Terry2905

So why has the exchange rate plummeted? I "lost" about 3,000 baht this month from my UK pension!

It was a 2 page questionnaire, and I declared everything since childhood. It was not deliberate. I did not declare a mental health problem, because I have never been diagnosed with a definite answer. But my undiagnosed potential mental health issues, from the psychological doctor in Bangkok hospital, varied from anxiety, to depression, and even possibly bipolar. But I was never actually diagnosed with any official mental health issues. So I didn't declare it on the questionnaire, because I have never been diagnosed with a mental health issue. I did declare my alcoholism. I did declare my recent stent operation. I even declared having a hemorrhoid removal operation 7 years ago. But yes, the questionnaire did say if I had visited a doctor within the last 10 years. I did not declare visiting the psychiatrist, because I was not diagnosed with any mental health issues. Why declare that I visited a doctor with a possible mental health issue, which was undiagnosed? We have all been through the process of going to see a doctor, when there was nothing actually wrong. In my 30 plus years of visiting Thailand, I have had 1 operation to remove a heammaroid. I declared everything to the insurance company, as far as I was concerned! 1 of the mind blonging question was if I had ever suffered a headache in 10 years! We all know that insurance companies will use any excuse not to pay!

Hi. It was nice to read a positive outcome. Some good news for a change. I wish you and your wife a long and happy future.

Yes. I accidentally ticked the wrong box in the 2 page questionnaire. I did appeal to the health insurance company, but the matter was never resolved. I have learned a lesson that the local insurance companies do have ful access to all your medical history.

Hi. It was not intended to be either misleading, and it was never a fabrication. I originally missed out a couple of probably salient points, which I hope I have corrected in my follow up post last night. Of course I have the mandatory 800,000 baht locked away in my Thai bank account, for my annual visa extension. I have never understood that legal requirement. But that is not unusual. I know that Portugal has a legal requirement for a resident visa for medical insurance. I have explored all my options. I apologise to you if you think I have been misunderstood. I am in a very difficult situation and it is not easy for me to fully disclose every single detail.

Yeah. You are right. No friends or relatives who give a damn.

Hi everyone. After I posted an update earlier today, and reading some of the latest replies, I will give a further update/review of my recent and current circumstances. The 2nd alcoholic rehabilitation centre that I attended in chiang mai, and not the 1st rehabilitation centre I attended in chiang rai, were excellent. They got me back on my feet, able to walk now unassisted. I am still suffering with extreme anxiety issues, which the local psychiatrist has not been able to help me with. I am on a very slow road to recovery. I don't know or understand when my acute alcoholism took over my life? 2 years ago I was extremely fit and healthy, going small dinghy sailing for 3 to 4 hours nearly every day. My Father passed away in April 2022, and 2 months later I was diagnosed with an 80% blocked heart main artery which needed an urgent stent. Of course I was unable to go sailing, which was my passion, and I guess I turned to drinking heavily at that point! It just crept up on me! I basically lost everything that I enjoyed doing, and lost the 1 remaining family member I had any contact with, which was my Father. My long term Thai g/f also left me at the same time. So it was a triple whammy in a very short space of time. So please be a little bit sympathetic with my circumstances

Hi. And who precisely would employ a 65 year old person, with physical and mental health issues?

Sorry, but I made a small error about the cost of alcohol rehabilitation centres in Thailand. It was actually 400,000 baht a month, but that was with a 50% special discount, in chiang mai. Normal price would have been 800,000 baht a month. I gave the total cost of alcohol rehabilitation, because I actually attended 2 alcohol rehabilitation centres. I know that I mentioned chiang rai, and that was the 1st centre I attended, which charged me 400,000 baht. It was an awful place with almost zero support, so I moved to another centre in chiang mai, who were excellent, but also charged me a discounted 400,000 baht. I will briefly mention that I did actually return to the UK 1st, on crutches due to the peripheral neuropathy caused by my alcoholism, unable to walk unassisted, and was turned away by the NHS. I returned to Thailand because the NHS refused to treat me. As far as your comment about using the money to do up my house in the UK is concerned, and rent it out again, I did explain in my previous post that the house is under a repossession order, so I can't rent it out!

Hi. My NI contributions page on the government gateway does show that I can make 2 contributions, at just over £1,700. That would give me an extra £6 a week on my pension. Doing the rough calculation, it would take me 6 years to recover that shortfall. To be honest, I don't think it is worth the money!

