khunPer

In a small town school without native English speaking teacher, the language result might be limited. In a private EP-school with native English speaking teachers – as my daughter attended – the result can be fully bilingual English-Thai.

Elephants are dangerous animals, they should not be teased the way the article states – i.e. never tease any animals by offering them something and then pull it back, animals don't understand jokes.

You can find used desktop PCs on Lazada, I bought some recently for a reasonable amount (circa 1,100 baht). They normally comes without keyboard and screen, and might sometimes also need an OS-upgrade to Win10. You can also buy keys for Win10 and link to download the installation for about 200 baht on Lazada. Eventual compare prices and specifications with Shopee and other online shops, for best bargain.

There is to my knowledge no "visa agents" – in the way you know them from for example Pattaya – on Koh Samui. The mentioned office outside Samui Immigration can assist you with your paperwork for extension of stay, but you still need to be eligible for extension of stay; i.e. among other things having the funds. Samui Immigration has a reputation for not issuing a non-O visas domestically; so if OP need that, he should use another immigration office – Samui Immigration can be little special strict and add their own rules. A visa agent some other place might be able to fix an extension of stay, even one lives on Samui – ask one of the agents in for example Pattaya about what they can provide of service.

Report it to the police and get a receipt of reporting it. With a receipt from police you can close the SIM-card and get a new one with the same number. When, or if, your phone shows up again, you can just change SIM-card, if you haven't bought a new phone meanwhile.

In my view you should not change visa, but just change the reason for extension of stay from "work/business" to "retirement". It's relative easy with retirement-extension if you can afford the 800k baht in a Thai bank account, and you don't need to leave the Kingdom and re-enter to extend you stay. The benefit with the new visa is that you don't need funds locked in a Thai bank account. The con is that you cannot stay more than 180+180 days without leaving the country. Re. DL: One shall have a Thai DL when staying longer than 3 month and (of course) driving; so, no change there.

However, the article didn't state where the fund originated from, it said: "with violence before being forced to transfer a staggering amount of 250,000 USD in cryptocurrency."

The article just stated: "with violence before being forced to transfer a staggering amount of 250,000 USD in cryptocurrency2, not from where the funds originated.

The article just says: "with violence before being forced to transfer a staggering amount of 250,000 USD in cryptocurrency", not where the funds come from.

Both Na Muang Waterfall 1 and Na Muang Waterfall 2 are dangerous to climb in rainy season – warnings are serious – it has happened before that foreigners climbing the waterfall in the wrong season falls fatally...😢

Thanks, it makes it even more suspicious. Then someone – i.e., the criminals – would have knowledge about the victim having a crypto account.

US$250,000 is a lot to have as cash in a bank account, and a high limit for online transfers...

To my knowledge it's now equivalent to $50,000 (around 1.7 million baht) you need to give a statement in the bank. It might actually be a benefit to do it and keep the receipt from Bank of Thailand, as you will be eligfible to later transferring same amount out of Thailand. I've for example done it with fund for my house construction. You might also need a declaration when transferring out of your UK home country (I don't know the UK limit, but other European countries have limits). Otherwise you can do two or more transfers separated by some weeks, as you suggest yourself. Check the cost and exchange rate with your own bank and compare with Wise. Normally it's advised to transfer into to Thailand in foreign funds and let the receiving Thai bank do the currency exchange, but your own bank's rate might give you an idea when comparing to Wise. Be aware of the 2024 income tax rules, if you stay in Thailand more than 180 days in the calendar year. You need to be able to prove that the 2 million baht is savings from before 1st January 2024, as they otherwise will be income taxed in Thailand.

And I was convinced that khun Thaksin is not involved in politics...

Sugar is normally considered worse...