puchooay

1 minute ago, recom273 said:

Correct. I gather this is the correct use of the visa.

 

I really don’t care how people stay here, none of my business, but it’s irritating when posters think that going to Savannakhet or Phom Phen is an justifiable alternative to keeping 400,000K and spending a day at immigration jumping through hoops, tugging forelocks and being treated like a criminal in your own home.

Would you care to share a link or something to show this?

1 hour ago, Neeranam said:

Isn't your wife a teacher in a rural school?

 

This is not the reason you got it done quickly. 

 

I went once with a relative, director of Khon Kaen technical college, an influential figure, in his white uniform. They told him to sit down and they wanted to speak to me alone. They hate that and actually made things harder for me.

 

It took me a deputy commander in the RTP, head policeman of 7 Isarn provinces  to fix my issue.

 

Location of school has no bearing on rank of teacher. 

The lady in question is the poster's wife. Not some official that he decided to take to show off with. I would imagine you had major issues or p%$ed someone off quite badly if you needed such a high ranking officer to "fix your issue".

5 minutes ago, Assurancetourix said:

in any case the "thai wife 'files are all sent to Khorat who processes them.

Khon Kaen.

15 hours ago, Isaanbiker said:

Nope. Thai Social Security covers all, including accidents, medicine, hospital fees, etc.

 

   Why would you need an extra  accident insurance? 

 

   Agencies who only offer a cheap accident insurance that cover only 10 to 20 K, are as useless as the Corona virus. 

 

I had a bike accident and my motorbike insurance only covered 12 K, the other 95 k were paid by my social security.

 

The labor law states that all foreign teachers should have the Thai social security.

 

But that costs money. The reality is that these teachers will lose their jobs and replaced, once they're absent for more than a week. 

 

   They only have a chance to come back if there's a shortage of teachers.

 

But these days, you can find "experienced teachers" from all over the world.

 

 Native English teachers from Aserbaidschan, etc...

 

 

Thai social security does not cover all. In case of an accident you need to make sure you are covered for loss of earnings, damage to property and the likes and that you can go to another hospital for treatment if the hospital stated on your TSS card can not treat you.

I have read that you are a keen motorcycle rider. Then, why did you not know that regular motorcycle insurance is very low cover? It is only "Por Ror Bor" that covers you for personal injury. You really should have known that.

With regards to your posts, you seem to be living off past experiences, that you also had under a different online guises. Just because a school director initially refused to offer you Thai Social Security does not mean they all do. Just because you had a bad experience with an agency does not mean that they are all bad.

In 21 years of teaching I have had direct hires and agency hires. Good and bad experiences with both, mainly good. Every job had it's good points and bad. One needs to look at all aspects of a contract, not just TSS and length of contract.

My best ever job from a financial aspect was one of the worst work wise. I had 13 months salary, a new year bonus of 1 month was paid. I had most of March, all of April and 10 days of May off with full pay and also all of October. No social security but private health and accident cover. Free meals, no extra evening or weekend work. I left as the job became tiresome because of the lack of back up from management and department leaders. I left and went to and agency job. 10 months contract, no social security but a great fun job.

In short, one should not instantly turn their back on a job offer simply on one or two counts. Explore the offer correctly and thoroughly. Thai Social Security is good but restrictive, only one hospital can be used is one example. I find it hard to believe that anyone living in Thailand full time would not have thought of taking private health care out as a priority. Therefore negating the need for TSS. It's not the retirement package of 1000 baht a month you are relying on, is it?

Missed the boat I'm afraid. I have been teaching online for over 4 years. In the last year or so the bottom has fallen out of the market. I have years of experience, two internationally recognized teaching qualifications, a squeaky clean online teaching record with regards to assessments and am a native speaker. My hours have gradually be decreasing. Why? It seems that eastern Europeans, who are prepared to teach for $6 to $8 dollars an hour, are now the preferred option.

20 hours ago, Isaanbiker said:

Last year a fake foreign teacher slipped on some wet tiles in a government school during the rainy season and badly broke his leg. He thought he was insured. He was mistaken. 

 

    "A fake foreign teacher"? The labor laws stipulate that all government schools have to insure their foreign teachers through the Thai social security.

