DogNo1

I installed Edge for Android but find that it does not pick up all of the Google features so I've gone back to Chrome.

In the USA, folks with a little bit of money can buy into a retirement home that will not kick them out.  Medicare or Medicaid then pays for their medical care.  Thailand seems to be transitioning from family care of elders to children who don't want to assume that responsibility.  It's time for the government to respond by setting up retirement homes for the indigent.

So he can come in on a visa waiver, convert to a 90-day non-O within fifteen days of the expiration of the visa waiver, then within the last 30 days of the Non-O, get a one year extension based on being a member of your family.  As Joe says, if you must leave the country for any reason, he could switch to an extension based on retirement.  The only "gotcha" here is to be sure to have the financial requirement satisfied two months before he would apply for his own extension. Joe's advice always points out the simplest and most effective method.  Note that there is no financial requirement if you do it as Joe advises.

I have regularly been getting refunds from Amazon to my credit card from what I assume is a reassessment of the value of items received.

Do you work for Bumrungrad?   Anecdotal evidence is not equal to a statistical ranking but it is not unimportant.  I patronized Bumrungrad for twelve years and had both good experiences and bad.  They were all quite expensive.  I have switched to St. Louis.  The staff are not as well-trained and sophisticated but they are not proud.  If you complain about things, they will try to fix it.  Mistakes can happen.  I had a similar experience to that of another poster at McCormack Hospital in Chiang Mai.  I went in with a broken collar bone from a motorcycle accident.  A doctor bandaged the shoulder, put my arm in a sling and sent me home.  The result was a non-union.  I had to pay a specialist from another hospital to splice a piece of bone from my hip into the collar bone.  I still have the plate and screws in my collar bone.

In Thailand you must be alert for medical mistakes.  I've suffered quite a few.  At St. Louis, you can have a procedure redone and still pay less than at Bumrungrad.  If you are well enough to choose, it is good to select a doctor recommended by Sherl.  If it's an emergency, you have to take who you get.

Judging from the posts on this thread, there seems to be a new bug going around.  I first tried treating my lung infection with amoxicillin but it was ineffective.  I seem to get a bad infection here each year.  A lot of people were coughing over at Central and I expect that I picked up the cold that started it over there.  I hope that the bugs don't outstrip the effectiveness of the available antibiotics.  I buy my food at Central and it's conceivable that someone may have coughed on something that I later ate.   It's scary how far a cough or sneeze can carry germs and even wearing a mask doesn't guarantee protection.  In Japan, many food handlers now wear masks, as do many ordinary citizens.

Thanks for the warning about Avelox.  I certainly don't want a torn ligament or tendon.  I'll try Aizithromycin the next time I need an antibiotic.

Just curious - did you do anything special to get the torn ligament?

If you read the enclosure in the Avelox box, it claims to be more effective than Aizithromycin.  It's also more expensive and made by Bayer.

I think that our hotel air conditioners probably have mold, mildew and fungi lurking in their dark recesses.  I have my air filters changed frequently but they are not HEPA filters.  I've never seen anyone crawl into the spaces where the cool air emanates from and clean them.  To kill the mold and mildew, I spray my rooms thoroughly with isopropyl alcohol every night.  I wish my bedroom didn't have a carpet!  When I get a persistent cough, I don't take an antibiotic until the mucus turns yellow.  When it does, I take a ten-day course of Avelox.  I usually feel better in three days but I take the full ten-day course.  At my advanced age, I don't want to risk pneumonia.  It doesn't seem possible to escape allergens unless you live in a clean room like Howard Hughes did.

Go Carlos!

OP: Feel free to not reply but I'm curious about the identity of your illness????

Assuming that the predictions of disasters due to global warming are true, we are confronted with the negative effect that various greening steps will have on the world economy and how the public will react to them.  It seems likely that severe governmental control would be necessary to institute the changes required and that this would result in political chaos.

FYI, the wire transfer desk at Fidelity is open 24 hours a day.  If you have a cash management account with Fidelity and a standing wire transfer order on file, you can transfer your money to Bangkok Bank for free.  Depending on how much you wire, BKK Bank will charge you a few hundred baht.  For my monthly transfers of $2,300, I am charged 200 baht.  Every transfer is recorded as FTT.

