[Cost of Medical Care in Thailand]

8 hours ago, Michael said:

I was a bit sick this week and went to hospital as I was dehydrated. I got 2 bags of fluids and meds and saw doctors and had test run. The bill at the end was less than 2k baht. That is just insane. Back in the USA, a trip to the emergency room would be well over 4k USD. This is the place I want to get sick in. Plus, I think I have a date with the nurse.

Yes, much less expensive than USA . Also, I have found the care to be quite good over the 17 years I have lived here.  I do have health insurance carried over from my employer upon retirement that covers me in Thailand - Bangkok Hospital Pattaya (BHP) will also direct bill my insurance, which I use for inpatient care. For outpatient, I pay and get reimbursement.

Although care is much less here, it still can run into a costly experience depending on the nature of the illness/injury being treated.  In the early part of this year, I was hospitalized with a serious lung infection -- 5+ weeks in hospital with 4 of those in ICU.  BHP billed my health insurance 2.7 million baht, which was covered 100%.  Had I been paying, I'm guessing that the bill would have been around 1.7 million baht -- this is based on the fact that BHP will bill insurance substantially more than when I pay direct - whereas most hospitals in USA have agreements with insurers that cap costs.  This "guess" is based on the fact that some time ago, for outpatient and 90 day supply of many prescriptions I take regularly, the cashier presented me with a bill for about 80,000 baht and said they were waiting on the "guarantee" from my insurance.  I said "no", I do not want insurance billed direct, I will pay and get reimbursement.  She then redid the bill and the total was about 50,000 baht - important to me as my insurance pays only 85% for outpatient care, thus the 30,000 extra would have cost me 4,500 baht more in out of pocket cost. 

But, another "good" thing about health care here is being able to schedule appointments with specialist doctors.  Generally at BHP,  I can call and get an appointment the next day (sometimes the same day), whereas in USA , it could be anywhere from several days to a few weeks for non-emergencies.  Also, when they do lab or other diagnostic tests, the results are usually obtained within an hour (or a few if MRI or CT scan), whereas when I visited my GP in USA and he ordered a lab test, it was 2 or 3 days to get results.

 

 

[Website to Compare Costs for International Money Transfers]

In addition, you may want to check requirements from these other transfer services.   In late 2018 when Bangkok Bank made their announcement re stopping ACH domestic transfers, I either used this finder site or something similar - Worldremit appeared to be a good choice re fees and exchange rate.  I joined giving them my USA residence address (which I still use as my legal residence) and everything seemed fine; but I did not immediately try a test transfer.  The next day, I rec'd an email from them wanting to know if I was resident of Thailand (Ooops! I didn't turn on my VPN before joining) as that was the URL that showed up -- I explained my legal residence was USA, but I temporarily did stay in Thailand as a retiree.  An answering email  with "sorry" but we cannot do transfers for anyone not within the geographical  area of where they were licensed to do business.

For some of the others, they want documentation sent to them to verify your identity and address.

So, for me, I will stick with Transferwise so long as they continue to deposit it in my Bangkok Bank Account as a foreign source of funds vs what they did last July in sending it through Kasikorn Bank and it showing up as a domestic transfer - but, as Up2U notes, they subsequently added a new "purpose" to their drop down list for "long stay" in Thailand. Based on my experience and others (members of the Transferwise Solutions Facebook Group), no one using that "purpose" has had a problem with the transfer not going to their account if it is with Bangkok Bank.

A friend sent me an email this morning asking my thoughts about a new transfer service called Everex that has no fees, creates a "wallet" to deposit the funds and from which you can transfer baht to your bank account or withdraw from ATM with no fees (cardless - uses codes for ATM machine). The company operating it is based in Bangkok.  I advised him that if he was using monthly income to qualify for his retirement extension, it would probably be a problem as it was most likely, IMO, to not show up if deposited to his bank account as a foreign source transfer.  Of course, using the ATM feature would not be acceptable for Immigration.  Their exchange rate was a bit less than TW - so I did a comparison for sending US$2,500 - with this new company, you would receive 50 more than from TW (deducting TW  fees and using their current exchange rate & using Everex exchange rate with no fees).  I also mentioned that it was probably high risk and if he plans to use he should do his due diligence and start out with a few small transfers.  Here is link if anyone is interested: https://everex.io/thv/MoneyTraveling/?utm_source=thaivisa&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=THV-Advertorial&utm_content=Advertorial-1&utm_term=International-Transfer-ATM#/invite/H6da1vz

 

[Health insurance mandatory for retirees]

1 hour ago, Gaybutton said:

I don't think any of us are really going to know until the rules come into effect and we start seeing what the various immigration offices are going to do.  In all my years living in Thailand, if I've learned nothing else, I've learned that no matter what the immigration rules are, it all comes down to what the immigration officer you're dealing with decides to do, all too often at the whim of the officer regardless of the rules.

