GinBoy2

So on the Thai medical insurance thing Going back to the fact it's a real insurance thing. Probably 15-20 years ago my wife had a ruptured fallopian tube which ended up with sepsis. had to go through emergency surgery to save her life. The outcome was Cigna added a rider to our policy excluding any gyno issues. So don't have any heart, prostate, or anything else, because soon as you do thats going to be excluded

I think you're creating a justification for why you won't go home. Nobody in their right mind thinks that you can drop into any insurance scheme right when they need it. Oops had a car crash, better sign up for insurance. Not how it works. As for the deductible stuff, did you actually read what I posted about my plan? I have no deductible. If I get sick they pay from the first $. Medicare may not be perfect but add Advantage and it's a hell of a lot better than you'll get in Thailand, especially as you age. Medical insurance in Thailand is a real insurance market. It rackets up based on your age to a point where you can't afford it or they just won't insure you A lot of folks talk about the low cost of medical care in Thailand. Well that depends. If you want something similar to what you would expect in the West, it's gonna cost

Well you live overseas away from your home country income source and you live with it. Not a lot you can do but tighten your belt when things get tough, then splurge when things get good

Yeah I git the same email. I don't take anything exotic but my Part t D costs are zero

So outside of the sexpat havens, Bangkok, Pattaya and Puket, if you were blindfolded and dropped into any Thai city you'd be hard pressed to know where you were. For the most part Thai cities have no distinguishable features and all look pretty much the same. Out in the sticks, same thing. The local town is the same surrounded by small farms, and again dropped in blindfolded you could be anywhere

I totally agree. Ever looked around at the abundance of beer bellied, balding, chang wife beater wearing farang men in Thailand? A lot of these guys need to have a good hard look in the mirror before casting judgment

When moved our cat back to the US, I caved and paid an agent to handle it, I couldn't be dealing with it all Curiously the paperwork and procedure to export her was a lot more complicated than the import into the US! Which in many ways doesn't/didn't surprise me

Well pretty much I guess. I do part time retired work, she's the one that earns the real money from DoD on the local base I earn the pocket money and the flight benefits

I kinda am in that 'normal' world. My wife wasn't a hooker, we worked together in Singapore so I guess you'd count us as a normal couple. Been together 25+ years kids all that good stuff so we're solid But it's naive to believe that a good percentage of Thai/Farang relationships aren't based on bargirl/sex/money/old/young it's just reality. You can try to spin it as best you can but thats reality

Well set aside the old guy young woman dynamic thats just a money thing. Apart from that there is just an attraction thing Walk down any street in San Francisco and I'd bet 50% of the young couples holding hands are young white guy and some version of asian female Same thing when it comes to white females and black guys. Thats nature we all have certain things that attract us But Thailand, that really does have a different dynamic which I'm not sure is attraction but more money focused

She's pretty much right. Now I'm married to Thai woman, pretty much same age as me so lets get that off the table, Oh and we met at work in Singapore not in a bar! But lets get real, how many couples do you see slopping around the mall, a guy with a girl half his age and a couple of rugrats in tow? Maybe in Bangkok real expats (not old guys on retirement visa extensions) have real girlfriends but for the majority it's paid for sex Now is it 'sad'? Now that's up for debate. Probably both are in it for different reasons. The woman if half his age is in it for money and some security The guy, twice her age is in it for sex that he can't get at home with women his own age So if that transactional relationship works, go for it. Problem often happens when that transactional relationship go's back to the home country Thats when the ridicule starts!

Yeah you might be right there. Eligible and enrolled are two different things

Shift work is interesting. Back in the day, I worked the overnight shift. Got home at 6am, my wife went to work, I'd get the kids ready, breakfast and take them to school, then I'd head to bed. Can't say it was my favorite period of my life, but my girls grew up with Dad at hone with them, so it worked out and I lived to fight another day

