funlovinkid

I got the LMG policy this past year and I am going on 61 so I was wondering how old your Dad is?

He was 69 yrs old. He took out the policy with LMG because many insurers wouldn't consider people over 65.

Be very careful with these guys, they have lied to me more than once.

Sorry to hear about your father, and your experience. Just to let you know (in case you haven't been checking), I sent you a couple of private messages (PM) recently, related to this.

I've been living in Thailand for 3 years now, and joined BUPA when I first arrived, based primarily on a few recommendations here on Thai Visa, without examining the terms of the policy much. But now that I'm due for yet another renewal, I decided that it would be wise to compare my policy with other alternatives, like LMG, AXA, NZI, etc.

The more I investigate the situation, the more I find myself wondering if I'll have health insurance at all when I get older (I'm currently 53). All the policies I read start to hedge their bets when I reach the age of around 60 or 65. Some won't renew at all after a certain age, some require that you take a physical exam (and then they reserve the right to add exclusions to your policy), and they all have the right to raise premiums upon policy renewal. It's my conclusion that, as we get older, our options for reasonably affordable health insurance become fewer and fewer. And on top of this, I've concluded that it's best to decide on a health insurance company once, and not change thereafter, because the list of health conditions which are excluded from coverage typically grows longer over time, and most insurance companies will exclude virtually everything ever discovered or treated in the past from the policies of new applicants. This means that it's best to do your homework when you're still relatively young, select a company which you believe will provide you the best coverage as you continue to age, and stick with it.

Part of my evaluation of several insurance companies made me realize that I could benefit from the help of an attorney who is fluent in both Thai and English, so I hired a Thai attorney friend of mine to do some analysis of both Thai law, and of the various Terms & Conditions of the policies I'm considering, and I've reached the following conclusions:

- insurance company contracts have to be approved by the Thai Office of Insurance Commission before the insurance companies can use them, but there is a lot of latitude in how they're written and what provisions they can include (or exclude). These are essentially contracts between the insurance company and the policyholder, governed by Thai contract law, that apply only for the duration of the policy, which is typically one year.

- there is nothing under Thai law that requires insurance companies to renew a policy for anyone, regardless of the length of time the policyholder was with the company, or any other consideration.

- if an insurance company "guarantees renewability" (as some do) under one version of their Terms & Conditions, they can remove that guarantee thereafter in the next version (upon policy renewal), if they so choose.

- there is nothing in Thai law or Thai court case legal precedent that prevents insurance companies from adding exclusions to the policy of a long-term policyholder upon contract renewal. So, even if a health condition appears years after someone first establishes a policy with a particular insurance company, although the company will be obligated to provide coverage for the treatment of that condition under the terms of the current policy contract, they can exclude coverage for that condition (and anything related) in future policy contracts.

- although the premiums charged by the insurance companies have to be approved by the Office of Insurance Commission, the companies have a lot of latitude to increase premiums to the point where a policy could easily become unaffordable.

- the Terms & Conditions for one of the policies I'm considering specifically allows the company to terminate the policy for any reason, with only a 15-day notice to me. My attorney tells me that although this could possibly be successfully disputed in court, it's currently acceptable under Thai law. This of course makes me wonder why anyone would ever agree to buy that policy, as this strikes me as having no insurance at all.

- Thai law allows insurance companies a period of 5 years to discover any health-related information about the applicant which was knowingly omitted, or knowingly falsified, on the initial application for coverage, and then void the policy if they so choose. If the policy is voided, the company is obligated to refund the premium you paid for the term of that policy period, but any coverage under that entire policy period will be denied. This means that if you submit a claim for a significantly expensive health condition, the insurance company will be very motivated to find a legitimate reason to void the policy, which means that you'll find yourself without coverage exactly when you need it most. In addition, you'll already have paid the premiums for policies in previous years which never actually provided the coverage that you thought they would, and lastly, you'll have a record of having been cancelled by an insurance company, which will make it more difficult to get a policy with another company in the future. Although some companies contractually shorten this period of time to only 2 years, the warning still exists: be very careful not to give your insurance company a legal reason to void your policy when you need it the most.

