funlovinkid

being here more than 90 days and on a permit to stay longer than 90 days you definately need Thai DL to be sure Insurance will cover you. With a valid Calif DL with picture, DLT will issue you a Thai DL after passing reaction test and colortest and watching an hours movie. 160 baht plucc 100 baht for the photo as I recall

Docs needed,

medical from any Thai doctor/clinick, 100 baht at most clinicks

passport copy including permit to stay

certificate of residence issued by Immigration, 300 baht in Phuket

photo not needed as taken by DLT

Many thanks!

Ok...lots going on here....I'll do my best to sort this all out. Information concerning IDP's is very confusing. It's not cut and dry as some would like to think. There are different requirements depending on what country you are coming from and going to, and different requirements whether you are a resident or a visitor to that country. There is a lot of bad information out there often spread by people trying to get other people to buy a scam IDP/IDL.

I will also preface this with the following: You will find an exception to every law, experience, rule, and guideline quoted here. This is Thailand and every province, cop, insurance carrier, and day of the week is different from the next.

OP: (That's you, soil) Unless there is an automobile association office at the airport, you will not be able to get a real IDP there. I am curious what you mean by "it" when you say "it" will be closed. What is "it" exactly? Are you talking about a Thai airport or UK?

First, a bit on legal vs. illegal IDP's:

In most if not all western countries, including the states, the UK, Canada and Austrailia, ligitimate IDP's are only legally issued by automobile associations. There are lots of illegitimate/scam IDP's for sale out there. See the banner ad in this thread which says "International Drivers Document" for an example of an illegitimate IDP. Having said that, most police don't know or care if it is a legitimate or illegitimate IDP, and there is apparently no law preventing unscrupulous people from selling them as long as long as they are careful about the wording in the descriptions. Despite their illegitimacy, in practice these IDP's often end up working just fine for the users because your average cop/insurance person/rental car employee doesn't know that much about UN Conventions on Road Traffic. So why not get an illigitimate IDP then? Because these illegitimate IDP's cost several times more than the legitimate ones, thus making them a scam really. Why pay 3 to 10x more for something that may get rejected when it is discovered as fraudulent later on?

And in case the OP or others aren't aware, an IDP is simply a translation of your resident country's valid drivers license into several languages as agreed to by most counties through various UN Conventions. An IDP must be kept with your UK license and presented with it when requested by police. It is still the UK license that allows you to drive legally in a foreign country. An IDP is a paper booklet shaped more like a passport than an ID card. Any business offering you a pretty shiny ID card with your picture on it along with your IDP is trying to sell you a fraudulent IDP.

LivinginKata:

Your home DL was denied because it had no picture. This is covered in the UN Conventions. And DL's have had pictures for 30-40 years. Are you really using an account from 30-40 years ago as somehow relevent today? When did you first come to Thailand?

Also, LivinginKata, there are lots of problems with the quotes you provided:

Firstly, your quoted text containing the statement: "An international driver's license is accepted in Thailand. A foreign license holds no weight here." is from here: http://www.asiatradingonline.com/thaidriving.htm. I have dealt with asiatradingonline before. The information contained there should be considered dubious at best. I had a very bad experience buying from them and have since found others that did as well. Information from that site should be taken with a grain of salt. Notice that the line above states they used to provide a link to what turned out to be a bogus IDP company. Kudos for them taking down the link, but realize that that page was originally written to get people to follow the link. It's not clear if those phone numbers in the same paragraph are for getting an IDP for you Thai license or what. The information on that page is vague, contradictory not credible. They use the term "international drivers license" numerous times, which makes no sense as their is no such thing. I think they are referring to the "international drivers permit" but I am not sure.

Now, after what I just wrote about there being no such thing as IDL's, this next bit might seem contradictory, but it's not.

Whoever wrote that line, "An international driver's license is accepted in Thailand. A foreign license holds no weight here." probably didn't understand that they were contradicting themselves. What most people don't realize, and what the illegitimate IDP touts don't want you to know is that because our UK, American, Canadian, Austrailian etc, etc drivers license's are already in English and contain a photo, they are already considered international drivers licenses i.e. no IDP is needed in most cases. That is why the cops always accept them with no IDP. And this is what is meant by "International Drivers Licenses are accepted." This makes sense because if your DL is already in English and already has a photo of you, why on earth would you need a translation document (the IDP) translating into 10 languages, non of which are Thai?