My suggestion for O-A retirement visa holders who wish to renew, do so as far in advance of the expiration date as possible.  That way, if there is anything they want you to do, you will still have time to get it done.

If the immigration officer tells you something you don't want to hear, whatever you do, don't get angry or argue with him.  It won't do any good, won't get him to change his mind, and will only make things worse.  Whatever he tells you that you need to do, you're going to have to do it.  It will be either that, or you don't get the visa.

Very good advice GB.

[Health insurance mandatory for retirees]

 Bob, you may disagree and are certainly entitle to your opinion which is also that of many others that have made similar comments on Thaivisa.com regarding applicability - BUT there are also numerous posting by those that do agree with my interpretation.

 In my comments I do say "appear" to apply rather than making a concrete statement to that effect as you have done.

As mentioned, the rule recently issued by Immigration for section 2.22 retirement (purpose for granting an extension to be followed effective October 31 by Immigration Offices) added the health insurance requirement for those granted a stay based on an O-A Visa -- it makes no distinction on when that Visa was granted.  Thus, it does not rule out be applicable to those that previously entered and were granted an initial permission to stay based on holding an O-A Visa.  Further, IMO, they are not applying the rule retroactively as it simply adds a new requirement for approving future applications for extensions of stay by those that held an O-A Visa upon which previous extensions were granted.  So, this can also be considered a "dicey area" that will need to wait to see how Immigration interprets the requirement, which is what counts, not our interpretations.  However, I'm willing to bet 10 baht that it will apply and as you say, time will tell if I am to lose that bet.

[Health insurance mandatory for retirees]

2 hours ago, Bob said:

The bottom line is that the new health insurance regulations do not affect anyone presently in Thailand.  And, unless they add new rules making the requirement applicable to other groups,  the requirement is easily avoidable (simply come in on a Non-O or Tourist Visa ....or even a simple 30-day exemption....and convert to a retirement extension in country).

The real problem for a few (those obtaining 0-A visas in the future in their home countries) is that they are limited to buying the "long stay" insurance from the approved list of Thai insurance companies.  Based on my review of those (the few sites one can switch the language to English and actually make sense of it) is that only one of the 9-12 companies is offering the long-stay insurance to people over 70 (but only if you've had coverage with that particular company since you were 70 or before); other than that possibility, it would appear that nobody over 70 is ever going to be able to obtain an 0-A visa after October 31st.  

Unfortunately, the new health insurance rules do appear to affect some persons presently in Thailand.  These persons are anyone who are on a Permission to Stay granted on the basis of entry into Thailand using a Non-Immigrant "O-A" Visa and those who originally entered using the "O-A" Visa and are presently obtaining annual extensions of stay based on the original permission to stay granted by that Visa.

For the first group, permission to stay based on entering with an Non-Immigrant O-A Visa.  These are usually multiple entry and if the holder departs and returns to Thailand during the validity period of the O-A Visa (the enter by date shown on the Visa placed in the passport by the Thai Embassy/Consulate that issued it - which is normally one year from the date it was issued. Under the new rules effective October 31, 2019, Immigration Officers will be checking for the required health insurance upon initial and subsequent entries (page 11 of the pdf file that shows up in the window at Thai Immigration website page announcing the new rules:  https://www.immigration.go.th/read?content_id=5d9c3b074d8a8f318362a8aa&fbclid=IwAR39UI_zBxVLedZKgZeAeYnvb0yyyIsr6SHPhnq64ohzACO7VsLUU_LlGn0)

For those already in Thailand in the first group that will be applying for an extension of their one year permitted stay or those that have done so already and continue to renew their extension of stay that was originally based on the Non-Immigrant O-A Visa, the Immigration Bureau has changed the provisions of Paragraph 2.22 of the current Police Order governing the granting of extensions of stay - in the link above, scroll down past the Thai version to the start of the English version which shows the change - extract follows:

 

Quote

Criteria for Consideration of Granting an Alien's Extension of Stay in the Kingdom Attachment to the Order of the Royal Thai Police no. 548 /2562 dated September 27, 2019

 

 

 

Column: Reason of necessity

 

2.22 In case of retirement

(1) Each permission shall be granted for no more than 1 year.

(2) An alien, who has been granted Non-Immigrant Visa Class 0-A according to the Criterion 6, will be permitted to stay for a period of insurance and coverage. Each permission shall be granted for no more than 1 year.

Column: Criteria for consideration

 

(6)       Only for an alien, who has been granted Non-Immigrant Visa Class 0-A, must buy a Thai health insurance online, which covers the length of stay in the Kingdom with no less than 40,000 baht coverage for outpatient treatment and no less than 400,000 baht for inpatient, via the website longstay.tgia.org.  (Emphasis Added)

 

[Health insurance mandatory for retirees]

18 hours ago, DivineMadman said:

just to clarify - this new rule applies only to Non Immigrant O-A visas -- which are obtained outside of Thailand at the home embassy.  (It is a one-year multi-entry visa that permits one year stays in the beloved Kingdom, so in theory one could stay almost two years on the Non Imm O-A if you leave and renter and get a new one-year permission to stay shortly before the expiration of the visa.)  

