moontang

November is a slow time of year for extensions, that may affect the low number of reports.  December is much busier.

35 minutes ago, SiSePuede419 said:

CM isn't "focused" on Tourism?  Really?

 

The area inside of the old wall isn't... touristy?  Really?

 

If a city wasn't focused on Tourism, it would have other industries

 

Name one industry in CM other than tourism?!?!?

Agreed, take away tourism and the universities and other schools, and it is a skeleton city.  The vibe still beats the heck out of the beach areas, easy enough to avoid the hardcore tourist traps, but the nightlife is a D, at best.  I was at a neighborhood pub in Nonthaburi, and asked if they closed at midnight..they laughed and said we close whenever we want to.  Disgraceful KSR actually beats CM for nightlife.

48 minutes ago, Thaidream said:

I don't think so- The US healthcare system- the most expensive in the World- is about 5 x more costly than Thailand.  

 

I would venture a guess that 1000 Baht per month or 12,000 Baht per year is enough to get coverage  for people 50 to 100 years old.  The coverage  proposed would provide access to Thai Gocernment Hospitals  or private hospitals that accept Social Security,

 

80,000 Longstayers x  12,000 baht ere year is about $320 million just in the pool for this age group.  If they really wanted to solve the complete issue and applied  500 Baht to an air ticket for medical purposes for the tourists- the pool would be hugeapprox $480 million extra 

 

I said four times more..75% less.  Even if it is five..care for seniors costs a lot more than 33 THB per day..would barely cover the cost of the new shingles vaccine.  Seniors not on any prescriptions is a rare exception.  I know of a recent 80 year old visitor who was diagnosed with pneumonia, and hospitalized for two days in CR...25000.  And the people requiring long term care?  Did you learn math from Crazy Bernie or Pocahantis?

9 minutes ago, anterian said:

I renewed my Retirement visa last week in Nonthaburi and nothing was said about insurance. Perhaps he looked at my age, coming up to 84, and realised there was no chance. 

was that based on an OA?

On 10/31/2019 at 2:37 AM, Bruntoid said:

They’re all still eating well!! Seriously there are so many fat girls you have to check it’s not US !!

 

Bintabaht is completely dead, you can do a whole circuit and see less than 10 punters some nights. The constant rumours it’s going to be flattened should probably happen. Some decent bars to watch footie though. 
 

Soi 80 - they need to keep the food carts out of there, a lot of the girls are seriously overweight - I know several owners and business is bad - a few bars sold recently and more up for sale (circa 700k - 20k rent) Surprisingly there are a couple of decent lookers but out of the 150 or so girls that work there, they are hard to spot, but be warned they get bar fined every single day of their poor lives, sometimes more than once a day so if you do catch a looker there it will be very well used and almost certainly gone before 6pm (unless they’ve come back for Round 2, perhaps 3). Me and one owner worked out that one girl, one of the two lookers on the strip, aged just 23 has probably been boned around 1500 times since starting work there. Her bar fines alone pay the rent!! ???? She’s currently on social media bemoaning the fact she can’t find a decent boyfriend ????????????
 

There was an extreme looker couple of months ago,  so good she was completely out of place, as I spoke to her I thought you won’t last the week (it was her first bar job, shy as anything, clueless but very very very cute - sent down by her loving family who clearly realised the potential in what they had)  - true enough she was gone within days never been seen since !! Could have been a mirage I guess. 

Someone mentioned Soi 94 - hmmm not too much choice down there, and many of them have boyfriends already - however that won’t stop them taking you for a few drinks before she mentions she doesn’t do bar fines though - you’ve got better chances in the massage shops than the bars down there. Can’t think of one bar on 94 with a looker. Many many fat to average if that’s your thing. 
 

Soi 88 forget it - dead all year round now and a ball ache to park. 
 

Have a good time ????????

agreed, the massage shops were the way to go, I was able to negotiate a lady for take home without getting the massage.  She was a former Coyote dancer, who had been hit by a car, breaking both legs..recovered nicely, but after a few sessions I began to think it was no accident.  Still, worked out good..

12 minutes ago, canthai55 said:

Have a car - well, 2 cars. One for city one for hiway

Long commutes - away from rush hour takes 20 minutes to Superhiway. and that's with 118 construction snafu

Dogs - not a problem

3BB fibre optic internet

Hang Dong - never appealed to me. Like living in the 'burbs

and of course the air is much cleaner there..bwahaha.

