nigelforbes

You can't actually change an OA visa that is in use, to an new O visa, the OA has to be cancelled and then an O visa obtained. I guess what the OP means is that he has an extension to an OA and that he is changing the reason for stay, perhaps? Failing that, he is going to allow his OA to lapse and obtain a new O visa? (I think the latter). I did that with my OA extension which was based on retirement initially. I subsequently changed the reason to marriage, in country. To be clear, the OA visa is the one first obtained which can be used for entry and exit for up to two years (if timed right), it is the visa that is glued into your passport. Thereafter the visa is extended using stamps in the passport..

Yes, no and sort of! It's true that in theory you can declare yourself resident on the day of your return as a UK resident. In practise however there are checks and balances in the NHS system which require staff dedicated to determining residency status to find out what the true story is. Items such as consistent spending patterns over time is one factor. Many people come and go for long periods, spending time in both locations. My UK bank account shows clear evidence of UK residency for months at a time, followed by many months/years of nothing, apart from rental income from an agent. My pensions were paid into a UK bank, today they are paid into my Thai bank, I'm not about to reverse that scenario, just because at some future point in time I may want to try and cheat the NHS. And my tenant pays Council Tax at my address, I don't. If I get sick tomorrow and try to return to the UK, just to use the NHS, well, it would be almost impossible since the tenant requires two months notice etc etc.

Exactly, and that was my initial point.

I have my vax records on my phone on the Thai MOH app., it's pretty neat.

"adjust your living location", that sounds like code for go home. Am I, "at that much risk",? My cardio isn't telling me to prepare for the end or to do anything special. But there again, most people who suffer from CAD just drop dead, so who knows. Medicare, what's that! I'm a Brit where the health care system is in its knees plus Anyway, I will still be chargeable during the first six months, because the NHS is a residency based system, and chargeable at 150% of the price, because I'm expat!

I have CAD but my health insurance (CIGNA) specifically excludes coverage for anything heart related, I pay 125k per year for the insurance BTW. I have a couple of million in cash but a major cardiac event could run to 5 mill., according to Sheryl previously. I use cash in bank for my visa and the cash is actually there and it's mine, even though I use an agent. Should I head to the airport today or can I wait until next week!

I suspect/guess that once the private hospital realises they wont be able to recoup their losses that he will be transferred to a government hospital. Any irrecoverable loss there will be written off by government, which will provide further ammunition for government to ensure all expats have medical insurance before issuing them with visa extensions. If that sounds harsh and unhelpful it is not intended to be so, I just want to point out the realities of the inevitable sequence of events.

When adjusted for inflation the amount is only 8.6% pa, but that assumes average or normal rates of inflation. The return under current levels of inflation would be negative.

Should have but didn't, hindsight is always 100%. I suspect many of us are in situations that are not that far removed from the one described in the OP, it's boiling frog syndrome in action. One day you look and you see you have X in the bank and you tell yourself all is OK because you feel fine. Then it becomes X-20% and you haven't been feeling great lately but you'll review again in 6 months. And so on. Eventually you resign yourself to passing in Thailand and that's OK with you if you fall down dead one day. But it doesn't work that way in practise, that's because the end may easily be death by a thousand cuts, slow and prolonged and expensive, especially given the Thai propensity for wanting to keep people alive at any cost. If you don't have good health insurance and you don't have money in the bank, a living will and POA are essential basic, if you don't have them, you need them, asap.

This is untrue, not all foreigners are treated the same. The government published three separate scales of charges below. Note, this is for government hospitals, NOT private hospitals where charges are even more expensive: "The new dispensation will allow Thai hospitals under the Ministry of Public Health to charge a prescribed limit for medical services based on a 3 tiered system approach. Operators and Thai hospitals will have to set the 3 tiers themselves and then submit to the Ministry of Public Health to finalize. These 3 tiers are explained below: Tier 1 Under the new regulations, the first tier price structure is specific for Thai citizens and those from neighboring countries, such as Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Myanmar, will pay relatively the same for medical procedures. Tier 2 The second tier price structure will be applied to expatriates, namely foreigners in Thailand, who are working and paying taxes with the appropriate visas. Tier 3 The third tier of charges and the highest in terms fees will apply to retirees and tourists". https://www.pacificprime.co.th/blog/dual-pricing-at-thai-public-hospitals-and-the-implications-on-foreigners/

Me first, me first....not this time! RIP

I hadn't paid much attention because I wasn't planning on going anywhere, now that we are considering a UK trip this year I would like to understand the requirements for when I return. I'm here on an extension of stay based on marriage. Will I need to show proof of medical insurance in Thailand when I return and are there any other requirements I have to meet, apart from buy ticket, obtain re-entry permit, TM30, catch plane and travel? TIA

