OneZero

Sorry, but I have unintentionally oversimplified the problem of proving TRICARE coverage for US military retirees. The complication arises because at age 65 military US military retirees will lose their overseas TRICARE benefits unless they make Medicare part B contributions (approx $170/month, minimum), which can be deducted from Social security pension.. Since Medicare does not cover US citizens overseas, some military retirees will be tempted to not make those payments, and thus forego TRICARE coverage. All we need is a few bad apples getting BOI approval for TRICARE, to later be caught without coverage, and BOI would perhaps throw up their hands and not want to be bothered with the TRICARE approval headache. What is needed is a simple way for US military retirees to get downloadable documentation that their TRICARE coverage is indeed CURRENT. I can not access the the DS Logon milconnect site because it no demand from me a US address & ph# for enhanced identity verification. In order to not further highjack this thread, and to keep pertinent TRICARE replies focused in one central location, the special/unique problem for US military retirees to prove TRICARE coverage deserves it's own dedicated thread.

Sorry, but I have unintentionally oversimplified the problem of proving TRICARE coverage for US military retirees. The complication arises because at age 65 military US military retirees will lose their overseas TRICARE benefits unless they make Medicare part B contributions (approx $170/month, minimum), which can be deducted from Social security pension.. Since Medicare does not cover US citizens overseas, some military retirees will be tempted to not make those payments, and thus forego TRICARE coverage. All we need is a few bad apples getting BOI approval for TRICARE, to later be caught without coverage, and BOI would perhaps throw up their hands and not want to be bothered with the TRICARE approval headache. What is needed is a simple way for US military retirees to get downloadable documentation that their TRICARE coverage is indeed CURRENT. I can not access the the DS Logon milconnect site because it no demand from me a US address & ph# for enhanced identity verification. In order to not further highjack this thread, and to keep pertinent TRICARE replies focused in one central location, the special/unique problem for US military retirees to prove TRICARE coverage deserves it's own dedicated thread.

The following letter addressing the Current Year is also available at mypay website: DEFENSE FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING SERVICE Retired and Annuitant Pay 8899 E 56th Street - Retired Pay Indianapolis, IN 46249-1200 https://www.dfas.mil/RetiredMilitary/ January 29, 2023 NAME & ADDRESS OF SUBJECT INDIVIDUAL TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: Reference is made to your request for certification regarding receipt of Military pay in the account of subject individual. This is to certify that the member is on the Retired rolls of this Center and is currently entitled to pay at the gross monthly rate of $x,xxx.00 which is normally payable during his/her lifetime. Sincerely, Retired Pay Department

DEFENSE FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING SERVICE Retired and Annuitant Pay 8899 E 56th Street - Retired Pay Indianapolis, IN 46249-1200 https://www.dfas.mil/RetiredMilitary/ January 29, 2023 NAME & ADDRESS OF SUBJECT INDIVIDUAL TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: Reference is made to your request for certification regarding receipt of Military pay in the account of abcdefg This is to certify that the member is on the Retired rolls of this Center and is currently entitled to pay at the gross monthly rate of $x,xxx.00 which is normally payable during his/her lifetime. Sincerely, Retired Pay Department

The https://mypay.dfas.mil site will also provide a current year letter for military pay to include the statement as follows: ...."normally payable during his/her lifetime." Unfortunately there is no similar TRICARE letter. Perhaps if BOI were "Educated" they would accept the current year military pay letter as evidence that a military retirees TRICARE benefit would also tag right along with the military pay "during his/her lifetime". Edited DFAS Verify Pay CY2023.pdf

