Just left PKK IMM with no extension because of lack of Insurance

[JimGant]

1 hour ago, Sydebolle said:

How much does it cost a company to get onto the holy list of insurances? 

Probably a substantial amount -- not sure how LMG can lowball this at a profit, well, of course, if they can deny all claims on the many technicalities they provide.......

 

This is so blatant!  Why restrict allowed insurers to a handful, when the legitimate health aim is to have long stayers insured -- period -- regardless of source of insurance.

 

Damn, we need Mike Wallace. Say, Australian '60 Minutes' is really sharp -- care to send your best for a few shrimp barbies -- and a really JUICY story about corruption in Thailand? Man, that would get Prayut to do a little obvious reconstruction....

[berrec]

On 6/12/2020 at 2:44 PM, JimGant said:

Probably a substantial amount -- not sure how LMG can lowball this at a profit, well, of course, if they can deny all claims on the many technicalities they provide.......

 

This is so blatant!  Why restrict allowed insurers to a handful, when the legitimate health aim is to have long stayers insured -- period -- regardless of source of insurance.

 

Damn, we need Mike Wallace. Say, Australian '60 Minutes' is really sharp -- care to send your best for a few shrimp barbies -- and a really JUICY story about corruption in Thailand? Man, that would get Prayut to do a little obvious reconstruction....

Nice thought but I doubt 60 minutes Aus would be interested, corruption is just a lifestyle here in Thailand.

 

 Forms of corruption vary, but include bribery, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, parochialism, patronage, influence peddling, graft, and embezzlement.

 

All the things we have come to learn about and endure whilst living in the LOS.............................

 

The worst disease in the world today is corruption. And there is a cure: transparency. – Bono

 

Edited June 14, 2020 by blackcab
Font normalised

[Peter Denis]

6 hours ago, Dene16 said:

I had no problem renewing my OA extension based on retirement in January of this year(no insurance required). This post has now raised doubt that my next extension could be problematic. 

Question: can i change the reason for extension to marriage on my OA extension so that the insurance is not required, i could also go down the dependant route as i have a child

I don't really want to go down the non o visa route as this requires leaving the country every 3 months (only normally here for 3 months at a time but there may come a time when things change) Not married yet but will deal with that when necessary

1 - It is strange that your IO did not require you to show a thai IO-approved health-insurance policy when you applied in January of this year for the 1-year extension based on your Non Imm O-A Visa for reason of retirement.

Did you by any chance apply at the Phuket or Phang Nga IO for your O-A retirement extension?

Because since a couple of months these 2 IOs do not enforce the health-insurance requirement anymore when applying for an O-A retirement extension.  But they have announced that they will review that 'non-enforcement practice' in October, so not sure whether they will continue with non-enforcing it after that date.

 

2 - Yes, when you apply for your next 1-year extension of your Non Imm O-A Visa and you do this for another reason than 'retirement', e.g. applying for reason of marriage or dependant child or another reason, then the health-insurance is NOT required.  But obviously you would need to meet the requirements for the reason of your application, which will be different than those for reason of retirement.

 

3 - When you convert to a Non Imm O retirement Visa, you would need to exit the country (in order to kill the permission to stay of your present Non Imm O-A Visa), but you can then either

 

a) return VisaExempt and then apply at your local IO for a 90-day Non Imm O retirement (or marriage) Visa.  In the last month of that 90 days you can then apply at that same IO for a 1-year extension of that Non Imm O retirement (or marriage) Visa.  That 1-year extension does NOT force you to exit Thailand every 3 months.  It is actually identical to your present 1-year permission to stay based on your Non Imm O-A Visa for reason of retirement.  Only difference being is that it does not require the mandatory thai IO-approved health-insurance that the O-A retirement extension requires.

