jfchandler

No K, you misunderstood what I said....

I wasn't talking about a foreign currency fee. You are correct, Capital One does NOT charge foreign currency exchange fees when you use their credit card for purchases outside the U.S. That makes it a great credit card to use in Thailand for purchases.

However, I was talking about a regular cash advance fee of 3% of the amount of money withdrawn from an ATM machine using a Capital One credit card, regardless of whether in a foreign country or in the U.S. They DO charge a cash advance fee, since it is a credit card, not a debit/ATM card.

I believe at least part of what's occurring there, based on the receipt, is a predictable credit card surcharge of 3% for a credit card-based cash advance.

Note the ending language... "including a hedging margin not exceeding 3%"

I started a new thread today with pertinent info... This one didn't pop up in my search, for some reason...

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?s=...t&p=2722222

We're all still out here, LM...same as before... Just I have no personal stake in the NW discussion, though others certainly do..

Kasikorn, Ayudhya and Government Savings Bank remain ATM fee free... Use their ATMs...

Unless you want to get nicked for 150 baht per withdrawal from the other major Thai banks (BKK Bank, SCB, and the rest), courtesy of the Thai Bankers Assn.

Considering that True/UBC and ESPN Asia are doing such a crappy, incomplete job of broadcasting games in the current NBA playoffs series (and True's upcoming ASN sports network won't include NBA coverage), I went looking for alternatives today.

Found something interesting. By signing up for the FREE NBA All Access membership, the NBA web site appears to give you live radio broadcasts of all their regular season games, including the current playoffs and upcoming finals. All Access membership includes giving you free access to what the NBA calls its "Audio League Pass."

Accessing the feed from outside the U.S. did not create any issues at all. I believe you just need to have the free Macromedia Flash player plug-ins installed for your browser, whether it be IE, Firefox or others.

I tried it a bit this morning with the Lakers game. I think they (the NBA site) are just picking up the local team's radio broadcasts. But if you want to listen to any or all of the games, it would save you trying to hunt around and find which individual radio station is doing the online broadcast of the game you want to hear, as well as providing a convenient place for finding the schedules/times of the upcoming games.

Here's the web site for signing up and getting free access to the game broadcasts.

http://www.nba.com/allaccess/about.html

Separately, of course, the NBA has a video broadcasting service for the playoffs and finals that is now available to international residents. They're offering video broadcasts of the playoffs and finals for $29.95 for standard def and $39.95 for widescreen HD def.

The web site for the video service is here:

http://ilp.nba.com/

And then of course, there are the various 3rd party online broadcasts of the NBA games which vary in quality and reliability... One site that aggregates a lot of those feeds is justin.tv

I'm not medically trained... But...I would think that a symptom of acute gastritis as described above for the Norwegian woman would not be consistent with someone inhaling some kind of chemical, such as from the nearby water plant.

At the same time, the Seattle woman, by the account of her fiance, had not been drinking any alcohol, such as the "bucket" drinks reportedly shared by the two Norwegian woman.

What all four would have shared in common, though, would have been water and/or some other drinks obtained from the guesthouse where they were staying.

Here's Ayudhya's exchange rates chart as of 9:45 am Friday morning....

Interesting, it doesn't appear to show any reference to DCC rates....

YY, you neglect to mention that the HSBC Premier accounts you mention require, as a minimum, that customers have and maintain at least about $100,000 U.S. worth of combined deposits or loans with HSBC. Yes, those accounts also are available to U.S. folks.

If you have that amount or more with HSBC, then yes, those accounts have a nice set of benefits for international-type folks. But not everyone has, or wants to plunk down, $100,000+ with HSBC, especially when their rates are pretty miserly.

Actually, NASA Vegas would be a better resting spot after a late night at either of the Tawandangs on nearby Soi Pattanakarn...

That, and, it's located right on the soon-opening Phyathai to Suvarnabhumi airport rail link line...

If NASA Vegas is a popular place for maintaining giks in residence (that's news to me, since I don't keep anyone in that fashion)...... maybe I should plan on actually spending some time there...

Thanks RGS... You're right... I've never stayed at the NASA Vegas... though I did stay at the Playboy one night... Shhhhh........