Having said all this, I'm wondering if there are any expat males out there, 65 or older, living in Thailand who have found a company for health insurance which actually has reasonable premiums and pays claims without a hassle? If you'd rather send me a PM rather than posting here, please do! Either way, it would be great to understand my options for the future. Many thanks.

It's easy to google up "William Russell" exoat health insurance, and read about their exclusion of pre-existing conditions. It doesn't sound so good if you've had heart attacks or cancer. I'm looking at the website for HTH insurance, and it might be better. You can google up "HTH global citizen expatriate insurance." As I read it, there's only a 6 month period for exclusion of pre-existing conditions (and that can be waived if you had "creditable coverage" before you signed on). The rates don't seem terrible, depending on the deductible that you select. I don't know how much the rates will go up as we age, though.

It's all a puzzle to figure out. One has to read the fine print carefully.

What people need to understand is that there are two major types of pre-existing conditions, those that are considered to be "curable" (or healable) and those that are considered to be "not curable", though, controllable.

Curable conditions can be covered after a period of healing. Cancer falls in the category of curable, if the doctor finally certifies that all of the cancer has been totally removed and you have gone for 5 to 7 years without any reoccurance, many insurance companies will cover you for cancer, including some in Thailand. Not skin cancer, though.

Diabetes, Hypertension and high cloistral are controllable but not considered to be curable. Since a heart attack has the potential of weakening the heart for life, that falls in this category also.

So, yes, read the fine print very carefully; but you should have some understanding of health insurance when you do.

Tony:

Wondering if you might be able to get in touch with me about a new health insurance policy for myself. I can give you the specifics online, via email, or over the phone, but I'd like to get your input quickly, if possible, as my existing policy is about to expire. How can I reach you? Many thanks!

I use William Russells insurance now for 1 yrs . , the coverage is real good for what you paying for ! ., I cant see any better insurance company ? If there is just tell me then i change

I pay 85 USD every month and have coverage up to 500.000 USD .,

I just got WR "silver" coverage for my daughter, USD 60 per month and covers up to 1.2 million USD. And the cover is worldwide which is important for me. It is also claimed that WR is the best paying company around with claims, depending on the source their payment ratio is around 92%.

Also to be noted that WR was the only one who was willing to cover young child as stand alone without one of the parents being their policy holder.

For price and coverage i found Aetna/Goodhealth to be in same level but they require at least one of the parents to subscribe as well which i did not want to do it as in our case both are covered by good group plans from employer.

I found a ok locally based broker who handled it all for me without much hassle, if you want contact details just PM me.

Can you give me the contact information for the broker you used?

I use William Russells insurance now for 1 yrs . , the coverage is real good for what you paying for ! ., I cant see any better insurance company ? If there is just tell me then i change

I pay 85 USD every month and have coverage up to 500.000 USD .,

I just got WR "silver" coverage for my daughter, USD 60 per month and covers up to 1.2 million USD. And the cover is worldwide which is important for me. It is also claimed that WR is the best paying company around with claims, depending on the source their payment ratio is around 92%.

Also to be noted that WR was the only one who was willing to cover young child as stand alone without one of the parents being their policy holder.

For price and coverage i found Aetna/Goodhealth to be in same level but they require at least one of the parents to subscribe as well which i did not want to do it as in our case both are covered by good group plans from employer.

I found a ok locally based broker who handled it all for me without much hassle, if you want contact details just PM me.

Yes, please, if you were happy with the broker, I'd be interested to know how to reach him/her. Many thanks!

Can you provide a little more information about LMG (like how to get in touch with them)? I've been using B*PA for the past three years, my policy is due for renewal, and I'm interested in exploring other options before I get too old to switch providers (I'm 53). Thanks.

Here is their number. 66-263115824

Thanks!

These kinds of discussions all hinge on the DETAILS...

I just got through with the annual renewal of my medical insurance. Before deciding, I reviewed the premiums and coverage details for pretty much all of the major expat medical insurance providers...and talked to a number of independent brokers.

