oldcpu

Interesting video as to what they claim are the "5 best AI translator ebuds". Some of those look pretty neat, and the price reasonable. I don't believe thou, that those are the 5 best ... Having typed that, i do believe that all 5 can be very helpful in translation, to a greater or lessor extent. I think that video gives a GREAT list of possible earbuds for Aseannow forum members (who are thinking of translation earbuds) to consider. There are earbuds more than 2x to 3x (or even more than 3x) the cost of those in that excellent video, where the more expensive ones claim to be better in terms of translation and usability. Is such necessary? ... I don't know yet as I have yet to try such. It is possible thou one gets what one pays for (to a lessor and greater extent). Some technologies (that I read) that the more expensive earbuds have are: Bone-voiceprint sensor in the earbud's mic (for earbuds that also have a mic). This is in essence an additional sensor, that in addition to the audio mic, captures the fundamental vibration pattern of one's voice through one's jaw/skull, providing a clean reference signal. Meanwhile, in parallel, the earbuds air microphones captures the full-spectrum of one's voice mixed with ambient noise. The Digitial Signal Processor (DSP) (on one's smartphone) then performs time-aligned correlation between these two inputs. Portions of the air-mic signal that correlate with the bone-voiceprint pattern are identified as one's voice and boosted, while uncorrelated portions are treated as noise and suppressed. By using the bone sensor’s clean template to guide this filtering, the system isolates your true voice and removes surrounding noise. This achieves significantly stronger noise rejection than bone conduction alone, enabling clear speech capture even in loud environments. AI Semantic Segmentation functionality I only know of one earbud that has this but i suspect there is more than one. My understand is as follows, and I may have this inexactly. Almost ALL earbuds record the audio (say Thai that one speaks or that the mic records), and once a pause in the Thai audio is detected (and ONLY when pause detected), do most earbuds, (after a 1 to 2 second pause), and again, only then, send the translation from Thai to English language to the earbud. While the translation to English (from Thai) is being sent, no more Thai audio is being recorded (nor translated). Only after sent translation is complete, do the other devices resume recording to translate. The implication is one misses some of what the Thai speaker is saying. Earbuds with Ai Segmentation functionality? The AI Semantic Segmentation feature detects the end of a sentence (even thou the Thai speaker continues to speak). It translates that Thai to English and then (after a < 0.5 second pause) sends a translation in English to the earbud (of the English language person) in parallel, while the Thai language speaker continues to speak in Thai. That ongoing Thai language is recorded and again, its AI Semantic Segmentation detects the end of the next sentence (even thou the Thai speaker continues to speak) , translates to English, send the English translation, while record/translation continues ... and this goes on and on. ... and the reverse is true when translating from English to Thai. So purportedly no conversation is missed. Other translation devices miss conversation if the speaker does not pause long enough. Expensive (?) features not worth while ? or worth while? My understanding is that these are expensive features ... and I do not have any experience as of yet as to whether they provide a definite improvement in the translation experience, or if they are no more than an expensive catchy phrase boon-doggle.

The Thailand income tax act has information on this. My research on this topic is as follows: "For a Thai tax resident, bank interest income (classified under Chapter 3, Section 40(4)(a) of the Revenue Code), from which the Thailand bank has applied the 15% withholding tax (under Section 50 of the Revenue Code), offers a crucial option. Chapter 3, Section 48(3) of the Thailand Revenue Code explicitly states that for assessable income under Section 40(4)(a) (interest income) where tax has been withheld by the Thai bank, the taxpayer may elect to pay tax at the rate of 15.0 percent of that interest income, without including it in the annual assessable income computation under Section 48(1) or (2) of the Thai Revenue Code. This election means the 15% withheld tax fully discharges further Thailand tax liability for that specific interest income. Consequently, the taxpayer is not required to include it in their aggregate assessable income for the Thailand annual personal income tax return (P.N.D. 90/91). Therefore, this specific interest income does not contribute to whether the individual meets the general income thresholds that would otherwise trigger a mandatory Thailand tax filing. If this bank interest is a Thailand resident's only Thai-sourced income, they generally have no obligation to file a tax return because the tax liability on that income has already been settled at source." The above is my research ... perhaps if this crucial you can double check yourself. Basically, its your option. Either have bank NOT withhold tax, or have the bank withhold tax. Hence while some of us, may wish to file a Thai tax return to see if we can have the Thai withholding tax refunded, others , like myself, find it advantageous to have 15% withholding tax, as it removes any further tax obligation for that interest income, which in my case, means no Thai income tax return required.

