TallGuyJohninBKK

If you read my earlier comments on this, you'd have seen that the bank book update machine problem with Krungsri isn't limited to just the branch in the basement of BKK CW.... The same failure also occurs at other Krungsri branches, including my home account branch in Central BKK. The same failure has been reported here previously by other Krungsri users as well at other locations. It's some problem with some portion of their machines, not with that one particular location.

For my personal situation, I already addressed that option raised by another poster earlier in the thread. Typically, my outbound flights tend to leave around midnight or later, and I've never been sure that the Immigration desk at Suvarnabhumi for reentry permits is going to be reliably staffed late into the evenings. If anyone has any first hand knowledge on that, I'd certainly like to hear it. But more generally, I don't like leaving something so critical as a valid reentry permit to be a last-minute deal on the verge of a flight out. Something goes wrong, the Immigration folks have taken a powder that night, and my annual retirement extension is VOIDED upon my return to Thailand, and I have to start all over again...

I just wanna know -- in Thaksin's case, is having delusions of past political grandeur considered a legitimate medical condition requiring treatment???

That would be an interesting detail to hear more info / clarification about... Did Thaksin come down with COVID and get very sick at some point during the pandemic, necessitating ICU care? I don't recall ever hearing about that... But cardiac and respiratory problems are well-established potential aftermath effects of COVID. Or did he just happen to end up in an ICU for something else at some point during the pandemic?

If memory serves, this wasn't the first time this same kind of thing happened on the BTS system. I recall a similar incident not too far back.... The fact these things keep occurring is concerning..... Concrete Panel Falls from BTS Ari Onto Bus Stop Below Jul 10, 2019 — BANGKOK — A piece of concrete panelling fell from BTS Ari station Wednesday morning, luckily injuring none. Isara Ariyachaipanich posted . BTS pillar collapse injures 5 – VIDEO ThaigerThursday, August 6, 2020 https://thethaiger.com/news/bangkok/bts-pillar-collapse-injures-5-video And then of course the mother of such things lately, fortunately NOT involving the BTS: Elevated road collapse in Bangkok kills at least 2, 11 injured At least two people were killed after an elevated road being built in Thailand's capital collapsed, authorities said Tuesday.

Any general idea of the typical rates for those?

Solely because I have a fundamental distrust of the Thai banking system, and have always done my best to avoid keeping anything more than the absolute minimum amount of funds in it... That currently is a not insignificant 800,000b. That's why I'm concerned about the potential increase... But beyond my personal issue, it's hard not to recognize that a significant increase in the bank deposit requirement for retirement extensions could pose a very significant hardship to a lot of expats here who don't have much in the way of savings. That kind of hardship would be ameliorated some were the government to combine any increase with a grandfathering provision for those who are already living here... But the way Big Joke was talking about his plan, it didn't sound like that was the way he was thinking. It sounded like he is looking to get his proposed increase to be a means to (in his mind) root out the "undesirable" criminal elements in Thailand who are here are retirement extensions/visas....stemming out of the motorcycle gang murder. But somehow, he appears to be operating on the foolhardy presumption that somehow criminal activity by older folks here (like with the motorcycle gang members) has some correlation to retirees with limited financials, which is simply plain stupid, IMHO.

In my experience, at least at BKK CW, the only time that particular IO tends to demand 12 month bank official bank statements is when there's some perceived problem or lacking with the printed entries in the bank passbook itself. On my visit Thursday, they were fine with the normal stuff -- examining the bank book itself that was updated earlier that day, and getting the signed photocopies of all the pertinent bank book pages. Of course, not commenting on what other IOs may be doing.

I'm guessing some of Clarence Thomas' billionaire Republican businessman friends and associates will end up helping bail out Trump's finances at some points in the process. There's no shortage of Trump political suckers out there.

As long as the young women were of legal age, I don't see any problem here. I wasn't aware that dressing up in your favorite (non-pornographic) costume was any kind of legal violation, even in Thailand!

That's probably a longer sentence than what most run-of-the-mill murderers get here, after sentences are halved for confessions or cooperation, etc etc. Kind of tells you how the powers that be here value money and finance vs human life.

I'd imagine, that was one of the principal purposes for the vaguely detailed 10,000 baht plan.

The police official who proposed increasing the financials for retirement visas/extensions is a very senior leader in the current Thai police administration, as well as a current candidate for becoming the new national police chief, and former head of Thai Immigration. While others have roles in the ultimate final decision on whether that kind of increase actually occurs, it's blinders thinking to suggest that someone like Gen. Surachate Hakparn publicly proposing such an increase has no significance. "Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn, nicknamed Big Joke, is a Thai police officer and current deputy national police chief of Thailand. He previously served as the chief of Immigration Bureau of Thailand. He had held several posts, including commissioner of the MPB, or Tourist Police Bureau." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surachate_Hakparn I never said he could unilaterally impose such an increase solely with his own authority. And as noted for background previously: "As part of the efforts, Pol Gen Surachate promised that he would propose an amendment to the immigration law, especially concerning retirement visa extensions, through the police chief once a new government takes office. ... "First, as an individual of great influence with both the Royal Thai Immigration and Royal Thai Police, when Mr. Hakparn speaks it is best to listen. He is well known for many reforms and changes, many admittedly unpopular to foreigners, when in charge of Thai Immigration." https://thepattayanews.com/2023/08/05/opinion-editorial-no-it-isnt-time-to-worry-about-retirement-visa-changes-yet/ All of the above is why I mentioned it. The specifics of just what he actually may propose to the new government remains to be seen, as does the ultimate fate of his original (very general) public proposal. But with the new government soon to be formed under the new PM and a new national police chief soon to be appointed, I suspect we'll all be finding out in the not too distant future.

