A Singaporean's guide to living in Thailand

[chonburifc]

wtf! bro joetys, this one see liaoz wanted to buy ticket go jkt leh. kns lah.

 

[Froggy]

wtf! bro joetys, this one see liaoz wanted to buy ticket go jkt leh. kns lah.

Ario mak mak, she also say its very ario. Wonder how could Thai be beeating so much satall (petai) everyday?

 

[Charlie99]

very very reasonable

 

[rotikosong]

Heard from expats that there is one bank AEON (malaysian bank) that have no charge.......but i never seen their ATMs before even.
Also was told if using UOB (sg) ATM cards withdraw from UOB ATMs also no charge...........but i never try before.

I've used AEON many times - I can confirm there's no 150B charge. It's not a Malaysian; it's Japanese - they run malls primarily but also do hire-purchase. Their ATMS are harder to find because it's often just a nondescript free-standing box, but there's one in most The Mall malls and places like Terminal 21/Siam etc. There's a handy ATM locator on their website.

I use a lot of ATMs and I travel a lot all over the place so I know a little of how this all works.

1) In Thailand, first off, there's the 150B charge. This is a mandated fee and it is charged per transaction.

2) Next, all ATMs in the world use an interchange network to settle debits and credits. You know this as Visa, Mastercard, UnionPay, JCB etc. The same network is used for credit card transactions, debit card transactions and ATM transactions. The interchange network sets the currency exchange rate, which closely mirrors the interbank exchange rate (see xe.com for example). There are minor variances between networks. Currency exchange rates fluctuate during the trading day e.g. there is spot rate, there are buy/sell margins. The internetwork exchange sets a rate for the day.

3) Then your bank (not the Thai bank, they don't makan any fees except for the 150B), bloodsuckers as they are, sets a margin above and over the network's exchange rate from 0-3% (typical).

4) Finally there's the question of withdrawal limits. This is set by your bank in home currency, usually a daily amount and a per transaction amount. The Thai ATM however has a physical limit of how many notes it can dispense at one go. It is usually 20 notes so 20k baht (scb, k bank). Some banks are higher: Bangkok Bank is 25k, UOB is 30k and AEON is 40k. So if you need more, withdraw a couple of times.

So if you withdraw 20,000 baht: you are paying 150baht fee + Visa(for example) exchange rate (MC and Visa publish their daily rates, but close to or beats local money changer rates) + DBS' fee (for example 3% = 600 baht) for a total of 750 baht. This represents a 3.75% leakage.

In my case, I use an offshore bank ATM which has no fees (they charge 0% on top of Visa) and also reimburses the 150Baht so that's why I use the ATM when I need cash. I usually use a credit card though because they pay me 1% rebate.

 

[panzer]

Pii joetys

Ah reminds me of the days I visited Jakarta on and off years back.

I like the avocado juice in Jakarta, nice... But indos like their drinks manis manis... Too sweet

 

[panzer]

FYI, opposite Central World Mall is probably one of the largest Big C in LOS. The building is named Big C. Big C occupies 3 floors. It is like Giant & NTUC selling groceries, household items, electronics, etc.
At the top of this building is a large food court plus other restaurants like MacDonalds, etc.

Pii johnny333

Khorp Khun khrap for the info :-)

Big C bought over all the French Carrefour in Thailand and name them Big C Extra

View attachment 10403

Pii joetys

Sounds like Fairprice Extra... Haha

Big c only is available in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos wonder if they can extend it.

Pii Jah

Interesting...

 

[panzer]

FYI, opposite Central World Mall is probably one of the largest Big C in LOS. The building is named Big C. Big C occupies 3 floors. It is like Giant & NTUC selling groceries, household items, electronics, etc.
At the top of this building is a large food court plus other restaurants like MacDonalds, etc.

Bro Panzer. No problem. Here's a pic of SE-ED bookshop. They have the largest collection of language books. SE-ED is for the locals but they do have lots of language books.

Here is the logo of SE-ED taken this morning.

SE-ED bookshop

usually, BigC will have some security for motorcycles. When shoppers parked their bikes in BigC, you will receive a card. You need to surrender the card when you exit the bike parking area. This is taken at around 9 am.

Khorp Khun khrap pii chon for SE-ED pictures. Will definitely check it out... :-)

 

[yinyang]

AEON....not a Malaysian; it's Japanese - they run malls primarily
...(MC and Visa publish their daily rates, but close to or beats local money changer rates) + DBS' fee (for example 3% = 600 baht) for a total of 750 baht. This represents a 3.75% leakage.

