Pib

When it comes to pollution control/reduction in Thailand the current "and" previous governments have been pretty much all talk with little to no action. The bulk of air pollution in Thailand comes from the annual burning of fields/forest. Usually this period is when raining season ends around Oct/Nov and up to about March. Year after year this is when air pollution in Thailand gets bad at most locations especially in northern Thailand. Each year the govt puts out news releases that HiSo govt bureaucrat (like the PM) has ordered lower ranking bureaucrats to fix the problem....stop the burning....arrest/fine those burning fields...etc. And the govt also tries to deflect the attention on fields/forest burnings by saying Thailand needs to reduce pollution caused by vehicles...tries to make a lot of people think the bulk of the pollution during the Oct-Feb period is really caused by vehicles which use combustion engines vs the fields/forest burnings. Yea...former and current governments have pretty much just been giving lip service to air pollution control/reduction.

OP, As other have said the Manila SSA Office in the U.S. Embassy - Philippines handles SSA issues for most countries in this part of the world....Thailand is one of around 40 countries they are responsible for. The U.S. Embassy/Consulate in Bangkok and Chiang Mai will just refer you to Manila. Use below Manila SSA Office Inquiry form that dingdongrb provided earlier and I'm listed again below. Use the Inquiry Reason of "Apply for Social Security Benefits" and be sure to fill-out the Inquiry form completely otherwise you will not get an answer or just an email from from the office later asking for the info. In the comments block state the person wants to apply for social security pension benefits via telephone interview and provide any other comments which might be considered helpful. https://ph.usembassy.gov/services/fbu-inquiry-form/ I have already hand walked 2 Thai people (Thai and American citizenships) completely thru the benefits application process with Manila over the last 5 years or so. And I'm currently hand-walking a third Thai (Thai & American citizenships) who started the process a severa weeks ago via the inquiry form. Got an initial email response from Manila about 10 days later....a response asking for all the info that was provided in the inquiry form and the bottom of that email even listed all the info in the initial inquiry form submission. So, it was sent again via email this time an it's been about 10 days so far with no answer from Manila year regarding the next step like scheduling a telephone interview. Now trying to contact Manila SSA via phone call to them has a great chance of ending in failure...listening to some brief elevator music...then a voice so no SSA agents are available...please call back again during certain days/hours. What it boils down to is correspondence with Manila will be by email and/or snail mail except the scheduled telephone interview that Manila will initiate. And while your friend may get lucky and get some email replies from Manila within days, do not be surprised if emails with Manila take weeks or longer to be responded to and/or their responses not making much sense sometimes. So, be sure you friend is email proficient. Now a person does not need to be an American citizen to draw U.S. social security pension....just needs to have earned the required 40 SSA credits/worked at least 10 years and generally lived in the U.S. at least 5 years...requirements your Thai friend meets. Good luck....Manila can be slow to deal with but "sometimes" you get surprised and things move along at a good clip...or at least in years past they were sometimes fairly fast....not sure about "now." Each person's application is different and can also depend on the particular SSA rep you end up getting assigned to the application. Good luck to your friend...and remember email/inquiry form is your best friend when trying to communicate with the Manila SSA office.

I have Krungsri and Bangkok Bank accts...the branches I use for both banks always ask for my passport, make copies of the main page and current visa/extension page, and do the quick check to ensure the passport number matches what's in their IT system. Over the many years of reading AseanNow posts I've seem posts all over the map regarding required identification for bank transactions. But a person will never have a problem when their current passport matches the bank's IT system, the passport is not expired, and the permitted to stay date is not expired.

Tell that opinion to the bank when they want to confirm the current passport number matches the passport number they have onfile and also see some kind of immigration stamp which shows permitted to stay until or indefinite date before they will accomplish the bank transaction. And the great, great majority of farangs do not have a PR. Without above the bank is not going to do a citizen's arrest or call the police but they probably will not do certain bank transactions.

