vagabond48

Our plans have changed so we will not be buying nearly enough to be a customs issue. I rather surprised that no one had an answer.

Since there has been no responses to help anyone else in the future, moderators you can delete or close this thread.

My wife and I are planning to buy well over 20,000B of precious metals abroad. When we return to Thailand, I know you are required to declare items if they are worth more than 10,000B for each of us. We will divide the metals between us. We plan to take 100% of these metals abroad in less than 3 months. If we declare these items and pay Thai customs, will we get the customs tax back when we leave Thailand.

And the re-entry permit?

Normally I would get my re-entry permit the middle of the week just after lunch but I decide to test the system. I went yesterday, Friday afternoon at about 2:20PM and with the office being closed Monday April 6th for holiday. I expected them to tell me "no more numbers" but I got one. It was 3 numbers from one displayed. Wow. I got my permit 25 minutes after I arrived. It would have been even faster but for some reason, they called the next number several times for someone who never showed and waiting about 10 minutes before calling the next number. The process is now more streamlined. The officer does all the required passport stamping while you are standing there. I sat down and was called about 5 minutes later to take a photo similar to immigration at the airport which is a new procedure , got my computer printed receipt instead of the normal hand written one.

Just a friendly reminder, if your extension is up from approximately March to August, the online reservation queue generally has plenty of slots if you reserve your slot(s) 100 days before you want to extend. As of 1 minute ago 8:20AM, June 22nd had 4 open slots. No need to even do it at 12 midnight.

You can get a re-entry permit at CM airport. It will cost 100B extra if they do all the paperwork and take a photo. From my last inquiry when I was there last month, it might be free if you come prepared with the required completed documents and photo.

Please note that it is only available with a boarding pass.

I have had to use VPN in the past to access MySocialSecurity but I just signed on successfully. I guess they have loosened the security for overseas access. Thanks bangmai for the heads-up.

Meanwhile, back in Chiang Mai............

How long have you been holding this back,it must be a big relief to get it out? They are now at the top of my boycott list , especially now that you have highlighted the fact that they're probably only in this business for making a profit. Get the timing wrong and it could be costing baht, never mind satang. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that they probably wait a few hours before reducing prices too.

I only use Esso because, although it probably doesn't apply to you, if you spend 900 baht or more you get two 1 litre bottles of Free Water. Worth remembering and going out of your way for.

One good tip deserves another. As regards to staring clear, I sometimes find that eyedrops help.

Sarcastic at 3AM. Must have been a slow night.

The information I shared was not to easily save up to 50B per tank rather to inform those who might be interested in hearing about a company that is being sneaky. In Muang Chiang Mai, the price of gas is usually the same at all gas stations including Shell except when Shell decides raise their price ahead of the others.

Now, I can flush this thread down.

I have been meaning to write about this for a long while. I have noticed on several occasions especially when prices are about to go up that Shell were increasing their price ahead of the other gas stations. Normally the price goes up or down in increments of 50 satang. Depending on the current price, that could be an additional 1 - 2% profit for them. Because of this practice, I just stare clear of them as a norm.

Whenever I am on my bicycle and dogs start to bark and chase me, I first begin to bark back ( I was probably a canine in a former life) and raise my very handy and convenient arm (that's my natural big stick) that startles them and they usually back off.

We had Dukes pizza only once. Although it was tasty, I didn't like that the crust was so thin that even though we waited for it to cool down, each slice when taken fell apart and portion of the cheese wound up on the rack. It might have helped if it had been on a solid platter.

My wife and I did our annual retirement/family extensions today. My visa agent was with me for the complete process.

The agent provided me with 2 online queue appointments at 1:30P. We were not called until 1:55P. The female officer in the back was friendly and efficient. She appreciated that the agent had all the required copies ready and initialed. She seemed to enjoy her job which included a bit of friendly chit chat. After completing the process, The agent asked if we can do the 90 day reports. She asked if he had my paperwork and presented it to her. We went to another station for computer face shots which was new for us. We were out at 2:55PM with 2 visa extensions and 2 90 day reports.

I paid my in-house agent (me, myself, I) a well deserved 11,000B for providing me with excellent visa assistance.

I recommend you check your mirror where you might find your own personal and helpful visa agent.

For us today, the immigration office was working just fine !!!!

Not sure what every one is so excited about. It is common knowledge on these threads that an agent charges 5,500 baht to do your yearly extension. The fellow did one and that is 5,500 baht. His wife did one and that is another 5,500 baht total 11,000 baht common knowledge to these threads.

If they had done his sisters at the same time the cost would have been 16,500 baht.

Beetlejuice do you have a work permit to do that?

please read comment 236

moe666 and beetlejuice, you either need (1) to read more carefully, (2) glasses or (3) to improve your understanding of irony. A good clue to look for is a smiley .

