ginooooo

Thanks again! Great to have contact names who work for the bank. I get a better rate through Wells Fargo being a Premium member when I send some money to Thailand and great to know Bangkok Bank will do the same. Every baht counts and only if the dollar can get near 35 again before the move.

She never gave up her Thai citizenship. Still has the old Thai ID card and this trip on vacation will update to the new one. So she still is and will have dual citizenship.

Thanks and hope to visit them to ask questions when I am there and do some shopping.

Last year no problem using just US passport going or leaving and we stay only 30 days, no visa needed. Moving there will change things and I think I got a handle on it. Just need to know if we have to pay Thai taxes on retirement income coming from the states to our Bangkok bank account in Thailand.

Pain in the butt in the US as we would have to make a special trip to LA embassy to do it and if need, then we will do it in Thailand. Also she needs to get the new Thai ID card in March when we visit to prepare for the move.

Yes, Thai citiizen with Thai ID card but no Thai passport (expired)-just US passport as she is an American citizen now.

and going to retire in Thailand this year. Both of us are retired and meet both requirements of monthly income and able to keep 800,000 baht in the bank (either/or). Question is do we have to pay any Thai tax to Thailand just for our monthly retirement money made during the year?

For a couple of months the visa folks came to the mall there in Chiangrai. Did that stop?

Well, sounds like dead in the water. However, next door neighbor has wifi I think and maybe I can pay him some money to share his. Thank you guys for your inputs.

Jim, that is very interesting with the different rate exchanges. Later I will have a very large amout (401k) to be transferred to my Thai bank account and I guess Bangkok bank in NY will be the best way to go.

and will visit for 1 month later. Been sick and tired of using those expensive slow connection cards and dongles. Does anyone know if I could get ADSL for just a month? Is there a long term subscription contract to get TOT or someone else to hook it up? Or just order it, get it installed, and cancel at the end of 1 month with no penalty. Thanks for any help.

I own a playbook in the USA and seems like there is no app yet to use a Thai keyboard or use Thai fonts on it. I read on the internet that Thailand is supposed to be selling them and wondering if they have Thai keyboard/fonts? I wish to give mine to a family member later in Feburary if there was some way to get it to have a Thai keyboard/fonts. Any suggestions/knowledge/help would be greatly appreciated.

Does one get more Thai baht with a $100 bill or with a traveler's check?

We bought our Toyota pickup truck in Phayao a couple of years ago at Phayao Toyota. The only guy there that speaks/understands good English ans is the owner but seems never to be around when I go there every year for service. Any folks here bought anything there? The service seems to be high and wondering if repairs are considered excessively high to others. (still wondering why have to use facebook acount to sign in-the old way was better).

Gino, you don't have to show them the money every 90 days, only report that you're still at the same address

(by the way, hope you're well )

Que pasa, Biff. Can not wait to head back to Phayao in Feb and get to take my wife's granddaughter and her 2 year old to see the family. Granddaughter has not been home in about 4 years and 1st time for the great granddaughter. Still got things to take care of there before moving and hope to see the specialist in Chiangmai for my wife this time.

Had major wind problems here and still waiting for an insurance adjuster to show. Roof, siding, fence torn up.

How long before the 90 days is up are you supposed to show evidence of still living in the same location? Report about 2, 3, 4 weeks before expiration by mail?

You on a retirement visa (type o)? And you still have to report every 90 days?

"Foreigners who are applying for a visa extension can now make their application one month in

advance of the vsa expiration date. Those who are providing their 90 notification of address can

do so up to 15 days before or up to 7 days after to the appointed date".

(Info Immigration Office Mae Sai)

Yes Ginoo, indeed: every foreigner living in the Kingdom of Thailand

has to produce this notification of stay every three months.

If you don't do in time you will have to pay a fine.

This fine can get very high as it depends on the number of days that you are

too late. It might even get more expensive than a good quality mountainbike

or one of these super-de-luxe mobile phones.

The good thing is that you can do it by mail. This is of course especially

convenient for those foreigners that live further away. To facilitate this the

Royal Thai Immigration Police has been so kind to put the form that you need on

internet.

It's called "TM.47 Form for Alien to Notify of Staying Longer than 90 days",

a mouthfull of course but it covers the load exactly.

Together with a copy of your passport and a return envelope on which you wrote

your address and on which you put a stamp you send this form to the office of

the immigration and they will send you a confirmation back.

There are many form that you can download and fill out at home. You will find

them here: http://www.immigrati...p?page=download

Foreigners living in Chiang Rai town ("Muang' as it also is called) mostly

don't mind to make this trip a couple of times a year. It gives them the

opportunity to buy chestnuts for instance, or dreamboxes for that matter.

