tomcat76

Plenty of property management outfits that operate the same way here in the US!

If I were closer to LA, I'd have definitely gone that route. I hate mailing off my passport! I once had a property tax payment check stolen right out the mail, and have been leery of putting anything sensitive in the mail ever since (even though the thieves actually were caught during a traffic stop and the postal bags found in their back seat).

Yeap - 10d. Dropped it off at P.O. on a Wed mid-day; USPS dlvrd to my door Sat'y morning of the foll week (yesterday). I also provided the return Express mail envelope. The consulate's web page advises 2 weeks not incl mailing times, and longer. Last year I obtained an Indian visa at the last minute using a service, for which I paid hundreds of extra dollars for rush handling, and didn't get it much faster. So, I was happy with 10d on this.

RE printing out the consulate's page - that was mainly just so they could see on the other end that I was at least trying to follow their directions. They just sent it back. I won't bother the next time. The only thing I would do differently is remember to fill out that date-of-last-visit line - dumb. Oh, and get their phone no. off their website to put on the USPS mailer.

It was actually Martin's suggestion (to use Chrome) - 'working fine.

I just got my passport back from the consulate in LA. No problems. I got a 3-entry tourist visa showing a 1NOV issue date and a 30APR enter-before date. I did not send any hotel or flight reservation documentation. Just 2 copies of the application (they returned one), 2 photos, cashier's check for $120, passport, and photocopy of passport info page. I used USPS Express Mail both ways as recommended, and getting it back today it took 10days. So no problems, no surprises, no delays; I even forgot to fill out the line on the application that asks for date of last visit.

So righteous. How is stuffing something down one's throat one tries & finds they don't like going to help a starving person exactly? Geez - do yourself a big favor & get down off that high horse for just a minute! I didn't say I'd deliberately take anything I know I'm not going to eat, just to fill my plate. And to help you with your apparently very limited "understanding", I mentioned some reasons why I might decide I don't like it. And even if on occasion my eyes do happen to be bigger than my stomach, and I might happen to take more than I find I can consume, it's still not deliberate and still not really something I have to justify to anyone else, and cramming it all down still isn't going to help anybody. You need to work out the whole "cause & effect" thing a bit better before you start throwing grenades.

I reported this back when the board moved to new servers, and it's still happening, just exactly as you describe. 'Only seems to happen in IE though; not with Firefox or Chrome.

Credit Union. It's definitely not one of the national banks (yes, we have those, too...), but up until now (and that's a lot of years) has met most of my needs nicely (& cheaply). Yeah, I'll have some TCs; I usually do. Can't get them online or no-fee as advertised though (even though I have a gold AMEX).

Well, the only thing they weren't sure about is what Kasikorn uses for their correspondent bank. I can probably live with the 7-10d wait. I've been pretty happy with my bank (which is a CU). 'Don't think I want to open another account with a national bank just for this. Maybe I'll change my mind if the whole thing proves unworkable or ends up costing more per transaction. I would've liked to have been able to execute the transfers just by going online, but I can manage.

'Seems like the only practical way to do this, and definitely the cheapest, from my bank is via wire transfer. They weren't sure but their guess was that Kasikorn uses a "correspondent bank" in the US (possibly JP Morgan Chase or B of NY). 7-10 business days & $25 fixed fee. The corr bank gets a small fee on ea transaction (~0.2%?), and I have to ID them to my bank, but otherwise transparent to me. Won't really be able to do via "internet service" apparently. Can fax a request form to my bank (or upload it to my bank's website), or can call them, but no way to execute a xfr by just going online somewhere.

'Need to pick this up again... I apologize in advance, and feel free to something already posted somewhere, but the more specific one's question, sometimes the more difficult to execute a focused search. OK - my question has to do with setting up a Thai bank account into which I want to be able to transfer funds from my US bank using the internet. I'm seeing that Bangkok Bank is about the only Thai bank with a branch in the US, and it's really an "interbank" branch in NYC, and not a place where you can "open a Thai bank account". Instead, it's the "link" between you & your US bank, and a Bangkok Bank account you set up in Thailand. Using SWIFT or ACH you can transfer funds from your US bank account to your Bangkok Bank account via this interbank branch in NYC. Now from reading the threads posted here at PT, I was under the impression that if I opened an account at say, Kasikorn Bank, in Thailand, I would then be able to transfer funds into it from my US bank account by going online, making the transfer, and then perhaps having to verify it via a OTP rcvd via SMS & a local Thai phone no.. My US bank is not an "international bank" like HSBC or Citibank - it's a credit union. Will I be able to go forward with my plan to open an account after I arrive there AND be able to immediately begin using the internet to direct the transfer of funds into it, or do I need an account at an "international bank"? I'll be asking my CU of course about international transfers, but in attempting to connect these two dots, I sense I need advice WRT both ends of this thing.

