jgm005

This is not just an isolated incident. I have read on another board of a number of posters using AEON ATMS in Pattaya having the same thing happen. And it was not just the same AEON ATM in PTY being used. The clock keeps on twirling around but no money is spit out but yet the account is debited. Be careful.

Sorry to hear about that Wimpy...

I hope, you're contacting AEON as well...

I posted on their contact numbers for such problems on the prior thread page... See that post here....

The answer is yes. I've brought over, at various times, an assortment of 'toys' with out a hitch. If battery powered I take the cap off and separate the items into different areas of the carry on luggage (I never check bags). Things like dildos, vibrators and strapons came over with out a 2nd look.

I have tried my USA Visa ATM card, Capital One, in any Yellow ATM I've seen from Udon Thani to Nongbulampoo to Khon Kaen to Pattaya and always the 150 bt service fee message pops up. Just a FYI

Elektron card issued by what bank??? And with what network on the card... Maestro, Cirrus, Pulse, Star, etc???

And was it a VISA or MC logo card? And account in pounds or Euros???

The other carrier is T-Mobile which I use. And I have bought several cell phones in BKK and when I get to the USA I take out the Thai Sim and put in the T-Mobile Sim. All is well.

GSM in USA operates on 1900 MHz. AT&T, Cingual? and one other

What that means here is you need to buy a Tri-Band phone. They are quite common. they will be 900/1800/1900 Mhz.

Best is to surf for GSM coverage/network in the city or cities you will be staying/living or visiting.

Hutch in Thailand uses CDMA which may be compatible with US CDMA someone else will have to answer that.

On another board somewhere, forgot where, I noticed a post stating that SCB and BofA ATM's where slowly being changed to only charge 15 bt for a fee on foreign cards. While in the city of Nongbulampoo this morning I tried the two BofA (yellow ATM's) and the fee was to be 150bt.

I noticed a rather new SCB ATM near the market and tried it also. After being prompted for a number of 'English' Language screens I finally got to the withdrawal screen. It clearly stated that a fee of 20bt would be charged for a foreign card transaction. When I actually tried to withdraw $$, as a test, the screen went blank and stayed that way until I hit the cancel button. This happened twice. I do not know if this is what happens when the ATM has no funds but, again, it clearly stated in English that only a 20bt fee would be charged. Now whether this is a different fee than the 150 bt charge I do not know.

I know SCB ATM's use to charge a small fee, 20 bt actually, before the 150 bt fee came into play but once the 150 bt fee came in I never used another SCB machine until today.

Will try again another day.

On the way to Aek Udon hospital I went to the Udon Thani Airport Immigration Office. As others said it is to the far right in the old domestic terminal in the old departure area. Went there to get some TM-7 forms for a future tourist visa extension. There where a few tables put together with one officer and his side kick who would do the stamping of any receipts. A few people behind them in what looks like a copy room. In the cashier's officer there where about 3 female staff waiting for business.

I asked the officer if the place was permanent and got a response to the effect it was. I asked if they do visa extensions and got a firm yes. I asked if they are fully open and got another firm yes. The two people in front of me had one doing a 90 day report and the other doing a re-entry permit. There is no formal system of taking a number or such. It is the 'notice where you are in the line' and make your way to the front when it is your turn. While there I was 3rd in line with a few others coming in. I was there about 10am/Monday/16 November.

If this all holds true, for me, it is great! I hate going to the BKK immigration office, especially now that it is moved out to a new spot.

With AEON having their HQ in the Exchange Tower at Asoke, are you aware of any ATM there? I had emailed them querying that but, as expected. no response.

Sorry JGM, I don't know the answer on that.... But it's near my home, and I've been meaning to stop by sometime to see. Maybe I can soon. Until then, I've been alternating between the basement of Paragon and Carrefour Onnut.

I received a reply from their HQ at Exchange Tower and they said to go to the local branch at Ocean Tower/Soi 19.

jfchandler, Appreciate the repost of AEON ATMS. I had not used them for there where GSB machines close by where I stayed but now they are charging I shall use AEON.

