DocTom

Denim, many thanks indeed. The list seems to be quite good. I do not know why my net searches failed to find it. Thanks again, Tom.

Does anyone know of a glossary of automotive terms in Thai and English (with transliteration - not just Thai scripts)? I think that a list of car components (e.g. shock absorber, fuel injector....) and causes (e.g. worn-out, broken...) would be very useful to many English-speaking vehicle owners.
Such an item would be very helpful when getting a car serviced at facilities where there are no English speakers.
I am unable to find by searches anything useful along these lines.
Can anyone help please?

I have used, and recommend, Cambridge Tax Practice.  They specialise to a degree in expat tax matters.   A director, Kieran O'Conner has been very helpful.

Mahseer, Raindancer,  many thanks to both of you for your speedy and helpful replies.  I shall act according to your advice, perhaps preceded by a telephone call to hear what the Mae Sod officials demand of me.

DocTom.

 

14 hours ago, Mahseer said:

Letter no longer required. Head to immigration airport branch and fill out the appropriate form and provide copies of the following:

 

Info page old & new passport.

All pages with Thai stamps.

TM30 & 90 day.

 

Go straight to counter number 3.

Mahseer.   Thanks for the reply.  However my local Thai Immigration office is in Mae Sod, not an airport branch.  But it still requires a long car drive.  So before I go, please can you comment further - will the same conditions apply as at the airport branch?  Do I have to go now, or is it permissible to wait until my August visit when I go for my one year visa extension?

Thanks again,  DocTom.

I just got my renewal UK passport from VFS Chiang Mai.  Despite the strike, the total time was about 1 month. The service from VFS was excellent.

However, I am informed by a friend that I should have been given an embossed letter from the UK asking Thai Immigration to record detail of the new passport. I did not receive the document, so I now need to contact VFS Global Chiang Mai.  

Despite exhaustive searches, I cannot find an email address, nor a tel. number fro VFS Chiang Mai.  Can anyone help please? 

DocTom.

Kamalabob2 :   your effort on my behalf in contacting your friend and getting the contact in Mae Sot is much appreciated.  I live in Muang Tak, so Mae Sot is a bit of a treck, particularly now that the road extensions in the mountains are in progress, but I intend to get a Thai family member to phone K. Chanp (my rudimentary Thai is hardly good enough for a proper discussion of the problem) and make an arrangement if he is able to help.

So many thanks indeed for your help.

DocTom.

Gentlemen :  I have read this thread with interest, since I am seeking service for my Makita electric lawnmower

I used the Makita website to find the official Thai email address for customer support, sent an email, and I am still waiting for a reply.  There seems to be no way to email Makita Global to complain.

So reading the remarks about Thai Seng and the company in Buriram, I ask your advice as to how to proceed to find a repair location.

The problem (in brief) with the lawnmower is ....(from my unanswered email)

I have an ELM4110 Makita electric lawnmower.   After about 2 years of work, the motor is making strange noises, and frequently at switch-on it will not turn the blade until I have manually turned the blade to a new position.

I have been unable to find a service location on the web.  So please will you direct me to the location of an appropriate service facility?  I live in Tak, so I will be grateful if you will identify the nearest centre.  (end of email.)

I suspect that the motor may require new brushes. 

Gentlemen, the grass is growing fast! So I will be extremely grateful for any advice as to how to obtain a repair.

DocTom.

I too have been contacted by HSBC re. its Safeguard initiative. In fact they reduced the withdrawal limit on my debit card because I had not responded (by mistake.) This caused serious annoyance! I have banked with them for nearly 30 years

I sent the required documents, certified as true copies by my Thai bank, as indicated as an option on the HSBC Safeguard website.

I have just been contacted to say that cerification by a Thai bank is not acceptable, and that I will have to get more copies notarized.

This nuisance comes after a similar episode concerning FATCA compliance.

I am now seiously interested in changing banks - does anyone know of reliable banks that will accept new customers by online application?

About a year ago, I found a web document that was a proposal (very well drafted, and very thorough) for changes to the UK Health Service and entitlements to treatment.

