mosan

1 hour ago, sometimewoodworker said:

I find it amusing that so many people are getting their nickers in a twist over TransferWise. Thinking that because they want something that is not advertised they should get it. 

 

They have always stated that the transfers are domestic both from you foreign account and to your Thai account, that is one of the reasons why the fees are so low, there has been the luck that transfers into Bangkok Bank accounts often/usually show as FTT. Then the r/EntitledPeople get pissed off when the cheap transfer works as advertised, as a domestic transfer.

 

When and if TransferWise starts advertising international transfers into Thailand (probably at extra cost) then you will have a legitimate complaint if they don't show as FTT.

 

If you want a guaranteed international transfer then use SWIFT from your overseas account to your Thai bank account. 

Therein lies the rub.  Some people (such as myself) can't initiate a SWIFT transfer from Thailand even if they want to.  My home bank will only accept walk-in service--meaning you physically have to walk into a branch to initiate the transfer.  On the other hand, I have the option of several family members that can do transfers for me, and I've already pre-arranged this in the event TransferWise fails at some point in the future.  But SWIFT transfers are expensive, so I'll stick with TW until I can't.

Everyone should try to have a plan B... 

32 minutes ago, OzMan said:

I have an O-A visa issued November 2018 in Australia. I need to renew it this November and thus have to show 800k baht in the bank. If I bring $40k AUD to BKK and put it into a SCB FC account will immigration accept this as money obtained overseas? 

If you have an Non-Imm. O-A issued on November 2018 in Australia, then you can get another year just by exiting and re-entering Thailand just before that visa expires. You can still bring your $40K from Australia, but you don't need to renew anything this November and therefore do not need show any money in the bank until November 2020. 

Or is it that you just want to do an extension here this year, and be done with your O-A?

8 hours ago, fforest1 said:

I am sorry but Burkas just do not belong in Thailand and neither do the African drug dealers......Its the Western expat that was the fuel that helped turn Thailand into a fun place thats a fact...

Whether or not the Burkas belong here or not doesn't really matter.  And while there are African drug dealers here, in case you haven't noticed, there are many western drug dealers here also.  It's not the western expat that has fueled the growth here, it was the myriad of multi-national companies regardless of where they are from.  And no, western expats did not turn this place into a fun hangout all by them selves...plenty of people from all over have been visiting and having fun here for a hundred years or better.  My guess is you're referring to the red light districts--sorry to break it to you, but sex workers and alcohol have been in Thailand for hundreds of years!

2 hours ago, oldrunner said:

I'm assuming you speak of Thai Baht?

Yes Thai Baht...monthly. And for the record, my wife is from the jungles of Issan. She was my maid when I worked here years ago.  Convinced her family to let her come with me to the US...said she would make more in one month than they made in a year. 

Partial quote...   "he was pretty much my only customer who paid for stuff from us often up front, in full”

10 minutes ago, Mavideol said:

could it be that you are guessing wrong ?

I could be, but I don't think I am unless you've got some strong evidence to the contrary...

28 minutes ago, Mavideol said:

how many from Burma, Laos, Cambodia, India, Africa......

Let me guess, you're not from any of those countries. So, why do you care?

Stay home, lay low and get out of here safely...you may want to come back! You never know...

3 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

I got my 3rd bank account a couple days ago at Bangkok Bank, it took 20 minutes and was painless. You need to pick your branch carefully

Could you just share with us which branch and city you used, along with the documentation required? Would be very useful to others...

@johny67, I'm guessing that now you are clear on the rules, so just hop on over to Laos and get that Non-Imm O, and you've got 90 Days from then to put 400K into your bank account. No other financials required.  If need be, put a child into a public school for one semester to free up some funds--it will not kill them and they will certainly not fall behind based on the level of education being taught here. You did say you've been here 25 years unless I missed something-stop blaming the system, make some positive moves. As we say in my home country, get er done...

P.S. I know hindsight is 20/20 but maybe 3.5 Mil on the house and 500K in the bank would have been a better idea--for the listeners out there...or better yet 3, Mil on the house and 1 Mil in the bank.

12 hours ago, BritManToo said:

1.8M selling price new, 1.5M loan over 27 years, 150m2

But that was 5 years back, same house new now is 2.4M

Thanks for the reply. For comparison I bought a 150 m2 house 9 years ago, 1.66M.  Financed 1.46M for 15 years and it costs me 15,600 Baht per month and not one problem with the house...

