spongeworthy

Worth driving? Yes.

Worth owning? No.

BMW and Benz are cars to be leased, as after the warranty period ends, the inevitable maintenance and repairs will end up costing you more than the car is worth. Lease one for a couple of years if the deals here make sense and hand over the keys when the lease is up and you've likely gotten the thrill of owning a slow Thai BMW out of your system.

Personally, I wouldn't bother with the 2.0 BMWs they sell here as I don't see the point. If I want a fun and fast car, a 2.0 really isn't doing it for me (do the Thai BMWs play vroom vroom noises over the audio system like they started doing back west?). If I'm looking for a luxurious ride, Mercedes is light years ahead of BMW.

I left Bangkok a few of months ago, and from my condo it was easy to see that 99% of condos in that area were at 5% occupancy, with a few approaching 10%. The condo I vacated is still sitting empty 2+ months later and it was basically on the highest available floor. The expats have not returned and the tourists are not shopping at supermarkets.

I get a kick out of seeing youtube videos with the agents talking about how things are picking up fast and you better grab a place now while there are still deals because prices are going up... that was 6 - 8 months ago. ????

That and the complete lack of businesses catering to farang on Soi 5 leaves you with an empty Foodland.

On 4/10/2023 at 12:12 AM, Sticky Rice Balls said:

install thai padlock on his door when hes asleep...slip paper under door for him to sign if he is willing to vacate when he awakes to find hes locked in

Funny but I wouldn't recommend it as this is called false imprisonment / illegal detention. Lock anyone in anywhere for 5 seconds and you're looking at being locked in a prison cell for up to 5 years.

Quote

are there any "express" options (eg. via an agent and if so, any recommended ones) for getting a licence without having to go to the Land Transport Office and doing a test?

Your friend will likely have to go to the office at least once as they need to take a photo and fingerprint (or is the fingerprint only used for the exam?).

But yes, an agent has offered me what your friend is looking for. I went with the more legit option as it was cheaper and I wasn't worried I'd fail the tests.

The exams are a bit of a joke and another person there passed the riding test without even taking it, simply because the proctor was otherwise occupied or didn't want to deal with the guy.

3 minutes ago, DUS said:

Based on all you guys have said above so far it seems that I shouldn’t reallyworry too much about “overusing” the internal SSD of the Mac. The reason I asked was particularly due to the fact that you cannot replace the internal SSD if/when it goes belly up.

With standard use I wouldn't worry about the drive lifespan due to usage. Most likely failure will be a hardware failure from a defect. I have TLC drives running 7+ years now in 24/7 environments and they're still going strong (these are consumer level Samsung Evo 2.5" SATA drives).

BUT, when SSDs get full, they do get slower. Once you're at 80% or so you'll probably notice a difference in speed. This is where the external drive can come in handy. If you're storing large files such as videos on the external drive, you'll keep your internal drive running at optimally.

4 minutes ago, DUS said:

But based on what you said and what I have read during my “research” it might be a good idea to add an external HDD for backup purposes. I’ve been using a WD MyBook 3TB HDD for a much longer time than what the say is the expected life expectancy of an HDD (3-5 years?). Are the current WD MyBook 4 TB external drives still considered to be ok for backing up your PC/Mac?

The life expectancy is based on what they want to warranty and calculated MTBF (mean time between failures) based on warranty claims and other data and testing. I have WD 3.5" enterprise SATA drives in backup servers going on 12 years running 24/7 and surviving multiple moves between data centers. A couple failed over the years due to heat, but if undisturbed and operating in < 30c temps, spinning drives can last a long time.

1 minute ago, ozimoron said:

Fail to pay that $7 just once and paf. Would you really want to trust that for the rest of your life? Or that they won't fail? I would never use the cloud to backup really valuable stuff.

 

If one is really intent on cloud storage then Wasabi might be a better bet at $5.99 / Tb per month.

Something to keep in mind is that this is just a backup for the event that the on-premise drive fails or is otherwise "lost". If that were to happen at the same time that his cloud provider had some major failure and lost all of their multiple copies of the data, then I guess an on-premise storage solution would be a savior. But in my experience, even small business users can't be bothered to manage rotating drives or tapes on a regular basis. I just don't think a home user who is not a techy or generally OCD about backups will keep up with the routine and connect the drive daily/weekly to keep the backups updated. You certainly don't want to keep a backup drive online and connected 24/7 to protect from potential malware encrypting or deleting the backups.

Wasabi is one I do use as a storage bucket for other backup systems, just haven't used their consumer product. They get a thumbs up from me in that the storage has always been fast (from US datacenters) and hasn't failed, but again, no idea what their consumer "PC backup" product is like.

It really boils down to how much data do you anticipate needing over the next few years, and whatever your comfortable spending. I wouldn't bother planning out 10 years for storage needs as the cost of storage drops quite quickly, especially SSDs as they're newer than HDDs and have more headroom for growth along with the overwhelming majority of R&D resources going into solid state. In 3 years you'll be picking up 4 - 8TB drives for 5k baht, so if you need more space in a few years there will be faster and larger storage options at half the price you'd pay for similar today.