 

b) apply at a thai consulate in a neighboring country for the 1-year MultipleEntry Non Imm O marriage (or retirement) Visa.  That 1-year ME Non Imm O Visa only provides permissions to stay of 90-days on entry, and thus requires periodical border-runs, which you like to avoid (hence I do not provide additional details on where/how to apply for that 1-year ME Non Imm O Visa).

   

[Sydebolle]

4 hours ago, JimGant said:

Probably a substantial amount -- not sure how LMG can lowball this at a profit, well, of course, if they can deny all claims on the many technicalities they provide.......

 

This is so blatant!  Why restrict allowed insurers to a handful, when the legitimate health aim is to have long stayers insured -- period -- regardless of source of insurance.

 

Damn, we need Mike Wallace. Say, Australian '60 Minutes' is really sharp -- care to send your best for a few shrimp barbies -- and a really JUICY story about corruption in Thailand? Man, that would get Prayut to do a little obvious reconstruction....

Just sent you a PM on the subject ???? 

 

[Peter Denis]

6 hours ago, Paiman said:

You don't have to leave the country every 3 months on a NON - O. 

There is some confusion on this issue because there is a difference between the Non Imm O Visa and the extension of stay of that Visa.

> If you applied for the 1-year MultipleEntry Non Imm O Visa at a thai consulate in a neighboring country, that Visa does only provide you with 90-day permissions to stay when entering Thailand during its 1 year validity. 

> If you applied in country at your local IO for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa, you can then in the last month of that 90-days apply for a 1-year extension of stay.  And that 1-year extension of stay based on that Non Imm O Visa does NOT require you to exit Thailand every 90-days.

NOTE: When you applied for the 1-year ME Non Imm O Visa at a thai consulate, you can also opt to apply for the 1-year extension of stay at your local IO, when you are getting tired of doing the 3- or 5-monthly border-runs that Visa requires.

[Dene16]

20 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

Did you by any chance apply at the Phuket or Phang Nga IO for your O-A retirement extension?

Firstly thank you for the relevant information looks like i will try to keep the OA extension just change the reason.

Secondly, no, i did not apply at any of the above offices it was chong chom  immigration 

They could see that my stay was only for 1 month after this date and that i had a return ticket

I always have insurance for the time i am there but this is normally 3 or 4 months worth from an  independent source

[kevinsan]

Try Bangkok Bank. They have an 8900 insurance package. Seems to satisfy all the requirements. Saw it at Bangkok Bank Pattaya Klang Road next to Big C and the language schools.

[holy cow cm]

On 6/11/2020 at 12:58 PM, Peter Denis said:

Since October 2019 a thai IO-approved health-insurance policy issued by one of the TGIA associated insurers is mandatory when applying for the 1-year extension based on your original Non Imm O-A Visa for reason of retirement.

You write that your current permission to stay based on that Non Imm O-A Visa expires in 5 days.

That's short, but if you act now you will still be able to subscribe to one of those thai IO-approved health-insurance policies.  Since the majority of those policies are basically worthless, I would recommend subscribing to the dead cheapest one, which is the LMG Insurance Plan 1 (with 200K deductible) that sells at an annual premium of 6.000 THB to 11.400 THB in the age bracket of 51 to 75 years).

An additional advantage is that that policy does not require an (expensive) medical.  You just need to fill in the comprehensive application form to subscribe to the policy and you will get the Health-Insurance Certificate that IO requires a couple of days later in your mail.  Obviously you should refrain from ticking any serious pre-existing conditions on the application questionnaire, as that might lead to LMG rejecting your application.  Since you only subscribe to the policy as an 'entry ticket' to meet the IO health-insurance requirement for your O-A retirement extension application, and probably will not make any claims under that policy, doing so should not be considered as fraud.

 

>> I also PM-ed you a comprehensive guideline document addressing all details/options on how to convert to a 90-day Non Imm O retirement Visa and subsequent 1-year extension.  The requirements/conditions when applying for such a Non Imm O retirement extension are exactly the same as for your present Non Imm O-A retirement-extension, but with the one difference that the Non Imm O does NOT require any mandatory health-insurance.

