Pib

I hear you. Approx two weeks ago I sent a question using their website contact form (weblink below)....I haven't got a reply as of 22 Oct. https://ltr.boi.go.th/index.html#contact

Yeap....OFX uses the SWIFT system to accomplish transfer vs using peer-to-peer like Wise uses. And for an OFX transfer to Thailand the final leg is via BAHTNET....I know that for sure as I also have an OFX acct....use it once or twice a year to transfer funds from the U.S. and all transfers have been coded BTN when posting to the Thai bank. This is just another example of where the "sending" entity (like OFX) chooses the SWIFT routing...that is, what intermediary banks the money bounces through on the way to the receiving bank. I expect using BAHTNET as the final leg saves the sending entity a few cents in transfer costs....it's all about profit. Sure...Wise will send money/AUD from Oz to Thailand. Easiest way to find out if Wise can accomplish a certain currency transfer like AUD-to-THB is to just look at their website and select what currency you want to Send and what currency you want the recipient to receive.....if you can enter the desired currencies from the pulldown menus then Wise can use those currencies. Like below AUD to THB...it's a can-do. Many Oz folks use Wise to transfer funds to Thailand. https://wise.com/

You might want to give it another day or two as each immigration office varies as to how prompt they are in approving/rejecting online reports. But don't wait beyond 7 calendar days after the 90 days report was due because then you enter into the "fine" area....do an in-person report before passing that 7 day grace period. The reporting period for in-person reports is +15, -7. For mail-in reports it's typically the report must arrive your servicing immigration office at least 7 days before the due date although some do accept right up till the due date. For online reports it right up to the due day---but don't wait till the last minute to do an online report....personally, I would do it in the 15 to 7 days before ballpark. You can submit an online report up to 15 days before the due date.

The new online system definitely works a LOT better than the old system. Heck, with the old system some people couldn't get past the 1st data entry page (like me) as a message would popup saying there is some issue and you need to report at you local immigration office. Usually such folks hadn't left/reentered the country for a long time, had renewed their passport since last entering the country, etc...etc...etc. However, with the new system you will be able to submit a report (no upfront rejects) although some people do get a rejection/disapproval notice a few days later which is usually caused by the 90 day online system having a slightly different address on-file for you vs the address you entered on your report. Or you recently got a new passport which usually requires you to do one report in-person with the new passport and then you can start getting approvals in the online system again. Yea...the new system is a LOT better than the old system....but people still do get rejects sometimes usually related to a new/renewed passport, address mismatch, etc. Definitely use the new system!!!!

I expect for the 9 transfers receiving FTT coding that Wise used their partner bank of Bangkok Bank to finalize the transfer....Bangkok Bank totally handled the final leg of the Wise peer-to-peer transfer. However, for the 3 transfers with XFR coding that Wise used their one of their other Thai partner banks of K-bank or DeeMoney to finalize the transfer via local transfer to your Bangkok Bank acct. So, since Bangkok Bank received the transfer from another Thai bank they see it as just another local transfer and receiving that kind of local transfer coding vs FTT international transfer coding. If you take a look at your Wise PDF Receipt at the bottom it should show which partner bank Wise used for the final leg of the transfer....I expect the partner bank shown is "not" Bangkok Bank but is K-bank or DeeMoney.

