Sawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)

[toma1 10]

Off topic of course, but pretty funny the UK considers themselves part of the EU. They seemed to get all kinds of exemptions on that deal. Keeping the Pound etc.

Since the UK and Ireland are island nations and have only one way in and out by land they were given an exemption. The rest of the EU really didn't have much choice once the border controls were eliminated.

Euro use is not 100% tied to EU membership.

Sweden and Denmark are also EU members that are not in the Eurozone. And... there are a few micro states (i.e. Vatican City, Monaco, etc.) that are not EU members, but which DO use the Euro.

Of course, Norway, Iceland, and Switzerland are not EU members and have their own currencies--BUT they ARE Schengen members!

The EU does seem to be requiring NEW members to use the Euro as a condition of membership, however. A lot of the East European (Romania, Bulgaria, etc.) members are being required to convert.

[Karee 4,189]

Since the UK and Ireland are island nations and have only one way in and out by land they were given an exemption. The rest of the EU really didn't have much choice once the border controls were eliminated.

Euro use is not 100% tied to EU membership.

Sweden and Denmark are also EU members that are not in the Eurozone. And... there are a few micro states (i.e. Vatican City, Monaco, etc.) that are not EU members, but which DO use the Euro.

Of course, Norway, Iceland, and Switzerland are not EU members and have their own currencies--BUT they ARE Schengen members!

The EU does seem to be requiring NEW members to use the Euro as a condition of membership, however. A lot of the East European (Romania, Bulgaria, etc.) members are being required to convert.

IMHO the EU is a mess. Look at Greece.

My US passport works in most of those countries without a visa. The only pains I had was India and Pakistan. The Indian consulate took 4 days at the end of soi 23 to issue me a visa.

The Pakistani embassy was even worse. No invitation letter, no visa. That one took me about 2 weeks and it was only a 15 day single entry. Every time I had to back to Karachi or Islamabad, I had to go through the same mess. The Pakistani ambassador in Bangkok had to fax a letter to get me there.

At the end of the day, Pakistan was a much nicer place than India.

[toma1 10]

My US passport works in most of those countries without a visa. The only pains I had was India and Pakistan. The Indian consulate took 4 days at the end of soi 23 to issue me a visa.

The Pakistani embassy was even worse. No invitation letter, no visa. That one took me about 2 weeks and it was only a 15 day single entry. Every time I had to back to Karachi or Islamabad, I had to go through the same mess. The Pakistani ambassador in Bangkok had to fax a letter to get me there.

Russia and Pakistan are just about the same. All of these are reciprocity related. They make it hard because we make it hard.

India does--apparently--have some issues with Westerners overstaying... mostly the types that want to live in an ashram and meditate.

For the rest, it's mostly a national pride issue and they end up hurting themselves more than you or me. Brazil, for example, has no real reason to make visas more difficult for Americans, and they probably lose a lot of tourism revenue over it. I personally had two last minute opportunities to go to Brazil, and but for the visa issue, I would have probably gone at least once.

On the other hand, the US has a LOT of illegal Brazillian immigrants so we--at least--have a reason to have the restrictions in place.

[Karee 4,189]

Russia and Pakistan are just about the same. All of these are reciprocity related. They make it hard because we make it hard.

India does--apparently--have some issues with Westerners overstaying... mostly the types that want to live in an ashram and meditate.

For the rest, it's mostly a national pride issue and they end up hurting themselves more than you or me. Brazil, for example, has no real reason to make visas more difficult for Americans, and they probably lose a lot of tourism revenue over it. I personally had two last minute opportunities to go to Brazil, and but for the visa issue, I would have probably gone at least once.

On the other hand, the US has a LOT of illegal Brazillian immigrants so we--at least--have a reason to have the restrictions in place.

I think you summed it up there. It's a pissing contest at the end of the day. I've never made it to South America. Closest I got was Guatemala. I had to fly there from Thailand. 30 hours to live in a hotel that was basically a prison. I got yelled at for going outside to smoke without security.

Pakistan was sort of like that, but the food was better. Other than that, I have no use for Central America. I took the chance to swing through Dallas and pick up the rest of my belongings on the way back to Bangkok.

