CartagenaWarlock

Voice of reason. Why tourist will stay illegally? They should be arrested and deported. There is a reason for migrants worker to stay illegally but I don't see any reason for tourists to stay illegally except for the their arrogancies and a desire to flaunt laws.

I have both a new EV and an old ICE in the USA. I use EV for city driving and ICE for long distance, though I hardly drive long distance now a days. In Thailand I don't have a car and always use bolt, BTS, MRT, flight, Taxis, etc. Never felt the need for a car, though sometimes felt the urge to buy a car in Pattaya but resistated my urge because I could not justify myself the reason to buy a car. My bolt charges in Pattaya never exceeded 3K per month.

Almera and Yarris ATV are good compact cars. Excellent for city driving and occasionally long distance driving. Not looked into Mazda 2.

My friend from Australia retrofitted his bicycle with a motor and it costed him around 30K to make it an ebike. He is very happy with that. Now he can roam all over pattaya in his bicycle. Was thinking to do it to my bicycle and ditch my old motorcycle instead of buying a new one. There may be more like this now. http://www.labicyclegroup.com/product-EN/2

I watched a tik tok video where one US tourist said he could use his visa/MC for BTS ride. Is it possible? I doubt very much but wanted to confirm. I have a BTS card that I used to top up for 300 baht at a time. Now that I mostly live in Pattay when in Thailand, I top up 100 baht at time when I visit Bangkok.

It was a snarky comment but also a reminder for people to get prepared when they come to Thailand. I understand that long term retirees have severed every connection to their home country and in most cases do not have a place (address) in their home country also. As some suggested Revolut is also an option but not possible from Thailand. In USA, I see hundreds of these new Fintech companies offering credit cards but I think they may require a US address. Not sure about UK residents. Does not Thai ATM (Visa/MC branded) cards work for these type of transactions?

I am not 65 yet but was trying to understand how it works. I will pass the information to my friend who will be 65 next year and was also looking to retire outside the US. The alternative plan (worldtrips) intrigued me. I will do a little more research and read on their websites if it includes emergency evacuation to the USA and may be send them an email. I already have a high deductible (approx $7000 deductible) health plan purchased through ACA. It's a PPO and pays 50% of all expenses outside the USA. The world trips plan costs <$100/month (for full year coverage in Thailand with for 100K USD coverage and $500 deductible). I will now divide my time between USA and Thailand. So thinking maybe I can I add this to my existing ACA plan. Thanks for sharing the info.

My question is Advantage plan is zip code specific (unlike medicare gap), how do I know if the advantage plan he is talking about is available in my zip code?

The Worldtips.com plan appears excellent. For 365-day I (60 years old) was quoted approx $1500 for for $500,000 max with $500 deductible. I am also a big fan of high deductible as I carry a health savings account with a debit Master Card. One thing I did not quite get from the video was the Medicare Advantage plan that covered emergency medical care outside the USA and the the zip code location that was available.

I watched a few tik tok videos. BKK is packed even before the bend to immigration line. Horrible scene.

Correct it only exacerbated inflation in the Western countries. Helped China and India acquire energy at cheap prices. It is a win-win for Asian countries but a loss for Western countries.

I have four passport. 1. Purchased 2. Born 3. Naturalized 4. From mother's side. And my Thai elite visa is stamped on the purchased passport.

People who stay in five star hotels or travel business class are not wasting money. The are enjoying their life with their life achievement. Only two types of people consider wastage of money. 1. Jealous people who can't afford because they have not achieved anything in life except getting a retirement visa in Thailand. 2. People who donate their money to the unfortunates in Thailand every time they rent a cheap place to live Thailand. Which camp do you belong?

Hotels booked using an online portal don't scam people. AirBnb booked though their portal don't scam people. Sending money for a not-seen apartment is height of stupidity. I am not sure why people like to do this. Is it for saving money or showing/bragging how smart they are for getting a box for 5,000 baht and then make videos to announce to the World how cheap they are living in Thailand and calling it a "living in heaven". Is it the society that we live in where finding cheap places to rent is considered a life achievement.

Do they have a dealer or distributor in Pattaya? Or every thing is online?

With 6K Euro pension, get a LTR visa. I believe 80K is the requirement. No year-to-year refugee visa or 90-day reporting is required.

My lawyer got an Antigua passport for 100K USD and then got a Thai elite for one million Baht for me to hide my 3 million USD from Patent trolls and told me to go and hide in Thailand for three years. I had never stepped my foot in Thailand prior to that. If I had known that I could buy a retirement visa for 15K in Pattaya I am not sure I would have opted for the elite or not. But I never regretted it. What happened in Thailand with a 19-years old Poseidon model after that is another story. Now I visit Thailand once a year only.

Smart Visas. I think newly created LTR visas also don't require 90-day reporting.

Smart Visas. Not sure about LTR visas now. May be they also don't require 90-day reporting.

People still don't understand why they have 90-day reporting, year-to-year permission to stay, even for people married to Thai nationals. It is all about keeping foreigner under control and obedient to show that they are insignificant. Some visas don't need 90-day reporting.

Hmm. My US debit card is protected against fraud and twice they refunded my money immediately when the debit card was stolen and somebody charged my card buying gold in Thailand. That's the reason I only carry US credit cards and two debit cards.

G plan for medicare is a good a plan that covers 100% of everything, except Part B deductible and including cancer treatment. Original medicare will not cover your cancer treatment. I am also planning to enroll in that when I am eligible for medicare. But for foreign travel, there is a limit of first 60-days only after you leave the USA. Also it only covers emergencies. Emergency medical expenses are not that expensive in Thailand unless you have a heart attack, stroke or an accident. Most emergencies where you don't have to stay in the hospital overnight are not that expensive, may be $300 maximum. Of course, it is nice to get reimbursed for that also and G plan will cover that. And maximum lifetime is 50K USD for G plan outside the USA. Another option for you may be to get a travel insurance for the 6-months that you're in Thailand, that will also include up to a million dollar evacuation plan. It will cost you around $200-$300 per month. If I were you, I will just forget it and cover emergencies in Thailand from my own pocket or use your HSA card. There is a high deductible G plan also but I am not familiar with that (and not available in all states). With High deductible G plan, you may be able to stash more money into your HSA card pre-tax.

Who does these background checks? Are these done by the Thail elite company or it has to be done by you and sent the report to them. I got my elite but I used an international agent to buy me a (Antigua & Barbuda's) passport and then get an elite on that passport. So, not sure about all the paperworks required. And I did all these even before visiting Thailand in my life. I hired the agent to hide my whereabouts from patent trolls who were after my 3 million USD for "alleged" violation of their purchased patents. The agent suggested to buy a new passport and get an elite to hide in Thailand for three years.

Unless somebody has money or access to money to invest it is not really easy to cultivate and grow flowers in a controlled environment. Any Tom Dick Harry farmers cannot grow and profit from it. I was reading that some small scale growers, well educated, have to invest at least 3-5 million to start/experiment and grow the right kind of flowers that have demand and people are going to pay. Of course, retail distribution can be done with less money. And some regulation is really needed like age verification for purchase, no shop near schools etc.

Do they send the ATM card to thai address?