The second line: "A foreign license holds no weight here." may be true, if they are referring to residents not visitors. Although, when I got my Thai DL, I had a current California DL valid for both car (class "C") and motorbike (class "M"). I was asked to bring in a printout of the California DMV website page which describes what is class C and class M. That way I didn't have to sit for the written test or take the driving test. I would hardly consider that "no weight."

As a side note, Thailand does not differentiation between a 125cc motorbike and a 1400cc big bike.

Katabeachbum: You are right about the 90 days, however, the 90 days in which visitors can drive on their home country license is not technically reset by a visa run. I saw that in another forum as well. The clock starts when you enter the first time. I know cops aren't enforcing that way. Anyway, technically (by law) we are residents so we now need a Thai license even if on a tourist visa. If the police determine you are a resident, and still using your home license even if you have an IDP, they could technically give you a ticket.

As far as needing an IDP or Thai license for insurance claims, I think the jury is still out on that one. It may depend on the company. There are accounts from both sides. I submit testimony of Thaivisa member Bubba:

My insurance policy has a clause that states that only a "valid drivers license" is required for the class of vehicle insured. After inquiring, I got it in writing that this includes foreign licenses. And just to verify that whilst driving on a foreign license, my car was smashed by an uninsured pickup with my repair bill being 24,000 baht. My insurance company sent their adjuster out, he made out a report, and I was compensated fully.

The police officer taking the report didn't have a problem with my lack of a Thai license either.

In terms of how DL's are dealt with in practice, I echo the others experiences. I first came here in 2001 and never bothered getting a Thai DL until last year. I have been through lots of police checkpoints, gotten a ticket for no helmet, and my valid California DL with no IDP was accepted each time without question. I have rented bikes, cars, and purchased, but thankfully never had to use 1st class 3rd party insurance and a Thai DL or IDP was never asked for.

Here is another scam IDP company local to us here in Phuket. Not sure how this company stays in business. I guess there are enough suckers out there.

http://phuketdir.com/intlicense/

Summery:

Do you need an IDP in Thailand?

For driving or renting cars or motorbikes:

Technically: Yes and No. Technically you can drive on your home country's valid license until your tourist visa or 30 day entry stamp expires or until you establish residency, whichever comes first. Having an IDP does not change anything with respect to the 90 days. However, it should be noted that there is the occasional report of a Thai police officer asking for an international license or permit. If it is clear to the cop that the foreigner is a resident and does not yet have a Thai license, you may be in trouble. If the foreigner is on a tourist visa, I believe this to be an attempt by the cop to collect tea money, or the cop is stupid. Likely both.

In Practice: No you do not need an IDP in Thailand, but having it doesn't hurt. Police almost always accept the foreign license alone (and sometimes Blockbuster Video cards) with seemingly no time limit.

For insurance claims in event of accident:

It depends. Check with your provider. It's possible and IDP is needed but it is equaly posible that a Thai DL is needed. There does seem to be some evidence through hearsay that an IDP is needed, but I have never been asked to show proof of any license when getting car insurance, and others have reported being in accidents while on a foreign license with no IDP and it made no difference.

If you have the time and you want a little more peace of mind, go ahead and get a legitimate IDP at home if you want . You'll probably never use it in Thailand. If you plan on staying long in Thailand, get a Thai DL. It has many other valuable uses besides a DL.

Since we keep getting the same questions here, I will try to provide some more concrete sources of information as to the actual laws. As I said the English section of both the RTP and the LTD are down. I think we are all pretty clear now how it works in practice, or "on the ground" as LivinLos said, but it would be nice to know have a concrete source of the actual law.

Scubabuddha: how do you define "resident"? Your commentary above is extremely helpful, except I'm not sure how to interpret it in my particular case. I have a valid California DL, but am living in LOS on a retirement visa. I don't have formal "resident" status, which is something I understand must be applied for, above and beyond my usual process of getting annual 1-year extensions on my original non-immigrant visa and sending in the 90-day reports. My last entry into Thailand was in October 2010, more than 90 days ago.

I plan to travel to Isaan soon, and rent a car while I'm there. Based on what you say above, should I get a Thai DL beforehand, in order to be legally covered by insurance? My biggest concern is being denied coverage in the event of an accident. Thanks for any advice you might have on this!

A re-entry permit is valid for the duration of your permission to stay. Since your permission to stay was valid till Oct 2010, so was your re-entry permit. if need be, you can buy a new one, which will be valid till April 2011, when you can get a new extension and matching re-entry permit.

