OJAS

Yep, looks like after being issued with a new passport from now on we'll need to follow up a trip to our bank to update our passport details with a trip to an appropriate SIM card retail outlet to get our SIM card registration updated on the basis of the last 4 digits of our new passport number!

Great news on the Krungsri Biz Online front, judging from recent posts! Does anyone know whether SCB and KTB likewise gave subscribers to their online personal banking facilities an opportunity to switch to business accounts before pulling the plug?

Sounds to me like @pepper402 may have been caught up in the situation referred to in the following thread on the Banking forum: https://aseannow.com/topic/1359645-does-your-sim-registration-and-bank-details-match/ If he has an AIS SIM card, he will need to visit an AIS Shop to get things sorted (just as I had to do in my case) - which he clearly cannot do at the present time! Presumably similar if he has a DTAC or True SIM card?

Do you know what the maximum limit per contactless transaction is in LOS, please? Unlikely to be anywhere near the £100 (= ฿4,400) UK limit, I would have thought.

I have to say that I'm finding the amount of hassle involved for those of us who, like myself, aren't whizzo IT geeks in order to be able to watch the games subscribed to - not to mention the additional expense involved if, as in my case, we don't already possess the necessary kit beyond a smartphone - extremely off-putting in signing up for these deals. I also have my doubts as to whether we're likely to get anything like the comprehensive service provided by True for 199/299 THB pcm or 1,999/2,999 THB pa. As the saying goes, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is!

On the Krungsri Biz point, I now gather that there are charges levied for the use of business accounts which don't apply in the case of personal accounts. If it does turn out that the BOT is, indeed, behind any move to discontinue online banking across the board, then, quite frankly, I am disgusted - while not being at all surprised at the same time, I have to say. IMHO they would have been far better off in their regulatory capacity in getting Thai banks to waive their annual credit and debit card fees of around 250 THB. In that way, contactless forms of payment, which have proved to be such a resounding success in my home country (UK) since the pandemic, could, hopefully, have taken off here more than they have. As I found out on my last trip to the UK in May 2024, you only need to hold a credit or debit card (which don't attract any annual fees) against a scanner for 1 second max until you hear a beep in order to pay for restaurant meals, supermarket purchases, bus fares, etc. Far more convenient than having to spend at least 30 seconds (if you're lucky) in faffing about with a slow and erratic banking app and then aiming an e-pot shot with it at a QR code, I would have thought! We should also not forget that we presumably have the BOT to thank for the fact that Wise have not been able to make their card available in Thailand thus far, for some ridiculous regulatory reason in all probability! The only inference which I think that we can draw from all this is that the BOT are, in their regulatory capacity, out to make the whole banking process for Thai account holders just as cumbersome and awkward as it humanly can be - presumably in the name of "security".

All very well if the MP for the constituency in which you're registered is prepared to take up the cudgels on your behalf as an overseas voter - and, equally importantly, you have a suitable friend or relative in the UK who is prepared to act as your voting proxy at elections (postal voting is impractical from Thailand). In my case, unfortunately, neither is applicable any longer.

Just because your witnessed life cert was received on 29 May does not, unfortunately, appear to mean that it would have been actioned by the DWP on that date - or, indeed, any time soon thereafter. In my case, although tracking indicated a delivery date of 29 January, it was not until 20 February that they finally got round to processing my life cert (as they informed me when I subsequently double-checked with them). Maybe the long and winding road (via the M6, M62 and M1/A1) which our witnessed life certs have, I presume, to follow between their receipt at Wolverhampton and their eventual landing in the in-tray of an individual working at DWP's Newcastle upon Tyne office could have something to do with the delay? But, even so, it is clearly totally unacceptable for them to be dragging their feet in your case as a result of systemic shortcomings at their end. If you are experiencing no joy in receiving responses to your written communications with DWP, then I can only suggest that you call them on +44-191-218-7777 Mondays-Fridays between 2.00pm and midnight local time in Thailand instead. https://www.gov.uk/international-pension-centre

If the payee in question is a Thai national, might this also be down to the Thai v Latin script account holder's name issue I've alluded to?

