oldcpu

41 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

Mine is in Thai AND English

Yes - I worded that badly -  so is mine.  I should have typed a " ... and a Thai driver's license (not only in English but with more text in Thai language) ... " .. 

The Thai font put off the rental car agent in both Northern Ireland (Derry) and in Canada (Vancouver Airport & also Whistler), and it took some patience on my part to point out the English language text. They all initially rejected the Thai driver's licence and asked for an IDP.

8 hours ago, Henryford said:

 

Many banks don't show the money as coming from abroad, my Krungsri doesn't (even though i use WISE as well).  Plus you only need to miss one month as being clearly from abroad and you risk losing your visa.

Indeed - my view is if one goes for the monthly deposit route, then Bangkok Bank (which 'easily' shows the money from abroad) could be better than Krungsri, as long as one does not mind having to apply for paper work from Bangkok Bank about 1 week prior to going to immigration.  However if one has a fixed deposit with 400k or 800k then IMHO Krungsri is superior to Bangkok Bank, as one can obtain a one-day statement on the same day.

Until I switched to the LTR-WP visa, I successfully used a fixed deposit of 800k in Bangkok Bank (and later in Krungsri Bank) with Phuket immigration for my yearly extensions, with no problems.

47 minutes ago, zzzzz said:

"But  hey - save the 505 THB and go for the experience of such an encounter."  for a 1 year permit
vs 515 for the 5 year license< 
yes i will save the 505 for each year
I have rented cars and driven in the states, France, Greece, Australia & Burma with my thai license
so yep, up to you   🙂

 

I rented in Greece, Canada and Northern Ireland with my Thai driver's licence.  No problems in Greece.  But the rental agents in both Canada and Northern Ireland struggled with the Thai license and initially demanded an IDP.   Only with polite persistence was I able to get them to back down - and in both cases I was very heavy jet lagged and this was very tiring on me.

so I asked myself, ... is it worth the 505 THB to stick by "my guns" to eventually get my way ?  

For this upcoming trip, I am going to take the easier approach with an IDP.

3 minutes ago, zzzzz said:

BOLD:
exactly what i said
an IDP Is ONLY useful if ur LIcnse iks not in Englsih ( a Thai license is )

No dispute there from me.

Unfortunately I have in the past , encountered the (shall I say ignorant? ) at a rental car place, who saw the Thai script, and immediately refused to look at the English.  They jumped on a high horse and insisted an IDP was necessary.  I was VERY jet lagged at the time, and after a tiring verbal exchange (where I tried my damnedest to be polite), they eventually backed down and accepted the Thai driver's licence.

I don't need a repeat of that, and if 505 THB will avoid such treatment from an a*hole then its well worth it.

But  hey - save the 505 THB and go for the experience of such an encounter.

On 2/16/2024 at 9:16 AM, Jimi007 said:

 Okay, I’m married to a Thai woman. We got married in the USA. They took our US marriage certificate without issue until last year the Phuket volunteers said something about it. But we were still approved but not this year. Now my Government needs to certify the marriage certificate! Well that is going to take a month or more, what now?

 

During COVID, when I was on a Type-OA visa, I switched from obtaining an extension for reason of retirement, to reason of marriage. (My immigration office is here in Phuket).

My Thai wife and I were married in Canada.  So we hired a Translation service (that is based in Bangkok) to do most of the work for us to obtain paper work we needed for Phuket immigration.   It made this all very simple for us (as Translation service did the work).

We couried to the Bangkok based Translation Service (from here in Phuket) copies of my Canadian passport (for translation to Thai) plus copy of my wife's ID. We also sent our Canadian marriage certificate, which they then translated to Thai.  We gave them 'limited' power of attorney for this marriage document handling (they provided to us prior (via email) the power of attorney form to fill in and to courier to them). They took this to the Canadian Embassy in Bangkok, and had the marriage document (and translation) certified as valid. They then took this to the Ministry of Foreign affairs in Bangkok, to have certified.  They then couried all that paperwork back to my wife and I here in Phuket.

