racyrick

Thanks for the replies.

That's what I thought, just wanted to make sure.

Maybe a dumb question, but is it legal to have and to use CBD oil in Thailand?

Is it only legal if a doctor prescribes it?

Can you have it sent to you by post from overseas?

Thanks

1 hour ago, Pib said:

Just FYI.   The postman just made made mail delivery on my soi for 31 Oct.  My family member drawing SSA did not receive a 7162 during the June/July or September/October mailing.  I sent an email to Manila stating such and requesting action/next step on the 7162 non-receipt.  Below is the  automatic response I got which talks contacting Manila, non-receipt of 7162, and other issues.  Note that Manila now says do follow-up if not receiving a response unless you do not get a response from them in "10" business days; that use to be 5 business days earlier this year.  

 

 

 

Thanks for always keeping us informed and updated.

It is greatly appreciated!!

11 minutes ago, JESSVANPELT said:

Absolutely incorrect, Im American . I opened my account at Bangkok bank the same day my English friend did and we both were required the same documentation, And at no time was I asked to give my US social security number which is the only thing that would link me to a USA tax situation. 

 

You are very lucky, because all Thai banks are required to collect the social security number of all American citizens.

It has been that way for about 3 years, but we all know each bank does it's own thing sometimes.

Thanks for all the replies. I did not get one, so hopefully all is well. I will still hold my breath for another week.

I sent mine by regular air mail and sent a backup form also by regular air mail a week later, so hopefully at least one of them got thru to them.

On another note that is a little off topic, I did get a notice from the IRS saying they received Form1040X which is an amended return however, I never filed or sent one. If it's not one thing, it's another. Hope there was no identity theft and someone trying to get a big refund or employer milking the system.

Has anybody received a reminder letter for Form 7162 from the SSA?

This would be a new form to remind you that SSA never received your form that was sent in June.

17 hours ago, Pib said:

No to the first question.   I don't use the monthly transfer method so I haven't had the need to ask.

 

Regarding the second question, I know when I asked my Bangkok Bank branch approx one month ago, which is the head office branch on Silom Rd in Bangkok in the HQ Bangkok Bank building, the rep said they would not include Bahtnet coded transfers on the monthly income letter even though the Bangkok Bank credit advice and SMS showed it was an international transfer.  This is the same rep that provided the credit advice and does a lot of the letters for the head office branch.  The rep said a person would need to get a letter from the Thai bank sending the Bahtnet transfer which would be Citibank-Thailand in this case.  When I pointed out the Bangkok Bank Credit Advice confirms its an international transfer originated by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York & Social Security Administration so why can't Bangkok Bank include the Bahtnet transfer on the letter, the rep couldn't give a good answer in my opinion.  Since the great majority of Bahtnet transfers do not originate from outside Thailand to determine which Bahtnet transfers are international and which ones are not would require too much work....require Credit Advices being pulled & reviewed for each transfer versus the bank just doing a retrieval keying in on "FTT" coded transfers.  But I have seen posts where people's Bangkok Bank branch said they would included BTN and SMT coded transfers as international transfer on an immigration income letter if a Credit Advice is provided as proof.   If you have an immigration office which accepts Credit Advices as proof of international transfer then the SSA BTN-coded transfers should be accepted by immigration as the Bangkok Bank credit advices confirm the transfers originated from the U.S.  If you have an immigration office that only wants a KISS letter from the Thai bank and don't wan't to see an inch thick bunch of Credit Advices then a person will need to ask their bank branch will they include BTN-coded transfers on the letter.  

 

In closing, since I don't use the monthly income method (nor plan to)...I use the Bt800K deposit method and the family member receiving the IDD payment is Thai with no need for international coding or an annual extension of stay, I will not be drilling much more or deeper on IDD issues.   I'll probably post more IDD related info that I previously dug-up/just happen to know, but my IDD rabbit trail hunting is pretty much over.   And the family member is just very happy in getting rid of the special Direct Deposit restrictions due to switching to IDD.

 

 

 

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply.

Very happy for you and your family member.

Understand everything.

Has anybody had any transfers this month yet using TransferWise?

4 hours ago, Moonlover said:

I have just been signed off for a marriage extension at Sakon Nakhon.

 

My financial package included 21 TransferWise transactions, all of which showed on my bank statement as 'NT' which at Krungsri can mean anything, including domestic.

 

I don't think the IO took the slightest interest in the coding. He could see from the T/W transaction slips that they were all incoming foreign remittances and was quite happy with that.

 

I'm beginning to think that all this chat about the coding is a complete 'red herring'. 

You were just lucky. Every IO and every Immigration office is different from day to day.

Did you not have to furnish a letter from your bank showing all your international transfers in addition to your bank statement?

34 minutes ago, Pib said:

  

With two months of IDD SS pension payments (3 Jul and 2 Aug) to a family member this allows me to compare the ACH vs IDD transfer methods in terms of exchange rates, fees, etc., I thought I would put some numbers into a spreadsheet/chart and mention some IDD pros & cons.  

