FACTOR

I'm hoping to go back to the States this summer (as long as Covid doesn't get out of control again) with my son for about 4 weeks.

I need insurance in case of sickness or accidents. I'm 66 years old. My son is 9 years old.

Can anyone recommend a good temporary insurance provider?

Do you know if I can rely on Medicare for any sickness or accidents for myself?

Thank you.

Regarding VPNs (which I know little about), if I use a VPN, the bank's or FI's online system will not detect that I am logging in from outside the USA, right?

I've just joined ACA, to eventually open an account with SDFCU, thanks to Jingthing's and Ujongjoe's input.

Now I'm thinking a VPN might give me an extra layer of ... what's the word, autonomy, anonymity, discretion...? Although I'm not trying to hide anything, just trying to adapt ..., survive?

So any insights, suggestions regarding using a VPN for online banking/brokerage for an overseas American is appreciated.

Thank you.

Jingthing and ujongjoe -- You get first place/s for providing the most useful responses to my original post. Thanks.

ACA is $55 a year for me to join, being over 65 years old.  As you say, they are a good organization to support.

On the other hand, I might look into joining via a consumer organization -- where do you find out about those? Boy, I have been off the beaten path for a while! 

Thanks, Jingthing, for bringing SDFCU to my attention; never heard of them until now. I've just done a bit of reading about them and American Citizens Abroad, who can serve as the organization sponsor to join SDFCU, and will now go into depth researching and make some decisions.  Thanks for the tip.

Thanks. I'll check out US Bank.

So you reside outside of the USA "permanently" and US Bank don't mind that your physical, residential address is in a foreign country? 

Recently I was informed by my US bank -- Wells Fargo -- that I can no longer have accounts with them because I do not reside permanently in the USA, in spite of having a permanent address in the USA. Now I need to find another bank, in the USA, which is "expat friendly". Anybody have similar experience and/or know a US bank that will do business with expat Americans?

Paulaew, Thanks for your reply and the link to the Standard Chartered contact. I will try to contact them. Wish me luck.

Thanks again.

I know this is the Thailand forum, but because of the larger number of US expats in Thailand than in Laos, where I live, I thought I'd see if anyone on this forum had some insights into my situation.  Thanks.

I'm receiving my US SSA monthly benefit at the Lao Development Bank. It seems I'm getting a few dollars less than what SSA shows they are sending out to me. I've confirmed with FBU in Manila the amount I am entitled to and confirmed that this is indeed the amount being sent out.  I checked with Lao Development Bank; they say they only take out a $2 service fee. So $15 is going missing somewhere along the line.  The intermediary bank is Standard Chartered in New York. I have no way of contacting them, however, to find out if they take out a service fee.

I know it's not much, but ... 

Any other US expats in Laos (or Thailand) receiving SSA benefits experiencing something similar?

Thanks.

Not really sure this is the ideal forum for this question, but here goes:

I'm receiving my US SSA monthly benefit at the Lao Development Bank. It seems I'm getting a few dollars less than what SSA shows they are sending out to me. I've confirmed with FBU in Manila the amount I am entitled to and confirmed that this is indeed the amount being sent out.  I checked with Lao Development Bank; they say they only take out a $2 service fee. So $15 is going missing somewhere along the line.  The intermediary bank is Standard Chartered in New York. I have no way of contacting them, however, to find out if take out a service fee.

I know it's not much, but ... 

Any other US expats in Laos receiving SSA benefits experiencing something similar?

Thanks.

Yes, parking at UTH airport long term is a problem. One solution I've heard about, but never tried, is to find a hotel where you can leave your vehicle.

3 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

He says a main box with a bunch of switch (breakers) so not sure he actually has a Safe-t-cut or such.  Also not clear if any type of ground for electric or showers. 

The electrician who installed the showers assured me they were grounded. And I see a cable leading from the shower units to the ground.

Tomorrow, I will take a photo of my CU and try to post it so you guys can take a look at it.

Thanks.

3 hours ago, Crossy said:

If you are getting tingles in the shower, are your shower units correctly grounded? THIS IS VITAL FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DEATH!!!!

 

If you don't know, pop the lid of one of the shower units (power off please) and post a photo of the electrical connections.

 

Does your Safe-T-Cut have a "Test" button, (the sign of an RCD/RCBO), does it trip if you press it?

 

 

Crossy -- Tomorrow I will try to get some photos of the shower unit electrical connections and a photo of my Safe-T Cut and try to post them on this thread. I have not had luck in the past posting photos on TV but I will try again tomorrow. 

Thanks.

