In Need Of Some Serious Advice

[FaFaHead]

Hello all,

 

We arrived here in Doi Saket on 11/7/18 to our wonderful home thanks to my landlord David and his lovely wife Rutty. These two took care of everything for us before and especially after our arrival. Out to eat, shopping, visa, phones, banking, EVERYTHING! I don’t know where we would be or what we would have done without them. We have made some very special, lifelong friends in them. So fortunate to have them in our lives. We don’t know any other people like them and what they have done for us is something we will never forget. Hopefully we can reciprocate many times over in the future

 

Having said all all of that, since April, I have been planning, researching and getting all the necessary components together for this move to Chiang Mai. I am retired and my wife will be associated with a private school. Everything is onward and upward as they say. 

 

Prior to leaving, I called Social Security in early September and made two changes to my account. I asked the woman to change the account that my Direct Deposit was going into (checking) to a savings account that I created just for SS. She assured me that this would in no way affect any changes to my Direct Deposit and to expect it to appear in the new savings account in November...which should have been the day before Thanksgiving. You see where i’m going with this I know. I also asked the same woman to stop taking out the Medicare as I didn’t know how long I was going to be here and I would realize some added monies every month as a result. We discussed the penalty to get it back if I ever wanted to if I returned to the states, etc. Again, said it wouldn’t affect a change in Direct Deposit and to expect that to effective in, you guessed it, NOVEMBER!

 

Needless to say, because of the time difference and the fact that it’s Sunday over there, no reply from SSA in the states to my email begging them to fix this. Same with Manila. The Consulate isn’t open until tomorrow here in Chiang Mai and their site says all SS problems...contact Manila. 

 

To make matters worse, after getting the DNS issue fixed here at the house and I could finally load the SSA website, where I have a Thai phone number now, I can’t access “MY SOCIAL SECURITY” page because they want to send the access code to the old number I had in the states. To give them the one I have over here, they want to snail mail me a form to my stateside address!

 

I’ve got little BHt left and am getting a little concerned. You guys have been here a lot longer than me and know the ins and outs to this place, so any suggestions?

 

Thanks for taking the time to read my tale of woe and any suggestions would be appreciated. 

 

Robert

[donnacha]

54 minutes ago, FaFaHead said:

To give them the one I have over here, they want to snail mail me a form to my stateside address!

If it is an official form, it should be available online. That would save you the trouble of having it forwarded to you from the States. You would still have to mail the completed form back to them.

It sounds as if you no longer have your old number but, if you do, you should be able to transfer it to an online phone service, such as Google Voice or Sipgate, and have all the text and voice messages forwarded to your email.

[moontang]

Did the world's best landlords take care of your TM30?

[Lacessit]

Take an anti-histamine and get a good night's sleep. Camp out on the doors of your Consulate tomorrow morning. Provided you have some proof of funds and bona fides, you should be able to get emergency funds to tide you over until the problem is sorted.

[orang37]

My understanding is that there is only one way, in Thailand, to receive US SS payments: through a direct deposit account in Bangkok Bank (main branch, in Bangkok). The incoming funds will be converted into baht.

 

I, and other people, have been able to set up this account here in Chiang Mai ... just a bunch of paperwork.

 

FAIK: you must go in person to any Bangkok Bank branch to withdraw, or transfer, funds from the direct deposit account, and you must show passport: I have been hassled, once, when I had only a copy of the passport.

 

If any of what I describe has changed: I'd like to know.

 

good luck, ~o:37;

[Jeffkp]

40 minutes ago, orang37 said:

My understanding is that there is only one way, in Thailand, to receive US SS payments: through a direct deposit account in Bangkok Bank (main branch, in Bangkok). The incoming funds will be converted into baht.

 

I, and other people, have been able to set up this account here in Chiang Mai ... just a bunch of paperwork.

 

FAIK: you must go in person to any Bangkok Bank branch to withdraw, or transfer, funds from the direct deposit account, and you must show passport: I have been hassled, once, when I had only a copy of the passport.