 

Rather than placing a bunch of notes in the July and August payment charts I’ll just mention the notes in this paragraph.  Important to consider these notes.   Please note in the chart below that the exchange rate used for ACH payment is the Opening Day 0830am Bangkok Bank TT Buying  Rate I’ve always seen used for incoming ACH payments over the years and previously when the family member’s SS pension was being paid via ACH.  Also, the IDD exchange rate is the "effective" exchange rate since the funds are not really sent in USD as shown in the chart but sent in THB.  I just used USD in some of the IDD chart cells in trying to provide more of an apples-to-apples chart comparison to the ACH method which sends in USD and then Bangkok Bank does the exchange on the Thailand end.  With IDD, "Bahtnet" is used for the final leg of the transfer.  The Bt100 Receiving Fee is the standard Bahtnet receiving fee for the “Bangkok and surrounding provinces”…that’s the total fees my family member receive since we live in Bangkok.  For other/upcountry provinces the typical Thai bank  Bahtnet receiving fee would consist of “Bt100 plus an upcountry fee”….the upcountry Bahtnet fee consisting of 10 baht per 10,000 baht transferred and 1 baht per 1000 baht fraction.   So, say a person received 51,000 pension payment…the Bahtnet fee would be Bt100 plus Bt51 for Bt151 total.   Also, keep in mind the IDD exchange rate is determined by the US Treasury/the processor bank several business days before the payment date, whereas, the ACH exchange rates is determined the day Bangkok Bank posts to your acct. So, since exchange rates can change significantly from day-to-day this means we can’t use the same day and time to compare IDD and ACH simply because the rates are determined on different dates.

 

Before getting to the charts hear are some IDD pros and cons that come to mind.  And by the way the charts would really apply to VA, OPM and other govt agency payment "via IDD" as the Federal Reserve Banks of New York is the entity actually transmitting the money based on instructions received from SSA, VA, OPM, etc.

 

Some IDD Pros

-Not restricted to just Bangkok Bank; can send to any Thai bank.

-Can be sent to a single or joint account and can have Power of Attorney name added to acct/passbook.

-No restrictions on acct…can have debit card, do ibanking transfers out, do not have to physically visit a branch to withdraw/transfer funds.

  

Some IDD Cons

-Coded as BTN/Bahtnet; not FTT/International Transfer like ACH.  But Credit Advice and SMS for IDD transfer clearly confirms its an international transfer.

-Lower sending/receiving fees but lower exchange rate may result in smaller amount posting to your acct…depends on amount being sent….see the chart.

-Only sent in THB; not USD if wanting to deposit to a Foreign Currency Deposit acct

-Will need to have a foreign address on-file with SSA in order to signup for IDD…this means you will start getting the annual Are You Dead or Alive 7162 letter.

 

3 July Payment

 

2 August Payment

Have you confirmed with Immigration that they would accept Bahtnet coded on a passbook as an International transfer?

Have you asked Bangkok Bank if they will list the Bahtnet transfers as an International transfer on the letter Immigration wants from the bank?

Thanks and thanks for keeping us updated.

58 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

When I got an email from Transferwise actually recommending i use the more expensive but 100% FTT Swift method from my own bank, that was it. After 6 x 65k Transfers this year all FTT, then last month's being SMT, I have now put Bht 900k in my FCA and there it shall stay.

Good for you. Wish I could do that, I would sleep better at night.

Since all the other related threads are so long, I thought I would make this new thread for people to post their latest updates when using TransferWise.

Please let us know your latest experience using TransferWise this month and if there is anything to add good or bad. Thanks

14 hours ago, MalibuJay said:

I took that response to mean that they want the form Wilkes Barre sent with your SS number printed on the side of the form, along with a barcode that probably has it embedded in it, which would automate its processing, not some blank form that you download off of the web that they might then have to input some other way. 

Regardless, if you do it the way racyrick suggested and take the original Wilkes Barre form with the barcode, copy it front and back onto a two-sided document similar to the original, and then sign and date them both with the same date and an original signature, I doubt that can tell which one is the original, unless you used a copy machine that smeared the barcode.  I suspect that either copy would work just fine. The problem or annoyance for them might be if they receive both copies.  I don't know what would happen there, but given their inability to create a more efficient system that works for all of us, I'm not too bothered by the idea that they might feel a little inconvenience or annoyance on their end as well ????

What I do when I send the original "copy" to them is put in a cover letter to explain why I am sending this "copy" to them.