As for backups, cloud storage is relatively cheap and more secure than a lone drive in your house which can be either fail, be stolen, lost in a fire or flood, etc. Backblaze is $7/month for unlimited backup storage for 1 PC/Mac with discounts for purchasing 1 or 2 years in advance. I haven't used them myself, nor any other consumer level backup solutions, but there are quite a few to choose from.

3 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

FWIW, Schwab I believe offers clients who maintain sizable balances with them a certain number of free international wires, last time I checked.

I have stop being so lazy and look into what my FIs offer. 

Hopefully I won't need any free wires if I'm able to make use of this cash advance option.

10 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Generally speaking, as long as your debit card doesn't have any foreign currency fees, a counter transaction via a MC or Visa debit card is going to result in a better net outcome than any normal wire transfer....

 

That's because even if your sending bank has free international wire transfers (and most don't), the receiving Thai bank is always going to charge a receiving fee, if memory serves, typically 0.25% with like a minimum 200 baht and maximum 500 baht fee, and do the exchange at their TT rate.

Kasikorn has a flat $10 fee for incoming wires, on my account at least. Fees vary for US sending bank based on account class, from waived to $35. Looks like Schwab charges $15, but I've never used them for wires.

27 minutes ago, spongeworthy said:

A bit hard to calculate historically as the Visa rate seems to lag MC by a day... maybe a browser date+time issue.

 

Also is this the avg rate for the day? The high rate? Low rate? Rate at a specific time of the day? XE shows me a chart with the varying rates throughout the day.

 

I looked up a previous transfer and the Visa/MC vs Kasikorn buy rate look to be substantial. 0.877% difference. At the $15k daily limit that's $131 better than SWIFT (and no $45 SWIFT fee).

I really have to test this out.

9 minutes ago, NextG said:

Yes. 
 

https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/personal/get-support/convert-currency.html

 

https://usa.visa.com/support/consumer/travel-support/exchange-rate-calculator.html

 

choose a weekday as opposed to a weekend and not today.

A bit hard to calculate historically as the Visa rate seems to lag MC by a day... maybe a browser date+time issue.

Also is this the avg rate for the day? The high rate? Low rate? Rate at a specific time of the day? XE shows me a chart with the varying rates throughout the day.

6 minutes ago, NextG said:

You got the TT rate, not the XE equivalent. Best you actually post dates and figures rather than hearsay. Show actual transaction figures of your SWIFT transfer. Perception and reality may differ somewhat. 

I received the TT rate posted on this Kasikorn page (a slight bit higher actually as they don't post the rate beyond 1 Satang). Kasikorns listed TT rate falls in line with the XE rate, which is why I'm surprised that Visa and MC offer better.

https://www.kasikornbank.com/en/rate/pages/foreign-exchange.aspx

Is there someplace to check the current Visa and MC network rates? That would make this easier as I wouldn't have to test at a bank.

1 minute ago, NextG said:

Why don’t you actually name your cards, instead of going through this long winded rigmarole? Someone may already know exactly what they charge. 

Mentioned in the last 10 or so posts. Schwab and Cap One are the 2 I have with no foreign transaction fees.

4 minutes ago, NextG said:

The rate the Thai bank uses when you send money from your country. 

Is this referring to the Telegraphic Transfer network as opposed to SWIFT?

The rate I last got at Kasikorn from a SWIFT transfer was basically the XE rate. Visa and MC offer better rates than that?

1 minute ago, NextG said:

Nope. Network(MC) rate is usually better than the TT rate. 

What is a TT rate?

22 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

--You need to use a debit card that has no foreign currency conversion fee.

 

--You need to find a Thai bank branch that actually will handle the counter withdrawal instead of refusing and pointing you to their ATMs.

 

--I'm not sure that there's a single, one-size-fits-all limit on the amount of counter withdrawals that Thai banks will handle... The actual maximum may vary from company to company.

 

--the exchange rate used should be whatever the VISA or MC network rate is for that day... although you might want to avoid SCB for that purpose, as they used to use their own lower rate instead.

 

Also, make sure to bring your passport, because it will be required as part of the transaction.

 

Ahh, if they're using the network rate that could be a significant hit. I'll have to test it out for a few hundred at whichever local Kasikorn offers this.

Actually I'll try both Capital One and Schwab cards to see if there's any difference in the network rate.

5 minutes ago, gamb00ler said:

I think the ATM limits are $500 or $1000 at Schwab per day.  I think you can raise those by asking Schwab to do so.  The limit on teller withdrawals is 15K$ per day.

15k USD per day with no SWIFT fees?  I'll have to test this on my next trip to the bank and check the rate. If the exchange rate is the same as an incoming wire then this would mean $0 in fees. Sounds almost too good to be true...

6 minutes ago, gamb00ler said:

I think Capital One and Schwab are the only two large institutions that don't have foreign transaction fees on their debit cards.  There are also some credit unions that don't.

