dj230

Anyone know which banks are okay with opening an account for a foreigner with a tourist visa? Would like to keep some of my funds in Thailand, not much, don't need chequing account, savings account is fine, limits are fine and fees are fine. Looking for a bank with a good online system, can accept and send out wires easily. Had a small walk around the mall I am at, future park rangsit and all the banks were asking for a work permit (SCB, kasikorn, krungsri), going to try bangkok bank another day they were a bit busy, might try UOB/Citi (since UOB bought it).

The new macbook air is really revolutionary, with the m1 / m2 chips, they've essentially opened the door with those with a smaller budget to access extremely fast computation which is going to give a lot of opportunities to them as if they has $3000-$4000 laptops in the prior years. Stuff like video editing, photo editing, software engineering, etc. can now all be done on these macbook airs which only could have been done prior on machines costing thousands of dollars. I think a used macbook air m1 would cost maybe 20,000 baht? (a brand new macbook air m2 is like 30-40k) a 10,000 baht windows laptop wouldn't even be able to do 20% of the macbook and and its battery life would last 20% the time as well

10k is a bit low for a laptop budget a bit more and you could get an m1 macbook air, (the 2020 one), the m2 macbook air is even better, both will last a lot longer than a 10,000 baht windows computer and are going to be way better as well.

Riding a motorbike with out proper gear or insurance…

Every pharmacy has it, can get it at boots, was like 10 or 25 baht for 10 pills (500mg)

This is coming from you , old men are always grumpy and miserable

But the caller is offering their services, you could just refuse it, why on earth would it be a scam? Lol a taxi driver in bangkok is legally supposed to use a meter. charging 2-3x the price vs a meter is a scam

Infrastructure still lacking from what i see, hope to see more charging stations at malls, condos, and in parking lots Sat in a Neta V today for a grab ride, really smooth, seats did feel a bit cheap but you can’t really complain. I checked the price and $15,000USD, wow, why own a gas car anymore? wonder if these things are reliable, maybe they’ll last 5-10 years but for $15,000 that still seems like a great deal.

Interesting take on it, so if someone calls you pretending to be the IRS and asks for money but you reject their offer, they aren't considered scammers? Is it like that saying where if you bang a ladyboy but don’t get banged it’s not gay?

and this is why covid lasted so long, what could have been a contained outbreak...

I rarely cook, but if it makes you feel better I thought that was from a restuarant. Only western food I really eat here is fast food. Texas chicken has been the best for me, better than kfc/burger king/mcdonalds in my opinion. I will say though, a "steak" in Thailand is more like a diner steak, vs in America where a steak is more like a steakhouse. Had it a few times at eat am are, can't complain.

what is that?

Too many tourists now don’t need it

Not really a night life person but I go out a lot, at least 4-5x a week (sometimes everyday) I’ll use taxis to and from a location, I rarely take public transit because taxis are so cheap here. I lived in pleonchit for 1 year and rangsit for another year and never had an issue they’ve always used the meter i usually go to malls though, siam paragon, central embassy, central world, future park rangsit,

No it wasn’t, you’re right actually, there was a taxi system there but I didn’t use it, I just walked out the airport and a taxi driver flagged me down

Let me know next time you need a taxi ???? I will drive you a few km for 500 baht any day!

On grab it was 180 baht , I guess I should have mentioned that I’m assuming it would have included toll fees but I guess we’ll never find out

Lived in bangkok for 2 years and never had an issue with taxis, until today I always used grab or just got in a taxi and get the meter, but today flew back from Malaysia to Don Mueang Airport and hopped in a taxi, he asked me for 500 baht and said he wouldn’t use the meter, told him no way and he dropped me off He was pretty nice about it, all things considering. I said I lived here for a while now and can just call grab, he said it would take an hour As I got out his taxi another taxi driver approached me and said if i need a taxi, I asked yes but will you use the meter he said oh never mind it’s ok just call grab.

Just arrived, no issues at immigration, they just asked me for an onward flight, I showed them my flight for May and he smiled and said welcome to Thailand Didn’t ask about the 20,000 but I had 20,000 cash incase i stayed 2 nights in Malaysia, which I have to say wasn’t very interesting (I guess Vietnam next time) Didn’t ask me for any hotel booking, where I will stay, or anything although I will admit everyone else got stamped in no questions asked and I was one of the only ones that got asked to show a proof of onward flight, which is understandable considering my travel history. thanks to everyone in the thread, I landed at don Mueang, immigration was super nice and smooth.

Nice

I’ll report back once I arrive, sounds like people aren’t having any issues though

Which airport? yea I’ve had the same experiences you mentioned no hassles and everyone’s been friendly but you never know im wondering if you really only get slack from immigration if you’ve been causing trouble in Thailand, I.e overstays, tickets/fine (breaking the law), etc. I’ve always made sure to never overstay and I don’t break any laws in Thailand, (I.e motorbike without license/helmet, drinking alcohol in public/wrong times, don’t go to clubs/party)

I remember the big airport immigration was super chill/laid back when I came in December, even made me regret getting a tourist visa. Was a few minutes each traveller and stamp no questions asked. hoping DMK is the same, I’m a pretty chill looking person, don’t really look like the backpacker type, or typical person who goes to Thailand to “party”, hopefully that helps.

I was going to get an elite visa but not sure if I’ll stay in Thailand, just don’t want to pay for 5 years and stay 2 years this is actually my last trip to Thailand (most likely, until next year 2024) if they let me in I’ll stay, if not I’ll just head back to Canada for a bit, I have some stuff I need to do back in Canada for about 12 months anyways.

is a land border entry safer? yea i guess you're right, the thing is im kind of retired, just hanging out in south east asia because its cheap to live, i have an outbound flight back to toronto in may, i'll bring 20k cash i guess to try and help my odds