wpcoe

The last couple times I went through the Priority Lane (non-TG flights) on arrival they never asked to see the card.  Without fail, though, upon departure they wanted to collect the card.

1 hour ago, tomster said:

Not sure quite what to make of your comment, as Uber drivers definatley cannot see the final destination before they accept the fare, they can only see that when they arrive at the pickup:

 

http://maximumridesharingprofits.com/cant-uber-drivers-see-passengers-destination-accepting-trip/

 

https://uberpeople.net/threads/can-you-see-the-destination-before-accepting-a-fare.139971/

 

Very interesting.  Thanks for those links.

18 hours ago, Sheryl said:

On the face, you definitely will want a plastic surgeon and that will cost more.

+1

I had a lump removed from my face (which I thought was a lipoma, but histology showed it was something else) and even  Dr. Anna at BP-H who is widely highly recommended as a dermatologist, declined to remove it.  She said it was a job for a plastic surgeon.

23 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

 

There is indeed a procedure for importing your household goods tax-free in those circumstances. But there are many hoops to jump through and some quite specific rules to abide by very closely. So to succeed would require a lot of care.

 

I was not aware of the allowance for returning Thai nationals but that sounds like it might be a good option for anyone with a Thai partner.

Found this via Google:

Quote

 

IMPORTING USED / SECONDHAND HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS

Returning Thai residents who have been abroad for one year or longer, for the purposes other than touring are eligible to bring in household effects acquired abroad free of taxes and duties. In addition, nonresidents changing their residence to Thailand may import the household effects subject to the conditions stated below without payment of import taxes duties.

 

The term household effects includes all goods which are normally necessary to equip a self-contained home e.g. furniture, books, tableware, stereos and similar household furnishings, etc. To be eligible for tax and duty free allowance, the importers are required to have owned, possessed, and used the household effects before they return to Thailand to resume residence. It is important that the importers meet the three requirements of ownership, possession, and use. For example, if they owned and possessed the goods without using them, the goods would be subject to regular taxes and duties. Personal effects accompanied with the owner traveling into or out of Thailand, including any goods used or will be used commercially are not eligible as household effects and cannot brought in tax and duty free as the household effects. NOTE: Motor vehicles, alcoholic beverages and tobacco are excluded from this relief.

 

REQUIREMENTS FOR DUTY FREE ALLOWANCE

Both Thai and non-Thai residents changing residence into Thailand are eligible to bring used/secondhand household effects into Thailand, in reasonable quantities, free of taxes and duties. It is also required that the imported used/ secondhand household effects have been owned, possessed, and used in the country where the importers resided before returning to Thailand to resume residence.

 

In case where the household effects are electrical appliances e.g. radios, televisions, refrigerators, microwaves, ovens, air conditioners, etc., only ONE unit each of such items is eligible for tax and duty free allowance. However, if it is the family change of residence, TWO units each of the items will be allowed to bring in tax and duty free. Any excess unit shall be subject to regular taxes and duties, and Customs will place the items that have the lowest rate of duty under tax and duty exemption.

 

It is important that the used/secondhand household effects must be imported not earlier than one month before or not later than six months after the arrival of the importers. Under exceptional circumstances, Customs may extend the time limits for the importers.

 

REQUIREMENTS FOR CHANGING OF RESIDENCE

• Nonresidents: Nonresidents may import the used/secondhand household effects acquired abroad tax and duty free if such household effects accompanied them in the change of residence and they are qualified under the criteria listed below:
• Nonresidents resuming residents in Thailand must be granted a non-immigrant quota as shown in a passport or a Nonresident Identification Card; or
• Nonresidents granted to work in Thailand are regarded as resuming residents in Thailand provided they have a one-year non-immigrant visa issued by the Immigration Department. In case where the non-immigrant visa has not yet been granted, either of the following documents may be accepted:
  • The letter from the Immigration Department certifying that the nonresidents shall be granted an annual temporary stay in Thailand; or
  • The work permit from the Department of Labor to work in Thailand for at least one year.
• Nonresidents entering Thailand as an expert, specialist, or under a contract of government agencies are required to present the letter from relevant agencies certifying that such nonresidents are granted a non-immigrant visa issued by the Immigration Department and shall work in Thailand not less than one year.