@BrandonJT and DrJack54. You are right. I'm bad. I went to the Thai embassy in Canada site: https://ottawa.thaiembassy.org/en/page/types-of-visas-periods-of-stay-and-fees and i confess, I did not see the Type-O visa. But if I had paid closer attention, I would have spotted the "an.." after "EX" in "Non-immigrant Visa Categories "F, B, IM, IB, ED, M, R, RS, EX, an.." and then clicked on the "Read more" and then I would have spotted the "Type-O". ... But I rushed my surf/check. I missed it, and jumped to the wrong assessment. < sigh > Clearly, as you note, Type-O is available from Canada: https://ottawa.thaiembassy.org/en/publicservice/non-immigrant-visa-categories-f-b-im-ib-ed-m-r-rs-ex-and-o where under type-O for purpose of visit it has " ... other activities (Category "O") as follows: to stay with the family, " That (besides avoiding the Canadian cold) is exactly what he and his Thai wife are doing (in part) That Type-O would have given him 3 months. I am going to suggest this for him to consider this for his next (year 2026/27) visit. He could get 3-months and then get an extension on his permission to stay if he wants to stay more than 90-days, and not need to leave Thailand his entire stay. I should have considered recommending this to him BEFORE he applied for his METV many months ago. I am a bit annoyed with myself.

Thanks. after some surfing ... everything I read 100% confirmed your comment/suggestion. He is a 'snowbird', every year visiting Thailand during a few cold Canadian winter months as a tourist to escape the Canadian cold (and visiting his wife's Thai family with her). I wish he had opened an account a few years ago (when I suggested it to him back then) but given back then was much easier to enter and re-exit Thailand , he could not see the point of opening a Thai bank account (followed by getting a type-O in Thailand to get a longer permission to stay). I think he may now regret not opening an account then when it was easier. I don't believe Canada (his home country) offers type-O visas (but only offers OA and also OX (?) (typo ? ) ), so in the future, if nothing changes, he may simply need to do a 'visa' run in the middle of his METV to a neigbhouring country for each 'snowbird' visit to Thailand (and then as you noted prior, only then re-enter on his METV). For this travel, he could select a city he has not visited very much yet (such as HCMC or Hanoi where he has yet to visit) and explore that city for a few days before returning to Thailand. But at age-71, he is not getting any younger, and like some of us (such as myself) this travel is not getting any easier.

Thanks. That reads to be a good approach. Exit Thailand for a few days after Christmas, ... then return for another 60-days on his METV. If he already had a Thai bank account he could just apply for a 90-day Type-O at the local Thai immigration, but he does not have such. Given the tightening by banks for new accounts, it don't know if it is still possible to open a bank account on an METV. Still I believe that he is staying in Pattaya area, and if i am correct, then one thought I had is that there is no shortage of agents there who may able to help him open up a Thai bank account (assuming, of course, that 'door' (for opening a new bank account on an METV)) has also not been closed too like that on 'visa exempt'.

