NancyL

Lanna Lawyers can do this. Don't think that just because you filed yours with the hospitals that it's going to be honored. It's VERY important to select a health care representative who will truly advocate for you. Don't select someone who is likely to be overseas and/or simply "follow what the doctors recommend". Thai medical technology is very advanced and they can keep someone alive for a long time, way beyond the time when they have any hope of a meaningful chance of returning to anything approaching the quality of the life that they'd probably want. It's important to talk with your health care representative about what you're willing to accept.

Star Visa near the U.S. Consulate is very good with standard government documents. Don't know about them for something more "free form".

If it's been at least a year since your previous cardio work-up then, as suggested a complete work-up, with a stress test is a good idea. But definitely share your previous report with your doctor when you show up for the tests so that s/he can compare with the current results. Dr. Thanawat is good, as is Dr. Apichart, both at Bangkok Hospital. Dr. Thanawat is an "interventional cardiologist", basically an electrician, which means he is very knowledgeable about heart rhythms, pace makers, etc. Dr. Apichart is internationally recognized and very good if you have issues with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, weigh control, diabetes, etc. Both speak very good English and spend lots of time with their patients. Dr. Apichart is my doctor and he has visited me when I was hospitalized for something unrelated to my heart (and didn't charge!)

I'm surprised that they did the Covid and flu jabs at the same time. Last month Hubby and I went to Bangkok Hospital-Chiang Mai for our annual flu shots and they refused to do his since it had been less than a month since his AZ Covid shot. So he had to return a week later for his flu shot. Incidentally, the doctor talked with us about the shingles vaccine, which we agreed to and then we sat around for what seemed like forever waiting for the nurse to administer the jabs. Finally, the doctor came out of her office and announced that she'd inspected our records and we'd both had singles vaccines in June 2020. I had no recollection and usually I remember such things. Hubby said he vaguely remembered, but didn't want to contradict me, because "wifey is always right". Congrats to the doctor for being so thorough. She said receiving the shingles vaccine again wouldn't have hurt us, but it would be a big waste of money.

Here in muang Chiang Mai definitely saw fireworks and heard noisemakers, but puzzled by the lack of Khom Loys. The Khom Loy shop in our neighborhood was open for business during the day, however. Hubby reports that the shop wasn't doing its usual brisk business ahead of the holiday. But, some people were buying them. Didn't see any during our viewing of the Ping River from our condo. Usually, as mentioned, there are thousands. Our cats aren't too bothered by the noise, but there were a couple of times that they went running for cover in the condo. Fortunately, they get over it much better than dogs do. Neighborhood noise was more subdued, but some people were having their fun. I don't think the holiday is permanently dead, but people are being cautious because of Covid and the lack of tourists is definitely felt.

Yes.

One advantage of getting an ITIN for your Thai spouse is that upon you passing it will be easier for her to claim her inheritance from your U.S. bank accounts, pensions, life insurance policies, etc. They will ask for a SSN, ITIN and if she doesn't have one, there will be a delay while she gets one. And probably cost from a U.S. lawyer who helps her.

There are many posts about this topic on this forum. What you really should worry about is what happens if you become incapacitated, but need care while living in Thailand. If you're alone, who can access your bank accounts, etc to pay your bills, deal with the hospital, nursing home, make medical decisions for you. I'm amazed at the number of expats who worry about things like being properly embalmed with a nice shave for an open casket funeral but don't think about what would happen if they have a stroke, can't properly talk, think or walk and need care for the rest of their life.

A good pharmacist can tell you which Thai meds are as good as the foreign brands and which you should stay away from. This is especially true with nutritional supplements and vitamins, etc, that are not made by the Thai GPO. Problems can happen even with GPO meds. A couple years ago my blood pressure meds stopped providing good control and my cardiologist recommended switching one from the generic GPO to the European-produced brand name. He is a retired university professor and said that some of his former colleagues and students had noted a problem with this med, but they weren't able to prescribe the brand name drug at the university hospital. They were interested in his opinion since he was now practicing at a private hospital and had seen this same problem with other patients on this same med and he had the freedom to prescribe brand-name drugs to his patients. A friend of mine, a retired U.S. doctor, was having the same problem, but being a doctor (and cheap) rather than switching to the brand name drug, he simply switched himself to another GPO generic with the same mode of action and solved the problem. I passed this along to my cardiologist to share with his friends who had to prescribe GPO meds to their patients.

Thai companies love that FB is free and easy to update. If the business owners can't do it, their children or grandchildren can. When we came here in 2008 we bought some granite for a table and I remember looking at the Chiang Mai granite suppliers websites and fell in love with a type of granite called "Blue Diamond", but it wasn't suitable for what we needed at the time. Fast forward to 2019 when we totally remodeled a condo and I revisited the granite suppliers websites and found they hadn't changed since 2008; they looked like they'd been built circa 2003-2004. Our contractor took me to his favorite supplier and they said that yes, they used to have "Blue Diamond" but now they were into a different part of the mountain in Tak province for granite and Blue Diamond was rare. They looked around in back and found some, but obviously they hadn't updated their website since someone had first built it for them. Of course, they charged a premium for the Blue Diamond. I used their cheapest granite for our balcony ledge where our cats lounge and must admit, it probably would have looked better in our kitchen than Blue Diamond.

