thaisail

I have been trying to screen share my Samsung Galaxy S20+ with my old Samsung Smart TV and I was advised to download SideLoad. I tried but so far still can't screen share from my phone to my Samsung Smart TV. But using Google Home, I can easily screen share to my Android TV box!

I contacted Capital One and could not get a clear answer. I switched over to Navy Federal Credit Union and now have 2 different cards with them. One gives me 3% cash back on restaurants and the other gives me 1.75% cash back on everything. Capitol One is giving me 2% but only until August. I will no longer pay the $59 annual fee so I will drop them after 10 years as a good customer. The quality of the customer service at NFCU is far better than Capital One where you get someone in Manila or Nicaragua on the phone most of the time.

Company in Vientaine is called EXO Travel. I did not choose to go to Laos because there were no scheduled flights from Vientaine to Bangkok at the time. The lady at the agency claimed that Laos Airlines was flying one flight per week but it was a charter flight and I had doubts that the Thailand Pass would work on a charter flight.

The below was from an email sent by a tour agent in Vientaine the day before I want to Cambodia. Could you help to make sure with the Embassy if in Laos can do a VISA run. You can enter Laos on the bridge from Nong Kai and do PCR Test at the hotel as at the moment still do not have PCR Test team to stand by at the border. You have to stay in Laos all that time as below outline: Day 1: 7 Feb 2022: Vientiane - Arrival (COVID19 Test/PCR Test) Quarantine Day 2: 8 Feb 2022: Vientiane - Waiting result Day 3: 9 Feb 2022: Vientiane - If result negative then you can go for your VISA Day 4: 10 Feb 2022: Vientiane - get VISA (COVID19 Test/PCR Test) (PCR Test result will be approximately 6 hours) Day 5: 11 Feb 2022: Vientiane - Departure Day

I was told by a tour agent in Vientaine that I could have crossed the bridge in Nong Kai and there would have been a special van that would have taken me to a place for a Covid test and then to the hotel that was booked as part of the tour. As soon as I would get a negative result, I would be free to continue the tour or go to the Thai consulate for my Visa. I will try to copy and paste the information provided by the Laos tour agency. Of course it could have been bad information provided by an over optimistic tour agent.

Yes but the only issue was the Thai insurance requirement which you need to buy in order to get the Thailand Pass. The AXA insurance states that if you are in Thailand you are not eligible. I contacted my insurance agent in Phuket and she said to just state that you are not in Thailand and buy the insurance. Three days later I was in Cambodia. I got my Thailand Pass the day before my flight to Cambodia. Hope that doesn't invalidate my insurance!

I never had a covid extension but I was offered one in January but the next day when I walked into the office the IO received a message from Bangkok HQ saying that anyone with a long term Non O extension would no longer be permitted to get the 60 day covid extension. So I had no option other than to leave Thailand to get a visa.

Maybe you can now. At the time visa on arrival was not possible.

Perhaps the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has fixed this payment problem! I did my E-Visa on February 5.

How long would it have taken to do a transferwise wire transfer?

Being on a marriage visa extension has the benefit of being able to work in Thailand if there is an employer that will arrange the work permit. The retirement visa will prohibit work so that could be why more money is required. I was also told that the requirement for the retirement visa was 800k for three months before your extension expiry date but that as soon as you extension is approved, you can take take out 400k as long as you maintain that balance until 3 months before your extension date when you must increase your minimum balance to no less than 800k for the final 3 months before the extension expires. (Correct me if I am wrong, Joe)

If you read my post carefully, you will see that I transferred the equivilant of $70 in Thai Baht to my Singapore friend's Thai bank account. That is simple to do with the Thai bank mobile apps. As for sending money from a Thai bank to a Cambodian bank after 6pm on a Friday, that just doesn't seem to be possible. If anyone knows another way I could have done this transfer in 12 hours on a Friday night, I would love to know about it.