 

  It's usually 750 baht for the employer and the same amount for the employee. That should start from day one.

 

Please read the Thai labor law regarding teachers at government schools.

 

  What are fake teachers? Fake degrees, or fake smiles? 

 

Insurance via Thai social security is not the same as accident insurance. Teachers should have both.

3 hours ago, evadgib said:

Relinquishing HRH places them on par with Diana, Fergie and Anne's children who are (or returned to being) 'normal people' while remaining peripheral members of the firm. I would like to see Andrew lose it too, given he's effectively been busted!

 

Patenting the brand 'Sussex Royal' will need to be looked at too. A Regiment by that name (The Royal Sussex Regiment) served with distinction in the British Army until 1966 when they morphed into The Queens Regiment (3rd Bn) and latterly into a Regiment Named after Harry's Mother. Many veterans from the R Sussex are still alive and are understandably miffed that their brand has been hi-jacked.

 

I am not sure where this is going but I wish him all the best.

Prince Harry and Meghan have applied to register the trademark "Sussex Royal" in the UK.

Their application was published in December 2019.

If no-one objects, the trademark could be registered as early as February 2020.

Your opportunity awaits you.

On 1/16/2020 at 12:20 PM, Jane Dough said:

Yes, teacher's day is traditionally on a Thursday that is named after Jupiter in the Thai language - this is connected with education. 

 

Rooster

That is not teachers day. That is "wai kru" day. Most schools will have some activities lasting a couple of hours, maybe up to lunchtime.

Teachers' day is always 16th January and is always a school holiday.

If 16th January is a Saturday or Sunday, there is not a substitute day on the Monday.

Can't speak for BA but I have never had a problem with Emirates. I have used both Thai and UK debit cards with them.

11 minutes ago, Jip99 said:

Also probably depends on your location.

 

A couple of years ago I made an appointment at the Peterborough office for 09:30. Went up to Lincoln to collect daughter from university and picked up the new passport in the afternoon on the journey back.

 

At that time the cost of the express service equated to inflated overseas standard service price.. No trip to Bangkok x 2 either.

I agree. Easier in UK. A friend of mine, lives in Essex, booked an appointment at the London office for 10am for the day he returned to UK. Arrived at Gatwick airport 7am. Train to Victoria. Walk to office. Handed in application with payment for express service. Popped round the local pub for breakfast and a pint. A few hours later he was on his way to Essex with new passport in hand.

A few years back there was a story about this. I also remember speaking to some Thai friends in Nang Rong, Buriram about it.

The top 3 contenders for new province status at the time were; BunGan (already done), ChumPae (Khon Kaen) and Nang Rong (Buriram).

Nang Rong always gets held up because of the argument about Khao Phanom Rung. Under the new plans this will end up in Nang Rong Province. For obvious reasons, Buriram residents are up in arms about this and believe it should remain part of Buriram Province.

14 hours ago, Caldera said:

I think some of the comments with regards to lacking English language skills (and a resulting aversion to dealing with foreigners) of Kasikorn Bank staff are over the top - they have improved a lot. When I opened my account with them 14 years ago, nobody at that branch (smack in Bangkok's CBD, mind you) spoke any English, but that didn't stop them from opening an account for me. In the meantime, I've been to a number of different branches all over Bangkok to replace expiring or broken ATM cards, and in recent years they've always had members of staff with a fair command of English.

 

Right from the account opening, all Kasikorn Bank employees I've dealt with have also been unfailingly polite and helpful - something I cannot say about their Bangkok Bank colleagues.

 

So they seem well prepared to deal with foreigners, and I don't believe for one second that they don't want foreign clients any longer.

 

I note your comments about Bangkok but this thread is about banks in Thailand. 

Totally different kettle of fish.

3 hours ago, SteveK said:

With regards to learning Thai. It is very easy to criticise others that have failed to achieve the same level as you. Learning a new language comes easily to some, borderline impossible to others and depends on many things. Having access to a proper teacher, learning materials, and being immersed in  the language makes a huge difference. I've met people who've been here 20+ years and still can't say sawasdee khrap properly. But then I have met people who've been here no more than 2 years and are capable of holding a decent conversation. Everyone's different.

