@Brandon ***********

True. I guess with sending larger amounts (beyond a few thousand) it comes down to the applied exchange rate.

In international money transfer (SWIFT) there are three options about who is paying fees: OUR, BEN and SHARE. OUR means the sender pays all the fees involved. BEN means the recipient pays all transfer fees involved. And SHARE, well, here fees are shared and most fees are covered by the sender, yet some also by the recipient. With Wise, what you see is what you get, i.e. they clearly state the amount you pay and the exact amount the recipient receives - thus applying the aforementioned OUR option. With most normal banks (or the also popular Revolut for example), they use SHARE (which is the more common standard, as it is easier for the banks). Now, may I ask which Thai bank you have your account with? I assume Bangkok Bank, right? At least when I did a test transfer from Revolut once, they deducted 250 THB from the amount I wired. Ever since I used Wise, cause I just wanted to transparently know upfront exactly what I pay from my EU account, what amount I receive on my Thai account and what the exchange rate will be. With regular bank accounts, this is very in-transparent at times. Yes, the going rate seems to be 1.5‰ - but the unknown is the exchange rate (which can be quite disadvantageous compared to Wise) and the fees of the receiving bank - as SHARE is used. But if your numbers are correct, and you only pay a flat fee of USD 15 and only have an exchange rate disadvantage amounting to THB 1,000 and a small receiving fee of just 250 THB.... By all means, cheaper than Wise, then for this rather large transfer.

Bangkok Bank never charged me anything for „accepting a wire“ from Wise. But the 250 THB you mentioned are negligible anyway. But it does feel like you are missing something. Are you certain your bank would only charge a flat fee of USD 15 for that transfer? No additional percentage of the amount wired. Not an expert on wiring from the US. But something seems odd, since the whole USP of Wise is to allow for cheaper transfers. Following.

@Josef *******

Price of the regular 30-day extension (which is not available to you as a STV holder) and the 60-day COVID extension is the same: 1,900 baht.

My advise: Try to get a 60-day COVID extension of stay afterwards, if this scheme is still around by then (which I believe it will). Technically, the STV can not be extended further or changed into another visa category in country. BUT, COVID extensions are a seperate thing that may be applied irrespective of what visa you hold or came in on. Just try you luck and ask your immigration office (or some of them around you). They have a tendency for each applying things differently.

@Stuart ********

Is that confirmed? Honest, open question. I know there is no changing the STV to whatsoever other visa in country. But I was under the impression that the COVID-60-day extension of stay is applied irrespectively of you visa status. So I think it would be worth a shot to get a COVID extension after the STV runs out.

Yes. Feasible. Some Immigration Offices might ask you to take the regular 30-day extension, first. Others may "directly" grant you the 60-day COVID extension. As for the regular extension, you could apply for it any time you like and it would start counting / be added to the end date of your initial permission period stamped in your passport. As for the COVID extension, the first one would (by most Immigration Offices) be counting from the day you get it - thus you may lose permitted days if you go and apply too early. And with all of that, that is just the rule, but there can always be arbitrary exceptions to it - as nothing with immigration is hardly ever applied consistently across immigration offices (or even officers). Also, be prepared for an "under consideration" situation, meaning, that with COVID extensions, you might initially get an under consideration stamp and have to come back to the very same immigration office about two weeks later to get the final extension stamped in - just another needless inconvenience, but nothing you can do about it. Enjoy your stay - you currently can for as long as you want.

It should happen - if acting based on facts. And the facts are: From those thousands who entered Phuket Samdbox, only 0.2% got tested positive later - that is only 1 in 500. So inviting good quality fully vaccinated people into the country is safe. And even if very few of them catch it, they very likely catch it mildly. So time to move forward with the plan and open. All you no-sayers … the current problems are local mismanagement, not imported issues.

Have you met some of the village heads? They can barely read. They certainly don’t know about national quarantine procedures and like to make things up on the go. Don’t just take their word for it. Show proof you did quarantine already and negative test result (ideally in Thai) and let them know nicely to get off your neck.

90 day reporting is only applicable for visa or extensions that would allow one to stay longer than 90 days from the day issued. Since it is in the nature of 60-day !!! covid extensions, this cannot apply here. Unfortunately not all of those bright minds at immigration get this. Had such a 90 day required to reporting slip once on a covid extension from Chiang Mai. The Krabi office insisted then - when I tried to do an intermediate reporting later - that this is never needed since I am on a 60 day extension time and again. I got tired of this incompetence game. In the future I will only do 90 day reporting if on a stamp or extension equal or longer than 90 days. Time for this bunch to get a grip on the basics already - or maybe consider working somewhere else. Wasting my time.