You are right about the Cambodian phone number requirement. It absolutely didn't make any sense. But that is one of the sections that must be completed in the on line application for the E-Visa. I put in the Cambodian phone number for the hotel I was going to. If I had known someone in Cambodia with a mobile phone, I would have put down that number on the form and then called him to get the OTP. But you are correct about the system with the OTP should be going to my phone number that I provide my bank. But you may know that for example, foreign cards used to purchase on line in Thailand are often rejected because of the banking regulations in Thailand. I had to stop using my Capital One US credit card for on line purchasing in Thailand and I had to switch to another US Bank card to be able to purchase on line in Thailand. So this problem is most likely caused by some idiot in Cambodia who set up the payment system. No doubt it will soon be corrected.

Plus I have had the 400k in my Kasikorn account for the entire 12 months. However, on December 27, just before the end of the US tax year, I moved half of the money to my wife's Kasikorn account so that I wouldn't have to file an FBAR for the IRS in the US. My extension renewal date was February 15. I was advised against this by everyone but I felt confident that I could win my case with the 40k per month transfers in from Schwab to Bangkok Bank every month foe the pasr 18 months. I regret not reading more of this forum about what the others have been going through to get their marriage extension during Covid. Had I done my research, I would never have made such a careless move. But I took a chance and lost. I would have avoided this visa run if I had applied for the Covid 60 day extension which was offered to me by the IO. He actually asked me to come the next day and he would have given me that extension. But the next morning, he showed me the message from Bangkok that ordered them to stop giving the 60 day Covid Extension to anyone with a long term visa extension. So he really had no option but to tell me to "Go to Laos!"

There were time restraints and when I tried to set up an account with Transferwise with Schwab Bank a year ago, it was not possible to set up at that time. It was on a Friday evening when I had to make this transfer so that I could start working on the Thailand Pass for two people my Thai wife and me. My friend in Singapore was able to do that transfer is less than 12 hours and by Saturday morning the money was in his account. I was very happy to just get this job done and I didn't mind the extra cost.

There was an insurance requirement but through my insurance company in Phuket, I was able to pay only $40 for the 5 day period. But that $40 was for 2 weeks which was the minimum time period. The policy was a European one from France and it was for $50,000 of covid and medical insurance.

How do you fight against the government? In the the US, any foreigner can be denied entry by an American immigration officer. As you must know, each immigration office in Thailand acts independently and once they make their decision normal that is the end of the discussion. The only option I was aware of was to make a complaint to Bangkok about them not following the law. But I still have to deal with this same official when I go back in April for my one year marriage extension and complaining to Bangkok might make that process even more difficult. I can tell you more about what transpired after I was told to "Go to Laos" but a public forum is the right venue to talk about this.

I never felt that way about that Cambodian official. I really feel that he was trying to help me. He used his own money from his own bank account to pay his government for my E-Visa before receiving any money from me. He asked me for only $47 and he had to pay $36 for my E-Visa. He even sent me a scan of his ID card so that I could see that he was not trying to rip me off. So his "service charge was only $11. While the Singapore Bank charged $20 and the official's own bank in Cambodia charged him another $10. That is why I sent $50 to him and then he only received $40. I didn't have to put the exta $10 into his bank account in Phnom Penh but I promised to send him $50 which was $3 more than he asked for. I also invited him for a drink at our hotel because of how nicely he treated us. He never came by for a drink in the end and I regret this because he saved me hundreds of dollars by offering to help out with my visa so I would not have to spend 3 days in Bangkok going to the Cambodian Consulate. So please do not call it a bribe because I do not feel it was that way.

