TallGuyJohninBKK

So-called counter withdrawals are a very long-standing method of foreigners obtaining Thai baht cash here that became particularly popular in recent years as the Thai banking industry, presumably in cahoots with the government, began jacking up the per withdrawal Thai bank ATM fees to the current 220 baht level, which from my past checking was one of the highest national ATM surcharges out there. gamb00ler's post above did a pretty good job of explaining the basics of how it works. The advantage is it allows you to avoid the 220b Thai Bank ATM fee. Another advantage is the withdrawal amount can pretty much be as much money as you have in your checking account linked to your debit card, unlike the typical 25-30K THB limits that apply per withdrawal for most Thai bank ATMs. The potential disadvantages are several: 1) you have to deal with Thai-speaking bank staff who may or may not understand what you want. 2) Some branches and/or tellers will claim they can't do the counter withdrawal and they either don't have the necessary machine or know how to accomplish it. I haven't found any absolute pattern to that, it seems to be hit-and-miss as a general rule. So it might involve some branch shopping to find a cooperative branch. FWIW, you don't have to actually be an account holder at the bank company where you're trying to do a counter withdrawal, although presumably being an account holder with them should help. The transaction is pretty much just like making a POS purchase with your debit card, except instead of buying items, you're essentially buying Thai baht. In my experience, you can either ask them to simply give you the THB cash you want and they'll hand it over to you. Or, if you have an account with that particular branch, they should be able to instead simply do a deposit into your account for you for the corresponding amount. As always, you do need to be mindful of fees. As time has passed, several of the Thai banks I believe have begun charging their own flat fees for counter withdrawals, SCB being one of those, and Krungsri also last time I checked, but I think for only one of the two major card types, and I can't recall OTTOMH whether it's for VISA or MC branded cards. Also, if your home country bank charges a foreign currency conversion fee on foreign POS purchases or ATM withdrawals, that same percentage fee would apply for a foreign counter withdrawal. I've also seen, as best as I can recall, some U.S. banks also starting to charge their own added fee for counter withdrawals, even those done in the U.S. with domestic banks. So that's also something to check on/watch out for when you go to use any particular bank's debit card here. Lastly, most people general should NOT attempt to do counter withdrawals here with foreign CREDIT CARDS, because doing so often is going to result in added fees for foreign currency conversion AND what can be very steep cash advance transaction fees (a percentage of your withdrawal amount) charged by your credit card issuer. That, and, the credit card issuing is going to have interest start accruing on the amount you advance as of the date of the transaction, without the typical one-month grace period that normally applies for regular credit card purchases. And as noted above, to do a counter withdrawal here, you'll typically need to bring and present your original passport document to the bank teller.

The rates you want to be looking at to determine what's going on with a foreign bank card here are the actual VISA and MC foreign currency conversion websites, as follows: https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/consumers/get-support/convert-currency.html https://usa.visa.com/support/consumer/travel-support/exchange-rate-calculator.html When a foreigner uses their home country VISA or MC debit card at an ATM in Thailand, it is indeed the VISA or MC networks that are setting the BASE exchange rate for the transactions -- unless the cardholder is duped at the ATM into consenting to DCC (Dynamic Currency Conversion) where the Thai bank is allowed to substitute their own much lower rate (often a 4-5% hit) in exchange for showing you the transaction amount in your card's home country currency instead of Thai baht. Just say NO to that. The only other reason a net/received exchange rate should differ much from the BASE MC or VISA card network rates for a given day is if one's home country bank is adding their own fees for foreign transactions, so-called foreign currency conversion or cross-border transaction fees. Those are very common, at least among major U.S. banks, including Chase, often in the 3-4% range. So if your net achieved exchange rate using a foreign VISA or MC is different from the daily rates shown on the above VISA and MC websites (allowing for some minor variance in rates that occur during the day), it's probably because your home country bank is adding their own foreign currency conversion fees and/or because you've mistakenly agreed to DCC at the Thai ATM.