However, a conversion to a Non Imm O Visa requires a border-run (in order to 'kill' the present permission to stay of your Non Imm O-A Visa), which is not possible at the moment.

Therefore your best option would most probably be to bite the 'insurance bullet' and subscribe to that cheap thai IO-approved LMG Insurance policy, and then re-apply at your current IO for the 1-year extension based on your original Non Imm O-A Visa for reason of retirement.

Success!

 

I am on a Non O but am thinking to get it anyway as currently have none as can easily pay out of pocket. But, I want to travel in and out of Thailand and this will be the reason as I do not want to be stuck here eternally. Will this policy cover C19?

[Peter Denis]

8 minutes ago, holy cow cm said:

I am on a Non O but am thinking to get it anyway as currently have none as can easily pay out of pocket. But, I want to travel in and out of Thailand and this will be the reason as I do not want to be stuck here eternally. Will this policy cover C19?

Why on earth would you want to buy an IO-approved health-insurance policy, if you are staying here on an 1-year extension of a Non Imm O Visa that does NOT require such a policy?

Obviously it is recommended to have a health-insurance policy (irrespective whether required by IO or not) to cover you in case of catastrophic illness/accident.  But choosing such a policy (issued by an international or thai insurer) should be based on your actual health-care needs.  And it is very doubtful that the thai IO-approved policies will meet those needs as most are exorbitantly expensive for the ridiculous low coverage they provide, and the only reason to choose for one is that they are mandatory when applying for a 1-year extension of stay based on your original Non Imm O-A Visa for reason of retirement.

Also, contrary to what you think, travelling in and out of Thailand does NOT require such a thai IO-approved health-insurance policy.

If you are looking for a Covid-19 insurance policy, you can buy one at https://www.roojai.com/en/covid/ for 450 THB or 850 THB for a full year coverage. 

[holy cow cm]

6 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

Why on earth would you want to buy an IO-approved health-insurance policy, if you are staying here on an 1-year extension of a Non Imm O Visa that does NOT require such a policy?

Obviously it is recommended to have a health-insurance policy (irrespective whether required by IO or not) to cover you in case of catastrophic illness/accident.  But choosing such a policy (issued by an international or thai insurer) should be based on your actual health-care needs.  And it is very doubtful that the thai IO-approved policies will meet those needs as most are exorbitantly expensive for the ridiculous low coverage they provide, and the only reason to choose for one is that they are mandatory when applying for a 1-year extension of stay based on your original Non Imm O-A Visa for reason of retirement.

Also, contrary to what you think, travelling in and out of Thailand does NOT require such a thai IO-approved health-insurance policy.

If you are looking for a Covid-19 insurance policy, you can buy one at https://www.roojai.com/en/covid/ for 450 THB or 850 THB for a full year coverage. 

How about is because I am nearing 60 in couple of years and have my reasons as truly think this insurance will soon be mandatory to encompass all category for renewal. Just a deep down feelling as way things are moving. The roojai you state is useless as the requirement to enter Thailand is USD $100,000 for C19. So to spare me from the why as my motive, I self fund and have plenty of capital to do so and so buying an ongoing piddly little cheap useless policy for an on the surface throw away coverage to show is nothing for me to spend to safeguard my time here and also have an in and out of this country. I do not count my every little satang and never will. thank you for the answer and almost help. I will find out by asking on my own.

[Peter Denis]

30 minutes ago, holy cow cm said:

How about is because I am nearing 60 in couple of years and have my reasons as truly think this insurance will soon be mandatory to encompass all category for renewal. Just a deep down feelling as way things are moving. The roojai you state is useless as the requirement to enter Thailand is USD $100,000 for C19. So to spare me from the why as my motive, I self fund and have plenty of capital to do so and so buying an ongoing piddly little cheap useless policy for an on the surface throw away coverage to show is nothing for me to spend to safeguard my time here and also have an in and out of this country. I do not count my every little satang and never will. thank you for the answer and almost help. I will find out by asking on my own.

