wpcoe

They used to run min-van shuttles to hotels & condos through Pattaya/Jomtien. Have they down graded to songtaews now? (If so, where do they put the luggage?)

Aha. That's it. It probably was closer to the end of the flooding, which would explain why the lower part has so much water.

I saved this photo from a ThaiVisa.com post back in 2011: That looks a lot worse than the photo in the OP:

From the ThaiVisa.com News Editor e-mail: ????

This point really resonated with me: I'm single, entering my late 60s, and have a condo in Jomtien and a house in Mexico, but have always been vaguely aware I might need to repatriate to the USA (I left in 1994) due to Medicare. I recently developed a health condition that may indicate a sooner-rather-than-later return to the USA. Yes, medical costs for uninsured folks are cheaper in Mexico & Thailand, but they are even less in the USA if you have at least Medicare A&B, and especially if you have Part D and a Medicare Advantage plan. Would I rather burn through my retirement savings on medical expenses outside the US, or spend the savings on housing in the USA for affordable health care? I'm still debating, but currently leaning toward repatriating to the USA. The existing socio-political mess of the USA and where it will head next is distressing, but I suspect I will just bite the bullet and see what happens.

I realize you're going for humor, and it's totally fine, but if using a catheter *without the bag* shorts are much more practical. I'm currently in (what I hope is a temporary, transitional) stage of diagnosis/treatment where a bag was installed at an emergency room, but my urologist (after hearing me swear about the bag) installed just a catheter without the bag. MUCH better! Now, to get sorted so I no longer need anything inserted in my groin area...

Actually, if there is lightning with the rain, that's true? I believe ramp workers can't be out on the tarmac if there's lightning, or prediction of lightning.

But, he "shouldn't" need to go there. The branches throughout town – I used to use the Pattaya Tai branch – can put in an order in their computer to transfer whatever merchandise is at the Pattaya Nua store and have it within a day or two. If they need to transfer it from out of town (e.g. Bangkok) it takes a couple more days.

I never knew what to do with old alkaline batteries (from remotes, mainly.) Got about as many useful replies as this thread when I asked.

Oh, wow. I didn't realize it was that expensive. Did Medicare cover all (most?) of it back in the USA?

It could well have been $1,000 back then. The amount is determined each year. It is a calculation based a multiple of the minimum wage of Mexican workers and includes the MXN:USD exchange rate. Since I've been following it (2018), it has steadily increased each year. There is a less expensive "Residente Temporal" ("temporary") status that is renewed annually for four years, and in the fifth year can be converted to Residente Permanente. I can't find the figure now, but I think even that is above US$2,000/month currently. ***Just found a government page for the Residente Temporal income qualification (https://consulmex.sre.gob.mx/houston/index.php/tempresvisafinsolvency) and it appears to be ~US$2,500/month to qualify.

No, the amount of income is above $4,000/month currently to qualify for a "Residente Permanente" card. When I got mine in 2019, it was around $2,800/month.

Maybe nothing much has changed, but perhaps your perception of Mexico is a bit limited. There are areas of Mexico off the Narco Trail that are not riddled with drug cartels. I left Thailand (Jomtien) in 2020 for Merida, Mexico which is routinely the #1 or #2 ranked "safest city in the Americas" (usually alternating with Quebec City.) It's a city of ~1 million people and no cartel activity and minimal police corruption. About a half-hour from the beach, which actually I think keeps more people from emigrating here. With the caveat that for US/Canada expats that a major benefit is being physically close to "home," yeah Mexico does have some attractiveness for retirees. Partly because I still own a Jomtien condo, I'm thinking of splitting my time between Jomtien & Merida, mainly out of boredom/complacency than anything else. Climate is virtually the same, with the exception of Tropical Storms and an occasional hurricane in the Yucatan. Food and other culture, of course, are dissimilar, although the friendliness of the locals is similar. Mexico is still fairly economical. I liken it to when I first moved to Thailand in 2001. e.g. I recently had to visit the emergency room of a (good quality) hospital recently and the total cost for two hours there was US$60 (~THB2,150) and an Uber cross-town is about US$3.00 (~THB110.)

Good old fashioned Rustoleum?

