georgegeorgia

Well that's the problem I'm talking about ...farangs like yourself who may not have money because you giving it away eg not frugal and telling other farangs to not worry as it's only $3 or whatever in western currebcy ,so it doesn't matter ?

Unlikely you will see the same tuk tuk driver though

There's a couple of things I want to talk about with this subject but it's hard to express what I mean,don't expect me to start explaining it good as I'm only a hospital orderly not a heart specialist. Anyway please let me get on with the story I don't need personal messages from people correcting my punctuation "your,'re your etc like one guy messaging me ! Anyway I want to talk about money especially if your retired living in Asia I was in what'sapp last night talking to a ex workmate on the video thing ,he retired last year with a million dollars in superannuation living in Cebu Philippines,he is 68yo single lives in a nice condo rented Anyway to cut a long story short he mentioned to me something very strange ,he joined a gym to SAVE money on his water bill !! Now I was shocked more than anything else ,so I didn't go on with it BUT how mean do you get with your money You see there's 2 sides ,there's the farangs who are very frugal almost mean will only pay the baht bus driver 10 b no top and there's those who say give more ! There's a thread going now about a motorbike taxi driver demanding 160b on arrival for a small trip there's those who say just pay it ! Your a farang you can afford it ! Just pay it and then those those who say no way ! On the opposite side of meanness is middle frugal then the farangs who berate others for not spending more !! Foolish with money perhaps ??

I guess if he doubled it on arrival you wouldn't be happy

I'm not sure if these people are described as "pedantic" or another word ? But today I was talking to a ex work colleague who is travelling first time to Indonesia, he was one of those "pedantic /meticulous" types who would go through a checklist meticulously ,for eg at that time I was doing security work and one of the requirements was checking if doors were locked in the evenings,most guards would just tick the box they checked it ,but no not him,he had to walk physically to every door and check it then write the exact times he checked it etc , He would fill the security book up with trivial nonsense that he checked firehouses etc times etc just pedantic ,no one else cared they just ticked it without even checking ,he knew every policy of the large organisation we were protecting. Anyway fast forward today I meet up with him after a few years he now is early 60's but works as a Parking enforcement officer for the City council and I believe knows every Parking Law there is ,so he would be a right B to deal with and he has a travel insurance policy book in front of him,this was in a cafe and he is sipping the coffee like it's a taste test with his glasses down around his nose reading the policy book with a pen ,saying this is very interesting,the policy was written in 2021 He has highlighted paragraphs about the travel insurance policy he intends to take out . He then told me he has read it from front to back , and wanted to tell me there was trickery involved that he found out with this certain one if you don't have a international driver's licence they won't pay out for rental motorbike accidents and went on & on with other paragraphs about the travel insurance industry. I decided after a few minutes I would excuse myself as I didn't really want to know paragraph 26 about how you need to photocopy 2 statements about lost luggage ! Later that afternoon lo & behold I get another pedantic person, had a lawyer call me over that WhatsApp face to face as I wanted to arrange a Will to be done and he was the cheapest so he is calling from Melbourne to Sydney. I ended up hanging up on the guy because he meticulously or pendanticslly read slowly thru every paragraph of the Will I made , Are you one of these people who have to read every policy from back to front ? Or are you one of those annoying people in the workplace who have cross the t's or dot the eyes You don't find many of these types around but when you do they are annoying,I remember a few years ago having a Filipino partner who used to keep a big diary she would write down everything in it . Receipt numbers of bills paid online , and most annoying was her going meticulously thru her payslip every fortnight working out hours she worked and if it's corresponding with her payslip !

How does that work though? You have top private health cover in Australia so I guess your paying around $180 aud per month but your living in Thailand? So you must tell the insurance you live in Australia?