Just to clarify, I have never used an agent other than myself. I have used the online queue since it became available.

Thanks for the locations in Penang to exchange my money.

But I still would like to know the answer to my question to which the better country to do the exchange.

I know there is a very popular money exchanger in Chiang Mai who may have MYR but it doesn't address whether they will have a better rate than in Malaysia so let me ask a different question.

Right I checked X-Rates and 1000 THB will convert to approx 108 MYR so which country's money exchanger would give me the closest rate to this?

it seems you are flying from CM? so this will limit you choices. but dont use thai banks for malaysian ringit exchange.

where exactly in malaysia are you going. specific places will give you a better exchange than other places.

SOME PLACES ARE GOOD SOME ARENT and this changes. YOU NEED TO BE MORE SPECIFIC ON YOUR WHERES.

train border stop exchange is no more.

also be aware that both malaysian and thaland have limits on how much of their currency you can cross the border with. more than myr1000 into malaysia is illegal. more than 50000 baht (i think) out of thai is illegal.

there is also a upper limit of total cash of any denomination in both countries 10000usd equivalent for malaysia and 20000usd equivalent for thai

I'll be flying to Penang with a change of planes at KL. I am looking to exchange no more than 30,000 baht.

I appreciate the suggestions but the issue for me is not where I can exchange THB for MYR but which country I will get the best rate. Besides, I am leaving from Chiang Mai.

I am going to Malaysia and I was wondering where I would get the best exchange rate converting Thai Baht to Malaysian Ringgit, Thailand or Malaysia?

Note: I have plenty of baht on hand so I don't mind converting my baht unless using my US fee free ATM would give me a significantly better rate.

I'm not sure about other countries but back in the US in '06 and '07, before I started getting my extensions here, I was able to get an 1 year non-immigrant type O multiple entry visa twice from 2 different honorary consulates through the mail. Back then, only you needed to be was over 50 and no additional requirements. Some consulates at that time were still issuing them even though they were discontinued so I had to call a few of them. The only issue one might have is that you had to leave the country after every 3 months of stay.

I just wanted to provide an update that my letter finally arrived. It was off the radar for about 16 days. There is no way of knowing whether it was delayed on the Turkish or Thai side. It began tracking again 12/17. Finally arrived in Chiang Mai 12/19. I guess I forget airmail delivery means nothing if there are millions of letters to be delivered before mine.

Thanks anyway for your comments.

A man can do anything that a woman can do. I know, I've seen it with my own eyes. ...

You've seen a man have a baby???

Didn't Arnold "A'll be bock" ? A man of many talents.

They sell many different sizes, second hand, on the pavement on right side, just before back entrance to CMU on Suthep Road. Very good.

I have passed this vendor and many of the 2nd hand boxes have grocery labeling so they probably come from the supermarkets like Macro.

I recommend you check your mirror where you might find your own personal and helpful visa agent.

For us today, the immigration office was working just fine !!!!

Same thing for my yearly extension based on marriage I did in August which again the man in the mirror did for me...Free!

...well 1900 the price of the ext. We had an online Q...showed up 10 minutes before was seen with my wife

Free? My agent charged me 11K but at least promised to take me and my wife on a nice holiday.

My wife and I did our annual retirement/family extensions today. My visa agent was with me for the complete process.

The agent provided me with 2 online queue appointments at 1:30P. We were not called until 1:55P. The female officer in the back was friendly and efficient. She appreciated that the agent had all the required copies ready and initialed. She seemed to enjoy her job which included a bit of friendly chit chat. After completing the process, The agent asked if we can do the 90 day reports. She asked if he had my paperwork and presented it to her. We went to another station for computer face shots which was new for us. We were out at 2:55PM with 2 visa extensions and 2 90 day reports.

I paid my in-house agent (me, myself, I) a well deserved 11,000B for providing me with excellent visa assistance.

I recommend you check your mirror where you might find your own personal and helpful visa agent.

For us today, the immigration office was working just fine !!!!

As we say google is your friend and I have tried 3 to 4 tracking sites including those recommended. There no further entries after Turkey.

I went down to my local PO and he also checked on his computer and found nothing. He told me the letter may be delayed because it is Christmas time. I didn't think that mail coming from a Muslim country (Turkey) going to a Buddhist country (Thailand) would be effected that much by the Christmas mail crunch especially if the envelope left Turkey December 1st.

Thanks for your suggestions.

I got 4 very large boxes from Makro. I will need them in the future. These boxes are extremely sturdy and I'll be packing my 16" wheel folding bike in one of them. I see these boxes all the time the some of the grocery aisle. I believe they packaging delicate bottle displays.

The price is quite reasonable, "FREE".