1 - You can subscribe to a thai IO-approved health-insurance policy till the age of 70 or 75.  Since you are not 60 years of age yet, there is no reason to buy it now already to be prepared in case IO would make it mandatory for all Non Imm O retirement Visa.  It is actually very doubtful that IO would make it mandatory for all Non Imm O retirement Visa, on the contrary - there are already a couple of IOs that do not even enforce it anymore when applying for a 1-year Non Imm O-A retirement extension.

2 - As all flights into Thailand are still suspended, you would not even be able to enter with a 1.000.000 US $ covid-10 insurance (apart from the fact that it is almost impossible to find such insurance).  When Thailand will open its entry-borders again they will announce well beforehand the conditions on how to enter (e.g. a covid-free health certificate and/or an insurance to cover covid).  At the moment it is anybody's guess what the entry requirements will be.  But it is doubtful that they will require a 1.000.000 US $ covid-19 coverage insurance, when it is as good as impossible to find such insurance.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

On 6/12/2020 at 12:35 PM, Sheryl said:

Yes. And it seems Regency is engaging in false advertising....to put it mildly.

Based on what the OP wrote above, I'd call it fraud.... 

 

Someone ought to report them to the TGIA, Thai General Insurance Association, which is the entity behind the underlying scam....

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

On 6/12/2020 at 12:02 PM, Brayka said:

They accept only one of the 13 Insurances they proposed, so you have to choose one of them

 I believe the list of participating insurers, and their policies, has changed from time to time. Best thing is to directly check the TGIA website with the list of participating providers...

 

https://longstay.tgia.org/home/companiesoa

 

The OP's Regency insurer is not on that list. The LMG policy that Peter mentioned above is on that list... 

 

Though you also have to be careful, because the eligible policies are policy specific to the TGIA program. Not ALL policies any given insurers offer are part of the TGIA program, only those officially accepted.

Edited June 13, 2020 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[scorecard]

On 6/11/2020 at 3:58 PM, Peter Denis said:

Since October 2019 a thai IO-approved health-insurance policy issued by one of the TGIA associated insurers is mandatory when applying for the 1-year extension based on your original Non Imm O-A Visa for reason of retirement.

You write that your current permission to stay based on that Non Imm O-A Visa expires in 5 days.

That's short, but if you act now you will still be able to subscribe to one of those thai IO-approved health-insurance policies.  Since the majority of those policies are basically worthless, I would recommend subscribing to the dead cheapest one, which is the LMG Insurance Plan 1 (with 200K deductible) that sells at an annual premium of 6.000 THB to 11.400 THB in the age bracket of 51 to 75 years).

An additional advantage is that that policy does not require an (expensive) medical.  You just need to fill in the comprehensive application form to subscribe to the policy and you will get the Health-Insurance Certificate that IO requires a couple of days later in your mail.  Obviously you should refrain from ticking any serious pre-existing conditions on the application questionnaire, as that might lead to LMG rejecting your application.  Since you only subscribe to the policy as an 'entry ticket' to meet the IO health-insurance requirement for your O-A retirement extension application, and probably will not make any claims under that policy, doing so should not be considered as fraud.

 

>> I also PM-ed you a comprehensive guideline document addressing all details/options on how to convert to a 90-day Non Imm O retirement Visa and subsequent 1-year extension.  The requirements/conditions when applying for such a Non Imm O retirement extension are exactly the same as for your present Non Imm O-A retirement-extension, but with the one difference that the Non Imm O does NOT require any mandatory health-insurance.

However, a conversion to a Non Imm O Visa requires a border-run (in order to 'kill' the present permission to stay of your Non Imm O-A Visa), which is not possible at the moment.