We than took this to city hall in Phuket, had our marriage registered and obtained the Kor-22.  Phuket immigration accepted the Kor-22 (family status registration).

This all took less than 3 weeks, and the only travel we had to do was to go to a Phuket post office to courier documents to the Translation service in Bangkok, and go to Phuket City Hall after everything was couried back to us.

This approach was recommended to me by Ubon Joe (bless his soul) and it was a fabulous superb piece of advice.

@Jimi007 - PM me if you would like the name of the service we used.  It worked well for us, so I recommend such an approach.

The 505 Thai baht for this International Driver's Permit was and is a small amount of money.  VERY fortunately I was able to avoid the line ups at the Phuket DoT (and fortunately I did not have to 1st go to Phuket's immigration office to obtain a piece of paper with proof of residency), so the process to obtain the IDP was not painful (where I note most time, in my experience, the line ups at Phuket's DoT are very long).

As for the requirement ?  I think I would call it more 'peace of mind' than a 'requirement'  ... I note that the car rental sites for New Zealand, (where I plan to visit and from where I booked rental cars), from two different companies (one in the North Island and one in the South Island), both state " If the licence is not in English, an International Driving Permit will be required when you arrive to collect your rental car. "

I have 2 driver's licences:  A German driver's licence (not in English) and a Thai driver's licence (not in English).  So I decided paying 505 THB in advance of heading to NewZealand was an ok way forward for piece of mind.

... one unrelated piece of trivia, ... the International Driver's Permit lists the countries where it is valid.  Of interest - Germany is not on that list.  That is a mute point for me as (1) I am not planning to visit Germany in the next 12 months, and (2) I already have a German driver's license.  But I found that omission of Germany from the list of countries in this Thai purchased IDP of interest.

23 hours ago, xeniv23 said:

I have been here for three years.  Single.  Live quietly on the south end of Phuket.  Love my neighbors.  Live by the rules.  Do what I'm supposed to do.  Go to immigration get yelled at and jerked around. 

I have been living in Phuket, also in the south end, since 2019.  Phuket Immigration have always been very polite to me.  I've had to go to immigration a number of times, sometimes with a 'Visa exempt (30 day) entry', sometimes with a 'Type-O' visa, and sometimes with a 'Type-OA' visa.  On the Type-O and Type-OA visas, my reasons for extensions varied, sometimes I obtained the extension for reason of retirement, and once for reason of marriage (to a Thai).  It made no difference as to what visa, they were polite. 

3 hours ago, Yumthai said:

If one is that wealthy I think it's better to buy a cheap Thai insurance for 1 year before LTR application (and 5 years term check) rather than park US$ 100K in a savings account at no or very low interest rate.

Indeed - but if one is that wealthy, one does not worry about the relatively small interest from $100K US$, nor worry about the amount of money for double health insurance (especially if one already has superior foreign insurance outside of Thailand that one does not want to be forced to waste one's time to buy Health Insurance from a Thai company).   In the case of zillions, such amounts ($100K US$ or expense for Health Insurance) are very trivial and not worth one's time to try to optimize to the last few hundred dollars or so.

3 hours ago, SailingHome said:

I am at Bangkok Bank ...

...

No one knows what to do, says all reports more than 6 months is done at the main branch only, and I will be a week or more overstay. Will the Bangkok Bank at Immigration 1 do this properly tomorrow morning before my apointment?

 

I hope this works out for you.

In the case of Phuket, Bangkok bank required a week to produce the paperwork to show the funds in one's account for 1 year, when applying for a Type-O or a Type-OA visa.  This was to show the necessary 400k/800k THB for the pre-requisite time frame.

When I was on a Type-OA visa (with my living in Phuket), it was that Bangkok Bank slowness (having to get the information from the main branch in Bangkok a week in advance of my going to Phuket immigratoin) that drove me to open an account with Krungsri bank here in Phuket, where Krungsri will produce the paperwork on the same day.   I was not using a monthly deposit method, so in that case, I suspect Krungsri  is superior to Bangkok Bank. 

