wpcoe

New prices, my husband hears. Any info on this? Any feedback on Maxnet's performance of late?

Anybody else have different/newer info? I prepay six months MaxNet 512 at a shot, and when it's due next time (Nov?) I plan to ask if I can upgrade to MaxNet 1Mb.

What is a "Flg. Off." ?

Why are passengers domestic flights only requested to arrive one hour before departure time? Isn't that cutting it a bit close, especially if the gates are far away? Don't passengers on domestic flights also use vehicles which would contribute to, and be caught in, traffic jams?

"...there have been several people coming out to the airport who are both passengers and observing public, both inside and outside the airport terminal area." Several people?

And, jumping on the bandwagon, a friend told me he just called United reservations in BKK to see what time they recommended for check-in: "Three hours before." For a flight that leaves at 0645???

You show me a good quality (60 SM) renovation at Majestic I can buy for 1.25 and I will buy it today.

I need a notary in Pattaya. The last one left with a USA license no longer works in coordination with the lawyer's office next to Tuk.Com.

Any ideas?

Do you need a US notary or Thai notary?

When I was involved with an "identy theft" on my ATM card, my US credit union advised they needed a notarized statement from me. I went to a Thai notary, Khun Thanes Tavipamornkulwong on Pattaya Tai. It seemed a bit expensive, B3000, but it (Thai notary) was accepted by my US credit union.

My understanding at the time was that for a true U.S. notary public, you had to go to the US Embassy in Bangkok.

It asks for days so I always put 365.

Except in leap years, of course.

Khutan; annuities are not exactly his cup of tea! Bad management, high fees, risk of annuity company not lasting and money gone when you pass on. As I mentioned; he is an astute investor.

Obviously, I don't know his financial standing, but he only needs to put enough money in an annuity company to provide for the B65,000 month. The rest of his money he can "astutely invest" as he sees fit.

Problem is that there is no real way to obtain a pension-letter on this kind of "income". Some years he lose money, some years he gains, and he is having a pretty steady flow from bond/fixed income funds. None if it can however be considered a "pension" in the traditional sense.

Perhaps that is what the Thai immigration rules are trying to preclude: a retired foreigner firmly planted in Thailand, and suddenly without income.

How about the "bond/fixed income funds" he has? Are the annual proceeds enough to meet the B800,000/year requirement? A bond/fixed income should be acceptable to the British Embassy to issue the letter.

When I transferred US$35,000 to my Thai bank to buy a condo, I put down the reason "to buy a condo" on the SWIFT transfer (so that I could get a Tor Tor 3).

When I (last month) transferred US$11,000 to my Thai bank to qualify for a retirement visa, I put down the reason "to qualify for retirement visa."

Sometimes, simple openness and honesty is so easy and appropriate.

(My current income fell short of the B800,000/year requirement, hence the US$11,000 transfer)

flew from new airport today. first thing should be the removal of the circular doors at the airport which are unsuitable for passengers with trollies

Circular doors??

sabaijai: I'm assuming your post was in reply to the OP only? Or, did you mean your reply to my post, as well?

(If I used my talents to paint someone else's restaurant or renovate someone else's condo, it would be something I would be paid for...?)

I'm 54 and work for an American company all over Asia, and I "rest" between trips in Bangkok. I transfer over 65,000 baht per month from my US bank to a TFB account.

Fearful of being denied another visa-on-arrival, I just tried to get a non-Immigrant visa in Singapore so I could apply for a retirement visa. The officer said I could not get a retirement visa unless I was actually retired, so she wouldn't take my application for a non-Imm visa. So I got a 60-day tourist visa instead (at least I can come back).

Although there is nothing I can find in the law that says this, she said the letter from the Embassy declares whether I am retired or not (though how they know that is beyond me), and the Thai Immigratiin can always double-check with my Embassy to verify. Does anybody know differently?

Thanks.

PS: I sent you a PM (check your ThaiVisa.com control panel)

I also have been wondering what is considered to be "working":

If I own a restaurant, I realize I cannot be cooking the food or waiting tables. But, what if I decide the restaurant needs a new coat of paint. Am I "working" if I decide to repaint the place myself?

If I own a condo, and do renovations myself (e.g. rip up the existing flooring, put down new tile) and I "working" in that I am preventing a Thai from doing it and receiving compensation?

I'm certainly hoping the second scenario is "NOT working" but, with the intent of law being that you cannot do anything (volunteer work after the tsunami, comes to mind) that could prevent a Thai from earning money....

Thanks for the feedback. I'm getting the impression that there's not much wiggle room for the dealer to negotiate. I also get the impression the first dealer (near Pattaya Nua) was trying to gouge me.

Speaking of the carry basket, I eliminated the Honda Click and Yamaha Fino right away, because they don't accommodate a front basket. When I go shopping I need the basket.