And don't forget to include some pointing Thai people in the photo. You'll be an internet sensation.

Thank you for the "shout out". I hope you can return soon.

I don't think it's standard practice for condos to notify residents when workers might show up outside their windows. Certainly don't do it in our condo building. Yes, they do give more than adequate notice about planned outages like maintenance on the elevators, electricity or water outages, etc, but not when someone is dangled off the roof to fix a leak or do painting.

You know, Epsom salts really don't relieve pain. All they do is make the bath water nice and silky, so lying about in the tub is a more pleasant experience and you're likely to remain in the hot water longer. Don't overdue it because you can absorb magnesium through your skin and this could be a problem if you have kidney problems. At a minimum, it may cause you to have loose stools. I was marketing manager for a large chemical company and for a time, their magnesium sulfate business was in my portfolio. We supplied bulk quantities of magnesium sulfate to specialty companies that repackaged it, some selling it into markets where it was hyped for its health benefits. I stand by what I wrote in my first paragraph concerning the value of Epsom salt water baths. As for the problem of adsorbing magnesium through your skin if exposed to too much magnesium sulfate, the guys who worked in the packaging plant, which was old and dusty, said they never had to use a laxative; they adsorbed enough magnesium through their skin every day. That part of the plant was over 100 years old and we were in the process of shutting it down when I was associated with the business.

I agree with Sheryl that you really do not want to do this without any sedation. About 40 years ago I was dieting and having problems where I would be constipated for 5 - 6 days, then have a day of diarrhea. The U.S. GI doctor suggested a "look-see" in his office. He said it wasn't a full colonoscopy, but just a check as far as was comfortable. I still had to do the prep, but there was no sedation. When he started, the nurse grabbed me in a death grip and I wondered why since it was just moderate pressure, like having a bowel movement. Once he came to the first bend with the scope, I understood why the nurse was gripping me so tight. Not only was it painful, but I had the most awful spasm, with uncontrolled movement of my legs, etc. He called off the procedure.

OK, it's Bangkok Bank Kad Suan Kaew, Chiang Mai and it's not just one bank manager doing this, but rather the branch manager, the assistant manager who is most knowledgeable about the expat clients and they get approval from Bangkok Bank's HQ for any distribution larger than, I think, 50,000 baht. It's not just one "underhanded" bank employee engaging in this practice. I've known them to resist, like when they knew the deceased had a joint account with his mia noi. Wanted to make sure he didn't have any children from that relationship, I suspect. Wife didn't know about the mia noi, of course. With one case where I was the executor, the deceased deliberately left nothing to her children, whom she hadn't seen in over 40 years. But she had very detailed instructions about who was to receive the rest of her estate. The bank management insisted I receive documentation from her children that they were OK with being left out of the Will and weren't going to challenge it. Her children were OK with this, thankfully, because if they'd chosen to challenge her Will, it would have eaten up her estate in legal fees. As I've said, the cases where I have first hand knowledge are often cases where an elderly expat has been diagnosed with a terminal condition and has time to get his/her affairs in order, has been banking at the KSK branch for years and the deceased, executor and often the beneficiaries are well-known to the banking staff. Often they encourage the expat with a terminal diagnosis to transfer funds before death, but sometimes this can't be done because of visa concerns. It's a blessing for an elderly expat with a terminal diagnosis to know their wishes will be carried out with a minimum of fuss.

Duke's, especially the original Duke's restaurant by the Ping river. That seems to be the one they use when we order from Meals on Wheels. Always seem to get good pizza when we order from them. Hubby loves pizza cold from the refrigerator for breakfast. Takes him back to his college days. He was always a good boy and remembered to put the leftover pizza in the refrigerator at night, even in college, when those around him failed.

I'm sorry Liverpool Lou, but are you a Thai lawyer? If so, then perhaps you can send me a PM and I'll give you details of the manager and branch of the bank involved. Actually, this has happened with two managers of the same branch with at least six deceased expats of various nationalities. This branch is known to be very expat-friendly. In all fairness, I've also known the managers of this branch to refuse if they knew something wasn't quite right, like the deceased had set up a bank account for a mia noi, unknown to the wife, or children who were likely to contest the Final Will. Then they wanted a court order, i.e. probate.