1 hour ago, Acharn said:

No, they did not. As I mentioned in my post, I asked the bank branch manager about it and she said the letter showing the ending balance was all that was needed. The copies I had made of the pages in the bank book were the equivalent of a statement from the bank. Of course the IO did compare the bank book to the copies, but she did not ask for a statement from the bank. She did, however, check to see that I had the letter from the bank with the rest of the copies. That was something I was very concerned about, too. I was anxious, too, about the SMT code on the latest transfer rather than FTT. The officer muttered to herself several times, "What is that? What does that mean?" The officer at the next desk, who may be her superior, told her, "You'll have to ask the bank." Of course this is an atypical situation -- both the officers and the clerk have handled my applications for at least five years and not only recognize me, they act friendly. She made the common sense decision that even if they were using a different code, from the amount of the deposit and the date it arrived it must have been my pension. YMMV.

Thanks, glad it all went well for you.

Unfortunately, most offices ask for a letter from the bank showing international transfers for those using the income method and obviously the ones coded SMT would not be included and would have to explain like you did.

57 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Agreed.

Do you agree with the member that said they would accept a copy of the form with a signature?

I find that very suspect.

If that's true, people could be pretty close to 100 percent sure of getting this done by sending the original registered, and a copy regular. Of course the regular with copy would likely get their first. It seems to weird to me to send them two versions where both are highly likely to arrive. Seems that might be annoying to them. 

Remember, I said the copy has an ORIGINAL signature.

It is no different than having to print out a form online and send it in but, the biggest difference is the copy has your barcode information and they can just put in the machine and do automatically so it will read it and verify the form was received like an original does.

18 hours ago, riclag said:

Marriage certificate ? You mean the certificate of divorce absolute

Sorry, my bad. I thought you were married in the USA

1 hour ago, rexall said:

I won't say good news exactly, but encouraging.  An OP on the Khon Kaen Forum visited Khon Kaen Imm to get re-entry permit, and  as a "trial run" presented bank documents cross-referenced with TW pdf receipt printouts.  Was told that would be acceptable when he returned for is extension renewal.

Please take with a huge grain of salt, but it is one bit of info that might be encouraging; it is only one I/O at one Imm office, but it is at least "interesting."  We need a lot more reports like this before forming any expectations.

Did the OP show the I/O a letter from his bank showing all his international transfers or did he just show his bank book or statements with the codes?

1 hour ago, GalaxyMan said:

The GF asked at the amphur and they told her that they needed the declaration of singlehood (my word) from the US embassy, an official Thai translation, and some document from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok once I have the singlehood declaration and translation done. They didn't say anything about the passport at all, so I'm going to have her ask them specifically about that.

You are correct. Declaration of singlehood notarized at the Embassy. That needs to be translated along with your original marriage certificate from the US. Then you have everything certified from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Bring all this to the Amphur office and you're good to go to get your marriage certificate of Kor Ror 22. Of course your wife needs her Thai Id and best to bring along her Tabian Baan.

Something crazy going on with TW now.

1- Did a transfer last night and called to have it tagged. Was to arrive today, then tomorrow and now Friday.

2- Did another transfer just now and called to have it tagged. Was to arrive Friday and now next Wednesday.

They must have serious issues. Not happy.

Everything is going crazy at TW now.

1- Did a transfer last night and called to have it tagged. Was to arrive today, then tomorrow and now to arrive Friday.

2- Did another transfer now and called to have it tagged. Was to arrive Friday and now to arrive next Wednesday.

Serious issues with them-not happy at all.

53 minutes ago, Acharn said:

I hadn't checked the code on the July entry to my BKK Bank account, but the Immigration Officer who approved my extension today was surprised that it was SMT, instead of FTT as all the earlier ones were. She decided to accept it as legit because of the size and maybe because they have all arrived pretty close to the 5th of the month. On the other hand this officer has handled my applications for at least five years, so recognizes me and is confident I'm legit. Maybe that helped. I think Immigration head office is going to recognize the problem and issue instructions on how to handle it. For example, today there was some comment between the officers today that this is the first year of the new system. 

Didn't Immigration require you to give them a bank letter showing all your monthly transfers?

3 hours ago, Bubbha said:

Like a number of other posters, I requested that Transferwise mark my account to use only Bangkok Bank as the transfer bank in Thailand - so I could be credited with a foreign transfer. This has worked as expected for 4 consecutive months. I initiated another transfer today and will report back when complete.

 

If Transferwise is no longer honoring prior (approved) requests to use a specific bank in Thailand - and they're not communicating this to the relevant customers - then this will be a real negative for me.

Did you call them after you made the transfer and give them the transaction number?

8 hours ago, Jingthing said:

What makes you sure they would accept a copy?

Sent from my Lenovo A7020a48 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

A copy is ok as long as you have your original signature.

What I do is make a copy before I fill anything out and then just fill in both forms and sign both.

I then mail one immediately and wait a week to mail the other one.

I have always used regular air mail as it just seems it takes a lot longer using registered mail and a lot of uncertainty if SSA actually gets it.

As a backup, I always send a copy of the form with an original signature 1 week later to make sure they at least get one copy.

As long as we don't get a second form in September, that means SSA got our forms.