2 minutes ago, david555 said:

When I ( and other ones..) went to do ret ext in jomtien they gave us a paper to come back at a given date few 3 months later to come and prove we still have 400 K baht on bank , (some claim they never got such paper ..? )

Probably a typo from your part.  The bank-balance check after 3 months at Jomtien is only for those on a 1-year extension of a Non Imm O or O-A retirement Visa, using the money-in-bank method and IO wants to see proof that you didn't slip under 800K during the first 3 months of your 1-year extension.

1 minute ago, Peter Denis said:

Probably a typo from your part.  The bank-balance check after 3 months at Jomtien is only for those on a 1-year extension of a Non Imm O or O-A retirement Visa, using the money-in-bank method and IO wants to see proof that you didn't slip under 800K during the first 3 months of your 1-year extension.

Where my typo ? as I meant like you described it 

2 minutes ago, david555 said:

Where my typo ? as I meant like you described it 

You wrote prove we still have 400 K baht on bank > and it is 800K.

Just now, Peter Denis said:

You wrote prove we still have 400 K baht on bank > and it is 800K.

Because ….. from that date you may take out up to 400K remaining , is that not the same as showing you have not asking 400 out ….?

 

As a slip of the tongue of course you could say I formulated it a day to early to only having 400 k left (which is not advisable , better to keep some more, but from that moment you are only asked to keep 400K up to the date for seasoning again 

40 minutes ago, mistral53 said:

where I come from, the cost of living is a few times higher than here.

and where i come from maybe ten times more for the same standard as here.  

and the cost of health care would and does bankrupt a large number of retirees.

Yes, i do KNOW about medicare.   Plan A and plan B  and plan C  and plan D........

oh, and don't forget the added insurance required to cover what they don't . 

No thanks

44 minutes ago, mistral53 said:

Can you tell me where 'back home' is so I can follow in your wake....... where I come from, the cost of living is a few times higher than here.

Lol....

 

That was the case when we left Sydney in 2015, e.g. the cost of living there was 3 times higher than here, we planned our move here for 8 years, that said, we had a budget of $1,000 a week living in Sydney, and we lived off of that, nothing special, nothing over the top, just comfortable.

 

We returned 3 times since for a holiday and have found out that on each occasion that the cost of food and clothing had become cheaper, we don't understand the reasoning behind it, but it was as I am saying it was, most recent trip was in 2019. Naturally we would assume utilities would be higher, however on the other hand healthcare is free (government) vs paying private insurance here, i.e. unless you're comfortable with the government hospitals here, each to their own. If I purchased my Meds here they would cost me $2,000 a year vs the government subsidising meds back there for $350, and I would stock up each time I returned naturally. 

 

If you have your own place here, and eat here as we do back in Sydney, it's pretty much the same, yes you would be surprised, it costs us around $750 a week (15,000 baht) to live here (6) of us, however, if you want to dine out expect the price to be on the up, same as it would be here, unless you want to live on rice, soups, etc etc as the Thai's do, then you would have a lower cost of living no doubt, even lower if you didn't have private health insurance, meds to buy, and or a car.

 

The above said, there are also benefits for you if you have kids under 18 with the Australian government providing you with support payments to help you along the way till they turn 18 -19 which are not asset tested and if you earn under $55,000 a year they don't reduce the payments, so that is a bit of a head start.

 

I think you will be waiting for a long time to follow me, because I don't plan on going anywhere fast (wake), as the air quality there is better, the hospitals are better and the food is better, won't mention the 4 seasons, and the pristine beaches.

 

Thailand for us has lost it's flavour unfortunately, we gave it a try, although we have no regrets in the time we spent here (village life), it was relaxing, frustrating, and some other things, but when we compare the cost of living in both countries based on our situation/circumstances, Sydney is clearly ahead, even if it costs me say $500 a week extra out of my pocket for the better quality of life. Will definitely be seen in different light as I can't see myself going back to work after retiring when we left, and the pension will arrive not to far in the distant future.

 

As for holidays, I believe we will support our own domestic market as we don't see why we should support Thailand as being our future holiday destination. Not wanting to sound bitter, but in the 5 years living here, (been coming on holidays since 2005), we have seen the true colours of the LOS, some good, others bad, and when you weigh them up, well, Sydney with it's multicultural society is a far better choice, on it's own, even if there is some underlying racism.

 

The preparation in doing the annual extension will surely be missed, as will the guys at the immigration office.

 

See you on the otherside ???? ????????

