DogNo1

RigPig:  I use Gmail on all of my machines and have had no problems sending attachments.  If the attachment is very large, Gmail will store it on Google Drive and send a link.   My suggestion is to download CCleaner from Piriform and use it to clean all of the Google caches and cookies.  Also install Malwarebytes.  Malware can really mess up your computer and it needs to be taken off.  If you buy the pro version of Malwarebytes, it will guard your computer from malware being installed in the first place.  I have fixed the computers of many friends and malware has usually been the problem, not the OS.  BTW, I don't think that Microsoft issues security patches for Windows 7 any more so using it can be risky.  For Windows 10, you don't need Antivirus software since the built-in Windows Defender is good and receives frequent updates.

Well, if it's any consolation to the British and Aussie TV members, disability and Medicare fraud is rampant in the US and runs to many billions of dollars each year.  There are scads of fraudsters around in the financial world too.  Just think of Bernie Madoff and the 65 billion that he stole.  Lots of wealthy elderly people lost everything they had because he was so well trusted.  He had been the chairman of NASDAQ at one time.  I've been scammed a couple times myself but didn't lose everything because of diversification of my assets.

Yes, it was a twelve-month extension.  I'm not sure what the area is called but you will be directed there when you pick up your queue number.  I suggest that you have all of your paperwork done before you go, including signed copies of all of the pages in your passport.    You can download the new versions of the application forms from Thaivisa.  Just Google something like "retirement extension" and you should be able to find a download link.  Take two copies of your passport pages if you plan to apply for your re-entry permit on the same day.  As soon as you receive your passport with the extension stamped in it, get a re-entry queue number and duck downstairs to get a copy of of the page where the new extension is stamped.

In past years, I went to CW between 9:00 and 10:00 AM and had to wait until 2:00 or so until I got my passport back.  I noticed that a lot of people holding queue numbers didn't show up after lunch so on the 31st, I went in at 12:45 and was first in the queue line when the doors opened and then got my passport back at 2:30.  You shouldn't have any trouble with transportation if you get to the taxi queue by around 3:00.  I don't have the patience to get both the extension and the re-entry permit on the same day so I get my re-entry permit on a different day or at the airport.  I like to leave CW before 3:30 to get back into town at a decent time.  Good luck getting your extension.

Americans can live anywhere and receive their pensions.  They must also pay US tax no matter where they live although there is a quite high foreign-earned income exclusion so only really high earners will need to pay tax on foreign-sourced income while they will need to pay regular taxes on US-sourced income.  Both foreign -sourced and US-sourced income are added together to come up with your gross income which determines your tax rate.

I was told at Chaeng Wattana that you don't need to be checked in for a flight to get a re-entry permit. The immigration officer could be mistaken, of course.  Before I go back out to Chaeng Wattana, I'd like make sure that I need to make the trip there.  Joe, could you please tell us whether it is possible to get the re-entry permit without being checked in for a flight?

Thanks, Tim.  My flight leaves at 6:05 from Suvarnabhumi and I now understand that I must get my re-entry permit before the day of my departure.  

I wasn't asked to fill out any forms revealing personal information.  I'm not sure what was on the forms that the officer filled out for me but I did notice that one form acknowledged that I understood the penalties for overstay.  The first officer did check the details of my application very carefully.  My thanks to Joe for recommending Acrobat DC which is easier to work with than Acrobat IX Pro.  Copy and Paste didn't work on the new re-entry form though.  I'm not sure why.  Anyway I've now got the documents saved on the Document Cloud so it will be easy to access them next year.

Regarding the posters who do their ninety-day reports in person- Why would you do that when preparing the forms at home to mail in takes a maximum of thirty minutes and the only trip you need to make is to your local post office?

Incidentally, I learned that you can obtain a re-entry permit at an airport at any time.  This is good for me since my departing flights leave at such an early hour.  

Ah, yes!  When people can choose whether to sign up, it's a cinch that the young and healthy will usually choose to be uninsured.  Someone has mentioned that some people pay the bill for some people who get health care for free.  That is the way that national health care works.  People who are wealthy pay more and the poor pay less.  People who are young and healthy pay their premiums while they may not need much medical care but when they get older and need treatment and medicine,  their care will be paid for by the younger and healthier people that they once were.  This is the way that it works for countries which have accepted universal health care and a single-payer system.  Not co-incidentally, these countries practice cost containment.  If you examine the statistics, you will find any number of countries that provide good care for a much lower percentage of their GDP.    That will not work in a country such as the USA where the sky is the limit on the price of pharmaceuticals and medical procedures.

A company has just come out with an injection that will drive cholesterol levels unbelievably low for the cost of about $14,000 per year.  Unfortunately, it only improves cardio-vascular outcomes by 15% over those who take regular cholesterol medication by mouth and one favorable outcome is not needing angioplasty and the installation of stents.  To my mind, having read the study, the benefit of the injection is only very optomistically 15%.   (I can point you to the article in the NYTwhere you can look at the figures of study.) The drug company is trying to market this injection while research shows that over 50% of Americans do not have adequate dental care.  Where do you think that the dollars should be put?