This particular new insurance requirement does not apply for people on an "extension of stay" -- often called the "retirement visa."  

 

To further clarify, the Non-Immigrant Visa, Category "O-A" information is correct, it is obtained in country of residence, which for most will be their home country but is available in other countries only if they are considered by that country to be a legal resident.  Both the "O-A" and "O-X" Visas are for retirees to meet the requirements for retiring in Thailand (be 50 years of age or older & have required financial resources).  A health insurance requirement has been in effect for some time for the Non-Immigrant Visa Category "O-X" (sometimes called a 10 year visa).   All other categories for a Non-Immigrant Visa do not require the person have health insurance, e.g., Category "O", Category "B", Category "Ed", etc.  My following comments do not relate to the O-X Visa as it is rather unique, has always had a health insurance from a Thai company, and probably held by only a few.

Most O-A Visas are valid for entry for one year from date of issue (Enter by date shown on Visa) and are Multiple Entry ("M" designation on the Visa), meaning the holder can leave & return to Thailand during the validity period of the Visa and each time they enter, they until the new rules, receive a one-year permission to stay, e.g., if Visa expires on November 30, 2019 and the holder enters or reenters Thailand on November 29, 2019, they will be permitted to stay until November 28, 2020.   However, under the new rules, they will need to show they have health insurance coverage of at least 400,000 baht inpatient and 40,000 baht outpatient - the insurance can be from a non-Thai company acceptable to the Thai Embassy/Consulate where the application is being made. Apparently (this is still new and not effective til the end of this month) based on the information posted on the Thai Immigration Website, there will be an annotation on the Visa (or in passport next to Visa stamp) on the period of health insurance.  Upon entry into Thailand, initial or subsequent, the permission to stay will be until the expiration date of the health insurance unless proof is shown that a new policy is in effect that will continue to cover for the full year normally granted.

A permission to stay in Thailand is based on the type of entry, Visa Exempt (30 days), Tourist Visa (60 days), or Non-Immigrant Visa (90 days- except for O-A and O-X).  One can apply at Thai Immigration to extend the period of permitted stay (note, this is an extension of the permission to stay, not the Visa validity period).  In the case of Visa Exempt or Tourist Visa, the extension of stay can be granted one time for 30 days.  For Non-Immigrant Visas, the extension may vary depending on the Visa Category and purpose of the extension.  Immigration has published rules on how long the stay may a particular purpose, most being up to one-year.  One of these purposes can be for retirement - usually based on a Category O Visa. 

The new rules governing the granting of extensions for the purpose of retirement have been amended with an effective date of October 31, 2019. They added a new requirement for health insurance BUT IT ONLY APPLIES to those that were granted a permission to stay based on having a Non-Immigrant O-A Visa.  Thus it DOES NOT APPLY to the permission of stay granted to holders of other categories of Non-Immigrant Visas such as "O" who apply for an extension of stay even though it is also for retirement.

That said, there is currently a lot of speculation and inaccurate or incomplete information being bandied about in the press and on various message boards. The above information is based on official rules or announcements by Thai Immigration or Ministry of Foreign Affairs (governs Embassies & Consulates).  Many press articles are based on pronouncements by officials with the Ministry of Public Health, who although the prime instigators for the new requirement, are often ignorant of Immigration and Visa requirements and, IMO, should not be relied on unless backed up by rules/requirements of Immigration or Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

 

[The Arabs are walking home tonight]

Looks like the boys in brown along with Immigration police made a return visit - from Bangkok Post today: http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1282766/foreign-bike-racers-arrested-in-south-pattaya

 

34 arrests - some fined, some taken to Immigration until they could produce their passports to show they were not on overstay -- if on overstay, most likely they will wind up at Bangkok Immigration Detention Center until they can be deported.

[New rules for tourist visas?]

There are too many farangs overstaying in Thailand. So that's why they have tightened the rules.

 

You can get another month extension but you have to pay around 1000 to 2000 baht.

 

Another way is to exit by bus to a neighbouring country (Malaysia, Burma, Laos) and come back again but that will only give you 15 days.

If you are from a G-7 country, you will get 30 day permission to stay at a land border - http://www.consular.go.th/main/th/customize/62281-Summary-of-Countries-and-Territories-entitled-for.html. The G-7 countries are: USA, UK, Canada, Italy, France, Germany, & Japan.  Applications for extension of stay is 1,900 baht.

[Ear Syringe]

Yes, you can buy an ear syringe in Pattaya at any Fascion Pharmacy. Come in various sizes.

