NancyL

Oh yes, Care Resort is definitely worth checking out. It's a work-in-progress on the transition from being a conventional resort (Away Suansawan) to a senior living facility (Care Resort) The owner is British and very easy to contact by phone or email to see what services they currently offer. The facilities are nice -- plusher than Dok Kaew.

but just a few months ago on a thread, u were posting the opposite appraisals of care resort, out in the boonies, poor occupancy levels etc etc

All I was saying is that it's worth calling Care Resort in this situation to see what they could offer the OP -- my original observations still stand and aren't especially relevant in this situation.

Actually, you can find 2 bed/2 bath condos in older building with units that were originally two studio units where the owners bought two side-by-side and converted them into a 2 bed/2 bath unit. Look at Nakorn Ping, Srithana and Hillside Condo 4 buildings, perhaps others.

I don't understand why she said you have a "50/50" chance. Either you meet the criteria or you don't. Where exactly did you come up short?

In all fairness, the queue for the 30 day extension of visa-exempt entry is not the same queue as the one for retirement extensions. No need for Mum to arrive at 5 am at CM Immigration. I've seen the queue for 30 day extensions move quickly, with waits of a just a couple hours.

Oh yes, Care Resort is definitely worth checking out. It's a work-in-progress on the transition from being a conventional resort (Away Suansawan) to a senior living facility (Care Resort) The owner is British and very easy to contact by phone or email to see what services they currently offer. The facilities are nice -- plusher than Dok Kaew. But, if someone needs access to hospice care, then McKean would be a better choice since there are doctors on duty and much more experience with end-of-life care.

Yes, there are options available locally. Certainly either McKean Rehabilitation Center or Dok Kaew Assisted Living. They're next to each other -- McKean can provide nursing home level of care while Dok Kaew is for people who are more independent. Also, it's possible to arrange in-home care in Chiang Mai, but that can take some time to arrange and can actually be more expensive than staying at McKean/Dok Kaew, depending upon someone's needs.

PM me for the mobile phone numbers of the English-language administrators at McKean and Dok Kaew or [email protected] or call the LCN phone number of 085.709.8801 to discuss these options, plus in-home options.

Care Resort is out near Mae Rim. I don't know if they're able to provide hospice-type services. I think it's intended more as sheltered living for the elderly, but a phone call or email to check out their capabilities would be easy enough. The owner, Peter is very responsive to inquiries.

What I don't understand though is why they are insisting on letters being sent back and forth.

Email or a secure website that would accept your NI number or one issued by that particular department would be so much easier (not to mention saving a lot of money). The signature argument doesn't hold up, because there's no way some junior person is checking them against your last one.

Actually I think that's just what's happening. Some junior person is checking 'em against your last submission and contacting the person of high repute if the signatures don't match.

If it's a "farang" trap why it it I see more Thai people and, depending on the time of day, more Japanese people, at the Rim Ping stores I visit? The OP has W-A-Y too much time on his hands and has made a real name for himself with his first post on ThaiVisa.

OK, I checked out the on-line program guide with our newest computer and the slider-thingy is on the bottom of the screen and works just fine. But, it isn't there with my favorite computer, an HP laptop with a big honking graphic capabilities that lets me surf the internet at lightening speed despite being older than my granny in computer years. We brought this computer over with us in 2006. Sigh. Maybe it's time to shoot the old grey mare.

This is probably going to be similar to the situation my husband and I encounter. He has problems understanding phone conversations due to hearing problems. We are both U.S. citizens living in Thailand. When he has to do banking business on the phone, I place the phone calls, talk to the customer service reps, turn the phone over to him for a few moments so he can verify that yes I have authority to speak for him and then he hands it back to me. They do ask a few security questions that I tell him about and he responds into the phone, so they can hear his voice. Then I finish the conversation on his behalf.

Don't know if this would work for you. We've been married for decades and it probably isn't the first time a bank call center has encountered an elderly customer with hearing problems. In your situation, it probably isn't the first time they've encountered a customer with limited grasp of the English language.

Yes, harrry is right about this. You should book your trip with a major airline with your wife as a helper. Go to the office of the major airline to book the trip -- THAI is best. Don't use a travel agent. If you need help in dealing with a Thai embassy in a foreign country to apply for a new visa, then plan for your wife to travel with you. Be sure the airline understands you need wheelchair service. Since you're in a wheelchair, you and your wife will receive priority treatment in the queues at the airport. The airline will provide someone to push the wheelchair for you at the airport and that person will know where to go to clear immigration and pay your fine.

I didn't mean to insult the OP in suggesting he is a newbie, just wanted to point out that his post indicated that perhaps he is a newbie and thus doesn't realize there are other, better options in Chiang Mai for someone who wants to receive five-star medical service. The advice he received from his Thai teacher is a little dated. For years, CM Ram has been the only game in town for "four star" medical service and (as I mentioned) their standards of service with regard to the patient experience for non-life threatening outpatient appointments has vastly declined.

It used to be that the patient made an appointment that was a real appointment. Now if you're told to come to see the doctor at 10 am, you're handed a queue card only to discover there are already 8 people ahead of you for the "clinic" the doctor is conducting from 10 am to 12 noon. What is this, Suan Dok? You can't find any English language reading material to pass the time while waiting. The support staff all seems to be busy playing with their phones rather than looking to direct you to where you pay your bill. The days of a cute nurse leading you to the cashier by the arm are gone. The doctors barely look at you during the consulations and heaven forbid they should actually do a physical exam. They just order tests and then look at the results. It's like they're all so busy at CM Ram these days they can just skate by on their reputation, at least with regard to out-patient customers.

