freeman01

9 minutes ago, Why Me said:

So where does bitcoin derive its value? There's no government or asset behind it (which is claimed to be a good thing). Seems to me that it's kind of like artwork, which is worth as much or little as people care to bid.

 

I would love to know the answer.

If I may ask, when I say mention the following about bitcoin earlier, what do you make of this ? how do you interpret that ?

Quote

Well the value of bitcoin is derived from its fundamental properties :

- open source

- decentralized

- censorship-resistant

- borderless

- peer to peer

 

Bitcoin literally cannot be stopped or controlled by anyone or any government, and everyone can use it without any discrimination whatsoever.

it takes 12 to 24 words to memorize to secure your bitcoin account and you can cross any border with your bitcoin without being stolen by anyone, try to do that with cash or gold or anything else ...

 

Bitcoin is now 10 years old, with no history of it being hacked, yet it is worth billions so the incentive for hackers is gigantic.

 

Add to that a fix monetary policy, the amount of bitcoin being created is set to be cut in half every 4 years for a total of 24 millions bitcoins maximum in the year 2140.

Opposed to that the US dollars whose money supply keep increasing like candy, guess where this is going ?

16 minutes ago, digibum said:

 

I have responded in great detail to everything you've said.  If Bitcoin can't stand up to what I've said, maybe it's not the great investment you claim it is. 

well next time maybe try that without getting personal and trying to pick up a fight or whatever that is ? maybe ?

I am just a single individual investor trying to make money and discussing investment online in an open and peaceful way, not some kind of zealot trying to convert non believers as you have been portraying me.

who do you think has time to read that kind of monstrous wall of text ?

Now this kind of beg the question, why does one as to put so much effort and energy to go against bitcoin and crypto in general ? This is typically what one do to hold onto a belief.

if anything that gets me more confident than ever in my investment in bitcoin. What I highlighted earlier about bitcoin wasn't an opinion but actual facts.

7 hours ago, digibum said:

Bro, you need to stop.  You're just parroting the Bitcoin BS. 

Hey kido how about you grow the hell up and focus on the argument and the topic and quit you childish bully behaviour ? Otherwise go choke on you belt moron.

i like protonVPN, you can use it for free but the free servers can get busy and slow some times. if you pay they have servers everywhere with lightning speed.

the login servers are in switzerland and they don't keep logs, very reputable company for privacy i believe.

hmm verification was very easy for me, a few months ago.

All transfers between Thai banks are instant so yes it's the same.

Well the value of bitcoin is derived from its fundamental properties :

- open source

- decentralized

- censorship-resistant

- borderless

- peer to peer

Bitcoin literally cannot be stopped or controlled by anyone or any government, and everyone can use it without any discrimination whatsoever.

it takes 12 to 24 words to memorize to secure your bitcoin account and you can cross any border with your bitcoin without being stolen by anyone, try to do that with cash or gold or anything else ...

Bitcoin is now 10 years old, with no history of it being hacked, yet it is worth billions so the incentive for hackers is gigantic.

Add to that a fix monetary policy, the amount of bitcoin being created is set to be cut in half every 4 years for a total of 24 millions bitcoins maximum in the year 2140.

Opposed to that the US dollars whose money supply keep increasing like candy, guess where this is going ?

Do you homerwork and you will see it's a really good investment and so far history did not disappoint if you hold long term.

you might want to check out bitkub.com next time, they have a bit more volume with USDT.

You are the extreme opposite of what you denounce ... both are utterly stupid ihmo.

Good luck with your crusade gainst bitcoin, you are going to need it.

6 hours ago, digibum said:

Sorry, let me break this down for you.  This is the definition of an investment which you yourself just posted:

 

 

And here's how you described investing in Bitcoin

 

 

If your investment advice is to kiss your money goodbye the moment you invest and maybe, maybe, maybe it might be worth more at some future point, that does not fit the definition of investing "with the expectation of some benefit in the future."  You're telling OP to invest with the expectation of losing it, but if it hits, it's going to hit big. 

 

So instead of looking up the definition of investing on Wikipedia, perhaps you should check an investment oriented website and search for the difference between investing and speculation. 

 

Bitcoin is very much speculation.  It is not something the average investor should be involved with. 

 

This is why cryptocurrency advocates often come off as MLM hucksters.  They try to paint crypto as something that is on par with buying a Vanguard mutual fund.  It's not.  It's more like buying stock options which could be worth a lot or they could crater to $0. 

