OldAsiaHand

I am here on a non-imm O visa.Would I be able to reclaim the 7%Vat?

I plan to buy a laptop and take it out of Thailand when I leave in October.

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Yes. I have done it many times.

In all of my eight years in this country, I have to say that farangs are the most unfriendliest bunch of people here that another farang could ever meet.  I have lost count of the amount of times that I have walked past a farang in the street and have tried to get eye contact in order to exchange a friendly nod, or even said hello and just been completely ignored.

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Why would you go ahead to assume this applies to everyone? My guess is that these folks just didn't want to have anything to do with you and, on the available evidence, I applaud their choice.

I have just changed from a 256 hookup to 512 with True and they tell me that it will take 5 days to accomplish this. I went 2 days ago and just checked my speed and they stat that I am at 253.293. My question is, will I see any real difference in this or is it just a waste of the extra 160 baht a month that it's going to cost me? I download stuff from DC++ and have gotten tired of the slow speeds.

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You will see a real difference only when you are accessing local sites. When you are accessing international sites, the inadequate access all local ISP's have to international backbones (because, among other reasons, that limited bandwidth is all they are willing to pay for) will remain a serious bottleneck for you regardless of what your local access speed may be.

Look at www.seamico.com.

An agent's services attract VAT, but not the rental payments themselves. If an agent is charging you, say, a month's rent for his work in setting up the deal, that might explain the confusion. If the landlord is trying to charge you VAT on top of the rental you agreed to for each and every month, then he probably sees you as a guy who's good for an extra 7%.

It will open exactly as scheduled this month. It just won't be used until at least the end of next year, maybe later. Face is saved, but nothing is accomplished.

Welcome to Thailand.

Also remember that you are always dealing with two variables in ATM transactions, the fee and the exchange rate, and the exchange rate is always hidden from you. Regardless of whether the fee is high or low, using an ATM is a very, very expensive way to get money from one country to another because the exchange is always unfavorable and you have no way even to determine in advance what rate you are being screwed with.

Your writing is the wobbliest novella writing of all time. It is even wobblier than mine, and I thought mine was the most inferior of all time. It is not even first form secondary modern school quality; 'what I did at the weekend' standard.

Hi The_Moog,

Here are 2 reviews on http://www.amazon.co.uk

(and I DIDN'T write them - honest):

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Well, gosh, everybody -- even you -- must have at least two friends......

thai thai,

You posting went up while I was writing mine, so one more comment...

I understand what you're saying, but doubt there is any difference regardless. The procedure here when granting a one year visa on the basis of marriage to a Thai citizen is to style it as the extention of the last visa granted outside of Thailand (so long as it is not a tourist visa), not the granting of a new visa within Thailand. No, I know that doesn't make all that much sense, but it doesn't have to. It's just the way they do it.

Since your original visa that has been extended was a non-immigrant B, that's the visa you're here on right now and you're eligible for a work permit. It's just that simple. Frankly I've never personally heard of the extention based on marriage being done for a non-immigrant B, but obviously, based on your case if nothing else, it can be. Since you were extended twice at Suan Plu it's hard to imagine you could be on safer ground.

You are allowed to obtain a work permit regardless.  You do not require a B visa for that and the normal non immigrant O visa for support Thai wife is perfectly acceptable.  For your own protection (you do not lose right to stay in Thailand if you lose job) it is in your interest not to change.  I would talk with employer and offer to go with them to make application using your current visa - if they refuse it is up to you if you want to work for them and change or tell them you will look for another employer.

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Yes, that's correct. I'm sure it will be easy enough to confirm for your employer that your non-immigrant O visa based on a Thai wife (ever wonder why it doesn't say 'Thai spouse'?) is a proper basis for a work permit application. Thousands if not tens of thousands of people use exactly that arrangement.

...or, far more likely, have it stolen and listen to customs tell you they don't know a thing about it.

The obvious thing to do is for you to call them and ask, but almost certainly the right answer to your question is essentially no.

Unless something has quite recently changed, Bangkok Bank is not licensed to operate a full branch in New York -- i.e. they cannot offer accounts to the public or provide other consumer banking services. What they did have there the last time I was aware of the details was what is called an Edge Act bank, an arrangement which restricts their activities in the US to undertaking certain forms of commercial banking.

I'm sorry, but I really do not agree at all. Credit cards are an essential tool of modern business, particularly for anyone who travels frequently and incurs significant expenses in different countries and multiple currencies. A smug vow of abstainance sounds like an Amish forswearing automobiles: it may be quaint, but it amounts to nonsense for most people.

As for protecting yourself in your use of credit cards, the financial burden of unauthorized charges falls largely on the credit card suppliers anyway and they count it as part of their cost of doing business. All that falls on you is a certain amount of nuisance. It's regretable, of course, but I suggest you look at this fraud the same way the card issuer looks at it -- i.e. part of your cost of doing business in the modern world.

For what it's worth, I've lived in Asia for nearly twenty-five years, Thailand for fifteen of those. I use my cards nearly every day in exactly the same places the original poster said he used his and have never had a single problem with fraud. The only time any of my card numbers was ever used fraudulently was that of a US dollar card I only use in the States and that problem occurred in LA.

