Jingthing

I'm very surprised. That's definitely off label enforcement. Thanks for the report. Personally I would have paid the baksheesh in this case. Get it over with!

OK, ... as a non medical person I am very confused about the meaning of more recent messages from scientists that seem to indicate that EVERYONE will sooner or later be infected with the Covid 19 virus. What does that mean exactly? That everyone will come into contact with the virus. Well, yes obviously but being exposed to it is not the same as being infected. Or do they REALLY mean that everyone will literally be infected, at least at a no symptom level, and including vaccinated people? If its the latter shouldn't there be a sea change in any alarm people feel about infection statistics which are almost by design gross undercounts anyway? To add my message here is in no way a suggestion that the pandemic isn't serious. Everyone should get vaccinated and when exposed and or infected that greatly reduces the chances of hospitalization and death.

... that Pattaya doesn't already have. Your choices could be overall national cuisines such as Brazilian, a more specific regional cuisine such as Hokkien Chinese, or a specialty food category such as an empenada shop.

Something for those that might be effected to watch closely. Americans using the 65k income method for retirement extensions can't get an income letter from the embassy so instead must show a foreign transfer into a Thai bank account every month. Well, sadly, if that income is social security it might be delayed because of a pending debt ceiling political crisis. If that happens is there anything that can be done? Perhaps transfer the money in yourself on the normal payment date? To be clear IF this happens you'll still get the same money later but the problem would be with the timing of a possible delay. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/22/what-debt-ceiling-woes-could-mean-for-social-security-benefits.html What debt ceiling woes could mean for Social Security benefits Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen made headlines this week with an op-ed suggesting government checks could run dry if Congress doesn’t raise the debt ceiling. “Nearly 50 million seniors could stop receiving Social Security checks for a time,” Yellen wrote.

OK, this is a specific situation but it may be relevant to other people. If you've made an early social security claim (before age 65), you will AUTOMATICALLY be signed up for Medicare Part A (if you qualify). If you have a MySSA account it will show you as enrolled. If you use a U.S. address for social security I think you also will be automatically enrolled in Part B, although you can opt out because there is a cost (taken out of your social security check). However, you will not be automatically enrolled in Part B if you use a non-U.S. address and that is the crux of the issue in this topic. The reason to pay for Part B as an expat is to avoid the 10 percent penalty per year for life for the time you didn't pay for it if you repatriate. This topic isn't about the often hard decision about whether to enroll in Part B or not (you might plan to be an expat for life but you never really know). Other Medicare part enrollments are irrelevant to expats with a foreign address (sign up upon repatriation). This period around your 65th birthday is called the INITIAL ENROLLMENT PERIOD. If you enroll for Part B later, it's called a SPECIAL ENROLLMENT PERIOD. IEP and SEP. The INITIAL period is three months before your birthday and three months after. For example birthday September 15, the actual deadline is December 31, not December 15. Social Security (NOT Medicare) is involved in enrollment for Parts A and B. Medicare is involved in the other parts. This is my current situation. Early social security claim Thai address Automatically enrolled in Part A My social security card and package never arrived at my Thai address so I didn't even have my Medicare Card Number (11 digits). I've read elsewhere that they don't send the package abroad but I was at least expecting the card (with the number). Nope. So I logged onto my MySSA account and it showed me enrolled in Part A only (but advised that that should be further verified). So I called this Medicare number to verify that I was definitely enrolled in Part A and hoping to get my Medicare Number. With your Medicare Number you can open an online Medicare account, but I was told that you CAN'T enroll in Part B online on the Medicare site because Parts A and B enrollments are done by Social Security. 1-800-633-4227 MEDICARE They were very helpful and easily without pulling teeth verified that I was definitely enrolled in Part A and I was even able to get my Medicare Number read to me over the phone. Of course if you were in the U.S. you would want the actual physical card which can be requested via Medicare or Social Security. So far, so good. As I was told that I MUST go through Social Security (not Medicare) to enroll in Part B, I called this number. 410-965-0160 Social Security International Service 9:00am and 4:00pm Eastern U.S time Called it several times with the message call back later and not even put in a call queue! There is an 800 number meant for people living in the U.S. but I haven't tried that yet as I doubt they're geared to an expat issue like this. 1-800-772-1213 Social Security You see, the problem here is that the information you're going to find online about this is NOT about enrolling in Part B during INITIAL enrollment, but rather about special enrollments later. There is form referred to that doesn't support foreign addresses and instructions with it usually say you need to file an additional form regarding your employment situation (presumably to try to avoid the penalty of late sign up because if you qualify under certain insurance conditions you are exempt). CMS40B - Application for Enrollment in Part B | CMS I'm not sure what to do with that form as an expat trying to enroll in Part B during INITIAL enrollment. Notice it does support people that live specifically in the colony of Puerto Rico but appears to explicitly exclude expats. So what to do? I'll keep trying to call the international number but it doesn't sound promising. Other than that, there is always the dreaded Manila FBU, but I'm very hesitant to go there. Like many, I've found the service wanting. I perhaps recall a member here saying they could sign up for Medicare Part B online from their online Medicare account (Medicare number needed to create) but I was told very strongly by a Medicare rep that that is not true. If any brave, generous, or masochistic soul, has made it this far, can you offer any advice? In a way I'm finding this darkly funny. I want to pay the government money for something I can't use while living abroad, but they seem to making this very hard!