Thanks! No, my Play Store is set to the U.S.... But I didn't know that would result in them hiding reviews... Oddly, I did see and get reviews for the sister Tourist Police app that's the subject of the OP here..... Strange....

When I do a search in the Google Play Store for the app title used in the OP report above -- "Thailand Tourist Police Application" -- the app title you posted here is the only pertinent app that seems to surface. The Google store reviews for the app, which shows 10,000+ downloads, are decidedly mixed. Sixty one listed ratings and a 2.6 overall score on a scale of 5, with the largest number being the lowest "1" rating. The app info says it was originally released in March 2018, and the most recent version 1.3.0 was updated in June 2024.... (which of course helps explain why we have the police doing some kind of big announcement about it now... NOT!) One reviewer from 2023 wrote: "Useless. I contact them, they told me to call. Then I call they tell me to go to office..." App listed as having been created/authored by some entity named Arunsawad Dot Com Co. Ltd. The same entity has another similar app apparently for Thai police in general called "Police i lert u" that's listed as having 500,000+ downloads, but oddly NO ratings or reviews whatsoever.

The Schwab card is a VISA debit card that has no foreign currency fees and automatically refunds other banks' ATM charges that you may incur. both domestically and abroad. The debit card is linked to a Schwab Bank checking account that Americans get automatically when they choose to open a no-obligation, no minimums Schwab regular brokerage account. I believe non-Americans from certain countries can also obtain a similar Schwab debit card, but the non-U.S. accounts, last time I checked, had a required minimum initial investment to open of around $25,000 USD put into the brokerage account. The opening process for Americans with normal ID documentation is easy and can be completed online. Not sure if the international version has that same capacity or not.

Except the OP's question is about his first couple months in the PH when he wouldn't have the typical PH IDs yet, such as an ACR card. And the Union Digital Bank you mention above appears to require those kinds of ID from foreigners wanting to open accounts: "Can foreigners open an account with UnionDigital Bank? Foreigners with Philippine mobile numbers and proof of residency can open a UnionDigital Bank account. Please make sure to have your supporting documents (such as ACR-I card) ready for a smooth account opening process." https://uniondigitalbank.io/en/faqs/can-foreigners-open-an-account-with-uniondigital-bank https://uniondigitalbank.io/en/faqs/what-kind-of-ids-can-i-use-to-open-a-uniondigital-bank-account

The answer to your question is yes. Yes to masking to protect against COVID, particularly since I'm now a senior in the higher risk group. And yes to masking to protect against very harmful PM2.5 seasonal air pollution in BKK where I live. It also factors in that when I do go out, it usually involves traveling on the BTS Skytrain near my home, and thus being close quarters with who knows who people from all around the world. Including among people like some posters here who dismiss the simple safeguards to protect their own health and the health of those around them.