Pib, Thank you for your research & comments ref TRICARE. I will apply for LTR (Wealthy Pensioner) & am assembling documentation. My only concern about that is satisfying proof for my TRICARE coverage. If & when the TRICARE issue firms up, I will be eager to hear about it. To compound the TRICARE proof issue for me: I can't even get the one-page DEERS letter you referenced, because I can't get into a DS logon milconnect account I thought I had established years ago. However, at https://mypay.dfas.mil military retirees are able to download a 1095B proving (to IRS & anybody else concerned) that DOD did indeed sponsor medical coverage for the Prior Year (But not the current year). Wish I knew if that will be acceptable to BOI because it is all I have at the moment. 2022 Form 1095-B (irs.gov)

Pib, Thank you, & I apologize for not doing full homework reading the ASEANOW and BOI links before asking questions. Yes, I am going to apply for the LTR (Wealthy Pensioner) and am assembling documentation. My only concern about that is satisfying proof for my TRICARE coverage. I read your comments on pg57 above link, that BOI will accept TRICARE coverage, but currently there is still uncertainty about what evidence /proof is definitely acceptable to BOI. If & when the TRICARE issue firms up, I will be eager to hear about it. To compound the TRICARE proof issue for me: I can't even get the one-page DEERS letter you referenced, because I can't get into a DS logon milconnect account I thought I had established years ago. However, at https://mypay.dfas.mil military retirees are able to download a 1095B proving (to IRS & anybody else concerned) that DOD did indeed sponsor medical coverage for the Prior Year (But not the current year). Wish I knew if that will be acceptable to BOI because it is all I have at the moment. 2022 Form 1095-B (irs.gov) Sorry I got two threads going. I'm considering copying and pasting these comments to the lengthier thread.

They work for me. Perhaps (?) because the BOI website recognizes that I have already opened /registered a BOI account. If one wants to follow-up. perhaps the first thing they should do is go to BOI website & registers online. Then the following link is helpful: LTR Visa Thailand - Contact (boi.go.th)

We thank you for your inquiry on LTR visa. As we are currently receiving a lot of email inquiries, please allow us 1 to 3 working days to send you a reply. Our working days and hours are Monday to Friday, 8.30-16.30 hrs. (BKK time). E-mails received on weekends or public holidays will be reviewed on the next business day. Meanwhile, please visit our website https://ltr.boi.go.th for information which may help answer some of your questions. Particularly you can find out on our website; The criteria https://ltr.boi.go.th/index.html#type Required documents https://ltr.boi.go.th/page/required-documents.html Application process https://ltr.boi.go.th/index.html#app Furthermore please submit your application online at [email protected] by clicking "To apply" button on the top right of the home page or Then you'll need to register for an LTR account first and sign back in in order to fill in the application online and upload required documents for the LTR visa type which you have eligibility. We apologize for this inconvenience and very thankful for your patience and understanding. For urgent matters, please call +66(0) 2209 1100 ext. 1109-1110 or 1141-1149 or email at [email protected]

F groenen, thank you for your helpful input. I woke up to the BOI links late, but they answer many of my questions. First thing one should do is go to BOI website & registers online. Then the following link is helpful: LTR Visa Thailand - Contact (boi.go.th)

F Groenen, thank you for your experience. Further specific questions for you 1.How did you forward your application to BOI, by physical paperwork taken to BOI office or by an online application emailed to BOI? 2.When did you pay the 50,000 THB: to BOI when applying or at Immigration after BOI approval? 3.After taking BOI approval to Immigration, what month did Immigration make your new LTR visa effective/start, at time/month of you going to Immigration, or at month when your then current visa (retirement or whatever) was due to expire?

Thank you for this helpful information about Fees. Other posters have commented on the expected ease of reporting /renewal & that also helped answer my questions of the visa's value to me. I was especially interested in total 10 Yr Fees required, and your input about currently No 5 Yr renewal Fee and No Fee at the annual reporting rqmt clarified that. So, 50,000 THB/10 Yr=5,000/Yr. However, it is even less when considering I currently pay 1,900 THB/Yr. The net cost to me would be 3,200 THB/Yr, with my primary benefit being only reporting once per year (with potentially priority service). It's beginning to look not so bad. However, you calculated that it cost you 10,000/Yr. Why is that? I am guessing that perhaps you paid a Visa service 50,000 THB to assist you with the application. Is that correct?