 

Not very helpful gloating about how your Thai is so good because many people will struggle with a tonal language. Maybe it would be more helpful to offer some guidance about how you managed to learn fluent Thai to people on the forum?

Firstly, I didn't gloat. As I pointed out to another poster, in order to gloat I would have to had achieved something that is beyond the realms of some. I don't believe that what I have achieved is so.

Secondly, I said nothing about being fluent. I merely pointed out that my knowledge of Thai language is good enough that I don't have to rely on someone else when ever I need to go somewhere, do something or speak to someone.

I am happy to share my experiences of learning Thai. This should be of particular interest to you as you have said many times that you live in the sticks and thus should be easy for to to do. Well, I learned to speak Thai exactly the same way that anyone learns to speak their own native language as they are growing up. I listened to people, I tried to speak to people, I watched people when communicating and I remembered what I had seen, heard and spoken. I immersed myself in the language and tried to avoid English as much as I could. A lot easier 20 years ago, I admit, as English was rarely spoken anywhere near where I live. 

Immersion is, and has been proven by many linguistics and language professors, as the easiest, best and most efficient way to learn a language. 

With regards to learning to read and write, I was teaching English at a primary school when I saw a Thai teacher teaching a class of K2 kids that Thai alphabet with the first stage of vowels. Such as "Gor-a = Ga", "Kor-a = Ka". I politely asked if it would be OK for me to sit at the back of the class and observe. She agreed and invited me back next time. An invitation that I accepted.

I guess it took about a year to get up to speed. It really is not that difficult and if one can learn to read Thai, in my opinion easier than a non native trying to learn to read English, then grasping tones and earning new vocabulary becomes easier as one can study alone with books and dictionaries (when I learnt the internet in the area was in it's infancy and access to such was near on impossible).

Hope this helps.

5 hours ago, cyril sneer said:

ok then stop gloating about how long you lived in thailand and how you learned the language, it's all you seem to do on here

 

a Polish man needing help at a UK bank in some s***hole town or city is no comparison to a tourist/expat needing help in Thailand

One can only gloat if one feels they have achieved something great. Something they feel is beyond others capability.

I don't think living somewhere, learning the language and culture and generally fitting in is as such. 

Maybe you do and that is the problem you have with understanding what I say and being civil. Maybe. Just saying.

36 minutes ago, silver sea said:

If you have been in Thailand for 20 years, then you have lost touch with England, and indeed the way HSBC works. 
 

I bank with HSBC, and I was in England last August. I went into my local branch in town, because I needed help setting up the new logging on system with their app. I was assigned a young account manager, who turned out to be Romanian. She spoke good English and probably several other languages as well.

 

HSBC, at local branch level at least, is very customer friendly. If a Polish guy with little English entered the bank they would probably have a Polish speaker on the staff. They certainly wouldn’t try to get him out the door, but would do everything they could to help him, including, setting up a phone link with a Polish speaker at another branch.

 

England is multi racial and multicultural now. You wouldn’t recognise the place if you have been away for 20 years.

 

In Thailand, things are very much as Sheryl describes in her well written post above. I don’t speak Thai and I dress in shorts and T shirt, but I have learnt that smiling, being polite and patient takes you a long long way. I am non threatening and relaxed and this helps to relax them and even to ask their colleagues for help. Sometimes I have to keep repeating the same things but that’s ok, because I am never in a hurry; I just keep smiling.

 

Sometimes it is a non starter, because for instance Bangkok Bank would not allow me to open an account without a certificate of residence. That’s ok, no problem. I went to KBank, which has different rules, and opened one there instead.

 

 

HSBC was just an example. I wasn't saying that is how it is exactly.

I have been back in the UK for a couple of months and have seen instances of people with poor English skills not getting a level of customer service that they would get if they were good speakers. Just saying. If you have a good knowledge of the language spoken where you live, things will be easier for you.

BTW. I had no problems recognising the place. Looks just the same. Sure, the population is more diverse but the place????? Just the same as before.

20 minutes ago, cyril sneer said:

how is life back in UK? bit early to start drinking

5555. Not been drinking. Thanks.

37 minutes ago, ThaiBunny said:

You've clearly made a lifestyle choice to live in the sticks and good luck with that. However by telling someone they must do something eg. learn to be fluent in Thai, is only relevant in 2020 if they make the same lifestyle choices you have

And you are very good at making assumptions.

