TravelerEastWest

Actually - no - not all doctors in Thailand speak English...

That's a good fee I wonder what your exchange rate is. I ask as when I set up a SS direct deposit the amount that I received in Thai baht seemed a bit low the fees were not separately stated. I need to send money to Thailand regularly for school fees etc for my kids so I am already paying a flat $15 fee so for me it is better to have SS sent to my American bank account and then send everything at once.

Meant to say not quickly - the edit function seems to disappear...

Dr Joy at Bangkok Hospital is good at Western Diabetes treatment. With that said I have had diabetes type 2 for over 30 years and have not had a really good doctor yet. It turns out that you really need long visits, where you go over your diet and exercise plan as well as sleep habits etc. very carefully. Modern diabetes specialists rarely take the time to talk in detail about nutrition. There is a professor in England Roy Taylor at NewCastle University that has shown that diet will tend to cure type 2 diabetes (if caught within around 5 years of getting sick) but doctors don't talk about this most of the time. Cyrus Khambatta at masteringdiabetes.org has type 1 and gives good advice on how to keep it under control (not cure it). Good luck!

Monogram does have low fees but their conversion rates was not the best checking just now July 8th. Also they are very slow - the estimate was by July 20th or 12 days... plus they have a limit of $10,000. So seems like they are good for small amounts that are needed quickly - sound correct?

Is Wise better than using a bank/ stock broker? I pay a flat $15 plus the local Thai bank fee, about $4.50... I send Dollars which are converted here in Thailand.

Many thanks! Good to have confirmed what i was just guessing about...

This has been a very helpful thread - many thanks to all the posters. In the ned I changed to have my SS monthly payment sent to my American bank account and there is now zero fee withheld. As needed I now send a wire from my Schwab account to my local BKK account $15 Schwab set fee and about $5 local Thai fee works out well. Fast easy and a reasonable set fee. Not sure if my exchange rate is good or not - local Thai Bangkok bank rate. Anyone know if this is a good rate? Also a side question I use my American Visa card at Bangkok Hospital on occasion and they always ask me if I want the charge in Dollars or Baht - so far I select Thai baht. Is that a good idea??

Not sure what you mean she just signed up about a week ago at a large Chiang Mai hospital in Mae Rim Nakorn Ping and that is what the staff told her... and now she has free basic Thai health care.

My wife just told me it is based on the house registration but the ID card shoudkl be the same address...

Seems like a good system Basic free health care and a higher level at private hospitals for a fee.

I use my longan cuttings by layering around the tree. I use my bamboo as poles to support my fruit trees. a small amount lay on the ground and after a long time decompose. As a side note I ate boiled bamboo shoots today and they were very good.

I understand completely but from my experience DHL 95% of the time fixes everything quickly at the staff or manager level and says they are sorry... rarely I ask a manager to get involved - never had to contact the CEO or an outside agency. Hmm, actually once the local team didn't know the details about another countries special import rules so I contacted DHL directly in the country that the shipment was going to. they signed me up for a special import program and all was well. I had to explain the program to DHL Thailand but then all was well for ten years.

Wise words...

Sounds like you were in a hurry. Whenever there is something confusing with our DHL exports and imports I simply ask them to research and get back to me and 95% of the time all is well. The remaining 5% of the time does need patience... As for DHL being responsible from a business point of view - yes, but not legally - if there is a mistake the exporter and importer are responsible. I strongly doubt that DHL was trying to cheat you - maybe they made a mistake or there was a communication problem... Mistakes happen...

Thank you!

I agree that you don't legally have to tip. But sometimes it is customary such as a 15% plus tip in America for good service at a restaurant.

Dr Tree Love, You have a great forum name and with a name like that you probably know about trees! I will send you a message to contact the guy you mentioned. Message sent. Thank you!

I use DHL 5 days a week and they are better than FedEx and UPS in Thailand. Sometimes there are communication problems but this is Thailand and patience is needed... Just call their export department if customer service can't help you. Ask them to tell you the exact rules in an email and go from there. Almost zero chance that DHL is trying to steal from you. Good luck!

Well in the old days I think 15% was a standard tip in America - but the main point is in America you have the freedom to tip as much as you want for good service and very little or none at all for bad service. I am not sure what you mean by being greedy as customers will always pay directly or indirectly. If service is good and there is a no tip system I think that often (at least in larger restaurants) a service charge is included so you would be paying part of your holiday money automatically... Not sure about 20% but I rarely go to restaurants so I really dont know what you are talking about.

On sale at Shoppee 5000 baht seems to be 11.5 inches so no license needed? https://shopee.co.th/เลื่อยโซ่ยนต์-5200-MTH562-EFCO--อิตาลี--i.106688757.9128567080?gclid=CjwKCAjwwdWVBhA4EiwAjcYJEAaOCgYMR52ThKlxcermYrZ57tJoxB16wRUmqxsJJuobTUDq8DcM6hoCzZoQAvD_BwE

I received a suggestion from my father in law who has an Italian efco MTH 562 he said it works great now to find where it is for sale in Chiang mai...?

Good point!

I have a farm and someone who is experienced will do the work for me. Although he doesn't take really good care of our tools the way friends and family that i grew up with do...

I am American we normally use the word gas for gasoline which should be the same as your petrol?