Many have heard of the various recent extreme policy changes in Xi's China, such as a crackdown on tutoring services impacting countless western English teachers. So now it's effeminate men in media. China bans 'sissy men' from TV in new crackdown - Los Angeles Times (latimes.com) No, I'm not saying that all or most effeminate men are gay or not, but this new policy is clearly extremely homophobic. China is the inevitable top power in the world. Will this kind of thing spread to other countries under China's influence? (Such as Thailand.)

I assume most Americans have been following this. Massive price spikes in real estate in the U.S. for pretty much any place that you might want to live. If you already own something even marginally decent there, you're probably happy about an unexpected windfall. But what if you don't? For most expats, the first backup is repatriation. No visa needed. But some kind of housing is needed! To underline this situation, here's the flip side of this historic price spike: Real estate investors from across the U.S. are buying homes in Peoria, Ill., sight unseen - Washington Post

Why did it take so long for this topic to happen? Can be weird and wonderful, guilty pleasures, or serious stuff too. To tell us, I suggest that you include a sample video of the channel instead of linking to the channel's summary page. More fun, no?

Look I fully realize I'm coming from Old Fogeylandia with this and that many people have made boatloads of "money" with bitcoin and treat it almost as a religion. But looking at history, how can this NOT end badly? Or maybe history is passe, huh?

The question has come up about the rough percentage of expats living in Thailand that have a Thai I.D. card (including when obtained from a yellow book). Driver's license is not a Thai I.D. card! So if that's all you've got then the answer is no. So I'm doing this poll. I guess that expats that have become citizens or permanent residences all do have a Thai I.D. so I'll add that as a separate category.

Well, folks, here we go. We got an announcement that foreigners are to be included (and free as well as if that matters) in the Thai national vaccine program. But oh no there's that cliche, the devil is in the details. I like many expats want a vaccine ASAP. I'm definitely in a risk group. I want to be included along with the Thais in the EARLIER priority time for higher risk people, but the government has not made it clear whether they intend to include high risk foreigners in that priority. If anything, there have been hints that we are not included in that, but again, it's just not clear. I would prefer not to get the Sinovac or Sputnik but will if there's no other choice, or it would be mean waiting longer for a better choice. Traveling outside of Thailand for a vaccine is a non starter for me. I do not have any kind of Thai ID number and won't be having that. Apparently the app for signing up for this REQUIRES a Thai I.D. number! Problem, yes? I have a passport number. I am not registered in the Thai social security system. I'm not signed up at any hospital on any kind of vaccine list. I'm aware that the enforcement of these vaccine programs may be very different, locality to locality. That's why I think it's justified to have a specific PATTAYA topic for this. What's true for Pattaya would have nothing to do with Phuket. etc. I know for a fact there are many many expats in Pattaya that share at least some aspects of my situation. This thread is mostly for those that are OUTSIDE the Thai social security system because those already in it will presumably be contacted about a vaccination the same as Thais. I don't mean to exclude those in the system in any way from this discussion. I just think people OUTSIDE of the system have a bigger problem. UNLESS they fix the app to accept passport numbers instead of Thai I.D. numbers, I'm assuming that I will need to somehow try to sign up manually at a physical location. Where? How? When? I realize this information likely isn't available yet but hopefully as things might become more clear, people can share specific PRACTICAL information about how to sign up for a vaccine on this topic. On the topic of private hospital access for pay, I would love to have that option. But recently the government said that private hospitals can't independently buy vaccines. So for the time being, I'm going to assume that that option is not happening. Obviously if that changes and it becomes an option for expats to simply go to a private hospital and pay for a vaccine, that would be fantastic news. But we can't count on that! Thanks for your attention and participation.

I don't think there is any doubt that the Thai-English google translator is shockingly poor. I wonder why exactly. I can compare it to Spanish-English which I would expect to be better, but not so MUCH better. I assume a large part of the problem is the nature of the Thai language. Is that the only reason? Is google's tool not as good as other automatic Thai-English translation tools?