 There is a Fascion on South Pattaya Rd across from Wat Chai.

Fascino is the largest pharmacy in Pattaya with several locations - the main location is on North Road.

[i have met a kind and nice young thai guy]

 

My first partner was the former and my second, and still current partner the latter but please note that it takes time, in my case two years of holiday visits with the first lad to get beyond my lust and see his true personality.

 

Take it slowly, remember your Thai lad has feelings too, and before you commit any sizeable funds live with him for a least six months in either Australia or Thailand

 

Good advice from Traveller 123.  I have some friends here that had similar experiences. Take time to evaluate your relationship by living together - your 6 month time frame appears realistic.  You don't mention whether he is a sex worker or not - if he is, then be cautious as many of those relationships, but not all, don't work out.

 

In my case, I visited here for about 6 years before I found my partner - he was not from the bars, but perhaps could be considered on the fringe as he worked as a waiter in the coffee shop of a gay hotel. There was a 26 year difference in age, but it didn't seem to matter to him.

 

After we met, we corresponded (this was before email & mobile phones were so common) and I started visiting twice a year instead of once to be with him. We kept up this long distance relationship for 10 years until I retired. Then I came here to be with him full time - but realized that things might not work out because living together on a full time basis instead of a couple of weeks twice a year can be quite different.  It did work out. Although as with any relationship, we encountered a few bumps, but we maintained the relationship and have now been living together for 14 years. 

 

So, it is possible to find the right guy, but IMO the chemistry between the two has to be there or it will not work out.

[First post...!]

For most cultural events in Bangkok - visit https://sites.google.com/site/bkkmacaldetails/home

 

Mahidol University has a College of Music - many concerts throughout the year -

Visit for website event calendar   http://www.music.mahidol.ac.th/concertevent-calendar/                                           

Click on About Us on main website and select map & direction for location and directions to the Salaya Campus.

 

 

[Best Bank in Thailand]

I have used Bangkok Bank for more than 13 years and have been happy with their service - but for me, my ability to transfer funds from USA bank to my Bangkok Bank account  using their NY Branch Automated Clearing House (ACH) number is a plus (the NY Branch is not a retail bank and does not offer accounts - when sending funds, it is routed from my bank via ACH to NY Branch who in turn transfers it to my Bangkok Bank Account in dollars - Bangkok Bank here in Thailand does the conversion to Thai baht - fees involved are minimal - NY Branch charges a varying rate, but most transactions would most likely fall within the US$10 rate - Bangkok Bank charges a conversion fee of .025% with a minimum of 200 baht and maximum of 500 baht).

[Questions re: Car Purchase in Thailand]

I have purchased three new vehicles since I moved here in 2002 - all have been financed and in the bf's name.  After paying off the Honda City, we sold it and bought a new Honda Civic. In both cases the down payment required was about 40%.  After it was paid off, the bf finally took lessons and got his license - knowing that two of trying to share the same vehicle would not be a good idea, we bought a new double cab Mitsubishi pickup.  The down payment on that vehicle was 25%. All three loans were with the same bank - Tisco (they were a finance company when we bought the first vehicle, then became a bank).  Putting it in the bf's name made the financing easier as most banks want you to have a work permit before loaning money -- However, I think it was Ford that had their own financing and would loan to a foreigner.  I primarily drive the pick up and the bf the car.  While I agree with GB about the car being easier on narrow sois and for parking, I find I do like being higher up in the pick up giving better visibility - likewise, the side mirrors are much larger and give me a better view of other vehicles.

 

 

GB commented:

Make sure to get the first class insurance which fully covers you and any other licensed driver who drives the car - zero deductible and total coverage, no matter who is at fault.  That definitely comes in handy if there is an accident with an uninsured vehicle.  If you've had no claims during the year, the rate usually goes down.

 

  I totally agree, but for me one of the main things was it having 200k bail bond included - if you have an accident and someone is killed or very seriously injured, the police, if they consider you at fault, can charge you with negligence. In such cases the bail for foreigners is usually 200k and for Thais 100k.  My Civic is now 8 years old and the premium is around 15k per year - the pickup started at 20k, but since no claims, it has gone down each year with my latest premium being around 17k for 4th year.

 

GB commented:

Many cars come with built-in GPS now.  They are quite sophisticated.  You can easily switch between English and Thai displays and voice direction.

I recall reading somewhere that having the built-in GPS can turn out to be expensive as the dealers charge a hefty fee to update the maps.  I used to have a Garmin GPS and the map updates were 7k.  However, Garmin offered an introductory price of about $30 for a Thai App for the iPhone with no additional cost for map updates. Since my maps were out of date on my Garmin GPS, I opted for the App - works just like the Garmin unit. I have found it to be very good.

 

 

 

["Old days" nostalgia.]

