I HATE THAI NEW YEAR CALLED SONGKRAN: As you are already aware, I’ve no wish to participate in the 3 or 4 day holiday event going on right now when the whole country descends into an anarchy of drunkenness and water gun fights filled with stagnant klong water.

Thai Celebrity TAKSAORN PAKSUK: but where is AUM ?

Songkran Festival Of Thailand: According to Thai tradition, water is considered both a symbol of cleansing and of renewal. Therefore, the Songkran is a time of purification, of rituals dedicated to Buddha and departed ancestors, of tribute and respect towards the elderly, and of blessings for the year ahead.

HOW TO USE PAYPAL WITH A THAI BANK ACCOUNT AND HOW TO TRANSFER MONEY: KASIKORN BANK AND OTHER THAI BANKS

How to use Paypal to transfer funds from the US

1- Open a Thai bank account, for example at Kasikorn Bank, just need a passport and a Thai address (where the bank will never send any document, so any hotel address is ok)
Fill the forms, deposit some money, pay few hundreds bank for the ATM card (300 THB at Kasikorn Bank), you will get the card on the spot along with a sealed document that include the PIN code. You can keep this number or change it at any ATM.

2 - Open a new Paypal account: as it is not possible to add a Thai bank to a US PayPal account someone who want to use Paypal with a Thai bank account must open a second PayPal account and designate Thailand as the country.

3 - When opening the Thai bank account also apply for internet access to this account: to add the Kasikorn bank account to the Thai PayPal account you need to have online access (a K-cyber account) to the Thai bank account, so when you open your Thai bank account also apply for the K-cyber access and you will get the log in info by email.

4 - You will receive an email within 24 hours from Kasikorn bank telling that my K-cyber account is set up and giving you a log in and password. On your initial log in both password and user name have to be changed and the bank also requires a second password for any transactions. This can either be done via SMS or you can create a second password to use when you won't be in-country when making a transaction, and create it at Kasikorn web site, at http://www.kasikornbank.com/portal/site/kbank. From the drop down menu, select Service Channels, then Internet, then K-Cyber Banking. A new window will open.

5 - In order to make online purchases or transactions there is another step. On Kasikorn Bank website you have to create a K-web shopping virtual credit card, which is a simple application, requiring the second password, and within 24 hours you will have a virtual credit card. It means that you will be emailed a 16-digit number (the same as a credit card), expiration date, and a CCV (the three digits on the back of the card). All of this is virtual, and this is an additional security step that the bank uses.

6 - Log in to your Thai Paypal account, add the virtual account info (which is linked to the Kasikorn account), and the card will be accepted. PayPal requires verification and will deduct $1.95 (around 60 baht) from the account and the transaction will be listed as "PAYPAL1234" or "1234PAPAL". The four digits will then have to be posted to the PayPal account to verify. In the US, a few cents is deposited and then you have to enter that information to verify the transaction. Once verified, PayPal will reimburse the $1.95.

7 - Receive email confirmation that PayPal has deducted money from your account and the email has the four digits you need to confirm my account. Go back to your Thai PayPal account and enter the four digits and you're done, now you have an online account and can go shopping online, transfer money, and any other operation available with a Paypal account.

8 - To test the transfer of funds from US PayPal to Thai PayPal send money with your Thai Paypal account to your US Paypal account, and receive immediate confirmation by email that the transaction has been completed. Log into your Thai PayPal account and see that the funds are available and accept the transfer.

9 - To transfer some money from PayPal to you Thai Kasikorn bank you have to click on "add a bank account" but as this is a Thai paypal account everything will be written in Thai, so open a second window and go to the Kasikorn web site and compare the Thai script to find your bank in the drop down window in Thai Paypal, it's the second bank listed.
Select it, and next is a confirmation page, Kasikorn Bank is now in English.
Confirm the transfer and the next window informs you that it will take five to seven days for the transfer (a little longer than US PayPal, which is three to four days).

The bank account must be entered without the dashes.

This process should work with any Thai bank, so if you try this with one of these Thai banks please let a comment on this website:
ACL Bank, Bangkok Bank, BankThai, Bank of Ayudhya, Kiatnakin Bank, Krung Thai Bank, Mega International Bank, Siam City Bank, Siam Commercial Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, TMB Bank, Thanachart Bank, Tisco Bank, Union Overseas Bank UOB.

CLOSING OF SUAN LUM NIGHT BAZAAR, BANGKOK LUMPINI NIGHT BAZAAR: will the night bazaar definitively close or not, as the land has been bought by a retail company which plan to build a big department store in it.

GIRLY BERRY THAI GIRLS BAND, PRETTY THAI GIRLS ON TOP: this Thai female band (girls band!) is very famous in Thailand, and their name, Girly Berry is as sweet as them! If you want to write to Girly Berry singers you can do it here, just ass a comment to this page

VIDEO, HOW TO DO A VISA RUN FROM PHUKET TO RANONG IN MYANMA: if you need to go out of Thailand and stay in Phuket you can easily mane a visa run, as long-stayers call it, from Phuket in Thailand to Ranong in Myanmar or Burma! Watch the video of the full trip.

Samutsongkram Province, smallest province in Thailand, with church in trees: The Church of the Virgin Mary or Asanawihan Maephrabangkerd, but also interesting temple to visit

ELEPHANT PAINTING IN THAILAND FOR FRIENDSHIP: Paintings by elephants is the latest trend in Thailand. The huge mammals with their powerful trunks and floppy ears have even had a showing of their own.

How to teach in Thailand, what you need to teach in LOS: Thailand gives individuals with a US passport an automatic 30 day visa, but since this would be for closer to 120 days, I needed to apply for a non-immigrant B visa.