Sheryl

It is not that he was an NHS employee. All UK citizens are covered by the NHS which is s national healy system not an Empl9yer plan. But it does not cover health care costs abroad. The sort of cover that @Ben Zioner has is unavailable to majority of people. Including the OP.

I don't see how they could at initial application since application would be made from outside Thailand. But like all the new visa changes, need to wait for all the details.

There are some offerings in the islands which you will readily find on Google, mostly led by Westerners whoi may or may nto have any formal training. Caveat Emptor. Most meditation in Thailand is related to Buddhist traditions, which Yoga Nidra is not. There is a center teaching Vipassana Meditation in Khon Kaen https://suvanna.dhamma.org/ But read the Code of Discipline carefully and consider whether you would be able to follow it, especially the no talking and staying within the center for a full 10 days. Note that you will be required to sit in meditation for most of the day from early morning to night, an hour at a time with just brief breaks in between. If you are unsure of your ability to do that, do not apply. If you do apply, be frank about your condition and list the medication you are on. Do not stop any prescribed medication while in the retreat. You might also be able to find a Buddhist temple nearby teaching simple "Samadhi" meditation, ask around. There are undoubtly a number but the catch will be finding oen with an English speaking monk. Samadi is actually used as opening technique for Vipassana but is less taxing than actual Viopassana so might be a good place to start.

It depends on the doctor's schedule, some only have hours 1-2 times a week, some daily. It won't be a month long wait but it could be up to a week, it all depends. i would suggest to set up appointments in advance. Surgery can usually be done pretty soon although a day or two is pushing it - you will need some pre-op labs for example. But good chance to get the surgery within a week of the consutlation.

No. L-A is a specific type of visa for migrant workers from neighbouring countries. Presumably what are now non-O, non O-A and non-O-X visas visas will come under 5, Other. What is unclear is what effect this may have in terms of say health insurance requirements which are currently limited to O-A and O-X. Also presumably O visas on basis of marriage and dependency will also come under 5, Other. Also I would assume this reclassification will effect issuance of new visas, not extensions of existing non-O visas....? The LTR visa is an altogether different thing and I think not classified as an "o" visa?

I recommend you see Prof. Wicharn at the BNH Hospital Spine Center https://www.bnhhospital.com/search-doctor/entry/4093/ Bring CD of your MRI with you. He will do an Xray there (he has his own special protocol for Xrays). As you might know, this condition is often treated by vertebroplasty which is a minimally invasive technique which injects liquid cement into the bone. For physical therapy. get Prof Wicharn advice before starting it. You might then like to use the BNH hospital PT department or, if not, this stand alone PT place is recommended by many (but bring with you detailed instruction from doctor) https://www.bpcphysio.com/ Prof Wicharn is available only twice a week and in high demand plus he often travels abroad so book early to see him.

But there is a 5 year moratorium on anything else. A significant problem IMO. I now need an operation that will cost about about 550k baht. It does not qualify as an emergency, but I am in a lot of pain and will be in even more is I don't get it, and also might eventually develop an emergency condition (and even suffer loss of function) if it is not dealt with proactively. What I need is not available through public hospitals, either. If I had taken out this insurance less than 5 years ago, it would not cover me, and this would be quite a problem/cut a serious dent in my funds. I had no way of predicting this 4-5 years back, either. So one is taking a chance getting a policy with such a long Moratorium. Maybe it won't matter, but maybe it will.

Health care in Thailand is hardly cheap. Private hospitals especially, are now on par with the UK and other western countries in price. A single hospitalization (if for a major/complicated condition requiring ICU care etc) can easily reach 3-4 million baht in a private hospital and 1 million+ in a government hospital. in fact some international insurers, based on current costs, are now grouping Thailand in a zone that includes much of western Europe.

In other words there is a 5 year moratorium period.

Agree but often no need to actually say much of anything. Just make eye contact and sort of gesture "where?" (Or indicate a place you want and glance at them to see if OK.) Don't try to be sit in a part of the restaurant that looks like it might be closed without first checking with the staff. Making eye contact on entry also helps get you served more quickly.

Easy to say now. Not so easy to deal with when it happens. It is often not a question of just "going". It is more often a question of quality of life. Living in pain or not. Going blind or losing the ability to walk, or not. Etc etc. If you might not have enough for something serious, then you are not in fact self-insured. You are (very) under-insured.