Thanks for all the replies. Yes, he checked at the CU. Yes, I have a Safe-T Cut type device (you mean a main box with a bunch of switches, right?) No, it doesn't trip much, in fact, never. I do feel a tingle in both showers, coming from the metal/plastic hoses on the shower heads. But we don't we use the hot water boxes anymore because of that. Maybe the leak is due to the tingles in the showers, or rather the tingles are caused by the leak. 

Yeah, maybe the sparky is trying to drum up business. No way of knowing at this point. His "plan" is A. to come back after Lao New Year is finished, in a week or so. and B. it sounds like he wants to dig up the garden where the main cable is buried and start looking there. Apart from that I can't figure out much more. My wife is acting as go between/translator, of course. 

One thing I have gathered from the useful replies you all have sent me is that one of the first things that needs to be determined is if the leak is occurring before or after the CU. 

More tips and insights are appreciated.

Thanks.

RichCor, thanks for the reply.

Question: how is the location, or source, of the leakage actually determined? 

Our electrician came around today for some routine maintenance: replace some extractor fans, new light fixtures, etc... . While here he checked something out on our main board with his hand held meter and told us there is an electrical leakage.  Please keep in mind electrics is not my field of expertise.

I sort of understand the concept of "electrical leakage" and it sounds like something I need to take care of. I gather a low level of leakage is normal, but he said we are above the normal range.

Our main cable is underground and he said water from watering the garden is one possible explanation for a decayed cable and that could be causing the leak.  

Jeez, I saw the cables when they were put in underground and they looked pretty heavy duty plastic, or whatever, coated and I can't believe that after just three years water could have compromised them. 

Any advice, thoughts? What to do about electrical leakage? Do I have to dig up the whole buried portion of the main cable, approx 25 metres, to find the problem?

Thanks.

Thanks for the replies. I might just use a simple soapy water solution. 

Arjen, out of curiosity, what led to the wooden poles needing to be replaced by concrete ones on your house? I ask because I sometimes wonder how long my poles (posts) will last.

We live in a beautiful wooden house we built from old wood we salvaged from some old wooden farm houses; the wood is about 60 years old, including 12 beautiful hand cut posts.

I'd like to keep it in good shape. Can anyone give me a few basic tips on maintenance? E.g.

how can I give the outside walls a good cleaning -- simple soapy water and a soft cloth?

What about refinishing the outside walls? Do I need to strip, remove, the current finish and reapply new finish? What kind of finish do you recommend? 

Thanks.

Dr. Treelove,

I took your advice -- walked over to the neighbor's who I knew had a few banana plants and I asked if I could have some of the offshoots that I saw. They said "sure", so just today I had a whole crew -- old woman, young-buck son, kids --- out there digging up the off shoots for me; I dug the holes and we planted them together. The neighbors took a much larger banana plant from my property (not in the spot I want them) to plant on their land. It is/was about 6 metres tall; the young-buck whacked off the top 3 metres with one swipe of his machete, they dug up the remainder by the roots and transplanted it to their land-- an even swap and all good fun!

Yeah, I don't understand why some people can treat their dogs so cruelly. I once witnessed a neighbor chain up a beautiful full blood Golden Retriever to a wall, about a two metre chain, and left it there for many weeks; I saw the dog everyday, throughout each day. Eventually its legs went real wobbly, it got mange and her fur fell off and she just lay there. One day it was gone. I will never understand why he did that. I didn't ask; didn't want to intervene.

Dr Treelove,

Thanks a lot for the information. Regarding banana plants, how long do they live? A long time?

Thanks for the link to Mr. Bamboo; yes I do have some bamboo but would like to try something different now.

Hello. Apologies for a rather vague question, but sympathetic readers might reply with something useful:

Does anyone know much about the Ashoka India tree? I understand there are two types -- the Ashoka tree (Saraca Asoca) and then what is known as the False Ashoka (Polyalthia longifolia). I think what I might actually need is the False Ashoka and I think that is more common in Thailand. Right? 

What I'm looking for is a tall slender straight tree with lots of foliage to create a privacy barrier on my property by putting about 15 of them together in a row.

Anybody know anything about this?

Thank you.

Sorry -- what's the "ballast", the whole contraption minus the tube and starter? 

For what it's worth, the brand name is Delight; I bought them at Global Home in Nong Khai.

Hi. Excuse what might be a really obvious question; electrickery is not my field:

One of my florescent lights (tube) is buzzing. What does that mean? Just need to replace the tube? The brightness of the light is the same as always. I know that when the light flickers it is time for a new tube, but buzzing....? 

Thanks.

I've used Agoda for about 8 years now and was always satisfied, but the last two bookings I made they messed things up a bit: booked for two adults and one child but the hotel voucher said only two adults so I had to hassle with emails to sort it out which took a few days and time I didn't want to spend. Next thing is I booked a room on their site and I got a different room on the voucher. I might try another booking agency next time.