With AEON having their HQ in the Exchange Tower at Asoke, are you aware of any ATM there? I had emailed them querying that but, as expected. no response.

Since it's more pertinent now with the demise of GSB, I'll repost my AEON ATM favorites list for the central Bangkok area... Cheers.

(If anyone has any additions, please post them here, and I'll keep the AEON list updated, as long as it remains relevant for folks).

AEON ATMs -- Bangkok Area

Carrefour On-Nut, 1st Floor Carrefour On-Nut, indoor parking area, wall near store entrance

Siam Paragon, basement level (one below food/market level) Go down escalator at Café Ninth

Central Chidlom, BF1 Floor Central Chidlom (not yet found???)

Tesco Lotus FortuneTown, 1st Floor, far end near produce section

Mabunkrong (MBK) Center, 2nd Floor Mabunkrong Center

Victory Monument, southwest corner, standalone ATM, near outdoor clothes stands

Big C Ratchadamri, 1st Floor Big C Ratchadamri, opposite Central World, near Chidlom BTS

Siam Center 2nd Floor Siam Center, Siam/Central BTS

Jusco Sukhumvit 71 (Phra Kanong), 1st Floor Jusco Sukhumvit 71

Central Silom/Silom Complex, 2nd Floor, head right from BTS entry

CP Tower, 4th floor AEON Office, back rear left corner, Silom Road near Soi Convent

J Avenue 1st J Avenue Navanakhon

Jusco Ratchada, 3rd Floor Aeon Spot Jusco Ratchadapisek

Robinson Ratchadapisek, 1st Floor Robinson Ratchada

1st Floor Serm-Mit Tower (159 Sukhumvit Soi 21/Asoke near Soi Prassamitr) AEON H/O

jmg005: is that no fees for both a SWIFT and for a cash advance? i've got free SWIFT, but still have the 1% foreign transaction fee for ATM and purchases.

SNIPPED ....

There was no fee of any kind for the SWIFT using Vanguard. My ATM is with Capital One and there is no 1% foreign transaction fee for it. My Local Credit Union ATM, which I do not use overseas, does charge the 1% fee.

I have not done a Cash Advance; "yet".

Vanguard had no fees. It took about 3 weeks to get the link set up between Kasikorn and Vanguard and with it I can now initiate a wire transfer from Vanguard.

Truth #1: AEON ATMs throughout Thailand remain fee-free, and are the only widespread fee-free ATM option that remains at this point. ...

"widespread"?

Can you provide a list? I've tried their website ( http://www.aeonthailand.com/ ) but all links are bad.

I'd really like to know how to find other AEON ATMs in my area (since the one I was using got closed down recently...[big frown] )

The following link from the AEON site works:

http://www.aeonthailand.com/lang/en/menu/Service_Location

I found your thread interesting. With the 150 bt rip off fee now being charged by all Thai Banks except for AEON I have been looking at a different way to move money into my Kasikorn Account.

Last week I did a SWIFT transfer from my Vanguard Account (no fees and one can do it on line). I knew about Kasikorn's fees (my account is in BKK) but the exchange rate that Kasikorn used was not the rate, for the day, if one looked it up in XE.COM. It was close to but not quite exactly the rate Kasikorn showed on their website for the date received!

The next time large money is needed I am going to have the better half do a cash advance.

Thanks for the information!

Yes, The GSB honeymoon is over. Yesterday, 01/October there was no fee. Today, 02/October the fee is showing up. In the a.m. of today the local GSB ATM would not work for a foreign card but later on it did and the fee showed up. The ATMs where in Nongbulampoo and Nonsang respectfully.

AoT beefs up security at Suvarnabhumi

Baggage staff coming under closer scrutiny

-- Bangkok Post 2009-07-31

As we all know this is just a joke. Nothing changes. The wife flew into BKK (from LAX) and caught a Air Asia connecting flight up to Udon Thani. She just called pissed off. Someone had gone through her baggage and took anything of value. The lock was broken and contents where rifled through. Nothing will ever change ...