1 minute ago, hobz said:

I feel the opposite.

In Phuket, Krabi and Samui I feel like a scam target constantly. Fake smiles everywhere as they try to rip you off.

In Chiang Mai i feel like I'm treated decently by everyone. Almost never feel scammed or ripped off. 

Phuket is commonly referred to as Pirate Island..

2 minutes ago, deej said:

Oh My????

Exactly the opposite in Maerim District.

The reviews of Maerim are good, but if you need a car, it really changes the budget.  Are you saying there are no dog problems there?

Green bus to Phayao...great food, and the lake is decent.  Good supply of affordable hotels, and a few late night BYOB clubs that rock.  

Can't take the train there, but would take the train over the van any day of the week.  Also have heard Sukothai is great.

7 minutes ago, canthai55 said:

Hate living in cities. We live 25km from the centre. Close enuf to go get what we want, between rush hours.

Village life so much nicer. You can have a house, garden, lots of space. Had one Westerner living here, from NZ, boredom set in and he skedaddled.

Now - I am the token Farang

I would rather hear cars on a busy street, than dogs howling 24-7...I bought in an upscale moobaan in Hang Dong and it was, is, and will be doggie hell.  Long commutes into town on a motorbike are a death sentence.  And add a few more problems, water problems, and internet (which has gotten much better).

8 minutes ago, Thaidream said:

completely agree.  Just the numbers alone would leave one to believe that 30 Million tourists per year  versus 80,000 Long Stayers would generate many more bills due to motorcycle accidents; adventure tours; carelessness  etc.  The tourists are more prone to be taken to a private hospital to be treated where a long term expat who may not be able to get any insurace would go to a Government hospital and pay cash for their treatment.

 

I also agree that the Ministry of Health  has no  concept of how Insurance actually works- placing  people in  a separate group age 50-75 assures high prices and poor coverage as well as anyone above that age with few posibilities of even getting insurance.  The Malaysian long stay program has a medical insurance requirement but states that anyone who cannot obtain the insurance the requirement is waived.

 

If long stayers are placed in the Medical  portion of the Thai Social Security System-  they would pay a rate each month and be insured for  life.  The added income into the system would provide  good revenue and the excess used to cover losses to the 30 Baht scheme.

 

There are so many ways to get  long stayers the  proper coverage and access to Healthcare.  For whatever reason, they picked the worst scenario I could imagine and as a result nothing positive is achieved.

 

But social security is paid for by payroll deductions..and you seem to be underestimating the costs of caring for the elderly, even in Thailand.  Medicare expenses run about 15000 USD per person, per year in the US..even cutting that by 75%, you are talking about a large amount of money.

1 hour ago, canthai55 said:

Thai people who lived in Chiang Mai area are Lanna or Lan Na people.

Since I first came here and rode up to CNX have always found them to be the most friendly of all the different Thai cultural backgrounds.

Have lived from Songkhla to Rayong to Udon Thani and now here.

Very few people are 'from' Pattaya and any other tourist hot spot. They come for work = $$$ = first and foremost.

The Lanna people live here - this is their home - big difference

Agree with most of this.  The beaches and resorts attract about the worst kind of Thais, and not really a better class of expats.  So, that is a big positive for cm and even cr.  But, what cm had going for it has been tarnished by all the digital nomad losers, the sjw illegal teachers, the disproportionate number of expat paedophiles, and the worst municipal management one could imagine.  Always been a magnet for old broke expats, but things did indeed get worse.  I like Bangkok.  Even the lowest level busses are far better then the songthaews.  

A few days ago, I got an email from my brother saying he watched a House Hunters, Chiang Mai episode..he has never been to Asia.  Mentioned Santitham, Nimman, and the newish skyscraper.  Lots of people eating out of plastic bags and the guy seemed like a douche...summed it up pretty well.

3 hours ago, Brigand said:

Most smart long term teachers are teaching at uni or tertiary education places as you don't need a teachers license and the facility can hire whomsoever they see fit to without lots of MoE regs/oversight. Most of the teachers I know say teaching at elementary or secondary school is a fool's errand these days as the regs and hoops to jump through aren't worth it for the crappy salaries anf general headaches you get with schools. As for qualified teachers, well, if you got rid of all those fracturing the rules you wouldn't have any teachers here really, some, but not many. How do you attract a real teacher to Nakhon Nowhere for 30k and provincial lifestyle/facilities? Not easy unless they are attached to the place some other way like married to a local etc.