Yea that works. However, if he needs his "current/valid" passport like to make a bank withdrawal where the bank rep wants to see/make a copy of the passport which matches what the bank has on-file in their IT system but that old passport now has holes punched in it, a no longer valid stamp, or something similar from the passport issuing agency then he's going to have to produce his new/renewed passport where the bank may also want to see a valid visa/extension in that new passport. I sure know when I go to the bank for certain type of transactions (which is not often) they make a copy of the main passport page and the page showing the current visa/extension of stay...and ensure the passport number matches what's in their system. It's probably best to get the visa/stamps transferred to the new passport as soon as possible especially if the immigration is not a long trip away. I've transferred stamps twice at CW over the years when getting my passport renewed and both times it was very uneventful and only took about 30 minutes within the office...but the round trip drive added another 2 hours....I dreaded the drive more than the actual immigration office visit. ????

If asking for the purpose of making an online appointment you can't specifically make an appt for that unless it a "business" type visa as the online appt system has a selection for that....see snapshot below. There is no appt selection for a passport stamps transfer for a non-business visa/extension like a Non OA, O, etc. About a year and half ago when I needed to transfer stamps from my old passport to my new/renewed passport I made an appt using the selection shown below but was told in no uncertain terms when I arrived CW that selection was not for my situation where I needed to transfer stamps related to my old OA visa and my current extension of stay....was told it only applied to Business type visa....I guess that means a Non B visa? When arriving CW I first went to the main queue issuing counters....showed them my appt...they said I just needed to go straight to the Long Stay Section and check-in with the first counter. I went to the first counter/cubicle in the Long Stay section....this counter is geared for appt check-in and quick scan of docs. After telling me my appt didn't apply they still immediately started the process to have the stamps transferred to my new passport. The rep quickly reviewed my docs, paper clipped them together in a certain order, then took them to another counter in the Long Stay section (same area where long stay extensions are processed) and told me to set down in the Long Stay queue waiting area. About 10 minutes later an immigration officer called me to her desk....she transferred the stuff from my old to new passport....I'm then done......all done in less than 30 minutes. This stamps transfer processes seems to be one CW immigration just shoe-horns...they do not put you are the very end of the queue if many people are already there for some immigration issue....they just slide you into a time gap with an immigration office. Summary: can't make an online appt for this particular service at CW unless it's a Business type visa....just go and do it. Or do like I did...make the appt using the selection below...show-up to that counter with appt in-hand....get told the appt doesn't apply in your particular case....and then they still start the process to have the stamps transferred....it shouldn't hurt to try this method....it definitely didn't hurt me.

When it comes to coverage limits under a government plan compared to private health insurance, govt medical coverage generally does not deal in monetary limits like how most private insurance polices do by specifically stating a ;monetary limit per coverage period...like having a policy that provides $100K USD coverage per year....anything over that then you are just out of luck.. And generally govt coverage does not come with a "policy" for each individual full of lawyer talk defining limits of coverage but instead just an enrollment card/benefit letter that the refers you to a website where more details of coverage is provided....and even at that website which you could read for days and days it probably will not talk about limits per disability but how much a person's cost share/reimbursement level would be, maybe how many days of hospitalization allowed per year, etc....but usually the govt coverage is "very generous." Govt plans may talk little to nothing about a maximum coverage amount since they may not have a limit where private plan generally talk monetary limits a lot. Plus there are "many" private plans available usually driven by max coverage amount and premium the person is willing to pay.....barebones type coverage with low annual coverage to platinum type plans which have pretty much unlimited awesome coverage (and usually a premium that is very high). And then there are also "group-type" plans that are co-sponsored/paid by a current/former employer. BoI is aware how govt, group, and private medical plans differ in how the plans state coverage but for those plans that generally deal in "monetary" coverage limits like say $100K or $1M per year you will need something that shows what the coverage amount is. It may not necessarily need to be shown on the policy you get if you can show other docs from the insurance company that defines the limit like maybe below Cigna Comparison sheet. A lot depends on how your private insurance policy is worded. You may need to help BoI understand your policy by providing additional policy related docs. Regarding should you provide insurance policy "and" self insure docs from the get-go personally I would "not" double barrel it like that. If you really want to qualify under say your insurance policy because you know you will have that policy for a long time even if not applying for a LTR visa the only way to determine if it satisfies BoI is to initially go with that one-barrel....call that Plan A. If BoI does not accept Plan A then go the self-insure route (Plan B) which maybe you really would prefer not to do unless necessary. If you go with Plan A and B at the same time and BoI approves your application you will not know if it was Plan A that qualified, maybe Plan A didn't but Plan B did, or maybe Plan B didn't but Plan A did. You just will not know which plan (or both plans) qualified. You might have fired the Plan B barrel when only the Plan A barrel was needed, etc. And of course document translation costs might be player in your decision also. Yea, if a person has an insurance policy they will have for many years to come come rain or shine I would want to know if it meets the BoI LTR requirement and the only way to find out for sure is to initially apply just using that policy. Good luck.