The BTN stands for the BAHTNET system which is a Bank of Thailand funds transfer system primarily used for domestic transfers but also interfaces with the SWIFT system for international transfers. Basically, its a domestic transfer system but with international transfer interface. Not uncommon for "some" international/SWIFT transfers to use that routing which uses the BAHTNET system for the "final leg" of the transfer. The SWIFT routing used will be determined by the "sending" financial entity like a bank, pension paying agency, money transfer service. The receiving bank does not control have any say in SWIFT routing the sending entity uses. Although that SWIFT transfer originated in a foreign country as it was relayed through the SWIFT system from bank-to-bank the final leg was via BAHTNET which as mentioned does interfaces with the SWIFT system. Example: U.S. pensioners who use "International Direct Deposit (IDD)" for deposit of their Social Security pension receive BTN coding because that IDD payment occurs over the SWIFT system versus the ACH system and the last leg of that SWIFT transfer occurs over the BAHTNET system. I remember seeing several posts of pensioner in other countries like Australia who receive govt pensions also receiving BTN coding simply because the pension paying agency in Australia uses SWIFT routing that uses BAHTNET for the final leg of the payment/transfer. I have a family member who receives U.S. social security pension via IDD to her Bangkok Bank acct....that monthly payment receives BTN coding. When going to Bangkok Bank to get a Credit Advice that Credit Advice shows the SWIFT codes used for routing....the transfer starts off from the U.S. Treasury, then goes to CitiBank Europe, then to CitiBank Thailand Headquarters, then to Bank of Thailand, and finally from Bank of Thailand to Bangkok Bank. The Bangkok Bank Credit Advice shows the last leg of the transfer was from Bank of Thailand BAHTNET SWIFT code BOTHTHBT. But most importantly the Credit Advice shows where the transfer originated like from the U.S. and was an international transfer although it received BTN (BAHTNET) coding. That Credit Advice proves it was an international transfer. Credit Advices at Thai banks are normally "free" if getting them within 3 months of a transfer....after 3 months there may be a small charge of around Bt100 per credit advice. So, if a person can get into the habit of asking their Thai bank for a Credit Advice for a transfer a person will have proof it was an international transfer although statement/passbook coding does not reflect international coding like FTT that Bangkok Bank uses. Once again, it's the Sending entity that determines the SWIFT routing; not the receiver. If that sending entity routing happens to include the BAHTNET SWIFT code as the last leg then you will receive BAHTNET coding. SWIFT Code for BOT BAHTNET System

Yes...it helps a lot. Thanks.

The reason I asked is because as a U.S. military retiree I have some U.S. govt/military healthcare coverage named Tricare Overseas/Tricare for Life which is "worldwide" coverage....me and the wife have used that coverage here in Thailand since we retired here for well over a decade....great medical coverage. It's basically a social security/government universal type coverage that does not come with a policy cover sheet that spells out coverage amounts since the coverage is really "unlimited," (i.e., covered for millions of dollars in OPR/IPD if required), no end/expiration date as long as you are still breathing & are paying the monthly Medicare Part B premium for Tricare for Life if 65 or older.. You can get an Tricare online acct benefit letter that is vanilla in nature that basically just says, "Yes, Pib you are currently enrolled in Tricare and have been for a long time." I would really like to use that Tricare coverage as my medical insurance on the LTR application since I will have that coverage till death....even if I don't have a penny saved in a bank. But at the same time I don't want to waste my time trying if other LTR applicants have tried using foreign government type coverage which included coverage in Thailand if the BOI is going to reject it simply because it has no expiration, doesn't specially have a policy sheet stating X-amount of coverage (since it really unlimited coverage), basically, doesn't look like a standard commercial/civilian insurance policy. Instead I would just go the money in a financial/bank acct route and self insure from the get-go in the LTR application. One more question: approx how long after initially submitting your LTR application did it take the BOI say they were not totally satisfied with your insurance docs and they wanted some financial docs also to prove the ability to medically self-insure? Thanks.

Now I did go prepared with an updated passbook with copy just in case they asked, but they didn't ask.

What did you use to satisfy the LTR medical insurance requirement....a Thai insurance policy, foriegn insurance policy, maybe home country social security/government-type coverage, or self-insure with money in financial account(s)? Thanks.

@walailak And today/19 Oct I picked up my 12 month marriage extension stamp at CW at their L2 counter....only took 5 minutes...and they did "not" require me to show/provide a copy of my updated bank passbook like they required for my previous two marriage extension final 12 month stamps Yea, today the L2 Counter was fast. When I arrived around 9:30am the main queue counter gave me a low queue number of 7 for the L2 counter. I walked to the L2 counter, gave them my passport, they said please sit down and wait, about 5 minutes later they called me back to sign the stamp issue/receipt form, and then I was handed my passport stamped with the 12 month extension. In the two previous years I had to wait 1 to 1.5 hours for L2 to issue the 12 month stamp. Good to go for another year.

Update to my above post: And today/19 Oct I picked up my 12 month marriage extension stamp at CW at their L2 counter....only took 5 minutes...and they did "not" require me to show/provide a copy of my updated bank passbook like they required for my previous two marriage extension final 12 month stamps Yea, today the L2 Counter was fast. When I arrived around 9:30am the main queue counter gave me a low queue number of 7 for the L2 counter. I walked to the L2 counter, gave them my passport, they said please sit down and wait, about 5 minutes later they called me back to sign the stamp issue/receipt form, and then I was handed my passport stamped with the 12 month extension. In the two previous years I had to wait 1 to 1.5 hours for L2 to issue the 12 month stamp. Good to go for another year. .