Retired at 54.

Applied for S/S at 61 10 months.

Started when I hit 62.

Piece of cake to get it going.

You can avoid the 150bt Thai charge if you stick to GSB (Government Savings Bank)(Visa Only) or UOB or AEON ATMs'. Plenty of them around in BKK, Pattaya

Hi,

I'm coming to Thailand for a couple of months on a double entry tourist visa.

Ignoring the obvious security issues I'm wondering if I should bring the $15000 Australian

I plan to spend and open a Thai bank account whilst in Thailand instead of using my Australian ATM card

My bank charges $4 plus 2% for a foreign ATM withdrawal, add the Thai banks 150 Baht and 15 withdrawals would cost me. Correct me if calculations are wrong please.

$1000 @ 2% $20

Withdrawal fee $ 4

Thai ATM fee $ 5.5 (150 baht)

$29.5 x 15 =

$ 442.50

Thanks.

There is a GSB, Government Savings Bank, ATM at the ASOKE BTS Station. Walking to the station on the left side of Sukhumvit, you will go up an escalator. Then immediately on the left is a GSB exchange booth with an ATM next to it on the right side.

Could anyone tell me whether there are other fee-free ATM's, aside from Bank of Ayudyha, around the Sukhumvit Road area? I'm currently based near Soi 7.

Cheers....

Lengthy response ...

It has been reported by a number of folks that going to IE8 has caused problems as you noted with your situation. Here is some information that may be of help. It is from a weekly news letter I receive and it has had a number of articles on IE8

========

Simple fixes for problems related to IE 8

Dennis O'Reilly By Dennis O'Reilly

If the installation of Internet Explorer 8 knocks your Windows desktop for a loop, you may be able to repair things without having to revert to an earlier version of the browser.

Restoring explorer.exe or refreshing your network connection could be all that's required to return a shattered system to working order.

Every software installation or update is fraught with peril. You never know when a relatively minor system change will cascade into a big-time headache.

In the June 11 Known Issues column, computer repairman Bob Millard described how he restored several XP notebook systems for his clients after the installation of IE 8 resulted in blank desktops (no icons, no nothing). We subsequently heard from several readers who offered additional, straightforward solutions to similar problems that IE 8 had induced or worsened. Travis Walden's approach, which restarts Windows' Explorer shell, is about as simple as fixes get:

* "I had a similar issue with my laptop after installing IE 8. However, I came across a much easier solution. Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to bring up Task Manager. Click File, New Task (Run). Type explorer and press Enter. This brings up the desktop icons, taskbar, Start menu, and everything else that failed to launch on my laptop."

David C. Battistoli's problem was somewhat different, but his solution was similarly quick and effective:

* "I recently read the tip submitted by Bob Millard, written up by Dennis O'Reilly, and published in Issue 201. Although we had rather different circumstances, there were a few similarities — mostly, no network of any kind and no icons on the desktop. (I never tried to access any USB devices, so I don't know whether or not they were affected.)

"This was on a friend's Vista laptop, and the problem just seemed to happen of its own accord. I started working on it and doing the various voodoo tasks often necessary to get a Windows system running again. When in Safe Mode with Networking, I had a desktop and a system, but still no networking. There were other possible clues, but the biggest one was that the EventLog service was stopped and couldn't be started. When I tried to start it manually, Windows displayed Error 1747.

"It turns out that the TCP/IP stack had become corrupt. In this case, I was able to open a command prompt (by right-clicking it and selecting "Run as Administrator") and use the command netsh winsock reset [and press Enter]. The system needed to restart, but after that it worked fine.

"This has been a problem I've encountered since early WinXP days. It's quite rare, doesn't seem to have any particular rhyme or reason, and I'd really hoped that Vista would have fixed it. Still, it's a rather benign (albeit annoying) problem with a pretty easy solution."