This is mainly aimed at retired guys over 65, or even newly retired expats to Asia . So most of us will die at around 78-83 yo said the financial planner at the bank. So I wondered now many of you are in your 70's , are you still making bucket lists for the next 10 years you have left ? Are there any of you who are cramming things in ,travelling around the world , doing things you never done , or you just content retiring in Asia somewhere and sitting at home ? So if your say 75yo time is limited and I don't say that in a morbid way ,but tell me now it's a downhill run are you trying to go out and do more ? Why hoard your money at that age ,go out and spend it ,don't you think so instead of hoarding it I mean a lot of people "give up " at that age ,I was sitting I a park yesterday in the sun , opposite was a nursing home and I seen residents/patients sitting on their balconies,I thought geez that guy looks only in his 70's looks like they have gave up ready to die I never forget working with another Wardsman ( Pommy Bob ) in a major hospital who got into trouble for telling a millionaire elderly cancer patient to " go to the Phillipines mate & have a bloody good time whilst you got the chance mate ! So time is limited,don't deny it ,be a realist , most of the "cut off " dates are around 83,if you get past that you are doing well. So back to my original question,what have you got planned until your 83?

And your still taking it ???

Yes many medical clinics are abandoning bulk billing ( free under government Medicare) and charging private fees. I have 2 medical centres in my area ,the bulk billing (free under Medicare) is not good as it's foreign doctors who rush you in & out in minutes. The paying one ($105) $65 after Medicare rebate actually keep you in for like 10 minutes and I guess pretend to care

I got mine FREE ! When I walked into the reception at the scan clinic on Sydney a few days ago she said $530 please ,then looked at the referral and said "Your doctor has put Bulk Billing on it ,are you on a pension or unemployed ? I said No I'm working! She said your doctor has wrote Bulk Billing to be charged to the government! I said thankyou very very much. ..???? ..I stopping using bulk billing GP doctors though,they rush you in & out because the pittance the government is paying them under Medicare so they are not as good as "paying " GP doctors . Anything like a medical certificate I just go to a bulk billing doctor but if it's serious I go to a paying the bill doctor But.. I'm glad she wrote " bulk billing " on my scan x-ray referral ,saved $530,though I believe I would of got back around $240 from the government Medicare ????

Today my BP was 131/95 A few weeks ago was 161 and now I'm on 5mg a day of medicine I'm 108kg I can stop if I lose another 10kg said the doctor

I'm not sure which one I have ,I have no symptoms except looking in the mirror I can see my body looks like it's curving to the left . The scan report (which I got for my liver disease) apparently on gearing the DR read it out mentioned the word denegerative so maybe old age I need treatment urgently,what kind of doctors do I see for this ?

So the Med diet doesn't include potatoes? I thought they were good for you ? I love mash with butter

Just took one of the posters advice & got a PET/CT scan for my liver disease . This is the type of scan where they slide you through a machine . Well according to the doctor nothing to report only a fatty liver and not to come back for a few months But ....but ..as the doctor was reading me the report of the scan ..she said nothing to find EXCEPT the scan has found Spondoloysios a apparently a lumbar disease and curving of the spine . She said the report mentioned L2 & L3 deteriorated to age She asked no symptoms for that and I don't yet anyway Now I was shocked and she didn't mention anymore about it , So I come home to look ok in the mirror to see my body is sort of curved to the left ,is this spindoloysios? I asked a workmate to watch me walk and asked him if he could see if my body is curved to the left he said it was It looks as though my spine is curving to the left ! Who has this ? Will it worse ? What treatment can I get for this ? I'm really worried about this ,I don't want to be one of these people walking with a crooked body or hunchback ?

Yes , you probably have 15 years left

Yes good point, especially if you have a heart attack, imagine the cost if you don't have insurance. Even if U have insurance it would be expensive with gap fees etc ,I guess something like that definitely back to Australia or the UK for the public free system ( even though in Australia you still have to pay the specialist) ,not sure about America though I don't think they have a free public health system???

I met a old Australian farang in Pattaya years ago who had kept his Australian health insurance,I remember at that time he was paying something like $140 a month for hospital only insurance but obviously he would have to go back to Australia for treatment I'm not even sure it's valid actually if he isn't living there but who knows maybe he kept a address over there But better he banked his. ,$140 and went on the public health system . I'm sure in the UK they have private health insurance too if you don't want to use the public hospitals ,I guess you could do that

I have seen a pic of you a few years ago ,you are very fit ,I believed you also run or did everyday too . It can happen to anyone

This is why I like to plan. Obviously much different if you have a (genuine) partner that lives with you ....but let's look at the say 65yo single male retired to Pattaya living alone in a condo . Planning for emergency probably doesn't come into most of them , even some don't have a Will made or point of emergency contact . As I said it's ok not to have any insurance if you have the cash ..but...fail to plan because it won't happen to me ...is ridiculous It's ok to say ..oh I will go back to Australia or UK if I get a illness,but have you planned that? Where will you stay? Who will look after you during chemo or whatever? Plan now !!!

