nigelforbes

Well, unless you know there definitely won't be, best keep the evidence out of public view, don't you think.

We're 22 kms from the City, North. Here, rice paddy is 12/15k tw, about 5 or 6 mill per rai, north Mae Rim. Head up the Mesa Valley towards Samoeng, 15 minutes away, 50 mill. and up, in many many locations.

Not any longer, you just made my ignore list. Byee.

Attempted to assess your sense of humor

Do you know their numbers, somebody put pineapple on my pizza

Isn't that a bit like complaining to a mod about someone's post! Boy, Interpol must be busy.

I know, let's publish the evidence of all cases, before any trial. Then, everyone can vote, innocent or guilty, that way we save the cost of a court case.

Don't they tend to asphyxiate, mid-heist!

I wrote and asked my Brit chum in Taiwan if he'd heard this story and he wrote back to say: "it's a holiday week here in Taiwan, everywhere, including newspapers are operating on skeleton staff, there will be a shortage of newsworthy stories". No sh *t.

Hahahaha. a transparent investigation doesn't involve satisfying farangs curiosity and making a public spectacle out of the whole affair....which the media has succeeded in doing anyway. I sense the herd is swarming and becoming restless.

This really is the basic problem, police have reviewed the CCTV and satisfied nothing is amiss yet farangs demand to see it also because they don't believe them. Show us the footage to prove the innocence of the police? What a joke that is.

Ditto, far too risky to loose it by accident, mine stays in the drawer.

You need to read the BP today and see what the CCTV does show, it looks fairly conclusive in support of the BiB

RTP cannot issue a red notice, only Interpol can and they would need a reason, such as her being found guilty of a crime.

I think not! I think the story about the visa on arrival came from the young lady herself.

Sorry, I didn't notice your location, I never looked and rarely do. I have not enquired because I know there is no good answer. The local landowner is ex-RTP, extremely senior, he's been building and selling houses and seems able to attract Chinese in huge numbers. It look like a one stop service, he takes care of everything for them. I'll ask some discreet questions and try to get some clues. I do know he's connected to people in Immi. and also has someone inside the Land Office, which makes it all even more murky. But I do know that to the Chinese buyers this is not a big outlay by their standards so whatever the risk is, it's financially acceptable to them.

She spoke with interpol, really? That doesn't support her credibility!

You must live in Pattaya I would guess, or similar, because I never see such groups in Chiang Mai, although I have seen them when on holiday and passing through Pataya. I do however see lots of individual Chinese travellers and I know from first hand experience of my wife when she worked at Chedi and later at Anantara that individual Chinese travellers can be very very big spenders. I also know from the many Chinese who have bought land near to where I live that many of them come in on tourist visa's, buy land, build nice houses and then buy brand new fortuners whilst paying 250k per year to put their kids through the international school. We live in different worlds and see very different things, don't knock what you don't see, just because you see something different within a narrow range of vision.

An East European blogger is your source of facts on Thai law concerning passports...really?

I love the way the dynamics of this story have mutated from her being fleeced of 27k for having the wrong visa, to, being fined 27k for illegally vaping in front of them. Interestingly, posters views haven't really shifted that much along with the change in story, everyone is still trying to bash the police. Big sigh.

Here's a readable overview of settlement which is done directly with visa member banks: https://www.theglobaltreasurer.com/2005/02/14/clearing-and-settlement-in-payment-card-schemes/

There is no requirement anywhere that all currency conversions/payments must first be made into USD before they are converted to the destination currency, that is clearly incorrect. USD is for reference only. There is a global practise (not a requirement) that export bills are paid (mostly, about 60%) in USD because that makes price comparisons across a range of currencies easier and it reduces volatility of less stable currency pairs. Even that practise is being used less and less as currency swaps and direct payment between buying and and selling currencies are adopted. The conversion of currencies involved in payment is done directly without using an intermediate currency, the calculation of the exchange rate involves the value of USD but that does not mean a physical transfer is made into USD. As was said earlier, visa networks manages over 180 currency pairs. Networks such as Visa and Mastercard (and others) are able to convert payments between the origin and the destination currency directly and in real time, using P2P networks that involve only the banks. In Thailand (at least), banks here are agents of the Central Bank, they enforce Central Bank policy and administer it hence they are really an extension of the BOT. When I put my HSBC UK debit card into an ATM (that is connected to a visa network or similar) at a bank in Thailand, my request to withdraw 1,000 baht is routed via the network to determine if my account has sufficient funds. The currency conversion value, THB/GBP, is determined using cross currency pair buy/sell rates that include a margin, a network fee and bank charge by the issuing bank, how these fees are packaged and split will vary. As long as the transaction is authorised by my UK bank, the Thai ATM will hand me 1,000 baht. If it is authorised, the network issues a debit to HSBC UK and a credit to the Thai bank. Both are settled at end of day via Visa's netting process and via the Central Banks, using real time FOREX rates held by the network and using stored currencies from other transactions. Visa receives GBP (or a credit for) from HSBC UK and pays THB to the Thai bank, and retains it's margin on the transaction. USD is not physically involved, only the reference to its value for the exchange rate is. What the FOREX sees is non-USD transactions (quite rightly) hence the value of USD/THB doesn't change.

OK, I think this is almost certainly about the network, be it Visa, Mastercard, Cirrus, Maestro or whatever, and P2P transactions which involve the recipient and issuer banks but not the Central Bank. Every bank and ATM must belong to a network. The likes of Visa do the currency conversion offshore Thailand (which is in effect settlement), an example is Visa Direct shown below using Dynamic Currency Conversion or DCC (which is optional but allows for a choice of currency conversions). https://www.investopedia.com/dynamic-currency-conversion-dcc-term-4769305#:~:text=What Is Dynamic Currency Conversion,cardholder preferred currency (CPC).

Yes, thanks, but that's not what we're discussing. The issue is the process used to settle cross border transactions and whether the Central Bank plays a role or just BIS.

I'm going to need some time to research this, I don't mean to imply this is about VisaCard but instead is about the Visa network and Visa settlement. If all tourist currencies were converted to USD first, that would make tourist income the most powerful mover of THB value which I don't think it is and Chartchai already said it isn't. I continue to think that the most probable answer is that Visa (and other networks) issues debits and credits to the issuing and payee banks which are then totalled and settled via BIS and that BOT only plays a passive role in this. Give me a little time on this and I'll come back with my thoughts.