 

I have studied Bitcoin.  And I probably understand the underlying technology way better than you having looked at the original source code and having helped design the security and architecture for some blockchain-based solutions. 

 

A few of my friends have written books on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, and I disagree with a lot of what they say.  And I personally know the owner of one of the bigger crypto-news sites, and I also disagree with a lot of what he thinks/says. 

 

And, if you read my previous posts, you'll notice that I have studied the economics of payment systems and banking and Bitcoin fails miserably as a currency.  So, what is it now, a store of value?  A value of what? 

 

As far as I can tell, the price of Bitcoin and most of cryptocurrencies is a function of hype and FOMO (fear of missing out). 

 

Here are two good articles, that I would challenge you to refute. 

 

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/319192

 

https://www.wired.com/story/theres-no-good-reason-to-trust-blockchain-technology/

 

 

sorry man I am not a native english speaker, I do my best but obviously here I failed to express my point accurately, went a bit too fast there. Obviously If I put money into something I expect the value to increase over time, now there is always a risk, and the risk is high in this case. that was my point.

I meant to say "And if one study Bitcoin in full" instead of "And if you study Bitcoin in full", I did not meant you personally since you obviously displayed very good knowledge on the matter previously, my bad.

Again, I did not mean to undermine you or anything in my post, sorry if you took it that way. It was merely a way to point out there is strong ground to bitcoin.

I still strongly disagree with your statement that the average investor should not invest in bitcoin, everyone should learn to take risk as early as possible, that kind of approach only makes the average person only more ignorant by not trying, it's all a matter how much and managing risks.

but that just my personal opinion.

2 hours ago, digibum said:

 

It's really not an investment.  Even using your description, that's not how people talk about investments.  When have you ever heard someone say, "Yes, we think that if you buy Apple stock, you have to just mentally consider your money gone, and maybe, sometime down the road, it could be worth a lot of money . . . or it could be worth nothing"?  Buying Apple is an investment.  What you're describing is, at best, raw speculation, and at worst, no better than putting your money on black or red on a Vegas roulette wheel. 

 

And, that's okay, but people try to talk as if it's an actual investment on par with a mutual fund, and it's not. 

 

For the vast majority of people, it is an unsuitable investment.  Any financial advisor that sold an average investor an investment with the risk profile of Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency would have their license taken away and would be facing possible jail time. 

 

But, would it be suitable for Bill Gates to put $10 million into it?  Sure, $10 million is such a tiny fraction of his net worth that for him, it would be like you buying a $5 lottery ticket. 

 

The other thing that you have to keep in mind when they talk about big names getting into the cryptocurrency space is that many of them are investing in the businesses that use cryptocurrencies to solve a problem other people are willing to pay for.  For instance, some big name may not be putting their money into Bitcoin, rather they might be putting their money into a company that is creating a cryptocurrency platform that allows people to repatriate funds (i.e. when people working in one country send their money back to their home country - which is BIG business). 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investment

Quote

To invest is to allocate money in the expectation of some benefit in the future.

It's a risky investment that's all. high risk / high reward, wasn't that clear enough ?

And if you study Bitcoin in full and understand the tech behind and the economic around it, it's not as risky as it appears. The return have been crazy so far in 10 year of existence, unlike anything else ever. Well worth considering if you ask me.

For example, what a loss of 1000 will do to your life ? what if those 1000 will be worth 100,000 or more in 5 or 10 years ?

The point of considering the money gone like I describe is to not be bothered with the up and down of the price and the risk of selling at the bottom, kind of a mind trick to stick to your plan really.

Yes you need a plan, that goes without saying.

No offense but all those extremely careful talks about investing really gets annoying, people aren't that stupid and won't just throw their money in and out, and those who do will learn fast.

2 hours ago, Oxx said:

 

Except, of course, he wouldn't - he's not stupid.

 

"Gates [told] CNBC that bitcoin is "one of the crazier, speculative things" he's seen, saying he would "short it if there was an easy way to do it."

 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/warren-buffett-bill-gates-charles-munger-beat-up-on-bitcoin/

Bill gates is full of <deleted> on this one, plenty of ways to short bitcoin with dozens if not hundreds of millions at the time of the article. Take your money where your mouth is. shorting bitcoin is the most risky thing to do.

and if I may, the fact that these people are even mentioning Bitcoin is a big incentive imho.

