818Pilot

I’m sorry, but the quota of foreign idiots is already met so you will need to find someplace else to visit. 

You’re welcome to move if you don’t like the lifestyle here. Trust me, no one will miss the whining 

Worried about elephant pants but selling knock off brand name clothing, watches, shoes, purses etc is perfectly fine and doesn’t need to be looked into? 

I’m from the US, retired last year and I’ll share what I did to open my primary bank account so I could deposit the 800k to get my Non-O.

As you know since you’ve lived here longer than me, things change weekly.

I arrived Visa Exempt and purposely booked an AirBnb for over a month. I made sure when booking that the host would file a TM30, which they did. I then got the TM30 slip and to make life easy I paid 500b to have an agent get me a residence certificate. I actually had them get me two, 1 for banking and 1 for my drivers license.

With the residence certificate in hand I went to Kbank in Chiang Mai, dressed nicely (no shorts or flip flops, although I’m not sure it matters) had a nice conversation with the manager explaining that I retired, was applying for my non-o visa but to do so I needed to open an account so I can fund it. 
 

About 30 minutes later and 300 signatures later (lol) I left with a new account, online access and debit card. 
 

Hope this helps
 

11 hours ago, Richard007 said:

818pilot, thanks for sharing that information.  That website falls under the “Corporate” tab not the “Individuals” tab.  I wonder if the same networks apply to the Individual plans?

 

 

Just curious, did you ever have a large hospitalization claim with April (i.e. >$2,000)?  If so, which hospital was it and did April hit you with a 20% deductible?

 

Hi Richard007, you're welcome and I also noticed that it was under the corporate tab. I guess I figured if it applied there then it would apply to individuals too (Might be a bad assumption on my part). 

I just recently moved here, so like you, I'm looking for a policy that's not Thai backed and offers good coverage. I'm 57 and a local agent offered April/LMG thai policy with 3.5m Bhat coverage at around 87k bhat a year, which i didn't think was bad until I had him put in what it would cost me at 60 since rate increases are every 5 years here. The increase went to about 120k bhat a year, which then made me consider either Cigna Global or Aprils international (France) policy. Medical is so much cheaper here then in the US, but I recently had a motorcycle accident in Los Angeles that put me in the hospital at Cedars for 10 days and my US bill is already over 600k USD. While my US insurance will never pay that amount, it got me thinking if some did happen here that was serious, would 3.5m Bhat really be enough.

On 9/7/2023 at 10:19 PM, Richard007 said:

I have been researching options for expat medical insurance for when I retire and move to Thailand early next year and I have been looking closely at April International (France).

Section 7.1 of April’s MyHealth International General Conditions 2023 booklet says:

 

  We provide you with a network of healthcare professionals who charge Reasonable and Customary costs. If You receive treatment in a medical facility that is not recommended and is not a member of the APRIL International network, You will be subject to a 20% Deductible applicable to the amount of your claim if the cost of your treatment exceeds local standards (except for vital emergencies).

I have been in contact with the sales department at April International (France) and asked a bunch of questions about their policy.  The one request that I have made (and repeated in several email exchanges) that they have refused to address is to allow me to have access to the list of hospitals that are members of the APRIL International network or let me know how to access the network online so I can see the names of the hospitals.  It’s shocking to me that they refused this request.  After all, their customers have a right to know exactly what it is that they are buying. 

 

If April’s focus is controlling costs by only including the inexpensive hospitals in the April International Network, and excluding more expensive ones, then this policy is not a good fit for me.  If I have a need for surgery sometime in the future, I don’t want to be subject to a 20% deductible if I don’t like the hospitals in the April network and the hospital I choose is more expensive than others. 

 

My questions to current April International (France) Policyholders are:

 

Do you feel that the hospitals included in the April International Network are high-quality hospitals?   If so, which other country’s hospital system have you been treated at as a basis for quality comparison, if any?

 

Is Bumrungrad International Hospital included in the April International Network?

 

Is Bangkok Hospital included in the April International Network?

Is Samitivej Sukhumvit Hospital included in the April International Network?

Is Siriraj Piyamaharajkarun Hospital included in the April International Network?

 

Is Ramathibodi Hospital included in the April International Network?

Did you ever have to pay the 20% deductible for a scheduled hospitalization (i.e. not an emergency) because the hospital was not in April’s network and April determined that the cost of your treatment exceeded local standards (i.e. exceeded Reasonable and Customary costs)?

Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for any thoughtful replies.

I had the same concerns as I live in CM and Bangkok Hospital is the closest to me and I currently use them for Physical and Occupational Therapy for an accident in the US (Out of pocket, but only $26 an hour compared to over $100 in Los Angeles).

I explored their site and found this, https://www.april-international.com/en/corporate/services/healthcare-networks . I then checked what network Bangkok Hospital is with and they are part of Bangkok Dusit Medical Services (BDMS) so it is in network according to their link above. You may want to check the others, but BDSM has the following as part of their group.

Bangkok Hospital
Phyathai Hospitals Group
BNH Hospital
Samitivej Hospital Group
Paolo Hospital Group
Royal Hospital Group (Cambodia)

Hope this helps!

I just converted my visa exempt to Non-o in CM and it was painless. When they issued the initial 90 day non-o, I applied for a single re-entry so I could head back to the US to take care of stuff for my perm move. Some will disagree with this choice, but I still got insurance, and will keep it until I don't fell it's necessary, doesn't pay for things, or becomes incredibly expensive where saving the premiums would be a better choice. At 57, I'm fortunate that prices are reasonable and compared to the US, I'd say they are very reasonable.  I just don't want to be mandated to buy it.