I'm interested in what a expat should do in regards to getting a major illness whilst living in specifically Thailand,I could add in all of Asia eg Philippines( but I will just leave it as a expat in Thailand example) I mean I'm not knocking Philippines they probably have better oncology hospitals than Thailand So what are the stages of this if God forbid this should happen to you So this is the scenario your over 60yo retired in Thailand , and you HAVE expat health insurance. You get a major illness eg cancer Do you stay in Thailand ,or go back to your own country? Now what if you don't have expat health insurance? Is there a big gap fee for oncology eg radiation A well known YouTuber a few years ago developed cancer , unfortunately he had no expat health insurance and was apparently going to take it out at 60 but only reached 59 when he got cancer . Unfortunately he paid millions for treatment in Thailand before going back to his country where sadly he passed away I believe at age 60 So the thing is , can we rely on the expat health insurance for major illness ? Can we afford to go without it if there was a major illness? It's ok saying oh I will go back to UK Australia or wherever if I got a major illness but you will be on a waiting list there to see a specialist if your using the public health system, and then if you get worser you will rely on carers etc ,so maybe better to stay in Thailand and get treatment there Have you planned this ? Have you planned for emergencies,?

After going thru all this I can assure you I will never drink again I was only a social drinker and still got this disease so I really now am interested what the Liver function blood tests eg AST & ALT would be if a heavy drinker ? Their livers must be slowly going to buggery without them knowing

Whilst we are talking about Cemeteries I visited one up in The nether regions of isaan a few years ago mostly coloured statutes with cremated boxes Unfortunately I was chased out of there by wild dangerous dogs

Have you ever been to jail , particularly either as a visitor or long term guest? I always get fascinated by jail's when I travel to parts of Asia and other countries (some people get fascinated by Cemeteries) and in my trip end up going to take pictures of jail's . As for Cemeteries I had friend in 2008 who came from Indonesia,took him to see the Blue Mountains in Australia,he was too interested in the Cemetery,anyway that's another story ,it's strange someones fascination in something when travelling,it's not all wine women & song ,even had a friend picture post offices ,bizzare interest in taking pics & visiting post offices I went to visit a ex Thai bar manager friend in Pattaya jail a few years ago,I didn't like him,I only went there to look inside the jail really, but we had to talk with him behind a cage wire almost like a bird aviary and other prisoners standing next to him also talking/shouting to their visitors. Bang Kwang in Bangkok is my favourite,but I must admit the guards especially the women guards were the nastiest looking people I have ever seen. There was no smiles from them. I visited the jail.in Cambodia too,just on the outside though,asked a tuk tuk to take me ,dirty dusty looking jail with rusty barbed wire So the question is have you ever been to a jail in the world I remember hearing from a guy at work saying there was a jail in the innermost area of the Scottish Highlands, I would love to see that

Unfortunately I don't like getting old , apart from the decreased life we have ,(many of us will go between 78 & 84) there is the added illness's too I'm probably looking at a liver transplant and looks like a kidney transplant down the track . I will get my heart checked soon too hopefully that will be ok

I have been back to my medical centre GP, unfortunately I felt lumps under my skin near my ribcage and kidney. They are not noticeable however I have to push deep to feel them The doctor ,(older male probably in his 70's) put gloves on and felt the lumps , at first he complained he can't feel anything until he pushed right into the skin, I told him I'm worried about these He dismissed this saying they were fatty cysts , I have never heard of these and he went to the internet to show me some images of people who have them . I think he called Lymphobia or similar lymphedua? But has anyone had these "lumps" under their skin especially around the ribcage and kidney , It's sad really when GP's are no longer caring as they used to be years ago