Always use an agent if you can, there are a few on chulia street in penang, and as weird as it may seem it doesn't cost more to use an agent than to show up yourself at the embassy.

I was stunned last time I got an SETV in Penang, gave the agent everything he needed late on Sunday evening and came back to pick-up my passport Tuesday with the visa.

btw, very bad move to stand up against an official at an embassy, it's likely they will work there for very long and you never know if you might need to come back to that embassy again ...

High risk / High reward

It's the kind of investment where if you loose everything it shouldn't affect you in any way, like the moment you invest you consider the money gone. otherwise very very bad idea.

Bitcoin is an investment one should hold and forget for 5-10 years or more. Anything else is trading and takes a lot of time to learn or is like gambling and you will lose big by selling at the bottom.

a very good thing about Thailand is you can open a bank account, get a driving license and get an official residence certificate all on a tourist visa.

With this you are cleared to pass any AML/KYC requirements anywhere around the world to do business, nobody will ever ask which visa you hold.

after that you just have to stay for a total of more than 183 days a year, wire like >500,000 THB in a thai bank and you can declare tax, get a tax id and a tax certificate.

Try to do that in any other country on a tourist visa, alleluia for Thailand !

On 2/6/2020 at 7:43 AM, bbi1 said:

Does Expedia charge any fees when cancelling within 24 hours of they refund 100%? Does it only work on a US Expedia site or on the Thai site or other countries' version of Expedia?

absolute free cancellation within 24h but only on expedia.com

only thing is the flights eligible for this are usually above 250 USD and often above 400 USD, difficult to find tickets around 100 USD, so some people might have an issue with that.

I have a few questions if that's ok, just to picture the scene a little bit better to try to understand and take into account for next time.

what nationality in europe ? top 5 EU countries or bottom of the list ?

what did you looked like when you crossed ? where you shaved or with 3 days beard ? dreadlocks ? lot's of tattoos ? Piercing ?

arabic/muslim name maybe ?

Do you remember at what point exactly did she got triggered ? did you notice anything when she was checking your passport ?

what's your history from many years ago ? any overstays ?

if I were you I wouldn't mention a "girlfriend" to an angry female IO, this likely won't up her mood as she will associate that with prostitution and such.

you only have to say you are visiting and going to the beach/snorkeling, anything else is just begging for more annoying questions.

understand that the little game of questioning is only here to come up with more questions and find something to catch you and deny you entry, so the less you give them the better. and always have a narrative for after your stay when you leave.

if anything, just a young guy travelling and not working is enough to raise a flag and start the screening if you don't look wealthy, the primary role of immigration everywhere in the world is to prevent people to get in to work illegally and overstay.

I got pulled like you once and her tone changed finally after I showed a bank statement with much more money that I would need for my stay, after that she was just looking for a reason to stamp me without losing faces.

take this as an experience, next time you know what to expect and what to say and show.

you have passive income earned outside of Thailand and you can live on your savings, that's the perfect case.

Thailand won't ever ask anything from you, they don't care as long as you are not working in Thailand without a work permit and more importantly taking someone's job.

The problem is your country, how to tell them you are no longer a tax resident there ? staying more than 183 days in Thailand is not enough, it's only a requirements for being a tax resident in Thailand and be able to fill for taxes. so figure this out first.

after that you need your bank in your country to update your address with the one in Thailand, same for paypal and youtube, not as easy as it seems, they most likely will ask for a tax id or at least the bank.

consider banking outside of you country like UK or Switzerland if you can, then no risk of your goverment knowing anything of your finances.

Getting a tax id for young people is not that easy, they will ask a lot of question and will be very reticent to give you one without a work permit so you need a very good reason, better get an accountant/lawyer for this.

Also if you do anything else that could be considered working, it's better to not stay the full year in the country and when you withdraw your income to your bank account, do it while you are outside the country. That kind of little things can make a difference in case of issues or annoying questions.

Elite visa is very expensive, 15k upfront is not the same as 3k per year. learn to invest with that money instead and keep this option in case there is no other way and use a loan if you do get one.

I believe nothing beats Transferwise, best rate, very fast and low fees ...

And very easy to open an account.

On 2/8/2020 at 12:19 AM, Shaunduhpostman said:

Thanks for the Pedang Besar to Langkawi to Ko Lipe suggestion, sounds like a nice trip to take, but one would still be up against the same uncertainty, that they have limited ability or capacity to stamp one in for more than 30 days at Ko Lipe. I will probably just give the Ko Lipe stamp-in a shot and if it doesn't get me more than a month, Just mozy back over to Malaysia for a few days and try to get a longer stamp in on the way out via train.

