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SooKee

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Everything posted by SooKee

  1. Very, very good point!! I was expecting a hike for hitting the 65+ age bracket but I thought 30% was a bit high, even for that. I'll likely renew but I need to try and find another broker as I don't feel comfortable with AA World, that's if one broker can take on a policy started with another broker. AA World keep saying "as your broker" etc etc. Trouble is, they aren't. They inherited it from AA Thailand. Maybe a new broker will be able to if they effectively start a new policy that merely continues a policy with April that has no breaks.
  2. I made my posts mainly because the OP was asking about April and some people do not conduct full research, particularly regarding likely future costs, my premium notice had just arrived too. I will most likely renew (once the shock of the 30% hike in premium from last year has worn off LOL) though I will likely try to find another broker to do it with (assuming they can take over as an agent for an existing policy) as I don't feel comfortable with AA World. I may even consider a higher deductible depending on how much it brings the cost of the premium down by. Self-insurance for me is an option as I have both the funds and the means to replace them but, another thing that some people overlook, that's assuming it's just one hit for for something serious, maybe two. If you are unfortunate enough to succumb to something serious that requires ongoing treatment, that's when folks might encounter problems. Making plans to cover the the eventuality of a single 1-3 million baht hospital bill might be easy enough, what if it's 1-3 million per year though?
  3. I realised it before I started and was aware that the prices would increase and had already made my plans as to when I may avail myself of other options, primarily on reaching the 65 and 70 year old premium points. It's always a balance with insurance, great value if you need it, money down the drain if you don't. While the peace of mind may be worth it when the costs are not excessive (and what is considered excessive will vary from person to person), you may well consider that having insurance is likely a very good idea. The sums that you can put aside though increase significantly as one gets older, but at the same time, so does the likelihood that you will need it. It will always be a balancing act but folks should not underestimate the price hikes that will be likely once you cross the 65 and then 70 year old bracket. There may also be a point at which you will no longer be insured and as you get closer to that point, with the premiums going through the roof, the extent to which you are prepared to just write off the premiums may change. Of course cancelling insurance having never used it will also mean the premiums you've already paid are down the drain too, be great if we could all see into the future eh, hindsight is great. Sadly, unlike auto insurance, there's no no-claims bonus with health insurance.
  4. Just by way of some further info regarding April France. I have a policy with them (originally started via AA Brokers here when they were still able to deal in international policies) and, at age 65 now, I have just received my renewal premium notice from April France direct for 2024. The premium is up to $3,480 from $2,682 last year, that's a 30% hike, doubtless as result of jumping to the 65 year old plus age band, 30% is still some significant jump though. I dread to think what the 70 year old hike will be! I have zero existing conditions and have made no claims so it's not a condition inflated premium either. I started with April in 2020 when the premium was $2,117 so it sure ratchets up, 80% in 5 years! Fortunately I could cover a THB 1-3m bill here, and replenish the funds quite quickly and still have the liquidity I need. Given the 30% jump, over the next 5 years that will probably amount to $20,000+ in insurance premiums assuming the price will still rise year on year. The peace of mind is nice to have, even though I've never had to use the policy, but it's definitely more palatable to have to write off $2,000 a year than it is $3,500 - 4,000. Provided one is able to realistically access your other options (e.g. not just assume that THB 100,000 in a bank account will cover it) I can easily see why folks take a far more critical view of the benefits of such policies as the costs sky-rocket, and that's not a sensationalist term IMO! I very much doubt my premium will be much under $5,000 in 4 years time. Decisions decisions. As an aside, for the first time this year, I have been subject to a lot of persistent pestering by the AA World Insure (the India based outfit?) that took over the international policy side once AA Thailand stopped being involved with managing international policies here. 3 emails and 2 phone calls in the last couple of days, got to the point where I had to be pretty blunt and curt with them saying that I will contact them, if I need to, when I am good and ready, not before. Last year IIRC I renewed with April France direct as I had no intention of processing any payment through AA World. Pity that AA Thailand had to bail out, from the very little interaction I've had I don't rate the replacement outfit at all!
  5. I just checked this, for Extensions based on Retirement, showing slots available for 19-22 March.
  6. Sadly not in all cases. Submitted 15 January, still pending as of 23rd :( Seems very patchy still, time before last approval took 17 days! Last time, 4 IIRC. This time 8 and still waiting.