Robert A. Palmer believes the IE 8 problems that Bob Millard and others reported on may involve more than meets the eye:

* "Just a quick comment on the reported IE 8 install issues. From the description of the problems, it sounds as if these computers had pre-existing issues exposed by the installation of IE 8 rather than problems caused by IE 8 itself. Remember that IE 8 is an integral part of the OS and as such is only as stable as the underlying health of the OS.

"In 17 years of supporting computers and networks in a Windows environment, I've found more often than not that major patches, updates, etc., seldom have major holes glaring back at you. If an update installs on 99% of computers with no issues, you can't defame it for the failure to install on 1% of computers. It's like saying that exercise is bad because in 1% of the population it may cause death."

As with most Microsoft updates, IE 8 will install without a hitch on the vast majority of PCs. Still, if you're one of the unlucky few whose system is hosed by a Windows update, the only thing you're interested in is getting the fix as soon as possible.

As Robert points out, some updates may uncover problems that existed on the machine beforehand but weren't apparent. Microsoft can't guarantee that updates it releases will be problem-free. Still, when problems arise, we owe it to our readers to publish workarounds to any glitches that affect a substantial number of Windows users.

Bootable utilities enhance PC troubleshooting

Bob Millard's solution to his clients' IE 8-related problems involved the use of PC troubleshooting programs. Klaus Liebold is curious about these tools:

* "Bob Millard claims 'The only way I could get them back was by using one of my bootable utilities that would allow me access to the restore points.' Any chance of finding out what those utilities are? I would love to buy just one and I'm sure that most of your readers would be interested as well."

Keep your money in your wallet, Klaus. You don't have to buy a bootable troubleshooting utility — some of the best of these tools are available for free. WS contributing editor Mark Edwards reviewed four such programs in his Aug. 14, 2008, PC Tune-Up column. The best programs scan for malware in addition to recovering PCs that fail to boot up.

Looking for the feel-good Windows stories

It can be tough to sound cheerful when you write about PC problems, security threats, and the questionable practices of some vendors. That's why we sympathize with Jim Elder when he responds to the somber tone of so many articles:

* "When you do have bad news to report — and you will — I'd hope you will have some depth. The piece titled "Problems confirmed with Vista Service Pack 2" gave an example of a single guy with a problem. How many thousands of people have installed Vista SP2? All you could identify was one guy?

"If you're going to warn me about a problem, I'd appreciate a little more credibility than just one guy who had a bad experience. If one guy's bad experience was enough to hold me back, I'd never install or purchase anything. I expect a little more credibility from a professionally published newsletter. I can get the one-unhappy-guy coverage from any number of user forums. (Conversely, I'd expect a "run out and get this now" article to be based on more than a single user's good impressions.)

"Anyway, thanks for listening to my hopefully constructive criticism. I do appreciate the newsletter."

Rest assured, if you see a problem covered in Windows Secrets, we've heard about it from many readers, though for the sake of brevity our article may quote only one.

IE8 seems to be typical Micro$hite software, try going back to IE7 or go for Firefox 3.0.11 (superb browser when matched with the plugins)

I use Firefox on my notebook via Phone as a GPRS modem (DTAC) & Firefox loading times are better than IE7, I accidentally installed IE8, within 24hrs I was back to IE7.

With Micro$hite, new ain't always better !

OS = operating system

DL = download

FF = Firefox

Get firefox here: (I would not use latest 3.5.1 Firefox release as many plugins are not compatible yet & best to use good stable versions for testing)

ENGLISH UK - http://hyperion.zih.tu-dresden.de/moz/fire...up%203.0.11.exe

ENGLISH US - http://mozilla-mirror.3347.voxcdn.com/pub/...up%203.0.11.exe

THAI - http://mozilla-mirror.3347.voxcdn.com/pub/...up%203.0.11.exe

USE ATMS BELONGING TO AEON, GOVERNMENT SAVINGS BANK OR UOB, AND PAY NO ATM FEE.

