Went today to open up my bank account and it was very interesting - they didn't even ask for my address. Ah - the power of the passport. And they give you a passbook which keeps track of your account. You must bring it with you whenever you do a bank transaction and they notate what you do by sliding this small book in the computer and the computer prints a new line with what your transaction was and what your new balance is - kinda like a computer generated running check book balance. Kinda cool.
And my friend Kate helped me clarify something - where I live is not really the suburbs. Think of it as a borough. If Bangkok is Manhattan, then I live in Queens.