Now that's good to know. I plan to apply for a LTR Pensioner over the next month or so and currently have an Marriage Extension of Stay...in fact, I picked up my renewed 12 month marriage extension stamp today....I'm now good to go until the end of Oct 2023. If by some wild chance the BOI approves my LTR application I'll now know to go get a fresh Kor Ror 2 and bring along our Original Marriage Certificate something I would not have even thought about doing unless the BOI had given me a head-ups in advance.

Below weblink is the SSA regulation/instruction regarding the 7162/7161 Follow-ups and Suspensions — Foreign Enforcement Program (FEP). https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0302655010 If, repeat, if the SSA is following their own instruction to the letter the follow-up/2nd notice would have been mailed in September....lets say the 30 Sep (although it could have been anytime in Sep) which means the 2nd notice would be arriving Thailand right about now (i.e., mid Oct). And if mailed in mid Sep the 2nd notice would have surely arrived by now barring your local Thai Post Office being very slow. My personal experience with U.S. govt mail sent from the U.S. east coast region like Wilkes Barre takes right at 14 days/2 weeks to arrive my Bangkok home. And if coming from a U.S. govt agency in the U.S. west coast region approx 10 days like a piece of U.S. govt mail I very recently got from California which the govt mailed by regular First Class mail on 29 Sep and it arrived my home 7 Oct (only 8 days). But with the world still recovering from the COVID pandemic which caused many govt agencies and companies to temporarily waive/modify there normal procedures/timelines who can really say if the SSA is now again fully following their own regulation regarding FEP.

Below immigration weblink (as of 15 Oct 2022) provides the Transfer Stamps to New Passport form along with instructions on page 2 of the form as to what documents to attach....page 2 also quoted below. https://bangkok.immigration.go.th/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Transfer-Stamp-to-New-Passport-Form.pdf Snapshot of transfer stamp page 2

That is good news because I expect a lot of people do have more than 100K USD in "investment" type accts like 401K/IRA/mutual funds/etc., vs keeping high amounts in "bank" accts. And since the BOI LTR requirement is the 100K USD balance has been available for at least 12 months before the LTR application since investment type acct balances typically are left alone by the person up till retirement and then "slowly" drawn down after retirement IMO that makes it more likely at least 100K USD would be setting in the acct for "many" years whereas a bank acct balance is more likely to vary a lot. The BOI requirement also says that 100K is suppose to be in a "bank" acct for at least 12 months before applying but hopefully BOI's definition of a bank acct also includes investment accts since money in most investment accts can be withdrawn quickly to pay bills like a big hospital bill. Definitely update us if you do get final, final approval...it definitely sounds positive. Thanks.

Ubonjoe, Didn't you have to create a USPS acct in order to submit the missing mail report? And then after initiating the missing report there was then a special area/menu you could go check the missing mail report status? If so, that's the status I was interested in versus the normal tracking status updates shown on the USPS or Thai Postal websites/apps.

Since several others posters in this thread had their 7162 show up at Wilkes Barre approx 2 months of being in MIA status after leaving NYC/Jamaica, I expect your missing mail report had nothing to do with the 7162 finally arriving Wilkes Barre. I assume above snapshot is from standard USPS tracking. If so, when checking the status of your missing mail report does that reflect delivery or still being looked for?

And here's a FoxNews news article on the COLA increase....snapshot of a historical chart in the article shown below. https://www.foxbusiness.com/money/social-security-recipients-see-biggest-cola-increase-1981

Here's is CNN's news article on the COLA increase. https://us.cnn.com/2022/10/13/business/money/social-security-cost-of-living-adjustment-cola-increase/index.html

Here some history on SS COLA increases. Now below chart displays the COLA year a little differently than the COLA announcement by reflecting the COLA year referenced to start 1 Dec of each year when the increase starts being earned and then payment occurs the following Jan. Example: the COLA 2023 announcement of 8.7% is shown as 2022 in the chart. https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/colaseries.html