I'm not 100% sure if that also is the policy in case of an extension because of a new passport, like in your case. But I believe you need a new re-entry permit.

I guess I need to clarify here: my old passport already contained a visa extension, and a re-entry permit, both of which were due to expire in April 2011, the date which coincided with the expiration date of the old passport. I received the new passport in September 2010. So, when I went to Immigration in October 2010 to transfer the relevant information into the new passport, they extended the expiration date on the visa extension to July 2011 (the date which would have been granted for the visa extension when I applied for it, had the old passport not been due to expire before that). I'm glad they did this of course, because I now have an additional 3 months of validity on my visa. However, they didn't do the same thing for the re-entry permit--it still has the original expiration date of April 2011. It appears as if the Immigration Officer overlooked the need to also extend the date on the re-entry permit--assuming that it's possible to do this. Does anyone know if this can be done, and if so, should I go to Immigration to request it?

Although agree 90 day reporting as such has not been checked previously the big difference is he has been advised by Immigration of his failure to report and a fine is pending and is now likely in the fine plus 200 baht per day category if he fails to take action in a timely manner to correct it. There is a new computer system in-place from my understanding. I would expect this to flag any person at exit desk be it airport or other at some point. I would not advise anyone to take a chance after having been told they have fines to pay. And expect they are not set up for payment at airport so might involve a return to town/jail until it can be resolved. No need to chance it.

Lopburi, another, related question, if you would: When I went to Immigration in October 2010 to have all the relevant information transferred from my old passport into the new one, the officer was kind enough to extend the date on my existing visa extension from April 2011 (which was the expiration date of my old passport, and hence became the expiration date of the visa extension as well, when I applied for it in July 2010) to July 2011. However, she didn't do the same for my multiple re-entry permit, which continues to reflect an expiration date of April 2011. Should I go back to Immigration to request that they extend the date on my re-entry permit to match that of my visa extension? In the past, both the visa extension and the re-entry permit would expire simultaneously, and now I'm envisioning this mismatch continuing indefinitely, as I renew them every year, unless I can get this resolved.

I've been doing some reading lately on "Disaster Preparedness" and Survivalism, just to familiarize myself a bit with the subject should things go really badly with the world economy (for example), but everything I read assumes that the reader is planning to do all the preparation somewhere in the West, like the U.S., Canada, etc. As a result, a lot of the advice and instruction isn't applicable for someone living here. I've been living in Thailand for four years, and I consider it home, so I'm wondering if there's anyone out there who is making preparations for partial or complete self-reliance here in Thailand. I'm pretty sure that planning for "going off-grid" in Thailand would be significantly different than doing the same thing in the U.S. Anyone out there of a similar mindset?

Many thanks to all the responses here. As far as the suggestion about contact lenses, I had an ophthalmologist tell me years ago that my eyes are way too dry for contact lenses, so I've been wearing glasses since then. Despite his diagnosis, I actually did try wearing both hard and soft contact lenses for awhile, and both types were very irritating, so I concluded that he was right. Of course, that was probably around 1980 or so, and maybe the new materials don't need as much in terms of tears for lubrication as the old ones, so maybe I should consider it.

On the other hand, I suppose another consideration in favor of glasses over contacts is that the glasses help hide my baggy ol' eyes.

I know there have been other, similar posts on this forum, but all the posts seem to be only about getting simple, single-prescription glasses, and no one has asked yet about getting glasses with all the bells and whistles. I'm currently using a very good pair of glasses that I've had for nearly 6 years that I would essentially like to duplicate:

- lightweight, high-index plastic lenses

- progressive (bifocal) prescription

- anti-reflective, anti-scratch, anti-fog coatings

- photochromic ("Transitions") lenses that darken outdoors

Because the darn things are on my face all day, every day (and may be there for the next 6 years), it's important to me that I get something that's high quality, functional, comfortable, and looks decent. Has anybody out there bought anything like this in Bangkok (or elsewhere, and had it delivered) for a reasonable price?

Many thanks to all!