I note thou, in the case of receiving monthly deposits thou (such as foreign funds coming to Thailand via Wise), possibly Bangkok Bank is more reliable for their annotations noting the foreign source of the monthly funds - as I don't know if Krungsri will appropriately flag funds transferred to Krungsri via Wise, as coming into Krungsri from outside of Thailand.

While this won't likely help the you (the OP) I hope that knowledge might help some others.

On 2/13/2024 at 5:25 PM, K2938 said:

True, but even there the BOI appears to be kind of immune to economic logic.  If you show them a brokerage account worth a zillion dollars, they will say this does not meet the self-health insurance criteria since it needs to be in cash even if you could easily sell the shares at any time or take out a margin loan against them hugely exceeding $100k USD.

One further point about this ... If one truly had an account with zillions of US$ then it would be a simple matter to set aside $100K US$ in a cash account, and that $100K US$ would be insignificant in regards to one still having zillions of US$ equivalent in one's trading account. In such a hypothetical case, $100K US$  would be nothing when creating a second CASH account compared to one's Zillions.

Rather the issue (I assume) would be where one only possess a small amount of money over the $100K US$ needed for self health insurance, where that $100K US$ equivalent is in one's trading account, and in that case having to put the trading account money in cash at LEAST 1-year prior to the LTR application, could be difficult.  In that case, the BoI view likely is one is simply not 'wealthy enough' to be the 'wealthy pensioner'.   

Putting aside $100K US$ to a cash account is no issue for one with zillions (nor IMHO an issue for one with "only" one million or two million US$ equivalent in funds).

Having said all that, the LTR approach allowing self health insurance is STILL significantly superior to the more limited options for a person on a Type-OA Visa (requiring Health insurance), where one on a Type-OA visa could have zillions in CASH and it would not matter, as self health insurance is simply not nominally accepted for a person on a Type-OA visa.  In the Type-OA visa case, one would be forced to use part of their Zillions to buy health insurance from a Thai company.  Lots of workable approaches with 'zillions' of dollars. 🙂

2 hours ago, SHA 2 BKK said:

When I applied I showed one month of my pension pay slips and a letter from my Pension Fund outlining my yearly income (it was in $AUD but met the $USD threshold).   I also own property here which put me well over the $80k level.  I didn’t have show my Australian Tax return. 

In my case BoI were very insistent on my last 2 years tax returns, and when I provided them my Canadian 2020 and 2021 return, they asked for my return for 2022  (which I had not yet even submitted as such was not due in Canada for a few months).  I previously sent them my pay slips for 2022, but that was not enough for them.  They wanted the tax returns.

In the end, I completed my 2022 tax return, obtained Canadian government official reply from that (which noted my global income), I gave BoI that paperwork, and they accepted such (not thou without BoI first asking for proof of a pension that I never stated I had - but that's another story). Still all is well that ends well, and I did exceed the required income level (as proven by my tax returns and pension pay slips) and they finally approved the income part of my LTR-WP application.

I think it all depends on which BoI person is handling one's case.

6 hours ago, K2938 said:

True, but even there the BOI appears to be kind of immune to economic logic.  If you show them a brokerage account worth a zillion dollars, they will say this does not meet the self-health insurance criteria since it needs to be in cash even if you could easily sell the shares at any time or take out a margin loan against them hugely exceeding $100k USD. 

Thats true. but its not without good reason.  One can lose their shirt in a trading account.  Simple.

I have traded for decades, and in one trading account, I have lost more money in one evening that some people save in a lifetime ... (and was fortunate two years later to make the money all back and then some).

BoI can't legislate one's trading technique, and one can lose a lot of money fast in a trading account. So BoI had to draw a line somewhere and they drew the line such that trading accounts would not be accepted.  Full stop. No negotiation.

I had the funds needed for self insurance in cash in a German savings account, but I did not want to officially translate the documents to English for BoI.   Ok - so I am lazy.  I confess.