The SSA announced 13 Oct 2022/today that the Social Security increase for 2023 will be 8.7%...the highest since 1981. This COLA increase will also be mirrored in most other U.S. govt pensions like military retirement pension. See below SSA news release. AND, in a separate, earlier announcement the CMS Medicare agency announced Medicare Part B premiums will go down by about $5 in 2023...click this Link to see that earlier Medicare premiums announcement. So no one should complain their SS pension increase will be partially or totally eaten-up by a Medicare premium increase. SSA COLA for 2023 Announcement https://www.ssa.gov/news/press/releases/2022/?utm_content=pressrelease&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery#10-2022-2 Thursday, October 13, 2022For Immediate Release Social Security Announces 8.7 Percent Benefit Increase for 2023 Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for approximately 70 million Americans will increase 8.7 percent in 2023, the Social Security Administration announced today. On average, Social Security benefits will increase by more than $140 per month starting in January. The 8.7 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits payable to more than 65 million Social Security beneficiaries in January 2023. Increased payments to more than 7 million SSI beneficiaries will begin on December 30, 2022. (Note: some people receive both Social Security and SSI benefits). The Social Security Act ties the annual COLA to the increase in the Consumer Price Index as determined by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Medicare premiums are going down and Social Security benefits are going up in 2023, which will give seniors more peace of mind and breathing room. This year’s substantial Social Security cost-of-living adjustment is the first time in over a decade that Medicare premiums are not rising and shows that we can provide more support to older Americans who count on the benefits they have earned,” Acting Commissioner Kilolo Kijakazi said. To view a COLA message from Acting Commissioner Kijakazi, please visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vgm5q4YT1AM. Some other adjustments that take effect in January of each year are based on the increase in average wages. Based on that increase, the maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax (taxable maximum) will increase to $160,200 from $147,000. Social Security and SSI beneficiaries are normally notified by mail starting in early December about their new benefit amount. The fastest way to find out their new benefit amount is to access their personal my Social Security account to view the COLA notice online. It’s secure, easy, and people find out before the mail arrives. People can also opt to receive a text or email alert when there is a new message from Social Security--such as their COLA notice--waiting for them, rather than receiving a letter in the mail. People may create or access their my Social Security account online at www.ssa.gov/myaccount. Information about Medicare changes for 2023 is available at www.medicare.gov. For Social Security beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare, their new higher 2023 benefit amount will be available in December through the mailed COLA notice and my Social Security's Message Center. The Social Security Act provides for how the COLA is calculated. To read more, please visit www.ssa.gov/cola. NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS: Here is a fact sheet showing the effect of the various automatic adjustments.

That's what I'm hoping. Regarding the U.S. Medicare, it does "not" provide coverage outside the U.S. (except in rare situations). And I think most other countries' social security medical coverage works the same way...that is, coverage within the home country but not outside. I haven't worked in Thailand....no Thai social security. Now I do have U.S. Medicare coverage "only because" I must maintain it to automatically retain coverage under the U.S. military retiree Tricare for Life medical coverage which provides coverage worldwide. Tricare is the coverage I've been using in Thailand for well over a decade. So, I have Medicare and Tricare coverage but since living in Thailand only the Tricare coverage applies since Medicare only covers in the U.S.; however, when I go back to the U.S. for say a one day visit or permanently I'm automatically covered by Medicare and Tricare the second I set foot on U.S. dirt....kinda like double coverage. But will BOI really understand medical coverage provided by many foreign countries....coverage that even applies if living outside the home country may not come with any document that states coverage in monetary terms like say $1M coverage since the coverage is really unlimited...no dollar limit....and really no policy end date as long as you are paying the monthly premium/stay enrolled....an open ended policy end date so to speak. I'm hoping where the BOI uses the term "social security" medical coverage it's meant in board terms of having some "government medical coverage" although that coverage may not be coming from the Social Security Agency in that country but another part of the government like the military. Hopefully BOI will respond to my question with a clear, definitive answer but I'm not holding my breath. I would like to get some clarification from them versus uploading a bunch of personal info docs for income, medical, etc...etc....etc...to probably live on their servers for years only to be turned down due to medical coverage paperwork.

Can anyone provide more insight on exactly what "or social security benefits insuring treatment in Thailand" means. Does that mean "Thailand social security" or can it mean a "foreign social security type medical policy" like say the U.S. military retiree Tricare/Tricare for Life medical coverage which provides full in- and out-patient coverage "worldwide" but is not a type of policy that comes with a policy sheet saying $XXX,XXX coverage because the coverage is really unlimited. I have emailed BOI with the question asking for clarification of what "social security...." means, but no response yet. Health insurance with at least USD 50,000 coverage or social security benefits insuring treatment in Thailand or at least USD 100,000 deposit

Couldn't above also imply if operators are "not" driving during this period (13-16 Oct) but during another period that their vehicles don't have to be in good condition, drivers don't have to be well-rested and sober while on duty, and don't have to adhere to road safety?....You know, all too typical truck driving in Thailand.