Interesting! I would have thought that there would have been a mismatch between their account name as probably recorded in Thai script by Kasikorn and that recorded in Latin script when you presumably set them up as a new Wise recipient, which might have caused the transfer to be rejected at the final hurdle by Kasikorn. A test transfer of just under 400THB which I initiated to my Thai wife a couple of days ago has not shown up in her Bangkok Bank account for likely this very reason (I had received an email from Wise confirming that the money was on its way to them). I have alerted Wise to the need IMHO for it to be possible for Thai names to be stated in Thai script when setting up new recipients given the increasing importance now being given by Thai banks to the reconciliation of account names. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear from the reply I've received that this will be happening any time soon.

My Co-op account has been registered to my Thai address since I moved here in 2008, with no problems thus far. 🤞 Barclays seem to be the worst culprits in that regard: there have been a fair few reports on here over the years about them gleefully going after expats with zeal and gusto and abruptly closing their onshore accounts at ultra-short notice with reckless abandon. However, apart from isolated reports concerning NatWest and TSB specifically, I'm not aware from what has been said (or, more to the point, not) on AN about any other UK banks indulging in such skulduggery.

Sounds hopeful for those of us who, like myself, have a strong aversion to Thai banking apps. Please do let us know in due course what 1 July brings in your case.🤞 Incidentally, does anyone know whether SCB and KTB have allowed personal account holders to switch to biz accounts following the scrapping of their online banking services?

A US insurer would, however, have to append signatures to a Foreign Insurance Certificate*, which might prove easier said than done in practice. * https://longstay.tgia.org/document/foreign_insurance_certificate.pdf

Just make sure that they have registered you with IMM for TM30 purposes, though.

Why should we be expected to embrace the lousy apps which Thai banks seem hell-bent on ramming down our throats come hell or high water, whereas this need does not arise in the case of their UK counterparts because they are all sticking with internet banking? Incidentally I did have a go with the dreaded Bangkok Bank app for a couple of months before dumping it in disgust after coming close for the umpteenth time to hurling my smartphone against a wall in sheer frustration over its slowness!

Yep, I only found out that those clowns no longer accept cash when I tried to pay for an Americano with a 1,000 THB note while awaiting the results of a blood test at a local hospital a couple of days ago. It therefore came as a huge relief to be informed by the doctor I subsequently saw that I should give up drinking caffeine-laden Americanos because of my medical condition. As a result, I won't need to do business with this rabble ever again in any event. Thanks, doc!😛

Presumably you mean Krungsri Biz online account? And I take it that one will need to have an existing bona fide business account with Krungsri in order to be able to open a second one for personal use?

Maybe set up a USD multi-currency account with Wise and make transfers into it from your credit union bank, which you could then use as the basis of subsequent transfers to your Thai account?

An important thing that IMHO needs to be factored in to any SWIFT/Wise comparison is the cost of any phone call which you may need to make to your home country bank from Thailand in order to set up a SWIFT transfer - where, as in the case of mine, it is impossible to do this online through their website.

Could not agree with you more! What I find particularly mystifying, though, is that it only seems to be Thai banks who are determined to ram lousy apps down the throats of their account holders through withdrawing their online banking services. For instance, no bank back in my home country (UK) has followed - or is planning to follow - suit, as far as I can tell.

@twozeds - and having updated your bank with your new passport details, you will then need to ensure that your phone's SIM card registration is aligned to the last 4 digits of your new passport number, for the reasons explained in this thread on the Banking forum: https://aseannow.com/topic/1359645-does-your-sim-registration-and-bank-details-match/ For AIS SIM cards this will necessitate a trip to one of their shops. Presumably similar in the case of DTAC and True SIM cards?

Where are "they" located in your case? The Chiang Mai or Jomtien immigration office??

@KiwiFire - the following link sets out the procedures you'll need to follow in this connection (assuming, of course, that NZ was where you and your wife got married!): https://www.govt.nz/browse/passports-citizenship-and-identity/proving-and-protecting-your-identity/use-your-nz-documents-overseas/

Ah, the scourge of the slow, clunky, user-unfriendly banking app which Thai banks seem intent on ramming down our throats in place of online banking come hell or high water! After 3 months of more often than not unsuccessful attempts at using the Bangkok Bank app I dumped it since this appeared to me preferable to succumbing to the urge of hurling my smartphone against a wall in sheer frustration.

Looks like this is, indeed, the case if you're claiming the new State Pension (i.e. a male born on or after 6 Apr 51). However, when I delayed claiming for the old pension from my 65th birthday in Aug 14 to Apr 15, I was paid at the increased Apr 15 triple-lock rate (and have been ever since).