So I tried with 2 different trading accounts in Canada that exceeded the prerequisite amount - but as noted, BoI would not accept that. And it makes sense to me, one can lose money VERY fast with a trading account. 

BoI wanted an account for self health insurance with the money in CASH that was not a trading account.  Fortunately I also had an account in Thailand that met that criteria (in foreign funds).

I guess it would have been easier, for self health insurance, if I simply provided in English language documents showing all my accounts in places around the world, but I was reluctant to say too much about my financial status.  Why provide more information than one has to ?   In the end I did satisfy BoI.   Had I known initially about the trading accounts not being accepted, I NEVER would have mentioned such to BoI.

6 hours ago, K2938 said:

Also, they even reject if the $100k USD in cash is in a brokerage account in cash, insisting it needs to be a bank account as far as I know.  So they just love to tick boxes and if the situation does not fully meet this they will reject things even if they are economically vastly superior.

Yep.  But it is a Wealthy Pensioner LTR visa, emphasis on "Wealthy" and not a poor pensioner LTR visa. So yes I tried a few different accounts before they would accept one, but ... that's not a big issue for me.   Perhaps if this was an LTR-PP (poor pensioner) visa, it would have been a very understandable and massive issue for others who tried and failed.

6 hours ago, CharlesHolzhauer said:

Is there any room for negotiation when it comes to obtaining a ('wealthy pensioner') LTR visa?

My meeting the requirements for LTR visa was a bit complicated, as I have a number of relatively small pensions from different sources, which all together, when added up, exceeded the $40K US equivalent/year. 

So in addition to showing proof of the $40K US equivalent/year, I had to show I met the $250K US equivalent investment in Thailand which I did by a combination of 1/2 of my condo purchase price (with proof of that), and by a 2-million THB purchase in Thai government bonds.

Proving the $40K US$ (because my income comes from multiple sources) was a bit completed, in part because of me.  I didn't want to use my German pension, as that required me to translate the proof of that into English language.  But my European organisation pension alone was adequate proof - except BoI wanted to see that on a tax return. 

So as noted, BoI wanted me to give them a tax return proving my income.  The German government had already told me to stop submitting a tax return (as my German pension too small for them to be bothered, and my European organisation pension not taxable in Germany if I resided in Thailand), so I ended up submitting to BoI copy of my Canadian tax return, which lists the sum of all my Global income.  In that I had my Canadian Old Age Security + European pension listed, which together easily exceeded the $40K US$ equivalent income. 

But for reasons I can't understand, BoI asked me to provide the tax form for my Canadian Pension, which at that time I did not yet receive such a pension (as I deferred my Canadian pension to age 70 and I was not yet age 70).  I already exceeded the $40K per year (without a Canadian pension), so I had to go back to BoI, explain I did not receive (nor did I need) the Canadian Pension to meet their requirements. They then accepted that explanation (as I exceeded the $40K US equiv without such a pension). 

After that the income aspect was satisfied (but ONLY AFTER I had proof of such with an updated Canadian tax return), but I then had fun proving the Self Health Insurance to BoI (as my superior European Insurance was not accepted as it was not in a format that BoI wanted to dig through).  It took me a few attempts to show an account with $100K US for self insurance, as the 1st two accounts I showed BoI also had the capability to be used as a 'trading account' which BoI would not accept.  BoI would not accept a trading account for self health insurance.    In the end I provided proof of a Foreign Exchange account I had with the perquisite amount for self health insurance present for over a year, and with that I finally obtained approval from BoI. 

In the end it all worked out. 

The best part for me, was most of which I had to do was from my condo balcony, with feet up, using my laptop computer, sipping a drink, and enjoying a fabulous sea view, ... as I uploaded the prerequisite documents.

14 hours ago, K2938 said:

Unless the BOI has recently drastically changed its policies, they definitely have no sympathy for just assets.  You can be a billionaire asset wise.  The only thing they focus on is income.  If you do not have the recurrent income, your assets alone will not cut it.

