Alwaysright

Earlier, Arabian-business.com (see the link www.arabianbusiness.com/539714-catch-me-if-you-can) reported that the UK has frozen $4 billion of Thaksin's assets. "The UK froze his reputed $4bn of assets, forcing him to sell Manchester City to Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Mansour. To add to his troubles, his UK visa was revoked - oh, and his wife divorced him last week," the Arabianbusiness report said.

Yet so far nobody has come out to confirm or deny this report.

Lazy reporting. Why didn't the writer contact Arabian-business.com? Bangkok Pundit did and the Website apologised for their error as the British authorities had cancelled the visa but hadn't frozen his assets. This story is a load of rubbish.

How much did he steal from the people of Thailand?Greedy.

Which moving company damaged your TV?

Allied Pickfords

Paid them over 10K USD to move me, claim will be for more than the move, will get brand new tv, so I am not complaining

Don't count the money$$$$ until you have it.

Not mixed, but I the best source for frozen berries I have found is at Makro. They almost always have strawberries, blackberries and often raspberries and blueberries as well. The price is right! I just wish I had a larger freezer for storage because sometimes there are only strawberries available.

I've also bought frozen apricot halves, peach halves, kiwi and pineapple there.

yes me too Macro, i went there 2 days ago, they have the 4 mentioned above, but be award it is china product, i find the blueberries very strong in test and stop buying them, not convince of the chemical use !

The one I am getting are the blackberries around 150 appro baht a kilo and the raspberry ( 250 baht kilo )

popshirt apricot halves / peach halve are they good ?

I have been buying rasberries at Foodland. THey are Chinese grown, but they taste fine. They are 112.5 baht for 500 grams. But I haven't seen blackberries. How are the Makro ones?

I wouldn't buy frozen pineapples. I buy a fresh one for 15 baht, cut it up, and freeze it myself.

When in doubt go to Villa mkts,Sukhumvit 33 my favorite one.

holidays in late December 2009

Planning ahead is a good thing but you'll probably get more answers if you post next year.

Just take the Skytrain to the river and join the crowd.The skytrain runs all night.

You are covered because when you send it by registered mail you get a receipt back that shows the date delivered and the name of the person who signed for it.

If you were to send it lets say ten days early and you haven't gotten the receipt back by the day of your report is due you could call and check on it and still have time to make a report by the 7 days after date.

I know I am about to ask a stupid question but I am going to ask anyway.Last time I did my 90 day in Bangkok I got there 20 minutes before the windows opened and was number 45.Why don't they have a box at the window that you can drop the form in with the required copies and a stamped envelope so if the line is long you can drop it off at the window.If it is short you wait.I know this is too logical ,sort of half mailing it in.Easy on the staff too.

Just dropping it in a box wouldn't do it because you would have no proof that you did it.

If they came up with a way for you to get a receipt of some kind it would work.

I think I will ignore the 90 day and once a year go in and give them 2000.I don't have much faith in the mail system.

You are covered because when you send it by registered mail you get a receipt back that shows the date delivered and the name of the person who signed for it.

If you were to send it lets say ten days early and you haven't gotten the receipt back by the day of your report is due you could call and check on it and still have time to make a report by the 7 days after date.

I know I am about to ask a stupid question but I am going to ask anyway.Last time I did my 90 day in Bangkok I got there 20 minutes before the windows opened and was number 45.Why don't they have a box at the window that you can drop the form in with the required copies and a stamped envelope so if the line is long you can drop it off at the window.If it is short you wait.I know this is too logical ,sort of half mailing it in.Easy on the staff too.

You know you've been in T'land to long, when:

You start charging Falangs double

When you get in a meter cab and you can tell the meter has been rigged to cheat you.When you tell the driver he gives you a rate that is cheaper than the meter reading(PROOF).

I also had this happening to me at KTB in Pattaya 5-6 years ago. I had to use a gov't bank to deposit my money for the (then) "investment visa", and chose KTB. When I opened the account, I saw a note that a foreigner would get the same interest rate as locals if he could show a non-imm visa/extension, but until then, only a token 0.25%. So after getting my visa I went back to get the real rate, but the notice was by then (3 months later) removed, and I was met with the same as OP said: "No interest for foreigners" (well I still got the 0.25%).