However, from various accounts here on TV that I've read, the NASA Vegas has rooms that are pretty decent and well maintained... surely better than the Crown Hotel on Suk 27-29....

The OP was asking for 500 baht PER NIGHT places... So if he's serious to find places really at that price in BKK... then I'd guess the NASA Vegas is probably among the better accommodations per se to be found at that price..

At 500 baht per night, I home he's not bringing a REAL GF along...

For the two hotels mentioned above, I suspect the front desk staff won't know what to do if someone walks in and wants to rent the room for the ENTIRE night.... For both places, I'd say the majority of their business is more akin to BKK James' hotel staying habits...

From BK Magazine's web site...

Tensui

Address

* 33 Sukhumvit Soi 16

* 33 สุขุมวิท ซอย 16

Contact

* Phone: 02-663-2281

Opening hours

* Daily 11:30am-2:30pm, 6pm-11:30pm

Cards

* American Express, Visa, Mastercard

Description

Relax in a lush, peaceful garden and enjoy authentic Japanese specialties prepared from fresh seasonal ingredients. If you don’t like what you see on the menu, the chefs are willing to whip up new specialties to suit your cravings. Those with bucks to spend should not miss its lavish kaiseki set.

(HSBC Dining Guide, BK#178, Mar 23, 2007)

-------------------------

Tensui has it all: gorgeous appearance, friendly service and excellent food. But its steep prices place it beyond the expense accounts of most of us. Good news is that its lunch sets are a lot more affordable (B280-850) than the a la carte dinner menu.

BK MAGAZINE LUNCH GUIDE 2008

Rented the room for 4 hours...but only used it for 5 minutes???

There are some options available, but at that price, pretty sparse...

A nice, decent place nearby, though not on Sukhumvit, is the NASA Vegas hotel...

http://www.nasavegashotel.com/

Rates as low as 690 baht per night...

On Sukhumvit itself, there is the Crown Hotel around Soi 27 or 29.... not to be confused with the more expensive but similarly low-end Crown Hotel in Suk Soi 6-8...

I stayed there one on a night when I couldn't go back to my own home due to a power outage... it was around 500 baht per night... simple room with bed and inside bathroom with shower... Hotel also has an outdoor pool and cafe onsite.

Do a ThaiVisa search for "cheap" hotels around Sukhumvit..You'll find other suggestions...

Someone else cited this place:

White Orchid Inn ; is about 50metres from Nana Plaza; .Has some Semi-permanent Brits.

No Website; but: phone 02 6564670

Price is around 600Baht-last time I checked.

But why would you pay $25-$35 for a domestic wire transfer when you can ACH for $5-$10?

Just trying to make people aware of ALL the different routes that are available...

Some banks do impose various per-transaction limits on their outbound ACH transfers, meaning there might be times for some people when a wire transfer would be necessary instead of an ACH... such as for large amount house/condo purchases...

I'm watching it now... interesting... Need to look more at what is "mobitv"...

The good quality 110-220 converters include components to regulate voltage spikes and filter the output. For any computer or audio set-up, you certainly want to use that kind of component. The cheap Radio Shack ones, I'd presume, do not.

For all my uses, I only use those kinds of higher end components, but then add on good quality power strips that include voltage spike limiters.

But, using Ray23's example of $55 per wire transfer (the highest I've ever seen - USAA charges $35), you'd save $45 a pop for transfers above $2000.

Jim, while a $55 U.S. bank fee for making an international wire is on the higher end of the current range among various banks, it's certainly not too far afield. I keep track of those fees among a variety of banks. The domestic wire fees these days generally seem to be in the $25 to $35 range, while international ones seem to be in the $40 to $60 range. I'm just talking about general averages here....obviously some banks will be outside those ranges.

I know you like to reference your USAA account as an example. But as I've mentioned before, USAA accounts are mostly only available to folks with some current or past U.S. military connection, not the general public. So they don't exactly function the same as a general, public U.S. bank.

You can't open an account with Bangkok Bank NY -- they're a commercial bank -- so depositing your retirement check with them, as someone mentioned, won't work.

