wpcoe

I saved this photo from a ThaiVisa.com post back in 2011:

That looks a lot worse than the photo in the OP:

On 7/31/2022 at 5:52 AM, crouchpeter said:

Just don't wear shorts.

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...

5 hours ago, chuang said:

Workers cannot work in the rain....????

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.

On 8/10/2022 at 9:58 PM, SAFETY FIRST said:

 

Go to their big store. 

Just after City Hall on Pattaya Nua, North Pattaya Rd 

Or 

Pattaya Tai, opposite the Temple 

 

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.

28 minutes ago, thailand49 said:

...what was recommended by the private hospital 200,000 baht...

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

19 hours ago, John Drake said:

I looked several years (14) ago and I thought it was $1000. Could easily have been wrong. I think Mexico is a good place to live.

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.

4 minutes ago, John Drake said:

Is it the case that you only need $1000 per month from Social Security to get permanent residence in Mexico?

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.

Good old fashioned Rustoleum?

On 7/18/2022 at 10:50 AM, Sheryl said:

 Even when there is a time limit on an exclusion it is typically at least 5 years.

On 7/18/2022 at 6:14 PM, wpcoe said:

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

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.

On 7/25/2022 at 4:55 AM, Spaniel said:

the past I have seen Dr Anna at BKkPattaya Hospital. But recently she has cut her schedule to 1 day a month so a bit difficult to see her.

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.

On 7/25/2022 at 5:03 AM, The Hammer2021 said:

The BPH has a whole oncology  department and a dermatology  department.

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"?

On 7/24/2022 at 10:55 PM, Pib said:

Yeap, I now another person here in Thailand who ran into the same PBGC and Login.gov problem.  And until the PBGC possibly offers more ways to verify your identity with them and/or Login.gov starts offering more ways to verify identity you probably will not be able to log onto your PBGC online acct again.

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? ????

3 hours ago, Pib said:

Was that first attempt years ago before SSA started using ID.Me or Login.gov for identify verification, OR was it recently using ID.Me or Login.gov?   

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?

1 hour ago, Wrwest said:

I am only aware of the existence of American expats with addresses outside the USA and receiving their SS benefits in the foreign country receiving letters asking for, I believe, annual confirmation of life. My SS deposits are made to my US bank, then combined with additional funds are transferred monthly to Bangkok Bank. So, thinking this would not affect me or others in the same situation.

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.

On 7/15/2022 at 4:13 PM, wpcoe said:

Remember the roaring success of the Pattaya Beach Bus circa 2005?  Oh, right.  It failed after what, six months?  The fare was B15 or B20, IIRC, in air conditioned comfort, and they couldn't attract enough passengers to make a go of it.  I think baht buses are here for the long haul.  Long live the baht bus! ????

 

1 hour ago, redwood1 said:

I remember reading stories of people having to wait and wait and wait for these buses while loads of baht buses went past them...These buses ended up running empty all the time......Loads of money was spent on the city bus system..... 

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.

7 hours ago, Sheryl said:

 Even when there is a time limit on an exclusion it is typically at least 5 years.

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

(Somehow that posted before I was ready....)

If I can determine from Aetna that some/most/all of the pre-existing conditions would be excluded only for one year, I might start the policy in January 2023 so that the one-year period ends sooner.

@internationalism Thanks.  I do want to be in dialog with Aetna before I re-start (part-year) residency in Thailand.  At this time, I wanted to see what expectations I should have, and ideally, have someone chime in who has actually done it.

I'm planning a 60-day Thailand visit starting in January 2023 and will talk to Aetna directly then.  I probably would restart residency in the autumn of 2023.  (Don't want to have a retirement extension renewal date in high season again!)  I have permanent residency in Mexico so I can come & go with ease here.