parallaxtech

MB: I am looking for over 3.3% fixed for one year in a major world currency. One problem is that I am a US citizen so some banks will not accept me.

I don't wish to hijack this thread, as I assume it is about savings rates at Thai banks only, but has anyone researched the banks at nearby countries? I would only be interested in over 3.3% fixed in another currency (US$, A$, S$). The little research I did showed interest rates around 1% in Singapore. I am concerned that one day the THB will devalue drastically and I don't want my life savings in it if or when that happens. I currently have the bulk of my money in Bank of America at less than 1%.

It seems that people are getting their tax back on interest taken by banks on fixed interest accounts:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/239828-thai-bank-interest-im-paying-tax/#entry2511376

Has anyone done this on Koh Samui and, if so, where is the tax office?

Hi: I am a US citizen with an embassy letter and went to the Samui IO today twenty days before the extension was due to expire. They told me to come back next week as I was too early. Also, they said I would need the bank book to support the embassy letter. Question: My pension noted on the letter (over 800KB/yr) goes into my US account and I transfer over 1MB per year to my Thai bank account, which my bank book shows. Is this acceptable or do they absolutely want to see the exact amount on the embassy letter deposited each month in the Thai bank?

I had the same problem until I replaced the usb wire (not the dongle). There is a shop across the street from Macro that sells them.

Has anyone ever received a letter from this agency or know of anyone who has ever heard from this US Treasury office that handles the FBAR? I suppose if they have a question it passes overr to the IRS to decide on an audit.

Could you ask the Indians/Pakistanis to write a warning in Hindi/Urdu/Punjabi and post it along the beach road? This would not be risky for the people putting up the notices because the jetski mafia can't read it and this could help many tourists and hurt the criminal jetski business.

PM: S bank 3.3% for six months or 3.7% for 12 mos fixed. Last month I got 4.2% fixed for one year so you have to check with them monthly.

Thanks, CM, I feel better now. I transferred money from a US account to take advantage of the 3.5% interest vs 1% in the US and I wanted to make sure my smart move didn't turn out to be a disaster.

I found this on an old forum:

Deposit Insurance Act

24 June 2008

The Deposit Insurance Act, taking effect on 13 February 2008, establishes a Deposit Insurance Agency to guarantee depositors' funds in the event of a bank bankruptcy. The Agency will reduce the amount insured for each depositor for all deposits insured in the first year, to a maximum insured of 100 million baht the second year, 50 million baht the third year, 10 million baht the fourth year, and 1 million baht the fifth year. According to sources, the act is perceived by many as a means of strengthening consumer confidence in the Thailand financial system.

http://thailawforum....s-June3-08.html

This seems to cover your money in the case of bankruptcy. Other Thais have told me that on the news they saw where bank employees have stolen money from accounts and account holders were not reimbursed for the loss. If anyone has any personal experience of a Thai bank or employee stealing their money please reply.

I learned something interesting from my bank today (purple one starting with "S"). All fixed deposit savings accounts (terms of 3,6,12 mos) are not guaranteed by the bank or Thai government. Regular savings accounts (immediate withdrawal) still have a guarantee up to 1MB. I asked the bank officer if they have ever had a problem with missing funds from these accounts and she of course said never. I would like to hear from anyone out there with one of these accounts whether they are concerned or not.

Does anyone know where I can get my 1X2m window glass w/alum frame replaced? I went to the two glass companied in Maenam and they both said they were too busy for such a small job.

I usually transfer 800k into my savings account four months before just to be safe but this time I am a little late. I will go for the extension around 14 August. If I have the 800K in by 12 May will that be ok (12 May - 12 August 3 mos)?

Ask the seller to send it in a postal envelope not a box. Put either "body lotion, skin cream, or shampoo on the contents." I get health products all the time through the mail without customs fees.

Final Update: The police called us this morning and said that we needed to come get the motorcycle and the parts to it. They said that nobody was available to put it back together. My wife said we could argue with the police but she wouldn't recommend it. When we went to get the bike, who was there as proud as could be, the thief. So, now it is sitting in another shop where it is being assembled and I will of course get the bill.

So I take back my glowing respect for the Thai Police. Once again, amazing Thailand!

I drove by the shop last night at 9pm and it was full of bikes and also full of mechanics putting them back together. I don't know if the police found a whole stash of parts in another warehouse or what. I was a little off on the directions posted yesterday: Leave Tesco heading towards Lamai, go through the first traffic light and you will see a Family Mart on the right, and it is just 30m past that on the right.