Hi everyone. Thank you for some useful information, and my apologies for not replying. I have been "out of the loop" for a while, with an added anxiety issue of being robbed at knife point in my condo. It scared the life out of me! I have been searching for accommodation that I could just about afford, but have not found anything yet. Roughly £500 a month totally unfurnished, which would mean all the extra expenses of buying a bed, tv, kettle, and so on! Not possible with the small amount of money I would have. I have emailed social services in the UK and waiting for a reply. I have been to an alcohol rehabilitation centre in chiang rai, for 1 month, costing me 800,000 baht, and I have got my extreme alcoholism sort of under control, but I admit that I have relapsed on occasions. The alcohol rehabilitation centre did tell me that I would need to stay there for at least 6 months to achieve abstinence, which I couldn't afford. But they have given me advice and guidance on reduction and maintenance, and that has helped me. I will be getting my UK pension from 29th May (but the 1st payment will not be until about mid July), but I don't know how much I will actually receive. The government gateway shows that I should get the full new state pension, but there is a conflict between my NI contributions, and the government gateway, because I note that I only have 32 qualifying years, and the full state pension needs 35 qualifying years. I have contacted the overseas pension centre, but they were no real help and only advised me to wait for the letter from the international pension centre, which given the Thai postal system could be a 6 month wait! Of course I will know how much I will actually receive, in mid July, when I see what goes into my Thai bank account. I should be able to manage on that in Thailand, obviously, because I lead a fairly frugal lifestyle here in Thailand (I don't go to bars or restaurants). But! I will have that "what if" I fall seriously ill in Thailand always in my mind, and don't have enough money to pay for hospital treatment. In conclusion, I am still weighing up the pro's and cons. I am currently not in a desperate situation, so I have time to consider everything. I know that my original post may have been a bit misleading, because I would actually have enough money to rent somewhere for the 3 months before I would be entitled to any financial assistance in the UK. I did put "no money " in my original post, but that is not strictly true. The actual truth is that I would not have enough money to pay a hospital bill if I fell seriously ill in Thailand. Of course, there is no guarantee that I would even survive a serious illness in the UK. With the NHS in such a mess, it could take a long time to get treatment. I am also fully aware that mental health issues are at the bottom of the list, as is alcoholism, There is also the saying that when it is your time to go, that is up to fate! The guy who robbed me could easily have killed me! That meat cleaver that he had would have taken my head off if he chose to use it. I realise that a lot of people want to live as long as possible, those people who have family, but I don't have anyone. Nobody would know or care if I died in Thailand or in the UK. Taking everything into account, including the stress of moving back to the UK, I have more or less decided to live my remaining life in Thailand. Something that I have not mentioned, is that I actually still have a joint ownership house in the UK. I used to rent it out, but the mortgage became due 3 years ago, with a large negative equity, and I stopped paying the rent to the housing association, and mortgage, because I had expected the mortgage company to automatically reposses the house, which never happened. I tried for nearly 2 years to contact the mortgage company, without actually being able to talk to someone. 6 months ago I actually managed to contact them, and they are now in the process of a voluntary surrender. Officially, I could actually move back in, but there are a lot of problems involved in doing that. The locks have been changed by the previous tenants, and the keys were never returned to the letting agent, so I would need to pay for the locks to be changed before I could gain access. The housing association have contacted me and told me that the house is in a bad state of repair, and asked me to pay someone to get it sorted out. I have no idea how bad the house is (they did not give me any details). Of course there would be no gas or electric or water. Being realistic, returning to my house is not an option. It would probably cost a lot of money to make it habitable, and I would eventually be evicted when the mortgage company reposesses it. I would also be left with a very large debt to both the housing association and mortgage company for arrears, and a large negative equity from the eventual sale of the house. That does sway my decision to never return to the UK. What a mess eh?

Hi everyone. Just a small update. The lady owner of the condo block helped by arranging a gate maker. I chose galvanised steel, which will be painted white. The steel gate will cost 4,000 baht. Stainless steel would have cost 9,000 baht, so I went for the cheaper option. 3 days to have it made and fitted. It will certainly ease my mind with the extra bit of security, and make things a lot easier for me. I currently have a temporary lash up, using a large clothes hanger, strapped with a chain and padlock to a post on 1 side, and weighed down with an old car battery on the "free" side, but it is a pain having to do that every day! I still haven't really recovered from the initial shock of being robbed with a lethal weapon, but the gate will give me some peace of mind, because it will give me those vital few seconds to get into my room and lock the door. (Yes I know that the robber could easily climb over the gate, but it would give me those few extra seconds to get into my room). A big thank you to you guys for your support.

I rent, and have been in this room for 6 years without any problems. Yes I could move upstairs, but it is a daunting task to move everything I have, (deep fryer, kettle, table and chairs, microwave, cooker, kitchen cabinet, etc), and there is no lift, and I am a little frail to carry shopping up flights of stairs. The ground floor suits me well.

The condo has plenty of cctv cameras, and the police saw him on the cctv footage actually walking behind another foreign guy along the road, obviously his initial intended victim, so the police have plenty of very clear footage of the robber. The foreign guy was lucky. He lives upstairs from me, and the entrance door is a key card door, and he obviously got inside and closed the door before the robber could! The foreign guy was totally unaware that he was being followed.

Thanks for the info. Yeah, I thought about buying a machete, but I am a bit old and frail to weald something like that, and I certainly would not want to be seen by my neighbours standing outside on my balcony with a machete in hand 😏.