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Is there a tax penalty from the IRS in America if I cancel my healthcare? We permanently moved to Thailand May 30, 2022. I have insurance with AIA. I've paid for coverage through November just in case (my Thai wife has cancer). I can't find a clear answer on the IRS site for 2021/2022 tax penalty if I cancel insurance while living abroad.

I used AIA on Samui, my agent's name was Suvitwong on Hwy 4169 near Big C Chaweng area. He was helpful and polite. I tried Pacific Cross and they used bad data to refuse coverage of coronary vascular disease and stroke. Why would I pay for coverage that didn't cover the top 2 causes of death for man AND women planer-wide? So... Even though I'm under 65 years old, I went to a Thai hospital and got a comprehensive medical report. AIA had no issue covering everything. BTW - My medical report showed no issues - which I knew to be the case. AIA was polite and helpful, which was not my experience elsewhere.

I tried Pacific Cross and they used bad data to refuse coverage of coronary vascular disease and stroke. Why would I pay for coverage that didn't cover the top 2 causes of death for man AND women planer-wide? So... Even though I'm under 65 years old, I went to a Thai hospital and got a comprehensive medical report. AIA had no issue covering everything. BTW - My medical report showed no issues - which I knew to be the case. AIA was polite and helpful, which was not my experience elsewhere.

My US banks do not allow me to update my old US phone number to my new Thai phone number. No OTP = no money. Wise uses Plaid which now requires me to give up my US bank username and password. No way. I'll look into VYKE but all the US number services seem to fail quickly, if they ever work, free or paid services without the ads

Trying to xfer from my US bank to Thailand. Wise started using a service called Plaid for security confirmation. The 1st time they just did micro deposit confirmations. The 2nd time they required facial recognition and a front/back pic of government issued ID (US drivers license). The 3rd time they required my bank USERNAME and PASSWORD. I immediately logged out. This just started after years of trouble-free use. 1) Anybody else have to use Plaid? 2) Is this a scam/virus? On my end, I did get a Thai phone and my US banks do not allow that phone number so I can't get One Time Passwords. Also, I use a VPN. *I only submitted to facial recognition and ID pics due to urgent concerns over the banking system.

I look for "listed" cable. I look for the listing bug from any testing laboratory, such as UL. Also, if it's going to be run in conduit, under grade level, it should be wet location rated insulation or there will be problems fairly quickly.

No disk drive, the usual dongle/external drive, player etc for our M1-macbook, MacBook Pro and iMac.. I got a cheap MS laptop and am scanning/printing no problem. This is the 2nd printer that none of the 3 will spool data to. Thanks for the reply!

That's great. My HP DeskJet Ink Advantage 2337 didn't have AirPrint. The HP site and app both said I didn't need drivers. The Apple site gave an option for USB connection but it doesn't work. The printer was found by the Mac before and after the reset, set to default but no data was ever in the Print Que even though load bars would show. The printer test-printed fine but the two would not connect. I tried for 3 days and thought I was missing something until I saw a YouTube vid about this issue. Then all the IT vendors on Samui knew about the issue aside from Big C (they do now). This is a known issue with Monterey 12.4 OS. Many HP's and others work with 10.x and earlier but not with recently updated OS's but it must be hit & miss for some reason. Also, Apple doesn't let you remove the stand from iMacs anymore so it's a pain to travel with them in your luggage now. The credit card trick doesn't work anymore, thanks Apple ???? I pre-made joining brackets and then cut my stand off so it fit in my luggage. Bolted it back together in Samui and it works great. Hope this helps future searchers save some time.

Thanks khunPer. Banana knew right away they didn't have one that's compatible with Mac, and none of the IT stores at Central Festival did either. They were aware of the issue at least... Big C was not. Since Apple forces updates, Monterey 12.4 in my case, no printer for sale on Samui is compatible. We ended up having to buy a MS laptop and printer because I have some important docs to print, sign, and scan back. Unreal.

I'll send the Fazwaz link in PM to you. It was 60K and I had to secure it prior to leaving the US. It worked out and I did as much due diligence as possible. It's good that I did because a lesser unit is now 75K and everything is filling up. Economies will likely crash the market, I think, and demand along with prices may return to covid levels in time.

I need to buy a printer compatible with my iMac and MacBook Pro on Samui. Preferably in Chaweng. Big C and others sell HP printers which do not say they're no longer compatible with Mac but the updated Monterey OS and HP no longer work together. It took me 3 days and the Big C IT expert and hour to find out. Big C did refund - tip of the hat! HP printers do not say on the box that it's not supported by Mac. The Cannon printer box does. Also, HP no longer supplies a driver disk - Big C expert opened a new printer box to prove me wrong but I was right. Very patient and great customer service there!