Actually, while you are right you can't open an account with BKK Bank's New York branch, I believe someone could arrange to have their retirement check deposited VIA them.

To do that, someone would just open a regular BKK Bank account in Thailand. And then, set up direct deposit with that person's pension provider, and give them the ABA # for the BKK Bank New York branch and then the Thailand account number. Then, just like ACH transfers, the retirement funds would be sent to the BKK Bank New York branch and forwarded onward to the person's Thailand account with BKK Bank.

Of course, the same approach would work with traditional wire transfers. Rather than paying the higher U.S. bank fee for an international wire transfer direct to Thailand, a person in/from the U.S. could arrange to send a lower priced DOMESTIC wire from their U.S. bank to the BKK Bank New York branch using the same ABA# and Thailand account number, and likewise have the funds forwarded onward to their Thailand BKK Bank account.

One of the problems with the request here is that regular Thai people, in general, don't have/use American style discos where the focus is all dancing/mingling. That took a while for me to understand here.

Rather, the model for Thais here, of any age I'd say, is the pub/restaurant type place where people drink and/or eat at their table, and then dance around that table and sometimes socialize with others they meet there or nearby.

The poster above mentioned Spasso. And while that has its own separate dedicated dance floor, it's also part of an Italian restaurant and really is a farang-oriented place. I don't know many middle class or middle aged Thai folks who go there, except for Thai freelancer women looking for farangs.

One poster above mentioned Tawandang pub/restaurant on Rama III... I'd concur and say that is a pretty good choice, in terms of getting closer to what the OP wants. Although it is a restaurant with pretty good food, you can go there just to drink and sit at a table or around the bar, if you like. There is no separate, dedicated dance floor.... but the crowd generally is very mixed with lots of people in their 30s, 40s, and younger and older too....and many expensive imported cars parked outside.

The music starts out earlier in the evening with a rotating mix of styles -- Thai pop songs, Isan songs, Western oldies and such... But by later in the evening, the band segues more to Thai music suitable for dancing -- though not exactly western disco music...

Last time I was there, I was amazed by a Thai group next to us that included a nicely dressed 50s something Thai man with a very attractive Thai female companion maybe in her late 20s or early 30s... The older guy was out in the aisle, strutting his stuff all night...and a pretty darned good dancer. He definitely was putting John Travolta to shame...

You want to make sure that the power converter you're using has enough of a total wattage rating to cover the needs of ALL of the 110V equipment you're trying to run through it.

Most places seem to recommend using a converter unit that has anywhere between 20% and 50% higher wattage capacity than the total rated wattage of the devices you're connecting to it.

I've been running computers and stereo equipment from the U.S. here in BKK using 220/110 power converters for a couple years with no problems. The 50 vs. 60 cycles issue has never been a problem, though supposedly clock-based things will run but not keep proper time due to the variations.

But, I bought the 110-220 converters from good electronics supply houses that specialize in those devices. The ones available from Radio Shack seemed to be the more low-end, travel types used mainly for things like single electric razors and such -- not entire component stereo systems.

The fact that it ran for some hours and stopped might also suggest that the power converter unit you're using ran for some time, and then overheated or simply died, and stopped working. Can you try using the same power converter unit with some other low wattage simple 110 appliance that you know is working to see what happens?

Now it was indicated this fee only applies to visa, master & JCB cards/networks so perhaps plus/cirrus atm/cash cards is still fee free with all banks & can perhaps explain why a few here & there still claims fee free withdrawals at bangkok bank atms etc?

Mali, I believe you're correct in your original understanding that basically all foreign ATM cards are affected by the 150 fee, when the individual Thai bank's policy is to charge it. I don't believe there is any exception even when the card used is a non-VISA or non-MC card, such as a straight ATM only card.

If people look back to the original language of the TBA resolution, it listed several criteria for cards that would be charged the new fee. One of those included all cards that are NOT members of the Thai banks "ATM Pool". So I believe that latter criteria, in addition to the VISA, MC and JCB reference, would cover straight ATM cards.

But, I myself haven't tried using any of my straight ATM cards yet, since the fee policy went into effect at various Thai banks. Of course, I also haven't used any of my VISA/MCs at any of the fee-charging banks since then either, since I'm not about to give them an extra 150 baht for nothing.