Just got back from a visa run to Cambodia. We had a problem to get my marriage visa extension this year. So the immigration office in Loei gave me no choice but to hit the road. They told me to: "Go to Hell"! At least that is what I thought they said. My wife later told me that they said, "Go to Laos!" We found out that I could easily go to Laos but the problem was to get back into Thailand. At the time there did not appear to be any direct flights from Laos to Thailand. We later found out that there was a weekly flight from Vientaine to Bangkok with Laos Airlines. But I could not buy tickets on that flight on line because it was a charter flight. So, we desided on Cambodia because neither of us had been there. We had been in Loas on a visa run twice before so we didn't want to go there again. The first step was to get the Cambodia visa for me. It seems that the Thai citizens do not require a visa. They are allowed to stay in Cambodia for 14 days. The easiest way for foreigners to get a visa right now for Cambodia, is through this website: https://www.evisa.gov.kh/application_new This avoided us from having to spend 3 days in Bangkok to visit the Cambodian consulate. However, there is a problem with payment. First you have to have a Cambodian phone number and be able to receive the OTP code on a Cambodian SIM card. I tried to pay the $36 USD charge with several bank cards from the US and from Thailand also and none would work without receiving the Cambodian OTP to type into the payment window. I was able to call the Minstry of Foreign Affairs in Phnom Penh and explain the issue to a Cambodian government official and he offered a solution. He said for $47 USD, he would pay for my visa with his private bank account and he asked me to transfer that amount to his ABA Bank account number in Phnom Penh. I managed to find a friend in Singapore who was able to use his mobile app to transfer $50 USD to his account in Cambodia but it took about 12 hours to complete. There was also a $20 service charge to pay from his Singapore bank. I then transfered $70 in Thai Baht to my Singapore friend's Thai Bank account in Thailand. The next day, I got a message from the Cambodian official that the money had not yet arrived in his account, so I contacted my friend in Singapore who sent me a transfer document showing that the funds transfer was complete. By this time, we had set up What's App connection between me and this official and he decided to go ahead and pay the $36 to the Cambodian government for my E-visa and take a chance on me not paying him back for it. An hour later I got a message from him on What's App and the E-Visa was sent as an attached file through What's app. I was able to print out the E-visa and made a copy to staple into my passport. The visa was valid for 30 days from the arrival date in Phnom Penh and was a Tourist visa. An hour after that I received another message from my contact in Cambodia with a transfer document from his bank showing that the ABA bank in Cambodia had taken out $10 USD as a service charge so he actually received only $40 USD. So I wrote him back promising to transfer the $10 USD to his ABA bank account when I would arrive in Phnom Penh. I am aware that through Western Union and other banking systems, I could have maybe saved time or money but it was Friday and I was in Chiang Khan, Loei and my flight was on the following Monday afternoon. So I was quite happy to pay this extra money to avoid the 3 days stay in Bangkok and go to the Cambodian Embassy get the visa and have to delay my flight. So my Thai wife and I drove our truck to Bangkok with our labrador retriever in the back seat on the Saturday before the flight. We left our dog with a professional trainer in Rangsit to train her for future dog shows and we went to our Test and Go hotel in Bang Na. We went to MedConsult clinic in Sukumvit and paid 1500 baht each for our PCR tests on Sunday morning. We received the negative results by email on Sunday afternoon. The Test and Go hotel was called 56 Hotel Sukumvit. We stayed overnight before our Bangkok Airways flight to Phnom Phen. We left our Ford Ranger the next day at a very good Ford Ranger garage near the airport for a full service and we went by taxi to the airport. We were please to find out that the Bangkok Airways lounge in Bangkok is now open and we had good food and drinks while waiting for our flight. On Day One, arrival in Phnom Penh just around sunset, we were put in a large room where we had to do another rapid antigen test and wait in chair by the customs area. About one hour later our names were called and they let us leave the airport with a negative test result. No charge for the covid test at the Phnom Penh airport! We chose to pay only $10 and took a tiny tuk tuk to our hotel near the Royal Palace. On Day Two, we took another tuk tuk for about $2 US to the Thai consulate. We went through all our documents with the guard outside the consulate and then went inside. We had a special form to fill out at the consulate which took about 20 minutes. There was a helpful Cambodian agent who assisted with the paperwork while he was filling out the same form for one of his customers. I think he was charging around $30 to do the forms but in the end we completed them our self. At the end I asked one question about the form so he took his pen and completed the last line for me without charge. I told him that I wanted to go to get my PCR test right away that day but he told me that I had to wait one more day. It was a Tuesday and the return flight was on a Friday. So I would have to go the health ministry for the PCR test the following day which was a Wednesday. But we gave him a 4000 riel tip ($1) because he was very pleasent and helpful. We waited another 20 minutes. There were only about 5 people waiting before us. The lady at the window went through all our forms and documents and put them in my passport and handed me a receipt asking me to pick up everything in two days on Thursday