I wanted inpatient and outpatient coverage, inpatient hospital coverage of at least 8,000 baht per day for room portion. The policy I ended up with fully covers me in Thailand and most other non-Europe and non-North America countries. For the latter, it's emergency coverage only. For me age 50, it worked out to about $110 U.S. per month.

I had LMG for the last two years. And, because of a singular, one episode problem I had with them this past year, I had zero intention of renewing with them. But after comparing all the other providers and the details of their policies, I couldn't find anything better than their Maxi-Care policy.

I found a lot of other policies that covered less for less or more money. I found a few policies that covered more, but their increased prices far exceeded the increased coverage they would have provided. So basically, I didn't find anything else that was even close to LMG in VALUE... what you get for what you pay.

And to top it off, when I talked with other independent brokers about not wanting to renew with LMG and looking for something better, after explaining what I wanted from my coverage... they basically told me... LMG is going to be the best value you're going to find...

So...its another year with LMG and MaxiCare.

As I'm currently evaluating options for providers other than my current BUPA, can you make any suggestions for which brokers you found helpful, and how I might contact them?

These kinds of discussions all hinge on the DETAILS...

I just got through with the annual renewal of my medical insurance. Before deciding, I reviewed the premiums and coverage details for pretty much all of the major expat medical insurance providers...and talked to a number of independent brokers.

I wanted inpatient and outpatient coverage, inpatient hospital coverage of at least 8,000 baht per day for room portion. The policy I ended up with fully covers me in Thailand and most other non-Europe and non-North America countries. For the latter, it's emergency coverage only. For me age 50, it worked out to about $110 U.S. per month.

I had LMG for the last two years. And, because of a singular, one episode problem I had with them this past year, I had zero intention of renewing with them. But after comparing all the other providers and the details of their policies, I couldn't find anything better than their Maxi-Care policy.

I found a lot of other policies that covered less for less or more money. I found a few policies that covered more, but their increased prices far exceeded the increased coverage they would have provided. So basically, I didn't find anything else that was even close to LMG in VALUE... what you get for what you pay.

And to top it off, when I talked with other independent brokers about not wanting to renew with LMG and looking for something better, after explaining what I wanted from my coverage... they basically told me... LMG is going to be the best value you're going to find...

So...its another year with LMG and MaxiCare.

Can you provide a little more information about LMG (like how to get in touch with them)? I've been using B*PA for the past three years, my policy is due for renewal, and I'm interested in exploring other options before I get too old to switch providers (I'm 53). Thanks.

Thanks, especially to Lopburi3. Good stuff, and always very helpful.

I've heard from several of my farang friends that a rumor exists about the Thai Immigration office on Soi Suan Plu closing soon, and that the office we will need to use in the future is the one at Don Muang. Does anyone know anything about this?

And, in keeping with the requests made by the moderators, I should volunteer a little more information about myself: I'm American, on a "non-immigrant O" retirement visa, older than 50.

still works for me.I did it last week with no problems.

Which bank is that? I used to use Bank of America, but the interbank transfer has been stopped. Wire transfers are the only option now.

Per my call with Bank of America (BOA) Internet Banking Technical Support last week, Bangkok Bank PCL New York is no longer one of the authorized finance agencies/banks on BOA Internet Funds Transfer function. That is the function where you can transfer funds from your BOA account to one of your "Outside Bank" accounts, like your Bangkok Bank account. BOA no longer has an Automatic Clearing House (ACH) agreement with Bangkok Bank. The BOA rep said Bangkok Bank had been dropped from BOA internet transfer list due to possible fraudulent activity/transfers. If you look for Bangkok Bank by using the "Add Account" function and entering Bangkok Bank or their ACH routing number, you will no longer find them on the BOA authorized list...you just get an error message saying the bank can't be found on the list. I expect you experienced the same transfer problem as me, when you selected the transfer from account (BOA) to transfer to account (Bangkok Bank), enter an amount and then clicked Continue, the screen just looped back to the initial screen instead of continuing to the Confirmation screen.

