bneth360

We came to Thailand on a multiple-entry tourist visa (60days each entry w/ option to extend). Do we need to leave and fly back into Thailand or can we just re-enter by land to get our SECOND ENTRY (and not a 15-day stamp)? Thanks so much!!

Thanks for all the info. All this being said, does anyone know which police department I should visit? Tourist or "local police"?

Well like all of you have mentioned, logic would dictate that no report would need to be filed here in Phuket, yet the bank is insisting on it. Why? You ask, we do not know. The bank is being HORRIBLE about this!!!! They are accusing my fiancee of giving her card to someone else who went to Australia while she stayed in Phuket. They said they are going to press criminal charges if they investigate and they determine this is what happened. My fiancee said, "good!" because we know she had nothing to do with it. The banks tone is just wrong! The problem is, we have no way to prove she physically had her card in Phuket because she did not use it during the time of the fraud, or right before or right after. Yes this looks bad! But please continue to read.

Quick history:

The fraud happened on June 4th and 5th, but my fiancee did not use her card until June 8th, and before that she had not used the card since the 27th of May. Thus the bank thinks she gave her card to someone, and they went to Australia to use it and she stayed here. FYI: yes we CAN prove we were here and have never been to Australia and that we were in Phuket.

The issue of not using the card may seem a little fishy, understandably, BUT not using the card often has been a common pattern since we arrived in Thailand. The reason it is used so little is because we use cash, and we were told by the bank to use an card as little as possible over here because fraud happens; (I am sure all of you know cash is needed for daily transactions with food and what not). Plus, she takes 10000 baht out at a time in order to avoid multiple 150 baht charges the banks impose here. Furthermore, she has only used her card 7 times since we have been in Thailand (2 months now).

To further make our point, before she asked the bank if she needed to notify them that we were leaving the US, they said, "yes", and we had them put a note on the file. My Fiancee then asked, "what if I go to Laos and Cambodia, I would like to approve those countries as well" (so the card does not get shut off while we are there). The bank said, "just call us and we will approve those countries then." HOWEVER, they did not stop the usage in Australia! A different continent!!!!

My fiancee asked, "why did you not freeze the account? There were $5000 in charges made in a 3 hour period at one mall, and 5 of the charges were made at one store!" (common sense would make anyone think something weird is going on here!) The bank response was, "oh no, its not our job to play big brother, we don't freeze peoples account like that". -what the hel_l are banks for then?

Last, her card has her picture on it. This being said, we would like the bank to look at the survaliance tapes from the stores. (two of the biggest purchases were made at jewlery stores so they must have survalliance video).

1. Mariels card has her picture on it, if the survaliance tapes shows a card without a picture on it then it is obvisually it is a fake and she whould be in the clear.

2. If there is a picture on it, then we can ask the person who sold the jewlery if the picture on the card matched the person standing in front of him/her. If they say, "yes the picture matched the person", then we know it was not Mariels card because the tape will show that it is not her!

3. Or if by some chance the picture on the card is Mariel (I am not sure if they can copy pictures) then why did the sales person sell the items to someone whose picture was not on the card?

Again, this would clear Mariel.

So needless to say were are fighting an uphill battle. The bank is being so heartless! However, we need to follow their "procedure" and file a report here in Phuket. Also we spoke to an attorney back in the US, he suggested we file ASAP also. The australian police are not helping either and are not allowing us to file a report unless we physically go to Australia.

Thanks again! Sorry this post was so long.

Everyone was so great about helping out with our Visa/immigration questions I hoped these gestures could be repeated.

A few days ago my fiancee, who is here in Phuket with me, noticed she was short a lot of money when she made an ATM withdrawal. She got home and got onto her online banking (A United States bank). There were 12 charges made in Australia totaling almost $5000 USD, all from the same mall, all in the same day. Needless to say, this is A LOT if money for two teachers in Thailand that have been out of college for less than 3 years and still owe debt.

There are a lot of details, but to make a long story short the bank said, "they had your card in 11 of the 12 transactions". In reality the card is here in our hand and has never left... scary! We assume they made a copy of it in some way. We have a few ideas as to how it may have been copied but we are obviously not experts by any means. Because they "have the card" we are fighting the bank to get the money back and its not looking good for us.

