newnative

The 'day-trippers' were counted in 2019, too.

I think you're too focused on western tourists. Yes, high season is over for the western tourists who visit Thailand to escape harsh winters. Many Asian tourists, and in ever-increasing numbers, visit year-round. Yes, perhaps many of your friends in the US are staying home. The significant tourist numbers, however, do not come from the US--or Europe, for that matter. Only Russia warrants mentioning in the top five countries; the rest of the countries are Asian. From the article, it looks like Chinese tourists are starting to come in significant numbers once again.

You've never heard 'this would be illegal' because it is not. You can make as many copies of a Will as you feel you need to have. It does not need to be on any special paper or paper with a law office letterhead. If it is submitted to a Thai court, it must be translated into Thai. I'm a bit surprised your embassy would take the Will--the embassy needs to take responsibility for it, an employee needs to file it somewhere, which takes work and space. If you change your will, they then need to go and retrieve the old one and then file the new one. I doubt my American embassy would do that but maybe I am wrong. I think the important thing to remember is that someone needs to know where to locate your Will in the event of your death. I do think it's a good idea to have your lawyer in possession of a copy--to have one available in case yours cannot be located--and to also have a copy handy should you notify him that you want to make changes to the Will.

My partner and I recently took a trip to the far south, staying at a resort on Koh Lipe and several places on the mainland. We got so far south that at one point we stuck our toes into Malaysia. Koh Lipe was fun with snorkeling and there was lots to see on the mainland, as well. The highlight, for me, was getting up early one morning in Yala Province and going up to the top of a mountain to a partly glass sky walk that our guide called 'The Sea of Clouds Skywalk'. I think it might have a different official name. The view is of hills and mountains as far as you can see and the early morning fog is so thick that it does look like a sea of fog with the mountains above. A bit hard to describe but beautiful. When we travel in Thailand I am always amazed at the varied and interesting scenery. Thanks for the thread--I am enjoying all the photos and information!

You might also, in your words, 'quote what was actually reported'. Which was: 'the accident might (my emphasis) have been caused by a small object falling into the end of the escalator'. You left out 'might' in your quote--an important word to omit because it indicates uncertainty as to the cause. The article then says: 'He said that a floor panel was found to have fallen under the escalator, indicating that the bolt which attaches the floor to the escalating rail had failed.' So, there's certainty that the bolt failed, but no certainty that the small object was the cause of the bolt failing--just the speculative 'might'.

Do it already.

So, a loose bolt finally fell off, which caused the panel to collapse. How is that not poor maintenance? If the moving sidewalk is inspected every day, as stated, why was the loose bolt not found and tightened?

He still alive?

Yes, totally shocking and shameful. But, wasn't it just wonderful that they made the--certainly very tough--decision to temporarily close the walkway to do some checking of it. Well, duh. Let's let the president of AOT be the first to walk on it once it's been declared 'safe'.

Not being kicked out is one reason I have continued with April International, based in France.

Thanks so much for this information, Sheryl. The main reason I got OPD was I was worried I would not be covered for exactly the things you mentioned--especially ongoing treatments involved with cancer care, chemo/radiation treatments, etc. I will look into switching to just hospitalization with a deductible. Thanks again for taking the time to let me know about this.

Thank you for your reply, Sheryl. Yes, I did have a pre-existing condition of an elevated cholesterol level when I enrolled in 2012. That is still all I have, nothing else has developed, and I control it with a daily statin pill. I don't have any add-ons such as dental but I do have both hospitalization and outpatient coverage. I don't know if the cholesterol problem and being a male would explain the difference in what you pay. I asked April about adding a deductible and they said I had the 80%/20% coverage and I took that to mean that having a deductible was not available. They have told me several times that my coverage is 'from the first euro'. I will ask again about switching to a deductible rather than the 'first euro' type of coverage. I also asked April about changing to just Thailand coverage rather than international and they told me I was already just covered for the Asian Zone, not the World. Something a bit interesting. On a different thread discussing alternatives to Pacific Cross, someone mentioned WRLife health insurance. I checked the site, which allows you to select a country, tell them your name, age, and then chooses the coverage you want to get a quote--nothing about any pre-existing conditions, just name, age and country. I said Thailand, age 71, and I wanted the 'Serenity' plan with hospitalization and outpatient with a $2 million dollars coverage limit, $1000 deductible. The instant quote I got was $11,638 a year, surprisingly close to the $11,600 a year I am now paying with April. If I went with a limit of one million dollars, the quote drops to $6,388 a year. I don't know anything about this company; I would think the quote would change once you actually applied and plugged in any medical pre-conditions.

This is something I have certainly struggled with. I moved to Thailand in 2010 and I took health insurance with April International out of Paris in 2012. I chose the cheapest 'Essential' plan. My only pre-existing condition was elevated cholesterol. I can't remember what I was paying then--maybe around $1400 a quarter--but my premiums rose every year. By 2021, I was paying around $2340 a quarter, depending on the dollar to euro exchange rate. I inquired about reducing my premiums and I adjusted my plan to 80/20. April pays 80% and I pay 20%. At some point I had dropped outpatient coverage to save money and I think that year I added it again. I The new premium was around $2180 a quarter for 2022. This year I aged up to the over 70 bracket and I had a huge jump from around $2180 to around $2900 a quarter. Mind you, this is a quarter, not yearly. So, $2900 times 4 quarters equals $11,600 a year. About 412,000 baht at current exchange rates. Yikes. If you can afford to save that amount, and are rigorous in doing it, you'd have a fairly large amount after 4 or 5 years to help self-fund any medical bills. In case you're wondering, I didn't have any major medical bills since my 2012 enrollment. The largest 2 bills were for 2 colonoscopies in the 10 year time period, which April covered. I didn't submit claims for routine stuff like annual physicals, trips to the doctor for shots, treatment for colds, etc. Around three or four years ago I investigated switching to a different western insurance company but what I found at that time was that the savings wouldn't be very much and I would be starting over with a new company regarding anything medical coming up. I thought there was a better chance that April might cover something since I have been a customer for a number of years. I almost switched to a local health insurance company several years ago because it was much cheaper, but I was worried about whether claims would be honored or rejected. At this point I will bite the bullet and continue with April--they tell me this year's huge jump won't be repeated. In hindsight, I think I should have switched to the local company while I was still young enough to be accepted, while at the same time putting the money I would have saved in lower premiums into a savings account earmarked to help cover any medical expenses that might not have been covered. The OP might consider doing something like this.