Regarding annual address reporting, before switching from my Non OA which required every 90 days address reporting to my LTR visa which requires 365 address I would use the Immigration online 90 address reporting system. Now the BoI LTR visa website still does not have specific guidance regarding annual address reporting but the BoI SMART visa website does have specific annual reporting guidance which identifies two ways: 1) by visiting the BoI Immigration at Chamchuri Square Bangkok or 2) by mail. No mention of an online reporting capability. All indications/feedback so far regarding the LTR annual reporting is it would mirror BoI SMART annual reporting....that is, do it in person at BoI Immmigration at Chomchuri Square or via mail to Chomchuri Sq Immigration Office. However, while reading another AseanNow thread talking about 90 day address reporting the poster asked about an entry that talked BoI Visas at Chomchuri Square. That caught my interest....I logged onto my 90 day address reporting account and sure enough there is now a block to click if you have a BoI type visa......before there was only one block of "Use Login Information." And I check the 90 day address report VDO Guide and it only showed the Use Login Info block as I remembered from my 90 day address reporting days; the Visa BoI block was not shown in the guide which probably hasn't been updated since the this latest online reporting system began. Now if you type to check/click the Visa BoI related block nothing happens...it's like its greyed out...but you can still check/click the Use Login Info block. I wonder if the BoI will soon be allowing online address reporting for BoI managed type visas like LTR and SMART since the online address reporting system now has a block for BoI visas although nothing happens when clicking it. If so, the block is probably geared to route BoI visas to Chomchuri Sq Immigration Office.

You should be OK. When I used this system I didn't complete either and got approvals. I think it's more geared towards those who may need to provide an alternate contact.

The 2B sentence relates to "hospitalization and treatment in Thailand" benefits....that is, medical benefits provided under a social security plan and not other type of social security benefits like pension. Now although I said "Thai" social security benefits in an earlier post I expect it could really be social security hospitalization coverage from a "foreign" social security plan that provides full medical coverage 24/7, 365 days a year in Thailand. This is good as it provides medical coverage flexibility. However, I do not know of any foreign country social security medical coverage plan that provides coverage in Thailand other than possibly some emergency, limited short term care in certain situations. Now a U.S. government medical program like Tricare provides full 24/7, 365 days a year medical coverage worldwide...in any country. Typically social security/universal health care type medical coverage like in the U.S. Medicare/Medicaid, U.K. NHS etc., do not provide routine health care coverage outside of that country with the exception of some emergency care up to a very limited amount of time like 60 days after leaving the country......with emergency care being something like broken bones, heart attack, etc. Now for routine hospital and outpatient care in a foreign country the U.K. NHS does have receptacle health care agreements with some countries (Thailand not one of them AFAIK) for some "limited" 365 days a year care...but it supposedly comes with a lot of fine print as to the type of care. The LTR requirements are written not only to address "initially" meeting LTR requirements but also to "maintain" LTR requirements. Like a person may initially need to buy a commercial policy to initially qualify for an LTR visa but then starts working in Thailand were he receives Thai social security benefits/medical coverage which allows him to drop his commercial policy and just use this Thai social security medical coverage. So, although the LTR social security medical coverage requirement does not say "Thai" SS med coverage in reality since other countries social security type medical coverage is basically limited to coverage within that country with the possible exception of certain short term emergency care in reality I expect only "Thai" SS med coverage would satisfy LTR requirements when it comes to social security medical coverage.