"I have a nice 3 bedroom house close to Chiang Mai with mountain and rice paddy views.

Mortgage repayments are 11kbht/month ($550A)"

@BritManToo, It would provide a clearer picture if you said what the original price of the house was, how many square meters, and the length of the mortgage, e.g.: 10 years, 15 years, etc...

The fund shares peaked in Nov 2013 and the big selloff started shortly thereafter. Also looks like you just put in your 100K and didn't add any more during that time--unless I missed something.  My real question is when everyone was jumping ship in 2013 what were you doing (rhetorical question). 

Look at the top right hand of this screen, you will see a little green envelope...these are Private Messages to you. Click on the icon to read and reply.

38 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Except none of those are relating to BANK deposits, which is the other category of meeting the financial requirement for O-As.  And your info doesn't resolve the question of whether the Consulates/Embassy will accept BROKERAGE deposit letters as opposed to BANK deposit letters, regardless of whether the letters are signed, stamped, etc. Because the actual posted requirements say only BANK and not any other type of deposit, depending on how literally they mean the term.

 

 

However, if you had read what I wrote instead of racing to try and be the best know it all on ThaiVISA, you would have noticed that I mentioned there is a second part of the application that provides a place for you to name your financial institution and the amount of you deposit.  But then after looking over many of your previous posts, that's you're standard mode of operation...  

I've spoken to some of the workers at the Embassy in Washington, D.C., they seemed to be an informed bunch. I asked if it really mattered if I used my brokerage account or my credit union, and their reply was just list your financial institution and the amount of your savings...no worry about instant access or seasoning like in Thailand.  After the conversation it was apparent they were operating on a different level and understanding.

Carry on...no love lost here.

You guys are waaaay over thinking this.  Got my O-A from the D.C. Embassy in January this year.  The only documents than needed to be signed was the federal or local FBI cover letter for the police check and the Medical Certification form from your physician. Additionally, the Non-Imm. O-A application has two pages--Page two has a spot for you to write in the name of your financial institution and the amount you have in your savings account. The letter I supplied from Social Security is not signed or stamped, it's just their standard form letter mailed out each year showing your monthly and annual amounts due to you. Same, same with the Dept. of Defense letter--standard letterhead, not signed or stamped, just your identifying credentials and the amount you receive monthly.  If anyone would like samples of said letters, PM me and I'll give you a copy. 

Yes, you can do that...provided you want to pay the domestic wire charge if whatever financial institution you're using requires one.

20 minutes ago, Pib said:

Nope...the entire motherboard was not swapped out....only the GPU.  The shop has a hot air desoldering/soldering rework  station/machine with temp sensors to precisely control the hot air temp....just enough to cause the low temperature solder to melt for component removal/replacement but not damage components/motherboard.  Very similar to soldering components at the factory....components are prcisely placed on the motherboard...then heated with hot air or in an oven which causes the components to self solder.    When I picked up my repaired laptop I actually hung around and watched them unsolder a defective soldered CPU on a laptop motherboard and replace it with another one.  The unsoldering and resoldering is the quick part....the clean up process between unsoldering and resoldering took the most time....the cleanup process involves preparing the "ball solder" for resoldering.

Pib, that is not a typical repair shop in Thailand.  What are we talking about for costs? Additionally, did I remember you saying that the problem you had re-occurred and finally died--or was that some other poster?  I still can't see doing that as being cost effective for the average joe living here--that's not to say you're average.  Hell for all I know, you may be well funded.  I'm not doing too bad myself, but being a techie type, I'd never invest in replacing components on a motherboard--let alone a laptop motherboard.  Too proprietary, and too much hassle for my tastes. These components are commodity items.  For the every day Joe, unless they are deeply in love with their machine, I advise them to move on... 

Cheers

I can't believe that in this day and age people are still trying to fix laptops. Most techies know that chips are soldered to the motherboard by precision equipment in the factory. Asking someone to change a faulty chip does not make any sense.  In all likelihood, the entire motherboard was probably swapped out, and if the problem persists, then it could be an ongoing problem with said motherboard (bad design). Also how old are these laptops you guys are trying to repair? It's almost always more cost effective (and less headaches) to replace an old expensive Laptop with a new cheaper one--because newer cheaper electronics will almost always outperform older hardware.  Say what you will, but at least stop banging your heads against concrete block walls!