If only cars would also avoid it, especially on weekends . . .

I don't think I set up my phone to require photo ID--I hardly use it for much and mostly use my laptop. I did go to Bangkok Bank to do the photo ID/facial scan thing so perhaps at that point photo ID got linked as a requirement when I use the online banking. Just a guess.

It was on June 23rd, a transfer of $5,000 from a USA bank to a bank in Thailand. I first wanted to send it to my Yellow bank account but got a message that the amount was over 50,000 baht and amounts over 50,000 baht could only be sent to Bangkok Bank and one other bank--I can't remember what the other bank was. I also have a Bangkok Bank account so I selected that bank. I then got the message that I needed to upload photo identification before the transaction could be processed. The choices were: passport, national ID, drivers license, and there might have been 1 more choice, can't remember. I used my passport and Wise wanted a downloaded photo that showed both my passport photograph and my signature. I also had to upload a face photo taken with my cell phone. I never had to do any of this before with lots of Wise transfers. I was using my laptop and cell phone but I think a transaction can be done using just your cell phone. I've cut and pasted below the emailed message I got from Wise: Follow these steps to verify your identity using your phone Open this email on your mobile device Tap on the button ‘Verify your ID’ below Take a clear photo of your ID Take a photo of yourself — make sure your face is fully visible Go back to your computer to finish Verify your ID If you don’t know why you got this email, please get in touch so we can fix this for you.

Stay the course. Medians are needed on some of the major roads as Pattaya continues to grow--along with the traffic. Get the initial work done and then see what improvements can be made--which could mean adding a few more U-turns and upgrading the U-turn lanes with designated turning lanes separate from the traffic flow, to keep traffic moving. And, it could mean moving some of the U-turn lanes that might have been poorly placed.

Fingers crossed. Thailand so needs to move forward already.

I think with lots of things in Thailand, it depends. I am required to have photo verification with my Bangkok Bank in order to do money transfers on-line. I just did a money transfer yesterday and in order to do it, I had to snap a photo on my phone, which then verified the photo with the one on file at the bank. The transfer then went through. I also recently did a money transfer using Wise and discovered that Wise now requires extra steps, including uploading a document with photo ID before the transfer would go through. I also discovered that I could only send money over 50,000 baht to Bangkok Bank and one other bank which I can't remember the name of. I don't know if this was always the case or has something to do with the photo verification thing.

No, the Ministry absolutely did not aid with 235,000 baht! Wrong. 200,000 was woefully inadequate, penny-inching cheap insurance. Try a paltry 35,000 baht as the correct figure the Ministry coughed up. Disgusting! Some 'aid'--and let's not even mention the tiny 5,000 baht for the injured students. Hope the families all sue, as they should.

Boo hoo.

What you describe has not been a problem, to my knowledge, with Pattaya luxury condo projects. Royal Cliff Garden, built in 1997, is certainly being maintained and is not a 'slum'. Ditto for Saranchol Condo, built way back in 1994. Or, the even older Garden Cliff condo, built I think in the 1980s. In addition to Saranchol and Garden Cliff, Wong Amat has several other older luxury condominiums that are also being well-maintained, including Park Beach, built in 1997, Silver Beach and Baan Rimpha, both built in 1990, and Sky Beach condo, built in 1992. Somewhat newer Northshore condo, built in 2006 and just a few years from your 'slum' deadline, is also being well-maintained, as is the also somewhat newer Ocean Portofino. More examples abound, including Jomtien Complex, Metro, Baan Haad U Thong, Golden Sands, Coconut Beach, and others. I think you will find that the majority of the non-luxury condo projects in Pattaya, with a few exceptions, are also being maintained adequately and have not become what you describe as slums.

You 'wonder' where the 49,500 baht China spending figure comes from but, apparently, don't wonder where the higher spending figures for Europe, the Americas, and the Middle East come from. A bit selective in your wondering. In reality, even someone on a budget tour contributes to the Thai economy. In regard to the Chinese tourists, the majority of them, in 2019, were independent travelers, not in tour groups, budget or otherwise. So, that was over 5 million Chinese independent tourists in 2019--traveling and staying wherever they wanted, spending wherever they wanted. That's far more than the number of visitors from the Americas, at 1.7 million. It's less than all of Europe, at 6.7 million, but far more than any individual European country.

No.

Nonsense. Several Pattaya roads have median strips in the middle with designated turning areas. I guess you have never been on Thappraya Road or North Pattaya Road or Jomtien Second Road or Sukhumvit Road or . . . I actually think the median on Thepprasit is a good idea but they should have planned designated turning and U-turn lanes and not have them in the thru traffic lanes. This could have easily been done by eliminating parking in those areas and adding another thru lane to have 2 thru lanes and a designated turning lane. But, I know, it is anathema to ever suggest eliminating a parking space, even though that is what needs to be done on heavily congested roads like North Pattaya Road.