2 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

If I purchased my Meds here they would cost me $2,000 a year vs the government subsidising meds back there for $350, and I would stock up each time I returned naturally. 

If you purchased through a Thai government hospital they would be a fraction of the cost.

The expats in Thailand paying for 'private everything' are just throwing money away.

Edited June 9, 20206 yr by BritManToo

7 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

If you purchased through a Thai government hospital they would be a fraction of the cost.

The expats in Thailand paying for 'private everything' are just throwing money away.

I don't believe I would qualify, and I don't want to go on anything other than I have been on for the past 12 years, call me a snob, I don't mind.

4 hours ago, Lost in LOS said:

always hear they dont want us here and never really believed it, but with this I am thinking they all might be right. 

Welcome to reality...when rose colored glasses are removed...Thailand looks quite different...

47 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

I don't believe I would qualify,

Everyone qualifies if they have the 50bht fee for the hospital, and the money to pay for the drugs.

My particular drug Doxazosin 2mg, from the hospital 10bht for 10, in the cheapest pharmacy I can find 35bht for 10.

4 hours ago, Pilotman said:

Use an agent, problem solved. After a long time arguing against using them, I'm a convert to agents now and converts are always the most fanatical.  I will always use an agent in future.   It's a no brainer nowadays. 

I use agents for everything - extension, driver's license, buying/selling condos and cars, 90-day, TM30, etc. Never set foot inside immigration except for few a minutes to take pics. 

2 minutes ago, Mulambana said:

I use agents for everything - extension, driver's license, buying/selling condos and cars, 90-day, TM30, etc. Never set foot inside immigration except for few a minutes to take pics. 

Um, I don't believe that you can use an agent to get you a drivers licence, not a legal one anyway. 

7 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

Um, I don't believe that you can use an agent to get you a drivers licence, not a legal one anyway. 

 

They may not be able to do it for you, but they can sure lubricate the process if they go with you.  My company provided a Thai assistant to help us get our DL's. 

 

Stand there...  Sit here...  Go see that lady...  Hand her this paper...

 

2 hours ago, BritManToo said:

2 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

If I purchased my Meds here they would cost me $2,000 a year vs the government subsidising meds back there for $350, and I would stock up each time I returned naturally. 

If you purchased through a Thai government hospital they would be a fraction of the cost.

The expats in Thailand paying for 'private everything' are just throwing money away.

Edited 1 hour ago by BritManToo

Like most things ,  those that do best learn the ropes.   If one needs a 7 million baht house and

dinners out at the Dukes ,  and goes to Bangkok hospital for a sore throat..... then yes, cost is similar to the West.  ( but isn't the average price for a house like a million DOLLARS in Sydney ?

 

    my eye meds would cost me 1300 baht per month, plus about a 500 baht doctors fee at a private hospital.  Not bad,  but i get very competent service at a local govt hospital outside of CM  with the cost of doctor and medicine costing me a staggering  500 baht total ( 2 months supply of drops)  

 

Edited June 9, 20206 yr by rumak

1 hour ago, Mulambana said:

I use agents for everything - extension, driver's license, buying/selling condos and cars, 90-day, TM30, etc. Never set foot inside immigration except for few a minutes to take pics. 

I am interested in the "Drivers License" agent.  What's the cost?  I have a long-expired foreign license, if that makes any difference. 

Edited June 9, 20206 yr by JackThompson

5 hours ago, Kaoboi Bebobp said:

Which immigration district? 

 

31 minutes ago, rumak said:

Like most things ,  those that do best learn the ropes.   If one needs a 7 million baht house and

dinners out at the Dukes ,  and goes to Bangkok hospital for a sore throat..... then yes, cost is similar to the West.  ( but isn't the average price for a house like a million DOLLARS in Sydney ?

 

    my eye meds would cost me 1300 baht per month, plus about a 500 baht doctors fee at a private hospital.  Not bad,  but i get very competent service at a local govt hospital outside of CM  with the cost of doctor and medicine costing me a staggering  500 baht total ( 2 months supply of drops)  

 

I would suppose it all boils down to where your located. 7 million baht house, actually 2 million baht house, 6 beds, 3, bathrooms, 320m2 on a 1,000m2 block, but in the sticks ????

 

If your comfortable with the local hospital and you get competent service then of course, why waste the cost on the private.

 

My experience from the local wasn't good, misdiagnosed, and when I went to the private, I was sorted within an hour vs a struggle that went on for 3 weeks which I would never want to repeat.