Roti, AEON's yippun alright ..into malls. Leakage 3.75% is cost (price) of convenience. But unsure if MC/Visa exch rates beat local money changer. Plastic rates are lousy, and for MC/Visa this is a major revenue stream. But then one can't be carrying oodles of stash around :p

 

[Froggy]

Pii joetys

Ah reminds me of the days I visited Jakarta on and off years back.

I like the avocado juice in Jakarta, nice... But indos like their drinks manis manis... Too sweet

Yes too sweet I was told as I don't drink fruit juice except for wine and brandy as they too originates from grapes.

Pii joetys

Sounds like Fairprice Extra... Haha

I guess its a smart move to link the ownership and yet differentiate market. I noticed that Big C Extra maintains the Carrefour suppliers as there are some brands originally available in Carrefoure only and still there but not in the original Big C.

 

[Narong Wongwan]

Sharing another LOS day.....as bro YY would say.....daily slice from the big mango (pun intended)

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[tonychat]

Sharing another LOS day.....as bro YY would say.....daily slice from the big mango (pun intended)

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/S3X5G4tJZS0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

holy shit...a monk breaking the precept...is he using the donation money by devotee to pay for the whore service..

 

[Narong Wongwan]

holy shit...a monk breaking the precept...is he using the donation money by devotee to pay for the whore service..

you brought up good point........
monks not supposed to have or handle money.

 

[yinyang]

holy shit...a monk breaking the precept...is he using the donation money by devotee to pay for the whore service..

.....daily slice from the big mango (pun intended)

New meaning of de-frock, just as there are black sheep tales of monks sanuk

 

[panzer]

Seems I have an "exciting" life... Was in Jakarta for work in 1998 near the time Suharto was being overthrown, now going Bangkok this week when this happens... But one thing I learnt from those trips, Jakarta is a huge city and so is krung theb. :-)

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/7-injured-in-bangkok-bomb-blast/688976.html

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/351923/ramkhamhaeng-explosion-probably-a-bomb-police-say

Hope pii chon, joetys and others are safe and sound in krung theb!

 

[chonburifc]

Seems I have an "exciting" life... Was in Jakarta for work in 1998 near the time Suharto was being overthrown, now going Bangkok this week when this happens... But one thing I learnt from those trips, Jakarta is a huge city and so is krung theb. :-)

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/7-injured-in-bangkok-bomb-blast/688976.html

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/351923/ramkhamhaeng-explosion-probably-a-bomb-police-say

Hope pii chon, joetys and others are safe and sound in krung theb!

hehehe. me same same but different president. mine was wahid. a bomb exploded a few streets away from my hot in south jakarta.

just curious, were you sent there becos you are single?

 

[Froggy]

Seems I have an "exciting" life... Was in Jakarta for work in 1998 near the time Suharto was being overthrown, now going Bangkok this week when this happens... But one thing I learnt from those trips, Jakarta is a huge city and so is krung theb. :-)

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/7-injured-in-bangkok-bomb-blast/688976.html

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/351923/ramkhamhaeng-explosion-probably-a-bomb-police-say

Hope pii chon, joetys and others are safe and sound in krung theb!

I remembered vividly, in one of my trips to Bangkok the night before my trip I was pinned to the TV watching the coup ousting Thaksin, Sep 19th 2006.

 

[Froggy]

Funny, had young tau hu for lunch today in Jakarta



and my friend had roti prata

 

[chonburifc]

when i first started work after rod, always kena tekan by seniors. but never kena abused like the intern lah. kns, see my rusty face, supervisor and boss also scare lah.

but tekan in other ways, all the very jialat countries i always kena, all the tok kong countries my senior cover. but later when i become senior, i also tekan junior and take over my senior countries after they resigned from company.

second most jialat one is saudi and qatar, cos' no beer (but later found lobang). most jialat one is india. knn, will not miss the place for sure.

but i must gam sia my seniors for sending me to prc and los.

 

[chonburifc]

Funny, had young tau hu for lunch today in Jakarta



and my friend had roti prata

what is the verdict?
think must pour some blue belt then sedap.

 

[chonburifc]

just extend my visa today and realised i have not been out of los since 4 jan 2012. hehehe. think my old folks in sg want to file missing son report liaoz. very jialat, last time said go back every few months, think now is go back every few years.

and the departure card also 'nua' liaoz.