Accompanying spouses of the nonresidents in (2) and (3) are regarded as resuming residence in Thailand provided the spouses have non-immigrant visas issued by the Immigration Department to stay in Thailand for the first 90 days.

 

source:  http://en.customs.go.th/cont_strc_simple.php?lang=en&top_menu=menu_searching_result&current_id=14232832404f505e4e

The first two paragraphs were what I had heard about returning Thais.  The third paragraph  does include "non-Thai residents."   Interesting.

Not quite sure what "Nonresidents resuming residents in Thailand"  nor being "granted a non-immigrant quota" are.  Is that only for non-residents who previously were residents?  Would a Non-Immigrant O-A visa qualify?

And then:

Quote

 

Documents

• An Import Declaration (Customs Form No. 99/1);
• A passport;
• Nonresidents are required to submit the following documents:
• The letter issued by the Immigration Department confirming that an annual temporary stay is granted;
• A one-year (or more) work permit issued by the Department of Labor;
• The letter from a relevant government agency confirming that a non-immigrant visa from the Immigration Department is granted and that working period in Thailand is not less than 1 year, for those entering Thailand as an expert, specialist, or under government contracts;
  • Thai Residents are required to submit an evidence of changing residence e.g. a transcript, reshuffle of positions, termination of employment contract, etc.;

If those bullet points mean "and," then a work permit is required.   So do retirees get the duty free allowance, or not?  

On 7/20/2017 at 7:59 AM, webfact said:

- top of the list are the need for immigration and customs facilities as flights to KL are international.

On 7/21/2017 at 0:26 PM, YetAnother said:

i would say. no small obstacles; and painful learning, doubtless

In the previous short-lived periods of international flights to/from Hua Hin airport, there didn't seem to be a problem sending Immigrations Officers from the Hua Hin office for a few hours at a time to process the flights.

@offset:  The procedure may vary from one Immigrations office to another.  It might be helpful to know where you live, i.e. at which Immigrations office you will be making application for the retirement extension.  Then maybe someone from the same area can confirm the what you need.

Re: the blue book -- some condos bought many years ago apparently didn't come with blue books.

14 hours ago, tropo said:

I've asked the question a number of times at the Jomtien office. They've always told me 30 days before at the earliest.

I don't doubt your experience one bit, but I've been *offered* to do it earlier by the staff at the retirement extension desk in Jomtien.  Example:

I went in November to simply ask the question "How early can I apply for an extension when my current one expires mid-January?" explaining that I was leaving on an overseas trip mid-December and not sure when I was returning.  They replied, you can do it today:  almost 60 days early!  I immediately went to the bank for a letter and got the extension the next day.

Several other times, I've renewed more than 30 days in advance, too, without asking for any special favor.

I think it depends on the moon phase, or more likely, which side of the bed they got up from.  The consistency is the inconsistency?

Not sure how long would lapse between your initial house-hunting visit and your final permanent return, and not sure of your budget, but you should be able to get a six-month (or even three-month?) lease on a decent studio in one of the early View Talay buildings (VT1A/1B/2A/2B) in a decent Jomtien location for under B10,000 per month.  For those, I would suggest visiting the buildings and check the bulletin boards in the lobby and/or on the walls of the mini-marts in the lobby.  At the end of February, the snowbirds are starting to leave and you might be able to strike a deal with an owner willing to rent out cheaply, even short-term, rather than have an empty unit.  (You might have better luck with a foreign owner than a Thai owner.  It seems many Thais would rather leave a property empty than lower the price for an immediate rental.) Even if your ultimate goal would be a house, at least a short-term condo rental would provide a permanent address to set up banking and such, and give you a place to stay while you look around.

Check with your shipping company in Switzerland and find if they can arrange shipping to the port (Laem Chabang?) for now, and then if you can later advise (or change) the actual final shipping address.  That would give you extra time to find your ultimate home.