Now, I fully expect you can use the Bangkok Bank PCL ACH routing number for "paper-based wire transfers" as that number is issued by ACH. It's just Bangkok Bank is no longer one of the authorized banks listed on the BOA Internet Banking functions. It's totally up to BOA what banks it authorizes/lists on the BOA Internet Banking and Bangkok Bank has been dropped from that BOA authorized list.

I can confirm what Pib says above. I had been unsuccessfully trying to transfer cash from my Bank of America checking account into my Bangkok Bank account for the past two weeks via the online transfer method on the BofA website, which has worked fine over the past several months. So, in exasperation, I called BofA, and while on the phone with the customer service representative, I happened to read Pib's entry above, and shared it with her to see if she could confirm that this was indeed the source of my inability to execute the transfer. She went away for a couple minutes to consult with her manager, and then came back and confirmed that this is in fact the problem.

BofA will no longer allow ACH transfers to Bangkok Bank because of some fraudulent activity occuring here in Thailand which apparently resulted in a loss to some BofA customers. According to her, some phishing scams (fake emails sent out to BofA customers resulting in the compromise of confidential information) allowed some criminals in Thailand to gain access to the BofA customer's online accounts, and then transfer cash to a Bangkok Bank account. According to BofA, the criminals thereafter managed to withdraw the funds from the Bangkok Bank account without proper identification or verification, either because of sloppy standards at Bangkok Bank, or because of the participation of someone inside Bangkok Bank. Because Bangkok Bank wouldn't supply BofA with the necessary (and contractually agreed upon) information to identify the specific cause of the fraudulent activity, BofA couldn't be sure exactly how the fraud occurred, and decided it had no choice but to terminate its relationship with Bangkok Bank. I don't blame them, and now I'm questioning whether I can trust Bangkok Bank with my own money.

Of course, I'm sure Bangkok Bank would rather not lose my (or anyone's) business because of this little unpleasantry, and I doubt if they appreciate my post here, but outspokenness seems to be an exclusively Western concept. Yeah, TIT.

I send mail overseas fairly often (typically to the US), and I've been using the "Registered" mail available at the Thai post office for this purpose, because it provides a tracking number. All the registered mail I've sent so far has been received with no problem, but I recently sent something for which I wanted to get confirmation of receipt--so I followed the advice given to me by the folks at the Thai post office, which was to use the tracking capability provided by www.thailandpost.com. Unfortunately, I discovered that it doesn't work, at least not using the Registered mail tracking numbers of the last few items I've sent. When I asked about this, they said to try entering the tracking number on the US postal website (www.usps.com), but that didn't work, either. The only other option they could offer was to fill out an "Investigation" form which they would theoretically use to determine the whereabouts of the item. I didn't bother.

I would like to have the ability to send mail that provides some sort of online tracking mechanism which I can use to verify receipt, aside from using DHL or some other international courier charging 1000 baht for each item sent. In addition to Registered mail, the Thai post office offers something called EMS (which also provides a tracking number), but I've never tried it and have the feeling I'll get the same result. Does anyone have any suggestions for a good option?

I've been living in Thailand since late '06, and it's become home to me, but I need to make a decision about where to do my overall banking. I happen to be a retired US citizen, and I'd like to find the best institution that can provide me everything I need: good investment options, financial planning, a credit card, ATM card, Internet banking, etc. I've considered a few (like HSBC and DBS, both domeciled in Singapore), but their investment options are very limited for Americans. I'm thinking of Citibank, but I've heard some complaints about them. And with the dollar falling against every currency around the planet (especially the Baht), I'm not sure I want to have a dollar-denominated account. Any suggestions from the LOS old-timers out there?

You should probably give more information. Do you work or own a business in Thailand and pay taxes here? Then you would be protected from double taxation. I filed my first return as an expat last year and made a point of using my Thai address. I don't work in Thailand, so the main reason I did this was to also file with my old state with my Thai address. I sent my old state a note with the return informing them that I no longer live there and don't intend to file state tax forms there anymore (they didn't reply to that either way). I am sure if you provide more details about your income situation, we have some US taxpats who can provide more expert guidance. Every state has their own policies on what they require to sever tax ties there, some are more difficult than others.