Therefore your best option would most probably be to bite the 'insurance bullet' and subscribe to that cheap thai IO-approved LMG Insurance policy, and then re-apply at your current IO for the 1-year extension based on your original Non Imm O-A Visa for reason of retirement.

Success!

 

Can the insurance company  brokerage agency mentioned arrange the health insurance currently required on arrival in Thailand in regard to Covid 19: cover for tests and treatments, and minimum overall coverage of US$100,000? Or can members please suggest other insurance companies / insurance brokerages who have such policies?  Thanks.

  

[holy cow cm]

32 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

1 - You can subscribe to a thai IO-approved health-insurance policy till the age of 70 or 75.  Since you are not 60 years of age yet, there is no reason to buy it now already to be prepared in case IO would make it mandatory for all Non Imm O retirement Visa.  It is actually very doubtful that IO would make it mandatory for all Non Imm O retirement Visa, on the contrary - there are already a couple of IOs that do not even enforce it anymore when applying for a 1-year Non Imm O-A retirement extension.

2 - As all flights into Thailand are still suspended, you would not even be able to enter with a 1.000.000 US $ covid-10 insurance (apart from the fact that it is almost impossible to find such insurance).  When Thailand will open its entry-borders again they will announce well beforehand the conditions on how to enter (e.g. a covid-free health certificate and/or an insurance to cover covid).  At the moment it is anybody's guess what the entry requirements will be.  But it is doubtful that they will require a 1.000.000 US $ covid-19 coverage insurance, when it is as good as impossible to find such insurance.

Thank you Peter. I am well aware of details and how Thailand works. I have been here for almost 30 years. Saying it is pretty doubtful is saying that you will never win the lottery, but there is a greater chance a particular insurance will be mandatory as this pandemic is not yet over and the hospital system could well be strained coming up in the Thai winter time and the you know who's know this.

 

I am also a firm believer that all of the Non OA jumpers over to Non O may just topple only the OA's having to be insured. Certainly they are well aware of the jumping.

 

I believe once the borders open up it is already mentioned/stated to be USD $100,000, not USD $1000,000.00 and a C19 free certificate from a hospital. I was primarily only asking if you knew if the policy covered C19. Nothing more or nothing less. Anyway, I understand your opinion and your backing of people to switch to a Non O or get the cheapest insurance possible. The policy you mentioned I was not aware of and to date it beats even the nearest one I was aware of that was Pacific Cross. And they have a mandatory exam after the 60yrs old point. 12,000 baht is virtual a drop in the bucket for me so nothing to even get excited about at this time of my life. I am just concider a C19 coverage for in and outs at this time. I have a bunch of pleasure and business trips I need to do once the borders open up so will be prepared.

 

Again thank you for your reply, but it is nothing I presently do not know right now.

 

 

[JimGant]

27 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

I believe the list of participating insurers, and their policies, has changed from time to time. Best thing is to directly check the TGIA website with the list of participating providers...

 

https://longstay.tgia.org/home/companiesoa

And at the site:

Quote

Non – Immigrant Visa "O-A"

The listed companies who participate in this scheme.

And the Cambridge dictionary definition of scheme:

Quote

an organized plan for doing something, especially something dishonest or illegal that will bring a good result for you:

Ah, TGIA, put that in your shorts.

[OJAS]

On 6/12/2020 at 10:00 AM, rwill said:

You have to get one of the approved insurances.  Immigration does not want a copy of your policy.  They want a letter the insurance gives you stating that it complies with the requirements.  Similar to this:  https://longstay.tgia.org/document/overseas_insurance_certificate.pdf

 

@dennism53 - did the certificate which Immigration rejected in your case look anything like the example linked above?

 

 

On 6/12/2020 at 12:35 PM, Sheryl said:

Yes. And it seems Regency is engaging in false advertising....to put it mildly.

 

1 hour ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Based on what the OP wrote above, I'd call it fraud.... 

