Hotrats

Like many others, I am continuing to do my required extensions of permission to stay and 90 day reporting on their normal dates, ignoring any 'amnesty'. Having time available during lockdown, I decided to try, for the first time ever, to do my recent 90 day report online. And to my amazement it worked first time, no problem; using chrome on Windows 10. Got my approval email back within 24 hours. So I'll be doing it online from now on.

Can someone please clarify; is this offer only for AIS? I use True Mobile. Are True offering it as well?

2 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

You have a 15 amp meter so may get a discount over 800 units usage or pay February charge.  There are several different explanations of how discount is computed and appears office not able to perform until next month from another report.

Most grateful for your clarifying response. As you may have gathered, I'm not an expert on these electrical technicalities. I'll now wait and see what discount I get. Many thanks.

2 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

Front of meter will have a rating.  5/15 or 15/45 being most common for single phase.  Most homes today have 15/45 if any air conditioning.  

Many thanks. Have just checked. Mine says "15/45". Does that mean I have a "5 amp" meter and am therefore eligible for these discounts?

For these proposed discounts / refunds for electricity is seems that a key factor is the size of one's meter. I have seen reference to "5 amps" being the key determiner. How does one check the capacity of one's meter? I have had a look at mine and can't see any reference to 5 amps or any other level. 

I used to drink Doi Tung ground coffee, very good local coffee, but a little expensive. But not any more since I have discovered the "Tesco Finest" range of coffees available in the Tesco Lotus supermarkets. They have an excellent range of pre-ground coffees, Colombian, Guatemalan, etc. etc. All imported from UK, and not expensive.

Any help with the electric bill is most welcome. However, I have one question; is this an automatic deduction? Or does one have to apply for it? And if one has to apply, how / where does one do it?

If you really want a Union Pay Debit Card, then Bangkok Bank issue them, but I don't understand why anyone would actually choose to have one. They are virtually useless except for ATM withdrawals. Certainly no use for anything online or for use outside of Thailand (unless, maybe, if go to China).

I used to have the Bangkok Bank Visa Debit Card, which worked fine until I was told they would no longer be working with Visa for Debit Cards. They did indeed try their best to force their Union Pay card on to me as a replacement. I refused, so they reluctantly agreed to issue me with their MasterCard Debit Card, although for that I also had to wait a week plus there is an annual fee for it, whereas the Union Pay card was free.

6 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

My BBK visa Be1st(debit) has it's expiry date on it as 04/23

Last year my 2 Visa debit cards had the expiry date in 2025, but I was told by my local branch, wrongly it turns out, that I had to change them to either Mastercard or Union Pay by the end of 2018. I got one of each and I've regretted listening to them and changing them ever since.

Bangkok Bank"s debit cards are a disaster. I was told a year ago that the Visa Debit Card would be expiring on Dec 31st. 2018, which turns out to have been misinformation as they are still in use, at least up till 31st. December 2019, maybe longer. As a result I changed my two Debit Cards to one Mastercard and one Union Pay. The Union Pay card is virtually useless except to withdraw cash from the ATM. The Mastercard is very much hit-and-miss, works in some places, not others, works at some online sites, not at others (don't know about Paypal). Luckily I do still have my Bangkok Bank Visa Credit Card which works everywhere.

I use the local (Thai) subscription for Netflix, and it's fine. Never found anything yet that is available in UK that is not available here. 

After trying many different brands I now stick to the choice of coffees sold under the Tesco Finest range. They're available in any large Tesco Lotus store, with many different single country origin (Guatemala, Sumatra, etc.) as well as blended types (French, Italian, etc.). Considering they are imported from UK, they are not expensive either at less than 200 Baht for 227 Grams.

11 hours ago, sanemax said:

You are probably getting mixed up .

Birth certificates state the Country that you were born in and they are issued by that Country .

  You cannot get a UK BC for a kid born in Thailand , the kid would have a Thai birth certificate

Sorry, but I am not "getting mixed up". My son has TWO birth certificates. One issued by the Thai authorities as he was born here. The other issued by the British Embassy as he is a British citizen (by descent). 

49 minutes ago, sanemax said:

Iam sure that only UK born kids can get a UK birth certificate

That's not strictly true. My son was born in Thailand, Thai mother and British father. Through me, the British father, my son is a British citizen by descent. The same as CharlieB, I obtained a UK birth certificate for him. I obtained this from the British Embassy in Bangkok. Admittedly, this was 10 years ago, so I have no idea if the Embassy still provides this service. However, when he was born, even though the Embassy guidelines stated that it was not required, I decided to get the birth certificate for him as it was his right and very easy and not expensive to do. 