One thing that is odd to me, and I'm not starting some religious thing. I saw armed guards at Wendy's in Guatemala, Philippines etc. Only Christian countries. Granted the Marriott I used to stay at in Islamabad is a pile of rocks, but that was religion based crime. Seems like christian based societies are more interested in stealing money, where as religious based societies are more interested in killing their "alleged" opponents. Just ranting I guess

[joonphon 7]

checked in

[Nicoco 26]

I emailed the people you gave for the apartment.

While I am waiting for a responce, I looked up Airport Residence Chiang Mai Apartments. I saw a mix of good and bad reviews. Does anyone know about the noise in that area? I just don't want it to be like last time when I went to Chiang Mai and our apartment was right next to a night club and we couldn't go to sleep until 2AM.

[Tom and Teaw 1]

Ann got her 30 day Russian stamp cause of the deal Thailand made with Russia that they don't need visas to enter the respective countries....hence all the Russians showing up in Pattaya, etc now and Russian writing on the businesses. So Thais can go to Russia with no problem.

UK is funny. Our flight to Thailand got cancelled because of the tsunami in Japan. We have a daily flight thru Heathrow so we had it changed to go that way...faster but usually more expensive...didn't have to pay anything extra but there is a 12 hour layover in UK. We wanted to go downtown and went to the immigration guy and he hassled us for about 10 minutes about why we didn't get a visa beforehand and I explained to him about 3 times that we didn't have time because the flight thru Japan was cancelled so we changed to go thru UK. He finally stamped Teaw's passport with a 24 hour visa. I felt like saying to they guy HEY, don't you listen to what I am telling you???? Dork!!! I just wanted to take her downtown during our 12 hours so she could see a little of London.

[joonphon 7]

I wanted to mention something else concerning K visas and Thailand. I think I brought it up awhile back.

Make SURE you get a decent birth certificate. I have seen at least 3 people here that have turned in what they thought was an official birth certificate to the Embassy/DOS. Embassy would accept it. Then they went to adjust status and USCIS would issue an RFE. These people had to go through hell to get the right birth certificate from Thailand once the beneficiary was already here in the states. Seems the Bangkok embassy has a much lower standard than USCIS when it comes to Thai birth certificates.

are you freaking serious??? my fiance never had his birth registered!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[toma1 10]

I felt like saying to they guy HEY, don't you listen to what I am telling you???? Dork!!! I just wanted to take her downtown during our 12 hours so she could see a little of London.

But of course, then she would have waited 12 hours in immigration detention instead of in front of Buckingham Palace...

[toma1 10]

FYI... Thought you all might like to know about this. It's about a million times better than a secured card.

Pretty amazing benefit list considering than no credit is required. (Must have NO or very little credit--bad credit will not be accepted...) The only bad thing is the interest rate, but it has a 25 day grace period, so you don't pay if you pay off the balance each month.

Capital One® Cash Rewards for Newcomers

Summary of Key Benefits:

• A card designed to help those new to the U.S. build credit with automatic reporting to three major credit bureaus
  
• Learn more about U.S. credit with a free online guide provided by MoneyWi$e
  
• Earn 2% cash rewards on travel purchases (!)
  
• Earn 1% on all other purchases (!)
  
• No foreign transaction fees (!)
  
• No annual fee (!)
  

MasterCard Platinum Benefits:

• 24-hour travel assistance services-If your credit card is lost or stolen, you can get an emergency card replacement and a cash advance.
  
• 24-hour roadside assistance-If your car breaks down or you get locked out, call us and we'll send someone to the rescue.
  
• Extended warranty program-You'll get additional warranty protection at no charge on items that are purchased with your credit card.
  
• Travel accident insurance-Get automatic travel insurance at no extra charge when you use your credit card to purchase your fare.
  
• Auto rental insurance-Rent a car with your credit card and you can get collision, damage and loss insurance.
  

http://www.capitalone.com/creditcards/newcomer-credit-card/

Edited September 19, 2011 by toma1

[rsn 135]

FYI... Thought you all might like to know about this. It's about a million times better than a secured card.

Pretty amazing benefit list considering than no credit is required. (Must have NO or very little credit--bad credit will not be accepted...) The only bad thing is the interest rate, but it has a 25 day grace period, so you don't pay if you pay off the balance each month.