I grudgingly accepted this as "cost of doing business" (getting a one-year extension when not married nor working nor 50 years old), but after meeting my g/f she said that I should not accept it, and went with me to the bank. She is familiar with the banking system due to her job, and gave the poor clerk a real close haircut. End result, it was then suddenly possible for me to receive the full interest after all, but only from the maturity of my time deposit. Luckily this was just round the corner, and from then on for the next couple of years I got a good rate (the official published rate). But I must admit that on the day I transferred to retirement extension, the money went across to BBL.

So I also wonder as did namkong789: is it possible that the local branch runs a scheme whereby they somehow siphon off interest from gullible foreigners' accounts? If the foreigner makes enough noise, he will be given the interest. As in a shopkeeper shortchanging you, but giving you the right amount if you find out and complain? "Solly Sir, made mistake"?!? I would not be surprised at all if this was the case, we are seen as sitting ducks there for the taking. So beware!

Sorry in advance for any typos!

I complained to Krung Thai ,they said I need a work permit for interest,I told them I have better a retirement visa They gave me interest.

slightly off topic, but what do they generally charge for the letter. Just waying up pro's & cons of changing from 40k monthly to 400K in the bank.

Around 200 Baht.

Kasikorn charged me 100 Baht last month.

PARTY DISSOLUTION

People Power, Chart Thai and Matchima Thipataya parties disbanded

BANGKOK: -- The Constitution Court on Tuesday ruled to disband three coalition parties, People Power, Chart Thai and Matchima Thipataya, and banned the three's party executives from electoral process for five years.

The high court held the three parties for accountability on electoral fraud involving party executives, Yongyuth Tiyapairat of People Power, Monthien Songpracha of Chart Thai and Sunthorn Wilawan of Matchima Thipataya.

In the fraud case linked to People Power Party, the high court cited the Yongyuth conviction by the Supreme Court as the ground to penalise the ruling party.

For cases linked to Chart Thai and Matchima Thipataya, it invoked the rulings by the Election Commission as the basis to punish the two parties.

The nine presiding judges reached unanimous decisions against People Power and Matchima Thipataya parties. And they formed the eight-to-one decision to punish Chart Thai.

The high court opined that the punishment by disbandment was mandatory as sanctioned by Article 237 of the Constitution and that it had no leeway to selectively punish the party executives on the individual basis.

-- The Nation 2008-12-02

What is Thaskin doing just over the border in Cambodia?

Thailand receives 14,000,000 foreign tourists a year, thats about 40,000 every day on average... this is high season... every day more we will have 50,000 more stranded passengers... or 100 747-400's.

Sorry, Sir, this is NOT high season, won't start before Dec.15-20th.!

40 Minutes ago CNN live from Suvannabhum, there it was said that approx. 100.000 tourists are "stranded" in Thailand....leave "stranded" out of the equation and we might come to a few thousand - which are still enough of a challenge to handle!

High season?How about no season.

Your country has been on my boycott list for years.

I want to wish all those involved in the tourism business the best of luck. I think there will be some tough times ahead.

If tourists are treated well and fairly, they will return. The rip-offs that occur are a real downer and a definite turn off for most people.

You can pamper tourists till they melt, but in Europe the bookings for Thailand are way down.

Understandable, if you just lost your job, or are in fear of loosing your job, if the financial burden becomes too much, if you cannot get a loan for the holidays, and so on.

People are getting careful.

No tourists,I am going to enjoy this winter.

I will go to my 90 days check in today but i should have gone yesterday, will i be fined or do i have 7 days either side of the stamped date??

Thanks

ou have 7 days either side, so no problems.

Just curious,since you can mail the report in why don't they have a drop box at the counter so you can put the paper work in with a stamped return envelope?I guess too logical?

I've been watching the UDS vs the Baht almost on a daily basis now for a year. I noticed the jump yesterday over the 35 Baht mark... I use x-rates.com

I would love to see it get back to the 40-45 mark where it was years ago when I first started coming here. Sure beats the 29-30 it was at only months ago...

Watch out people... Short memory...

Do not trust the exchange rate 1 USD = 29 THB you can see on large western websites (like oanda, yahoo etc.). All the charts are wrong.

Why ? Because prior to march 3 2008... they were using off shore exchange rates.