 

Someone ought to report them to the TGIA, Thai General Insurance Association, which is the entity behind the underlying scam....

 

 

I think that we need to be careful here. Unless I'm missing something, the Regency scheme to which the OP has subscribed does not, in fact, appear to be specifically Thai-related, based on the downloads available from their website at https://www.regencyforexpats.com/Downloads/Index. The inference must therefore be that this scheme is targeted principally at those applying for OA visas in their home countries. Furthermore, assuming that the OP's rejected certificate did resemble the example referred to above, it looks to me like, while Immigration are prepared to accept overseas policies backed up by this certificate in the case of OA visa approvals and subsequent usage during the validity period, once retirees need to start hitting the annual retirement extension of stay road, only TGIA-approved policies are then deemed acceptable. So, as a result of this crazy interpretation, those applying for OA visas are, in effect, wasting their time by applying for anything other than a TGIA-spproved policy in their home countries - in which case they are, of course, then liable to be caught by the classic Catch-22 situation of having their applications denied on the grounds of not currently being Thai residents for 6 months in a year!

 

I therefore personally think that we might be on sticky ground in levelling any blame at Regency which, in this instance, would appear to stem from an inability to read inconsistent bigwig minds in the Immigration Bureau (in which they are, of course, far from alone!), even though the OP might justifiably feel aggrieved in this case. However, if his rejected certificate bore no resemblance to the above example - and, more importantly, Regency were to flatly refuse to provide him with one that did -  then it would, indeed, appear that they might have a case to answer for.

Edited June 13, 2020 by OJAS

[Keith5588]

I have not read all this thread but OP’s opening post rang a bell.

 

I am living in Thailand and in much the same position and need to renew my extension of stay soon based on retirement and have a Non Imm O-A visa.

 

About 3 weeks ago started started some health insurance quotes,

One was with  “NowCompare” they recommended Regency for Expats ……….. I had several email exchanges with Nicole Upton at NowCompare.

I probably did more research than the OP and knew they were not on the TGIA list and so not suitable but I was polite.

Actually it does make me ANGRY.  I was raised to be honest. My trade was electronics and if you said something not correct someone could destroy an instrument or injure themselves.

 

Here is the last email statement to me from Nicole

“As far as we are aware Regency would be a valid insurer to obtain your VISA extension. We have clients that have received their first VISA with this policy and we have had clients that have received VISA extensions with it.”

The above is a direct copy

 

Makes me mad.

 

I don’t normally drink but am having some Sangsum this afternoon so I hope above makes sense.

Peter Denis is your man for this ……. I think he has already posted.

 

Cheers

Keith

[sscc]

On 6/12/2020 at 8:24 AM, Peter Denis said:

 

 

2 - Yes, when you apply for your next 1-year extension of your Non Imm O-A Visa and you do this for another reason than 'retirement', e.g. applying for reason of marriage or dependant child or another reason, then the health-insurance is NOT required.  But obviously you would need to meet the requirements for the reason of your application, which will be different than those for reason of retirement.

 

3 - When you convert to a Non Imm O retirement Visa, you would need to exit the country (in order to kill the permission to stay of your present Non Imm O-A Visa), but you can then either

 

a) return VisaExempt and then apply at your local IO for a 90-day Non Imm O retirement (or marriage) Visa.  In the last month of that 90 days you can then apply at that same IO for a 1-year extension of that Non Imm O retirement (or marriage) Visa.  That 1-year extension does NOT force you to exit Thailand every 3 months.  It is actually identical to your present 1-year permission to stay based on your Non Imm O-A Visa for reason of retirement.  Only difference being is that it does not require the mandatory thai IO-approved health-insurance that the O-A retirement extension requires.

 

 

   

 

Hello Peter Denis, 

This above procedure you had outlined for us sounds good. 

Have a question on this  Non-imm O VISA with 1-year extension WITHOUT needing border run every 90 days.   

