Wake Up

Hello all. 
 

To those members who have Cigna Global health insurance, good news.  Cigna has just sent me an email that Cigna Global is paying 100 percent for an in network Covid 19 doctor exam and test and 100 percent of all in patient in network Covid 19 related treatment until May 31 worldwide.  
 

 Cigna will not require it insures to pay their deductible or cost share for all Covid 19 health care received in an “in network” hospital or outpatient exam by an “in network” doctor.  
 

Now would be a good time in Thailand  to go online and see what hospitals are “in network” for Cigna Global. Look on the Cigna Global website. Most private hospitals In Bangkok are “in network” with Cigna Global but not all. Also prepare to call Cigna Global  if you are sick or hospitalized within 48 hours of receiving treatment or have the hospital or someone call for you. 
 

This is not a commercial for Cigna Global but I appreciate their response to this pandemic.  Rather than try to deny coverage for Covid 19, they are expanding their liability for our health care Covid 19 costs. Many thanks to them. ????????????????

50 minutes ago, rexall said:

I hope you are kidding!  Unless you have a natural immunity (I assume some people do), if you hang out with infected people, there is a high likelihood that you will become infected.  It is the two week incubation period that is the problem. A person can be infected and passing along the virus for two weeks before they show any signs of being sick. In bars where everyone is in close proximity, no ventilation breathing the same air, touching and slobbering and breathing on each other, girls sharing small dressing rooms, then going out on dates or to discos.  One infected girl could give it to dozens of locals and tourists before anyone gets sick. And the tourists will take to back to wherever they came from.  It could be a real nightmare.

A 60 year old man and a adult woman should have the right to make their own decisions including bar owners. Who cares about the people afraid of everything and the rich Thai people. Stay home and do what you want. Let the rest of us choose life. You choose isolation all you want 

No beer no women then no Thailand. Pretty simple formula. Italy has no relevance to Thailand. North Italy is old people in cooler weather not having sex or alcohol. Northern Italy are not truly living. If Pattaya closes then Issan families starve. Starvation or maybe get a virus. I would choose maybe getting the virus. Manila is mad at Duarte because people starve to death without tourists. So let adults make adult decisions and the government  should not treat adults as children. 

9 hours ago, Peter Denis said:

HI Richardlg,

I just PM-ed you the latest update of the Roadmap to convert to a Non Imm O - retirement Visa.

The process-steps to be taken are still same, but the document now contains much more info on the requirements to be met in each step (as well as caveats).  

Also please note, that since end of February there is now FINALLY the option to subscribe to a somewhat affordable thai IO-approved health-insurance policy.  LMG Insurance now offers such a policy for 6.000 THB first year premium in the 51-60 age-bracket.  Obviously the policy is worthless content-wise, but it can be used as an entry-ticket to meet the health-insurance requirement when applying for your OA-retirement extension.  At that price it is worth considering as it would avoid having to exit Thailand and start the process to convert to a Non Imm O - retirement Visa and subsequent extension.

I appreciate you Richard and Ubonjoe a lot. Thank you. I had an O-A from USA and have great health insurance that does not qualify for the new O-A extension of stay that I have until December 1, 2020. I then closed my 800,000 fixed account thinking I would leave Thailand. I still have 100,000 Bangkok bank account. 
if I decide to stay in Thailand on an O extension after December 2020 can you please advise me of the necessary steps. Do I need to wire 800k from overseas or can I bring cash and convert to Thai baht Deposit into my Bangkok bank account?  I am abandoning my O-A extension after December 1,2020 because I am not maintaining 400,000 in a thai bank account for 12 months in 2020. The money was not the issue it was that I had to buy Thai insurance when I already buy more than adequate health insurance through Cigna but do not have outpatient insurance. 

On 2/14/2020 at 6:39 AM, bkk6060 said:

I can see this type of accident happening here.

And of course he needs to pay.

Good luck to him sure hope his fellow Brits come thru with sufficient donations.

Whatever happened to financial self sufficiency? Today everyone wants a hand out and it is always not their fault. <deleted> him and his charity BS don’t give him a dime. He killed someone with no insurance or money. Loser with a capital L. 