If you call someone making 28k per month, SMART, but yes, for maybe only 4000 per month less, it is usually much more chill, and far fewer guard gates and barb wire fences.

20 hours ago, Pib said:

Well said.  I also got an OA Visa 11 years ago before retiring/moving to Thailand as it was easy to get...the recommend visa at the time if over 50 and retiring to Thailand...guess that's why they call it a retirement visa.  Now on my 11th retirement extension of stay based on that OA visa from Christmas past. 

Me too.  It was the easy way.  I lived thirty minutes from Kalorama, and O wasn't even a choice, and OA gave me almost two years with one in out at Maesai..also gave me time to bring over the 800k in chunks.  I haven't been to Make in 11 years and don't really miss it.  

8 minutes ago, holy cow cm said:

Have you actually heard of someone on a non o extension being required to have insurance? I only heard the one who came to the airport on a ME O. 

The post about Nonthaburi caught my eye...did you see it?

3 hours ago, sunnyboy2018 said:

Scare mongers function as an arm of the oppressive state. Falsehoods,  lies, exaggerations,  rumours .... scaremongering and tittle tattle

Notice I rarely post in this forum, where most are whining about TM30..complied three years ago, never a problem since.  While many more are whining about the 800k...had mine here at age 42.  And obtained yellow book four years ago, without buying a house for a prossie.  So now some clowns are accusing me of scaremongering..while a few posted 100 tearful times about being forced to deal with an agent, because they didn't have the resources to obtain a Visa good for two years before they arrived...and even more are simply touts for Visa agents...of which I have not used in 22 years of trips here..Now, that I am within two months of an extension, I am attempting to get to the bottom of the situation, as I have always been 100% legal.  And, yes, there are credible reports that my local IO, which has been 10 times better than CM, is indeed requiring the proof of insurance.  

There is no denying people are hitting the exits.  Exchange rate might even be number one.  Obviously way fewer Euro and Oz here.  But, meanwhile, there is so much empathy for posters on here, denied and rejected, telling their stories with thick Russian and middle eastern accents..but they had a Canadian passport...Meanwhile, I try to compare notes and survey the situation, and I am scaremongering?  

8 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

 

1. Maximum deductible is 300k

 

2. No policy is that cheap.  With PC 300K deductible and their lowest cost plan (which also means lowest cover)  around 26K at age 61-65, more at higher ages.

Is that the max with PC, or per immigration rules?  PC does not offer the best value from what I have seen, but that may be different for older folks.  My brother is paying 700 usd per month with a 7500 deductible on an Obama plan, at under 60.

7 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Backs up your poor credentials. You start post, mostly poorly informed, then spit dummy.

You cannot reply to questions mainly due to lack of credible posts about requirements for recent extensions. Based on long expired O-A entries.

Check your bottle bottoms..you seem to have overlooked a 95 page thread on this exact matter.  

12 minutes ago, holy cow cm said:

It does seem to point to everyone over 50, but have they clamped down on it? OA and based on retirement, and the other day someone said ME O was hit up. I think same as you as the grab for insurance money will not be selective in a short time to come. The idiotic other thing is that they want to see the insurance dates match up with the visa or renewal dates and this is going to be virtually impossible to do. 

I renew in Nonthaburi, and have every reason to believe I will need to show the policy.

5 minutes ago, mahjongguy said:

If you don't actually need the benefits, you can buy a policy with a 300,000k deductible for about half price.

I noticed that in the other threads.  Is that the case with Falcon?  So far, after browsing through, they are too contenders for me..in the mis 50s.

3 minutes ago, lkv said:

I can tell you something else. That scenario of "i'm 49 now and I can't wait to hit 50 so that it becomes easier" will be encountered less and less.

 

New "retirees" would have to have serious mental issues, to start from zero under the current regulations.

 

And I voted B, reason: scam.

I am looking at 36k per year with Falcon..waiting to hear from them on possible deductibles.  It is 800k coverage.

12 minutes ago, glegolo said:

In my experience and among those I know here, there are hardly anyone on a O-A-VISA.. So obviously it is not that easy to predict that one, is it??

 

glegolo

Right, but if you had ever practically camped out at CM I'll for an extension, you would know many are extending OAs, and quite a few are married to a Thai, but very recently, it was still considered easier to be on OA extension vs marriage extension.  Even though it involved an extra 400k in the bank.