Ya, I'm converging on the same conclusion. But playing devil's advocate to get all potential unknowns answered.

Thanks, I'm sure there is a lot of helpful information in those 57 pages, and hopefully I will find the time to read all 57 pages (wherever the thread is). But I was hoping for reportable first hand experience on two specific questions. Thanks again.

I qualify for Subject 10 Yr LTR Visa, which has a 50K Baht up front Application Fee. The LTR visa is annually renewable, for an additional Annual Renewal Fee, of course. Currently I pay 1,900 Baht per year to renew my normal retirement visa. My guess is that the LTR annual renewal fee will also be 1,900 Baht. Request anyone with experience of the LTR Process & Renewal Fee to please share. I currently use my monthly pensions (not 800K tied up in a bank) to annually qualify for the normal retirement visa, and the bank/paperwork process is straight forward. Therefore, I am not sure if the annual LTR renewal process would be much less of a headache or not. Perhaps with the LTR visa there would be less chance of getting caught up in a lengthy que. Anyone with experience on the LTR Renewal Process itself, please share. Airport fast track service and exemption from re-entry permits is no real benefit for me. Perhaps my only real benefit of the LTR visa would be an annual reduction of three 90 day reports (from 4 to 1, I assume done at the same time as annually renewing the LTR visa). 50K Baht for that seems a bit expensive.

Out in the middle of nowhere and they make you make a trip just to schedule when to come back again. That doesn't seem very user friendly does it. Well, perhaps the scheduled appointment eliminates a lot of otherwise long que waiting.

The game: \ Round 1: She is just establishing herself (temporarily) that "She is Different". Round 2: This "nice girl" needs money for something or other.

Out of Curiosity--What might be the USG claimed rationale for that dichotomy?

This Sukhothai naval disaster should be a nail in the coffin of Chinese Submarines. But it doesn't seem to be ringing such alarms. As yet, I am unaware of any officials in a position to do so addressing the Chinese Submarine issues with respect to the extremely high life cycle costs of an undersea vessel (Safety, Logistics, Operational Effectiveness). Plus, even such a Cost and Operational Effectiveness Analysis does not address the Strategic Military and Foreign Policy implications of being susceptible to CCP blackmail and CCP personnel stationed on Thai soil.

Jomtien Palm Beach on Jomtien Beach Road near Tappraya, beach front. jomtien palm beach hotel - Google Search Jomtien Palm Beach Hotel & Resort - Google Maps

Plus Samut Prakan & Nonthaburi could (perhaps should) be included in the Bangkok metropolitan area.

Received today from FBU Manila (quote): Thank you for contacting the Social Security Administration's Federal Benefits Unit at the U.S. Embassy in Manila. ***********We understand that you have received the reporting form SSA-7162 / SSA-7161. To avoid the suspension of your benefits, please complete the form as soon as possible and mail it back to Wilkes-Barre, PA using the enclosed business reply envelope. We recommend using regular postal mail, as registered mail and some courier services may be unable to deliver to a P.O. box. It is not necessary to send a copy of the form to the Federal Benefits Unit in Manila. To ensure that your benefits continue without interruption, please do not submit the completed form to the Federal Benefits Unit in Manila or to a U.S. Embassy/Consulate.

It would be hard to make up a more ridiculous statement, unless he used the old tried & true statement that he tried to stop but his brakes failed & he had to keep going.

Again, thank you all for the very helpful input.

OK, I'll ditch the coat & tie and wear tank top & speedo. Just kidding, thanks for your input. But, I'll try it at least once to see how it works out. Again, unless I get further helpful input concerning crowded MRT times, I will assume the crowds are rush hour times weekdays before 0930 & then again probably 1600-1830.