mahjongguy

Just FYI, Bangkok Bank is possibly the only bank here whose online services include inbound wire transfers. Instead of "pushing" the money from your US bank to your account here, you can login to Bangkok Bank and "pull" the money from the US. If, as an example, your US bank requires you to send them a fax with signature in order for them to perform an outbound transfer, Bangkok Bank's inbound service would allow you to skip that (or any other) tiresome authorization process. Kasikornbank does not offer this feature from online but otherwise has the best overall package of online and traditional services. Fortunately I don't need the inbound transfer feature, as Wells Fargo allows me to initiate outbound transfers with just a 45-second phone call and the money shows up at Kbank within 24 hours.

I agree entirely with firecat69. K-bank is great. To set up online banking you must make a personal appearance at your designated branch but after that it's all roses. You will be able to make instant transfers to his K-bank account with no fee (unless his account is upcountry). You might also want to turn on the mobile text notification feature of your ATM card. You'll get a text message every time money goes in or out of your account. If the b/f also turns on that feature, then he'll know instantly when his allowance is available. Since the preferred mode of transaction verification is mobile text, you must be sure to follow firecat69's guidance about switching to another method before you depart Thailand. Just call K-bank.

I am 60, my b/f is 33. His mom is 56 and has been a widow for a decade. The first time I met her it was made clear that she'd be happy to marry me. Her divorced sister seemed to feel the same way. I truly don't know how to react.

Many Thais don't have hot water so they can't shower in the morning.

My b/f wore black pants and black shirt on Saturday, and requested that I do the same. I would guess that this was more common in Bangkok; here in Pattaya there was little of it. In Japan the funeral color is white but that does not apply to Thailand. If you watched the services on TV you would see that many attendees were wearing a white top and black pants, because that is the civil service uniform. Black arm bands were pinned to the white jackets. Everyone else wore all black. Even apart from such solemn occasions, I have not seen Thai guys avoiding black. It is stylish and most often suits their hair & skin color. It is a rule at many of Bangkok's tonier hair salons that the staff must wear nothing but black and white, so their outfits range from all white to all black.

My advice is to skip whatever may be going on down by the river. Instead, go to Lumpini Park. There will be a pleasant crowd and many different krathong on sale. Enjoy walking around the lakes and pick a spot where the breeze is taking them out from shore. I went last year and thought it was very romantic.

I can't speak for the types of insurance coverage that one may receive as part of the rental of a car or bike, but a regular insurance policy purchased to cover a bike or car that you own will only pay out if the driver at the time of the incident had a Thai license. Even if you don't own a vehicle, a Thai license is handy in so many ways.

"...selling porn DVDs and VCDs to tourists at bars in the Jomtien Soi 5, Jomtien Beach Road area." Is there a gay bar on Soi 5 in Jomtien? I think not.

I dunno about the typical connection at Tui's but the past 5 or 6 days have been rotten for everyone. The overseas links were running at 5 to 20 per cent of normal. And, coincidently, TOT in Pattaya lost its main router twice, with spotty service throughout the week. As of this moment on Tuesday morning all is well with TOT but still only getting 800 kbps to San Francisco. Should be 1200 or more. If you want the best that's available, go sit for a while at the TAT office on S. Pattaya Road. They offer 10mb service at their Internet cafe.

In my safe, along with copies of my U.S. Will and my Thai Will, I keep a letter of instruction addressed to the U. S. Embassy. This letter details my wishes for disposition of my remains, and it requests that they treat my partner as next of kin.

Movieseer is a very useful site but I have had a problem twice where the theatre made last-minute changes to their schedule. It can help to double-check at the theatre's own website (if any). Paragon: http://www.paragoncineplex.com/home/home.php MBK: http://www.sfcinemacity.com/default.asp

You could include the Hard Body gym on Jomtien Beach soi 3.

I went to Jomtien Immigration yesterday for my 90 day report. The officer stapled a notice to the report receipt that I should bring some evidence of my address next time. Good Boy Scout that I am, I had brought along a copy of the title page of my house blue book. I gave it to her, pointed out that it showed my name (in phonetic Thai characters). She seemed pleased, asked if she could keep the copy, and apparently entered the fact in the database. So, I assume I will not need to provide any evidence next time.

As an aside to this topic, it should be noted that the US no longer has any transit airports. Even prior to 9/11 there were only a handful. JFK was one of them, but other major gateways that you might expect (e.g. SFO) had never been set up for international transit. This incident seems to have occurred before JFK was converted to a non-transit arrangement, but I do think it would be relevant to know whether he was detained within or without the transit area. Today, for travelers who wish to transit the US, it is a serious issue. Consider the difficulty of getting from Bangkok to Puereto Vallarta with a Thai companion. It's mighty difficult to avoid routing through SFO or LAX, but your friend would need a US tourist visa just to change planes. Also, I have a friend from Indonesia whose has a common Muslim name. He has a long-time US tourist visa but every time he passes through SFO on the way to his home in Vancouver he gets hassled at Immigration. Then gets his bags torn apart by Customs. Average 3 hours. So he has to schedule a later connecting flight to allow the extra time.

Only a severe liquidity crisis can knock the stuffing out of a currency, as happened in Asia a decade ago. This time around, the specter of that catastrophe has been in the US and Europe, on the wrong side of the equation for us ex-pats. Exchange rates are complex and notoriously difficult to get on the right side of, but generally, higher interest rates contribute to a stronger currency, and the 2nd article indicates that interest rates in Thailand may need to rise in order to help counter oil-induced inflation. So, there will be both upward and downward pressures on the baht vs. the Dollar, Pound, etc. Thus the reasonable prediction that the USD/THB will float around between 32 and 34. Still, anything can happen, and I'm sweatin' bullets 'cause I'm about to bring over a big fistful of bucks to buy a house. If the baht goes off the deep end a week later I'll be slashing my wrists.

Every US citizen who has more than $10,000 in an overseas account must file a TD F 90-22.1 before June 30th of the following year. There are impressive penalties for non-compliance. Mailing in the form by no means assures that the IRS will be checking to see if you report earned interest. Only the submission of a 1099 by the bank would trigger such, and that of course doesn't happen. Still, if you earn a few hundred dollars from the bank, why not include it on your 1040? It's hardly going to move you into a punishingly high tax bracket, and well worth the peace of mind.

I have a Thai license. My California license recently expired. I don't need an international drivers license to drive in California, nor do you. In fact, many states including California do not accept an IDL. From the CA DMV: "The State of California does not recognize an International Driving Permit (IDP) as a valid driver license. California does recognize a valid driver license that is issued by a foreign jurisdiction (country, state, territory) of which the license holder is a resident". If you have the new plastic Thai license, on which the pertinent information is repeated in English, you should be fine throughout the US and Canada as long as you carry your passport to verify that you are living abroad.