I do know some real estate agents I could recommend as knowledgeable and trustworthy, but I think you'll get a better deal looking in lobbies and dealing directly with a condo owner.

For minimizing import tax on your household goods, it's my understanding that a returning Thai is allowed a generous duty free allowance, so shipping in your wife's name may help. There is a widely held belief that folks on an Non-immigrant O-A ("retirement") visa get a special duty free allowance, but I've seen that debunked time and again here on the forum.  Ditto for folks having a retirement extension.

19 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Thaivisa assumes they meant the condition bi-polar where sufferers can misunderstand information.

That sounds more like dyslexia that being bi-polar, which refers to manic-depressive behavior, no?

Wonder how long this new service would last.  There have been international flights in the past.  ISTR Berjaya Airlines flew from Hua Hin to Kuala Lumpur (Subang) and Lion Air flew from Hua Hin to Medan in Sumatra.  Both were short-lived ventures.  Maybe third time's a charm?

6 hours ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

Passenger Phatthira Karnpakdee said she waited at the Udomsuk station from 8am and could not get on a train after an hour although four crowded trains passed.

Something's not right.  There should be more than four trains per hour, especially at 8am.

22 hours ago, MJCM said:

If you told me 1 year ago, that next year I can get Fibre installed in the area where I live, I would have declared you MAD At the moment my Internet (since I am living here) consists of receiving a Wireless Signal (TOT WiNet) from a Tower 3 kms away with a receiver on top of a 17m high tower (cost 17k+ THB to get it installed) in our own Garden. (Download) Speed fluctuates from 0.0001 Mbps to 10Mbps so anything above that (with Fibre) is for me a good thing. And the reliability of WiNet is not that great, I sometimes don't have internet for 1-2 weeks, because something on the Main Tower has broken down and thus I have to use 3G

 

Coming back to your question, why NOT

 

Here is a topic about Fibre in Condos

 

https://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/840916-fiber-on-a-high-condo-floor/

 

Oh, I absolutely know that they *can* run fibre into and up high-rise condos, they simply *won't.*  My comment was wondering out loud that if they are willing to spend the considerable effort and expense to set up the infrastructure to run fibre lines out to somewhat remote rural areas, why don't they spend (what I assume is) less money to tap into the fibre lines which are already running down main thoroughfares in urban areas and over to the many high-rise condo buildings?  3BB, True and AIS consistently say they won't provide fibre service in condo buildings.  Even low-rise condo buildings.

I actually *have* a fibre optic line run directly into my unit in a Jomtien high-rise condo by a local provider, but sadly their product as far as bandwidth sucks ... I get better overseas throughput on my 18/1.8 Mbps ADSL package than I did on their fibre 30/10 Mbps plan.

</rant off>

Sorry, but I haven't read the previous 150 posts, but does it have to be B20,000 in Thai currency, or can it be the equivalent of B20,000 in Thai currency, like B10.000 in THB and say US$450 in cash?

I've used Aqua Putty (I think that's the name, if not, it's something close to that) to seal leaks in plumbing and bought it at Home Pro.  It's a two part epoxy-type putty that you squeeze/mash together and apply.

There are window covering films, made by 3M I think?, that reduce the transfer of infrared energy through the glass.  Maybe they use something like that?

On 7/13/2017 at 3:13 PM, MJCM said:

We are in the sticks (approx 90 houses in total) (Big City (Buriram) is around 30kms away and the nearest village is around 2kms away) and this morning workers were installing cable around our village. And when asked what cable it was, they said "TOT Fibre", and can you apply to get it in approx 1 month time.

 

So if they are installing Fibre in our Village I wouldn't be surprised, if it is also coming to where you live very soon.

Do you think they'll ever get as daring as to offer it in condo buildings in urban areas?

I just had the same issue with a post-paid AIS account:  They will not accept a non-Thai credit card either via their app or web site.

If you have a Thai bank account with online banking, you can pay that way.  If you're overseas that can be tricky to set up if you don't have global roaming on your Thai mobile account as you need to receive OTPs via SMS that are sent to your Thai mobile phone number.