Some will turn it into a trip with their friends and will enjoy a beer and

a splendid conversation with some of the locals. Others take (or are taken by)

their Thai family who enjoys a trip to 'the other side' to buy some good wine

or beer or any other alcoholic refreshments, blue ray dvd's with the latest

movies or very lousy copies of iphones. You name it, they have it!

With other words: If the requirment to do this notification of stay every three

months wouldn't exist, somebody would have to invent it!

Limbo

Wow, thanks for the info. I thought with proven money in the bank account and/or receiving a steady amount of income per month, once a year was all you had to prove again.

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W

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Some more information on the activities of the Immigration Office

at their new location in the Central Plaza:

1. Background of the Program:

Due to the fact that His Majesty the King will attain the age of 84 on the 5th of December 2011,

the Immigration Bureau of Chiang Rai has organized a program to honor and bring merit to the King.

For this program off-site services the Chiang Rai Immigration Bureau has received assistance

from Central Plaza Mall, Chiang Rai which has provided a place for this service as well as providing

the materials needed for organizing this event without seeking any financial remuneration for offering

this off-site service the first Saturday of every month from 10:00 AM to 5:00PM on the 1st Floor in

front of the Super Sport Store of the Central Plaza Mall.

2. Services that are offered:

1. Receive applications for remaining in the kingdom, by means of foreigners making a

request to the immigration official directly. For example in cases of requesting to live

with a Thai wife, retirement, school or university student, etc.

2. Make an application to maintain the right to return to the Kingdom (Re-Entry Permit) with

regard to which, foreigners who have already received permission to be in Thailand at the

present, before they leave the country, they must apply for the right to maintain their old

visa first, otherwise, if they do not apply for a Re-Entry Permit their old visa will expire

immediately upon their departure and they will need to re-submit an application for a visa.

3. Notification of residing for 90 days in the country is for foreigners who are living in

Thailand. They must make notification of their address by filling in the TM 47 form and

submitting it to an official, or else they may make notification by submitting the form by

mail.

4. A variety of other services related to the Immigration Bureau. For example: transferring

official stamps from an old to new passport.

5. Providing advice and counsel regarding immigration regulations.

6. Providing notification of residence by the owners of establishments including hotels and

guesthouses, concerning which, if foreigners are staying at these locations an immigration

official must be notified within 24 hours.

7. Providing information about illegal foreign labour or human trafficking.

This service is designed to provide increased convenience for foreigners who are not able to

fulfill their responsibilities during regular government hours. Normally immigration officials are

available for service Monday through Friday 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM and are located at the Chiang Rai

Immigration Bureau Office which is approximately 65 kilometers from Chiang Rai.

At your service!

Limbo

I went on saturday to central festival where the immigration folks were all set up inside in front of Robinsons. It was a very nice friendly and efficient service which saved me a trip to mae sai. Not sure if they will continue this service but they were handing out a survey asking what we falangs thought about it etc. They were very well staffed and from what i saw there were many falangs taking advantage of their services. Kudo's to whoever came up with this plan.

We also used this service on Saturday - initially went just to do our 90 days reporting, then when the Immigration staff pointed out we were within 30 days of needing to renew our retirement visa snd that they could process it there and then- it was a quick trip to the bank for a covering letter and an even quicker trip home for the bank book, and had it done really quickly and pleasantly. The only downside was that we didn't have an excuse to pop into The Teak cafe on the way home from a Mae Sai trip. I too hope they keep going in this venue.

You on a retirement visa (type o)? And you still have to report every 90 days?

Maby this site is something you can use:

http://www.getfreeebooks.com/?cat=7-

Thanks. Found the best source possible today. I live about 5 minutes from the AF base library and asked them if their stuff was online for books. Voila! I can now access for free all of the books, movies, audiobooks in the military library and some things are allowed to be copied. Being a secure site I fully expect Thailand not to block it (I hope).

You need to look at a program called Calibre which organises your eBooks and also converts formats.

It's a little bit geeky so I haven't worked out all the uses yet.

I'm thinking of getting a tablet to supplement my iRiver eBook reader, probably an iPad, but after buying a new laptop AND a new desktop PC this year I'd need to sneak it into the house and only get it out when the Mrs is off fishing.

