turgid

22 hours ago, internationalism said:

you can take travel insurance in the uk from june to september (about 3 months) or allow to laps your non O (don't do re-entry permit) and enter on shorter travel insurance 

He's non resident in the UK - I doubt he can buy UK travel insurance - (I couldn't).  They might not check his residency  but  if he did it wouldn't cover him for anything (I understand sometimes we just buy paper).   

On 10/29/2021 at 7:45 PM, CRUNCHER said:

As far as I can see most of the websites that offered US$ 100,000 Covid insurance have not been updated.  They are probably waiting for a bit of clarity along with many of us.

There is quite a big mass market here. I suspect in a week or so they will all be scrabbling for business. 

I've just checked with the company I used in July 2020 in enter Thailand.

A  6 month policy $100K policy cost me 12,200 Baht.

Today a 6 Month $100K policy is magically 23,000 Baht!  1 year is 43,000 Baht.

What's the betting when they adjust it to a $50K policy they "reduce" it back 13,000 Baht again?   

Sorry to ask a question again that has probably been asked multiple times but I did do a search and I cant seem to find a specific answer to  this.

I seem to remember that last year the ageing requirement to qualify for an OA extension was a minimum of  800K in the account. 90  days before expiry  and 60 days  after the previous extension date - so 5 months  in all.

To prove this last year I presented a 12 month statement  and certificate of balance.   Nobody read either. 

Has that changed again in the last 12 months ?      

Looking here (item 22) it only mentions 90 days before.   I'm OK either way but because of Covid I have to book an appointment with the bank to get the certificates done and  Kbank seems antsy this year  about producing 1 year statements wheras 90 days no problem 

https://www.immigration.go.th/en/?p=14714

Depending on where you live a 3 pin cable on the Amp might not help. While investigating speaker hums I discovered the earth or ground pin in the 3 pin sockets in my condo studio/office/spare bedroom isnt connected to anything. There is ground on the distribution panel but the wiring is  extended with two core cable.  The new fridge has a 2 pin cable and an earth/ground screw on the back metal plate which has probably never been used on any fridge in Thailand. Its a wonder to me that more people dont get electrocuted when you have ceramic tiles, floods, 220volts.  The modern trip switches seem pretty reliable though.

If you end up playing in clubs,pubs,bars or any kind of bigger commercial building get a radio mike. If you get between two phases of a 3 phase power supply that stuff will kill you.

The Covid cover required seems to have dropped from $100K to $50K in the most recent announcements.

However it looks like the post covid insurance is being steered towards a compulsory $100K of medical insurance for everyone ( which presumably wiil include Covid)  entering Thailand by plane.

Thanks. I cant use it but it seems the smart thing to do if you plan to travel is to travel just before your visa/extension  expires . 

If I travel this December 1st i'll have to buy Covid cover for 12 months at something like 22K for the year.

If i travel next October 1st I'd only have to pay for for a couple of weeks.

Hi can i ask what the current insurance requirements are for a 1 year extension ?

My current Visa extension expires 15 Nov 2021 and i need to do a 1 year extension.

I use the 800K in the bank method.

Last year the additional requirement was an annual  health insurance policy which i purchased  (LMG)  at 7000 THB.

I went back to the UK in December  2020 to get my father into a care home and got stuck there until I could get vaccinated. To  get a COE for my return to Thailand on 10 Jul 2021   I had to buy compulsory Covid US$100K cover until 15 November Visa expiry date  which was 13,000 Baht for 6 months.

LMG sent me a renewal at 8000 Baht but dont offer the covid cover. Do I need both for an OA visa ?

I will need to visit the UK again for family reasons a couple of times in the next 12 months.

Do I still need both kinds of cover?

Is anyone offering both in a combined policy that is acceptable for both Visa and entering the country purposes ?   

On 10/20/2020 at 5:54 PM, OJAS said:

So presumably as an original OA visa holder you have subscribed to a TGIA-approved health insurance policy? If so, you might wish to check the terms and conditions of your policy to see whether these include a minimum residency requirement since an extended stay in the UK might have ramifications for the policy's validity. My Pacific Cross policy, for example, stipulates that I must reside in Thailand for at least 6 months in a 12-month period.