Hmmm interesting question to ask. Unless you are in a 'transactional' relationship I think most couples would say, whatever it takes. Me and MrsG are similar ages, 50/60's so who knows what happens in the future, health risks increase exponentially as we get into middle and old age, unfortunately to say So in our blended family, Thai son, American daughters would sure as sh**t hold both our feet to the fire to take care of each other if, and we wouldn't, step up to care for one another. The kids are all in their 20/30's brother and sisters, aunts and uncle to the grandkids, so we're a pretty tight family. So the idea of any of us abandoning anyone is unthinkable, so I guess we are 'all in' Now if you're shacked up with a bar girl, she'll probably dump you after a bad cold, or an ATM 'insufficient funds'

EV's are kinda OK depending on where you live. Small dense countries, it kinda makes sense I guess distances are short. For me driving to see our kids in Denver is 360 miles, through basically Wyoming nothingness. Now I can do it on a tank of gas, and refueling takes me less than 5 minutes when I do reach civilization. Now if I run out of charge in said middle of nothingness, not sure that AAA can bring me a 'tank' of electricity to get me on my way. I never believed EV's are the long term future, much more inclined to believe Hydrogen fuel cells are the real green solution to climate change for transportation

Yes and No. What I did was I signed up for B in the three months ahead of my birthday., A happens automatically you don't have to do anything I'd been researching all the options for additional coverage so I knew who I was going with. I contacted Wellmark (or whoever you choose) to tell them I was enrolled in B, they do some online check with Medicare and within 10 mins I was signed up. I filed away my Medicare card and just carry the Wellmark card. After my initial confusion of the baffling array of options, the actual sign up was curiously rather easy. If you then go back to the Medicare website and look at your account it shows you are signed up with an outside provider

I feel so boring compared to some of you. I always wanted kids. I was a strange duck, only child born in the late 50's, of an either weirder only child mother born in 1930. Back then it was almost unheard of, and we are an Hispanic family, double weird. So, I ended up with three kids, daughter's from my first marriage and a son from my Thai marriage. Now all of them are in their 20's and 30's, so it's not like your 35 year old kid has to deal with 60+ Dad suddenly announcing he has had a baby! All my kids live in the US, eldest daughter and Thai son son live a few blocks away in Denver. Single Auntie is very useful for Daycare Now could I have taken on a woman with kids in tow? I'd like to think I would have raised above those animalistic feelings of rejection of someone else's offspring, but a lot of guys don't, especially if biological dad is around. Not a problem I ever had to deal with. Now my primary focus is the Grandkids, load them with sugar and games, then say to Mon and Dad... "All Yours Now"

Well thats a little bit alarmist. That why most people add Medigap or Advantage policies. I pay Part B and an additional $64/month for the gold plated Advantage. Gives me medical, dental, vision, medication(Part D) and hearing. The dental and vision coverage is actually better than I had at work My maximum out of pocket is $3800 So here are main points of my plan, make of it what you will. But those of you who make annual trips home something to thing about. I do the enhanced PPO for $64

So this is the telehealth option I was talking about. Might be great option to talk to your US Doctor via zoom for free

$500k was a typo, yes $50K so is a fix you up and get you home. I was just reading through my Advantage info book, something occurred to me My plan pays for Telehealth Virtual visits with zero copay. That might be much more usual for expats than it would be for me

Well you could be right there. But, ever tried to debate logically with a Thai wife? I'll put up with a King sized bed and exist in my 3ft space on the edge of the bed rather than engage in a full scale debate with my wife....I never win!

As we move through life things change. I've lived in Singapore, Taiwan, China, Thailand. All were great until they weren't. Not to say I hate any of them, but they ran their course, but I do have lingering fondness for Taiwan Thailand obviously still has a draw, still got our house there, but if I had to do it all again I'd probably try to move to Taipei

I would prefer that, but Mrs G is a bit old fashioned and she's pretty set that married folks sleep together. She doesn't realize what a nightmare she is to sleep with!

Well, I'm happily married to a Thai lady for over 25 years. I would certainly say we don't do it like the rabbit's we were back then, but we maintain a pretty decent sex life, but it changes, you need to accept that. Mrs G is a little, well a lot menopausal so hormones are all over the place. I'm just not quite the horn dog I was 10, 20 years ago. But strangely now when we do it it turns out more like a fine wine, I think I can live with that

I'm kinda insulted that I could be considered as being GG