Thanks, Lopburi. By the way, wondering if you (or anyone else) might have an opinion on one more little related issue: I've already applied for a new passport (because my old one will expire in a little over six months), and the new one is available to be picked up, but I'm not sure if I should resolve the existing 90-day reporting problem on the old passport before having it replaced with a new one. I know I need to transfer some stuff from the old passport into the new one at Thai Immigration (and it would be convenient to resolve the 90-day problem during the same visit there), but I'm a bit concerned about cancelling an existing passport which contains a problem that is considered yet unresolved by the Thai immigration officials. I guess the conservative approach would be to go to Thai Immigration, fix the 90-day problem, then get the new passport and go back to Thai Immigration to transfer the relevant stamps into the new passport (which would mean two trips to Chaengwattana), and I'm wondering if this is necessary.

I appreciate all the guidance here on this--I'm learning as I go. But another, related question has now popped up: do I have to go to Thai Immigration to pay this fine before I can travel? I'm thinking of leaving the country for a few days (departing tomorrow [sunday], or early on Monday), but I'm not sure if I will have a problem, either leaving Thailand, or returning, because of the situation. If it's just a matter of paying the 2000 baht fine at the airport checkin, or at airport Immigration upon my return, that's OK with me, but if it prevents my travel, then I shouldn't take this trip.

My most recent 90-day reporting notice indicated that I must report again before August 22nd. However, my current visa extension was expiring on July 7, so I went in on June 29 to renew it for another year, which I believed automatically restarted the clock on my 90-day reporting requirement. Unfortunately, when I mailed in my next 90-day reporting notice around September 20, I received a postcard in the mail from Thai Immigration saying that I should have reported before the original date of August 22, and that I owe the 2000 Baht fine. Was I mistaken in my belief, or did they accidentally overlook the fact that I renewed on June 29?

My American passport expires in April 2011, but I know that I need to have at least six months of usable time on it if I want to travel anywhere, and I'm coming up on that point in time soon. So, I've already applied for a replacement passport from the American embassy, and I'm told that it's ready to be picked up. I'm planning to travel outside of Thailand for a few days next week, and my concern is that if I pick up the new passport before my trip, I'm not sure if the old one will be considered cancelled at that point, along with the relevant Thai visa and re-entry permit contained within it, which would prevent my return to Thailand. So, should I use the old passport in its current condition for this trip? And after I pick up the replacement passport, do I need to do anything thereafter in order to ensure that my visa and re-entry permit for Thailand are still valid? Sorry, a bit confused here!

I'm wondering if anyone can comment on what the air quality in the Nong Khai area is like. I know that many cities in northern Thailand (like Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai) are severely affected every year by smoke from the controlled burning that takes place all over Myanmar, Laos, and northern Thailand in the February - April period, but does it affect Nong Khai as well?

It is not normal that you have to wait so long, but also not that uncommon. In any case, you have proof you send it.

If you don't receive if after christmas, I would call them.

Would you happen to know the phone number for the new office? I assume that information is on their website, but because their site contains malware/viruses/spyware etc, I'd rather not try to get it from there, and I couldn't find their phone number mentioned anyplace on TV, either.

Offcialy BKK immigration will tell you to come in person and you can't do it by mail. However, the law states you can do it by mail and if you just send it by registered mail immigration will accept it.

Yeap, that's what they told me (i.e., no can do by mail) face-to-face when I asked during one of my 90 day reportings at the immigration office. However, their web site says nothing about Bangkok residents not being able to report via mail, and per posts on Thaivisa.com many people living in Bangkok appear to report via mail with no problem (other than needing to wait a few weeks for receipt/return of the 90 day reporting slip/confirmation). Can't remember anyone making a post saying their 90 day report via mail to the Bangkok Immigration Office was sent back unprocessed with a note saying they must report in person.

"A few weeks" to receive back the 90-day approval slip? Wow. Can some of the regulars here give me an idea of how much time typically passes before the approval slip is received? I sent in my notice via registered mail (confirmed it was received on November 21), and here it is, December 24th, with still no reply. I'm not sure if this means there is a problem, or if this is normal.

Anybody know what the phone number is for the new office? I need to call them to inquire about the status of something, and I can't use their website to find the number because it's infected with a virus. (Nice to see that they hired the best IT people available for that purpose!)

Thanks

I used to play golf and brisk walking before, now I cycle and doing light excercise, like stretching my leg and twist n turn (twist dancing) on machine every morning. My lower back pain still exists, its not the acute pain type, can feel that lower back tense otr tight when bending forward. I will try "Yoga" as suggested by one of our friend here, hope it will help to subside the pain.