What company is your policy with, Sheryl?  Three years ago, I fell getting off of a motorcycle taxi and split open the skin on my elbow.  The total care, including stitches cost me 15,000.  The 20,000 would have covered me and so I'd like to buy a policy now.  The coverage from BKK Bank, as I remember, wasn't adequate so I didn't buy it.  20,000 seems adequate for cuts and scrapes but not, of course, for broken bones.

There are two "T" sounds in Thai: one is aspirated but not voiced (Thahan) and one voiced but not aspirated (Taw.)  The unaspirated "T" sound is formed by the tip of the tongue on the alveolar ridge just above the teeth.  There is a voiced "D" sound in Thai which is formed by the flattened tongue on the alveolar ridge (Dek.)  The Thai character for each is different.

A friend at Central Chidlom says that their sales for turkey dinners are down more than 50% this year and so is restaurant traffic.  He speculates that the strong baht and immigration policies are having a negative impact.  

I carry a copy of my passport always.  Most times the copy is accepted.  You can be asked for your passport at any time so many of us long-term residents always have a copy available.  There has been a ton of discussions on TV about always carrying your passport or a copy.  My passport resides in my safe until the original is specifically required.

In Japan, handouts are distributed describing which trash goes into which classification.  If the trash is not properly segregated, it is not taken away.  I pay a cleaning lady to segregate and dispose of the trash for me because I find it a bothersome chore.  Japan is very strict about this.  Disposing of large items is costly.  An old refrigerator could cost $60 - $80 to have taken away.

Thanks, Joe!

I have no unused re-entry permit on my present permission to stay which expires on May 13th.  I plan to renew my permission to stay in April, purchase a multiple re-entry permit and then leave the country before May 13th.  Will I need to purchase two re-entry permits - one for my current permission to stay and one for after May 13th or will one multiple cover the entire time up until the expiration of my renewed permission to stay?

I suggest that you do the following:

1.  Open a savings account at Bangkok Bank.

2.  Open an account with Fidelity.  Be sure to also open a cash management account.  Put your money in the Fidelity account

3.  Complete and sign a standing wire transfer order to your Bangkok Bank account.  You MUST sign it in America. It is impossible to do outside of the country.

4.  Come to Thailand and telephone Fidelity to wire your money to Bangkok Bank for free at the day's posted exchange rate.  Bangkok will automatically convert your dollars to baht for a modest charge -a couple of hundred baht.

5.  Make all future transfers to Bangkok Bank for free.  The wired funds will always be posted as FTT in your bank book so you won't need to prove that they come from abroad.

It's a little trouble to set up but after that your wire transfers will be free.

Best to follow Ubonjoe's advice.  The O-A Visa is now a bag of worms.  All of my European friends are now entering on non-O visas.  These appear to be the least problematic in the future and, as Ubonjoe points out, can be extended with 1 or 2 months of transfers to a Thai bank from a foreign source.  Don't use the cheapie transfers but one that will assure that you get the "FTT" transfer code in your bankbook. Perhaps it would be wise to take a copy of the relevant Police order with you toimmigration.

For cost/value, you really can't beat the Amazon Fire TV 4k stick.  Sometimes is can be bought for under $40.00.  It has a ton of programs pre-installed and you can install a VPN with no problems.   It always works reliably and, best of all, Alexa is built into the remote control so after original of your Amazon account and your VPN, you can just speak most commands.  I have two of them and occasionally have to disconnect the VPN, renew my internet connection then reconnect but then everything works well.  The stick connects to an HDMI port and must be powered by micro USB.  Highly recommended!

Many thanks for the detailed explanations.  I will relay the information to my friend.  He was unaware that the multi-entry non-O Visa ceased to be available in June.  There appear to be many other good options available to him.  I will suggest the local extension of stay to the three-month non-O since he apparently has the 800,000 in a Thai bank.

Right.  I'm also confused by his saying that he has money in a Thai bank.  His non-O visa expires in January before the date of his pre-purchased, non-refundable flight back to Bangkok.  He wants to get a ME visa for the purpose of retirement from the embassy in London before his return flight later in January.  He assumes that the visa will be good for one year and that he can make multiple trips to Thailand during that time. Is such a visa available?  If it is, I presume that his proof of income can come from a bank in the UK.  Is that correct?