There is definite inconsistency I did not mention problem at bank a forigner should have resided in Thailand for at least 90 days or you are required to go to Chief of Police for criminal record check. Here is the curious thing I asked if there was some way for me to get around this requirement and the girl at bank said yes if bought a life insurance (accidental death only) $1,000,000.000 dollars worth for 900 baht it would be okay needless to say i now have a accidental life insurance policy. If anybody can elaborate on this would appreciate it

When I opened my SCB savings account in Bangkok about two years ago, nothing of the sort was required. I was "visiting" Thailand on 30-day passport stamps at the time.

A few months ago when I went to a Jomtien SCB branch to withdraw money (also "visiting" on 30-day passport stamps), the branch manager suggested I open an account in their branch to avoid having to pay a transaction charge every time I withdrew money since it was out of province.

Never a criminal check nor insurance policy even hinted at, nor any 90-day residency. Just a photocopy of my passport. At SCB.

"They don't use chairs its part of their culture"

Several thoughts went through my head: Did he make any attempt to fit in with the culture while he was in their home? He was sitting like a king on a throne with his subjects subordinately on the ground around him.

I know, I know, easy to throw stones when the glass house isn't one's one. I feel sorry for the guy. But, as I said, that one photo/comment really evoked some thought.

About a week ago I stopped by a Yamaha dealer on Sukhumvit near Pattaya Nua, and got prices for a new Nuovo: B53,000 with spoke wheels, B56,000 with cast wheels.

Today I walked past a dealer of both Honda & Nuovo on Pattaya Tai and stopped in to ask about the Honda Click. Coincidentally I found the price of a new Nuovo there was B50,000 with spoke wheels and B53,000 with cast wheels.

I can be overly naieve at times. Is buying a motorbike in Thailand like buying computer parts at Pantip Plaza? Should I offer less (B45,000?) and see if there's a compromise, or would that be insulting and cause the sales person to lose face?

There have also been a number of complaints about taxis not using their meters to charge travelers to and from the airport. Director-General of the Land Transport Department Piyapan Champasut suggests that travelers note down the taxi’s plate number and driver’s name if there is a violation.

“Consumers can report the incident to the department by calling 1584. Staff will be assigned to receive complaints around the clock. If found guilty, the driver will face serious penalties,” said Piyapan.

Does anybody know if this is true? It's the first I've heard of it, but there are so many active threads in this forum, maybe I missed it?

Under the sub-heading "The so called retirement visa," the second paragraph concludes:

"The old regulation, however, that you must produce an annual medical certificate for this visa has been withdrawn."

Step 4 get letter from bank guaranteeing money in bank (Siam Commercial Bank) charged 200 baht for letter saying you have thousand baht in bank.

Another economical option, I believe (I read it from another poster here on ThaiVisa.com), is to have her open a Bangkok Bank savings account. Then have your bank (I'm assuming the OP is American, since he mentioned a $20 transfer fee) electronically transfer funds to Bangkok Bank in New York City. Then for a $5 fee the NYC branch will forward it to the Thai branch. She then withdraws the funds from an ATM with no fee as long as the ATM is in the same province as the branch where the account is held.

The fees to electronically transfer funds from an American bank to Bangkok Bank in NYC vary: the person who posted said he had a Bank of America account and he could transfer the funds online for a $2 fee. I checked with my credit union, and they will transfer the funds with *no* service charge if I do it online.

And, further, if you opt for online-banking (Bua something?) with Bangkok Bank, you can monitor the transactions online from anywhere in the world to verify that the transfer made it, and see how often/when she withdraws the money.

Now, having explained all of that, there may be an even easier way, but I'm just speculating. Bangkok Bank is the only Thai bank that the Social Security and Veterans Administrations can direct deposit to in Thailand. An ex-officer from the Social Security Administration wrote that the way he arranged that was to use the bank code number (from the routing information at the bottom of a check or deposit slip) for the NYC branch of Bangkok Bank, but to use the actual Thai account number as the second set of numbers. I'm not sure if that will work for simple money transfers, or not, but if it did, it could be even easier than the two-step procedure I explained above.

Further thing about Bell Travel is they will pick you up from your hotel or wherever in a minibus and drop you off at the North road office if you have no transport.

The airport was originally designed with a center concourse finger, but it was eliminated (among other reasons) due to pressure from TG. Bus gates were actually added pretty late in the design.

I read in another thread that TG does it to save money, that it is not a question of insufficient gates at finger docks.

Fairly stunning bit of TG marketing, then. Competing with SQ on a busy intra-asia market, and they choose to scrimp and put people on buses?

Why is it that when one flies into Bangkok the immigration staff wear blue jackets, but at other checkpoints wear brown uniforms?

There was a full-page article in The Nation by a reporter taking a TG morning flight to SIN:

"Fast forward through the security check and on to gate E1a on the third floor, a floor down from the departure hall.

...

Bigger piles of litter, including cigarette butts and coffee cans, greeted us as we boarded a shuttle bus to the Airbus 300."

The brand new airport uses SATELLITE PARKING!?! Aren't there something like 120 gates, but a TG international flight in the early morning needs a "bus gate"?

I think I saw it posted at the (old) airport that a one-day overstay is not charged. It is still noted as an overstay, but not charged.

Be certain you are calculating your days correctly, too. Your arrival date is day #1, even if you arrive at 2230h (1130pm).