Interesting. I wonder how this relates to a METV e-visa ? A retired friend (who typically visits Thailand every year for around 90-days from mid-Nov-to-early-February) very recently entered Thailand on a new METV. He was recently stamped in for 60-days. His flight out of Thailand is about 92 days later. While he can likely get a 30-day extension on his METV permission to stay, that will only give him 90-days. I suspect he may need to either : (1) go for the 30-day extension on his 60-days, and then do a short 'visa run' so to be back in Thailand to catch his flight on day-92, or (2) leave Thailand toward the end of his first 60-day permission to stay, stay out of the country for a few days, and then return to Thailand so to get another 60-day permission to stay on his METV so to catch his flight on day 92. i am curious as to how METV may also be affected by the new policies (and maybe it will have no affect). He has a Thai wife who accompany's him on his travels.

I may order later this evening. If I do, and after it arrives, I likely will test with my Thai wife and test at some of the local Thai shops. If that works I may buy a second one as a gift for my Thai brother in law ( who does business with foreign speaking vendors from which he buys equipment, but he relies on my wife to translatefor him as he only speaks Thai).

Speaking of Google Pixel earbuds - here is ' related ' comparison : The above video refers to the Timekettle W4. I am actually thinking of Timekettle W4 pro which is a step up (and I will likely purchase such very soon to take advantage of Black Friday pricing). The W4 Pro have a larger charger device and additional features. They sit on the ear, but do not go 'in' the ear. In terms of functionality comparison, that video does not go into the features of either very much. The W4pro are more expensive/premium designed for translation (hence not as good for music playback), ... while Google Pix Buds Pro2 more for music play, with translation is just a feature (hence not as 'good' overall for translation). I suspect which one is selected depends on a person's budget and their planned use. .

Thats a typo .. right? . i assume you mean 800,000.

I have used Google translate a lot. (1) for noisy multi-speaker settings, my experience is Google translate struggles. I have read this is also true using Pixel Buds. In contrast Timekettle W4 Pro excels in such an environment. (2) For one on one chat I read they both do well, except Pixel Buds require one person to use a smartphone speaker. W4 Pro give one a choice - while one always uses an ear pod, the other can use the second ear-pod, or they can use a smartphone speaker. (3) For communicating with a street vendor, pixel buds purportedly struggle due to street noise. W4 Pro adapt much better. (4) Social media/news automatic translation - Google with pixel buds is very limited here. I know Google transalate struggles with the basic phone. I read Timekettle W4 does this well. Summary: From what I read, to a large extent it boils down to - you get what you pay for. As noted, I have used/played with Google translate extensively. It is lacking. What I note on Timekettle Ear-pod(s) is based on reading reviews and watching youtube videos. Hence my post here looking for experience on such devices with Thai language in typical expat situations. So as noted, I already have the Google translate experience from myself using such. I am not looking for Google experience here, as I have that. Again, I am curious to hear from those who have such devices as I noted with Thai language in typical expat situations. But thank-you for your participation in this thread, as I suspect many have the same thinking as yourself, that Google translate could be more than adequate. ... I don't see it that way, and from what I have read, some dedicated devices can do a significantly superior job. Best wishes.

I have been using Google translate, but it has limitations. Here is my thinking (where I may even go for Timekettle W4 Pro - as money is not an objective). I note that both the Timekettle W4 Pro and WT2 Edge differ from Google Translate (even with Google's current Conversation Mode) primarily because of their dedicated, shareable earbud hardware. They allow each participant to wear an earbud or use a speaker mode that does not require holding or passing a phone. I suspect that this setup reduces the need to tap the screen or hand a device to the next speaker, which can make back-and-forth exchanges feel somewhat smoother in practice than Google translate. For multi-person Thai conversations at home, the ability to give one earbud to a friend or keep one ear open to the room while still receiving translations looks to me to be more convenient than managing a single phone in the middle of some table in the room. My experience is Google Translate’s Conversation Mode more or less works ok for two people and has limited auto-detection, but in larger or noisier groups Google Translate still relies on the phone staying in a central position and occasionally requires manual intervention. With Google translate its awkward to aggressively thrust a phone out in the midst of a group of Thai people (for example when with my wife's Thai friends and they are all speaking Thai). For occasional solo use with market vendors, I read that the Timekettle earbuds’ built-in microphones and noise-reduction features can pick up speech a little more clearly in loud environments than most nominal earbuds. One limitation is that I do note that real-time Thai ↔ Both English translation on Google Translate and also the Timekettle devices requires an internet connection. My conclusion at present is from experience, while I found Google Translate sort of works for many everyday tasks (and costs nothing), I am starting to think that the Timekettle devices likely provide a different, hardware-based approach - an approach that may be more practical for frequent multi-person conversations. Hence I may take advantage of 'Black Friday' sales and order a device.