 

Last years Retirement extension was just after the health insurance policy change. I didn't  know I needed Insurance last year, they didn't ask for it and they  extended my  Visa  without it.  I think the 6 month thing is the smallest part of the problem. Maybe it will show up on the immigration computer but i doubt it.   It would invalidate a claim but I don't intend to claim.   I'm currently out for a quote from LMG to enable me to do this years extension but have noticed that LMG will not offer Covid cover to over 60 years old. Which means i can get an Insurance  policy to extend my visa but can not travel back into the Thailand  with it.           Whether I can "top up" later with a third party Covid only policy seems to be a subject for debate also.  I think I gave up after page 17 of the thread on that subject.  I see both of these insurance  policies as a travel tax.  I don't feel inclined to pay 60K for Covid cover now if I may never  be able to use  that insurance document to come back but if I have to take a whole new policy later the six month problem goes away anyway. Catch 22 squared right now.

What I dont understand is why Immigration and the Banks dont talk to each other. It's a chargeable revenue earning service for the banks. The Bank check the records and  issue the documents for a fee. The Bank get a big wad of long term cash in the accounts.  Immigration get the exact paperwork they need. Customers get a simple process.  After a fight last year I called the Kasikorn Bank help desk and suggested they had one branch that  understood the requirement and offered a template service for a fee near each immigration office. They could not comprehend why it was a good idea. I have a million baht in an account, pay 250 Baht a year for an ATM card and still have an annual fight to get a printed statement in a format acceptable to immigration that I also have to pay for.

Thanks for the constructive and useful responses. It looks like I can't currently come back if I go but here are the extra questions answered.

Original Visa type was 1 Year Non-OA applied for on basis of retirement.

I've extended 6 times.

I rent property on one year contracts.

Not married to Thai wife or any Thai dependents.

I hold 800K Baht year round to qualify.

I can stay in the UK for a long time if forced to and pay nearly all my bills electronically. Have a good long term relationship with my property owner, she'll be happy to get paid in the current market,  but there will be practical issues like car tax renewal etc. 

I am in Thailand. My retirement extension renewal is earliest 1st November 2020.  After renewal I want to travel to the UK this year  and see my sick Father before he dies.  The UK  lockdown rules are changing on a daily basis but if I decide to take that risk what is the current return process for a valid retirement extension holder?  I assume I will need to budget for test and quarantine which I am OK with although i'd like to choose where. 

Has any retirement extension holder done this recently? 

Anyone know if you can get this anywhere in Thailand, and if so over the counter or prescription only?

I've tried the regular pharmacies but none of them have heard of it.

I can order from overseas but don't want to do so without knowing the legal position here.

For those with a certain genetic marker, which I have, its the suggested way to take folic acid because its apparently easy to absorb.

As with all supplements  It's difficult to separate the mountains of marketing wuwu BS from the facts but there do seem to be very positive results in some people.

The problem is when people are making money doing it the "wrong" way nobody making money wants to allow the "right way" anymore. The point of the regulation was to make sure people had the funds to support themselves in Thailand. If 25K is being split between an IO and an Agent and the rest of us cant get processed without bribing someone the system is going backwards. A friend went to do a "free" 90 day reporting in Imperial  Lad Prao recently and it quickly became clear that the only possible way through the chaotic 2 floors of a car park system was to pay an agent. There was a 100 person line for the queue ticket to get in the actual queue. It didnt move. "Kind" people touted us and suggested a lady downstairs could get it done same day for 150 Baht.

The Laos Beer IPA is now on sale in 7-11 in Bangkok. I drive to Laos twice a year . Its easy to do the second time, they went all over the car details the first time.  Unless you have other reasons to go i'm not sure why you'd do it just for beer. The visa fee, plus full page out of passport,  plus car fee will take care of any profit. If you do go there are plenty of beer shops. I've never brought more than a case back but never been searched either. Most border locals seem to move bulky stuff by boat because its cheaper and perhaps more "tax flexible".

Last year I arranged to send the TM30 details to my owner and she would submit. After returning from a local hotel in January 2020 I decided to visit Samut Prakan  just to make sure the reporting was OK. Turned out they still had me living in a hotel in Hua Hin from 8 months ago. I've done an annual  visa extension and a 90 day report since then and got fined for being 6 days late on a 90 day report.  They still blamed us.  

Apparently the owners daughter had not been pressing the send button or something,  had me on a 3 year visa as a "colonial british" code. After Immigration shouted at me a bit and called the owner who told them i definitely was living in the condo I think we've solved it. 