Unaffordable to whom?  The American health care system should be nationalized, cost controls initiated and financing accomplished through a single payer system.  So long as competition is expected to bring costs down, the system will fail.  People should pay for national health care in proportion to their income. Other countries have the correct and humane policies: sufficient taxation to ensure that all of their citizens are well taken care of.  In America, medical and dental care costs are ridiculous with epi-pens at $800 and cheaply-produced essential medicines at astronomical prices.  We need another Theodore Roosevelt now to cut the power of the rich and restore balance to the American economy.

It seems to me that the Thai Govt should come out with some clear rules regarding the length of time within a one-year period that visitors are allowed to stay on visa-exempt or tourist visa entries such as 180 or 240 days within a one-year period. For example, if you are entering and have already stayed for two 90 -day tourist visas (including the 30 day extension,) so that your total stay within the year will equal or exceed 240 days, you should be notified that you will not be allowed to re-enter for 125 days.  The numbers are messy though so it's easy to see why no coherent plan has been put forward.  Perhaps some new visas should be designed to accommodate shift workers who actually are long-term residents but come and go frequently.  As it stands, we are at the mercy of the personal interpretation of the immigration officers regarding the number of short-term visas and visa-exempts that are acceptable within any given period.

Many discussions about health insurance in Thailand for persons over seventy have, in the end, found self-insurance to be the best solution.  Regarding the national hospital option, Delight, exercising much patience in waiting for services at his hospital, does seem to have gotten a good deal with treatment for his eye cancer.  I paid ten times the amount that he paid for his eye care for 3 heart stents at Bumrungrad.   At the time I was working for good pay and was able to deduct 100% of the cost from my Japanese income tax so I didn't mind.  It's a much more generous deduction scheme than the one that applies to US taxes.

Wow!  The bitterness would seem to reside in the person who issues a threat.  Is intimidation a facet of Buddhism in Thailand?  It is the state religion and thus is very powerful.  That could, in the future, make the criticism of any member of the Buddhist hierarchy very dangerous.  I wonder if things will go that way.

Could you inform us a bit about your treatment experience and the charge that you paid for it? Specifically, what about the care causes you to rate it as excellent?  Were you treated with chemotherapy, radiation or some other treatment to kill the cancer?  Are you experiencing good follow-up care?

There is a post on ThaiVisa that warns that Thai immigration plans to become more stringent about requiring people to have a visa that matches their period of stay beginning in August.  You can search for it.  It gives the reasoning for the crackdown.  People who attempt to stay long-term in Thailand by using visa-exempt or tourist visa entries should take note of the warning.  In the future, immigration officers will be noting how long you actually stay in Thailand and whether your type of entry is appropriate.

Two Vietnamese monk friends who visited recently called the orange robed ones with poor manners "Fake Monks."  The Vietnamese monks whom I know are kind and gentle.  There must be Thai monks who are kind and gentle too but I haven't met any of them, not that I particularly want to.

The Tarai mawashi reason given in the article is just double-talk.  It isn't low-risk patients in the ambulances who are rejected,  it's the HIGH RISK patients who are rejected.  If a hospital believes that the patient's care will be problematic or long-term then the patient stands a high chance of being rejected.  If, however, a patient is already an outpatient at a particular hospital (eg. The University of Tokyo Hospital) then he/she is likely to be accepted.

Uhh.  Japan's health care insurance covers foreigners living in Japan on proper visas. Can't imagine that heppening in Thailand.

Thanks, Joe.  I will go on March 30th or 31st.

Thanks, Joe.  I use the retirement income option with an affidavit from the US Embassy.

I'm inclined to do the extension on a Tuesday near the end of March to avoid the heavy traffric on a Monday.

Sorry.  I forgot to mention that I am leaving for my stint in Tokyo early in May so I will need to do the extension before May 1st.

You have received correct information.  Good luck on getting your one-year extension and a multiple re-entry permit.  If, due to your work schedule, you are never in the country for ninety consecutive days you won't have to bother with 90-day reports.

My retirement extension expires on May 13th.  By my calculations, I could go to renew my extension beginning on March 25th.  Given that the month of April is full of holidays, I am thinking of going to Chaeng Wattana on March 27th or maybe the 28th to avoid the beginning of the week.  Does anybody see any better options?  

Holmesdale25:  You can get an extension for retirement (not a visa) if you are 50 or above and meet the income requirements.  Working abroad is not a disqualifier.  

The OP states that he once had a "Retirement Visa," therefore he can avoid the visa-exempt and tourist visa headaches and simply get a retirement extension with a multiple re-entry permit.  Nobody on this thread has reported any problems with different types of year-long extensions.  

Am I missing something here?   The writing has been on the wall for some time that the Thai authorities were going to crack down on short-term visa and visa-exempt use.  Why try to game the system and then be infuriated when it doesn't work? You seem to be qualified for a one-year period of stay based on retirement.  Why not get your one-year extension of stay and a multiple re-entry permit the next time you're in the country and avoid any further problems?  The Thai authorities seem to want people to have the correct visas and extensions to match their residency status.