Today, the bank said to file a police report both in Australia and Thailand, and not at home in the US. We are trying to file in Australia but it is proving to be difficult as they need us there physically. We are now working with the federal Australian police.

My question is, to file here in Thailand, would we go to the "tourist police", or any police station? Is there a specific station that speaks better English than another? We are in Phuket town and we are by no means close to fluent Thai speakers. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for any help!! Everyone here is awesome!

Cheers! I will go to the one in Phuket town since I am currently residing here!

So our 60 day (tourist) visa is just about to expire and we want to go to a local immigration to get the 30 day visa extension. We don't speak Thai so we were wondering if anyone has a suggestion as to which location is best with English speaking people?

Also does anyone know what paper work is needed and the cost associated with it?

Any advice would help and thanks a ton everyone!

Hire us! We are a fun and easy going group of Americans that love teaching! We are great employees, we are always on time and we can adapt to anything.

We are very responsible, resourceful and know how to manage a classroom. We wont let you down.

Four native English speakers (two couples) seeking employment as teachers/instructors in Phuket, Thailand but we are willing to

relocate for the right opportunity, after May 15th. If possible, all four of us would like to work in the same city so that we can live together.

Brandon 25 and Mariel 24:

We have been together for over five years and are willing to relocate within Thailand. Both of us are VERY outgoing, love to be with kids and enjoy teaching. We both have over four years working experience, and one year teaching experience.

Both of us have four year college/bachelor degrees from Washington State University.

Both of us have one year teaching experience through Washington State University and have worked with a specific curriculum and created our own lesson plans.

Mariel will be TEFL certified May 15th.

Brandon has 3 years corporate training/other classroom experience and has learned every part of TEFL with Mariel

Josh 27 and Nelly 20:

Have been together over 2 years and are also willing to relocate within Thailand. Again, they both love being with kids and teaching.

Josh has a 4 year college/bachelor degree from Seattle Pacific University

Josh will be TEFL certified May 15th.

Nelly's native language is English but she is also fluent in Russian and Ukrainian.

Nelly has 3 years of preschool/day care experience as a head instructor

Thank you for you time. We hope to hear from you soon.

You can contact us here: by PM

DTAC is my recommendation. You can buy a SIM card at any 7/11 store. NO NEED for a plan. Stored value cards start at 50 Baht+++

Why I vote for DTAC?

You can extend your remaining credit up to 1 year. If you return back to Thailand within a year you can still use your old phone number.

Thanks you!! We are planing on staying in thailand for a year so this may be the best bet... so using DTAC, I can make both local and international calls? Is it like a prepaid system?

So we just arrived in Thailand last week. Its great here. Now we need a cell phone.

How does this work? In teh US we just buy a plan and you get a sim, minutes and a phone.

Here it seems different. We want to be able to make/get local calls and make international calls (to the US) as well.

We went to a store and gathered we need to buy a sim... but which one? Do some offer different services?

We are going to buy the cheapest phone possible, but do we have to buy a plan also? Will we have to buy a prepaid phone card to make international calls?

Thanks a ton for the help and sorry for the "newbie" questions.

Didn't devalue after the coup or during the troubles last year, in fact it went the wrong way for me.

As a Brit I would be more than happy for the Baht to devalue, but I don't think it will any more than the Pound strengthen - I would be happy to be proved wrong

^ I agree the baht being de-valued would be good for me. I am from the US, so I feel this is the only way to "increase funds" because we all know the US dollar sucks right now and Idont see it getting better in the futrue.

Ah I see!!! I am FAR from well traveled... so I would assume that is why I have never heard it. Here in the good ol USA (is my sarcasim coming throug???) we have names for the police too but I have yet to hear that one.

Thanks for the 411 everyone.

Sorry for the newbie question, what is the BIB? I assume some sort of law enforcement org. but what exactly is it? (BTW I am not in Phuket for another 2 weeks, thus my excuse for not knowing).

You guys are awesome!! Thank you so much. The end of my cord is a 2 prong and they are the same size/width (no need to be filed down so I think I am ok). And my battery pack say input 100-240v ~1.3A 50-60hz and out put 19v 3.95A... so from what I understand I think I am ok.

Thanks again!

I first would like to let everyone know I, nor the people I am traveling with have ever traveled abroad, so I am sorry for these questions if they are simple and ignorant... but thank you for the help . We are also not the most computer savy people as I am sure you will notice with our questions.

