Pattaya57

All I can do is laugh when the young people today complain about the incredibly high housing loan interest rates at about 6.5%. I bought my first property in 1991 and I still remember my housing loan was a whopping 17.5%. I somehow survived 😉 RBA needs to stay strong as we had so little interest for so many years. It's savers turn to enjoy for a while longer

This is where people need to be careful. When my Citibank account was taken over by NAB the smallprint advised me the the $250k government guarantee now applied over both banks (whereas it was $250k for each bank prior to buy-out). I think the Suncorp takeover by ANZ was the same, now only one guarantee instead of two?

As I said, I didn't say I was right to be wary just didn't do any research. I was surprised to see 'Newcastle Greater Mutual' on the 'safest banks' list (don't know anything about them either). I almost left them off my post but then thought that's manipulating data 😆 Funny that UBank is owned by NAB. That's one reason I'm wary of smaller banks as I had a perfectly good Citibank account until they closed down in Australia, taken over by NAB. The fact such a worlwide bank like Citibank can fail in Australia shocked me

Thought I'd add some more info on ANZ Plus changes from Oct 1 ANZ Plus: 5.00% on any balance when end of month balance increases by $100 ANZ Plus Flex Saver: New account. 5.00% on balances up to $5k (2% for balance >$5k), can withdraw anytime I already have the ANZ Plus that didn't require a deposit so I'll now open the new Flex Saver with $4k to transfer the newly required $100 per month to ANZ Plus. Pretty much then negates the $100 criteria as still getting the same 5% on that $4k

I guess I'm old fashioned and only go for the big banks, so always been wary of Ubank, Rabobank, AMP and Virginmoney (not saying I'm right to be wary as never really researched them). I did give ING a go and they were pretty good until they demanded 5 transactions per month to get the high interest. I do feel safer with these banks though, which have been rated by 'Global Finance' as the safest banks in Australia (list unchanged in last 2 years) 1. Commonwealth 2. ANZ 3. NAB 4. Westpac 5. Suncorp 6. Macquarie 7. Bank of Qld 8. Bendigo/Adelaide Bank 9. Newcastle Greater Mutual https://www.infochoice.com.au/savings-accounts/which-is-the-safest-bank-in-australia

For info, while I had to return the next day at Jomtien, the extension was stamped on the day of application (so next day pick-up really just for convenience of not hanging around immigration for hours)

I just had a mate stay at the Travelodge on soi 15. Pretty central, good price (was 1200 baht) and walking distance to soi bukhao, LK Metro and the 2nd road/Beach road baht bus route. No parking but pretty sure you could park in the Avenue shopping centre about 20 metres away?

I thought I'd share some current interest rates for Aussie Banks. Westpac Life: 5.00%, end of month balance must increase by $1. Can withdraw and re-deposit before end of month NAB Reward Saver: 5.00%, no withdrawals and end of month balance must increase by $1 ANZ Plus: 4.90% when balance <$250k, 3.75% for whole balance when >$250k, can withdraw anytime Note: ANZ Plus changes 1 Oct to 5.00% on any balance when end of month balance increases by $100 Bank of Qld Simple Saver: 4.85% on any balance, can withdraw anytime Macquarie Savings: 4.75% on any balance, can withdraw anytime Macquarie Transaction: 4.75% on any balance, can withdraw anytime and includes Debit Card My favourite is definitely Macquarie Transaction which has zero deposit rules but still has a decent interest rate and links a Debit Card (while other banks link their cards to 0% transaction accounts) Note: I did not include accounts like ING that give 5.50% but you have to deposit $1k per month, make 5 purchases per month and grow your monthly balance (too much bother from Thailand)

Forum owners must love Bob. Comes back as BarBoy, starts 2 threads which have 223 replies and 7.7k views. And all he's said is what Bob has said hundreds of times in that he gets drunk and constantly cheats on his wife with Ladyboys, which he doesnt think is gay. Real upstanding bloke 😀

^sounds like purely a Jomtien problem to me. Baht bus in central Pattaya are working as well as ever imo

Yes, it's Coffee or Tea

JL is airline code for Japan Airlines (Like SQ is for Singapore Airlines)

One thing Bob always did in his posts was never use capitals to start sentences....just saying 😀

Somethings wrong with your dates. 45 days prior to Dec 15th is November 1st You need the 800k in your bank for 2 months before you apply and 3 months after (400k for rest of year)

Bob's back. Obviously I gave him too much credit thinking he'd be back with a new character as BarBoy is an identical character with just a different name. He might as well of just called himself BarBob 😀

They apparently don't. I did self check-in in April with a non-imm O. Only had to insert my passport ID page in scanner and was never asked if I had a visa

No, ETA is only required for visa exempt

Did you read his OP? He's not visiting family, he is visiting his girlfriend which has a son that he calls his step-son. He could also call his girlfriend his wife, doesn't make it so. To Thai immigration a girlfriend and her son not his is irrelevant to a visa exempt tourist entry. Only his story is making it seem so important to IO that they would actually face-time her 😆

You need to get rid of the chip off your shoulder. Most of us are pretty happy with the IO service (20 minutes to get a 12 month extension for 1900 baht is exceptional service for me)

What you want to stay in a high class hotel but then too poor to get a taxi lol

@Chivas read on Thai Embassy London website that only 2 visa exempt entries are allowed. Despite everyone telling him it's just wrong info on that site he insists its true, keeps posting it as fact and just recently posted that every Thai website says that (which no other site does) You're wasting your breath trying to tell him otherwise

<Removed post edited out> I use Nam's taxi for 1200 in a luxury Camry. Is 1000 for smaller car which is great deal when they meet you at the gate and drop you at your door

No I didn't. I don't normally read the news section but in that thread they were claiming Climax night club got rid of the food stalls because they could. As per this bar deathwatch thread, I said Climax is now dead and replaced by KingKong Sportsbar. I added this now makes more sense why they removed the food stalls as they are competition to new bar food sales (not as reported Climax is just being a bitch)

Post you responded to I said I'm not sure when other airlines will follow suit (in doing self check-in only). What has you quoting Jetstar or Vietjet changed what I said in that I'm not sure when other airlines will follow suit?

You'd think someone who's done as many visa exempt extensions as he says he has would know it's 1900 and not say it's 2000? Just more proof story is bs