LostintheJungle

My wife and I just retired here two months ago and getting the drivers license for her has been a pain. These new rules are tougher than before and next year the questions go from 50 to 100. I used Paypal to transfer $ on multiple occasions to Bangkok Bank. Just let the manager know you will be using this service. The fees are very reasonable and it only takes a couple days.

Having health insurance is a must as there are no social services like we have back home. If you trip on the sidewalk or ? you will need to pay your way or get no medical service. Even though medical is cheaper, it can still get expensive depending upon what you need.

I am on Veterans medical stateside, but over here I don't really know how I will deal yet. Still thinking on this.

I've found dental care is exceptional over here and have been using a dentist both states sided and over here for years now. It's actually cheaper than my out of pocket for dental from insurance in the states. Ditto for eyeglasses. Just watch the frames, they can get expensive.

We've got ourselves a larger used Isuzu MU-7 that gives us the room we are used to stateside and I am looking for a auto scooter so the misses can also use that.

Found BKK to be way too busy for my way of life these days so we are considering Chiang Rai and will be going up there next week to snoop around.

So far it seems that buying property here is risky for a number of reasons, not the least of which is making sure whatever you buy is done the legal way with all papers triple checked by attorney to make sure you don't end up on the short end. We originally planned on buying about a Rai up in Chiang Mai and then building on that, but that plan has changed to now we will most likely either rent or lease and save our $$ for now.

Immigration can be a real hassle depending upon how you approach it. I was lucky to have been directed to a visa service in Chiang Mai which handled everything for me on a retirement visa. I had to pay for this service, but in my mind it was well worth it, especially when I was shuttled into Promanada and out in 7 minutes, then shuttled over to Airport and out of there in under 40 minutes while others hung around for hours and sometimes days as I remember speaking to one person who didn't get his paperwork done the right way the first time. Of course this means I will need to report (my passport at least) to Chiang Mai Immigration every three months, but that's fairly painless using express mail from wherever. The only pain will come if the mail gets lost but I have to say I'm impressed so far with the Thai mail system.

Speaking of mail, I actually filled out a change of address (written form - not online) back in Bellevue, not thinking it would actually work, but surprise surprise - I've been getting may first class mail forwarded over here. The amazing thing is I forgot to add a /30 to my address and the Thai postal still figures this out and delivers my mail. Very impressed indeed. Course this is only good for 1 year then you are on your own. I figure by that time I will have an actual address and can contact all my necessary connections back home so they can mail direct to me if needed. So far e-mail works pretty good.

Brought over my VoIP phone system and have yet to hook that up, but understand that it should work from here. I used Phone Power back home and the charges for calling Thailand were 1c per minute with 60 minutes free every month. This means I should be able to call through-out the US and Canada for free and any Thailand calls I will be billed 1c per minute. Still a lot cheaper than my cell plan.

Did buy a VPN service for one year and have to use that to watch my Netflix or Amazon videos. So far I have had spotty internet service, not what I'm used to and that bothers me a bit. Some days are definitely better than others.

Both my wife who is Thai and I find the heat almost unbearable in BKK. Mostly stay in A/C and rarely venture out into the sun for long. When I first got here in 79, I used to walk all over the place - miles and miles and miles. Great weight loss system - walking and sweating. Now, I'm older and even though I was walking every day back in the states, I just don't do that here. Where ever we end up a good club will be essential to keeping in shape.

I wish you well on your venture. I know we can afford to live here, whereas back stateside the costs has gotten out of hand for the average retirement.

I love the states and miss a lot of things, but we are here and so far it is working out. Abet taking longer than I would have figured.

Maybe you could start a club like that. Call it "My Club for My Friends and My Car."