I'm not going to post pictures here but if you google, "inversion layer pictures," you'll see some of the visual effects of an inversion layer, which are not all the same, as you might imagine. Even when an inversion layer is present it tends not to be uniform and in some areas can be quite patchy, in some parts smoke even continues to rise. Perhaps an easier way to observe an inversion layer is from above, if there's a tall mountain near by, take a drive and go observe what sits below. It's also useful to understand the wind and pollution charts, AQI maps are good in this respect because they combine both, see here: https://www.iqair.com/thailand From the map linked above, there are two things to note. The first is that at this time of the year, the air currents all flow from North to South, which brings with it the cold dense air from China and the Arctic. The second thing is that there are only a few fires in SE Asia, if you zoom out the map you'll see that Cambodia and Myanmar have started to burn but Thailand is still relatively light. The IQAir index for the greater region shows that heavily polluted air sits over central China and northern India but that is thermal, not burning related, as the FIRMS Fire map confirms - Thailand by comparison is still almost clear. https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/map/#d:2023-01-01..2023-01-02,2023-01-01;@104.2,19.9,5z

What you see and what you feel right now is the inversion layer at work. A layer of cold dense air, typical at this time of year, hangs low to the ground and prevents warmer air from rising. That warmer air contains all the pollution from burning and vehicular traffic et al. Under normal conditions that warmer polluted air would disperse and you wouldn't notice the pollution, not yet anyway, it's too early in the season for serious burning. Don't believe me? Go find somewhere where there is a fire and watch as the smoke rises and then travels horizontally.

Do you get shots afterwards?

Me too. I stayed up until 11pm one time, it was exciting.

Violence against foreigners and violence by and against locals/other asians are very different. I'd walk the streets of Thailand day or night without worry, not so the UK, especially London.

Why do you think dementia care in the UK is light years ahead of Thailand?

Just for info: The vehicle keying events were all by locals at the beach who see any parking spaces as their personal property, not to be used by farangs, even if they are all empty....one was done whilst I was less than 20 feet away.....it's supposedly an incentive to use high priced taxis/local cars.

It's potentially very dooable and from a quality of life perspective, probably a very good alternative to a rest home in the UK. There are several places where he could live, one such place that takes dementia patients in the North is linked here: https://mckean.or.th/, they are very highly regarded.

Excellent, I'm happy for you that you have things there that you enjoy doing. But you asked the questions, "What else is there to enjoy? The local culture? The food?". We enjoy all those things plus we enjoy many of the same things that you do back home, our lifestyles are not that different I suspect, only the location changes. The big difference between us that we do those things year round. And we do enjoy the change in seasons, which in the North are quite marked, the weather currently is very UK like and quite cold at night. Your earlier post reminded me very much of me. I came to Thailand to live full time in 2004 but had been semi living here and elsewhere in the region for many years, because of my work in Hong Kong. I first moved to Phuket because it ticked all the boxes and I also was at a very comfortable point in my life. I had a British friend in Pattaya that I used to visit from time to to time plus I would spend time in Bangkok because I found it intriguing. A rent a friend persuaded me to visit Buriram also but I couldn't get away fast enough. (it was bad, but not as bad as Chachoengsao where locals congregate around the drainage canal at dusk to watch the ducks....that's their sole source of entertainment and amusement). Later I went to Chiang Mai and everything clicked, scenery, people, infrastructure, resources...it took several years of travelling around the country, exploring, before I understood that Phuket was A) unnecessarily expensive, B) nice to visit but it wasn't necessary to live there. C) The people and their attitudes are nicer and more natural in other parts. D) Full of tourists and migrant workers, temporary and permanent. E) full of locals who were mostly unpleasant and resentful of tourists and foreigners. (in four years there, my CRV was keyed five times and our house was cat burgled twice (whilst we slept)). My experiences and observations, FWIW

TBH I think the poster is trolling, who in their right mind could possibly claim, "the people who tragically lost loved ones during the pandemic will generally be among the quickest to get over it". It's warped thinking at best.

"What else is there to enjoy" (apart from sex) for the over 60 brigade? Hmm, well let's turn the tables and ask what those same people would be doing back in Morecambe, if by that time they no longer have family. For six months out of the year they would be inside avoiding the cold and the rain but they could always go down the pub I suppose! I'm 73 and I've been here for 20 years. We have our house and a large garden so there's always plenty to do. We eat lunch out most days plus we can go to the beach anytime we want, or up to the mountains nearby (we live in the North). We never are at a loss for something interesting and different to do. We did try the 6 months at our UK home and 6 months here but frankly it was very hard work looking after two places and all that entails so we stopped that and now we just rent out the UK home full time. I understand why people make the connection with sex but really, there is a lot more to life in Thailand than just sex, if you haven't worked that one out yet you've got some catching up to do.

I compare costs between my life here and a life back in the UK and they come out about the same. It's really swings and roundabouts for me. Either I spend money on health insurance and helping my wife's family from time to time or I pay Council tax and high utility costs and don't have rental income. I would have a decent quality of life in the UK but I really don't want to be there. The NHS is dead in the water so no advantage there, plus the weather is pants for six months out of the year. Mostly I don't think I could relate to the people, after 20+ years here I've grown accustomed to the quirks and vagaries of Thailand plus I can go hit the beach any time I want. Nah, I think I'll stay where I am.

Yes, absolutely agree. I don't know what others do but I wont touch anything with a P/E more than 25. But there again I'm not a young guy so my time horizon is more limited. I'm holding CGT and RICA, both wealth preservation funds which are 9 and 8 respectively, 20 is a risky day out for me. :))