 

If any of what I describe has changed: I'd like to know.

 

good luck, ~o:37;

Not true. I have my SS payments deposited in my Bangkok Bank Account and can withdraw them from any  ATM or transfer to another account.

[CharlieH]

Reported posts removed,

 

If you have nothing helpful to add, please move on, there is no need for useless snide remarks. 

Thank you.

[canthai55]

Don't know if this will help U as I am from Canada and USA regs may differ ...

I set up a transfer, in person, in Canada, with my bank. Open ended. All I need to do is to send them a fax, detailing what I want them to do i.e. transfer $$$ from my Canada bank to BKK bank here in Doi Saket.

Fax it to them, they need to fone me and verify that I am who I say I am and that I did send the fax. I fax the day before, they fone at 1600 local which is 0600 Thai time.

As I deal with the assistant manager, who I have known for the last few years, it works without a hitch.

[orang37]

57 minutes ago, Jeffkp said:

Not true. I have my SS payments deposited in my Bangkok Bank Account and can withdraw them from any  ATM or transfer to another account.

 

Well, that's interesting: the only expat I know that can do this has his SS payments deposited to a regular account in a Bangkok Bank branch in New York; then, he can use the funds as you describe. For the rest of us, whose payments come through the Manila SS office: I believe we are still constrained in the ways I have described.

 

So, please share a few more details of how you set your payment up.

 

cheers, ~o:37'

[Jeffkp]

2 minutes ago, orang37 said:

 

Well, that's interesting: the only expat I know that can do this has his SS payments deposited to a regular account in a Bangkok Bank branch in New York; then, he can use the funds as you describe. For the rest of us, whose payments come through the Manila SS office: I believe we are still constrained in the ways I have described.

 

So, please share a few more details of how you set your payment up.

 

cheers, ~o:37'

I applied for SS payments via their website and followed the instructions. Did nothing special or out of the ordinary. I did that from Thailand.

 

When did you set your up and why Manila?

[amexpat]

1 hour ago, Jeffkp said:

Not true. I have my SS payments deposited in my Bangkok Bank Account and can withdraw them from any  ATM or transfer to another account.

PM sent 

[NancyL]

13 hours ago, Jeffkp said:

I applied for SS payments via their website and followed the instructions. Did nothing special or out of the ordinary. I did that from Thailand.

 

When did you set your up and why Manila?

Bangkok Bank will soon realize that you're receiving SS payments into the account and put a stop to these deposits.  It's their rule, not Social Security's that the deposits have to go into a special account that doesn't have internet or ATM access and that the account owner has to come to a branch bank each month in person with their passport to make a withdrawal.

[silverhawk_usa]

I would also think twice about cancelling your medicare. Although it is useless here, you don't mention having any type of Thai coverage.  I always think of the U.S. medicare as being there if I had major problem and preferred to go back to the U.S. for treatment. I don't know how long it would take to reinstate your medicare before it could be used. At least for me, I feel better taking a little less in my SS check knowing I do have medical insurance in the U.S..

[amexpat]

1 hour ago, silverhawk_usa said:

I feel better taking a little less in my SS check knowing I do have medical insurance in the U.S..

You know about Part A and Part B, right? 

[Dick Crank]

Ask your new hosts to do it for you, just a thought.

Edited November 27, 2018 by Dick Crank

[FaFaHead]

2 hours ago, amexpat said:

You know about Part A and Part B, right? 

Yes. 

[FaFaHead]

18 hours ago, FaFaHead said:

Yes. 

Problem solved. After setting up IDD I was able to contact my Congressman in Boston and after explaining the situation they got in touch with SS and were able to ascertain that yes, the woman I spoke to about changing the DD from my checking account to the separate savings account I created at Bank of America dropped the ball. Same thing with Medicare deduction. 

 

Email today tells me to expect a DD by tomorrow into the requested savings account reflecting Medicare changes. 

 

I hope she at at least is reprimanded. She has no idea the stress she has been responsible for on the other side of the <deleted> world. 

[metisdead]

An unhelpful troll post has been removed.