Although not a very close friend with Allen, he was more than just an acquaintance.  I agree with GB - I think Allen would be pleased with Moses recovering posts from his Board.

[Further crackdowns in Pattaya]

According to the news articles I have read, this was a direct result of a lady beach chair vendor on Wong Amat beach chasing off some foreigners who placed their mats on the beach near her chairs. A neighboring chair vendor took a video picture at the time and because he later had a falling out with the lady, he posted the video on You Tube.  The articles note the lady vendor was fined 1,000 baht and that none of the chair vendors on Wong Amat are licensed; thus because of the video negatively impacted on tourism in Thailand, the Authorities kicked all the chair vendors off Wong Amat beach.

[Alternatives to EZTV.IT]

Thanks

 

Can you walk me through the Download.  I always downloaded to Utorrent.  With Kickass I have no idea what to do??

 

It works similar EZTV - click on the link - unlike EZTV, you will get a listing by categories, Movies, TV, music, etc.   This listings that first come up are the top seeded - if you are looking for tV, then click on TV shows Torrents.  The listing will show only TV shows - again sorted by number of seeds.  By clicking on name, or size, or age - it will resort the listing by whichever you select.

 

The thing I don't like about kick ass compared to EZTV is that you can have multiple listings for the same show (season & episode) - I usually select the one with the most seeds with smallest size (the larger sizes tend to be higher resolution, but take up more space on my drive and longer time to download).

 

Click on the name to see info and download - I usually open in new tab. The page that comes up will have more information on the show.  To download, click on the top download button just below seeder/leecher information - this is the one that will use the torrent engine you are using -- in my case, I also use utorrent. Once downloaded, click on the item in the folder where you keep downloads (or, in my case, Firefox shows a green arrow icon at top that I click on and it shows any downloads I have done with the top one listed being the latest - I click on that to activate the file as it is easier than going to the folder.

 

Your utorrent engine panel should show up and you can start the download as you normally did when getting torrent from EZTV.

 

If you want to search for a particular show or movie, use the search feature at the very top of the first page that came up with the listings - I find that very handy when looking for an old movie.  Once your search results comes up - it will list movies, tv shows, games, music, etc  - if it is a tv show you are specifically looking for, there will be buttons at top/right side that shows how many files of each type came up -- click on tv and it will exclude the other categories from the list.

 

Hope this helps..

[Alternatives to EZTV.IT]

I just posted this on another Board:

 

Re: Torrents

Postby 2lz2p » Wed Dec 10, 2014 12:39 pm

 

Yes,
According to news, they along with Pirate Bay and some other torrent sites including EZTV were raided by Swedish police and their severs & equipment seized. See   https://torrentfreak.com/swedish-police-raid-the-pirate-bay-site-offline-141209/

Kick Ass torrents still online - https://kickass.so/


 

[Injuries in Thailand]

I had a long standing problem with the big toe and finally arranged to get it Xrayed . They told me it was arthritis and as it was localized it could be removed by injection. That was 3 months ago. I have some inconvenience , not great . Not sure what happens to the replacement of the area displaced by the injection.

 

I'm pretty sure what I have is Gout. It happened overnight and I did not do anything physical to make it happen.

 

I have had in on and off in my Big Toe but never really a problem but I have friends that have had it spread to ankles and even knees. It seemed to be getting better but then I went walking and its back again.

 

If no better by MONDAy I will have to go to BKK Pattaya . Not really much they can do except give me better pain meds then I have. It will pass and I am eating dairy products and juices and lots of water.

 

No red meats or wheat etc . Just a buildup in the blood which has to clean itself out .

 

A few years ago, I had a very painful big toe - I thought gout and saw an Orthopedist at BHP who diagnosed it as a skin infection and prescribed pain pills and antibiotic and to come back if not okay when antibiotics finished (7 days); but I went back to see Dr. Anna in Dermatology - she agreed it was a skin infection and continued the antibiotic -- 3 more times over a few months, it recurred and she determined a fungal infection of the toe nail was allowing bacteria to get under the nail and cause the infection. She took care of that, but it took 8 months of antifungal medication to finally get a new toenail grown.  Then, I had pain in the other big toe - but very painful - not red like the skin infection, so I went to Orthopedist again -- this time it was gout.  He prescribed two medicines to lower the uric acid (cause of gout) and offered either an injection for immediate relief of pain with pain pills to follow or just the pain pills - at the time of the offer, pain was shooting through the toe - so I definitely opted for the injection first - immediate relief.

 

A few months later while being treated by Dr. Apachai in internal medicine for a bladder infection, I recognized the beginning of gout returning to the toe and asked Dr. Apachai to test Uric acid - it was high and he prescribed the same two medicines the Orthopedist had prescribed and expressed surprise that he had not advised that I continue to take it as a preventative.  Since I get most of my "maintenance" medicines prescribed by my Cardiologist, I had him add those two medicines to my regular 90 day supply.  I haven't had any recurrence of the gout since then.