Thought I'd throw my two cents in here as well. I'm 53, and ruptured two discs in my lower back in 2003 at the age of 47, while stupidly carrying heavy furniture by myself (a desk, if you can believe that. At one point I simultaneously bent over and twisted to the side to block the desk drawers from inadvertently sliding open). Simultaneously bending and twisting is absolutely the hardest thing on the spinal discs, and doing this while carrying weight is a prescription for disaster! Anyway, as a result, I suffered with stabbing pain in my rump for the next two years, despite using everything that was recommended, including ice packs, anti-inflammatory medicine, exercise, and even four sessions of steroid injections directly into the spine at the location of the worst disc rupture. Everything brought temporary relief, but didn't last very long. I finally caved in and elected to have back surgery in 2005, which did finally cure the problem. The surgeon only operated on the disc with the worst rupture, as the other disc was apparently not too bad, a decision that I think turned out for the best.

Since then, I've concluded that the best way to deal with this sort of pain from a lower back problem is through proper exercise (assuming the nature of the problem isn't as serious as what I went through). For this purpose, I started going to some yoga classes beginning in 2007, and found that the resulting strengthening of the back muscles was very helpful. Many of the yoga exercises require you to use muscles in your back that we typically don't use often enough, and the stronger muscles give your spine the support that it needs, thereby taking some pressure off the inter-vertebrae discs which often are the source of back problems as we get older. Having said this, I would caution anyone attempting yoga for the first time to start very slowly. Some of the yoga exercises are the very ones that can cause injury or damage to your spinal discs--for example, simultaneously bending and twisting. Or bending way down ("nose to the knees"), while keeping your legs straight. So my recommendation would be to "adopt the required pose" (as they say in yoga terminology) very slowly, while carefully listening to your body, and don't push yourself too hard, especially when just starting yoga. This is particularly true if you decide to go to a yoga class, or maybe watch a video, where you'll find yourself trying to follow the moves of an instructor who's probably in his or her 20's, and is extremely thin and flexible after years of yoga practice. If you find yourself unable to "adopt the pose" as quickly as the instructor, or unable to stretch anywhere near the extent of the instructor, don't worry about it! The classes I went to were full of young, thin Thai women, many of whom were very practiced at yoga, and were extremely flexible. In this environment, I think it's normal to want to try to keep up with the people around you, in terms of speed and degree of flexibility, but this could cause you to hurt yourself if you push yourself too hard. So, a note of caution here.

I would also mention that yoga is (maybe surprisingly) a very, very hard exercise routine, especially for those of us who are carrying around a few extra pounds. If you find it a bit difficult to dig a frying pan out of the back of the lower kitchen cabinet, just imagine trying to do this continuously for an hour. The classes I attended were typically 60 or 90 minutes long, and I was completely exhausted at the end of each session. And depending on which yoga school you might attend, my experience is that some instructors find it insulting if anyone leaves class before it finishes, and actively discourage this, which makes it hard to just go for, say, 30 minutes if that's all the energy you have. One last thing: regardless of the yoga exercise you happen to be doing, keep your stomach muscles tense, as this apparently provides the lower back support which is necessary to minimize the risk of injury.

But it's all good: I did find increased strength and flexibility from doing the yoga, and my body felt lighter and easier to move, under any situation, after doing the classes for a few months. And any hint of back pain was nonexistent thereafter.

Of course, losing weight is always helpful, too!

Thank you for all the suggestions - I have only had a physical examination to date and so will get an x-ray . I am also doing some excises , as above, which seems to be helping -

I agree posture is probably not helping , so am trying to concentrate on pulling my shoulders back - and I need to find a better chair when working on my computer .

The bumpy roads in Samui do not help .

I have a machine that allows me to hang upside down. It cost me 15,000thb (PANG!) but it has been soooooooooo worth it. Should have bought it a year earlier.

I hang upside down and breath normally and wham! My lower back pops and I'm good to go. All my sciatica is going away.

Dr. Cracknell in Phuket can get the machine for you, you'll have to transport it to Samuttle.

Would you happen to know where to buy such a machine (for hanging upside down)? I've been thinking of doing exactly the same thing, for the same reason: lower back problems. Many thanks for any suggestions you might have!

Sorry, didn't notice the response from Dr. Cracknell, please disregard.

There should be a permitted to stay until stamp on it - but sometimes it is missing - yes they do want front and back.

Aaah, now I understand! I'm making notes about all of this, which I'll post here soon. Thanks much.