With perhaps, the exception of the LTR allowing one to self insure for Health insurance.   Being able to show the equivalent of $100K US$ in cash, in a bank account anywhere in the world, is a big advantage for those of us whose superior European health insurance is not accepted (as the format in how the European health insurance defined is not something BoI nor Thai immigration want to delve into). 

Maybe we are into semantics, but I would call that self "Health Insurance" major sympathy for assets  - where Type-OA visa holders can not self insure in the same manner as an LTR-WP visa holder.

22 hours ago, jayboy said:

The LTR visa is looking like a smart decision by those who qualify - particularly from a tax perspective.

 

I would be interested to know how many people have been able to avail themselves (ie actually succeeded in obtaining) the "wealthy pensioner" category which requires assured income of at least US$ 80,000 p.a.

Likely as you know there is also the equivalent US$ 40,000 p.a. + US$ 250,000 investment in Thailand category for "wealthy pensioner".   That was the route I followed.

22 hours ago, jayboy said:

But the 'wealthy pensioner" category doesn't seem to me to make much sense or even belong in the programme at all given the comparatively low financial bar * to entry.I think those who have qualified in this category should congratulate themselves.My hunch is that prospective new entrants in the future might well find this route blocked.

Perhaps. Perhaps not.  When it comes to money, its all relative.   I suspect also there are OTHER BoI considerations.

The LTR Visa does save Thai immigration a lot of work, had I stayed with a Type-O (or Type-OA) visa for 10 years, with an extension of my permission to stay every year for the 10 years.  Thats more work for immigration. But that extra work for immigration (for a Type-O/OA compared to an LTR-WP)  is likely not a concern/care of BoI.

From a Government department point of view, possibly the 50k Thai baht (for the LTR visa) showing up via BoI coffers (as opposed to about the same amount (for a Type-O/OA w/re-entry permits over 10 years time) directly showing up via immigration coffers) is something BoI want to be able to show (to bolster their LTR program)  ...

Plus they (BoI) with the LTR-WP  get to show more people applying for the LTR visa, even if the benefit may seem less due to what you describe as a "comparatively low financial bar" for the LTR-WP.   So from a numbers game of total applicants (without looking at the financial benefit details) maybe that makes sense to BoI.

Regardless, i do agree that those of us who obtained the LTR-WP should be happy ... noting I am happy to have this.

On 2/12/2024 at 5:36 AM, Dan SG said:

Hi, I need to do exactly this too - I see that you are in Phuket (I'm bkk based) but was there a special unit in Bangkok bank you spoke to....I can't seem to get hold of anyone that has any familiarity with how to purchase these bonds for foreigners.....I have a thai tax id which it seems could help the process.

I went to the Bangkok Bank branch in Central Festival in Phuket.  The Bank 'tellers' (lady at the counter) did have to consult with the Bangkok Bank branch manager.

The lady at the counter had to make many phone calls, to figure out how to do this, but eventually she succeeded - but it took time (1st lots of time waiting (as this branch is always busy), and then a lot of time waiting sitting in front of the lady at the counter as she struggled as to how she could do this.   The manager of the Bangkok Bank branch in Central Festival stated I needed a "yellow book" and "Pink-ID" card, but I am skeptical if that is really necessary (I had such, so I did not dispute this with him).   I also have a decent amount of money deposited with Bangkok Bank, so possibly that helped.

I've been going through the Thai line with my Thai wife for over a decade, ... where I entered using multiple visas ... such as Type-O, Type-OA, LTR visa, and even Visa-exempt.   In all cases (except for one slightly slower) I had no issues, and it was massively quicker than being in the foreigner line up.

In the case of the LTR-WP visa (which was slightly slower), when I entered Phuket immigration (right behind my wife, where she pointed out to the Phuket immigration IO that I was 'with her' (but this time she did not say married), the Thai line IO looked at my LTR-visa, and then had me wait for just over a minute, while he walked to another counter and talked to some other IOs.  He then came back and stamped me into Thailand, with my permission to stay matching the previous end date of my 5-year permission to stay.  One of the IOs he had talked to was standing close to my wife (where she was waiting for me), and that IO noted to her that they don't often see LTR-WP visas (as of yet) in Phuket.  Also, in Phuket, there was no 'fast track line' (as of that time) , where purportedly LTR Visa holders can go through a Thai airport's international fast track line.