I am from the US so my laptop is set up for US power supplies, wall plugs, networking and voltage levels...etc.

I am moving to Thailand soon and I want to bring my laptop. I know I will need an adaptor in order to plug my computer into the wall. Outside of this I am not sure what else I will need. Can someone help?

Will it be able to handle the higher voltage? Will if fry if I plug it in?

Will there be any issues with networking?

Can the adaptors I need (I want decent quality stuff) be bought in Thailand, or should I buy it here in the US?

Here is a link to my computer and its specs:

http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/toshiba-sa...7-33361054.html

Thanks in advance everyone!

Thanks a ton! I will look into it!

I first would like to let everyone know I, nor the people I am traveling with have ever traveled abroad, so I am sorry for these questions if they are simple and ignorant... but thank you for the help!

I am from the US (Oregon if that makes a difference). I will be moving to Thailand very shortly with my Fiancee and two others. We are planning to teach English somewhere in Thailand. We have saved up some money (as we assume we will not get a job right away and we will have expenses), this being said all of our monies are in US based banks/credit unions. I have done some reading/research here and noticed Thai banks will be charging 150baht per transaction to Farrangs starting April 17th.

SO, what is the best route to do currency exchanges?

Do some ATMS give better exchange rates than others?

Where should I go if ATMS are not the best?

Do you recommend opening up an account with a Thai bank and moving some of our monies into this account, and also using this account to deposit paychecks?

Does anyone know a good bank in the US for this (meaning minimum fees)? I read nationwide is good, but I don't believe they have US locations.

Also when people are paid, (assuming you don't have a thai bank account) do you typically just cash your paychecks and carry that around?-can't be to safe.

Thanks again for all the help

Thats was really cool... and yeah what ^he asked.

I have never heard this one, I read it out loud to my GF too. We loved it! Thanks for the laugh!

my god, this is horrible! I cant believe this, probably because I am a sheltered american... I hope I can help someday

WOW, how dumb do I feel? Thanks so much guys, using that drop down list allowed me to find a location in Oregon-my current location.

Thanks again everyone!

...we bought one way tickets which hinders our abiltity to get a typical tourist visa, we found out we need verification of outbound flights to obtain a mult. entry 60 day visa (according to Royal Thai consulate in Los Angeles)....

Some Thai consulates want to see a return ticket for a tourist visa and if the consulate in Los Angeles gives you grief just apply for it by mail from an honorary consulate.

--

Maestro

Again, I am sorry for the newbie question: what is the difference between the L.A. location and an "honorary consulate"?

^ you're the man! Thanks a ton. And we do plan on applying before we leave the US jus so there is no loose ends before we leave. I was NOT aware we could get 60 days plus a 30 extension, so thank you again for that information.

Regarding employment we are not super worried about that. We think we will be ok.

I am a first time poster and long time watcher, but have not seen my specific question on the forum. Also I have never traveled outside the US so I appologize in advance for the ignorant questions.

Situation:

My fiancee, friend, his girlfriend and I are all coming to Thailand April 14th with the intention to teach english for a year. We are going to get TEFl certified and we all have a 4 year degree. This being said we started looking into visas.

We made some mistakes:

Our first mistake was buying one way tickets (due to cost), because of this we can not get a visa in the traditional "tourist" sense because we need to have proof we are leaving thailand (outbound flight).

So here is our plan, PLEASE make and suggestions you believe will help/make it easier. We are all from the US if that helps at all.

We decided we will have a job after ~60-90 days (TEFL course is 30 days long and we want to enjoy Thailand too), so after this period we determined our employer will be able to help obtain anything needed.

Again, we bought one way tickets which hinders our abiltity to get a typical tourist visa, we found out we need verification of outbound flights to obtain a mult. entry 60 day visa (according to Royal Thai consulate in Los Angeles).

So we are going to buy roundtrip tickets Singapore (which we want to visit anyway) that will be dated for approx. 50 days after we first arrive in Thailand, then we will also buy tickets to malaysia another 50-60 after we arrive in thailand the second time, thus hoping we will get a mult. entry visa good for two 60 day stays. allwoing us the time to find work.

What do you guys think? Has anyone done something like this before? Will it work? (although I dont see why it wont).

Thank you so much for the help/suggestions.