Options to stay here in old age

[Deerculler]

The Philippines visa is much, much easier.

 You can pay into Phihealth.

Cost about 18000 peso's a year.

But you have to wait I think is 9 months after you have been paying before you can use it..

Getting medical insurance at old age here in Thailand is not easy.

If I had my time again I would seriously consider PH.

 According to what I have read and been told.

Immigration in PH are very happy to assist. 

 Here in Thailand I do not know what happens if we are too sick to do our visa extensions.

 Must find out 

 

 

 

 

 

[thaibeachlovers]

42 minutes ago, Salerno said:

 

Sorry to hear that, sometimes decisions in our earlier years do in fact come back to bite us on the <deleted>. But, you've not only travelled, you've lived and worked in places around the world and so experienced other places/cultures and made memories in more depth than a lot of people even nowadays will. 

Thanks for that. Yes I have had a very interesting life, but I wish I could remember more of it- old age is a curse.

 

I thought I had it sussed when I got married to a Thai woman. I thought that LOS was it for the rest of my life. Little did I know that she was the wrong woman.

By the time I realised she was not my anchor for Thailand, she and her family had managed to transfer so much of my money to themselves that divorce was not just the end of our marriage, but the end of my life in LOS.

I'm not the only one- a common tale among farangs marrying Thai women.

[BritManToo]

15 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I thought I had it sussed when I got married to a Thai woman. I thought that LOS was it for the rest of my life. Little did I know that she was the wrong woman.

Every woman is the 'wrong woman' .......... unless you're lucky enough to die before that point in time arrives.

Keep your money in your home country, give it to them a little at a time.

Edited February 17, 2021 by BritManToo

[BritManToo]

56 minutes ago, Deerculler said:

Immigration in PH are very happy to assist. 

 Here in Thailand I do not know what happens if we are too sick to do our visa extensions.

Old guy (friend of a friend) had stayed in the Philippines for his 3 years and reached the point where he needed to leave for 1 night to be able to stay the next 3 years. Didn't walk very well, so he went to PI immigration and told them he was worried about leaving/returning, they said 'no problem sir, we will just write in your passport, too ill to travel, and you can stay another 3 years'. That really impressed me, can't imagine Thai immigration ever being that helpful/compassionate/accommodating.

 

I always got the impression PI immigration actually appreciated foreigners living there, while Thailand immigration just wishes we would all leave.

[wavodavo]

17 hours ago, Oldie said:

The Philippines have great doctors. If I had to chose only depending on this I would have left Thailand long time ago already. I could tell you many bad stories of my medical experience here in Thailand. The worst was a wrongly diagnosed lung cancer at one of the top hospitals here. A doctor on the Philippines clarified this within minutes when he saw my x-rays and scans - he could not believe such a stupid diagnosis. I better don't write here what he said. Many of the doctors there studied in the US. And my dentist over there is one of the best I ever had.

 

What is not so good is the infrastructure for Western people in respect of transportation and accommodation. In respect of food - it is up to you what you cook. But it should be a paradise for Americans - endless fast-food restaurants. 

I would recommend the philipines if you are planning to retire and find a wife who can look after you when you get older.Phillipinas generally make good wives and they can speak perfect english which is a good start for sure As others have said immigration and visas etc. are easier than Thailand but infrastructure and transport services are nowhere near as good .When it comes to medical if you have the money there are good doctors and hospitals and for minor problems the local hospitals are adequate and very cheap.As far as safety and security goes  depends where you go but I think that Thailand is on the whole safer. 

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, PGSan said:

You seem very knowledgable in this area.  It would be useful if you could explain this subject area in more detail, or post a link to a source of information about these aspects of running such facilities here.

https://www.facebook.com/bannlalisa

Plenty of care homes in Chiang Mai, I believe this one is 20-25kbht/month in Chiang Mai.

They will accept foreign residents, but the food and language is mainly Thai.

Very nice accommodation, grounds and pool.

[connda]

On 2/15/2021 at 7:35 PM, BritManToo said:

I can match that,

My 4 year old son had stomach ache, took him to the local hospital, and they wanted to do an emergency appendix removal.

Trucked him to another hospital, and they said he had constipation, a quick shot of lube in the bum, and 10 minutes later he was fine.

