Bogbrush

Getting some meds here can be problematic and expensive; I’ve just paid 6 500 baht for Xarelto 20mg (28 tabs) which is twice what I pay in my home country. I cannot get Zopidem in any pharmacy as they all refer me to a hospital which, for opioids, I understand and respect. I suspect it will be a mission to get them, with a doctors consultation probably mandatory as well. 
 

is it not possible to have prescription meds couriered from overseas? Surely, if accompanied by a copy of the scrip and possibly an accompanying doctor’s letter stating the urgency, Customs would be pragmatic? (yes, I know....)

Not sure how Bali fits into the scheme of things, but overall Indonesia is not doing terribly well...

Here’s the current legislation covering both Indonesia and Thailand; trust this clarifies..

Emirates website today, regarding cancelled flights..

Simon - I would advise you visit Immigration ASP as they get very touchy if the bank letter is not dated the same date as your renewal application or very close to. The updated book must show the same amount as the letter, obviously, and you need a photocopy of all pages. 

It’s also worth bearing in mind that, if you’re considering driving to Malaysia any time in the future, they prohibit cars with tinting above a certain level.

On 2/11/2020 at 12:10 PM, pgrahmm said:

Yes, it doable.....A serious build, (shower, compost toilet, water heater, fresh-gray-black water tanks with blade valves, etc) would be hard for proper parts sourcing....The cabinetry, table, beds, storage would be the easy part....

An inverter generator self contained could be done with care - even better if a diesel one is available to run off the main tank....

Solar should be easy here, Amorn carries panels, batteries, & hardware....

Couldn’t he get all the parts from a marine chandler? Sounds as if the requirements for a camper are pretty much those for a boat?

I fully sympathise with you - I have had an account with Barclays Isle of Man for a decade or more and they are a combination of incompetence and stupidity. I’ll give you an example - I had a large payment blocked to Kasikorn Bank (funnily enough, it was the 800,000 baht needed for an OA Visa). I received no advice of this, and only found out when I realised the payment had not been received. I queried why I was not told a payment had been blocked and was informed it was a ‘routine stop’ by bank security; when I pushed for an answer as to why I wasn’t informed of the stoppage, I was told that the security division has instructions not to send SMSs to non-UK mobile phones. Considering virtually everyone who banks with the Isle of Man presumably has offshore phones, this is an example of Barclays stupidity and incompetence.

Changing addresses and mobile phone numbers is also a Herculean challenge for Barclays who need to be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century; for a supposedly international banking service, they obviously have no concept of international travel and movement and the fact that people do change their phones and addresses on a fairly regular basis these days and should not be made to jump through hoops and provide all sorts of documentation which, living overseas, is not always easy to provide. It would appear that to Barclays, a customer is somebody there for their benefit, and not the other way around.
 

Having said all this, the fact that most of their top management and a lot of their traders have been designated as crooks and shysters over the last few years probably sums up the standard of probity at that place.

17 minutes ago, zaZa9 said:

For the 32k you can have an agent that ensures you dont need the Insurance ..

I’d rather abide by the law. Agents are great - until they’re not.

1 hour ago, Max69xl said:

Just like you said, your insurance police is next to useless with exclusions and the 300k excess.

Even if you can afford 32k a year, it's like flushing down the money in the toilet. I guess the cost will increase when you reach 70. 

Hopefully, as I’ll never use it, I’ll get the no claims rebates  - 10% first year, then 20% - but even better I’ll come off it if Non O is let alone.

44 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

And at 60yo it is 80,000 baht pa,

I took the PC Standard Extra with the maximum excess (300 000 baht) and paid 32 000 baht (68 yrs old) with exclusions on virtually everything. I take the view that it’s not a policy, just another - expensive - piece of paper necessary to stay here. I have “proper” cover through another far cheaper policy, as we all do.

I would’ve gone the ‘expiry/exit/arrive/visa exempt/O’ route but have concerns the insurance requirement will spread to O, so for 2020 at least I’ll take the hit. When you have to commit 800 000 baht, another 3 000 a month won’t break the bank. My view, anyway....

22 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

I don't think the seasoning is waived when agents arrange an extension. I think a officer approves the extension with fake proof it was in the bank for 2 months. Easy to make a copy of a legit bank and add a few lines to it showing the money in the bank.

It could be done the same way for insurance I assume.

The problem with that is, the participating insurance companies are required to log clients details in the Immigration computer system, whereas banks of course don’t.

24 minutes ago, TerraplaneGuy said:

As the OP, thanks to all for your posts.  Yesterday I heard back from my insurer, Aetna on these questions.  They confirmed that extensions of retirement non-OA visas now require the health insurance certificate.  As for the problem of extension date/policy date mismatch, they are happy to change the policy effective date to match the extension date.  They also can provide the original certificate for pickup at their office (to supplement the emailed version since it seems some offices are not accepting the latter).

Did you ask whether or not they log the issuance of the insurance into the immigration computer system? If not, is it possible that you could? This will satisfy a concern of many, I think.

4 hours ago, TerraplaneGuy said:

Thanks - do you have a link to that post?  What thread?

I am afraid that I neither have the link nor indeed can remember the person who posted the comment; it was an obiter dictum within a fairly long message on the daily site regarding threads on OA extension and insurance and I only picked up on it after a second reading. It is, however, a salient point about which members would be well advised to speak to their insurance companies.

There was a report a few weeks back of a member extending the OA with a correct Thai-issued policy and presenting the certificate, only to be told that the policy details hadn’t been captured within the Immigration computer system. This could well make sense - the issuing insurance company entering data as an hotel does with the TM30 - to prevent forged/scammed certs being presented.

Food for thought, and maybe a further question for Aetna...

Up to 99 years with Pacific Cross.

You’re quite right; you have to go with the flow. History is littered with the corpses of people who tried to <deleted> into the wind. Fit in, or <deleted>... well, you know the rest.

Of course they are - that’s not in dispute; I’m merely presenting a way to make the most of a bad job..

The point is - we all know it’s rubbish/rip off/<deleted> etc etc; but if you want to stay living here, you have to suck it up and get on with it. Moaning accomplishes nothing..

Who knows? Who knows if you’ll be alive at 85 years old? One thing living in Thailand teaches is “one step at a time”..

3 hours ago, holy cow cm said:

Yeah, do the leg work. thanks. 

You expect others to do it for you?

1 minute ago, holy cow cm said:

If it is a full check up then not interested as I will never use the insurance anyway.

 

Can you or anyone tell me which insurance companies on the list do not require a medical? I'm just interested in filling out an application online and then paying online as no more than that. 

No one if you’re 65+. If under 65 then you’d best check the companies websites for their specific requirements.

6 minutes ago, holy cow cm said:

What does that mean?

It means you’ll need a medical prior to acceptance if you are 65+. Its quite extensive (includes chest X-ray/mammogram and blood work) and no doubt will involve non-coverage for existing conditions but as the whole point of my plan is to rely on your overseas cover it’s merely a paper exercise..