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). 

8 minutes ago, ozimoron said:

That would be my first pick as well. Whatever the school produces should work on either windows or macos anyway.

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) 

23 hours ago, Toby1947 said:

Come on you Cheap Charlie's 500 baht would get you in one door and out the other in London or any other Capital City. Get a life. 

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

On 4/1/2023 at 4:16 PM, Toby1947 said:

Says it all really Thais unfriendlist b#st#rds on the planet unless of course you're handing them money. 

On 4/8/2023 at 10:36 AM, Liverpool Lou said:

"...if someone calls you pretending to be the IRS and asks for money but you reject their offer, they aren't considered scammers?"

No, obviously, they would be scammers because they'd be potentially taking your money on false pretenses and you'd get nothing in return.   That's a scam. 

The taxi drivers offer a ride for a set price and the passenger gets exactly that, you may not like the fare but it wouldn't be scamming.   If the driver doubles the agreed price on arrival at the destination, that would be a scam.

 

"Is it like that saying where if you bang a ladyboy but don’t get banged it’s not gay?"

No, it's nothing like that.  What have your sexual proclivities got to do with taxi meters?

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

On 4/6/2023 at 4:06 PM, Liverpool Lou said:

"Bangkok airport taxi scammers"

 

You were told how much they wanted to charge (albeit illegally) and you had the opportunity to reject their offers so there was no "scam".   

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? 

35 minutes ago, still kicking said:

Yep, it is, and is very tasty why don't you guys show us what you can cook, or recipes if you have, It does not matter what it is, even a Hamburger or chips even take away, posts just get something going, instead reading all the crap you read all day, it does not matter if you cooked it or your missus. Yes I know I get abused by many posters so be it.

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

On 3/31/2023 at 6:57 AM, Lemsta69 said:

Do you go out much, especially late at night and to popular areas? If so then you've been really lucky to have never encountered a taxi driver who won't use the meter. 

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, 

On 3/30/2023 at 2:23 PM, Polar Bear said:

Was this an official taxi allocated through their system? I.e., you went through the waiting area, got a ticket, and got assigned a driver by the desk? I've used the airport taxis at Don Mueang many times, and they've always used the meter. I'd have gone back to the desk and asked for another taxi in this case. (When they assign you a taxi, they are always very clear that the fare will be the meter + 50 THB airport fee + any tolls. They have a card with it printed out in multiple languages.)
 

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 

On 3/31/2023 at 6:22 AM, drgoon said:

Airport link 45 baht, transfer at Phaya Tai. Cheap and easy.

If I need to use a cab then 500 baht isn't really an issue. In my home town I would pay 4 or 5 times that. 

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

31 minutes ago, JimTripper said:

Did the 500 include tollway fees or not?

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. 

23 hours ago, RayC said:

I usually arrive on a non-O visa. As we are staying longer than 90 days this time I had to do a visa-run last month. Flew out/into DM from the Philippines and "applied" for visa-on-arrival. Female IO remarked that I usually arrived non-O. I explained that I would be flying back to Europe in 40 days time hence VOA. She smiled, stamped my passport and wished me a good stay. Didn't even ask to see an onward ticket.

 

Not sure what this proves as there seem to be no end of different individual experiences.

Nice 

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

36 minutes ago, Jeff the Chef said:

Flew out to HCM/Vietnam Saturday, flew back Sunday morning only out of the LOS about 14 hours/overnight. TBH had no idea what to expect, all ladies on the immigration desks, did the finger print scan and photo, cursory look through passport, 2 previous 45day visa's, plus a 30 day extension, always left before due expiry, no questions, stamp, stamp and a welcome to Thailand from the lady, thank you says I and off I went, no dramas. I'm a 70 year old Brit, and the G/F future wife always says dress smartly, i.e. long trousers and long-sleeved shirt.

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) 

1 hour ago, jacko45k said:

Yes that is my recollection... although DMK supported many more short flights.

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. 

2 hours ago, Caldera said:

For land border visa exempt entries, there's an official, hard limit of two per calendar year. At most land borders, they only care about that limit and won't scrutinize you arbitrarily.

 

Retired in your 20s, the obvious choice for you would be the Elite visa, if you plan to continue to spend lots of time in Thailand.

 

You'd have a hard time explaining the fact that you're already retired to a Thai immigration officer who chooses to question you, and even if they believe it, they could still argue that you need to obtain a longterm visa for your extensive stays. If you were close to the minimum age for the retirement "visa", you might have a chance to get away with what you do for a couple of years, but at your age you really need to consider your options carefully if you wish to continue spending a lot of time in Thailand. 

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. 
 

2 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Read some of your other threads.

Now that you outline age and history you seriously are rolling the dice. 

Why try reenter visa exempt via air

Surely you have border bounce by land  option since it's 2 per calendar year.

 

Even to bounce via air you would choose country with land option eg Laos vs Vietnam.

 

Mid 20,s age asian if I was immigration officer I would refuse you entry with your history. 

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