Ah, good to know the Capital One card offers that and there's a way to get money out of the account without an ATM fee.

With Schwab, is there any benefit to doing the teller debit vs ATM route, other than not having to check the statement to see that they refunded the ATM fee?

4 minutes ago, gamb00ler said:

Since we were talking about debit cards..... a teller withdrawal is not actually a "cash advance".... that's just what everyone calls it.  It is more accurately identified as an electronic debit with simultaneous foreign exchange.  The underlying bank account must already have the funds on deposit... so no "advance".

That makes sense. I assumed tellers were using the cash advance option to make the withdrawal.

So when going to a local bank, one must ask a teller for an electronic debit?

Just now, gamb00ler said:

I'm sure you're referring to a credit card, not a debit card.  That's a different ball game.

No, I'm referring to a debit card as debit cards also offer the "cash advance" feature which is what people are using at bank tellers here in Thailand to avoid ATM fees, which appears to be what you have done, but with a Schwab card - and those tend to no have typical fees (I'd have to read the card agreement again to see what it states about cash advances).

I may have missed some definitive answer on the topic in this thread, but from looking online it appears many banks can and do charge a 3-5% transaction fee when doing a cash advance on a debit card, the same as they do with their credit cards.

I may have to just test this myself with a few ATM/Debit cards at a local bank here to see which banks may charge a fee and what rate the local bank gives me. This could prove useful in some situations.

3 minutes ago, gamb00ler said:

As I stated before.... both cards I use don't have foreign transaction fees on any and all transactions in Thailand.  Both are still subject to the ATM fee of 220 or 150, but Schwab refunds those fees.

Foreign transaction fees and cash advance fees are two different things.

2 minutes ago, gamb00ler said:

I'm not positive, but I think that the foreign transaction fees that are normally charged by debit and credit card issuers are charged on all ATM withdrawals, normal store purchases and cash advances.  When an institution doesn't impose foreign transaction fees, then NO foreign transaction has that fee applied.

I have a "travel" MasterCard that doesn't charge foreign transaction fees but I'm pretty sure my bank would still charge me a cash advance fee, though I've never needed to use a credit card for a cash advance.

2 minutes ago, gamb00ler said:

I haven't checked recently.  About 18 months ago I compared three methods, Wise, SWIFT and debit card cash advance.  SWIFT was better than Wise for amounts above 20K US$, cash advance on debit card (without foreign transaction fees) was best but subject to limits on size due to your banks regulations.

So your bank didn't charge you a 3-5% cash advance fee with a debit card, or are you saying it was the best option even with whatever fee they happened to charge?

3 minutes ago, gamb00ler said:

I only use two US based debit cards and both of those have no foreign transaction fees.  Charles Schwab and Capital One cards have no fees.  Schwab will also refund the 220 or 150 ฿ fee charged by ATM's in Thailand.

I also have a Schwab card and have used it occasionally due to the ATM fee refunds (though the exchange rates are still taking a hit).

The conversation you responded to was about taking a "cash advance" at a bank teller which is is not the same as an ATM withdrawal or a debit card purchase. I was asking what fee the bank charges for a cash advance on a debit card. I wouldn't be surprised if Schwab doesn't charge a fee, but other banks may.

18 minutes ago, thailand49 said:

Correct!  Years ago I use mainly ATM to get my money from home with plenty of time on hand did a research and used every ATM on the market All of the Thai Banks, UOB, end result was all were very close then they charged 150, then to 220, the only one that kept it at 150 was Aeon but in Pattaya there were only three location today there is only one. Overall their rate was better than the others plus not charging 220Baht.  If the Bloomberg rate was 33.00 the ATM here would be 32.55 plus the 220, when a few you put them in and they will give you a breakdown the rate was near 31.90 plus the 220, I noticed my Credit Union Visa would do this at the Thai banks except Aeon. If I absolutely had to use the Thai ones when you see the breakdown push NO, you wont get the 31.90 but closer to the 32.55. I also use Charles Schwab, Wells Fargo and that doesn't happen.

 

When it comes to exchange booth in Pattaya I ran around looking at rates by far the most consistent was T.T. many of them are located on Soi Bauhkao, displaying basically the same rate so don't run around the heat looking for lower. The T.T. at Big C extra in the beginning was a bit lower than the ones on Baukhao, post covid I noticed pretty close example if it is 34.00 rate Bloomberg it's  like 33.75 while the ones on Baukhao will be 33.80.

 

Just my two cents experience.

If you are looking for the best rate, have a Thai bank account, and want to transfer enough to get by for 6+ months with a cushion for emergencies, the best rate is a simple wire transfer. From what I can tell when sending USD my bank sends the exact amount and the local bank converts at the current rate with a small fee. I'm getting the current rate found on XE minus a small fee from the Thai bank for the incoming transfer. When transferring enough I'm looking at 0.1% or less in fees from both sides, and with the best exchange rate you can get.