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

is there any reason to do it before the next extension?

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

if you have an OA visa and have been extending your stay annual for years, when you get a new passport of the same nationality must you have the visa transferred into your new passport or can you just carry your old and new passport until your next annual extension?

@Mary *******

The problem with wiring money into the US might have been that US banks offer poor exchange rates. When wiring money from the US it’s important to specify that the wire be denominated in US Dollars, that way the conversion to Baht will be done by the receiving bank.

@Phil *****

ATM machines use Visa's exchange rate and that's very close to the interbank rate. So if that 220 Baht fee gets refunded that's the best that you're going to do. Credit card purchases get an equally good rate if your credit card issuer doesn't charge a foreign transaction fee.

@Stephen ******

Schwab and Fidelity ATM cards refund that 220 Baht fee

@Mary *******

Wise is more clearly the winner when transferring money to Thailand from countries other than the US

@Phil *****

however Schwab and Fidelity ATM cards refund that 220 Baht fee, resulting in the best net exchange rate that you're likely to find.

@Ralph ******

for small transfers Wise is more economical. Even more economical are ATM withdrawals with a card that refunds the 220 Baht ATM fee.

It depends upon the amount that you're sending. For USD-THB transfers, assuming that you elect for the currency conversion to be done on the receiving end, above a certain size transaction a bank wire will be more economical than usong Wise. You should be able to work out the math - Thai banks have their current exchange rate for income wires on their web sites (it's the TT rate), you know the flat rate that your US bank will charge and Wise shows you the exact amount of Baht that you'd receive. Compare the two on that basis.

If it's really SSI and not SSDI that you're receiving, you won't be able to collect that if they know that you are living outside the US. However a potentially even bigger problem if you have a disability that requires ongoing medical care is that neither Medicaid nor Medicare will pay for medical care received abroad and you're not going to be eligible for Thailand national healtcare plan.