afternoon from 3pm to 4pm. The cost of the visa was $80 USD but we had only Thai Baht so they charged 2700 baht. Very pleasant experience and very professional service. The rest of the day was used to move to a more reasonably priced hotel followed by a walk over to the NAGA World Resort and Casino and a nice Hot Pot dinner by the Mekong River. On Day Three, we went to the National Institute of Public Health downtown to what appears to be the only place in Phnom Penh to get a PCR test for international travel. https://goo.gl/maps/sYDV7MAcFFZQHDnP9 I took out $130 each from a local ATM for the PCR test which included the medical certificate to be able to fly. One nice thing about Cambodia is that it seems the ATM machines will only give US dollars which can be used just about everywhere. We did the test in about an hour after waiting in a large room with about 50 others seated one meter apart. We were finished by noon time. We had booked a tuk tuk for the afternoon for $15 so from there, we went to the Central Market for a wonderful seafood lunch in the market. After we visited one of the detention centers used in the genocide. After that visit, we didn't feel like continuing our tour so we went back to our hotel. https://goo.gl/maps/28qzycQf8pBh3tGq9 That evening we walked to AEON Mall where we had one of the best Korean BBQ we had since Seoul. On Day Four, we were supposed to return to pick up our PCR test results at 10 AM. However we were informed that without a passport I would not be able to get my results. Since my passport was not going to be returned to me before that afternoon, we had been given special permission to have a late pick up of our results in the afternoon after picking up my passport at the Thai consulate. So we decided to walk around the area of the Royal Palace which was closed do to the presence of the king and the pandemic. We found a great restaurant near by next to the Mekong River and had lunch. After that, we went back to the Thai consulate and picked up my passport with the Non O marriage visa which allows a single entry for a 90 day stay in Thailand. We had a tuk tuk on standby to take us back to the National Institute of Public Health arriving in good time to pick up our negative test results before they closed at 5 pm. We went back to the the AEON Mall to go bowling and watched Moon Fall in 4DX. (terrible film but wonderful experience getting a full flight simulator shock treatment!) After the movie the mall was closing but we managed to get some beers and food to bring back to the hotel. On Day Five, we took it easy and rested all morning. We managed to get a free extension on our room until 4pm which is another reason I really like that hotel. At noon time we went out to see the NAGA World 2 resort and casino and got a Tuk Tuk to see the Phnom Temple. We had time for a shower and nap before the hour long tuk tuk drive to the airport. We had no problem to board the plane back to Thailand. The only thing they needed was the Thailand Pass which they scanned with the QR code reader. We arrived in BKK airport and went through the document checks without any problems. We were taken back to our Test and Go hotel in Bang Na in a sealed Fortuna to protect the driver. He took us first to a nearby hospital for the Day One PCR test and then to the hotel where we checked in to a better room on the 7th floor. By morning we had our negitive PCR results. My future son in law was off work on Saturday so he picked us up in his car and brought us to IKEA nearby at Mega Bang Na. That afternoon, he took us back to the Ford mechanic where I picked up our truck and brought it back to our hotel. We booked the same room on Agoda for the 3 nights between Day One Test and Go and Day 5 Test and Go days. Saved about 2000 baht off of the 5 day Test and Go package this way and got to keep the same room. One good thing is that by doing the 2nd Day 5 PCR test just after midnight on Day 4, you can actually check out on the morning of Day 5 as soon as you get the results of the PCR test. The hotel manager offered to give us another free night later in the year if we gave up our room early and left on the morning of Day 5. It seems he needed that room for another customer. But in the end we needed to stay in Bangkok the entire 5 nights. But since we had the negative PCR tests on the morning of Day 5 we could have gone home one day earlier than planned. All in all the entire experience was positive, It was a first visit to Cambodia for both of us and we enjoyed the experience as a tourist there. I think that by spending 4 nights there in a hotel instead of 3 nights, we were able to see some of the sights and turned a tedious negative experience into a positive one. I suppose the entire visa run could have been done faster but we decided to turn this visa run into a holiday instead. The cost and risk of a positive covid test in either Cambodia or Thailand gave us a bit of stress. But now we are home with a visa good for 90 days and we already went to the Loei immigration office in Chiang Khan and they have told us that this time, I will get the one year marriage visa extension in April. I want all to realize that if you want to keep a good relation with immigration, you will need to keep 400,000 baht minimum in your Thai bank account for 2 months prior to your anual extension date. I decided to move some money out of that account during the 2 months prior to my extension. I did not feel that there was much risk since I have done the monthly income method with Bangkok Bank showing more than 40,000 baht wire transfers from my US bank each month for the past 12 months to my Bangkok Bank account but here in Chiang Khan that method of verifying income is not accepted by the big boss and I took a chance and lost. For me and my Thai wife the entire visa run was a positive experience and though there were a lot of extra costs due to the pandemic, in the end it was worth it to see a new country and see what Cambodia was all about.