Yes, Jimmy, got my 1KB back but will probably donate at least 1KB to the police in the end when they finish with my bike.

If you are leaving Tesco headed for Lamai go through the first light and about 50m down on the right is the small shop (Thai name). Directly across the street is a huge empty lot where they are getting ready to build something. If you go too far you will see the police station also on the right so backtrack about 100m. If you can't find it go to the police station there and ask for "Bon" as I believe he confiscated all the bikes.

When one of my motorcycles was stolen last week I was reluctant to go to the police to report it because I felt it was a waste of time. Yesterday while driving near the police station not far from Tesco I saw the bike in a repair shop, stripped to the bone, but I still knew it was my bike. I went to the police and told them the bike was stolen and was now just 100m away. To my surprise they jumped up and went with me directly to the shop. The owner claimed it was a client's bike but I found my license plate over in the trash plus the numbers matched with mine in the green book. He then said I had given him the bike for repair but of course I denied it. All the bikes in the shop were stripped down so this was obviously some operation going on right under the noses of the police. They arrested the guy and today I have to go to the Bophut police station to make a statement. I am usually the first one to bash the police but in this case I was very appreciative and impressed.

Some questions:

1. Did I do the right thing or should I have just let the bike and thieves go as he could possibly retaliate once he gets out of jail? I have a wife and three dogs to consider.

2. Should I ask to be reimbursed (bike is 8 yrs old)? My wife said to refuse the money.

Just a warning to be careful of the office representing FEDEX located across the street from World Gym. If you need a letter sent overnight or the next day forget about it. I FEDEXed a letter (1,000B) on a Tuesday and by Friday it still wasn't there. I went back to the office and they checked with Bangkok. The letter was still sitting in Bangkok because somebody didn't write their account # on it. The process is that Samui calls FEDEX and they send someone to pick it up, then it goes to Bangkok where it is checked for accuracy. Apparently if anything is wrong it just sits there until somebody calls about it. If anyone is interested I will advise if or when it ever gets there. EMS seems to be the best way to send things from Thailand so I will use them next time. This document had to be at an embassy so I wanted to make sure it got there, but next time I will know better.

I came to almost a complete stop before the light, but then got scared someone would ram me from behind because there was no light. You see Thais going through blinking lights or no lights at over 100K. I think I did the right thing by looking for traffic and then just carrying on. Yes, they gave me a receipt at the police station so it looks like they are starting to get serious about going after violators. I am just wondering how many Thais can afford 1,000B a ticket.

The good news is that there are actually motorcycle policemen looking for traffic violators in Chaweng. The bad news is that I think I was scammed. On the ring road in Chaweng not far from the PTT station I came up on the 3-way but the traffic light was not working at all (no blinking or anything). I slowed down and noticed the other cars slowing down then I looked at the opposing streets and they were all waiting so I went through the light slowly. A motorcycle cop came up alongside me and pulled me over only 10m from the light. He said that I ran the light. I pointed at the light and told him in Thai that it wasn't working. He just took my license and gave me a ticket. When I went to the station I told the sergeant that I was ticketed for running a light that was not working. He said that he knew the light was out of service and that would be a 1,000B fine. I paid it and left.

My question is should I have protested and asked for the boss? Is the average Thai charged 1,000B for something like this?

I did everything from Miami via FEDEX -- go to this site http://www.thaiembdc.org/consular/visa/Non-Imglong.aspx .

As others have suggested the second option is to fly to KL, Malaysia. Welcome to Samui!

NHK: I agree with you when you are discussing thousands of kilos coming into a port using freight forwarders and customs agents. However, we are only talking about the post office in this discussion. If you don't believe that I have received 35 out of 40 items duty-free then ask any of your friends who get small packages at the post office. If any parcel had come in with 60% or even 30% duty I would have never ordered anything again.

Darren: Please learn to read English before getting sick again. The Customs fees are 1800B and the shipping fees (not the declared value of the item) to me are 1800B as I stated correctly. Ebay will not refund the shipping fees to me because I told them honestly that the shipper had delivered the goods to Thailand, but there was a problem with Thai Customs. They will simply deduct the price of the item from my balance in Paypal, which I have already agreed on with the seller. I am not responsible if the Thai government steals the item as it could have been stolen coming or going. If you get caught in a lie with Ebay they will simply close your account.

Roo, please consider closing this post as I was looking for responses from people who were receiving items at the post office.