Of significance to this thread was the proposal that entitlement to completely free health service should be given to expats who live abroad but who have paid National Insurance contributions for a period of 20 years or so (I forget the exact number.)

The document was a consultation proposal. After about a year or so, the plan was to submit it to government or parliament in some way or other, ultimately to become an official proposal for goverment consideration.

Unfortunately due to computer crashes etc I am unable to locate the document, and nor can I find any recent news of it.

Does anyone know of this proposal? Have there been further developments?

If implemented, it would be a major beneficial change to Health Service entitlement for many expats.

DocTom.

Sorry I have been absent for a while, but now I see your responses. Many thanks to you all.

The whatiscalled link is quite useful, but not very extensive in the terms that are covered - however better than anything that I had previously, so thanks AyG.

I could not get the link to thai-language.com to work, but I got there by a series of steps - very good site, but again lacking some terms. The womenlearnthai links also provided some useful information.

It seems that there is no comprehensive facility, but the sites that you suggested are a significant advance on what I had available previously.

I do think that the sites that you suggested may be of sufficient interest and utility that it would be useful to put them in a pinned entry.

Many thanks to you all.

DocTom.

Sorry I have been absent for a while, but now I see your responses. Many thanks to you all.

The whatiscalled link is quite useful, but not very extensive in the terms that are covered - however better than anything that I had previously, so thanks AyG.

I could not get the link to thai-language.com to work, but I got there by a series of steps - very good site, but again lacking some terms. The womenlearnthai links also provided some useful information.

It seems that there is no comprehensive facility, but the sites that you suggested are a significant advance on what I had available previously.

I do think that the sites that you suggested may be of sufficient interest and utility that it would be useful to put them in a pinned entry.

Many thanks to you all.

DocTom.

Gentlemen,

I have searched generally on the web, and in this site, but I cannot find a good English-Thai-English online dictionary of medical terms (preferably one with Romanised Thai also).

Can anyone point me to one or more please? (Seems like an item that could be useful to many.)

DocTom.

Ubonjoe : many thanks indeed for your quick reply. Will do as you advise. DocTom.

I have a query related to this topic. I have lived in Thailand for 12 years, each year getting an extension to my visa based on retirement.

I have never been required to produce "proof of address", but there is a suggestion that this year (2 weeks time) when I go to Mae Sod, there will be such a demand.

I live in a property that my wife owns (that I purchased), so there is no lease or rental agreement.

My name is not on the house book that my wife keeps (sorry I do not know the technical term).

So to my question please to the experts : how then do I provide proof of address? (For example will a telephone bill bearing my name and our address be accepted?)

I will be grateful indeed for any advice.

Doctom.

Well Meatboy, it appears that your knowledge has no bounds - even to the extent of asserting that charges are being made to my bank account when I can see that no such deductions are being made!

I can confirm part of what BillBenBob says about transfers from HSBC UK.

I have made transfers every month for years using HSBC Internet banking. In my case the transfer is to Kasikorn Bank where I have my account.

The HSBC charge is 4 GBP and that is levied when I choose the option that the sender (me) pays all the fees for the complete transfer.

I choose to send the funds in GBP, and they are converted to Thai Baht somewhere along the route at Telex Transfer exchange rate.

I am not knowledgeable about intermediary banks. I have always assumed that the route is HSBC UK --> HSBC Thailand --> Kasikorn, but this may be incorrect.

At Kasikorn there are no charges, or at least there have been none so far (more than 5 years.)

I have become a bit annoyed with Kasikorn recently (for other reasons), so I was searching this forum for opinions on other banks. In view of the charges levied by Bangkok Bank and others, I think that maybe I will remain with Kasikorn!

I hope that this is of interest, even though the thread is months old.

DocTom.

Many thanks for your interest and responses. The overall impression that I get is that the recovery is very improbable. The banks have been asking for documents from the UK solicitors for a year now, and it seems inconceivable to me that they still do not have what is required. I fear that they have no intention of releasing the monies to his estate.