Scary, isn't it?  But good job getting the second opinion.

[connda]

On 2/15/2021 at 8:40 PM, brewsterbudgen said:

Back to the original question, surely staying in Thailand into 'old age' is fairly straightforward if you have the funds to meet the financial requirement for Retirement extensions and enough money to live comfortably.  I'm assuming you already have a decent health insurance policy.

And as I've stressed before:  You all make the assumption that your nest eggs are safe and secure for any serious economic downturn - and - and you assume that immigration will not move the goalposts in the future and add regulatory requirement that you are unable to meet. 

Anyone who is considering moving here long-term with the expectation of staying until they die should probably reassess.  If you have the money for retirement or an "Elite" visa then you have enough money to gain entry and establish permanent residency in dozens of other tropical countries.  Yeah, Thailand has a lot of things these other countries may not have - but they also don't have immigration systems whose sole purpose is to find ways to boot you out of Thailand on an annual basis. 
I'm here because my wife does not want to move to the US and wants to live out her life on the homestead that I pretty much single-handedly financed.
If she should die before me, I'll liquidate my assets and move to a country where I can actually live out my life without fear of being kicked out when I'm at my most vulnerable in old age.  Thailand is not that country.  And I definitely worry about become old and infirm in this country where foreign human-rights as well as a family comprised of a foreign man and a Thai woman don't mean a **** thing.  If you are under the illusion that you are welcome here farangs, think again.  You are not!

[twix38]

I've had numerous occasions Thai hospitals have either mis-diagnosed or failed to treat an issue.

 

Almost too many to count. 

Telling me I had bolus and giving me anxiety pills when I had barratts, identified later in uk.

Not treating an infected wound after 15 courses of antibiotics telling me to go back my country.

Treating me for prosatitis and then telling me I didn't have it.

Prescribing antibiotics until I found out should not take if had tendon issues. I had Achilles tendon couple months before. Told doctor who blamed me for not telling him-as if I would know! He didn't ask me or advise me until I happened to Google and see.

Ear problem. Completely misdiagnosed after hearing tests. Given pills and steroid spray up nose that did nothing. Months later it improved by itself as it was a physical change after failed implant where bone moved when chewing and caused air pressure type symptoms that doctor had not a clue. Now have diagnosed in uk.

Many more......

 

Not to mention the priority of Thai hospitals of doing tests and procedures to get money! And hospital pharmacies to over charge whilst doctors often guess and over prescribe. My experiences are many and varied but just about all have been poor to terrible.

 

I run a mile or return to UK whenever I need to see a hospital unless I must go out of urgency or necessity. Thai hospitals in general are incompetent places of guesswork and over prescribing, usually by a supposed expert who is unaccountable.

 

[Raphael Hythlodaeus]

On 2/15/2021 at 6:42 PM, Jingthing said:

You've posted a false assertion which I strongly suspected. 

I think they do help with 90 day reports if you live in Bangkok only. 

The visa assistance in that link is about the ORIGINAL Elite visa.

I don't see any mention of them actually taking for of the ANNUAL EXTENSIONS if you're in Thailand when they are due. If you aren't in Thailand when they are due, you don't need to do them at all, that is true.
So you're basic assertion is just wrong.

For me it would be a strong feature if I didn't need to do 90 day reports or annual extensions in Thailand. But living in Pattaya, NOPE.

Yes, I wrote to Elite Visa with this same question, as follows:

 

Question: It seems I would still have to renew the yearly Visa extension. Does this require my physical presence at an Immigration office? If so, which one?

Can I choose which Immigration Office to use? [These days I use the IO at Ta-Yang, Phetchaburi, which is much less crowded than the nightmare at Chaeng Wattana].

 

Elite Reply: According to the immigration regulation, if you enter and stay in Thailand for the entire 1-year period without leaving the country, you will be subject to apply for the extension of stay which will extend your stay for 1 more year. The application for the extension of stay can be filed at the Immigration office at the area where you reside in with the government fee THB 1,900 (without the need to leave the country). The application of extension can be done every year until the expiry of your visa.