 

Average price of a house in Sydney is a million dollars, yes, not much value for your $ vs a house in Thailand, but then you have to look at everything else, really no comparison, although I did think Thailand was much better before I moved here, thinking it was a developing country, well, I believe it is still a 3rd world country IMHO.

24 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

My experience from the local wasn't good, misdiagnosed, and when I went to the private, I was sorted within an hour vs a struggle that went on for 3 weeks which I would never want to repeat.

 

Average price of a house in Sydney is a million dollars, yes, not much value for your $ vs a house in Thailand, but then you have to look at everything else, 

1) I always discuss what's wrong with me and choose the likeliest option.

Then I choose my treatment and medication, from what they have on offer.

I've never let any doctor tell me what to do.

 

2) I've not got a million dollars, and everything else doesn't matter to a homeless person.

But my options aren't quite that bleak, I can choose between a bedsit on my own in Bolton surrounded by immigrants, or a 3 bed house in Chiang Mai with a much younger woman in my bed and children around me.

Edited June 9, 20206 yr by BritManToo

Always good to share what you beleive to be new information because although you may get questioned as to how new it is by people who spend much of their time on the internet it is obviously new to you which guarantees it will be new to others . 

 

I only learned of the insurance requirement for O-A because , for the first time , it was posted at the Immigration office for all to see .

19 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

1) I always discuss what's wrong with me and choose the likeliest option.

Then I choose my treatment and medication, from what they have on offer.

I've never let any doctor tell me what to do.

Sometimes it's not that easy, you think you have the flu, the Dr says you have the flu, you take antibiotics, back a week later, you are worse, different antibiotics, a week later worse, chest x ray, oxygen, different antibiotics, specialist next day, three hour wait, specialist, hmmm, sounds to me that from what you are saying is your at the end of it, just rest and you will be fine, but I am coughing all night, spitting phlegm that is brown and yellow, it's ok because you are bringing up the phlegm you are at the end of the flu.

 

Next day private hospital, chest and sinus x-ray, inspection of mouth and windpipe, diagnosis, chest infection, and allergy due to the windpipe narrowing, question: have you been exposed to any mould lately, come to think of it, there is an old black stain on the ceiling above my desk where I work most of the day from a previous rain leak which was fixed.

 

Prescribed, an inhaler with steroids, more antibiotics and other lollies, felt 90% better within an hour, follow up a week later, repeat prescriptions, again in 2 weeks and then in 4 weeks and of course I was impressed, regardless of the cost, because the night before going to the private hospital, I thought that was the end for me, felt like 13 rounds with Muhammad Ali, so to speak. 

 

So as you can see, I have no faith in the public hospitals up my way and the waiting periods are ridiculous as opposed to pretty nurses and seeing a doctor usually within 10 minutes with a coffee and biscuits. 

24 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

Sometimes it's not that easy, you think you have the flu, the Dr says you have the flu, you take antibiotics, back a week later, you are worse, different antibiotics, a week later worse, chest x ray, oxygen, different antibiotics, specialist next day, three hour wait, specialist, hmmm, sounds to me that from what you are saying is your at the end of it, just rest and you will be fine, but I am coughing all night, spitting phlegm that is brown and yellow, it's ok because you are bringing up the phlegm you are at the end of the flu.

 

Next day private hospital, chest and sinus x-ray, inspection of mouth and windpipe, diagnosis, chest infection, and allergy due to the windpipe narrowing, question: have you been exposed to any mould lately, come to think of it, there is an old black stain on the ceiling above my desk where I work most of the day from a previous rain leak which was fixed.

 

Prescribed, an inhaler with steroids, more antibiotics and other lollies, felt 90% better within an hour, follow up a week later, repeat prescriptions, again in 2 weeks and then in 4 weeks and of course I was impressed, regardless of the cost, because the night before going to the private hospital, I thought that was the end for me, felt like 13 rounds with Muhammad Ali, so to speak. 

 

So as you can see, I have no faith in the public hospitals up my way and the waiting periods are ridiculous as opposed to pretty nurses and seeing a doctor usually within 10 minutes with a coffee and biscuits. 

I don't know about Australia, but I'd be worried the UK NHS would be more like the first scenario.

8 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

you think you have the flu, the Dr says you have the flu, you take antibiotics, back a week later, you are worse, different antibiotics,

Flu is a virus ..... antibiotics kill bacteria.

If the doctor offered me antibiotics for the flu, I wouldn't take them as they're ineffective.