Has anyone tried translation Earbuds for English to Thai language. I am age-71, live in Thailand, and while i know some very limited Thai, I found having an electronic translation aid a big benefit. Obviously I use Google translate a lot for English-Thai, however just as obvious, Google has limitations for translation. My wife is Thai and I often have to have Google translate running on my phone translating in real time, while she is in Thai conversation with friends, such that I am not totally out of the conversion. (ie I read the translations on the phone to assist what i can hear and translate myself). But again, Google translate is limited. The translation DeepL, which is fabulous for European languages, does not support Thai. Recently I read of Translation Earbuds, that can translate between languages almost in real time. Purportedly they have very good noise reduction with their embedded mic, so to be able to hear what is been spoken (ie hear Thai). Translation purportedly very fast (better than google) and the translation goes into the earbuds where one hears the Thai translation in one's earbuds. When wants to reply the mic sends one's words to one's mobile phone, and their app speaks Thai through the phone's speaker. ... Again, purportedly superior to Google translate. Two products that I read to consider are: - Sonabuds ( https://www.sonabudstranslator.com/ ) - Timekettle (different models) https://www.timekettle.co/ While nominally Timekettle gets superior reviews, one MUST have internet for the translation for Thai (as they do not, based I can determine from research, have an offline Thai translation database). Which means poor internet will slow the translation or even prevent the translation. Sonabuds advertise they operate offline (not need internet) for most translations, but I have not been able to confirm they have offline Thai. I did read an Amazon article back in Nov-2020 where a Sonabud rep noted they not yet support Thai language. That was 5 years ago. I have not been able to determine if they have added Thai language in the past 5 years. I can not find an email contact on their webpage to ask. My thinking at present: If there is no offline internet, then I would likely go with a Timekettle product. But if there is offline support for Sonabuds, then I would likely go with Sonabuds (however I can not determine if Sonabuds supports Thai language offline). So the question - any experience with either product (or another) for Thai-English electronic translation in real time (ie for verbal conversations)?

I believe that mostly correct - although I think < not sure > that if one is a Permanent Resident to Thailand, one can in that case have one's name in the Blue Book if they own a condo. Albeit, as noted, I am not certain. Its a bit of a moot point, as very few have permanent residency status.

That brings back memories. My Thai wife owns a house in Phuket that she rents out. Her non-Thai tenant (they have a work-Visa) knew of a fellow expat who obtained a Yellow Book and Pink-ID, and her tenant too wanted to get one. My wife being 'Head of the Household' in the Bluebook (as she rents the place) had to go with the tenant as part of the yellowbook/pink-ID application process. Her tenant was successful. After that there was no denying my wife - she insisted I get a Yellowbook and Pink-ID too. What for? The wife has spoken. lol !! Didn't matter. ... Anyway, to keep the peace in the family, eventually I did get one, but as I noted, from my perspective the process a PIA. In my case I own the condo - my wife went with me to help translate (and she had been thru the process before with her tenant). It was only over a decade later, that the yellow-book/pink-ID actually became useful enough (where nothing else would suffice) due to some non-common financial issues I had. Else, for myself, other than those financial aspects, it was not worth the effort. Still, as the saying goes 'your mileage may vary' (YMMV). In life, one never knows. Best wishes to the OP in their efforts.

