SpokaneAl

I have been using TRICARE for Life, (TRICARE Overseas Program)  since arriving in Thailand three years.

 

I believe that you are actually using Tricare Select. Tricare for Life is a secondary plan that files the gaps of Medicare, which we know is unavailable outside the US except for US territories.

 

 

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Tricare?

 

Yes, Tricare Select.

 

 

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I would think you would be fine with the battery for 4 to 5 weeks but if you were concerned, you can purchase a battery trickle charger if you have access to an electrical outlet.  Any trickle charger would work but make sure you get one that automatically prevents overcharging.  I would not disconnect the battery.  In newer cars that causes all sorts of memory issues with the memory chips in the car.  I am most familiar with the Deltran Junior battery tender.  You should be able to get at most auto places, hardware stores or mail order like Lazada. 

I use that exact model charging unit on the automobile we leave in the US for the half year that we spend in Thailand. It works as advertised and each time I return, the car starts immediately.


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I was not aware that you could use Medicare outside of the USA.  Is that true? 

Nope, you cannot use Medicare outside the US except for US territories.

 

 

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Once a year I manually request a wire transfer of money from my bank to the New York branch of Bangkok Bank, where it is available to us, which funds our stay when we return each year to Thailand. With all these discussions, will I still be able to perform this transfer?

 

Thank you.

 

 

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[mention=176603]SpokaneAl[/mention]
 
There are many pedants on TV.
Some correct people who talk about 'renewing their visa', and insist that they refer to an 'extension of stay' instead.
 
You have taken this to a new level, congratulations.
 
My use of the word extend implies my understanding of this.
 
 
 
 

Precision when discussing visas, extensions of stay etc is important. The fact that the misuse of a word or phrase is not a problem for you does not help when others who are following the discussion are looking for insight.


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It was the fingerprinting part I was thinking of mainly.... If you can only do that once you're back in the States, then you're having to wait for the processing and return mail turnaround time.
 
I have addresses in the U.S.  But if I have to wait to start the process until I go to have fingerprinting done in the U.S., that's going to require days of sitting around waiting for the return of the DOJ document, and only then can I go to the Consulate with my application package.
 

Are you certain that you need to get fingerprinted? I am a WA state resident and getting a criminal check via the WA State Patrol requires no fingerprinting.


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One question that occurs to me here is this:
 
How does someone who's actually living in Thailand, and making a trip back to the U.S. to apply for and obtain an O-A, best obtain the fingerprint/criminal records clearance QUICKLY without being stuck waiting in the U.S. for a long period waiting for the mailed return of the records history, and only then being able to go to the Consulate to apply, which has its own turnaround/waiting period?
 
Is there anyway to start the criminal records request process from Thailand so that the turnaround time in the U.S. is minimized?
 

If you have a US address, I would think that, depending on what state you live in, using your US address you could get the criminal records requirements done. Just make sure to check the Consulate or Embassy website you are dealing with to ensure your report is within the required timeframe.


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[mention=174500]Gtto[/mention]
 
The OA visa will give you some time in Thailand without having to have money in a Thai bank, but to extend it annually, you'll have to deposit money, or use the income route.
 
 
 
 

You can get a second year out of the o-a visa by doing a border run. Each time up to the enter before date on the visa that you do the border run you will get an additional year, with no financial requirements. After that point one must apply for an extension of stay - there is no way to “extend it annually.”


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Specifically, local police are excluded.  It must be state or federal. 

As long as they have the ability to provide the correct documentation, I see no evidence that local police are excluded. This comes from the LA Thai Consulate website -

“Four copies of police verification stating the applicant has no criminal record issued by the authority concerned of his/her nationality or residence.”


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14 hours ago, Gtto said:

Mosan,

  Thanks for all that. Was it required to get the stuff from the FBI or will local police do? Could you leave the application  in person or did you have to do it by mail? I was going to go to the consulate in NY. The crazy part is that I will be there in three weeks but I have less than 12 months on my passport and no time to get a new one before I go or after I get there. That means I will have to fly back there when my extension runs out.

I am from WA state and request a background check via the Washington State Patrol web site. I pay $10 extra and receive a notarized copy within a few days via the USPS, with no fingerprint cards required. The key point when requesting a background check is to be sure they will check histories of both felony and misdemeanor issues.

 

I have done this over several years with no problems.

 

P.S. The OP listed the required documents from the Thai Embassy in WA DC. Know that the requirements are a bit different in other locations. I use the Thai Consulate in Los Angeles and there are differences in the numbers of required copies etc from what the Thai Embassy wants.

Once you have had 100 Mb/s you'll never go back. Only WANT faster & faster, not really NEED.

I dang sure need much faster than 10 mbps. At that speed it takes forever to even install updates. 70 - 100 is the minimum for me, but will admit to getting a steady 265 - 350 mbps at our home back in the US.


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on the tv  itself, yes..................its  crap thru cable,  on wifi its  even crapper, makes  me wonder if its  duff per se
On my laptop its  fine 7mb+

7 mbps? Is that a typo? If not how can you do anything at that speed? I like 70 or so mbps just for day to day stuff, and would prefer faster.


