TravelerEastWest

Works now thank you

Are they out of business? I ask as their website is for sale - unless I typed incorrectly?

The same.

I have a valid work permit good for two years at time normally. My Thai visa is based on marriage again legal and valid. I would never consider an illegal visa - but from your question it seems to be an option for you?

I am my own employer...

Actually some of us who are not rich (myself for one) and have to work and have children must use an agent so we don't need to take children out of school. I have an agent do the paperwork and meet me at immigration for an appointment to get a photo.. In and out in a few minutes instead of hours and taking time off from work. I save money and headaches by using a good reliable agent. I do 90 day reports myself online as it is fast and easy.

Are they CPAs? I didn't see any mention on their website. If they are (enrolled agents etc) they should be much lower than a CPA in cost...

Tell us more. I am in CM and could not find an active Tax specialist CPA; only a CPA that seemed to be retired that i could not contact...

I have not found anyone in Thailand that is easy to contact and with Thai level prices... Just as easy or more so to contact someone in America and deal with them online. If anyone has a better suggestion I would love to hear about it...

A well written post...

Good question...

Zero belief in formal religions.

All the courier companies are usually expensive - but find a friend or local business taht has an account with volume discounts the price can drop to less than half the public rate

Looks normal to me for the post office - sent registered mail to America recently looked the same...

What you say sounds accurate. I do not know anything about 800,000 baht methods (perhaps for retirement?) or 65,000 baht transfers - I normally have 400,000 in my bank account for 3 months and it is enough for immigration - now that I think about it I did need to order a 1 year statement once for my corporate account - I don't remember why - maybe for my annual audit? Anyway it did take time and i did have a problem for a moment with a commerce department statement that was required during COVID - why I needed the certificate - I don't know... But I told the bank manger taht i was not going to wait in line during COVID and she quickly understood and got the form for me online. All this happened in English - in a foreign country which was a good thing...

In 20 years I have never once had a problem with a letter or statement - so I would say that experienced bank managers in big cities know what immigration needs - from experience. Not sure about small town banks in the countryside...

Thank you for your comments - you are very focused in your ways - I would make a joke and suggest that you are an accountant but actually most accountants that I know are clever and like thinking creatively. 1) My guess is that he wants an alternative that works; if he could stay at his current branch and have his manager there take care of him - he would probably be happy but if not he can speak and act for himself. he might be so upset with the bank that no matter what he wants a new account. 2) I very much appreciate it when someone takes the time to offer a positive suggestion that might even work - if it is off course or outside the box a bit, so much the better.

I agree 100% with you service in banks these days is not very good - including Bankbook Bank and most of the US banks taht I have visited (which is few and none in person recently) We could discuss the pros and cons for a long time but as you know banks we don't need to... I go to the same branch of Bangkok bank all the time and don't have problems. I can get an immigration letter and bank statements and be in and out in about 15 minutes. But i use my home branch and know the tellers and manager. Very simple old fashioned business practice to know who your are dealing with I think you will agree? As for your moving example I don't think it will normally be an issue as you only need I think around 3 months of a bank balance (and immigration will probably accept two letters and bank statements if you want to show them six months - but if it was going to be an issue again go see your friendly local bank manager before you go and explain and ask him to help. 99% chance he will help you - it is his job.

You are correct - and if you reread my post carefully you would see that my point is that it is all about the people so the implied alternative is to go to another branch or create a relationship with the bank manager. or both...

At the moment Schwab is as you say - not able to do an I-ACH - but they told me last week that they could, as they are merging with Amritrade which does offer this service - or so they said. turned out the staff person I spoke with jumped the gun a bit... From what i was told the issue is just one of formatting - so just an expense not an impossible issue.... But if the transaction takes more than lets say three days then a wire is just fine as it only costs $15 for $10,000 (with Schwab) and maybe it would be $10 with an I-ACH transfer so not a big savings.

Bangkok bank so far is the best bank I have used in Thailand in the last 20 years or so... "One thing is for certain, the branch personnel here are not well trained. Though I have found often there is a greater degree of capability you have to continue to dog them until you find someone with a degree of knowledge. The easiest response here is Thailand is No we don't do that. The vast majority of time, they do, but they personally don't know how so rather than lose face, they find it easier and more expedient to say NO." The above quote may say it all - it is the people you deal with more than the company... Build relationship with the bank manager and politely talk to him or her when you have a problem and tell them you need help. During COVID I needed to order a corporate bank statement and needed a company certificate. I did not want to go stand in line to get it at a government office - so the manager went online and ordered for me from the government office. Probably easy to do if you speak Thai and are familiar with their website. Also, I could have had my CPA do it but it would been more time and money. A related story a very long time ago I interviewed right out of school at a large company. During the interview I mentioned how I thought the staff and managers of the office that I was going to work at was what was important. The interviewing manager smiled and said you are correct. Moral of the story is that people and good relationships are important - more than company's.

Update - my money was returned to my Schwab account and I was able too end a wire - cost $15 to Scwab and a small fee to BKK. The Ameritrade merger is moving along and soon Schwab in theory should be able to do I ACH transfers...

Charlie, Thank you for moving the post!

Bangkok Bank US Int ACH transfer -how many days? A few years back I used to ACG bank transfers from America to Thailand via Bank Bank New York - then it became difficult so i switched to wire transfers from Schwab. Ended up being very quick and about $15 a time - usually $10,000. Recently Schwab started doing Bangkok Bank Int ACH transfers again. I sent one a few days ago which has not yet arrived. Anyone know how long till it hits my local Bangkok bank account? Thank you?