I would think switching from one type of visa to another within Thailand like from a OA to an O without a border hop is definitely doable "when Immigration regulations/policies allow it" but I don't know of any that allow it. Like folks switching from an OA/O/B/etc., type visa to an LTR visa.....the BoI Immigration Office does it with just a few pieces of paper/keystrokes in just a few minutes just before inking the LTR visa into your passport. But the LTR visa program is a special program with rules/policies completely different from other types of visas. Now where a poster said he though the had talked to a person who switched from an OA to O at Jomtien without doing a border hop perhaps using an agent, well, that statement is basically hearsay, leaves out a lot of details, etc. But if it did occur via agent, I bet it included a border hop without reentry permit probably to Cambodia to kill-off the current visa....and maybe the agent physically did the border hop vs the person by paying-off the Cambodian and Thai border immigration officers. I realize that supposedly such agent accomplished border hops occurred years ago but was supposedly shutdown years ago...now illegal. Or maybe the person did use an agent but it included the person doing a one day border hop courtesy an agent van run which the person failed to mention. I just know I don't remember seeing any AseanNow posts where anyone said they switched from an OA to O visa without killing off the OA visa first typically via a border hop to get a Non O visa at an embassy or coming back to start the in-Thailand Visa Exempt to Non O application process. Now maybe there have been some credible posts as I definitely don't read all (or anything quantity remotely close) to all the visa/extension related posts on AseanNow.

Health insurance or self-insure is required. The health insurance policy can be foreign or Thai. And where it talks valid "social security" coverage they mean Thai social security medical coverage. See below quotes/snapshots from the BoI LTR website. https://ltr.boi.go.th/index.html

Schwab and Service Credit Union---all foriegn transaction/ATM fees reimbursed.

Congrats Jim! Must feel good to have your old OA visa now dead & buried....killed-off (cancelled) when the new LTR visa was issued without needing to leave Thailand or first let the OA visa die a natural death (expire). Why didn't you include a picture of the OA Visa tombstone you put in your backyard? Since you didn't include a picture I'm including it below....hope you don't mind. ????

Boy...my experience has been the opposite with this type of hose regarding "taking wear better, longevity, etc.," due to leaks developing after the hose is only a few months old especially if the hose is exposed to a lot of sunlight. The leaks are not from puncture but the hose simply develops small slit holes...like dry skin cracking open....not like a hole from something pointed. But totally agree regarding the soft and flexible part.

I If you can reach a human at the -0160 number (i.e., Int'l Op) you stand a higher chance of them being able to work/answer your question since you have a non-US address. If you don't get a human when calling don't waste you time on leaving a voice mail....hang-up and dial again (and again as necessary) until you hopefully get a human. But the -1213 (Central Customer Service) is more of a catchall, general help, relay your issue to the proper section within the SSA to work an issue type number. And depending on the nature of your problem, don't rule out contacting/beating on the door of the Manila SSA office for help. Yes, they are generally just a middleman who have to relay many pension/claim issues to Baltimore Int'l Ops for final processing/approval, but at least the problem is officially transmitted from Manila to Baltimore within their SSS IT system.

Good luck. By WGS I guess you meant Wealthy Global Citizen....if so, if you don't mind me asking how are you meeting the $500K investment in Thailand requirement? Maybe a Thai residence you have bought in the past and still own, etc. Regardless of which LTR type you are applying for, be sure to check your email inbox, the LTR online acct "Notifications" box, "AND" your online acct Check Status, Action View, Step 4 Upload area for messages/comments/requests for additional docs. Check all three locations as based on my personal experience last year communications from the BoI in the processing of your application can appear in one to all three areas. For me there was one time that a request for additional docs only appeared in the Check Status, Active View, Step 4 Upload area in the form of very brief Comments in red text relating to income and health insurance....I did not get any email or Notification that the request had been made or more detailed comments. Yea, watch above mentioned three areas closely....and again, good luck.