Thanks for the input all! We got a place on Samui up from Chaweng, less spectacular - but under budget. All agents were very decent and helpful. The market has changed dramatically, however, and everything I pursued was rented out before I could react, or the tenant extended. So I had to take a place sight unseen, against my DNA. It was important to lock this in and the location is great for us. We like the safety, it's close to a good hospital, the shopping we need to do, and also a great beach. It has a functional little gym and the clincher was the Netflix! lol Plus the development is surrounded by jungle - no cell towers, planes, or power lines - which is important to us.

Airbnb is short term focused, very hard to get 12 month rentals there, in my short experience. We want a seaview pool villa or beachfront. The holiday crowd breaks up the 12 month possibilities now. Far fewer choices now. By the time an agent gets back to me ...wherever we want is not available for 12 months. This is why I'm even considering reserving by deposit from abroad, otherwise no way.

I can't believe it either! I'm told the owners make more $ doing short term rentals. I don't understand that unless they have high occupancy rates and low turnover expenses... no idea. Anyway - Economies will probably crash soon and we can just wait it out somewhere else if needed. I'm checking out areas that I stopped researching a year ago. Thing is, where we start a new life will likely remain our home for many years.

Where do you recommend? We're open.

She liked her care at BNH years ago and we both think Bumrungrad 's glory days are gone. Chula is a great suggestion, thanks lopburi. I didn't know we could pay for government hospital vs free treatment. We were going to move to Samui but the MRI results may force us to cancel the flight and stay in BKK. We don't mind paying for great private care if it's actually significantly better, but that's not always the case.

I have no problem with masks inside a public place or in a crowd .... the messenger in this announcement aside. I wore masks when I did construction and they never made me cry and whine.

Good advice. I've been tracking Thai real estate since the 90's and seriously for 2 years -especially since retiring early. The Samui rental market seems very hot now. Have you seen it heat up there, or are there that many owners who don't use the regular Fawaz, Hipflat etc sites? Properties advertised on FB, and the main RE sites are taken, and rentals are very thin now. Prices doubling in just a few months. And... I'm thinking it will get more expensive as the June holiday crowd surges and the summer vacation in the west hits. This is the only reason we're considering grabbing something sight unseen - which is against my DNA!

Thanks to all who contributed to this thread, especially wasabi. Very useful! My wife's breast cancer care in the US is awful. We're moving to Thailand this month - she's Thai. She may need a hysterectomy now and I don't blame her for wanting it done in Thailand after the abysmal care in the US. I can provide specifics if anyone wonders. My question: Where is the best place for my Thai wife to get a hysterectomy in Thailand ...if her upcoming MRI in America confirms she needs it? (I should post my own thread I suppose, don't mean to hijack)

The OP hasn't logged on since June 2021. Nice that people still want to help! But for anyone else searching, here's a link to resources he asked for; https://luxuryrehabs.com/thailand/ No direct advice for the OP's question, I never went to detox. I just started AA in 1985 and never drank again. But that's me, my problem was alcohol - then when I had the obsession to drink lifted the problem became me - and I've been chipping away since...

We're moving to Samui in a couple weeks. There's no Multiple Listing Service like in my country. No problem. But I need to contact multiple agents to get info on different villas without MLS. Commissions aren't shared and villas are not in a shared inventory. No problem again. BUT... One agent today told me Samui is a small island and she knows I've been talking to multiple agents.... and that I actually want to see the villa before putting a deposit down. That is the preferred route, obviously. Also, villas advertised as "available" are never available - so far. And there are villas available that are NOT advertised. So, I'm aware I'm getting talked about there. No problem, this should be business and communication is part of it. I've been a landlord for many years and want agents vigorously trying to rent or sell my property. Everything seems to be renting out on Samui and 12 months is not possible due to being rented for Dec-Jan, or villas are just filling up fast - and causing prices to double. My questions: 1) How do I do the footwork on finding a new home without offending agents there? 2) Do people put deposits down, and sign a 12 month contract, without seeing a property? 3) How do people find available inventory without "pestering" multiple agents? We're actually considering another location now, so we're open to other suggestions too.

That was our plan - buy a car on Samui. But now even good long term rentals are as hard to come by as a fair taxi price. Not so sure now...

I think that's too high of a CT and may pick up tailings and scraps of spike protein that are not viable for replication. I'm not a virologist or expert, however, I just study those people quite a bit.

Yep, I've been asking what rtPCR test CT (cycle threshold) Thailand uses for many months. I had to cancel our previous trip because Japan AirLines cancelled our flight. That threw off our pre-departure rtPCR's and everything in Thailand. The travel rtPCR's where we live in America are very hard to get and result timing very dicey with 24 hours of travel time. It ended up being very expensive.

CCSA is smart to wait for Songkran BA.2 cases spike. It's a bit nastier than BA.1 and there are sub-types too. Hospitals can't fill up so fast if things spike too much. I understand their dilemma.