The comments expressed in the OP post here, likely sourced from some social media post by Dr. Yong, are so general as to almost be meaningless for individual people. Yes, the risks of COVID these days -- in general -- are lower than they were in the past because earlier variants of the virus had more severe health impacts, and, the worldwide COVID vaccination campaign, including here in Thailand, helped provide protection that also has overall reduced the risk of serious health effects... HOWEVER, and it's a big HOWEVER, the current health risks of COVID still remain and can be serious and even fatal, particularly for high-risk populations, such as those over age 70 and those with various chronic health conditions. Likewise, the overall risk of COVID varies by season, with Thailand typically in recent years having increased COVID infections and hospitalizations in the months starting with Song Kran and thereafter. In the U.S., in contrast, the biggest peaks typically have been in the December to January holidays period. So one's risk also depends on the time of the year. The latest Ministry of Public Health report for COVID in Thailand (see the chart below) says there were 577 COVID hospitalizations nationwide for the first week of December, and nearly 44,000 cumulative for 2024. The MOPH said there currently are 107 COVID patients hospitalized in serious condition with pneumonia type symptoms and 42 requiring intubation to breathe. Fortunately, no reported COVID deaths for Thailand in the past week, but 220 cumulative COVID deaths for Thailand thus far in 2024. None of that is reported in Dr. Yong's reported remarks above. https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/?dashboard=main In the U.S., COVID levels right now are at one of the lower points of the year, but there still were more than 500 recorded COVID deaths for most recent full week of data (the last column below in blue), the first week of November, as per the CDC chart below. The numbers below are widely expected to spike upward again toward the end of 2024 and into 2025, similar to what they did at the start of 2024. https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_weeklydeaths_select_00 Overall for the U.S., the CDC reported the country had nearly 44,000 COVID fatalities during 2024 through the end of November. More than two-thirds of those involved COVID as the underlying (primary) cause of death, as opposed to being listed as a contributing cause of death. With 2024 data added in, that has brought the U.S.'s total number of COVID deaths since the start of the pandemic to more than 1.2 million (87% of those involving COVID as the underlying/primary cause). In recent times, more than three-fourths of those COVID deaths have been among the elderly. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/index.htm Even though you don't see news headlines about COVID deaths and hospitalizations so much any more, the virus continues to take its toll on the health and lives of people, especially among the elderly, and even moreso among the elderly who are not up-to-date on their COVID vaccinations.

I think it depends somewhat on the particular dish being ordered... But overall at the T21 food court, I'd say the most common mode is the main menu item food choices typically are pre-prepared in large pots / trays and then served up in individual portions when ordered. But there also are some cooked or assembled-to-order items there. Just depends.

By the time older cotton sheets get to the point of having a tear or tears, the fabric probably is a bit worn for making a shirt/shirts out of them. But in our case, what has worked nicely over time is taking a king-size good quality cotton sheet that finally sustains a tear and having our local Thai tailor shop cut the remaining good-quality sheet sections into matching pillow cases -- which works particularly well if the sheet involved in a standard color such as white where the newly made pillow cases can easily be used with other matching color sheet sets. And the good part is by that point the worn cotton also makes for very soft and cozy pillow case material.

It's been years ago now.... but I think I remember taking a Thai Air nonstop flight between BKK and LAX back in the early-mid 2000s before they spiked all the nonstop services... As best as I can recall, I flew at that time on a Thai Air 777, but my memory may be off about that. Either way, it was a LONG flight! Made me come to realize how much I enjoyed the normal stopovers at Taipei airport with EVA.

Jack, what's the logistics these days of a DTV application: Specifically: --do you have to be physically present in your home country in order to apply, or can apply from anywhere outside Thailand where there's a participating Thai consulate? --Once issued, does it involve the issuing consulate physically stamping one's passport (meaning you have to physically give them your passport), or it's all digital and you get some visa document via email or similar? TIA

I submitted my 90-day report online to BKK CW on Saturday, and got back the approval receipt via email today (Monday). Everything went smoothly from start to finish. Hard to argue with that!

I use the VIP bus all the time. It's great that their buses have a good functioning and comfortable air con system. But I've never felt that it was too cold inside or the need to cover myself with anything. Nor have I seen other passengers using blankets typically. YMMV.

Users of the VIP bus service from Swampy have two inhouse options once they arrive at the Hua Hin VIP bus terminal near the Hua Hin Airport. 1. The bus company does still offer a FREE onward van transport service (the same vans they use for the paid service below), but it only drops free passengers at the Hua Hin Clocktower meeting point location in the downtown area. If you tell the bus station staff you want to go to Clocktower, they won't charge you a fee for the van trip. or 2. If you want one of their vans to take you direct to your hotel or condo in the HH or Cha-Am area, they charge a flat 100 baht fee for the shared van ride. Meaning you're in a shared van with other passengers, and they'll tend to drop off those first whose locations are closest to the bus terminal, and then work outward from there. One thing to note: their van service is only for arriving passengers from Swampy. They do NOT offer a return van service that will take you from your hotel or condo TO the VIP bus terminal for your return trip. By comparison, Grab taxis summoned using the Grab app are readily available in Hua Hin. When I took Grab from near the Market Village Mall to the HH VIP bus station recently during a late morning weekend day, the fare was less than 100 baht.