In view of the rather small amount of money, I think that hiring a Thai solicitor is not worthwhile.

As to withdrawing the money from the ATM, it is an appealing thought, but of course we do not know his PIN.

Nobody suggested that publicity (adverse) might create persuasive pressure. I wonder whether the BKK Post, and/or the Nation, might be prepared to print a critical letter, sent with copies to the CEOs of the two banks. Any opinions?

Thanks again for your collective wisdom.

DocTom.

A year ago this month , an old friend died (in the UK). He was a frequent holiday visitor to Phuket, and had two accounts in two different Thai banks.

Since then, for a full year, the UK solicitors attending to his estate have been trying to get the two banks to release the funds to the estate, but with no success. They are (apparently) asked for more documents each time letters are exchanged.

The amount is unlikely to be huge - perhaps a few thousand pounds equivalent - but the principal beneficiaries are two young girls, just starting families, so they could find the money very useful. In any case it offends my sense of decency and fairness that the banks should retain these funds, as it appears they intend.

The UK solicitor is about to throw in the towel. I live in Thailand and tried to get help from the UK Embassy, but only got a list of Thai lawyers.

So, to the point: can any of you knowledgeable guys suggest ways to get the Thai banks to do the decent thing? I will be grateful indeed for any help.

DocTom.

I have found the UK Gov. proposal document regarding NHS entitlement.

It is long and detailes, and I cannot copy and paste because it is a PDF.

Some relevant points.....

It states that at present, expats of lower that state retirement age are NOT entitled to free NHS treatment, with certain exceptions (notably emergency treatment during a visit to the UK). But OAPs are entitled to free NHS treatment DURING visits ONLY. (Again there are similar exceptions.)

The proposal states that it recognises the unfairness to people who have made significant contributions to UK gov. revenues.

It seeks to make NHS healthcare free to all pensioners who lived in the UK for 10 years or more. (There is no mention as to whether this is for illness occurring during visits or whether pre-existing conditions are included.)

It also seeks to give the same rights to younger expats who lived in the UK for 10 years or more and are now resident in a non-EEA country with a reciprocal healthcare agreement with the UK.

I do not know what will be the timescale for the proposal to become law.

Here is a link to the proposal.......https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/210438/Sustaining_services__ensuring_fairness_consultation_document.pdf

Hope this helps!

Does anyone have any helpful advice re. card exchange rates, given the following experiences?

I have HSBC UK debit and credit cards (Mastercard), and find that the exchange rates they apply are always below the rate here in Thailand, usually by 1 to 1.5 Baht. Earlier this month I booked a flight to London, and the exchange rate used was a full 2 Bahts below the Kasikorn rate, and so cost me a fair lump of cash.

I will be grateful for any advice that may help me to avoid this kind of rip-off, but please something more practical and detailed than - change your card!

Many thanks indeed - now to the online site! DocTom.

On a related point.......the procedure requires (I think) two appointments to be made online - one for biometric tests, and then one for submission of the application. Can someone advise me please if these two appointments can be booked to occur in quick succession - the second to follow the first as quickly as possible? If so what interval do I need to allow between the two appointment times so that the biometric tests are completed before the application submission appointment?

DocTom.

Beano2274 : many thanks for your reply. Life is short (I am just 70!), so I bit the bullet and sent the credit card details. However there are only 1000 different combinations of the 3 numbers that are usually requested, so it is a trivial bit of computer work to try all of them - but I do not know how a thief would know when he had got the correct one. But these card thieves are very knowledgeable and ingenious, so I still harbour some fears........

I have to renew my passport, and I too am having trouble getting a banker's draft. It appears that none of the banks locally provide this facility, so it is either a trip to BKK, or card payment.

The HK administrative office offers a form for card payment. It requires all the details of the card - number, full name, etc. I feel sure that including these details in a postal envelope is very insecure - a thief can order stuff online or by telephone without difficulty it seems to me.

So - advise please. Am I being paranoid about possible card identity theft and loss of money, or not?