I only wanted to do this once, so after putting together all my notes on this subject (based largely on the help of the folks herein), below is a summation of what I believe is how to handle this situation in the future. I hope this is helpful!

Procedure For 90-day Reporting Purposes by Registered Mail to Thai Immigration

===========================================================

Copies of passport pages to provide:

- the personal info and photo page

- the original visa page (or the page showing the original visa from any previous passport)

- the page showing the most recent visa extension approval

- the page showing the stamp of the most recent entry into Thailand

- the current re-entry permit page, if you already have a valid re-entry permit

- TM6 departure card (front and back sides, even if the back is blank)

Send them:

- copies of the above

- any previous original 90-day approval slips, if any

- filled out and signed TM47 (90-day reporting) form

- self-addressed, stamped (10 baht stamp) envelope for return of the lower portion of form TM47 to you

Send via registered mail to:

Immigration Bureau (90 Days Registration)

Government Center Chaengwattana Building B

No. 120 Moo 3, Chaengwattana Soi 7

Chaengwattana Road

Tungsonghong, Laksi

Bangkok 10210

Notes

=====

- send via registered mail within the last 7 days of the 90-day period

- the 90-day period starts counting as day 1 on the day of arrival

- 90-day notifications in person can occur between 7 days before and 7 days after the expiration date--but the sending date of notifications by registered mail must occur within the last 7 days of the 90-day period

- the 90-day approval form which they return to you should be stapled into your passport for future reference

- keep the receipt for the registered mailing, so that you can prove you actually sent it, if necessary

- failure to report correctly, and on time, will result in a 2000 baht charge

- if you happen to be arrested after your 90-day period has expired, a 4000 baht charge will apply

There should be a permitted to stay until stamp on it - but sometimes it is missing - yes they do want front and back.

Aaah, now I understand! I'm making notes about all of this, which I'll post here soon. Thanks much.

Since I have many used many many pages in my passport I just send the pages with pertinent information, to wit, the personal info page, the visa page (or in my case the page showing the visa info from my previous passport), the page showing the date of my latest entrance into Thailand, and the page showing my latest extension approval for retirement purposes. I also add the re-entry permit page which is probably unnecessary since one does not have to have that permit unless planning to leave and re-enter the country.

And front and back of the TM6 card, and sending back the previous 90-day approval slip if any.

This has been acceptable all of the many times I have done this by mail in Bangkok, including my most recent one a month ago.

I don't understand all the references I see (including on the Thai Immigration website) to making copies of the "front and back" of the TM6 departure card. When I look at mine, there is nothing at all on the back. Do they really want a copy of the blank back side of the departure card?

Since I have many used many many pages in my passport I just send the pages with pertinent information, to wit, the personal info page, the visa page (or in my case the page showing the visa info from my previous passport), the page showing the date of my latest entrance into Thailand, and the page showing my latest extension approval for retirement purposes. I also add the re-entry permit page which is probably unnecessary since one does not have to have that permit unless planning to leave and re-enter the country.

And front and back of the TM6 card, and sending back the previous 90-day approval slip if any.

This has been acceptable all of the many times I have done this by mail in Bangkok, including my most recent one a month ago.

This is the essence of what I was hoping for. Many thanks for the guidance. Now I won't have to burn up my laser printer with unnecessary scanning and printing!

For those of us here on a retirement visa (or any other visa which requires that we report our address every 90 days to Thai Immigration), is there anybody who has successfully mailed in all the appropriate stuff, and knows which pages from a passport to provide copies of? I get different answers on this subject from different sources, but I want to be certain that I do it correctly--and now that the Immigration office has moved, I think I'd rather do this by mail from now on. The Thai Immigration website says to provide copies of "all passport pages", but this seems unlikely, especially for those of us who might happen to have a thick passport.

If someone could authoritatively explain which pages to copy, and perhaps even the logic behind it, I would be eternally grateful.

Thank you, fun lovin kid,

For a thoughtful, well-written and quite informative message.

You've inspired me to reexamine my local insurance policy and given

me some pointers to consider when seeking alternate providers.

Cheers

I'm glad you find my observations useful. Happy to help!

I'm interested in establishing a brokerage account here in Bangkok, and I was disappointed to learn that Bualuang Securities (associated with Bangkok Bank) can only trade stocks of the Thai companies listed on the SET. Does anyone know of a good brokerage in Thailand that has trading privileges at most, if not all, global stock exchanges?