@Samuel *****

"Okay I have the next dumb question. My buddy is trying to transfer money from Bank of America to Bank of Thailand."

Bank of Thailand is not a retail bank that deals with general public. It is Thai Central bank, no individual accounts nor money can be sent to there by individuals.

@Tom *******

Try it. No account open.

Savings could be under yourmatress.

@Ken *******

Who is HCMC?

2 business 2 days, Bank Account, ATM Card, Bank App, 1 year extension & separate stamp for multentry. That Agency (Thai Visa Center) is touted to be among the biggest, often mentioned here as being behind this site. I can tell, do it first time with them. They happened to have a respectable office (with an ATM for them, on their premisses) and Bang Na, near my home in BKK.

Reputable courses, Bangkok University, are full time, 12 modules, if I remember correctly, 12,000 THB each. Upon completion, they claim, a foreigner can write letters to the editor of a newspaper.

My daughter, Thai, learned Thai as her first language, up to the age of 4.5. Then we moved to Japan, International school, English is the language she thinks in, dreams in, native.

After 400 lessons of Thai, with a professional Thai teacher, she says she is in Thai language like a 3rd grade of elementary school pupil.

She is a linguist, studying English Language and Literature in Australia (year 3), she knows what she is talking about.

Look for the tailors that have a banner "Tailor of the year 2026".

In the Khon Kaen national museum, you can see that all the tailors are Bangladeshis, settled in Thai 200 years ago. With a tradition and skills of weaving the fabric and tayloring.

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

Passport "Place of issue". For my Australian passport, I always say "Australia". Even though the passport is given to me from Aus Embassy in Tokyo, but they come from Canberra.

My daughter and wife, their Thai passports are issued by The Thai Royal Consulate in Osaka, they also come from Bangkok, they always say Thailand. That is why it takes 2 weeks. My daughter has Aus passport, Tokyo, she also says "Australia" as the place of issue. Her new Thai passport was issued by The Royal Thai Consulate in Sydney (that is where she lives) and still Thailand as the place of issue. The passport came from Bangkok.

Not travelled for dental works, had an issue or two. Thai dentists are competent, even World class. Still affordable prices even without any insurance.

@Ellen ************

I got my eVisa 90 days over the net, from Japan, before even setting my foot into Thai. Then, used an agent and my 1 year extension is in my passport, with another stamp for multi entry. Bank account, bank passbook and ATM card with me. Took 2 business days.