  7. Couldn't decide whether to post this here or in the Bangkok section but, as anyone that interested in Covid will likely seek out this section, I decided on here. The MoPH have recently announced that booster vaccinations are available at 69 Public Health Service Centres across Bangkok. Bear in mind these are Health Centres so you need to check their days / hours of operation for boosters. It's all in Thai so you'll need Google Translate or a Thai to help if you can't read Thai. source link:
  8. Try using your brain to do some research instead of trying to be a smart ass!
  9. All in condos with signs everywhere saying "No short term rentals - illegal". Great for the residents too, a constant stream of tourists who don't GAF
  10. I'm currently pondering where to go an get a full screen check done, Bumungrad, MedPark, Phayathai 2, BNH or Samitivej Hospital. Range of prices from 18,000 to 43,000. I'm interested in the quality of the checks and service more than the price but equally, don't want to burn money for the sake of it just because the place looks like a 5* hotel. RSU might be an option. Google reviews I almost always take with a pinch of salt but it's worrying how low their score is. That said, people who have great service often don't bother with a review but those who do, or who have an axe to grind, are very viciferous. At this stage I don't really have any idea what would be considered a comprehensive enough package for over 60 so I'm starting with this as a baseline from PhayaThai 2:
  11. By way of a quick update, I returned to Advice yesterday just to confirm the "too good to be true" deal they guy in the shop had mentioned the day before. He said the machine I wanted would be coming in the later in the day and that their price was 53,990 with either 3K off or another some kind of peripheral promo. Turns out that was a load of crap! Spoke to another member of staff (hard to to tell who is staff and who isn't given only one or two wear any uniform or corporate clothing). Turns out the machine I wanted hadn't come in, would have to be ordered AND was not even available to order as it was out of stock at Lenovo. In addition, the best deal they could have offered on an even more expensive machine was 1,400 off. So the guy from the day before was completely clueless. The store actually has several negative reviews that mention disinterested and clueless staff so I, while they have a seemingly great reputation on the whole, it very much depends where you go on the day. I won't be bothering with them again though.
  12. Yes, gone again :(
  13. Old thread I know but I've spent about a week or so looking at all the options (or at least all the options I'm prepared to use) and found the below (looking for Intel i7/i9 CPU; RTX 4060 GPU, WQXGA 2560 screen; 16 GB RAM; 512 GB SSD) Online only Invade IT: Great reputation, extremely limited stock of anything I was interested in (e.g. just 2 machines); older machines; more expensive than anywhere else; took 4 attempts to get a reply from them using all their advertised channels (LINE, webform Help; email (no longer listed but I have it from an old address and Messenger). Brand online stores (Lenovo / Asus / Acer etc): Plenty of options and configuration, some good freebies, in some cases somewhat misleading discount claims based on inflated RRP, convoluted payment methods in some cases (pay, email payment slip, wait for confirmation etc). Turned off by the very long wait times for delivery and the complex process of sending the item back if there was any problem (some deliver direct from China). Poorly designed and hard to navigate websites in a couple of cases. Mixed online / regular stores (in my case Central World) Powerbuy: Pretty good stock levels, not keen on their reputation, good prices. Banana: Good range, good prices, limited shop stock. Asus: Complete range of stock, good prices and promotions, very helpful staff, willing to haggle further on price. Nearly opted for a laptop from here due to the high spec / good price (ROG Strix G16). Advice: Highly regarded, staff I find can be very dependant on the store as to their knowledge and helpfulness (this will apply to all stores regardless of company), reasonable stock levels, best prices at least matching the online super deals, generally two promo options (straight discount or peripherals etc). JiB: In my case, best of the lot. Very helpful and knowledgeable staff, very good range of stock, not trying to boost the purchase cost and suggested avoiding pointless add-ons, good prices (TBH all places were within 1-3 K of each other), and were able to match the price of the exact same machine elsewhere (I just wanted to buy from this store / guy due to their service etc). Online I'd have been happy enough to buy from JiB, Advice, or Banana. Invade too if the price / spec was OK. As I live close to their shops though I'd rather check the machine personally prior to parting with cash.
  14. A while since I did it now and obviously I don't know exactly what you have done etc. Register / Update though is a distinct two part process. Register first with just your name and the two document uploads. Then await the user confirmation email. Then, log in, change the password etc then add an address and again add the same two documents to the address. Then you can submit a TM30 for the newly added address. No House ID number is needed. IIRC it's an optional field that may be popping up if you're trying to do it all in one go, if that is indeed the case.
  15. You can register yourself as a tenant by uploading just your passport copy and the first page of your contract. Over the coming months there will doubtless be more reports as to whether an "old system" TM30 is still being accepted or not. I previously saw reports that some people have interacted with Immigration with old or even no TM30s with no problem, whether that will change nobody knows. I've registered on the new system so am no longer keeping tabs on the status / acceptability of old system reports.