So in summary, all my entries into Thailand, with my Thai spouse, were very quick going through the Thai line with my Thai wife, with only the above LTR experience, taking a bit longer.  I also note, the foreign lines (when I entered the Thai line with my LTR visa) were massive in size - and I would estimate 20 to 30 minute waits.

On 1/29/2024 at 3:49 PM, mrmagyar said:

Has anyone with an LTR visa (Wealthy Pensioner, Wealthy Citizen or WFT) bothered to get a Thai tax ID?

 

I understand that there are no Thai tax obligations with these visas but wondered if anyone had got the tax ID and filed proactively, or planned to do so?

I have an LTR-WP, and I have not made any special effort to get a Thai tax ID - nor have I filed a Thai tax return.

Details:

As part of my application for the LTR-WP, I ended up having to show an investment of $250K US$ equivalent in Condo.  Since both my name and my wife's name is on my Thai condo deed, I could only use 1/2 of my condo purchase price toward my $250K US$ equivalent (for an investment in Thailand).  So I ended up buying 2-million THB in Thai government bonds to put me over the $250K US$ investment (with some margin).

As part of the Thai bond application, in the online application system being used by Bangkok Bank, they had to enter a tax-ID, else the application for the bond would fail.   

I pointed out to them they had been taking a 'withholding' tax from my Thai bank account for years (from interest my Thai account earned), and I asked what Tax ID they used for that?  I only received 'blank stares'.    

In Thailand, I am told the # on Thai people's ID cards, is also their tax ID.  So my Thai wife suggested to the bank that the bank use the number on my Thai "pink-ID" for the "Tax-ID" column.  They entered that, and their computer accepted that.

Having typed that, I doubt that the "pink-ID' is the "Tax-ID" for a foreigner, and I too am waiting to see whether as time passes if I will eventually end up getting a tax ID.

At present, I do not plan to file a Thai tax return, (as my Thai income (ie income in Thailand) is less than the level necessary for filing a Thai tax return, but things can change - so I also am curious to learn here.

26 minutes ago, newbee2022 said:

Obviously you got difficulties in reading and understanding.

Please be explicit.

Where ?

You claim your insurance company will not increase its rates when you age. I asked which company.  Please, which company?  I don't believe you.

You claim one must go on multiple visa runs when I noted ONE visa run to invalidate one's type-OA visa to switch to a Type-O visa.  Why more border runs?  Please explain. You have yet to explain.

And for the OP who started the thread - there is NO health insurance requirement (from a Thai branch of a health insurance company) if you go for a Type-O visa (and apply from within Thailand).  It (having a Type-O visa) makes your efforts to get Health insurance MUCH MORE flexible than being forced to use Health Insurance from a Thai branch in the case if one has a Type-OA visa.  Don't let misinformation of others misguide you.

17 minutes ago, newbee2022 said:

However, it's not as you said. My Thai insurance does not increase and is of course acknowledged by Immigration.

So you are saying you have a Thai insurance, that will never increase after a few years when you age and thus you move to a new age category.

What insurance company is that?

If you research the costs of health insurance, you will read the rates for health insurance are higher and higher dependent on one's age category.

This is common knowledge. 

17 minutes ago, newbee2022 said:

So it's not depending on age.

I recommend you research this again.  Age DOES affect the price one pays for health insurance.

17 minutes ago, newbee2022 said:

And if it is fun to do all those border runs (they won't be for free)

"ALL THOSE BORDER RUNS" ( run typed by you as plural to be spelled runs) ?  It only takes ONE run to invalidate one's Type-OA visa, re-enter, and obtain a Type-O visa.  Why do you think there is more than one run (as you did use 'plural')?

On 1/25/2024 at 5:10 PM, newbee2022 said:

Sorry, but some things you stressed out are not ok. 