 

As to health insurance in Thailand, the Pattaya City Expat Club (PCEC) has a group policy available for members - the broker handling it is Khun Neng and the Insurance Company is AXA - because it is a group policy, the premiums are a bit lower than individual health insurance, but policy limits are lower than some may wish to have, but on the other hand better than not having health insurance. As with all Thai Insurance policies, it excludes pre-existing conditions. There are also age restrictions under 65 to join and continues to age 75 - http://www.pattayacityexpatsclub.com/expats/docs/GROUP_%20HEALTH_%20INSURANCE.pdf . But, there have been recent changes on age limits which will be updated soon - these are included in an announcement in the latest PCEC Newsletter:

 

CHANGE TO HIGHER AGE LIMIT FOR ELIGIBILITY FOR THE CLUB’S HEALTH INSURANCE

Khun Neng advises that he can now enroll members who from 66 to 70 years of age for a slightly higher premium. For Plan 1, the first year premium will be 33,626 Baht. If there is no claim that first year, the renewal premium will be the same as for all enrollees – currently 29,320 Baht per year. Under the Group policy, you can renew up to age 75. Once you are 76, you can carry on with an individual policy till at least age 80 and higher but with conditions. For more information, see Khun Neng at the Sunday meeting (he is usually there by 11:30am.

 

This is mentioned as one possibility to consider as IMO, it is up to each person to decide what is best for them.

 

Also, as mentioned, some of the Banks offer accident insurance - but, you may find a better policy with lower price from a broker - in my case, I use Khun Neng for an accident policy for my Thai partner - it is with AXA Insurance for up to 1,000,000 Baht coverage for 2,941 Baht premium for one year coverage. 

[FATCA Compliance at SCB for US citizens]

I see that Thailand is on the list of countries which expressed an intention to sign intergovernment agreement (thank you, junta!).

That probably makes previous registrations of Thai banks redundant and hopefully will make the whole process smoother.

 

Based on some articles in Bangkok Post in early part of the year, Thailand was in process of entering into a intergovernmental agreement to provide the information; but noted Parliament would need to enact/change the Thai Law to allow disclosure.  Then came the Bangkok demonstrations, dissolving of Parliament, and then the coup.  Consequently, no change in the law and no signing of an Agreement.

 

FACTA provides for either intergovernmental agreements OR individual agreements with the financial institutions.  Several Thai Banks have entered into individual agreements.   Here is thread on another Board with links to list of Thai Banks that have signed individual agreements: http://www.gaybuttonthai.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6557

[Single Men Targeted Upon Exit from USA]

The only time I saw anything similar was several years ago when I was departing Dallas Fort Worth for a direct flight to Japan connecting there for Bangkok - there were a couple of Customs officers (back then they were part of Treasury, now they are part of Homeland Security) watching as people boarded, selecting some to step aside and questioning them about the amount of currency or monetary instruments they had on them - they also were looking through handbags and carry on bags of the people being questioned.  I was not one of them -- hmmmm, come to think about it, they were only stopping South Asian and Asian folks - I'm sure it wasn't racial profiling .

 

 

 

[Moving to Thailand?]

When I moved here in 2002, there was a provision for getting a Non Immigrant "O" Visa (90 day permission to stay) and the stay could be extended up to one year and renewed annually if you had 3million Baht invested in a Condo - but this was done away with several years ago.

 

For someone under 50 and not married to a Thai, most get a Non-Immigrant "ED" Visa (90 day permission to stay) and the stay can be extended up to one year - in the case of studying Thai language, most Immigration offices now only grant 90 day extensions each time - fee is 1,900 Baht for each application for extension - also, you usually have to have paperwork from the school to give to the Thai Embassy/Consulate to obtain the "ED" Visa. Asian University near Pattaya offers many courses which are taught in English - if attending a university,  depending on course of study, extensions may be granted up to one year. In case of interest, here is link to Asian University website:  http://www.asianust.ac.th/index.html

 

 Others use back to back Tourist Visas (60 day permission to stay that can be extended for another 30 days) leaving when their permission to stay expires and getting another Tourist Visa in a neighboring country - however, if you follow visa issues on www.thaivisa.com, many of the Embassies/Consulates may stop granting new visas if they think you have had too many  back to back Tourist Visas   OR get visa exempt entries (30 day stay at airport or 15 days at land border - except passport holders since last November of the Group of 7 countries can get 30 days at land border).  Visa exempt requires frequent border runs.

 

I have been trying to follow any articles regarding same sex marriage/partnership in Thailand. My interest in the subject is because it would be great if I and my Thai partner of over 20 years could get legal recognition of our relationship. There has been a push in the past year or two for Parliament of legalize same sex domestic partnerships -- there were some public comment sessions going around the country and supporters were hoping to get a law within a few years - BUT, currently Parliament is dissolved and with the political situation the way it is, who knows when there may be elections.