I know of several instances where Final Wills were accepted by a local Thai bank in Chiang Mai without probate where the executor and deceased were well known by the bank management and they had visited the bank management within a year before the death to make sure their wishes were known. In several cases, the bank balances were up to 1 million baht. If the amount was over a certain amount, I think 50,000 baht, then all documents had to go to the bank's HQ in Bangkok for approval and it took about a month for the money to be released. For smaller amounts, all the bank asked was for the account to be left open for at least a month if a money pension had been deposited, in case the pension provider wanted to claw back the money. Otherwise, they could close the account on the spot. This is especially helpful for someone who is diagnosed with a terminal condition and wants to get their financial affairs in order before passing, to make sure that their 800,000 baht bank account for their visa goes to the intended beneficiary with a minimum of delay or expense. Do a Final Will and talk with the bank management about your condition and wishes. As I wrote in an earlier post, probate is needed if other assets are involved, like a vehicle or condo in order to transfer title.

Just because you have a Will prepared by a lawyer doesn't mean that the lawyer has to be named as the executor. You can appoint anyone as the executor and they can hire whatever lawyer they want if probate is needed. If your only assets are bank accounts, then often probate isn't needed. However, a "court order", i.e. probate is needed if you own other property like a condo or vehicle. Hubby and I did amphur Wills about a dozen years ago, since our only assets in Thailand are bank accounts. We did them at Amphur Muang Chiang Mai. The rules may be different for different amphurs. At that time, we were told we needed a letter from a doctor that we were of sound mind. We went to a psychiatrist at CM Ram Hospital for a 45 minute consultation and waited another 10 minutes for the letters. The chat consisted of him asking why we were there, how long we'd been married, if we had children, and the differences in the process of making a Will in the U.S. vs. Thailand. At one point, I stopped and said "but you probably know all this already" (he had some U.S. training) and he said, "yes, I do, but I just want to make sure that you do". In a way, it makes much sense to have a professional attest that you had all your marbles when you made the Will rather than having someone try to prove you didn't after you die and they want to challenge your Will.

I think this is the most sensible approach. I use an agent in Chiang Mai. Despite what others say, I do this for convenience, because I want to go in-and-out of the immigration office and not have to sit around the place for half a day and potentially be exposed to Covid. I fully meet all requirements for my retirement extension. With my most recent application, I had decided to switch from 65M baht/month to 800,000 baht in a Thai bank about four months before my extension was due. All was in the same bank account, with one month overlap. The agent said that CM Immigration might not accept this because the 800,000 hadn't been in the bank for the entire year, but they would for an addition 15,000 baht "special processing fee". I said this was nonsense and to submit my application without the additional fee and if it was rejected I wanted to talk with an Immigration supervisor and see the written rule about this. My application was accepted without the "special processing fee" and it was the usual in-and-out of immigration through a side door into the special room they use for handling visa agent customers. Well worth the few thousand baht paid to the agent, so that I don't have to say anything or even look at them. Nothing close to 15,000.

I suspect this topic was started by a guy as click bait and I'll take the bait. When I was 27 years old what worked for me was wearing new sexy underwear, being with a guy who could make good conversation, was well groomed and some alcohol. Oh yeah, being in a nice cool bedroom with a good bed and clean sheets is always nice. A high end hotel is the best. Always good in a five-star hotel after a room service dinner and a bottle of champagne.

I made the trip by car in August. The medical service that was part of the ASQ hotel's package did a Covid PRC the day before I left and I was given a folder upon check-out that had all my Covid test results. The hotel arranged for a private car and vaccinated driver. We stopped just three times, each at my direction so I could use a toilet. No eating or drinking in the car. We hit two roadblocks. At the first, the crew was busy processing documents at a table for a carload of people they'd pulled over and after we were ignored for a few minutes, the driver continued. At the second, in Saraphi, the driver said I had just left an ASQ hotel and the guard was more interested in the driver than me. He told the driver not to get out of the car in Chiang Mai province. The entire trip took a little less than 8 hours. No traffic. Didn't download any apps. No quarantining once home. When we pulled up to my condo, Hubby unloaded my luggage and we gave the driver his money, a sandwich and a bottle of water and sent him on his way. Conversely, I have a friend who did a round trip air flight between Chiang Mai and Bangkok in September. He's fully vaccinated (in Thailand) It sounds like his return to Chiang Mai was more of a hassle than mine. There is a Chiang Mai Chana and a Thailand Chana app and most people on the flight had downloaded the wrong app and that slowed down the on-loading of the flight. If you've been hanging around Bangkok after leaving the ASQ hotel, your experiences are going to be different than mine.

The Bangkok Bank at Kad Suan Kaew is practically an anchor store for that mall. A few years ago, the assistant manager of the bank told me that the mall management wanted the bank to move to the third floor to encourage more traffic through the mall, but they refused.

Oh yeah, that reminds me, in talking with the nice lady that our Michigan credit union yesterday evening she reminded me to disable the old card on Google Play even though it is no longer active. I'm not really certain why. Initially, they thought that was the source of the data breach -- I guess it happens all the time, but I'm sure now it was Bangkok Airways. The timing was exactly right.