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We have had 3BB for several years and a couple of years ago upgraded to fiber 200/100 mbps. After a few months of never actually achieving the promised speeds we had a technician come out. He told us the best we could do was 100/30 mbps so we downgraded our package. It works as advertised.


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Serious question, is the US military conscripted or all volunteer. Is the average foot soldier a volunteer; is it a lifestyle choice. Take the king's shilling and take a risk?

The US military is 100 percent volunteer.


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Have you done a speed test of your internet connection? Are you getting the promised speed from your provider? Perhaps your internet speed is too slow.


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Be sure to enter Thailand using your Thai passport.  I have a dual national Thai friend who made the mistake of presenting his U.S. passport when entering the country and kept doing retirement extensions for several years.  He was denied access to the Thai medical system even though he had a Thai I.D. and was listed in the house book of his sister.  He had to make a short trip to out of Thailand and switch passports in order to be accepted by medical providers and save himself a fortune for his kidney dialysis.

Great advice. I believe that one has to fly out and back into the Thailand in order to switch passports - it cannot be done via ground based border runs.


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Thailand seems to me to be one of the least healthiest places to live. Hot, dirty, chemically laden fruits and vegetables - it takes real effort to exercise regularly and maintain one’s health.

I live in Korat where there is a nice lake with separate running and bicycle paths circling it for me to use every day, as well as a very nice bicycle path in another part of the city which allows me to knock out 60k rides at as hard a pace as I desire. I have have a nice 50 meter pool nearby which is usually empty.

But then again, it does not sound like the OP really means what he says when he asks for a healthy place to live.


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We really like ceiling fans and have in each of our bedrooms as well as the living room back in the US. There are really some fine ceiling fans being made these days and we much prefer them to traditional fans that blast you each time they rotate through their cycle.

That said we looked and looked for a decent fan over here in Thailand and it seemed, to us anyway, that the majority of choices moved little or no air and were purely for their (limited) esthetic value.

We finally purchased the larger three bladed fan shown in several posts here and found in many local restaurants. It moves air.


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Just before leaving in April 2019, you would go to any other country and back, to get a new 1-year permitted-stay stamp - until April 2020.

 

Then get a re-entry permit for that permitted-stay, so that when you next leave and return, you maintain your "permitted until" April 2020, covering your next Thailand-visiting period.

 

I agree. However, we are pretty much in the dead center of Thailand and have no desire to do a border run days before leaving Thailand which, while giving us that extra year, would limit our departure date options in the following year. Add the cost and time involved of the fairly distant border run, with no airport close by us, plus the reentry permit cost; getting a new non imm o-a visa on my timeline while back in my own country seems a simpler, more elegant solution - for me anyway.

 

Thank you, everyone, very much for your thoughts on my issue.

 

 

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During this extra year, you can do another 6 month stay here before you need to visit the embassy again. 
 
 

Okay. So now I can stay until December 2019. I don’t see how that meets my needs of wanting to stay until April of the following year.


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I got what he is saying, but even OAs are bounded by dates just like re-entry permit.  But that 30 bucks at the airport lets him come back after that OA expired to stay for 6 months, possibly more without a visit to the embassy.     

 

 Okay, please correct me if I am wrong.  Here is my situation. I got a new non imm o-a in September 2018, and as a result have an enter before date of September 2019. We arrived in Thailand in early November 2018 and will stay until mid April 2019. We did leave the country and return at the end of December so have a new admitted to date of December 2019. My understanding is that a reentry permit would do nothing to change my required return date of September 2019 to get that additional year that I would need for my late 2019 return and April 2020 departure.

 

Is that not correct?

 

 

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If what you are doing now works, no need to change anything.  A new Non-OA Visa every year will work.

 

But, a re-entry permit does not relate to the "enter before" date on the visa - only to the "permitted stay" stamp-date currently one one's passport when they apply for the re-entry permit.  One's "permitted stay" can be further in the future than their visa's "enter before" date - up to a year further in the future, in the case of a Non-OA Visa.

 

What he was suggesting, is you could do an "out/in" border-bounce prior to your longer trip out.  That run would get you a fresh 1-year "permitted-stay" from your Non-OA Visa.  Then, you would get a re-entry permit, which keeps that "permitted stay" alive, past the time where the Visa is still valid (after the "enter before" date has passed).  If you will be traveling out often during the 2nd year, a multiple re-entry permit is 3800 Baht, vs the 1000 Baht for a single-use re-entry permit.

 

That is true, but we could have problems on one end or the other. Getting a re-entry permit could cause us to be limited on our return six month period, unless we did a border bounce at the last possible minute before we depart Thailand, or else we would need to depart from Thailand earlier the following year.

 

Again, the non imm o-a every year gives us maximum flexibility on when return and when we depart to/from Thailand. I like and appreciate that and if it costs a bit more over the long run, I am good with that.

 

 

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In that case no visa is going to work for you since they all have validity periods.  Visa exempt makes more sense and costs nothing.
 

We stay for six months each year and our non imm o-a visa process works perfect for us, and has for the past six years.

I don’t see how a visa exempt would get us six months in Thailand each year. What am I missing?


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