Sometimes you take, taste, and then decide not fresh, cold, don't like, whatever... So, it'd be a problem for me. Each to his own. Knowing the above, I'd avoid this place (and other places with similar rules).

How about on the way out of the country? I think I read something somewhere here on PT just the other day about somebody who got tagged somewhere with actually much LESS than the reportable amount: the conveyor/x-ray operator apparently saw it. The guy hadn't violated any laws, but they pulled him in for questioning anyway. "Bulk currency smuggling" is apparently a much bigger deal than I ever realized, but 10,000PHP (not even USD250) seems like a ridiculously small amount. India is pretty strict about it - 'don't think you're allowed to carry ANY of their currency out of the country.

'Doubt they'll get many repeat customers...

Anyone ever been pulled over for carrying more than the limit, in whatever country/currency? I think you can usually carry more than the limit as long as you report it ('not sure about the PI specifically). So is that much of a hassle? Does it mean being pulled in to "secondary"? 'Seems like people making trips of extended lengths or who just don't like using credit cards overseas have perfectly good reason 'Might help to carry withdrawal receipts from your bank.

Here in the US I think the story is that millions have given up their unemployment compensation claims, and are filing for social security disability instead. Theoretically of course you have to actually BE disabled, but the system is so loose that it's practically a no-brainer. And so naturally, these frauds don't count toward the unemployment figure here either (gee, now who benefits from that?).

Ooooh noooo. You might hurt the thief! Then it becomes a farang on Thai thing. You probably don't wanna' go there.

Sure? Partitions like this can be hidden and unlettered, but still be using diskspace and contain executables. 3rd party disk software can usually reveal & delete them though.

If you've got extra room in your carry-on for it... My question is, if some scumbag is going to take what's inside your room safe to begin with, what's the difference between your money, your wallet, your phone, your watch, your ???.........and this little mini-safe? 'Sounds just about as takeable as anything you're trying to protect if they can just get inside the room safe. Whatever works for you though.

Yeah - my thought, too. 'Just thought I'd check here and see if anyone had experienced anything to the contrary. Maybe I'll print out that webpage and pack it along as a "checklist"...

Yes, exact same page I linked to in my OP. Am usually a bit squeamish about calling & asking as a bureaucrat will usually just say yes, include everything. For bastax33: What "form" are you referring to? The back side of the LA application form is all inclusive, and doesn't seem to address tourist visas specifically (but instead also the non-imm o visas, etc., which is reasonable actually because the application form itself also has boxes to check for the type of visa being requested and is not just for use with tourist visas). Was there something else you were looking at that specifically said the e-ticket had to be included for Tourist visas?

Bliston, I couldn't even get to the page you're showing though. I entered 30 NOV 2012 for the arrival date, and 4 DEC 2012 for the departure date, and it kept telling me my departure date was before my arrival date. Really wanted to just check rates though, and your page shows some 3200B per night all in, and that's what I wanted to know. Not cheap.

Yeap - I have one too and have mentioned it hereabouts before. Easy to carry and I use it regularly. Not quite as secure on the safe models where the door isn't flush with the front face of the safe (might be easier to insert something behind it to saw through the belt), but it at least adds a small extra step in security. I also snap a quick pic of the safe with the lock installed to show if there's ever a break-in.

I apologize if this has already been asked & answered, but I did search... For a Tourist Visa from the Los Angeles Consulate, it's not clear to me just exactly what documents, if any, need to be mailed in besides the passport, application form (1 or 2 copies?), photos x 2, and the fee via cashier's check (and a return envelope). Do I need to mail a copy of my e-ticket? I'm requesting a 3-entry visa, and plan to be in & out of Thailand from 30NOV until mid-March, and my return ticket shows the return in March (more than 90d). I was going to wait until I got there to arrange the interim trips, but they'll have to be one of course because even with a 30-d extension on the first entry I couldn't stay until the return date of that ticket. I'm hoping that for a tourist visa I don't need to get into all that and don't need to provide a copy of the e-ticket. Again, this is for the LA Consulate. There's a page at the LA Consulate's website that does NOT include the e-ticket on the list of required docs. Other Thai govt pgs do include it, but they look like they're lumping all the visa document reqts together (i.e., tourist & non-imm & retirement). So not 100% clear. RE the fee - I'm also seeing varying guidance. Is it $35 per entry, or $40 per entry, or something else? 'Seems like this changes regularly. Again - 'sorry if this info already exists hereabouts. (All the discussions I found seemed to focus on either non-imm or retirement visa issues, or questions about how the multiple-entry and extensions work, or are not so recent & possibly out-of-date.) Please point me to it if it does.