Oh yes he did "consider".... Act on that plan, no. "a heated Oval Office meeting Friday in which Trump heard arguments about invoking martial law to stay in office had some Trump officials sounding the alarm to the press. ... Trump dismissed reports of the martial law discussion as ‘fake news’ in a tweet Sunday, but two people familiar with the matter told CNN that the the plan was argued in the Oval Office Friday – although it remains unclear if Trump endorsed the idea." https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/20/media/stelter-trump-martial-law/index.html

Yes, but that only works if you get all that done on the same day you visit Immigration, as the bank book update that Immigration wants to see must be done on the day of your visit to Immigration prior to you submitting your paperwork. And since most Thai bank branches don't open until 8 a.m. or later, that seems like it's going to set back / delay your ability to get an early start with Immigration... especially in a place like Bangkok which has long Immigration queues and time-consuming travel.

And Republicans like Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger: How Brad Raffensperger stood up to Trump Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) will testify before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riots on Tuesday afternoon in what could be another revelatory hearing on the events leading up to the attack on the U.S. Capitol. Raffensperger, 67, will likely offer insights into how he defied former President Trump’s efforts to pressure him into overturning the 2020 election results in his state. Fulton County in Georgia convened a special grand jury to investigate the pressure campaign, which centers on a January 2021 phone call in which Trump asked Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to reverse President Biden’s victory in the key swing state." https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/3530732-how-brad-raffensperger-stood-up-to-trump/

Because Trump failed as he's done with most other things in his life with his attempted insurrection. And because some brave Americans around him, who actually believed in the principles of the U.S. government and Constitution unlike Trump, refused to go along with his machinations. Among those: "Former senior Justice Department officials testified Thursday that they told former President Trump he'd have mass resignations on hand if he installed former assistant attorney general Jeffrey Clark to run the DOJ. Why it matters: Trump had considered naming Clark to replace then-Acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen after Rosen refused to investigate baseless election fraud claims. Clark, an environmental attorney, pushed a plan to overturn the election which former DOJ leaders called "nuts" and a "murder-suicide pact" at the Jan. 6 select committee's fifth hearing." https://www.axios.com/2022/06/23/jeffrey-clark-jan6-hearing-trump In the end, Trump backed down from his plan to hijack the Justice Department in the face of those threats / warnings from its leadership.

You mean, like considering with his advisors as president to declare martial law in the U.S. as a means of preventing opposition to his attempted insurrection against his own/our own country and its lawful process for electing a new president? "a heated Oval Office meeting Friday in which Trump heard arguments about invoking martial law to stay in office had some Trump officials sounding the alarm to the press. Michael Flynn, Trump’s pardoned former national security adviser, discussed the martial law plan on right-wing television network Newsmax last week and was invited to the White House Friday. Trump dismissed reports of the martial law discussion as ‘fake news’ in a tweet Sunday, but two people familiar with the matter told CNN that the the plan was argued in the Oval Office Friday – although it remains unclear if Trump endorsed the idea." https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/20/media/stelter-trump-martial-law/index.html

For me it was a close call... I'm still trying to decide! ????

This one, I believe, happens to be a FAKE one of Trump... Unlike the mug shot photo above.

Let's compare two booking photos here each with maniacal stares, and let folks decide on their own which of the two shown looks crazier.... Option No. 1: Option No. 2: https://pixels.com/featured/charles-manson-mug-shot-1969-vertical-tony-rubino.html

I think it's something of a mixed bag. The actual rules for retirees to stay in Thailand right now are not too difficult from a financial end of things, compared to other countries. However, the price we tend to pay for that is a sometimes mind-numbingly bureaucratic Immigration system that unfortunately also suffers from opacity (the opposite of transparency) to its clients and operational policies that vary and change from place to place and time to time, creating headaches and confusion at times. It will be very interesting to see what becomes -- if anything -- of a top police official's recent public trial balloon proposal to substantially increase the current financial requirements for Thailand's retirement visas/extensions.

My Krungsri MTD account credits interest monthly...which is one feature that makes it handy for Immigration purposes. But my regular BKK Bank savings account, as you mention, credits twice a year...

It's not being ON the BTS that you have to worry about... It's being UNDERNEATH the BTS that might be cause for concern! And hi-so's do get driven underneath. ????

I'd want to go... considering I've never been to Japan before, and it's long been on my bucket list.... And for reasons having nothing to do with any price differences between Patpong and Kabukicho. Plus I wouldn't mind taking a flight along with 30% Japanese women... There are worse fates in life. ????