This is a shot in the dark:

Does the Canon driver install from an .exe file?  If so, right click on the .exe file > Properties > Compatibility tab > select the box for "Run this program in compatibility mode" and choose Windows 7 (if that's where it installed correctly.)  Just for kicks, reboot and try to install the driver again.  This procedure shouldn't make any difference in the world, but I've found it has helped me with other recalcitrant .exe files in the past.

FWIW, I have a Canon iP7270 printer and its driver installed properly in Windows 10 on each of three computers.

Are domestic wines taxed heavily?  I understood that *imported* wines had an *import tax* of 600% or so, but assumed that that was to protect the domestic market, hence domestic product wouldn't be taxed (other than probably the 7% VAT.)

23 hours ago, carlyai said:

I know I'm Australian, so this maybe a wrong thought.
If the air is moving faster round the outside of the filter, couldn't this have a venturi type effect on the air moving through the filter, and pulling most air through the filter?
This would explain the dot in the middle as well as not covering all the filter.

Sent from my SM-J700F using Tapatalk
 

21 hours ago, impulse said:

The partial coverage advice makes sense for an add-on filter material.  

 

If your A/C airflow is high enough to cycle the air several times an hour, even if only 10% of the air goes through the Filtrete, you're still filtering all the air several times a day, while not impeding airflow and cooling.

 

The A/C would operate close the design CFM, and even if the Filtrete plugs up completely, the A/C is still going to work properly.  At 100% Filtrete coverage, the air flow would go very low when the Filtrete plugs up completely- definitely diminishing the cooling efficiency and possibly damaging the works due to low air flow.

 

Interesting points.  (Carlyai:  why would being an Aussie be a factor??)

My use, and this may not be typical of many (most?) Filtrete users, is to not only filter the air in the room, but to keep airborne "junk" from entering the bowels of the air con evaporator.  Having a moderate amount of air not being filtered means that a moderate amount of dirt, dander, pet hair, whatever is being lodged in the evaporator coils and fins, no?

At my last condo, I used Filtrete in the air cons from the day they were new and several of the air con service guys sent out over the years said there really was no need to power spray the wall unit as it was so clean inside.  (I still made them do it.  I was paying them to, so why not?)

Not sure where you are located, but Pattaya has a Sony Service Centre.  I'd be very surprised if Bangkok and other major urban centers don't have them, as well.

[edited:]  Oops, I see your location is Phuket.  Found this on a Sony web page:

Even if that is just a drop point to forward devices to Bangkok, would that satisfy your needs?

Or, even down some of the smaller roads in town, like Third Road.

How many condos here have cladding?  Aren't most of them just paint on bare concrete?

22 hours ago, tolsti said:

Nope it is still there but in the new post Bill O'Reilly era Dr Manny seems to have been nuked along with the vacuous Banderas and Ingraham trying to get their tongues around foreign languages to thank people for watching around the world.

 

It may just be the version we get here that he in vanquished from. 

 

Now... if only Insipid were to.......

I saw Dr. Manny just the other day (yesterday, maybe?) when flipping through channels on Sophon.

12 hours ago, Crossy said:

It does seem counter-intuitive, air, like any fluid, will take the path of least resistance, i.e. around the filtrete.

 

What do the instructions say?

 

You got me.  Anybody care to translate?

The photo in the instructions for step 2 seem to indicate I've been doing it correctly.  I notice that the YouTube video seems to be produced by 3M/Filtrete in India.  Maybe the laws of physics are different over there?

Something that has always made me curious, too:  There is that small "indicator" piece which has a circle of filter material a couple cm in diameter.  You're supposed to put it on the front of the air con case front, like in picture #3 to let you know when the filter material inside the unit is dirty enough to be replaced.  i.e. When you see the circle of filter material turn gray/black, the filter material inside is the same.  How likely is it that the relatively tiny area of filter material on the indicator will match the condition of the inside which is covered 100%?  Again, wouldn't the vast majority of the dirty air enter the air con unit *around* the indicator, leaving it relatively white/clean?