soisanuk

That is what I do. Stock up with bottled water (I wouldn't dare drink tap water and neither do my Thai friends) and food. I manage to stay occupied with book reading and watching movies and shows on the TV. My Thai companions, of course, go out usually each day to Enjoy! Delivery services are generally available except on the 18th & 19th in Pattaya - especially the 19th - bumper to bumper traffic on all the main roads - and lots of splashing.

Applurinol and Colchocin are the two tablet medications I take and have done so now for many years (originally prescribed by a Dr at Bangkok Hospital Pattaya recommended them as a preventative). And yes, the Dr also recommended eating less chicken - but that was and is my main staple. I also eat beef fairly often. I haven't had gout since taking these medications.

If money transferred was in savings for income or pension earned before Jan 1 2024, then it is not assessable income and no tax filing is required. Another thing you may want to consider is, if your son is of age and has a bank account of his own, you could transfer the money as a "gift" - the threshold is quite high - Gifts to Parents or Children: Gifts valued under THB 20 million per tax year to parents or children are generally exempt from tax. Source: https://www.expattaxthailand.com/gift-tax-2024/

The Pattaya City Expats Club has the following on their Expat Recommended Health Providers web page:

Agree, Pupen's is very good. I do believe they take bookings, but not for weekends including Friday. Also, agree with post regarding Bang Saray - you will need transport, but better atmosphere. The one I have gone to (forget the name) is on a pier out over the water, so a nice view.

It has been a few years ago that I used their Baht Remittance Service. It took about 11 days from the time I sent money from my USA bank to Bangkok Bank's NY Branch and it arriving in my Bangkok Bank account in Thailand. The process: 1 Downloaded the Application which is a pdf form, completed it, and emailed it to the NY Branch along with the Identity page from my passport. [link for doing the download is on their webpage https://www.bangkokbank.com/en/Personal/Other-Services/Transfers/Transferring-Into-Thailand/Foreign-Remittance 2. Using my USA bank on line banking, I ordered a check* payable to the NY Branch and had it sent by snail mail to the NY Branch's address. 3. The NY Branch after depositing the paper check, waited for it to clear. 4. The NY Branch then converted the dollars to baht** and transferred it to my Bangkok Bank account here in Thailand. 5. Although they remitted the money to me based on the emailed application, at the time I used the service, they required the original be sent to them by snail mail and if not sent, they would not not process any future transfers. [In looking at their current information, that appears to no longer be a requirement, but that may have been in info I received confirming approval of the application] * Personal checks mailed to them are not acceptable, but they will accept it as a bank money order if sent by your bank [I confirmed by email with them beforehand that they would accept my USA bank's issued paper check] - see Item 11 under Terms and Conditions which are on the 2nd page of the Application Form. ** They will send US dollars if requested, but according to their website, the fee will be $55 [IMO unnecessary unless being sent to a US Dollar account rather than a baht account - when I did my transfer, unlike US banks, the exchange rate used by the NY Branch was the same as used by their HQ here in Thailand.

When I set up a joint account with my Thai partner at Bangkok Bank several years ago, I was asked if I wanted it to require both of our signatures to withdraw funds or only one by either of us. We chose either one of us and also not to have an ATM card, only the bank book. It is my understanding that even if you have a will designating your beneficiary for all your bank accounts, for them to get access, the executor must still use an attorney to apply to the probate court for an order to be given to the bank allowing access. Since I wasn't sure whether being a joint account that the joint owner would also be barred from taking the funds without the probate court order if I died, I advised my partner to quickly take the bank book to the bank and withdraw the funds before the bank was notified of my death. However, it was my partner that died first - being 26 years older, that was not anticipated. We had needed the funds earlier for something else, so there wasn't much in the account. It was a few months later that I was at the bank and informed them the joint account holder was deceased. They said I had to close the account, they had me withdraw the funds and they closed the account. Nothing was said about needing a court order.

Correct! The NY Branch does have other methods for doing transfers referred to as: - International Automated Clearing House Transfers (IAT) - Baht Remittance Service - Domestic Wire Transfer The Pattaya City Expats Club has a web page describing the change from domestic ACH to IAT and the 3 methods shown above - https://pcec.club/BangkokBankNY. The web page notes the Domestic Wire information is old and that one should check with the NY Branch to determine is they still accept Domestic Wire Transfers.

This is posted on the Pattaya City Expats Club website:

The initial drop down window doesn't show it. You need to scroll down - it is the last item in the "purposes" on the list.

Earlier this year, after renewing my passport, I filed a new TM30 and later did the 90 day report in person. For my next 90 day report, I did it online - no problem. Next month, I am due to file another one which I plan to do using the online system.

Yes, she is in business and has been recommended by several expats. The Pattaya City Expats Club has contact information on their Expat Recommended Businesses page: https://pcec.club/SERVICES

I did my extension renewal at Jomtien in June. I use the income method. Since I didn't keep the passbook up to date, I obtained certified bank statements from which Bangkok Bank branch prepared the usual letter listing all foreign (FTT) deposits during the previous 12 months which in the past was all that was required. However, this time the IO wanted the certified copies of the bank statements in addition to the letter (I had those copies with me and gave them to him). He told me that next time, I needed to keep my passbook up to date so the statements would not be needed. In addition, it is my understanding that if the passbook is kept up to date, the Bank branch will use that to prepare the letter without the need for bank statements.

CareFirst is the Blue Cross Blue Shield FEP organization that handles FEP overseas claims. They have done so for the 20 years I have been living in Thailand. However, they do contract with other companies to handle overseas claims for them. On January 1, 2024 they switched from GMMI to Geo-Blue. GMMI was great as was their predecessor. When GMMI took over, claims processing was a bit slow for the first couple of months, but improved rapidly. Bangkok Hospital Pattaya dealt with them directly for my inpatient care and usually paid their claim within 30 days of receipt. For my outpatient care, I paid the Hospital direct and filed a claim for reimbursement which was usually approved within 3 weeks and money transferred to my Thai bank account within 5 days after that. I have quarterly monitoring visits when my maintenance prescriptions are also filled (90 day supply) that amount to about US$1,200+. For my claim filed in January 2024, Geo-Blue took 2 1/2 months to process and upon approval, another 14 days until the funds were deposited in my Thai bank account. For my claim filed in April, they took 3 months to process and again another 14 days before the payment was deposited in my bank. My latest claim, filed July is still pending, but based on previous performance will also take a long time. Based on my contact with CareFirst about the extreme delay in the April claim, I got a reply that they were aware of the problem and were working on remedying it -- Considering this poor service has been going on for more than 6 months since the change over, I'm having doubts on their ability or willingness to get things corrected.

This morning, about 7am, I initiated a transfer through Wise from my US bank to Bangkok Bank. I received the usual email that money was on its way and should arrive around 2pm today. At 2:02pm I received a text message from Bangkok bank that the money had been deposited to my account.