The health insurance will NOT increase every year but only in case of an issue/hospital. 

Health Insurance rates are based on one's age.  And yes it will increase as one gets older ...  Typically there are categories of age, with a few years in each category, so health insurance DOES nominally increase as one moves from one category to the next.  EVERY health insurance has this.  I recommend you go back and research this if you did not know so, because it IS IMPORTANT>

And in MY case my Health Insurance is heavily subsidized as part of my pension. When I get older, my health insurance does NOT go up. Rather my former employer (who provides my pension) picks up the tab for any increases.

If I were to give up my superior health insurance, to go with Thai health insurance, that would be a dumb move on my part, given the superior nature of my health insurance.

On 1/25/2024 at 5:10 PM, newbee2022 said:

Also it makes definitely no sense to clinge on a useless health insurance/ref. your European or any other. 

Agreed.  EXCEPT its the Thai insurance that is inferior. ...FAR inferior to my European Insurance.

On 1/25/2024 at 5:10 PM, newbee2022 said:

And also it makes no sense to do all those border runs if you intend to stay. 

It makes sense to LEAVE to invalidate one's OA visa, and re-enter to get a Type-O visa, to avoid being forced into inferior health insurance from a Thai branch. Many of us have done that.

On 1/25/2024 at 5:10 PM, newbee2022 said:

In addition a Thai Health Assurance acknowledged by Immigration is not expensive, even you choose a coverage of more than 5 Mill. Baht.

it depends on one's age. And it (health insurance from Thai companies)  IS INFERIOR and more expensive (at my age of 70) than what I pay for my FAR SUPERIOR subsidized European heath insurance.

On 1/25/2024 at 5:10 PM, newbee2022 said:

And you forgot, that all insurers run a business. Not charity. Not welfare.

But there are always people who like it complicated.

No. I did not forgot.

If you wish to play accusations, I can do that too (given your not understanding the situation of many here ) but in the interest of forum harmony I won't.

22 hours ago, newbee2022 said:

I understand. But honestly, if I would like to travel to another country and don't like/refuse the requirements....then I have 2 options. Follow the rules or stay home.🙏 

Well ... I think more logic applies.  Many of us want to follow local requirements, and our foreign health insurance does just that in terms of coverage. 

For example, in my case, my European Health Insurance greatly EXCEEDS the Thai requirements.  But Thailand won't accept such (for a type-OA visa) but rather require one to purchase Health Insurance from the Thai branch of an Insurance company.  Further, my European Health Insurance, as part of my pension, is significantly subsidized by my former employer ..  and the subsidized cost of my European Health Insurance does NOT increase every year, despite my advancing years.   Health insurance from a Thai branch of a Health Insurance company would likely increase every year (due to my age).

To go for less coverage, from the Thai branch of a Health Insurance company, and to pay more for such Thai branch insurance, simply makes no sense.  Hence I followed the process (leave Thailand & reenter) to change my visa from a Type-OA to a Type-O.  Why discard superior (and less expensive) health insurance and be forced to buy less coverage (and more expensive) health insurance from a Thai Health Insurance branch? 

The original intent of the Thai health insurance requirement was to ensure foreigners were not a burden on the Thai Health care system, but in part it evolved into a profit motive to funnel funds to Thai Health insurance companies.  

I say 'in part' because I also believe Thai immigration find it easier to check compliance with Thai branch of health insurance companies, than to check compliance with foreign branches of Health Insurance companies.  So from a compliance checking point of view, it is easier for Thai immigration if one is restricted to (more expensive/less coverage) with insurance from a Thai health insurance branch.

In the OP's case, if I read correctly, they are considering a Type-O visa, which will not force them (where a type-OA visa may force them) to obtain insurance from a Thai health insurance company, but instead they can use their own possibly superior and cheaper health insurance.

I am on an LTR visa now, but when I was on a Type-OA and later on a Type-O, I never had to show my bank book for a 90-day reporting drive through at Phuket immigration.