 

[newnative]

    You can do your 90 day report on-line--I finally got it to work--so you only need to go to the IO once a year, or have an agent do it for you.  My plan is to have a house with space for a live-in care person should I or my partner need it--and likely we will at some point if we live long enough.  My mother was in a nursing home in the US for 10 years at an average of $70,000 a year--so $700,000 was needed for her care.  I think I can be cared for here in my own home for a lot less than that a year--and I certainly hope so as my pension and SS is only  a little over half that!

[lopburi3]

2 minutes ago, newnative said:

My mother was in a nursing home in the US for 10 years at an average of $70,000 a year--so $700,000 was needed for her care.

But for those meeting financial conditions there is help available to allow much lower payments for many - also medical care - that will not be the case outside USA.  I do agree with your post but just not that it is as b/w was might seem at first glance.

[Jingthing]

11 minutes ago, Raphael Hythlodaeus said:

Yes, I wrote to Elite Visa with this same question, as follows:

 

Question: It seems I would still have to renew the yearly Visa extension. Does this require my physical presence at an Immigration office? If so, which one?

Can I choose which Immigration Office to use? [These days I use the IO at Ta-Yang, Phetchaburi, which is much less crowded than the nightmare at Chaeng Wattana].

 

Elite Reply: According to the immigration regulation, if you enter and stay in Thailand for the entire 1-year period without leaving the country, you will be subject to apply for the extension of stay which will extend your stay for 1 more year. The application for the extension of stay can be filed at the Immigration office at the area where you reside in with the government fee THB 1,900 (without the need to leave the country). The application of extension can be done every year until the expiry of your visa.

 

Yes.

I knew that already but another member incorrectly implied that the Elite company would take care of that task for people. They will not.

[Deerculler]

I think part of the original question was.

What happens if you are physically unable to do your yearly retirement extension?

[oldhippy]

6 hours ago, Deerculler said:

I think part of the original question was.

What happens if you are physically unable to do your yearly retirement extension?

Yes, and my additional question was: will we have the right to say "enough is enough"?

Obviously not in this part of the world, it is not even allowed by forum rules to discus it, as I found out.

For me that is a reason to prefer dying in a civilised part of Farangland.

 

[BTB1977]

You will be uninsurability after 70ish.  Depending on what health insurance you have. So all medical bills will come out of your pocket once you need health care in your golden  years. 

[thaibeachlovers]

16 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Every woman is the 'wrong woman' .......... unless you're lucky enough to die before that point in time arrives.

Keep your money in your home country, give it to them a little at a time.

It's so easy to be wise after it's all gone wrong.

[thaibeachlovers]

3 hours ago, BTB1977 said:

You will be uninsurability after 70ish.  Depending on what health insurance you have. So all medical bills will come out of your pocket once you need health care in your golden  years. 

I had excellent Thai medical insurance, and could keep it after 65, but they won't accept any new customers over 65. Very expensive though.

[thaibeachlovers]

15 hours ago, connda said:

And as I've stressed before:  You all make the assumption that your nest eggs are safe and secure for any serious economic downturn - and - and you assume that immigration will not move the goalposts in the future and add regulatory requirement that you are unable to meet. 

Anyone who is considering moving here long-term with the expectation of staying until they die should probably reassess.  If you have the money for retirement or an "Elite" visa then you have enough money to gain entry and establish permanent residency in dozens of other tropical countries.  Yeah, Thailand has a lot of things these other countries may not have - but they also don't have immigration systems whose sole purpose is to find ways to boot you out of Thailand on an annual basis. 
I'm here because my wife does not want to move to the US and wants to live out her life on the homestead that I pretty much single-handedly financed.
If she should die before me, I'll liquidate my assets and move to a country where I can actually live out my life without fear of being kicked out when I'm at my most vulnerable in old age.  Thailand is not that country.  And I definitely worry about become old and infirm in this country where foreign human-rights as well as a family comprised of a foreign man and a Thai woman don't mean a **** thing.  If you are under the illusion that you are welcome here farangs, think again.  You are not!

Don't care how much money I had, I'd never have left Thailand as long as I was able to stay. I only left because I wasn't close to death and didn't have enough money to stay.

For all its problems LOS is still better than elsewhere, IMO.