I also gave another example, being at immigration. I could go further. Going shopping at, let's say; BigC, Makro, Thai Watsadu, in the market, computer shop, mechanics or where ever.

It never ceases to amaze me how many times I read on social media or hear in a bar or someplace, an expat saying something like " I will have to wait until my wife if free so she can go with me", or " I will let my wife sort it", or " I asked my wife to ask them". 

Why do people choose to live in a foreign country only to have to rely on others for day to day requirements?

9 minutes ago, ThaiBunny said:

A very, very old-fashioned - some would say "last millennium" - way of thinking. I visited my Krungsri branch twice in the past six months. On the first occasion the staff - at their initiative - happily used Google Translate on one of their phones to communicate with me. On the second occasion a new lass was sufficiently fluent in English not to need it

When I post on here I will only do so when I have had personal experiences to back my comments.

I have seen this happen many many time and very recently too. Even to the point that I have been asked by people to assist. 

Google is OK for vocabulary translation but terrible for conversation. Many places away from large cities and tourist areas do not have bank staff that speak well in English.

As long as 20 years ago and as recently as just a few months ago, my own personal experiences back my comments as being valid.

6 minutes ago, SteveK said:

This is one of the best descriptions I have read.

 

Very good explanation, thank you.

Don't you think it would be the same in an English speaking bank? Say a Polish guy with minimal English skills walked into HSBC in UK. Every time he asked a question no one understood him. What would happen? Likely they would try to get him out the door.

Easy solution. You live in Thailand so learn to speak Thai. Stop relying on your partners to do the job. Thai people in general will not question officialdom. I wonder how many expats have failed in opening a bank account because their Thai partner would not question the bank employee? Probably many. Same as the guys that get ripped off at immigration. Wife says to husband " Nice immigration man says 2000 baht and everything OK". Expat is none the wiser so pays up.

If you live in Thailand learn the language,the culture and how to handle these kind of situations. That is the way I have been handling things for over 20 years. Never had a problem.

In the context of the show, it was funny.

Most people who watch TV in UK are aware of the show and its style of humour.

If you don't like it, don't watch it. Simple.

Just now, UKresonant said:

That is how I see it, last account I opened was 2018, got the work permit question, they would only open an FCD, after a bit of discussion (1 year O visa), Baht account not possible....

 

Seems like the no new customers theme again,

O-A, unlikely to ever have one of them, Work Permit, never.

 

Thread " I am an idiot" on the visa section here. Someone successfully opening a bank account May 2019, as an example.

26 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

Bangkok Bank has the largest part of expats in Thailand, those who are married or just simply retired. Plus of course working expats. Like I said earlier, you don't need a work permit when opening a bank account at Bangkok Bank. They have had the same requirements for many years, and there are several combinations of documents you can use for opening an account. For instance: passport + wp, passport + Certificate of Residence from the local immigration office, passport + certificate from an embassy/consulate, passport + reference from a bank in your home country, passport + reference from a well-known customer at the same bank and even more. If you can't open an account at Bangkok Bank with just one of these combinations, then something is wrong with you. People have already noticed that some banks refuses people when asking for opening an account, and it will get harder despite what several naive posters think. You can always get lucky if you walk from bank to bank trying. 

I know quite a few people who switched from Bangkok Bank during the Union Pay cards palava .

Most of whom switched to Kasikorn or Siam Commercial.

6 minutes ago, SteveK said:

Easy. They opened their bank accounts years ago before they tightened up.

Selective reading? I did say " including those who have only been here a short time".

4 minutes ago, SteveK said:

It doesn't matter what is on the website - this is Thailand. The branch staff will almost certainly not have a clue what is displayed on their website. They make it up as they go along, and as 99.9% don't know the procedure for opening an account for a foreigner without a work permit, they will save face and tell you that it's not possible. If you press them and try to show them their own website, they will get annoyed and do their best to not help you further.

That's funny. I like your percentages. You must have a lot of time on your hands. Been around a lot. Spoken to 99.9% of all branch employees in Thailand.

Please could you explain how the plethora of expats here on extensions of stay, including those who have only been here a short time, provide bank details when extending by reason of marriage or retirement if they are not working here.