The way it worked in Singapore then was inside the Thai Embassy , there was a waiting area (with a limited number of chairs), where one filled in a form as to the Visa one wants, and a sort of window where one passed their documents, and then one would wait for the result . There was NO type-O on the form that I recollect. One would then be called up and given one's passport with the visa, or told, application rejected. No discussion. The person at the counter clearly was not the decision maker (as they never left the counter window). I recall asking, can I not speak to someone or apply for another visa. Answer "No". And I recall not being the only person getting a 'no' answer. I asked can I instead apply for a different visa? I was told 'no'. There was no mention of type-O. I was told by the person at the counter, simply go 'visa exempt'. That was the extent of the conversion ... ie none ... and none allowed. I also note the embassy was a zoo with many applying for Thailand visas, and people loud and complaining when rejected. My being polite and well dressed made no difference. Clearly embassy staff was stressed. Of course, back then, it was possible to do 30-day visa exempt every month , month after month. But doing that constantly becomes tiring. ... I believe it was only around year 2000 or so (maybe a bit later) that Thailand again started cracking down on those doing Visa exempt time after time. So for me, subsequently, after many visa runs (one every 30-days) I decided : enough was enough, and I left Thailand (ie moved out of Thailand). That, in hindsight, leaving Thailand then was a smart move for me, as when I returned to Thailand 20-years later to live, things were much more clear as to options. While i had enough money in 1999 to retire, when I returned in 2016 I was substantially better off financially (and also by 2016 married to my Thai girlfriend). It has all worked out reasonably well and much easier for me today. . I believe that today, with AseanNow its much easier for one to learn their visa options. I think AseanNow was only just created around that time (year 1998/99 timeframe) and I was not aware of it then. I never learned about it until after year 2000, and by then my life took a different (and as it turned a better) path. IMHO its much easier today to learn one's options re staying in Thailand, than it was in those days over 25 years ago. Sometime fate smiles, and when I ended up leaving Thailand in 1999, fate smiled on me.

I think it applies to all on the LTR no matter if one applied within Thailand or outside of Thailand. IMHO. As to whether a 5-year re-proof of the finances (for a new 5 year permission to stay stamp or letter) can be done outside of Thailand, that could be a good question to ask BoI. I don't believe BoI have expounded yet on what is actually possible.

Its also possible to legally pay a translation company to do a lot of the running around for you. Back just when COVID was starting, that is what I did. I actually asked for help on this forum, and Ubon Joe told me how to go about it. So I stayed in Phuket, and payed a translation service in Bangkok to do all the running around for me (where we couriered documents back and forth, at my expense). The service I used was VM.translation Service: https://www.facebook.com/SutthiratYimyong/?locale=th_TH They handled for me all the aspects that Tod Daniels noted. I had to grant them 'limited' (to the marriage registration) power of attorney. With that power of attourney (and the marriage registration documents, passport stuff) they went to Canadian embassy (as my Thai wife and i were married in Canada) to have marriage documents certified, they did all the translations , and had such notarized at the Thai Ministery of Foreign affairs, and couried all appropriate documents back to Phuket. My Thai wife and I then took the documents to the local Phuket City Hall for the registration. I can't recall how much it cost, but I do recall it did not cost more than Bangkok Hotels plus trips to/from Bangkok. So if such a service is still available you could give it some thought. Likely there are a number of companys and not just VM.translation, that will offer such. .

Most the time, if on a Type-OA visa, and looking to get a 1 year extension on one's permission to stay in Thailand (for reason of marriage to a Thai person), then there is no health insurance requirement for the type-OA. The exception is if one originally get the Type-OA for reason of retirement, and if one is going for one's first one-year extension on that visa, it needs to be for reason of retirement (even thou one is married to a Thai person). Which means get health insurance. Its only if this is one's second (or later) 1 year extension on one's one' year permission to stay in Thailand, that one can then switch the reason for the extension from 'retirement' to 'marriage' and no longer need to get the health insurance. That is based on my experience around 5 years ago (where such happened to me) and I have read on this forum others noting the same thing. so is this your 1st one year extension on your type-OA ? if so, health insurance likely is required. But if this is your 2nd 1-year extension on your type-OA, then you can change the reason for the extension to marriage.

