donsaiyuan

Hi, I'm a US citizen with a valid passport and Thai visa with current valid permission to stay. I'd like to apply for a United States Passport card to use as a second photo ID for my bank. They've accepted my main passport and a friend at the same bank mentioned just get this card and that will suffice for the second photo ID. I haven't been back since 2008 and no longer have a current State ID and don't want to go through the hassle of flying back, establishing residency in a state, applying for a drivers license, etc. Have any of you US citizens applied for and received a Passport Card? If so were you able to recently do it online or did you have to make an appointment at the embassy? I checked the embassy website but didn't find the info I needed. I'm not looking for any "why don't you just get a different bank" or "go check the embassy site" or "go check google" or "when I did it in 2012 it was like Xyz" responses. I'm asking here in hopes of legitimately helpful responses as I've received over previous years. I'd prefer to get the Passport Card in Chiang Mai since I'm located in Khon Kaen. But that might not be possible. What are the current options? It might be a stretch to ask if anyone has seen embassy consular visits that were common once per year in each Isaan province pre-COVID, where the embassy staff would handle passport renewals (they'd take the form, photo and payment on-site in say Udon or Khon Kaen, and handle the rest by mail courier) -but if you've heard any updates or these have resumed, maybe that's an option to pursue the Passport Card application. Asking this extra bit in case the replies help someone else searching similar in future. Thanks a lot for all advice in the past, -much appreciated!

On this part, when I buy a Pixel 6 here, will it come with an eSim or should I buy one of those separately? That's a new one to me, much appreciated on the advice. I might try this too. Basically with me and two other team members here in LOS, and 2 back in USA who can activate / test there then bring on next flight inbound, it's worth trying each solution till we find the best mix. The Google Fi that I already bought for instance might stay stateside with team member A, and I'd get the Pixel 6 here as you mention. If UltraMobile is just a SIM that can go inside a standard mobile phone here, it sounds lightweight, easy to ship here after activation, and way less likely Customs would try to ransom it off like, say, a shipping container full of XBoxes. Let me know if I got that correct, or if there's a preferred device / manufacturer to pair it with. Thanks again for this info, truly appreciated.

Also curious, does anyone have experience with Verizon or AT& T mobile? I tried to get a T-Mobile Magenta plan but because I have been over here for so long, it was very difficult with a huge amount of runaround and dodgy customer service? I was mostly using their SMS chatline to do this, although when I did speak on the phone with them and went through all of the application and verification steps, I actually called back today to purchase a phone and a plan they said I had to start all over again, even though it was only a week ago that I completed all the steps. They mentioned that while the credit approval would last 30 days, all the other application steps get wiped after 48 hours. Maybe there’s a more reliable way to obtain one of these phones while over here, but I haven’t found it yet.

When you say Google static number, are you referring to a Google Voice dedicated phone number? I have two of those but I rarely use them, can they receive SMS messages? I will check out Lycamobile, thanks for the recommendation!

Hi, I’d like to get a mobile phone plan from the United States that actually works internationally, including with roaming as well as reliable SMS text messaging receipt. My bank account often requires SMS text message verification and the text messages never get to my thailand mobile phone, and some of the other services that I use don’t even allow for any international number, they insist it has to be in United States landline or United States mobile number. Before you start suggesting phone forwarding services or virtual phones, good on ya for wanting to help, but I have used pretty much all of them since arriving here in 2008 and none of them work, -maybe you know some that do but when it comes to actually working with the bank or services like QuickBooks online, I haven’t seen any that worked.