Yes, i know it sounds like a century ago, but we have had capital controls in Thailand for more than 1 year, and therefore a dual market.

But... off shore rates were bullshit. The only "real" exchange rates were those offered by the thai banks in Thailand... The only place where you were able to buy THB...

History with SCB :

http://www.scb.co.th/exchange/bk-pvsexchange.htm

Look january for instance...

I see a lot don't remember 25 to the dollar for years.I would like to see 55 again.

I thought that was DEC 22,your mistake or mine?

Just looked it up NOV 22-29 not alwaysright

I thought that was DEC 22,your mistake or mine?

Hello,

What is the difference between 1st and 2nd class beds on Thai trains? What are the beds like? Are there sheets? Pillow? How many people to a car / cabin? Is there music or movies? Is there smoking?

Thanks

I always by two first class tickets for myself.They are cheap and sometimes I get lucky.

Is that why your ID is nudnik? Nicked ya Nuds? Yeah you can buy it anywhere.. open ur eyes..

I have attended three "product type" Expos in Bangkok where many if not all of the major air conditioning manufacturers had good size booths and I have never seen a "window type" air conditioning unit that is common in the United States. But you might check with manufacturers web sites.

I have previously read there is a potential problem with intruder access via this type of unit. The "split system" commonly available, easy for a Thai staff to INSTALL, certainly can be far more QUIET inside your room than the highly rated Kenmore I had in California. The common Split systems are easy to REMOVE and install in a new location in Thailand. These might be a sensible item to investigate. Each manufacturer has different "model levels" with different prices. Most have specifications in the printed brochures to compare each model line including the sound and energy consumption.

In my opinion it is best in Thailand to purchase an item that can be INSTALLED by Thai staff and maintained by a Thai staff without "experts" having to come a long distance. I have posted several times that you might obtain a LOWER total price and more responsive after the sales SERVICE from an independent dealer. While there are "suggested list prices" on air conditioners in Thailand, REAL discounts are possible and "clean" installations are possible. The "portable" units such as from CENTRAL AIR brand are very noisy and look like the robot from "Lost in Space". In my experience the Independent shop would send a staff person to look at a particular room and then make BTU size suggestions and LOOK FOR THE DRAINAGE options and what you already had in the way of Electrical supply. Like many things in life, there is "more than meets the eye". But a good shop has done thousands of installations and the staff really can do a clean job.

Having the shop staff come back for a periodic "cleaning" is sometimes included for a specific period of time and then after that period the cost is minimal, but WORTH EVERY BAHT.

If you are in the process of BUILDING a home I urge you to have the PIPES and WIRES installed IN your walls PRIOR to any rendering of the walls. Placement of the COMPRESSOR unit (shade, rain?) could make a difference in the energy consumption and life of the compressor. We did NOT buy or select any specific a/c units until months AFTER the pipes and wires were installed into our walls in Buriram. The a/c staff need to coordinate with the electricians to make sure proper power is at each a/c location.

Some "Split systems" are sold in the USA that are made in Thailand.

Good post thanks for taking the time,really want one in addition to my split air con.On the 32nd floor,so no problem.

That will hit Thailand hard.

I'd like more details of how Thailand would be impacted. Would GM's operations in Thailand be deemed low-cost enough to escape downsizing?

GM's problem, along with all western companies and governments, is unfunded future pension liabilities. This will make 'sub-prime' look like an old ladies tea dance. I suspect pensions aren't offered to Thai workers so expect more manufacturing facilities to close in the west only to be re-established in the east.

Let them go bankrupt,sink or swim.They have had years to make better cars and didn't.They could then get rid of the useless unions.

Can anyone confirm whether the financial requirements for the extension of a Non.Imm."O" visa based on retirement have been changed very recently.

I have just been informed by a friend that Suan Phlu office denied his extension saying that he had to have both monthly income of B65,000 PLUS B800,000 in the bank in Thailand.

If this is true, would it be for new applicants or all renewals regardless? Seems strange.

Thanks.

I had the income statement AND a letter from the bank.They told me I didn't need the bank statement,just the embasy letter.For 100 baht I will have both next time too.

With your new passport you have to go to immigration so they can transfer your stamp (and record your new passport number). This doesn't take long and is free.

What window do you go to in Bangkok?