OJAS

Because neither of his parents are Thai! Presumably your stepdaughter's mother is Thai?

Definitely complain to the CAA* if I were you. Quite apart from the general discomfort which you had to endure throughout the flight, it strikes me as blatantly illegal if you were required to occupy a seat in which you were unable to buckle up during take-off and landing (plus any turbulence encountered during the flight). * https://www.caa.co.uk then click on the "Contact us" link in the bottom right-hand corner

Sadly this is all too typical of most MPs' attitude towards expat voters registered in their constituencies, I think.

I seriously wonder whether that might lie at the heart of the difficulties which a fair few on here have been experiencing recently with their Wise transfers. Presumably Wise's partners in Thailand these days are now only Bangkok Bank and Tranglo*? * https://www.tranglo.com/ EDIT - although I see that @anchadian has also referred to the Global Pay channel, whoever or whatever that might be.

If using the 800k method for retirement extensions as per the OP, best to open a separate dedicated account for this purpose IMHO - but not one with BBL in view of the delay in obtaining 12-month statements, which all other banks AFAIK can (and do) issue on the spot.

A Google search of "qatar airways reviews" yields a mixed bag of comments.

You must have been extremely lucky in being able to stay under the TM30 radar in your dealings with Rayong over the years! I was asked for this form way back in 2016.

Makes me wonder who was Wise's partner bank for @NanLaew's previously instant transfers - Bangkok Bank themselves or Kasikorn? My understanding (and, indeed, personal experience) has been that instant transfers are only possible where the partner bank is Kasikorn. So might it be the case that Kasikorn aren't a Wise partner bank any longer (in which case the default partner bank option for his transfers is presumably now Bangkok Bank and their 14:00 payment time)?

Yep, instructions to do SFA as I stated, thank you very much.

I was under the impression that most immigration offices were already accepting - nay insisting on - bank statements. And what an earth do you mean by "entitlement letters"?

So what about the equally - if not considerably more - stupid rules which the powers-that-be back in your home country no doubt impose on Thai nationals who want to settle there?

"Embassys doing their own thing" = "Embassys doing SFA" IMHO.

This is by no means the only problem IMHO. What about the difficulties which some appear to be experiencing with Wise transfers, for instance? And, if you're American, Australian, British, Canadian and (soon) Norwegian, you can kiss goodbye to any chance of being able to obtain a 90-day non-O visa conversion for retirement from your local immigration office on the basis of 65k monthly income since the IMM rulebook clearly states that supporting evidence must be provided in the form of an Embassy income confirmation letter/affidavit!

Referring back to the OP, the thing I find particularly baffling about the Norwegian Embassy's decision to cease issuing income confirmation letters is that it was only as recently as September 2023 that they modified their procedures for obtaining these letters, presumably so as to satisfy IMM verification requirements!

+1 in the case of the British Embassy IMHO.

Click on the "22. Embassy letter rule 2013-05-29" link in the pinned "Laws, regulations, Police Orders, etc" thread.

This approach even works for Wise transfers to Bangkok Bank accounts in my experience. I've set up a standing order with my UK bank for transfers to my Wise GBP account, and as soon as I receive confirmation from Wise of my latest transfer (around 8am) I initiate an onward transfer to my Bangkok Bank account which usually turns up there at 14:00 the same day (unless it is a public holiday in LOS, of course).

Indeed, I wonder whether this whole registration issue lies at the heart of all the problems identifed in this thread (in which case Wise should clearly not be made the sole scapegoat for them). Although Thai banks are not, I understand, supposed to start rigorous checking for SIM registration compliance until the end of June, it is possible that some (if not all) of them are jumping the gun.

Some useful info about their activities (which seem to go wider than Thai domestic transactions) in the FAQ's on their website: https://www.tranglo.com/support/ What might be of possible interest to some is whether or not they offer a service for making transfers from Thai bank accounts to home country accounts given the current issues with Dee Money.

The link below appears to suggest that all subsequent amendments to existing AIS SIM card registrations (including for new passport numbers for foreigners presumably) can only be physically undertaken at an AIS Shop, AIS Telewiz, AIS Buddy or any of the 2,400 authorised dealers nationwide: https://www.ais.th/en/consumers/help-and-support/cyber-threat-alerts/mobile-banking

How does this work? Do you enter what is now Wise's 10-digit ref number for this purpose? Or do Tranglo send you their own code to be used instead?

Something to do with this, maybe??

Are you signed up to BKKB's internet banking service? If so, I suggest that you do what I did some time ago and dump their app which in my experience proved much more trouble than it was IMHO worth. With internet banking you should be able to transfer 100k to your SCB account in 2 chunks of 50k without having to endure any of this facial recognition nonsense (although you might need first to add your SCB account as a new payee and possibly change some max payment settings).

As it has been since last September, according to the following thread you initiated at that time!

I would have thought that living in Ibiza would be a real horror for her!!