To save me reading through 65 pages of posting (did manage the first 12!) , can some kind person point me to which Bank's ATMs I can use to avoid the 150 baht transaction fee when I use my Visa branded debit card? (we'll be in both B'kok and Chiang Mai)

AEON, UOB and GSB ATMs (Government Savings Bank) do not have the 150 bt service charge

Are there any banks in Chiang Mai not charging foreign ATM transaction fees?

I stand corrected. Thanks

JGM, the point with Ayudhya is not whether their ATM is warning about a fee, but rather, are they actually charging one after the warning. Others have reported here getting the ATM fee warning on the screen, but not being charged the fee. However, that was in past weeks.

We really need more Ayudhya users to chime in here and indicate whether they're getting fee'd or not.

We appreciate all the feedback. As said we where letting all know our particular experience. And we where very aware of the 'thin ice' we where on in trying to get her in being out 10 months and a history of more outs then ins.

We are both in the States now and I am looking into filing for a Re-Entry permit (I-131). Just as a point of clarification you can NOT file for same electronically. Least in her case:

Who is Not Eligible to e-File This Form:

You are not eligible to electronically file this form if:

*

You live outside of the United States, Guam, Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands.

*

You are applying for a waiver of the filing fee.

*

You are requesting that your case be expedited.

*

You are inside the United States and are filing for Humanitarian reasons.

*

You are selecting one of the following application types:

1.

I am a permanent resident or conditional resident of the United States and I am applying for a Reentry Permit.

Thank you to all

For info on getting a re-entry permit form I-131 see this webpage. You can download instructions and the form from this page. The instructions have a good deal of info about the time you can be outside the country and etc. If you are still in the states you can also apply for it on line.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/men...0004718190aRCRD

When I attempted to use a Capital One MM Visa ATM at said bank at Don Muang airport a week ago (as a test) the 150 bt fee notification came up. I canceled same.

Bank of Auyudhya. Do they, or don't they charge the 150B fee?

Ye... we never did get a definitive answer on that ..for me Auyudhya are still not charging when I use Nationwide Visa debit in Pattaya.

This is not a request for help or information but to let others know of our experience.

My Thai wife has a Green card (USA Permanent Residence). She was out of the USA for a stretch of 10 months (from 08/2008 to re-entry 06/2009). She did not have a Re-Entry Permit. We were keenly aware of the gray area of a Green Card holder being out more then 6 months but less than a year that a USA Immigration office could deny entry.

We arrived at LAX this past Tuesday and we where asked the standard questions, finger prints taken THEN I saw him input her Green Card A # into the computer and scanned screen after screen showing her dates of entry and dates of departure. She has been out, over the time she has had the green card, much more then she has been in (USA). He turned to us and say 'Folks what are you doing, your not meeting the requirements of residency'. As said I knew this; as the only daughter to elderly parents in very ill health (Nongbulampoo Province) she was in Thailand MORE then in the USA. This past trip was suppose to be only four month but the mother when in to hospital for an extended time.

I was directed to get the luggage and she was taken to area Z which is some kind of Admissions Review area. After a wait of two hours she was called in, questioned by an immigration officer who then approached me outside the area asking if I was married to her, how long, was she out any other time longer then 10 months and some other general questions. As he started to return to where she was sitting he casually mentioned 'it'll be all OK'. She was let go and the same office approached me and said she had been out one time before longer then 10 months. That the next time get a Re-entry permit before leaving (a 8 to 12 month wait) or go to the USA Consulate in BKK to get same.

She was let in. I am not excusing our not getting a Re-Entry Permit. Just passing on to anyone interested our experience.

Don Muang IS NOT closed. Nok Air operates from there to various places.

Being that we have a home in Nongbulampoo I/we are frequently flying into UTH (Udon Thani). Primarily using

Nok Air.

Thai Air does NOT fly from DMK (Don Muang) to anywhere

Air Asia does NOT fly from DMK (Don Muang) to anywhere

Thai Air has flights from BKK (new airport) to UTH

Air Asia has a afternoon flight, 16:15, from BKK (new airport) to UTH

www.nokair.com

www.airasia.com