Edited June 9, 20206 yr by BritManToo

2 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Flu is a virus ..... antibiotics kill bacteria.

If the doctor offered me antibiotics for the flu, I wouldn't take them as they're ineffective.

I'm not a doctor, when sick, listen to what the Doctor says as they are "supposed" to be the qualified one.

 

That said, there is a clear difference from the the doctors here in the public hospitals (issan) as opposed to the doctors here in the private hospitals IMO, and I will leave it at that from my personal experience, however I have found that from the one visit I had at a public university hospital campus that I had a procedure carried out on went well, because it was an associate professor carrying out the procedure in front of some of his felow students, and he did his studies overseas, amen.

19 hours ago, GroveHillWanderer said:

What about the health insurance requirement? I thought there had been multiple reports recently that you only needed it if your original O-A visa was issued after the 2019 announcement? This sounds like it's needed no matter how long ago your original O-A visa was.

The health insurance requirement applies to anyone who has ever entered on an O-A visa for reason of retirement and has continuously extended it. I got my O-A in 2017 and the insurance requirement applies to me. I was lucky to get my current extension last October before they started enforcing it. I will have to meet the insurance requirement this November when my current extension of stay expires. I already have qualifying Thai insurance.

 

I believe the insurance requirement does not apply if you extend for reason of being married to a Thai citizen. The other way to avoid the insurance requirement to to get a new non-O visa. You can do this several ways. Get a non-O visa at a consulate outside the country or enter Thailand as a tourist and then converting to a non-O and then applying for a 1 year extension. You have to break the chain of your original O-A visa.

 

1 hour ago, 4MyEgo said:

I'm not a doctor, when sick, listen to what the Doctor says as they are "supposed" to be the qualified one.

 

We live in an age where there is a lot of information available to the general public including a lot of excellent medical information. I am aware that there is a lot of junk on the internet as well but that doesn't mean you can't respectfully question a doctor's advice if you have good reason to. A good doctor will answer you questions. 

19 hours ago, poohy said:

Use an Agent it will save all these pesky little problems!

never used one in 15 times, I put the paperwork together in 20 minutes, hit the bank and in and out of imigration 30 mintues max.  this is new stuff added i was not prepared for.  maybe next year an agent will be a good idea

to anyone who needs the insurance, AA insurance can get you the required insurance up to 99 years old.  Max 0927276427 AA insurance.  Just a FYI post, ask them for details.   Mine adjusted policy will come Monday and i will do a do over, gotta hit the bank again unfortunately but all other info okayed already.  thanks for all your help.  i did try to search it but didn't get the results i was looking for.  Thanks to all     NOTE   if they come up will something new before monday I will let you know 55

2 hours ago, Lost in LOS said:

to anyone who needs the insurance, AA insurance can get you the required insurance up to 99 years old.  Max 0927276427 AA insurance.  Just a FYI post, ask them for details.   Mine adjusted policy will come Monday and i will do a do over, gotta hit the bank again unfortunately but all other info okayed already.  thanks for all your help.  i did try to search it but didn't get the results i was looking for.  Thanks to all     NOTE   if they come up will something new before monday I will let you know 55

The ThaiVisa search function is absolutely worthless, even if you type in the actual title of the thread you more often than not get a 'Not Found' result.

Luckily google is there to help you.

When you type thaivisa followed by the keywords of the topic you are looking for, google will provide you with a list of matches to threads/posts and the date they were originally posted.

Give it a try next time you are looking for info in earlier ThaiVisa threads/posts.

17 hours ago, impulse said:

 

They may not be able to do it for you, but they can sure lubricate the process if they go with you.  My company provided a Thai assistant to help us get our DL's. 

 

Stand there...  Sit here...  Go see that lady...  Hand her this paper...

 

 

Does it reduce the 8 full hours it took me on my last two renewals for bike and car?

1 hour ago, Peter Denis said:

The ThaiVisa search function is absolutely worthless, even if you type in the actual title of the thread you more often than not get a 'Not Found' result.

Luckily google is there to help you.

When you type thaivisa followed by the keywords of the topic you are looking for, google will provide you with a list of matches to threads/posts and the date they were originally posted.

Give it a try next time you are looking for info in earlier ThaiVisa threads/posts.

I use this in a web search engine:

Quote

"termX" "termY" site:thaivisa.com/forum

The "site:..." part will limit all results to this website. 
I put the double-quotes around the terms, because otherwise, google will return results without both terms present.