jacko

Oh I expect it is true. You can see all the construction around the area if one ventures further East. Where I am is a bloody nightmare at the moment due to road construction and pipe laying. Another Mall in Pattaya sounds a bit silly though.

I certainly agree there!

I can't say as I noticed the option on the ATM machine. In fact I think I would prefer not to be given such confusing options. The exchange rate actually used would have been (15000+220)/427.21 ie 35.63, that was Friday about 8am BST. The 34.99 I came up with is overall. Anyhow, if I recall correctly, my HSBC one is usually worse! I too see the baht has weakened, thankfully. Wasn't Carney also reasonably optimistic on the UK Thursday too?

Well the good news is Eva are going back to work.... the bad news is..... Heathrow strike threat to summer holiday travel. More than 4,000 workers at the airport - including customer service, engineering and security staff - have voted to strike over pay. Staff will walk out on 26 July, 27 July, 5 August, 6 August, 23 August and 24 August, which the Unite union said could create "summer travel chaos". Heathrow says it has contingency plans to remain open and operate safely.. BBC News.

Slightly different.... I just got a new Debit/ATM card from, my UK bank. It required activation so I phoned the number shown, and of course, despite the number being for Jersey, ended talking to a lady in India whose English was pretty difficult. Anyhow got nowhere. Sorted it after a few days. I decided since I do use this card (when in the UK and nearby countries), I would like to test it and see how the rate looks too. It is actually some years since I did this in Thailand. Firstly, as we all know, the ATM machine warns you it will add 220 baht onto your withdrawal. Nice to be warned... but I still only got 15,000 baht in cash. It has shown up already on my on-line banking. My bank took another £1.50 charge and £427.21 deducted. I make that 34.99 baht/£. Above, for cash notes, you see TT were giving 38.28. An overseas ATM card is a good emergency backup, but will cost you

Orders being cancelled and serious financial impact on Boeing. https://news.yahoo.com/saudi-carrier-cancels-troubled-boeing-122101629.html A Saudi airline canceling an order worth up to $5.9 billion in favor of a European rival of the U.S. manufacturer. Flyadeal, the budget airline arm of Saudi Arabian Airlines Corp., ordered 30 A320neo jets from Airbus and took options on 20 more, meaning that its entire fleet will consist of planes from that company. Officials with Indonesia's Garuda said in March that they were canceling the remaining 49 of a 50-jet Max order. Published reports suggest the airline and Boeing are in talks, however, and Boeing still lists the last 49 Garuda orders on its website. Similarly, the owner of Lion Air — the Indonesia airline whose Max jet was involved in the first fatal crash in October — vowed to cancel. Boeing still lists the airline's 187 unfilled orders as active. Dozens of lawsuits have been filed by families of those aboard the downed planes. Boeing will likely have to compensate airlines that already own Max planes — nearly 400 around the world — which are not expected to be allowed in back into the air any time soon.

I expect EVA might be good for a few bargains in the next month in an attempt to recover market share and reputation. An SMS poppeed into my phone today, which required translation but here is the gist of it. Use Bangkok Bank credit card to book flights at www. .evaair.com / en-th / bangkok / BBL.html Get up to 7% discount and receive a 15% cash back credit when spending as specified + redeem points for the purchase amount 1 Jul 62-30 Sep 62

Belatedly.....

Thread locked. Some posts removed that are not suitable in Open Area.

Good tip.

Well sorry to be repetitive but I traipsed round in the rain, so you are getting it.

Many yeas ago,landing at Heathrow, you also had to clear customs there and there was a small bag check in area in T4 for onward domestic (maybe International too). You had to get from there to T1 for a BA domestic up to Manchester, and it was certainly not a journey to be dragging cases around. Now all BA flights are from T5 and it is easy peasy and efficient. No need to rush either as the flights are always late!

For so many yeas I have avoided changing carriers for fear of baggage loss. When it did happen it was my own fault with a bit of help from check-in at Manchester. They said my bag would be transferred onto my South American (AA) flight and ticketed it through. Sadly I changed at JFK and their policy was you had to collect your baggage and clear customs, then check it in just after that area. How about your flight into Thai and up to Chiangmai?

Baggage transfer no problem?

The Blue Max.

If you Swift over some GBP to SCB this morning you get 37.97875.

I am cautious to get into bank account discussions with USA guys, as you are forever under the sword of Damocles, ie the US revenue dept.

So you haven't grasped that this is an Internet forum and not a daily red-top? The date posted appears under the title. Just the two so far.

You seem overly excited on this. I live in Thailand and to me the Thai Baht to GBP is what I focus on, the USD is irrelevant to me beyond a passing interest, to see what is really moving things around. Who gives out passports and whether you think they should qualify is not going to happen. Let us all agree, for many Nationalities, we don't get as many beer tokens as we used to! I often stop my bike on the way home, walk to a TT exchange, and simply take a pic of their TV screen of exchange rates and post it for info to those not here, as others do too. We then all have a barstool moan and groan about it. It really is that simple. Frankly some make me think I waste fuel.

No I have never been there, but do go to the Friday one at the Mercure. Actually that venue you mention, at the Holiday Inn, is a perfect place to ask your questions. I believe a lot of USA guys go there and you seem to have particular issues with Banks etc us UK ones do not. If what I posted was confusing, just rephrase the question, MLC was harping on about dormant accounts, not a situation I expect you to get yourself into. I was focused on using a USD FCD to qualify for a retirement extension. Acceptable to Immigration (Jomtiem), but you need to watch exchange rates if you sit close to the line, around $26,000 currently.

Of course, if you use TT cash exchange you will do better. But SWIFT your money to your Bangkok Bank account, or Siam Commercial one, for GBP, well it is testing the 38 line today. (38.0025).

Yes you do, as of course, you remain in dollars. What you have to look carefully at is the terms of the Bangkok Bank FCD. I believe it is a good vehicle if one wants to say have the 800,000 baht equivalent to cover a retirement extension. You of course, have to watch the exchange rate whereas 800,000 baht in a FD account is correct if left alone. I recall looking at a Sterling Account with the Bangkok Bank some years ago and something in the terms 'put me off'... damned if I can remember exactly what it was. It might be that the only way to release the money, is to convert it to baht, ie you could not simply transfer it back to the USA as USD readily, or it had extra cost involved. You could not get USD cash issued at the bank directly from it. Sorry I cannot be more exact.

I think you are way off mark there. I used to do programming of controls and making modifications is not always so straight forward. A programmer has to understand the overall system to make changes in one smaller subsection of the strategy, there are frequently knock on effects of what might be completely different ares of the strategy. Managers and bean counters often make cost-saving decisions without implementing safeguards. I recall some bright spark introducing Chinese made flanges, as they were substantially cheaper. The QC then broke down, the Chinese did not see the reason for a spec requiring them to be cast as a single piece, so didn't, and welded them. QC failed, the parts were utilized in a lubrication system, subsequently failed, causing catastrophic failures. It may seem elitist, but I would not have trusted some of the people I had to work with to do the job competently.

Yeah I was wondering about that too. I personally haven't been there for ages but I like Spain and had no idea it was in dire straits. I have a few friends who live there, it still sounds OK. Even a few regulars to Pattaya are considering packing it in for Spain, go buy a condo there!