When I was looking for my current trip just last week, I was seeing various HH taxi services advertising rates as low as the 1700 to 2000b range. That's HH based taxi companies that make their living going back and forth between HH and Swampy in BKK.

I've been wanting to take the train ever since SRT began their new service some months back. But I'd only book an air con seat... and.... Last time I checked their schedule, the only speedy trip of 4 hours or less to HH from Bang Su meant catching a departing train like 8 am in the morning, which also meant getting to HH well before most hotel check-in times of 2 pm or later. The other morning / midday trains were much longer 4+ hour travel times. Also, of course, you can't take the HH train direct from Swampy... And it's a bit of a hassle to travel from Swampy (if you're arriving there) out to Bang Su to catch the train to HH. So for all those reasons, I've been sticking with the VIP bus, since from my home, catching the Airport Rail Link train to Swampy and the bus from there is pretty easy and cheap.

The airport bus to Hua Hin is a VIP bus, not a typical Thai public transport bus. Thus in many trips, I've never had any of the kinds of issues you claim above. The airport VIP bus trips to Hua Hin are typically quiet and uneventful. And the bus seating, befitting a VIP standard, is only 3 across, meaning two seats on one side of the aisle, and one seat on the other side... Meaning a person can sit entirely alone with no one on either side of them, if they opt for the single seat side. I could easily afford the fare for a private taxi... But the reason I can is I generally don't waste my money on needless expenses like a private taxi to Hua Hin. The VIP bus is safe, comfortable, predictable and easy to book and arrange, also with no extra tipping required. And the best part is, you're getting a regular professional driver who's on a set schedule and travels the same route constantly, as opposed to a taxi driver you don't know who may be rushing to minimize the time spent on his/her travel.

Vaccines aren’t responsible for rise in autism cases; change in diagnostic criteria is the most plausible explanation 2023-07-20 Individuals with ASD don’t all exhibit the same symptoms or the same severity of symptoms. To account for this diversity, the criteria for diagnosing ASD have evolved and broadened over time, which may result in an increase in the number of cases diagnosed each year. The scientific evidence overwhelmingly shows that vaccines don’t cause autism. ... While Andrew Wakefield’s 1998 study purporting to link autism to the MMR vaccine has since been retracted for numerous flaws, including data fabrication and ethical violations, the claim that vaccines cause autism still persists to this day. ... Vaccines don’t cause autism In spite of recurring claims to the opposite effect and claims that studies haven’t looked into this, there is now a scientific consensus—established from numerous studies showing no association between vaccines and autism—that vaccines don’t cause autism. The CDC stated that vaccines aren’t a known cause of autism. The U.S. National Academy of Medicine as well as the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry also shared that conclusion. (more) https://science.feedback.org/review/vaccines-dont-cause-increase-autism-prevalence-changes-diagnostic-criteria-most-plausible-explanation/

If you wanna shell out a couple thousand baht for a private taxi, that's your choice. But every time I go to Hua Hin, I choose the Airport VIP bus from Suvarnabhumi, which has its own ticket counter near Gate 8 on the ground level, the same level where the meter taxis are located. Departure times from early morning to late at night, usually every hour or two. The fare for the VIP air con bus to Hua Hin is about 325b one-way, and includes either a free van trip from their bus station near the Hua Hin airport to the Clock Tower location in downtown Hua Hin, or the option of a shared van ride for an extra 100b to the hotel location of your choice in Hua Hin. Typical trip time is about 4 hours, depending on traffic and weather conditions. No stops along the way, except for sometimes a quick stop in Cha Am if any passengers want to get off there. The bus seats are very comfortable with good legroom even for tall folks, the bus has good air con, and you're allowed one check-in suitcase that goes into the bus' luggage hold along with one carry-on small bag per ticket. (I think you can also pay extra if you have more suitcases). You can also pre-purchase the Airport VIP bus tickets online and pre-select your specific seat(s) at: https://airporthuahinbus.com/ Ahh...and PS... unlike a lot of van drivers and some taxi drivers, the VIP airport bus drivers I've had on many trips have consistently been safe and sane in their driving style, which can be a rarity here in Thailand.