I remembered where I got the idea the exclusions would be for one year: When I upgraded my Aetna policy from ฿1 million to ฿2 million, there was an accompanying document excluding items for one year being covered to the ฿2 million limit. During that year they would be covered up to the old ฿1 million level. I was surprised at the time that lots of older issues I had had treated were not excluded at all at the higher level, just certain ones. When I do return to Thailand – currently planned for a 2-month visit early next year – you'll probably see me here asking for insurance broker recommendations. ???? @Sheryl Thanks for all the solid advice in the post above this one. My "home" country is currently Mexico, and my Mexican health insurance policy does have a repatriation provision. I need to read up on what it covers and how it applies. BTW (i.e. off-topic), one thing I miss from Thailand is the medical records-keeping in hospitals. At least at BNH in Bangkok and B-PH in Pattaya, the doctors that practice there put their medical files on some hospital-hosted system so that any other doctor can access them. I always thought that was an excellent system: if I'm brought in unconscious and can't answer their questions about allergies, meds, conditions, etc, they have the info at their fingertips. Here in Mexico, even if a doctor practices out of a hospital office, there is no such central patient record. Each doctor only has a chart with their own entries.

Oh, no. What a loss. When I lived in Jomtien I would see her a couple times a year, mainly for small cancerous/pre-cancerous growths. Yes, but training and experience dealing with skin cancer is lacking for the most part. Asians are less susceptible to skin cancer compared to Caucasians. Dr. Anna had her own skin cancer clinic in Santa Monica (USA) and is highly regarded for her skill and knowledge of skin cancers. On the Health & Medicine forum section you'll find lots of testimony to that fact.

I'm curious about the scientific research done to reach that conclusion. Did they take a large sample of men, measure their manhood, and tell them, "If you catch Covid, please return after you've recovered so we can re-measure and compare"?

The infuriating thing about the PBGC/login.gov debacle, is that PBGC introduced this just about two years ago. Yep, in the century of the cell phone, they decided to not only (a) require a going-obsolete land-line verification, but (b) essentially eliminate access for non-residents of the USA. There may be one or two retirees (PBGC is a pension agency) who choose to live their golden years overseas, no? ????

I'm an avid railroad fan – something about trains appeals to me. About twenty years ago I used to travel long-distance Thai trains in Second Class air con sleepers quite a bit. But then a few years went by and cell phones came on strong. Last two times I tried Second Class sleepers there were cell phones pinging, dinging and ringing all bloody night long. Worse, when they rang, folks found it necessary to answer them and carry on (highly hearable) phone conversations. Took the romance right out of train travel for me. After that I took a few trains, but only First Class when I paid a supplement to have the cabin to myself. However, the ambience of being in Second Class (seriously, I liked it – vendors walking down the aisle peddling food/souvenirs at the stops, people watching, etc.) was gone. </rant off>

Do you need to use ID.me or login.gov to access/service your SSA account? I still go directly to the https://www.ssa.gov/site/signin/en/ page and click on "my Social Security" for entry. My pension, however, is administered by the PBGC (another federal agency) and they now require use of login.gov, and it requires a US landline phone in the users name to register. (!) No way around it. They made this change about two years ago (?) so I've lost online access to my pension information, can't request tax forms, etc. I mean, in this day and age, how many people have land lines in their name. e.g. Husband and wife, even if they have a land line, only one of their names can be on it, so how does the other person get their login.gov credentials?

It's not only "American expats with addresses outside the USA and receiving their SS benefits in the foreign country," It's "American expats with addresses outside the USA." I had my Thai address on file with the SSA, but always had my SS checks direct deposited to my US bank, never overseas, and I got the annual "are you still alive?" letter.

They ran 3x or 4x per hour. I used to catch the Red Bus on Jomtien Beach Road and was usually one of about four or five passengers. To correct my first post, the fare was B30.

When I lived in Thailand (up until 2020) I would get the annual letter mailed to my Thai address from the SSA asking me to reply or they would suspend my benefit. I never had the SS payments made to Thailand – I always have had it direct deposited to my USA bank. I did, however, have my permanent address in the SSA system as Thailand, so I think it's not only folks with ACH transfers to Bangkok Bank.

Shoot. Undoubtedly you're correct. I don't know where I got that one-year exclusion idea from.