They did tell me as a retirement visa holder I do not have to TM30 report after local hotel stays - only after overseas trips. Again this is Samut Prakan - your mileage may differ. They did suggest I reported personally after an overseas trip. 

To make it easy I'm going to send her the completed spreadsheet. However we're still confused on the dates. The dates on the TM30 xls sheet 1 template  is

Date of Birth: (Obvious)

Date of issue:   (Passport, TM6 or Visa?)

Expire Date:   (Passport, or Visa/Extension?)

Checkout date:  - (Is this really  Checkin date ?) 

I have looked at the example page - but the example layout is clearly different from the actual template and i suspect hasn't been updated.

Sorry if these questions seem dumb to experienced users  but i have tried the Thai translation and read the forums  and we still aren't 100% sure. 

Did my retirement extension this week at Samut Prakan

SP Immigration  provided and I completed 3 Forms

1: TM7

2: Statement that i understand visa restrictions and penalties

3:Statement that i understand overstay restrictions and penalties

I provided usual  copies of relevant front, visa, TM6  passport pages.

I provided with signed copies

1: Bank Certified 90 day statement showing 90 days transactions and balance over 800K Baht,

2: Bank letter of account certification showing todays balance

They did not look at or want either of these and immediately returned them to me. 200 Baht and 45 minutes in the bank wasted ????

I provided with signed copies

1: Updated Bank book  

They did not want my copies of my bank book. They took my bank book and scanned the front and last updated pages. They immediately printed these two pages and asked me to sign them. 

My bank doesn't show individual transactions in the bank book. The most recent two entries are 

Nov 2018 - 900K Baht

Nov 2019 - 1.1M Baht. 

The bank book alone doesn't prove the 800K or 400K in between those two transactions.

I am wondering if the scan is to now or  in the near future link my bank account to immigration so they can demand the data from the banks. I did ask 3 different people what proof i would need to provide that i was meeting the 400/800 K limits. The only sensible answer i got was bring your updated Bank Book each time you visit.  

Unusually simple visit - confused how they meet they 800/400K requirement.

There is no god.  

However i think a pretty strong case can be made the believing in god has worked from an evolutionary point of view which is probably why it's still around. It may still be working since the religious still tend to breed and survive at a much higher rate that non believers.

I'm out of touch. What is a "drinks" party.

Obviously its in the name but is there something specific about them in terms of organisation or structure?  Are they sponsored by beer companies or something?

On 10/4/2019 at 3:09 PM, roo4 said:

Also, be aware that Samut Prakan Immigration insists that the 800,000 baht be lodged in the bank for 3 (three) months before applying for a retirement extension for the second year and all subsequent years.

Officials there only accept the 800k on deposit for 2 months in the case of FIRST TIME applicants.

I had personal experience of this anomaly, to my cost, in May this year.

Can i ask what the solution was? Did you have to reapply or did they let it slide "this time"?

I was 10 day days late this week  on 90 Day reporting.

2000 Baht fine,  stamp in passport.    

Samut Prakan.

Due to a family health issue I need to schedule travel over my retirement visa extension renewal date. Assume a current renewal of 7th November.

Currently plan on using 800K method.

Had over 800K funds with KBank on  deposit since 8 Aug 2019 

I do my extension at Samut Prakan Immigration. I have a one year extension to retirement visa and multiple re-entry permit.

Been staying in the same place for 3 years and as far as know meeting the TM30 reporting reqs for the last 9 months.

.Based on current understanding how early can I go for extension visa renewal?       

.How late can i go for extension visa renewal ? 

.If I return in the  late "window" is there any problem with re-entering the country with an expired visa, expired reentry permit?

.What is the current required  documentation to confirm account funding before ?

.What is the required  documentation to confirm account funding after  ?    

Lots of questions but perhaps helpful to many if they can all be answered in one place for one office. I've tried to hit all the search phrases ????

I'll update this post with my actual experience but it will help me a lot if anyone  knows for Samut Prakhan  today.

Thanks

Select

Passport Country

Age

Visa Type 

Visa expiry date

That could be run overnight on the immigration database and you'd have the list tomorrow in an excel spreadsheet you could filter by . It wont include illegals of course.

Discovered that along with Living DNA that both Family Tree and My Heritage will ship DNA testing kits to Thailand . 

If you want to do named ancestor research do an Autosomal DNA test typically $80++ and  pick the company with the biggest database.  Even then the chances are the relative you are trying to connect with won't be in the DNA database or will be in another database. Don't believe the marketing. .