Good bye BKK Bank. Good bye SCB... Good bye Thanachart, and the others... You can stuff your 150 baht fee.

In my experience, Bangkok Bank is now charging the Bt150 fee for every transaction using a foreign atm card (UK and USA in my case). Until about two months ago, even before the fee increase, I was paying about $95 per month in atm transaction fees when using foreign debit cards at Thai bank atms. I have got round this now by making a monthly transfer direct from my USA bank into my Thai bank (ok, that means an international phone call as well, but the cost is minimal) and then using only Thai atm cards (at no charge) for withdrawals. The fee for the monthly transfer is $30, so I am saving $65 a month of my hard-earned pension. Incidentally, I usually call the USA bank about 9pm and the funds are ready and waiting for me in my Thai account by 9am the next morning (barring weekends and holidays, of course.)

That certainly works....for a price...

But at the same time, you could choose to use Thai banks that aren't charging the 150 baht per withdrawal ATM fee, such as Kasikorn, Bank of Ayudhya and Government Savings Bank, and withdraw the money direct from your U.S. accounts using your U.S. bank card, and pay no Thai bank fee.

Of course, you'd also want to be using a U.S. bank card/account that either a] doesn't charge any fees for using ATMs outside its own network or b] an account that reimburses you for other banks' ATM fees.

If you take the proper steps at both ends, Thai and U.S., then you can simply withdraw your funds here directly without paying any fee, or having to make phone calls and such. Although, you still might get nicked for Visa/MC's 1% cut for international transactions that they take thru a slightly lower exchange rate.

I shop around the On Nut BTS area a lot, for Tesco and CareFour there....

But I'm not sure I'd want to live right there next to the station, as the street noise can be pretty loud, and the honking buses going down the road pretty constant...unless you get the penthouse! .

Same here... Hotmail down... cannot connect via True, since maybe noontime...and now just after 2 pm..

Can get to the Microsoft log-in page OK. But after entering ID and password, I get this when trying to access Hotmail:

Firefox can't find the server at sn106w.snt106.mail.live.com.

But via the same log-in, I can get to the various other related Windows Live services like profile and photos...

Here's their announcement from last Sept. re obtaining rights to NHL hockey games:

ASN SECURES NHL BROADCAST RIGHTS FOR ASIA

HONG KONG/NEW YORK (September 25,

2008) – The National Hockey League (NHL) and ASN of

Hong Kong today announced the signing of a multi-year

deal giving ASN rights to broadcast the NHL via all forms

of television including HDTV and IPTV throughout much of Asia, including the

Indian sub-continent. The content will be a key part of the offering on the All

Sports Network (ASN), a new channel Yes TV has launched across Asia.

NHL programming, which will broadcast on All Sports Network (ASN) at

the start of the NHL’s 2008-09 season, will include more than 130 NHL

regular-season games, the NHL All-Star game, NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs and

Stanley Cup Final, as well as NHL highlight programs.

“Hockey is such a dynamic sport with relatively simple rules and the

National Hockey League has great potential for development in Asia,” said

Thomas Kressner, Yes TV CEO. “We are thrilled to be able to bring another

big American sport to Asian sports fans.”

“We are very pleased with the growing number of partners broadcasting

ASN, especially in China with our distribution and equity partner XFMedia,”

added Mr. Kressner. “Ice hockey is quite popular in the northern parts of China

and its popularity is growing. The NHL represents the pinnacle of professional

ice hockey and we are proud to be bringing the best of this exciting sport to the

fans in China through the strong, nationwide platform of XFMedia.”

"We have been very impressed by ASN’s aggressive rollout plans and

their commitment to a growing roster of sports programming," said Ken Yaffe,

NHL Senior Vice President, International. “Partnering with ASN represents a

significant step in expanding our broadcast footprint internationally, and we are

excited to begin offering our fans in Asia a comprehensive, season-long game

schedule.”

Korean distribution of NHL games through ASN will begin during the

second year of the deal. This deal does not extend to Japan, Australia and

New Zealand.