Agree there is some truth to that - but not everyone else on this forum will agree with you.

No. They simply didn't care. Their policy - 3 back to back tourist visas. No more visa. I was told at the time that they could not grant me another visa (so that I had two years of visas) as that it could qualify me closer for residency status (which I did not want) and they did not want to be the embassy to partially open that door. And yes - I do say that about your attitude. Lesser country ... your words - again - that says it again your attitude.

So many threads on this. I have both Yellow book an Pink ID. Both were a major PIA to get. With two (and only two) notable exceptions, they were not worth the effort to get. Pink-ID did give a discount at a couple Thai parks, but the amount of money saved not worth the effort to get pink-ID/yellow book. Pink-ID/Yellow book accepted when i went for Thai driver's license, but i could have obtained a COR (cerificate of residence) easily from local immigration, and so Pink-ID/Yellow book not worth the effort to get. I opened a bank account at SCB bank with no COR (instead passport plus pink-ID and yellow book accepted), but again, Pink-ID/Yellow book not worth the effort. Getting a COR from local immigration easier. Where did pink-ID/yellow book help me? In 2 bizzare examples likely applicable to almost no one one. 1. I needed to buy Thai government bonds for my LTR visa to make up enough investment money in Thailand to qualify for that Visa. I tried two different Thai banks and they would NOT let me buy government bonds though them. Then a local Thai bank branch manager said he would, ONLY if I had a yellow book and pink-ID. That was HIS requirement for his branch. I had such. .... When apply for the bond online, the computer required I provide a Thai tax ID. Without such the electronic application could not proceed. The bank teller entered my yellow-book/pink-ID #, and the application proceeded, and was successful. 2. Foreign banking/brokerage: I had a foreign trading account frozen. The foreign bank with my trading account insisted on a foreign tax ID (ie Thailand) to unfreeze and allow me to transfer money out. I provided them my pink-ID # (with written caveat it was not yet active as a Thai tax-ID) and they accepted that. Then I went to open another foreign trading account (in Canada) and they would only open such if I could show a Thai tax-ID. Again , they accepted my yellow-book/pink-ID # as a tax ID (with the written caveat it was not yet active as a Thai tax ID). So in general, IMHO, unless one has some specific examples, the Pink ID is not worth the effort. However for some of us there are exceptions..

Married. Much more interest from Thailand sources (where withholding tax deducted by Thai banks). No foreign remitted income (only pre-1-Jan-2024 savings remitted). I checked with a local RD office to confirm my approach correct. Also an LTR visa but that was irrelevant to the local RD office as they never had heard of such a visa. Again, when referring to income, your posts come across as ambiguous. Best wishes.

What income are you referring to? How much income (if Thai income)? Income earned in Thailand, or income outside? Your posts are not so clear. i wonder if you know the difference/importance of such? My hope is you do, and the sentence just ambiguous. Re Thailand income, it also depends on how much (does it exceed tax filing threshold) and if it is only interest income (with Thai with holding tax already deducted) then all Thai tax obligations for that Thai income is met, and there is no need to file an income tax return if that the only Thai sourced income (and if no relevant assessable foreign income).

Say what? Where did i claim the article correct? Where do I not understand that the article is not correct? No. Income from outside of Thailand is not taxable in Thailand if it is not remitted to Thailand. That is STILL the case today. What context is that? .

Yes agree. However paying the Thai people, a proper salary, does not mean the rich and their companys will then take less profit. No, cynic that i am, i believe they will either charge more money, or they will move to a more lucrative business (for them) and simply not hire the Thais. So to think the Vietnamese, Cambodia, Burmese are taking Thai jobs, is simply not so straight forward. The jobs in many respects will cease to exist if cheap employment can't be found.