Do I have to transfer funds from my Direct-Deposit Bankgkok Bank account (US based) to Thailand...

[ubonjoe]

I think that only registered you primary account for the SMS alert. Not all your accounts are linked to your ATM card.

When I set up the SMS alert for my direct deposit account I had to go to the bank and do a form. They even had to call the office Bangkok that handles direct deposit accounts to have the form faxed to them.

[Pawpcorn]

I think that only registered you primary account for the SMS alert. Not all your accounts are linked to your ATM card.

When I set up the SMS alert for my direct deposit account I had to go to the bank and do a form. They even had to call the office Bangkok that handles direct deposit accounts to have the form faxed to them.

yup, I think so too, judging from the hoops they had to jump through to set yours up...

Thanks again...

[ubonjoe]

They were not that familiar with direct deposit accounts up here. The first call made was from my phone where I have the number for the Bangkok office stored as a contact.

[Pib]

Doing the recalculation (approximation) with the $10 USD fee, and the .25% fee in Thai Baht fee, I can see now that the transfer rate was closer to 35.83 B / USD, which actually makes better sense, looking at the recent exchange rates.

Since you said you received the payment on 17 Nov, looking at the Bangkok Bank exchange rate page for 17 Nov they only had one exchange rate that day...it was the opening day rate at 8:30am which was 35.83 for the TT Buying Rate used for incoming international transfers such a U.S. govt pension payments which are done via ACH, SWIFT transfers, etc.

[Pawpcorn]

Doing the recalculation (approximation) with the $10 USD fee, and the .25% fee in Thai Baht fee, I can see now that the transfer rate was closer to 35.83 B / USD, which actually makes better sense, looking at the recent exchange rates.

Since you said you received the payment on 17 Nov, looking at the Bangkok Bank exchange rate page for 17 Nov they only had one exchange rate that day...it was the opening day rate at 8:30am which was 35.83 for the TT Buying Rate used for incoming international transfers such a U.S. govt pension payments which are done via ACH, SWIFT transfers, etc.

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Ah, I see that page, now http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/WebServices/Rates/Pages/FX_Rates.aspx

Thanks so much for the addl' info!!!

Pawpcorn

[Pawpcorn]

Well, yesterday, I went to the US Embassy in Bangkok to get the "Income Affidavit" notarized... ($50!!)

I got this Income Affidavit, in case my school decides not to renew my contract, work permit, and visa, for another year... due in December.

I see here: http://www.pattayacityexpatsclub.com/expats/docs/retirementvisachecklist.pdf that this letter will NOT be valid, a year from now (when I actually plan to switch over to the Extention to Stay, based upon Retirement, for SURE) so I understand now, this notarization of the Income Affidavit will become a yearly affair, unless I manage to accumulate over 800,000 Baht funds in my Bangkok Bank Regular Savings account. Any irregularities / updates to this .pdf checklist known?

I also visited the Silom (main) branch of Bangkok Bank, requested, (was given, filled out, and submitted) the actual form to apply for the SMS notification service for the special Direct Deposit account, as we discussed earlier in this thread...

Thanks again for all the help, in this thread...

Pawpcorn

[Pib]

Yea, apparently immigration will not accept an income affidavit if it's over 6 months old.

[Pawpcorn]

Yea, apparently immigration will not accept an income affidavit if it's over 6 months old.

Which, in the case of Social Security Benefits, is kind of odd, since it's a "pension for life..."

[ubonjoe]

Yea, apparently immigration will not accept an income affidavit if it's over 6 months old.

Which, in the case of Social Security Benefits, is kind of odd, since it's a "pension for life..."

It is what immigration wants. It is a general requirement. Not everybody is on a pension good for life.

The 6 months is a big improvement. Before every office made up their own rule. Before they made it official it is 6 months I was making a trip to Bangkok a month before I did the extension. For last year and this year I have been able to get mine during a holiday trip with the family in April. that is about 4 months before my extension is due.

[lopburi3]

The letter is just a signed document from your Embassy - it is used for any type of pension/income so has a fixed expiration period (which used to be subject to local office rules) - six months is much longer than was normally allowed previously and allows most to obtained during regional visits made by the larger Embassies.