2 hours ago, possum1931 said:

Anyone who keeps 800.000 Bt in a Thai bank will eventually end up in the Funny Farm, Oh wait! No Funny Farms in Thailand, the Loonies are all on the roads. .

Spoken like a man with no money to spare. Expert at currency you are ????

If posters on thai visa were smart currency traders they would not be posting on thai visa they would be enjoying a nice comfortable life. ????????????

On 1/30/2020 at 9:27 PM, CharlieH said:

One of the issues here is we in the west take a totally different view and considerations where loans and debt is concerned.

Thais very much live in the moment and worry about next month etc when it gets here. As bizarre at it may seem to western thinking, its totally believable by Thai thinking, based on my experience.

 

Help if you want, its your money after all, but consider any money you help with to be a gift as its unlikely to be returned.

Personally, unless you are invested in her emotionally, I would stay well out of it.

If she means a lot to you, help as best and as far as you are comfortable with but dont make the mistake of trying to be the white knight !

????????????????????????????????

you are directly on point. I hope the OP takes your advice. One of the better Thai visa responses I have seen in a long time. 

1 hour ago, davemos said:

Na Trang VN has banned all Chinese tourists

 

BS 

17 hours ago, Shoeless Joe said:

It's not about where Trujillo was eating. We're all potentially all "at risk" anywhere in Chiang Mai (shopping malls, walking street(s); night market etc) and his point that the Thai government could take action to restrict Chinese visitors has obvious merit, because they then wouldn't be in a position to pass on any infections.
DaRoadruuner's observations regarding the unsanitary personal habits of many Chinese tourists is, I think, equally valid.

 

Regards,

 

Joe

LMAO. Get real 

Do you think anyone is home every day 24 hours a day? . Quit reading the hysteria on thai visa and live a happy life here.  No worries you are good. If they do a home visit which is statically unlucky, you will not have a problem. ???? relax quit reading anxiety online please from old expats  

I have never seen so many grown men have anxiety over immigration. Relax and don’t anchor yourself to any country and you will have a peaceful life. Chill man chill never had a single problem at CW in four years. ????????

On 1/20/2020 at 8:31 AM, ubonjoe said:

It will not be easy for her to stay long term. About the only option is tourist visas and she may soon get to the point that she will have problems getting them and entering the country.

If possible starting out with a multiple entry tourist visa (METV) would be good. It would allow at total stay of almost 9 months by using the visa just before it expires to get a new 60 day entry and then extend it.

See page 14 here. https://www.thaiembassymnl.ph/images/ThaiVisaRequirementsAndProcedure.pdf

Another option is to enroll in a school to get a non-ed visa and then extensions of stay at immigration.

Or if you are willing to spend the money for a Thai Elite membership to get her a 5 year PE multiple entry visa. 

Thank you ubonjoe. I think it is easier for me to move to the Philippines. I like Thailand a lot but I need her with me so one more USA expat and my 800 k baht in the bank in Thailand will depart. Too bad but I understand the issues. Spent a lot of time learning Thai language but it helped me mentally. Not upset just more difficult to live in Thailand than prior years. Appreciate all your advice and help. ???? no regrets except I wish I could live peacefully in Thailand but I don’t want to buy her an elite visa. 

Hello 

I have a one year extension is stay. I want to bring a Filipina woman under age 50 to Bangkok to live with me. I do not want her to work in Thailand.  
 

If you have Thailand  visa experience for a Filipina woman please give me some advice on what is needed and options. We are not married. 
 

I can google this issue but I am hoping for advice, guidance and help from someone who actually has done this process before. 
 

thank you 

3 hours ago, Peter Denis said:

Hi, obviously option (c) is the preferred route to go for you.  Note: When you are using the 800K money in bank method to prove your financials when applying for an extension of stay, switching to reason of marriage when your extension is due, will have the advantage of halving that requirement, and freeing 400K THB.  Such a Bonus might convince your wife to register your marriage also in Thailand.

