge to take your money out of an a.t.m. draconian visa regulations ,not being able to own land ,ect what is it? they keep coming out with guff about making Thailand the perfect destination but to my mind its just b-llocks.

what do you lot think?

if you're not a tourist and you have a local debit or credit card ie: you work in thailand, then that takes care of 66% of your gripes (ignoring the "etc")

think this is the right place to post, sorry if not

we are from the uk and moved to thailand, we have 2 shih tzu dogs tht we bought here in thailand. we are just looking at places we could go next and new zealand is appealing to us, we want to take our dogs with us as leaving them is not an option for us.

Imin the middle of researching still but on first glances it looks as if :

a) they need a microchip that is of NZ standard

rabies that is of NZ standard

c) providing they have this and we get there they would spend around 21 days in quarantine.

like i say im still looking at this as we speak so i can get clarity, but i just wondered has anyone else moved from thailand to NZ with thai dogs?

if so can you explain what the process was for you?

thanks!

This link :

http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/enter/personal/pets

is the starting point for all information that you will require.

NZL Embassy in Bangkok , http://nzembassy.com/home.cfm?c=21 , may be of use aswell.

Also , the NZL Immigration Service in Bangkok is in the same building as the NZL embassy.

I know expat kiwi workers who've returned to NZL from assignment to Thailand, kids, dogs etc... all in tow...so it's obviously do-able.

Ok, what do you think works best ? Monarchy, Democracy, Socialism, Communism, a Religious state ?

My take is simple. It doesn't happen a lot, it is rare, but when it happens it really works.

Its Enlightened absolutism, or in the modern day a Benevolent dictatorship, here is a link

What are you thoughts?

1984.