 

As to foreign spouses of Thai citizens, yes they can get a Non-Immigrant "O" Visa (90 day permission to stay) and have it extended to one year with annual renewals -- if foreign spouse is male, there is a financial requirement, i.e., 400,000 Baht in Thai bank or 40,000 Baht monthly income.  Also, foreign spouses of foreigners with long stay retirement extensions can "piggy back" on their spouse's extension without also having to meet the retirement financial requirements (800,000 Baht in Thai bank or 60,000 Baht in monthly income or a combination of both). Unfortunately, until Thailand adopts same sex marriage, that avenue is not open to gay couples -- I also seem to recall in the articles about legalizing domestic partnerships, that the proposed law would apply only to Thai/Thai and to Thai/foreigner partnership - but not to foreigner/foreigner relationship.

 

The Pattaya City Expats Club has a fairly informative section on their website regarding Thai visas and immigration requirements - for entry into to Thailand as well as the most common reasons that long term extensions will be granted (retirement, education, marriage, and business) - they also have a link to an English translation of the Thai Immigration Police Order that lists all the reason upon which Thai Immigration can grant extensions of stay.  Website link for PCEC:

http://www.pattayacityexpatsclub.com/expats/visa.html

 

As for original posters situation - I would suggest that both get Tourist visas from Thai Embassy for initial entry into Thailand - that gives 60 day stay with another 30 days if they want it. Or the person that qualifies for retirement could apply for a Non-Immigrant "O" Visa and get a 90 day permission to stay, which can then be extended for a year at Thai Immigration.  This would give time to look around, decide where they may want to set housekeeping, explore educational institutions if they decide the "ED" is best route to go -- selecting the educational institution and getting the necessary paperwork will then require the original poster to take a one or two night visit to a neighboring country to get the Non-Immigrant "ED" Visa.  If the retiree partner gets a Tourist Visa instead of the Non-Immigrant "O", they can convert it to a Non-Immigrant "O" Visa without having to leave Thailand (fee is 2,000 Baht) and then apply for a one year extension (fee 1,900 Baht) - in Bangkok, according to postings on Thaivisa.com, they issue the Non-Immigrant "O" Visa and have you come back 60 days later for the extension. In Pattaya, they do it all in the same day - issue the Non-Immigrant "O" Visa, put in 90 day permission to stay stamp, then immediately thereafter process the application for extension and put in a stamp adding on another 365 days to the permission of stay.

 

 

[Burapha University Area Information Request]

I have been to Bang Saen a few times and from what I have seen, would not mind living there - beach area is much nicer than Pattaya - wide road along the beach - room to walk (no motorcy/car rental vehicles clogging up the road - shops and restaurants back from the road (and front is not cluttered with stalls selling tourist stuff).  During the week, it is relatively quiet but can be busy on weekends as many Thai from Bangkok and elsewhere like to visit Bang Saen beach.  There is a large restaurant out over the water at the north end that I always stop at - great seafood at reasonable price.

Burapha University also hosts a nice aquarium and museum.

 

Sriracha is about 40 minutes up Highway 3 from Pattaya - Bang Saen is maybe 10 or 15 minutes further north.  Sriracha has a Central Dept Store and other shopping plus many restaurants and a nice island to visit its beach. Also, there are 2 or 3 hospitals in Sriracha, with Phayathai getting good reviews for quality of care and having lower prices than Bangkok Hospital Pattaya (doctors speak English, but not all nursing staff/orderlies do - but, their International Marketing Executive is a Scotsman who can assist with making appointments and recommending doctors).

 

For places to rent, it appears doing a Google search that there is some places available in Bang Saen and much more in Sriracha.  The following links can give some idea:

http://wikitravel.org/en/Bang_Saen

http://123-thai.com/vacation-rental/rent-property-in-bang-saen/

http://www.bangsaenrealestate.com/rent.html

 

My partner's niece went to Burapha University - we gave her a ride back to the campus once - it was a large campus with many buildings - very nice looking. I visited the aquarium a couple of times over the past 10 years - not as elaborate as water world in Pattaya, but much less expensive (farang price as I recall is 100 Baht and Thai price is 30 Baht -- if you have Thai driving license, you may be able to get the Thai price - last time I was there, we were in a large group from Pattaya City Expats Club with both farang and Thais in the group - we all were admitted at the Thai price.

 

 

[Will Health Care Act Require Expats to Have Insurance?]

2lz2p

 

I find it amazing you can waive out of paying for Part B...

and still receive full insurance benefits.

 

I know of no retiree - age 65+ health plan which allows this.