It's like being mugged. All pretty much the luck of the draw. Still, you can't let one mugging make you fearful of going out on the street, and you can't let a fraudulent use of your credit card number make you fearful of using a card. All you can really do is, as they say, be careful out there.......

The core of this problem is the same as the core of almost every problem in Thailand.....

So many people have their hands in the honey jar, so many people have to be paid out of the income stream generated by any undertaking, that either the price paid by the consumer for the service/product rises to an uneconomic level or the service/product delivered to the customer degenerates to an unacceptable level.

Either way, friends, it's corruption and the black economy that steals more than most services/products generate in real profits and provides the consumber little benefit and and less hope for the future. Until the Thai view of the purpose of commerce changes -- from viewing it as little more a source of pay-offs to seeing that the creation of real value generates sustainable profits -- nothing in this country will ever be any different.

The Post story said they'd already hired their ambassador's and they 'nearly all had masters degrees.' Wow, imagine that........

It's fairly common. I've seen it frequently at Villa supermarkets and occasionally noticed it at various Bookazines as well. Try the Bookazine in the Nai Lert Building if you're around the bottom of Sukhumvit or the Villa Market in Soi Thonglor if you're further out.

The Villa Market on Soi 15 Thong Lor is the biggest, most modern and best in Bangkok. Soi 33 pales in comparison.

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For what it's worth, I second the motion. Ever since this Villa opened, they've let the range of stock in the other branches in the area slide quite significantly.

If this thread is also deleted, I move that the topic name at least be preserved forever in the Thaivisa museum (...there IS a Thaivisa museum, isn't there?).

Not sure that one would work!

Normally they won't even give atm cards on a joint-account!

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That it total nonsense.

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Got to agree with "lop" on that one. I have a joint account with my wife at Bangkok Bank in Korat. We both have ATM cards and we have internet access. Got this all set up a few weeks ago. We both had to fill out some Application forms at the local Bank and that was it. No work permit (I don't work) and no Residence certificate needed. I'm on an "marriage extension" of my O visa.

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I'm one more with exactly the same experience (well...not the part about living in Korat, thank Christ) so it is pretty clear that the problem can be solved this way.

The purpose is to make certain you haven't taken an exemption or allowance with respect to duty on a prior shipment of household effects (which would be marked somewhere in your passport). The normal procedure for handling your passport is exactly as described by the last poster.

Get a round trip economy class ticket in US (assuming it's cheaper than one way ticket), fly to BKK and get business or first class round trip ticket issued in LOS and fly home with that ticket (disregard the back-haul economy class ticket) and keep having the ticket issued in Bangkok from that point onward.  I don't really know about the price in US but that is what my friend in Japan does, where the business class air care costs almost 3 - 4 times as much as the Bangkok-issued biz class ticket.

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Interesting. I will be checking that out for sure. Thanks........... DJM

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Your should. It's very good advice. A few years ago the first class fare BKK-US-BKK was slightly less than the business class fare US-BKK-US. It's not that large a spread any longer, but still significant. And, unlike most US carriers, carries out here compete vigorously with respect to 'deals.'

Here are some current examples against which you can test your US fares:

BKK-JFK-BKK nonstop on TG, business class, since there's no first class: THB141,000

BKK-JFK-BKK via HKG on CX, first class: THB 245,000

Your post really brought back childhood memories. I haven't seen any Burma Shave signs since I left the backroads of Texas behind forty years ago. I always thought the signs were homegrown there. Did you see them someplace else?

There's no law in this country, not in the "western" sense. If you have to deal with the police you might get lucky and get all cooperation, or you might get a cold shoulder and "it's your problem, not mine" attitude.

People, including the police, will not stand for what is right, they will stand for WHO is right. Everyone should be aware of this.

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Very well said and a point worth keeping in mind.

Westerners instinctively believe in rule of law and the fairness of law enforcement authorities even if they've never thought about it much. Part of the foreigner's exposure here in Thailand is that, should something untoward happen, the foreigner will not be treated by authorities in an even handed manner. Of course, the New York cops can treat visitors differently, too, but as a rule, everyone is treated more or less equally badly. That's just not true in Thailand. As a foreigner, if you are involved in any incident, you're on your own. And good luck to you.

Don't you think Thai politics might make more sense if you WERE drinking?

I have heared International schools charge a minimum fees between 240,000 to 550,000 per student. If they have 10 students in a class it is 2.4 Million. It is quite a lot of money for a country's labour wages is set to 175-225 Bhat a day. How does the money spent and how much profit ? Are they paying big Tax to the government ?  International Schools are under clutches of Politicians ?. Does some social forum/groups fighting agianst these schools ?. I don't see any media is addressing this issue ? Already goverment is complaining about IQ level is low among Thai students ? What will be the future of this country having denied English Education rights ? As a Farang come from different countries what do you advice ?.

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Well, now.....

The major international schools in Bangkok, at least, are run by private foundations, not the government, and they hardly expect to attract children whose parents are making B175 a day. That may not strike you as socially just, but it's no different than in any other country which has private schools for those who can afford them. Some of the minor international schools, however, are run as for-profit companies. Whether you think that an adequate educational experience can be delivered by a company trying at the same time to maximize it profits, is a different question.