Option (b) is definitely out > it would be madness to dump your present generous health-insurance policy, for the expensive and basically worthless bogus thai-approved health-insurance scam.

When you consider option (a), just PM me and I will send you a comprehensive roadmap to embark on the surprisingly easy and not expensive OA > O transition.

Thanks for your posts. One question. When I end my O-A extension of stay and return to Thailand with 30 day USA visa exempt and then change at CW to Non-O visa extension of stay. —- can I use the 800 k I already have in my Bangkok Bank account for the Non O extension of stay? Or do I I have to transfer another 800 k to Bangkok Bank to show the funds came from abroad. My current 800 K was not from an overseas transfer but cash dollars brought to Thailand and converted to baht.  Thank you ???? 

On 9/26/2019 at 2:17 PM, Swen said:

Just used Transferwise to transfer euro to baht. It took less than 10 seconds to get it into my Kasikorn bank. On top of that, a lot better rate than official bank rates.

Easy to use app.

Yes but you do pay a .08 transfer fee or almost 1 percent. So if you transfer 1000 USA dollars on transferwise then transferwise actually transfers 992 of your 1000 dollars into thai baht and keeps 8 USA dollars. For some transferwise makes sense. Much better than western union who is the worst option. 
 

For those of us that do it free with a Charles Schwab atm card and/or bring cash into Thailand and/or use a Capital One credit card that pays us 1.5 percent to make credit card charges ——transferwise is not cheap for us. 
 

For USA Americans Charles Schwab atm card and capital one credit cards are the best way to get baht for dollar. Or bring cash over in an airplane if you are visiting USA or Cambodia. 

On 12/1/2019 at 9:38 AM, BertM said:

If the money was reported and came from your TD Ameritrade account, then I don't understand why you would want to bring $27,000 in cash when you can simply make an international wire xfer for less that $50 USD after your Thai bank account/s are open. I don't pay any wire xfer fees with Chase bank. I send USD to my Citibank Thailand USD account and then convert to THB at my convenience. So, I don't understand your reasoning, but you must have one for risking bringing that much cash when it's not necessary.

It is not just the 50 dollar fee it is also the exchange rate. Do the math and OP is correct he would lose almost 500 USA dollars on the fee and poor exchange rate. Guys do this every day from USA to Thailand and other places and fill out the forms and no problems. Glad someone answered the non O issue as I may do a non O in the future also. Money launderers don’t laundry 25 to 50 k as that is not  a significant amount of  money for someone doing illegal activities.  

22 hours ago, MeePeeMai said:

 

Why not?  Silly attitude?   30K, is far less than leaving the country and going through the process?

 

I don't know your spending habits (maybe you only stay in 5 star resorts, fly business class and hire private limos) but some of us don't fancy flushing money down the toilet like that.  One can take a short vacation to a nearby embassy or consulate, see a nearby country that we have not yet been and get a Non-O for far less than 30k (flying, not riding in a death van with a meth crazed driver).

 

Good reputation or not, some of us don't use agents and never will... especially at that price!!

 

 

 

 

Silly attitude is being unfair. 
 

You do have to transfer 800 k baht to a Thai bank from overseas for a Non-O extension of stay and the transfer out of pocket costs will exceed 250 USA  dollars and up depending on how you transfer the money and the exchange rate you receive. The travel costs to an Asia country for a couple of days can be cheap. So the 30,000 baht or 1000 USA dollars for an agent could be more expensive than getting a Non-O in Asia and a extension of stay if you get a bad exchange rate or pay high fees to transfer the 800 k to a Thai bank. Plus the hassle of traveling if you don’t like airplanes and cheap hotels. 
 

On 11/20/2019 at 8:28 AM, Ventenio said:

they made it clear they don't care about you and will play whatever games they want.   they have all the power, but one.... you can leave.  

Don’t take everything personal. If we do then no one will travel anywhere. Thailand immigration is not a lot different than other countries immigration in 2019. No one is out to get you or discriminate against you personally. 
 

  OP is in Thailand so I agree with his wife we should forget about it and have a pleasant day.