 

My question is  whether this 1-year VISA without border run requirement restricted to single entry only ? 

 

Let's say have the O VISA staying for initial 90 days,  and also successfully getting the 1-year extension.   Then on the seventh month during the 1-year extension period,  I want to have 5-day holiday to Indonesia.  Can I still come back re-entering Thailand on this O VISA after the trip to Indonesia ?    If yes,  is there any pre-departure procedure needed ? 

 

 

I am currently holding  Non Imm O-A Visa and still months away to make the decision of switching or not.   I understand  Non-Imm  O-A Visa allowing for multiple entry to Thailand anytime during validity of VISA and extension period.  So there is flexiblity,  Is that true ?    

 

 

 

 

[Peter Denis]

25 minutes ago, sscc said:

..,

My question is  whether this 1-year VISA without border run requirement restricted to single entry only ?

I presume you are referring to the 90-day Non Imm O retirement Visa for which you can apply at your local IO.  That Visa is indeed single-entry and stamped 'void' when you receive it together with the 90-day permission to stay it provides.

But you can buy a Re-Entry permit (Single-Entry - 1.000 THB / Multiple-Entry - 3.800 THB) which will keep your permission to stay alive when exiting and then re-entering Thailand.

And the same goes for the 1-year permission to stay you receive when you succesfully apply for the 1-year extension of stay in the last month of the 90-days that Non Imm O retirement Visa provided you. 

 

25 minutes ago, sscc said:

...

Let's say have the O VISA staying for initial 90 days,  and also successfully getting the 1-year extension.   Then on the seventh month during the 1-year extension period,  I want to have 5-day holiday to Indonesia.  Can I still come back re-entering Thailand on this O VISA after the trip to Indonesia ?    If yes,  is there any pre-departure procedure needed ?

You can buy a Re-Entry Permit at your local IO or in the departure hall of the main thai international airports.  That Re-Entry Permit will keep your permission to stay alive, when exiting and then re-entering Thailand.

 

25 minutes ago, sscc said:

...

I am currently holding  Non Imm O-A Visa and still months away to make the decision of switching or not.   I understand  Non-Imm  O-A Visa allowing for multiple entry to Thailand anytime during validity of VISA and extension period.  So there is flexiblity,  Is that true ?   

Your Non Imm O-A Visa is only Multi-Entry during the 1-year Visa validity period.  When you exited and re-entered Thailand during its validity period you will be stamped in again each time for a 1-year permission to stay.  So you can effectively squeeze 2 years out of that Visa by exiting and re-entering just before the Visa validity expires.  However, AFTER the Visa validity has expired, you will need a Re-Entry Permit in order to keep that last 1-year permission to stay alive when exiting and re-entering Thailand.

Edited June 15, 2020 by Peter Denis

[dennism53]

An update on my status with Immigration, Regency for Expats (Ins. provider) and NowCompare (Broker)

 

Someone asked if I had a Cert of Ins from Regency that Thai Immigration denied. The answer is yes, the policy was in the third quarter, is called the Thai Long Stay Policy and is for the required 40,000/400/000 coverage.

 

I talked to Regency, their position was that all my research and conversations were held with the Broker NowCompare and I needed to settle things with them.

 

I am currently in an e-mail battle with them and have asked for the following based on their staff misrepresenting Regency for Expat's ability to meet the requirements of the O-A Via Insurance coverage requirements which to start with they must be approved and are not! Immediate cancellation of my policy and full reimbursement of premium's paid less a small $35 US Claim. We'll see where this goes.

 

By the way I have new Ins with LMG group who has an extremely low policy available for expats that don't want the Ins but are in the trap that they are required to obtain because of their O-A Visa and timing issues (like me) it has a 100,000 BHT and 200,000 BHT deductible with very low premiums for the required 40,000/400,000 coverages.

 

My plan is to let the O-A expire next year and get a new O.