Trump Slammed Over Hurricane Helene 'Lies' Oct 04, 2024 ... Geoff Duncan, the Republican former lieutenant governor of Georgia who has endorsed Harris in this year's election, said during a CNN broadcast on Friday night that Trump's false hurricane claims acted as solemn evidence pertaining to the state of his party. "It's a sobering reminder of where the Republican Party is at right now, and how deep in the gutter we truly are," Duncan told CNN's Kaitlan Collins. "To think that we're going to use this platform to politicize ... one of the worst storms to hit this region ever." "Donald Trump is down in Georgia today only because he cares about trying to win Georgia," he added. "Because he's realized that if he loses Georgia, he's probably going to end up going to jail." (more) https://www.newsweek.com/trump-slammed-over-hurricane-helene-lies-1964258

The guy in question in the OP wasn't the "Former head of BLM IN Greater Atlanta" as your OP post intro claims. The guy was a former BLM member who got booted out of the real BLM organization in Atlanta and then thereafter, went on to create by himself a similarly named organization that was entirely his own individual venture. Just as the NY Post article that you used as your source actually explains in great detail.

False claims about FEMA disaster funds and migrants pushed by Trump There is no evidence that disaster relief funds were used on immigrants in the U.S. illegally. FEMA disaster money comes from dedicated funds that cannot be used for other purposes. False claims that federal emergency disaster money was given to migrants in the U.S. illegally have spread quickly in recent days, boosted by former President Donald Trump and some of his most high-profile supporters. ... Trump and his allies appear to be conflating two different funds. FEMA has dedicated disaster relief money that cannot be used for other purposes. Separately, it was tasked by Congress in 2022 to disseminate money from Customs and Border Protection to help communities that received influxes of migrants. ... It is illegal for funding that is appropriated by Congress for one purpose to be diverted and used for another purpose. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/false-claims-fema-disaster-funds-migrants-pushed-trump-rcna173955

A former Colorado county clerk has been sentenced to nine years behind bars for leading a scheme to breach voting system data in her county A judge sentenced a former Colorado county clerk to nine years behind bars Thursday for leading a voting system data-breach scheme inspired by the rampant false claims that fraud altered the 2020 presidential outcome. Judge Matthew Barrett handed down the sentence after jurors found Tina Peters guilty in August for allowing a man to misuse a security card to access to the Mesa County election system and for being deceptive about that person’s identity. ... At trial, prosecutors said Peters, a Republican, was seeking fame and became “fixated” on voting problems after becoming involved with those who had questioned the accuracy of the presidential election results. (more) https://www.independent.co.uk/news/colorado-clerk-tina-peters-sentenced-fraud-trump-b2623507.html

There is no evidence that disaster relief funds were used on immigrants in the U.S. illegally. FEMA disaster money comes from dedicated funds that cannot be used for other purposes. Oct. 5, 2024 False claims that federal emergency disaster money was given to migrants in the U.S. illegally have spread quickly in recent days, boosted by former President Donald Trump and some of his most high-profile supporters. Trump repeated one of the more extreme baseless allegations during a rally Thursday in Saginaw, Michigan, saying that the money had been stolen. Efforts to clarify the funding have done little to stymie a battery of claims about FEMA and migrants that have spanned from misleading and lacking context to entirely false. Some, like Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, falsely claimed on X that FEMA had used disaster funds to house migrants and that the government had “abandoned” hard hit areas. X owner Elon Musk, among Trump’s most vocal backers, reposted Jordan’s false claim and a variety of others about FEMA.' (more) https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/false-claims-fema-disaster-funds-migrants-pushed-trump-rcna173955