Was there last month, the immigration booth has been moved and is brand new and they have everything with face camera and fingerprints device and the stamp date can be changed so nothing to worry about really, its a border like any that process a ton of people daily when its open.

Crossed at padang besar by train twice last year on a SETV with zero issue, always with 1 month between re-entry though.

Koh lipe is a really good option, i don't see why they wouldn't give you 90d as your visa allows, they are rather shill there.

I wouldn't go out and back in right away, at least a week or two before re-entry but thats just me.

My advice, go to langkawi first through padang besar and then come back through koh lipe from langkawi.

5 hours ago, Pib said:

As you know, in Bangkok Bank ibanking your name and address will not appear on the inquiry you do to show transaction....you can view/printout transactions up to 6 months old....it's more of an inquiry/retrieval than a real statement.

 

You need to go to your bank branch and ask for a statement which includes you name, address, the bank signs, and stamps.   However, at Bangkok Bank your address is typically loaded in the system in Thai only....both Thai and English can be loaded but many Thai banks only enter your address in Thai. 

 

However, Bangkok Bank can also update your acct to include your address in both Thai and English.  Then when you get a statement from the branch it will show your name and address in English if requested.

 

I had to do this last year (that is, get my address loaded in English also) with my Bangkok Bank branch which is the head office branch in Bangkok.  I went to get a statement for address verification purposes as an acct I was trying to open with a U.S. money transfer service wanted a bank acct statement to verify my Thailand address. 

 

So, I went to the counter in the Bangkok Bank head office branch (which is where my acct is located) that provides the statements (counter position 43), told them what I needed...the statement with my name and address in English.  The rep said they can only do that once my account also includes my address in English because right now my address is only reflected in Thai and the statement would show my address in Thai.  The counter 43 rep told me to go to the general customer support section to update my account to include my address in English also.  Went and did that...took about 15 minutes and signing more paperwork.   The rep even showed me on their computer screen my address is not loaded in Thai and English.  

 

OK my address in English and Thai is now reflected in my bank acct...I go back to counter 43....and get the statement pretty quick....all official with letterhead, my name and Thai address in English, bank rep signed, and stamped.   Sent that to the US money transfer service...they gladly accepted it...acct opened.    

Awesome, thanks for the information !

Will go and do that next week.

12 hours ago, PingRoundTheWorld said:

Another option is to buy somewhere like Expedia US site - make sure the ticket specifically says it is refundable for free within 24-hours.

been using this trick dozens of time whenever I cross a border that requires a ticket out, got a refund within the next day at most if not within minutes of cancelling. The interface is really great, you get a counter to see how much time is left before the free cancellation expires.

1 hour ago, scorecard said:

And Kasikorn (K bank) the branch print print it in English either as just a statement or as a letter and including address. Done it several times. 

 

It might be worth contacting the call centre of whatever bank and asking these questions. 

 

Why? Because I asked at my K branch and they coldly insisted they couldn't do a letter at all and said they could do documents only in Thai language.

 

Sitting at the desk of the bank service officer I called their HO and the answer was (on speakerphone) 'yes, there is a standard template and it can be printed in Thai, English or Chinese'.

 

I gave my phone to the local bank officer lady who was beyond embarrassment, she was instructed by HO where to find the template and how to select English. 

Very interesting, will inquire at bangkok bank, thanks !

1 hour ago, lopburi3 said:

You can download up to six months of activity using Bangkok Bank online service.  

I meant a Bank Statement as in the legal document with your name and address to use as a proof of residence.

With bangkok bank you only get the list of transaction of the account number with no other references, not even your name, and that's on purpose I believe.

Is there any Thai bank that issue bank statement in English (displaying your thai address in english) ? Or is that forbidden by law maybe, anyone know ?

Also any Thai bank which allows to download bank statement in pdf through online banking or mobile app ?

Bangkok bank doesn't provide any of these unfortunately...

I was thinking maybe CIMB could provide this  ?

4 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

"you need the following (even at poipet)"

That part I think no one can agree on. Poipet doesn't follow the normal rules, they make them up as it goes. 

I don't know, from my experience after crying on the officer's feet for a while he was about to let me in but renounced in the end because I was lacking a ticket out and hotel booking, if i had those i would have gone through.