My friend in Pattaya last year showed me about 4 free programs he uses to do his e-book conversions, unecrypt books, and for loaners, keep them as long as he wants. I tried to sneak the BB playbook in the house, wife said whats that and had to tell her I got it without telling her because she would complain. Really I wanted a good laptop. Surprise me she said order whatever laptop you want and I did last night. Looks like the BB tablet will be sold to someone in Thailand now and will just keep the Nook as my reader/tablet. Now if I just can get wifi at home in Thailand for just a month.

Kinda went crazy this Black Friday and bought some stuff that will make my trip to Phayao much better, Got a Barnes and Noble color and Blackberry Playbook super cheap and decided not to buy a laptop. Also got this for $23.00 today and should work in Thailand. http://www.wegotserv...nd-nano-router/

Nice toys Gino, are you going to use them to read eBooks?

Let me know if you are, I have a pretty good collection. mainly fiction, and a couple of other members are into them as well.

Thanks for the offer as I am an avid book reader when in Thailand and always carry a paperback with me wherever I go there. The Nook will read just about about any format and the BB is limited. Both have strengths and weakness. BB is strong for the internet, can hook up to big screen, cameras, Skype, but limited apps. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/28/blackberry-playbook-best-buy_n_1116532.html

Nook of course reading but much more apps, can use any email account (BB not), better support (can go to local store or call them for answers). Never had a smart phone and have to get used to the idiosyncrasies of the software. The BB came down in price $300 ($199) and Nook Color was $117. I plan on being in Chiangrai the 1st week in March if the immigration thing is still going on at the mall and sure would like to meet some people there from here. They should bring their laptop also as I have a few thousand songs to share from the 60's thru 80's.

Kinda went crazy this Black Friday and bought some stuff that will make my trip to Phayao much better, Got a Barnes and Noble color and Blackberry Playbook super cheap and decided not to buy a laptop. Also got this for $23.00 today and should work in Thailand. http://www.wegotserved.com/2011/08/27/hands-edimax-br6258n-150mbps-wireless-broadband-nano-router/

Question. Does it make a difference on wireless modems? If not, I would like to buy a good one here in the US 1st and take it with me in February. Someone said something about having a G band capable one.

I brought one from the usa and woudlnt' work. First of course is the electricity but i knew i could get a converter...but worse the one i brought only accepts a cable like plugs into your TV in usa and my internet here is ADSL which means a phone type plug. So be careful what you buy. They do have a pretty good selection at Power Buy here in CR or of course at Pantip in bkk and only slightly more expensive than Usa but no hassles getting it to work..

Thanks, guess buy local and not pot luck.

Question. Does it make a difference on wireless modems? If not, I would like to buy a good one here in the US 1st and take it with me in February. Someone said something about having a G band capable one.

Who is the OP?

This is news, if you want the truth....http://briandeer.com/vaxgen/stansberry-fraud.htm

As I said before I was only commenting about the different world senarios going on, not what junk he was selling.

I agree with all comments here and posted the link prior to seeing the finish. I would never invest with that firm or buy his crap. However the point of the post was to just think if the dollar was not the world currency. The facts which has happened what he said was true and could very well see that possibility. I am retired, investor, about to move to Thailand living off my dollar pensions. Needless to say I am not saying the sky is falling but the dollar sure has among other currency.

The old adage is true, dont put all your eggs in one basket. About 18 months ago I moved some of my europeon investments to this part of the world, still have some in Europe but a lucky move for me. I also am retired and have been an investor but am now more caustious. There is only one stock I would currently look at in the UK Standard Life, last night 203p, they are paying about 13% dividends which makes it look attractive to me, maybe I will think about it. You are right to look at the dollar, I think I would look at alternatives as well. Not sure that Bush should get all the blame for the economic decline been going on a for a while now and what really keeps it going is the military spending, something they will find difficult to stop.

How on earth did we elect people to get us into this mess, a mess that is all over the western world, did they not see what was happening? If it was coming out of their own pockets they sure would!

ITS EASY TO SPEND OTHER PEOPLES MONEY.

Good luck with your investments.

I think the problem that started the US dollar downfall was those easy loans which approved so many loans which people could not afford, the bankers knew it, the government knew it but all a house of a deck of cards which fell very quickly. The fed has made things worse by printing more money. Obama as followed the European lead in welfare socialist ideas which can not last. You are right, look for good dividends high cap stocks to play. However, cash is king and I do not trust the market anywhere for any kind of long term investment. Keeping a large amount in baht, yen, might be the safest bet now if the dollar is no longer the world's reserve. Good luck to you also and I have to admit with all the problems going on with the Euro, I am maybe not surprised why it has not crashed because that possible new world order is propping it up and getting rid of dollars. Peace.