That being said, I've seen them provide splendid care recently for in-patients with very serious conditions and respond quickly when someone came into the ER with a potential heart attack.

If someone wants ease-of-access, and five-star out-patient treatment -- CM Ram is not the best place to go in CM. As Sheryl just pointed out, though, there's more to think about in selecting a hospital then the quality of service. Give some thought to the quality of the doctors, also.

By air, using a catapult ?

Just kidding I like cats really, in fact have a couple of 5-month-old ex-kittens currently available to a new home, presently living near Mae-Jo & quite happy eating dog-food twice-daily !

Cats shouldn't be fed exclusively on dog-food. They have different nutritional needs than dogs and can develop severe health problems. My Mom had a cat who would only eat home-prepared organ meats. The cat died an early death from taurine deficiency.

The OP joined ThaiVisa less than a year ago and mentions having a Thai teacher, so perhaps he's a newbie. For years, CM Ram Hospital was the top hospital and considered the "go to" place for foreigners because of the English language skills of their staff and ease of access. You didn't have to wait long to be seen and they make it easy for you to navigate their system. Prices are accordingly high, esp. for medications.

In the past couple years, their standards of service have declined as CM has grown and they've become more crowded. The place is now downright dowdy and the remodeling is long overdue.

The OP clearly was expecting a five-star experience and CM Ram is a long way from being able to deliver this, esp. for a minor problem like his. He should have gone to the new Bangkok Hospital in Chiang Mai, where they are busy recruiting patients and would have treated him like a king, I suspect, and in much plusher surroundings. The outcome would have been the same, but he would have left feeling much better treated (but perhaps a little lighter in the wallet.)

There is no slider on the bottom of the page when I look at in using all three browsers on my computer. The slider disappeared about a week ago. You can advance the days at the top right.

OK, now where do we find a new program guide? This one is definitly wrong and, as I said, you can't advance the time-of-day:

http://truevisionsgroup.truecorp.co.th/tvguide?ln=th

The "proof of life" statements for U.S. Social Security do not have have to be notarized or even witnessed, unless you are incapable of signing your name. The form is simply called "Questionaire" and doesn't seem to freak out people the way the British equivalent form does with its title of "Proof of Life". It seems that people have told Social Security they live in the U.S. don't receive this form annually the way people who have registered an overseas address with SSA do. And yes, if you mess up and don't return the form, your benefits are stopped and it does take about six weeks to get them restarted, although they do return the benefits they held.

As someone who has traveled cross-country in the U.S. with two cats, I can tell you it helps to have a good-sized vehicle and a larger cage where you can put the cats and a litter box. This assumes the cats get along. They won't need food, but maybe some water.

Consider having a tag or some ID with your phone number on the cats' collars in case they get away from you during the trip.

Whatever you do, don't just chuck 'em in the car and start driving. They'll immediately get under your feet.

They will not be happy and your nerves will be shot after listening to them yowl all the way to Ubon. You'll discover, too, just how much nervous cats can shed. If you didn't have a cat hair allergy before the trip, you'll probably develop one during the drive. Just remind yourself you only have to make this trip once with them.

My trip in the U.S. was more complex because we had to research pet-friendly hotels in advance. You could probably drive from CM-Ubon in one long memorable day.

Just about the only time I set foot in a 7-11 is to pay the electric bill or top up the phone. They never short change me with those transactions. Otherwise, if I need something from a mini-mart, the old gal who runs the mini-mart in the condo building can definitely do math in her head. If she decides to give you something for free you definitely know it's a gift -- usually because it's a day away from expiry and she wants to make a big deal about how I'm an important customer!

I had an Oa I got from the Rayal Thai Consulate in Toronto Canada. I then decided to teach school, so got a 90 day O Visa and then extended it for a year, I have now been on the same Visa for 7 years. During that time I have had 5 work permits from 3 different labor offices. So you can work on an Non Immigrant O Visa, with a year extension, but not on an Oa. That's the biggest difference.

The ability to work with "non-O" vs not being able to work on a "Non-O-A" is not "the biggest difference" -- just one of the many differences.

A Non-O can be obtained for, and the permission to stay extended for many reasons -- working, volunteering, marriage, retirement. But an O-A is only granted for retirement and thus the permission to stay is extended only for retirement.

For retirees one major difference between the two is in money management strategy. If someone is using the income method to justify the financial requirements, then (to my thinking) it really doesn't make much sense to jump thru the hoops to get an O-A before coming to Thailand. Just get a single-entry O visa at an honorary Thai consulate before arrival, get an income letter from your Embassy once here and then get your first 12 month retirement extension 60 days after arrival.

But, if someone doesn't have a regular monthly income of at least 65,000 baht and can't or would rather delay bringing funds into Thailand, then it makes sense to obtain an O-A visa and eek out the full two years life to delay funds transfer into Thailand as long as possible before you have to open an 800,000 baht bank account. This could be especially valuable for a young retiree who is living off savings for a year or two before the pension kicks in. The O-A visa could "bridge" that time until the pension and its regular monthly income stream starts. Once the pension starts, you just go to the Embassy, get an Income letter and then you can extend your permission to stay just like someone who started out with an O visa.

Didn't see any women dressed like that. Just Thai people and foreigners dressed more conventionally. Food choices geographically and ethnically far-ranging from Greece on thru India.