I Referred to how many days visa exempt Lao and Cambodian citizens currently get when entering Thailand. Nothing to do with cost of people going to Laos or Cambodia. The topic is changes to visa requirements for entrance into Thailand

From prior post this is a group policy for UN employees and ex-employees. Excellent luck for that group of people but not an open option that anyone can get. Some governments provide something similar to their employees, and retirees, some do not. With those who do, one usually has to have met criteria for retirement (X number of years worked, worked until age X etc) to be able to keep the cover for life. For most of us, the only options are individual private insurance or self-insuring. Neither is cheap and there is no way to predict which will turn out to cost less for a specific individual in the long run. Past and current health are not reliable predictors especially as we age. Private individual policies will feature premiums that go up significantly as you age, especially once past 60-65, no exceptions. (The likelihood that you will use the insurance also greatly increases as you age). Self-insuring as already discussed requires significant funds right from the onset* and some way of replenishing them as used. * the "just bank what you would have spent on premiums" idea is deeply flawed as it assumes no major health expenses until X years have passed. That is never guaranteed, and is especially unlikely for people who are older. To effectively self-insure you need capital you can set aside from day one. It is important to understand how health insurance works. Some seem to mistake it for a savings plan and think they should expect to get back in coverage something at least equal to they have paid in over time, and if they don't then it is a "scam". That would be a savings scheme not insurance. In any effectively run health insurance, the majority of people will end up having paid more in premiums than they get back in paid benefits, and a minority will get benefits worth more than hhey paid in premiums -- in some cases vastly more. Group A in effect subsidizes group B. The model works because people having no way of knowing which group they'll end up in over the long run, so are willing to risk having paid out more for the security of knowing they"ll always be able to get health care without depleting their assets. Incidentally the same is true for the NHS which is in no way "free", if is paid for in taxes (including VAT as well as income taxes, capital gains tax death duties etc . Absorbs nearly a fifth of all UK government revenue) and most people will pay more than they receive in benefits while others get far more in benefits than they paid for. There are of course important differences in when and how people pay and how the payment burden is spread out among people but this basic principal still holds.

I could provide some suggestions as to specific policies if you provided information on your state of health and prior surgeries/hospitalizations/regular medications. Options for newly enrolling are limited at your age but depending on the aforementioned details, there may be some options. HOWEVER, all are likely to cost about what you were paying when you dropped your prior insurance, if not more. Over the age of 70, even with a 2,000 excess, a decent policy is likely to cost 4,000+ a year. It does not matter whether you personally have had claims, it matters what the average pay out for insured persons your age is. That is how insurance works. (Also, past history of claims is not a very good predictor of the future especially for older people. Quite normal to have no hospitalizations / significant problems up to that age and then to start having them frequently...sooner or later). If you opt to "self insure" make sure you have readily available at 3-5 million baht (1-3 million is willing to use only government hospitals) and a means to replenish it as used. Most people here who say they are "self insured" are in fact uninsured, or under-insured. Sooner or later this because a major problem.

In both the private and public systems, you can go direct to a specialist. (For foreigners, that is. Since, unless they are under Thai Social Security they have to pay full price in public system. Thais covered under the government "universal" system can go direct to some specialists but will be need a referral from a more general doctor for others in order to be covered .) GP care is weak in Thailand. There are virtually none who function the way UK GPs do, and (unfortunately) few that are very good. If you indicate where you are located, I can advise on this more specific to your location. In general Thai medical care is very specialized. It is also, definitely, hospital based and most outpatient services are provided in hospital outpatient clinics.better on that. With the notable exceptions of Chiang Mai and (to a lesser extent) Pattaya, stand-alone clinics are rare and best avoided except for things like simple medical certificate. Appointments can be made at private hospitals online and by phone. You can also just show up but, except in emergency situations, this is inadvisable - you will be directed to whatever doctor is least busy, and that is not a good sign; you may also be directed to the wrong type of specialist. Unless economically forced to use the public channel in a government hospital (in which case you have no choice on who you see, and most encounters will be with doctors in training) ,you should always do advance research and choose a specific doctor yourself. This can admittedly be hard in cases where you don't know what type of specialty you need. Feel free to post inqueries in this forum but be sure to specify your location when you do. Online appointment can also be made at the "after hours" clinics of some of the major government university hospitals . If wanting to instead use the public channel, you have to show up in person, as early as possible (queue sometimes fills up by as early as 8 AM, though it depends on the hospital). Should note that most medications requiring a doctor prescription in the UK are sold over the counter in Thailand (narcotics, tranquilizers and steroids being an exception) and pharmacists often double as a sort of GP. How well they do that varies greatly and many of the people behind pharmacy counters are not actually trained pharmacist. On the other hand, "real" fully qualified pharmacists can be quite good. For pharmacy recommendations, please check or post in this forum, again being sure to specify your location. There is therefore no need to see a doctor for a simple headache and the like unless you are concerned there is something more serious going on (in which case for headache you'd see a neurologist). Another important difference between health care here and under the UK NHS is that it is much, much, much less standardized. The UK NHS is a type of "managed care" system with very detailed, cookbook-typed steps and protocols for just about everything. The result is that any 2 doctors, if even basically competent, will treat a problem pretty much the same way. (Even if they think you need something else, they will often be unable or afraid to deviate in any way from protocol). Not at all the case in Thailand, making the choice of specific doctor particularly important. Even in the public channel of government hospitals, there is considerable variability in what different doctors will do at the same hospital, and there is complete latitude in the private hospitals for a doctor to use their own personal judgement. A big mistake foreigners often make is to think that the care they got from one doctor at a hospital is what that hospital, as an institution, does and that any other doctor there will do the same. Not at all true. Treatment will vary considerable by doctor. So may cost as, in private hospitals, doctors set their own fees.