  16. I had this problem several times. I put it down to the system not liking overly complex passwords. I was using combinations of lower case and upper case letters, numbers and symbols, updated password accepted every time but would never let me log in using it. For now I have gone with a much simpler password, accepted it after a couple of fails that were still too complex.
  17. My reply was also 7 November but approved 31 October. AFAIK the date of approval will always be the date of submission regardless of how many days later you get the 'Approved' email.
  18. Currently that is the only record available. Bad enough that there's no 'print receipt' or 'download' option, but the whole record vanishes and is irretrievable after 7 days too, much worse than the old app in this regard, even that needed a screenshot but at least you could get it at any time. I've taken a screen shot of both the single line entry (showing the name, passport and check-in date etc.) when you select the address and also the full screen when you open up the specific TM30. I suspect this will result in a lot more needless repeat reports just so people can get the document they are supposed to keep in their passport at all times, at least until people catch on that they need to do it on the day they submit it.
  19. Well that was a pleasant surprise. Registered on the new TM30 site and submitted a TM30 for the new address on 30 October then submitted a 90 Day report online on 31 October. Bit of a sense of dread that the 90 day would be rejected for some detail not matching issue or just some glitch related to the new TM30 site but no, just got the 90 Report email this morning (7 November), Approved. So the TM30 site hasn't thrown a spanner in the works for 90 Day reports AND the turn round times at CW for 90 Day reports online seem to be improving, 7 days this time, 17 days the last time. No need to do a report in person just because it's the first at a new address, that is only needed for the first report with a new passport.
  20. Well that was a pleasant surprise. Registered on the new TM30 site and submitted a TM30 for the new address on 30 October then submitted a 90 Day report online on 31 October. Bit of a sense of dread that the 90 day would be rejected for some detail not matching issue but no, just got the 90 Report email, Approved. So the TM30 site hasn't thrown a spanner in the works for 90 Day reports AND the turn round times at CW for 90 days seem to be improving, 7 days this time, 17 days the last time.
  21. Yes, it's glitchy too. I have opened the site and checked numerous things, I was dubious about selecting the Gender field for fear it would remove the Approved banner from the address, but did it anyway. Tried add TM30, red message box. Checked again, Gender not saved. Saved the second time. I even had one passport number entry totally corrupted. Immigration can't amend the registration passport number so had to ask them to delete the whole profile and start again. A bit tiresome. The lack of any kind of print receipt function is a pain too. 🙄
  22. That may have been because Gender wasn't selected and saved before attempting an add. It really is a work in progress, clearly folks using it now are the beta testers. Navigation within the site is also a real PITA with no proper 'back' button so I often find I have to close the site and log in again as we navigate the trial and error of getting it to work. In my case, I registered before the requirement to upload documents emerged with regard to the address accepting foreigners. When I checked that the system or an IO had done it for me and had copied the documents I had submitted to register over to the address details page. In my case it was the update Gender and Save that was stopping the Add from working properly. It's clear that they a) find a bug, b) update the system, c) send out emails about the update and then d) the system won't work properly until you revisit and update it in respect of any extra requirements / bug fixes. It works, to a fashion, but rolling out a bug free system before terminating the old one would have been a better idea, but then, TIT. I await the next bug fix email with interest, and to see whether the latest 90 day I submitted online will come back approved or crash and burn at the hurdle of the new TM30 system. For once though, I have some confidence that it will come back Approved. I do wonder, with all the ongoing updates, will they slowly open up the other fields (visa, length of stay etc) that used to be required before. I do think that, while it won't let you do anything new until you update your records to comply with any updates, any screen shots of reports you already have from the new system will still be valid. I have also found them very responsive to the 'Help / Contact us' email address (the system having suffered a glitch with my passport number, the result bearing no resemblance to what was input in one of the fields)
  23. Are you trying to add another address? Selecting 1 "Add" is to add an address, not to add a new TM30 report, thus selecting 1 will open screen 2 which merely states that new addresses need to be added via the profile page. I'm not sure why the Add is there now under the opening page, other than to sign post people to the Profile page to add a new address. To add/ file a new report / TM30 you need to select your Profile top right, then on the right of the screen that opens select the address you want to make a new report on then Add. That will open up the new TM30 page. I might be confused as to what you're trying to do. Personally, given the buggy system (e.g. no searches more than 7 days after submitting) and the fact that there is no receipt print / download option, if you can't get a copy of your latest TM30 I would just do a new one and screenshot that.
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