I assume you already know you are still required to file federal tax forms under the same requirements as a US resident. Also, if you have a foreign bank account over 10,000 for even one minute you must file a special form with the treasury department, if not, subject to very severe financial penalties.

Really appreciate everyone's responses so far here, including the half-joking admonition to keep a "low profile". To provide more information, I'm retired (as I'm not working in Thailand nor do I own a business here), and am living off my investments. My former residence was the state of California. I did own my primary residence there until late November 2007, at which point I sold the property and incurred a substantial capital gain for which taxes will have to be paid (I'm hoping that I'm not required to pay estimated taxes on this gain prior to filing my 2007 return, something which I just thought about). I intend to file my Fed and CA State returns by April 15th as usual.

I happen to be an American citizen who has been living in Thailand for the past 16 months or so. I'm at the point where I'm thinking of formally notifying the IRS of my new address in Thailand, but I'm wondering if doing so might change my status with the U.S. government, for better or worse. Does anyone have any knowledge of or experience with this?

Many thanks!

I get excellent performance on KSC Broadband. Pricy but reliable.

Is this DSL, or something else? And have you measured the speed? Curious.

I've been living in Bangkok for more than a year, at the same location (Asoke), and I've had True Internet (ADSL) the entire time. Up until a couple months ago, my Internet performance was acceptable, although it would slow from time to time. Somewhere around November or December 2007, performance slowed to a crawl at various times of the day, typically in the afternoon and evening. It got so bad that websites were timing out, downloads failed, and on more than one occasion, I actually gave up using it entirely.

I called True Internet help desk today and, after politely persisting in my inquiries, learned that they KNOW that they have a performance problem for anyone attempting to access content located internationally, and especially in the US (which is of course where much of the global Internet's content is located). And they informed me that performance is typically worst in the afternoons and evenings. During this phone call, I followed their advice and ran a speed test back to several Megapath test servers in the US, and received download performance of between 130K and 600K. I pay for a 2560K down/512K up connection. They gave me a couple options:

1) upgrade my service to a "business" connection, which they claim provides "guaranteed" performance, but is prohibitively expensive.

2) if I happen to also be a True Visions (cable TV) customer, they could upgrade my download speed to 3000K, at no additional monthly charge. But they were unable to explain whether doing this would help my performance problem.

This is all very frustrating, as I live and die by my Internet connection, and it brings me to my question: does anyone know of a better alternative to True Internet? Another DSL provider? Cable provider? Satellite? Therapy?

Many thanks for any input!

Hi gang,

I've been living in Thailand for about a year now (loving it, by the way), and currently have a health insurance policy that is up for annual renewal. I'm considering other options for health insurance, which I never really did when first arriving, and thought I'd fish around for opinions and recommendations here. I'm American, 51, in good health. Any suggestions?

Many thanks!

Hello,

I came to BKK (with only two suitcases) about 8 months ago to see if I liked Thailand enough to make it my permanent home. I really like it here, so I got a retirement visa, and now I'm heading back to the U.S. to pack up some household items and personal stuff to ship to my apartment in Bangkok. But I'm having difficulty determining what the shipping costs will be, because I'm told the duty charges are variable, and maybe even impossible to predict in advance. I don't want to ship anything if it will be prohibitively expensive, but I'd like to be able to determine in advance what to bring.

I'm wondering if anyone has had a similar experience, and what the outcome happened to be. Any suggestions?

Many thanks.

I'm American, retired, currently living in Bangkok since 2006. I'm planning to go back to the U.S. for a few weeks in early July, and I need to obtain travel and health insurance coverage for the duration of time that I'm there. My current health insurance policy through BUPA does not provide any coverage while I'm in the U.S. I'm wondering if anyone knows of a good insurance company which will provide temporary coverage under these circumstances?

Many thanks!