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Check with Far Eastern Univ, across the highway from Airport Plaza.  They have a certification program.  Don't know the cost.  But I do know tour guide licenses are limited to Thais and the guides had better be wearing their license  in plain view.  I have seen the Tourist Police checking and arresting non-licensed guides.

15 hours ago, CharlieH said:

I obtained one today. I visited my local Amphur first to enquire what was needed etc.

 

Yellow Tabien Bahn + copy

passport + copy of ID page

Visa page copy.

 

Returned with required documents etc and a 10 yr ID card was issued in under 10 minutes.

Cost= 85 baht. Was told next one would be for life.

 

Hope this acts as a guide to others but please be sure to check with your local office as what they require, as Provincial Offices can and do vary.

Chiangmai - Sansai:   same information and copies; about the same amount of time.  Mine was issued for life being I am of age.

The airlines reject it because it say not good out of Chiangmai.  I have used it everywhere an ID is required except sometimes at the bank when they want to see the passport against the account that it was opened with.  Registering a SIM card.   Can be used anywhere a certificate of residency is required.   

I am waiting to see if my standing order from my U.S. bank to my Chiangmai Bangkok Bank branch that has been in place for umpty ump years is honored this month or not.  I doubt it will be.

Either at the end of February or the beginning of March I tried to make a new, one time domestic transfer to a new account in Chiangmai.  Rejected by New York.  Contacting them they said it was the wrong format, not IAT ACH.  I then tried sending a domestic wire through NY since wires are in the IAT ACH format.  It was accepted and deposited here.

My reading of all the information I could find is that this is imposed by the US Govt to combat tax evasion and money laundering.  Using the plain ACT format gives the impression the money stops in NY.  But it doesn't, it continues overseas to our local bank accounts.  The U.S. govt told Bangkok Bank that if it wants access to the U.S. banking system, it must track the physical address in Thailand of the receiver as well as the physical address of the bank branch in which the money is deposited.   Make sense to me.

2 hours ago, CharlieH said:

YES USPS will track through Thailand.

My experience has been to enter the USPS tracking number into the Thai post office tracking system and then follow it to delivery.  Vice versa for tracking mail from Thailand to the U.S.

@Our Man in the Tropics  said: trust that this is a most stimulating topic for all nationalities everywhere.

I appreciate stimulating intellectual subjects but (it may be because of old age?) I quickly lose interest if there is no practical use or application.   Does this one have either?

Never the less, I see two avenues that have to be taken.  First, as has  been mentioned lightly, a thorough examination of international law pertaining to diplomatic immunity and the bi-national treaty dealing with local national Embassy/Consulate staff is required.   That seems like a daunting task requiring extensive time spent in a law library.

The second avenue would be to search Thailand precedents in this arena and deciding under what extraordinary circumstances would a Thai court even accept such a case.    And then deciding whether one would have the slightest chance of finding a qualified lawyer capable of filing such a case.   My immediate reaction is these are daunting tasks #2.

This isn't, by any chance, some law school required paper, is it?

Seniors are free, even Farang seniors.   Enjoyable?   Depends upon what you like.   The skywalk was disappointing to me, too, not being interested in just trees and vegetation.   The different pavilions, though, were nice though, giving us different photo ops.   Again, depends upon what you like and if you don't like botanicals, you probably shouldn't go.   And if you have knee problems, probably shouldn't go.

Agree with Puchaiyank.   Used Turbo Tax yesterday, start to finish, filed electronically, and received notification accepted by IRS; all within a few hours.    

I sent an A4 sized envelope EMS on two occasions.   The first one was mailed at the beginning of December 2018 took 2 weeks to delivery in California.  The other was mailed 28 Jan and delivered 4 Feb, also in California. 

20 minutes ago, elektrified said:

Any updates? Joe Krebs former partner appears to be in C.M. but is apparently no longer doing tax work.

That is true, he is not.

Vacuum beat me to asking that question.   I effectively never get charged fees other than minor ones.

May be later reply but Promenada has them also.

I agree, DHL, FedEx, or UPS would be the fastest.

Contact the Forestry Dept and the Tourist Authority of Thailand:  they keep maps of trails open to the public and the type of use (e.g., hike only or hike/bike).   If you have trouble finding the right office, go to the Tourist Police station up past the zoo and ask them.  The Tourist Police just had a meeting with those entities at the station yesterday, discussing the trails and monitoring their use.

Central Festival has Power Buy and IT City, both with printers.  Do your on line research before going and find out what the current model numbers are and you should find what you want.

Factseeker -- you can use the ATM like machine outside any one of your bank's branches to update your bank book 24 hrs/day.

I would guess that the staff in Samoeng are less knowledgeable than other branches like Kad Suan Kaew.     I would start with the branches closest to where you think you would bank the most and just keep trying one by one.  Now some posters have said they need a certificate of residency.   Do you have a yellow book or pink ID card?  If not and you trying other branches is not successful, get a certificate first and then try, try again.

3 hours ago, VocalNeal said:

Or stick it on a bus.

This works well if you can take it to the bus station and you can pick it up same day or the next day.

Foreign banks wanting access to the U.S. banking system are required by U.S. law to report all U.S. citizens having accounts.  

On 10 December, the Manila SSA office sent me an email saying:  As of this moment we can only process Bangkok Bank direct deposit accounts in Thailand, meaning the New York branch

As other posters have pointed out, using the Bangkok Bank New York branch makes it an "in-country U.S. bank to bank" transfer which, by the way, are always made in ACH format.   

4 hours ago, jesimps said:

In my opinion it's the embassies' fault, viewing your docs or swearing an affidavit is a verification. All the embassies had to do was issue a letter saying that they'd verified your income as per the docs, or verification provided. I'm sure half the embassies still issuing letters don't do a verification at source, the famous four gave in too easily.

The old chestnut about people being able to forge docs is valid, but anything can be forged, passports, bank statements, bank letters etc. You have to draw the line somewhere or you go on ad infinitum. Official stamped and signed docs from a persons home country should be considered valid. So should sworn declarations.

Embassies are in Thailand for govt to govt political issues.  Citizen services is provide only as a courtesy as manpower allows.  They do not have the manpower or the where with all to accurately verify anyone's income.  If they issue an "validated"  income statement that is later proven to be a false declaration on the part of the retiree, their veracity in future political discussion would be suspect.

Central Festival 5th floor has a large child section and I have seen just about everything imaginable just walking through going to another department.  I have not see the gates, but it seems like a place to check out.

You could look up JIB on line and search what they offer.  If you find what you want, you could then go to JIB in Central Festival and either buy it off the shelf or have them order it for you.   I did that when I bought my monitor because it was more convenient that running around to the different shops looking for it.  In my case, it was something they didn't normally carry in stock but had no problem getting it from company stock in just a few days.

You could also go to InvadeIT on line and search.  That will tell you what is available in Thailand.   When you find the make and model you want, take that info to the most convenient computer store and they most likely can order it for you.

jINGTHING is correct, it is premature to wonder.   On 10 December, I received an email from the SSA office in Manila stating:  "As of this moment we can only process Bangkok Bank direct deposit accounts in Thailand."