MickeyM

I use CitiBank Thailand accounts every year for one year extension of Retirement status ($800,000 method). No problem.

I picked Citibank when HSBC withdrew from retail banking in Thailand. It was a bad decision.

1. Citibank Thailand offers no fee-free transfers from Citi in the US, although that service is offered in virtually all other countries. (SWIFT transfers are the only option).

2. Virtually all extended investment services are excluded from US citizens.

3. Local transfers to other Thai banks take 3 business days.

I could add more reasons, but it has been a frustrating experience.

Not entirely sure which direction (Thailand to US or US to Thailand) you are referring to in (1). However, you can do "fee free" Citi Global Transfers from the US to Thailand; I am not sure about the other way around. I say "fee free" because you get a lousy exchange rate; currently about 500 Baht difference compared to ACH from CIti to Bangkok Bank's NY branch on a USD 1000 transfer. The upside is that it is fast -- funds are consistently accessible within a couple of hours. So, its a nice feature to have in an emergency, but I wouldn't use as a regular funds transfer.

The only real advantage of Citi Thailand is true fee free ATM access throughout Thailand. Most banks will charge you a fee outside of the province where your bank branch is located. The problem, however, is how to get the funds into the Citi Thai account in the first place.

For the retirement extension, I'm not sure if funds in Citibank would qualify -- Citibank is a foreign bank with a branch in Thailand with additional restrictions over full Thai Commercial Banks. I would be interested to hear if someone has knowledge of whether this is the case or now.

I stand corrected - CitiBank just implemented International Citi-Citi transfers within the past two months. Same day transfers and Swift transfers are no longer required.

I picked Citibank when HSBC withdrew from retail banking in Thailand. It was a bad decision.

1. Citibank Thailand offers no fee-free transfers from Citi in the US, although that service is offered in virtually all other countries. (SWIFT transfers are the only option).

2. Virtually all extended investment services are excluded from US citizens.

3. Local transfers to other Thai banks take 3 business days.

I could add more reasons, but it has been a frustrating experience.

Not entirely sure which direction (Thailand to US or US to Thailand) you are referring to in (1). However, you can do "fee free" Citi Global Transfers from the US to Thailand; I am not sure about the other way around. I say "fee free" because you get a lousy exchange rate; currently about 500 Baht difference compared to ACH from CIti to Bangkok Bank's NY branch on a USD 1000 transfer. The upside is that it is fast -- funds are consistently accessible within a couple of hours. So, its a nice feature to have in an emergency, but I wouldn't use as a regular funds transfer.

The only real advantage of Citi Thailand is true fee free ATM access throughout Thailand. Most banks will charge you a fee outside of the province where your bank branch is located. The problem, however, is how to get the funds into the Citi Thai account in the first place.

For the retirement extension, I'm not sure if funds in Citibank would qualify -- Citibank is a foreign bank with a branch in Thailand with additional restrictions over full Thai Commercial Banks. I would be interested to hear if someone has knowledge of whether this is the case or now.

http://www.siamexchange.co.th/?ln=en

I did an extension 40 days ahead last month at CW. No problem.

Nice one at Central Embassy (Ploenchit BTS) and also at Siam Square One (Siam BTS)

Yes, I have had consistently the same problem for the past 3 days.

Note: Labor Day has not been a holiday for Government workers, ironically. Immigration is open and VERY quiet.

Yes - traveled with a British friend 2 weeks ago; no visa required.

I picked Citibank when HSBC withdrew from retail banking in Thailand. It was a bad decision.

1. Citibank Thailand offers no fee-free transfers from Citi in the US, although that service is offered in virtually all other countries. (SWIFT transfers are the only option).

2. Virtually all extended investment services are excluded from US citizens.

3. Local transfers to other Thai banks take 3 business days.

I could add more reasons, but it has been a frustrating experience.

Have used the Dental clinic there for years. Quite good quality work, but quite expensive compared to what you can find elsewhere. Most of the dentists seem to be part-time there, while also working at Govt. hospitals or private clinics elsewhere.

Millennium Hilton was originally earmarked to be a Sofitel, but never opened as such. Has always operated as a Hilton.

A friend had the same problem - using a VPN. Disabled the VPN and all worked fine (Netflix is now supported in Thailand and a VPN is not required).

Try Bei Otto Deli on Suk. Soi 20

I have always used two combined accounts (Baht/US$) at CitiBank (Thailand) to meet retirement extension requirements.

Most vendors in the deli area of Emporium are outsourced. Of course, that does not absolve Emporium of responsibility.

Agreed - Airport link to Phayathai and then BTS is the best option.

I would generally agree. GrabTaxi seems best overall. However, I attempted to summon a GrabTaxi for a short trip last week during rush hour. 127 available taxis reported in the area, but none would accept the call, and I tried 3 times. During non-rush periods they operate quite efficiently. My only experience with Uberx was not good - a new driver (and car), but he got lost going to the airport.

Disagree Richard....GrabTaxi is much better in my experience.

GrabTaxi uses the regular Bangkok taxi's we see everyday (so long as they are also signed up to GrabTaxi).

I would agree that GrabTaxi is also excellent if they could offer the following guarantees

- a Taxi which has seatbelts in the back seats

- a Taxi which is clean

- a Taxi who's driver who knows where he is going

- a Taxi who's driver can find my Apt easily (its easy to find, but the GrabTaxi's have difficulty following instructions whereas UBER seem smarter to follow directions when they call).

Using the GrabTaxi is still much better than flagging down a taxi - the GrabTaxi drivers seem to try harder, they know they are registered and that there is some level of accountability for the driver (and passenger who is also registered).

I've been using both for approximately 6 months - less issues with UBER but find UBER Black to have become a little pricey and UBERx to have become quite competitive.

You folks that are defending this restaurant are not judging by what is really going on here. It is analogous to the jewelry store rip-offs. Taxi drivers are compensated to bring unsuspecting tourists to these places. There is a similar scam going on at another nearby seafood restaurant, known as Somboon Dee (at Phayathai BTS Station). The name is an obvious ploy to redirect unsuspecting tourists who are looking for Somboon Seafood (a reputable chain with an International reputation). The taxis / tuk-tuks assure the tourists that Somboon Dee is the place they are looking for. The real Somboon would charge about 50% of that bill for better quality food. I fell for the Somboon Dee scam (once) about 15 years ago, knew immediately that I was scammed, but they are still in business.

May I introduce a different perspective; Given that the application fee is non-refundable, I would like to see VFS point out any flaws in my application prior to submission to the Embassy. A minor oversight might cause a rejection and a new application would incur a second fee.

The application fee is paid online before you go to VFS.

That is a mute point - if the application gets forwarded to the Embassy and is missing critical documents, you start over and pay the fee again.

http://www.pacificcrosshealth.com/

Yes, but that's assuming they are competent enough to carry out a triage check on the application and the supporting documents, which they're not.

They use a checklist and that's about as far as their skills go.

I have to say that my girlfriend hasn't had any issues with their staff when she's submitted her applications over the years, but I'm pretty sure that if a document was left out at their suggestion and a visa application is subsequently unsuccessful, and it happens, there would be no recourse.

But the checklist covers a lot of points many submitters overlook. A valuable approach if followed consistently. Polite suggestions by VFS staff can avoid many rejections - they are aware of many conditions as to why there are rejections.

May I introduce a different perspective; Given that the application fee is non-refundable, I would like to see VFS point out any flaws in my application prior to submission to the Embassy. A minor oversight might cause a rejection and a new application would incur a second fee.