I receive my UK State Pension directly every 28 days into my Bangkok Bank account in Thailand. It comes into my local account with the reference BAHTNET. My understanding is the UK pension office send the payments for pensioners living in Thailand in bulk to a central clearing bank here, from where it is distributed to all the individual accounts. Hence the receiving account does not register it as an international payment (with FTT) because it has been received from the local clearing bank in Thai Baht.

17 hours ago, UKresonant said:

The wife got her new one in May, and it was five years. I hope it will be 10years next time, as now, if she goes to the UK, will need to carry the old passport as well, with the visa in it. Should get them both in sync, from 2024 perhaps ????.

Is this correct, because it will affect our next trip to UK? My wife has a multiple entry UK "visit visa", but her passport is due to expire. Can she show her visa in the old passport along with her new passport for entry at UK immigration?

Maybe you should try a different branch of KTB Bank. I got my refund in May from my local KTB branch. All I needed was my passport and the letter from the Revenue Department. They put the money onto the e-wallet card which I then withdrew from the ATM. Was told I can use the same e-wallet card next year. You are correct about Promptpay; I have Promptpay, but it was set up using my mobile phone number, not my ID number, so couldn't be used to receive my tax refund.  

For direct flight to London, I wouldn't even consider British Airways. Awful service, old planes. Used to fly with them, but not any more. For a small extra cost, if you need a direct flight, I would choose Eva Air. Thai Airways not even an option, far too expensive. Nowadays, I always break up my journey in the middle east, usually in Dubai with Emirates. They may be a bit more expensive, but you get a far better service in much newer planes (especially in the A380). As always "you get what you pay for" , although not with Thai Airways who have priced themselves out of the market.

I usually bring back a large supply of Yorkshire Tea bags from England, but when those run out my previous preferred source of tea bags was from my local M & S., usually their Extra Strong blend. However, now that I have discovered that my local Tesco Lotus are selling the Tesco Finest range of tea bags, I have switched to those. All the choices I have tried so far, Ceylon, English Breakfast, Assam and best of all their Darjeeling blend have all been excellent, and not too expensive, considering they are imported. 

The Tesco Finest range also has other very good stuff, including good ground coffee, Marmalade, etc.

1 hour ago, HampiK said:

Try to add your 13 Digit ID (From Pink ID or yellow house book) if you have.

Actually you can add both to PromptPay. If you are able to also add the 13 digits, then you can use PromptPay for collecting the Tax Refund with PromptPay. 

I also opened my promptpay using my mobile phone number, not my 13 digit ID number, which meant that I had to use the  E-Money Prompt Card from Krungthai Bank, using their ATM. It was easy to do and they said I can use the same card next year. 

However, I would prefer to receive my tax by promptpay, so I want to add my 13 digit ID number for next year. Confusingly, my Tax ID 13 digit number is different from my 13 digit ID number in my yellow book and pink ID card. Which one do they need? Tax ID number? Or yellow book ID number?

You can do what I did, which is open an account with Lloyds International. It is a UK bank, but based in Jersey. It is set up for international customers, so having an address in Thailand is no problem. You can transfer any money you receive into your account in Jersey and then transfer funds as and when needed from Jersey to your local bank in Thailand. On my account all transfers are free.

14 hours ago, delboy said:

If you are in Thailand, go to https://www.goal.com/th/ข่าว/stay-tuned-ตารางถายทอดสดฟตบอล/1avl5byctg48z1tjl9y0cu9ro2

 

The page is in Thai, translate if you wish, but it's not necessary.  Scroll down till you see "LIVE UCL FINAL"  There are 4 links to the same stream, Website, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube.

Many thanks for the link. And thanks too to the others who have responded. COYS!

I intend to watch the Spurs vs. Liverpool Champions League Final at home on the sofa. What are the best options for how to watch it in Thailand? I don't have a vpn, but would get one if necessary. Is it going to be broadcast live on Thai free TV? I understand BT Sports are streaming it live on YouTube, but only in the UK. I've heard of a site called Goal.com that apparently have the broadcast rights for Thailand. Will it be possible to watch the game live on their site? Any advice most appreciated.

I intend to watch the Spurs vs. Liverpool Champions League Final at home on the sofa. What are the best options for how to watch it in Thailand? I don't have a vpn, but would get one if necessary. Is it going to be broadcast live on Thai free TV? I understand BT Sports are streaming it live on YouTube, but only in the UK. I've heard of a site called Goal.com that apparently have the broadcast rights for Thailand. Will it be possible to watch the game live on their site? Any advice most appreciated.