MG brought a EV test model to our house in Chiang Khan from Loei. I was very impressed with our test drive but my Thai wife keeps telling me that the MG cars in Thailand are not reliable. I think she might be referring to the MGs with IC engines. I was very impressed with all the high tech options. The price was affordable and we checked out the charging station at the dealer in Loei. I think the only thing holding me back is the issue about being able to charge the batteries on the highway in Thailand. PTT would have the best locations for charging stations and this will bring plenty of customers to the Amazon coffee shops and the other distractions at many of their locations. I heard a rumor that there will be be big changes coming to Thailand next year in the EV market. If only the Thai government would subsidize the EV industry like many counties in Europe. But the best would be if Tesla would enter the Thai market! What about creating an EV thread in the Auto section so we can follow this emerging industry?

We have taken her to a vet in Issan and they don't really know what is causing the problem. We left our dog with a professional trainer while we went to Cambodia on a visa run. The trainer thinks there is some sort of fungus on her skin and he told us that he would treat her for this while we were in Cambodia. He was unable to get the medicine reqired for her so we are looking for a place we can go to get medicine for her before the long drive home. We can go anywhere in Bangkok.

We need help with our Labrador who swims every day on our farm in Chiang Khan, Loei. We are in Bangkok with our Lab right now but we have to go back to our farm on Wednsday so we need find a specialist Vet real fast!

We need help with our Labrador who swims every day on our farm in Chiang Khan, Loei. We are in Bangkok with our Lab right now but we have to go back to our farm on Wednsday so we need find a specialist Vet real fast!

For a really fast ID, contact the FB group "Snakes of Issan". There you will find the most knowlegeble snake ID experts! https://www.facebook.com/groups/1076644525809817/

Can anyone recommend a Ford dealer for service in Bangkok near Bang Na? It looks like I have to replace the valve cover gasket on my 2011 2.5 liter engine and yesterday the radio died so I may need a new radio. This is the last year if the old style Ranger just before they started building the All New Ranger in 2012. Has 180,000 Km and now more than 12 years old. This will be the first major repair since purchased new in Phuket in 2012. We are going on a visa run to Cambodia today for a 5 day trip and I want a reputable garage that can get me the truck fixed and ready to make the long trip back to Loei after we finish the Test and Go and Test and Go Again in Bangkok. We can go anywhere in the Bangkok area to find the best Ford Ranger mechanic in the area. It doesn't have to be a Ford dealer garage but has to have a qualified and reputable Ford Ranger service mechanic. But it has to be TODAY!