Capital One® Cash Rewards for Newcomers

Summary of Key Benefits:

• A card designed to help those new to the U.S. build credit with automatic reporting to three major credit bureaus
• Learn more about U.S. credit with a free online guide provided by MoneyWi$e
• Earn 2% cash rewards on travel purchases (!)
• Earn 1% on all other purchases (!)
• No foreign transaction fees (!)
• No annual fee (!)

MasterCard Platinum Benefits:

• 24-hour travel assistance services-If your credit card is lost or stolen, you can get an emergency card replacement and a cash advance.
• 24-hour roadside assistance-If your car breaks down or you get locked out, call us and we'll send someone to the rescue.
• Extended warranty program-You'll get additional warranty protection at no charge on items that are purchased with your credit card.
• Travel accident insurance-Get automatic travel insurance at no extra charge when you use your credit card to purchase your fare.
• Auto rental insurance-Rent a car with your credit card and you can get collision, damage and loss insurance.

http://www.capitalon...er-credit-card/

If this is aimed at new immigrants, a better bet is for their USC spouse to add them to their existing credit accounts. There are cards with better benefits that anyone with decent credit can secure.

[toma1 10]

There are cards with better benefits that anyone with decent credit can secure.

Agree. But they require SOME credit, if not excellent credit.

If this is aimed at new immigrants, a better bet is for their USC spouse to add them to their existing credit accounts.

Disagree. Most banks won't allow TRUE joint cards anymore because of the problems associated with divorce. What this means is that the immigrant spouse never builds their own credit, because the reporting is done only in the name of the cardholder, not the users.

Edited September 19, 2011 by toma1

[rsn 135]

Agree. But they require SOME credit, if not excellent credit.

Disagree. Most banks won't allow TRUE joint cards anymore because of the problems associated with divorce. What this means is that the immigrant spouse never builds their own credit, because the reporting is done only in the name of the cardholder, not the users.

The banks I use allow joint accounts apparently. That would be Chase and Fidelity. And FIA, which is loosely associated w/ Fidelity.

Edited September 19, 2011 by rsn

[toma1 10]

The banks I use allow joint accounts apparently. That would be Chase and Fidelity. And FIA, which is loosely associated w/ Fidelity.

I was just talking to Chase so I asked, and you're right they do issue them now. Citi wouldn't for my Premier Pass card. So I wondered about this and I googled a bit and found that most financial advisors do not recommend joint accounts. Here is the gist of it:

While we have touched on this topic in many threads, I dont think we've ever had a discussion about the evils of joint credit accounts, joint mortgages, etc.

Joint credit accounts are really nothing more than COSIGNED loans (and by now we all know that cosigning is generally bad!)

Disadvantages of Joint Credit Accounts

1. A Late payment dings both credit reports

2. Both individual's debt/income ratios affected by balances reporting to the bureaus

3. Get only 1 credit card signup promo/ 1/2 the rewards cap of 2 separate accounts

4. If CC stolen, can affect both credit reports until corrected

5. Problematic if going through divorce/separation

6. If accounts closed, you may have no individual credit under your own name

It is generally best to keep ALL credit accounts (auto, credit card, home loans) separate and individual, whether before, during or after marriage. There are some instances where a joint account will be required (ie to qualify for a home loan of a certain size), but if a debt can be placed in 1 persons name alone, choose that option!

Joint bank/deposit accounts also share many of the same negative characteristics:

Disadvantages of Joint Bank/Deposit Accounts

1. A bounced check dings both people on Chex Systems

2. Get only 1 bank account signup promo, whereas you could get 2 if have individual accounts

3. If ATM stolen, can affect both people until corrected. With 2 separate accounts, the funds in other other account wont be affected

4. Problematic if going through divorce/separation (commingling of assets, etc).

Some advantages of Joint Accounts:

1. Simplified Bookkeeping (1 set of statements for every 2)

2. If one is unavailable to take care of a transaction for another, the spouse can assist.

3. Ease of transfer of assets upon death.

4. Ease of management of assets upon serious accident or hospitalization.

5. Less solicitations.

So there you have it. Depends on what's most important to you and where you bank.

[Nicoco 26]

I hope the embassy gives us a date soon or I think Ice is going to scream... he's moving to bkk soon, what should I do to let the embassy know that his address is changing?