I have an acct at the little Krungsri Branch in the CW/Bangkok Immigration Building...have had the acct for around a half dozen years. Last year I went to the branch regarding a tax withholding issue....the rep went into their storage area and quickly produced all the paperwork they had kept on me since acct opening to include the tax withholding docs signed years ago. Now I don't mean like a copy of your passport photo page when you make a withdrawal....I mean all the important paperwork like acct opening, withholding tax related....just anything of that nature. And a ditto type thing occurred with the wife's acct at a small KrungThai Bank branch.

If you qualify you would probably be better off getting a 10 year LTR Wealthy Pensioner visa which is issued in two 5 year increments....no annual renewal...just the extension process to get the 2nd 5 years. You can apply for an LTR visa in or outside Thailand....if approved for the LTR visa you simply cancel your current visa and then the LTR visa is inked into your passport. Full details/requirements at: https://ltr.boi.go.th/

No....that ended years ago.

Assuming both you and the wife live at the same address and both 7162's generated/actually mailed on 2 June I wonder why her 7162 arrived approx 2 weeks later than yours.....hers arriving 4 Jul and yours 20 Jun. Maybe slower mail, maybe actually mailed weeks later than the 2 June date on the 7162, maybe who knows. Definitely shows 7162's are still just now arriving for some approx one month after the 2 Jun date on the 7162's....30 days eaten away from the return "within 60 days requirement" which would mean arriving Wilkes Barre SSA by 2 Aug. However, since the SSA POMS says the follow-up/2nd 7162 mailing occurs in Sep, then a person might really have up to around 90 days from the 2 Jun 1st mailing. Or maybe said another way if it took the person a month to receive the 7162 then they really do have around 60 (sixty) days to get it back to Wilkes Barre before ending up on the 2nd mailing list occurring in Sep. All a person can do is mail it back as soon as they get it.

Yea, but I expect the SSA gods might argue that would require then to officially establish such a policy and/or a change to their software programming which might cost money....I'm sure they would have some type of good (or not so good) rationale. Heck, as talked earlier in this thread the SSA POMS (regulation) on 7162's only requires a 7162 from any pensioner "in Thailand" every other year vs every year "if" their pension claim number (i.e., SSN the claim is based on which might not be the person's own but someone else's like a spouse) includes a BIC suffix of "B, D, F, J, or W." These BIC's are related to a wife/husband, widow/widower, a mother/father, etc....see below SSA POMS for a description of possible BIC's (many of them) which appear to all be related to someone receiving SSA benefits based on another person's SSN/earning record. https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0201050007 Now say you are receiving a spousal pension (like my wife) based on another person's SSN/earning's record (like mine). We are both "well over" 62 and the wife is only about 13 months younger than me....or said another way we are in our golden years. However, she has a BIC of "B" because her pension is a spousal pension based on my SSN/earnings records vs hers.......she will only receive a 7162 every other year here in Thailand but I will receive a 7162 every year here in Thailand since I have a BIC of "A" since my pension is based on my SSN/earnings record. Age is not the driver but the assigned BIC. But for whatever reason(s) the SSA does not feel the need to confirm an old person on a spousal type pension that results in assignment of a BIC "B, D, F, J, or W" needs to be checked on each year if living in Thailand to see if they are still kicking.....but the person on a regular pension that results in a BIC of "A" does need to be checked on. Maybe the SSA have solid reasoning behind that approach.....but I expect whatever reasoning the SSA has they also know the reasoning has a good amount of holes in it but plugging all the holes would probably just make the 7162 program a bigger headache for pensioners and SSA alike so the current approach is a compromise approach....far from perfect.

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Then that means her benefit was based totally/partially on her earning record instead of yours...not really a pure spousal pension like you mentioned in your post. If she did "not" work at least 10 years/earn 40 SS credits then she could have got a spousal pension based "totally" on your earning record which results in the SSA using your SSN and assigning a "B" BIC code for her pension claim. But if she got some type of "partial" spousal "top-up" amount to add onto the basic pension amount she earns from her earnings record then "her" SSN is used along with an "A" BIC code. And this also means with a BIC of "A" she will get a 7162 every year.

And her 7162 has "your" SSN on it with a BIC of "B"? Additionally, the last two digits of SSN on the 7162 ends between 50 to 99?