 

tj

 

As I mentioned, if on Medicare, it becomes supplemental insurance - it is not a Medicare Advantage Plan.  The FEP program is unique - the BCBS FEP program as I mentioned does not require Part B coverage; nor does it tie drug coverage to any Medicare coverage. The drug coverage remains the same whether on Medicare or not.  Another aspect of the FEP program is that the insurer is not the final decider on whether a claim is or is not covered. If the insurer denies a claim, you have the right to ask for reconsideration - if they still deny it, or do not make a decision within 30 days of submitting any additional documentation, you have 60 days to file an appeal with the Office of Personnel Management, who will make the final determination.

 

Only once, about 3 years ago, I had a problem when they denied one inpatient claim (back then I was paying and filing reimbursement on inpatient claims) and 4 outpatient claims - they had all been submitted at the same time (I had got behind on filing claims while undergoing outpatient radiation treatment in Bangkok - I had arranged in advance with overseas assistance unit to get a letter of guarantee for the radiation treatment as the total cost was about US$18,000 and was over a 7 week period.

 

When I inquired about why they needed more documentation as I had submitted the same as I had been submitting for the 8 years I had lived in Thailand, the customer rep told me that because the claims coming in at the same time had hit a threshold that caused them to go to a special unit for review.

 

I will not bore you with details, but after submitting additional documentation, the 30 days passed and I didn't have a decision one way or the other - I then informed them that I wanted a decision within 7 days or I was filing an appeal with OPM - did that do any good? Maybe as all the claims were approved and paid within the next 5 days.  Since then, for inpatient care, I have arranged for direct billing - all approved and paid direct to Bangkok Hospital Pattaya.  Also, no future problems with my outpatient claims - I fax in the claim form and documents and it is usually approved and paid with 2 to 3 weeks.

[Will Health Care Act Require Expats to Have Insurance?]

Yes, it appears to be a good plan for my purposes. I believe 2lz2p has a similar plan and he unlike me was a former government employee. Like I said the plan is cheap comparatively speaking. The plan actually makes money off me when I am in USA which should offset their costs if I file a claim overseas. With high deductibles sometimes these plans are called catastrophic coverage.

 

US Gov't employees receive their health insurance through the Federal Employee Plan (FEP) - The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) administers the FEP - there are several insurance companies in the program - you can switch between them during November Open Season - no issue regarding pre-existing conditions.  I am in the BC/BS FEP plan which carried over into retirement. It does cover me outside the USA - in fact they have a special Overseas Claims Section to process claims. They also contract with a company to provide "overseas assistance" in locating providers and dealing with hospitals directly on behalf of the insurer (I usually pay my outpatient claims and file for reimbursement, which is 85% - also applies to drugs if they require a doctor's prescription if you obtained them in USA. - for inpatient care, Bangkok Hospital Pattaya contacts them, receives a letter of guarantee, and files the claim direct).  

 

Since I am now on Medicare Part A (I turned down Part B), BC/BS FEP acts as a supplemental insurer - if in USA, I would first have to file claim under Medicare and they would pick up what Medicare didn't pay - but, in Thailand, Medicare pays nothing, so as mentioned, they pick up the tab - prior to going on Medicare, I had a $250 co-pay for each in patient admission - now that they act as a supplemental insurance, there is no co-pay and they pick up 100%. For outpatient care and since I am not on Part B, they continue to pay under the same provisions as they always have - the only change when I became Medicare eligible is that by law they use Medicare's reasonable cost schedule instead of their own -- but, considering how much lower is the cost of healthcare here compared to USA, I doubt any costs incurred here would exceed the Medicare limits.

 

 

So, as Up2U mentioned, I am very fortunate in having this coverage. Also, I don't anticipate much in the way of any change in their providing coverage outside the USA when you consider the number of civilian employees the US Government has stationed in countries around the world that need health care coverage.

[Proof of Medical Insurance proposed for Retirement Visas & more...]

tj,

 

Thx for the Bangkok Post Link, I did in fact read the article but when it said 'all Thais' which was missing from your post, I then lost interest. I believe emergency medical services for tourists and expats would come under some good Samaritan provision of the UN or international accord.

 

It is my understanding, the free emergency care does not apply to all Thais - only those that are members of one of 3 health care schemes - one is the Social Security health care, another is Government Employees, and the third is those signed up for what is often referred to as the "30 Baht Scheme". 

 

After taking my Thai partner to Queen Sirikit's emergency room a few months ago, he was admitted, had surgery (through an endoscopic tube), blood transfusions, and lots of medicines. He was there for 6 nights.  I had previously seen some articles about the "free emergency care," but thought that would cover emergency room treatment with any subsequent inpatient treatment (surgery, tests, medicines, etc.) to be paid for.  But, there was no charge for any of his treatment - they obtained a photocopy of his medical card (30 Baht Scheme which he signed up for at a Government Hospital in his home province a few years ago) and that was it.