Everyman

Mathematics and financial literacy vindicate credit card use. Cash is not king. Credit is king, and understanding it is a valuable financial tool.

Far be it from be to contradict all the great grandpas in here - I’m surprised they don’t recommend paying with goats or bronze ingots - but credit cards are far and away the most secure form of payment in existence. You’re not paying with your money until you pay off the balance. Until then it’s the bank’s money and they will get it back from a vendor if there’s a problem, or just activate the insurance that’s included on every single purchase. There’s also sign up bonuses that can earn you a business class ticket back to or from the other side of the Earth. I really hope they ban cash like has been talked about with so much fear lately. They don’t use it at all in China and nobody seems to miss it.

Who in their right mind brings cash when they travel? Use your ATM card like a normal person. This isn’t 1977. And yes I know the ATMs charge ฿200+ per transaction. Get a card that pays you the fees back.

I see a lot of street cooks just throw it on the grill twine and all (which then melts).

I notice a lot of sausages are bound with red plastic twine at the ends that melts when grilled. Is this some kind of special twine that is designed for this and healthy? Or is it just leaving melted plastic behind? Some sausages appear to be bound with cotton string and that would seem to be better.

that “common knowledge” is out of date. i have tried more than 30 branches with no success

That’s better then when they turn to their colleague and say “Alai wa?” that makes me want to slap them into next week. so unbelievably rude.

Apple Pay works at 7-11.

I was trying to get it to work but eventually gave up.

You need a work permit to get a credit card, and they will only give you a secured card which will be just about useless compared to a debit card.

The banks must be losing incredible amounts of money from prospective customers. But as I’ve commented privately to people, they just don’t give a damn. You could show up with a dump truck full of gold looking for a place to keep it and they would laugh at you and tell you to ‘eff off.

If I were you I would buy stock in lithium mines, because idiotic governments are mandating electric cars but there isn’t enough lithium in the entire world to make enough batteries. Consequently the price of lithium will be astronomical in 5 years. In twenty years it will be normalized however because there will be newer battery technologies and the lunacy of electrification will be historical by then.

Yeah, well I predict it will go up 10,000% There you have it, another prediction. See how it easy it is make them? Seriously though, it would be nice to know if Thailand has any online trading platform like have existed for decades in the US. This stuff about “calling a broker” seems very 1970s to me.

That isn’t true. In the US, lots of forms of foreign IDs can be used to open bank accounts. A passport can be used but is not needed if other forms of ID are available. https://promo.bankofamerica.com/international-banking/professionals/

I see on a lot of forums people saying that every branch has their own rules and you just need to keep trying. But if this was ever true, it isn’t anymore, and branches have standardized their procedures. As usual someone will say “i just opened an account and it and it was so easy” but then it turns out they are on a one year non immigrant OA and not a tourist visa or it was 6 years ago or something.

Would someone please explain to me why people are carrying cash around all over the place and across borders? It’s a huge liability.

I am busy with projects that require a workspace like a desk and a chair. Sometimes I travel between towns near Bangkok but I can’t spare the time to stop working while I am in transit. A taxi doesn’t have a table and an SUV from Bolt doesn’t either. A bus table is not optimal because of scheduling. Are there limo services or something that have a proper desk where work can be done?

Why don’t you just SWIFT transfer the money to a Thai account? Why mess around doing ATM withdrawal in cash?

What is กล้วยน้ำว้า in English? A Google search in Thai was inconclusive. One site said “Ducasse banana” but seemed unsure of itself. I would like to know the name of this banana cultivar in English.

Isn’t Monday a holiday?

Maybe you typed in your account number wrong or something

I think what will happen is that the new system won’t work unless you have a Thai national ID card, such that “farangs” won’t be able to transfer more than 50k baht at a time from their phones. I would be happy to be wrong about that prediction but I am pessimistic.

If their policy change negatively affects joint accounts, and they don’t care, then what are we to think?

I used to wonder about that in regard to the tailor shops. Some shops, in Bangkok I had never seen a single person in there in 10 years. Zero customers. Yet there they were, still open.

Try opening an account online, I think those only require a Thai ID card