[thaibeachlovers]

13 hours ago, twix38 said:

I've had numerous occasions Thai hospitals have either mis-diagnosed or failed to treat an issue.

 

Almost too many to count. 

Telling me I had bolus and giving me anxiety pills when I had barratts, identified later in uk.

Not treating an infected wound after 15 courses of antibiotics telling me to go back my country.

Treating me for prosatitis and then telling me I didn't have it.

Prescribing antibiotics until I found out should not take if had tendon issues. I had Achilles tendon couple months before. Told doctor who blamed me for not telling him-as if I would know! He didn't ask me or advise me until I happened to Google and see.

Ear problem. Completely misdiagnosed after hearing tests. Given pills and steroid spray up nose that did nothing. Months later it improved by itself as it was a physical change after failed implant where bone moved when chewing and caused air pressure type symptoms that doctor had not a clue. Now have diagnosed in uk.

Many more......

 

Not to mention the priority of Thai hospitals of doing tests and procedures to get money! And hospital pharmacies to over charge whilst doctors often guess and over prescribe. My experiences are many and varied but just about all have been poor to terrible.

 

I run a mile or return to UK whenever I need to see a hospital unless I must go out of urgency or necessity. Thai hospitals in general are incompetent places of guesswork and over prescribing, usually by a supposed expert who is unaccountable.

 

I was misdiagnosed by several western doctors in the UK and NZ. A Thai consultant in Chiang Mai diagnosed the problem in 5 minutes.

 

Not to mention the priority of Thai hospitals of doing tests and procedures to get money! And hospital pharmacies to over charge whilst doctors often guess and over prescribe.

Not my experience at all- the opposite in fact.

Given that most drugs are available over the counter why buy them from a hospital pharmacy?

 

If you don't actually live in the UK I understand NHS hospitals are not free anymore.

[thaibeachlovers]

13 hours ago, Deerculler said:

I think part of the original question was.

What happens if you are physically unable to do your yearly retirement extension?

I have read on TVF that such people have to be taken there even if on a stretcher.

[simon43]

5 hours ago, BTB1977 said:

You will be uninsurability after 70ish.  Depending on what health insurance you have. So all medical bills will come out of your pocket once you need health care in your golden  years. 

Your important phrase is "depending on what health insurance you have". If you choose your health cover wisely, with a view to long-term cover, then there is no reason not to be covered until the day you die, regardless of how many times you need to claim on that insurance, and with your insurance premiums only increasing in line with others in your age band.  (Of course, those premiums might get too high to accept.....)

[BritManToo]

5 hours ago, BTB1977 said:

You will be uninsurability after 70ish.  Depending on what health insurance you have. So all medical bills will come out of your pocket once you need health care in your golden  years. 

Don't care about health insurance, don't have it, don't want it.

50bht to see the doctor, pills are cheap, prefer to die than to be butchered.

[colinneil]

14 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Don't care about health insurance, don't have it, don't want it.

50bht to see the doctor, pills are cheap, prefer to die than to be butchered.

What a crazy post, you dont have health insurance, crazy.

Look at my situation, what if i did not have health insurance, 7 months in hospital bill of millions of baht, no insurance what would have happened to me?

[giddyup]

6 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Don't care about health insurance, don't have it, don't want it.

50bht to see the doctor, pills are cheap, prefer to die than to be butchered.

Easy to say until it happens. As an example, you'd rather die in agony than have an infected appendix removed?

Edited February 18, 2021 by giddyup

[thaibeachlovers]

On 2/18/2021 at 12:53 PM, colinneil said:

What a crazy post, you dont have health insurance, crazy.

Look at my situation, what if i did not have health insurance, 7 months in hospital bill of millions of baht, no insurance what would have happened to me?

It's only crazy if one wants to live as long as possible. Some of us are prepared to pass over, having had a long and full life and only ill health and a rest home to look forward to.

[thaibeachlovers]

20 hours ago, giddyup said:

Easy to say until it happens. As an example, you'd rather die in agony than have an infected appendix removed?

Having an infected appendix removed doesn't cost the earth.

Personally, when I have a stroke or a heart attack I don't want to survive as even worse off physically than I am at present. I hope to cheat the rest home out of making money off of me.

Before anyone asks, I have a do not resuscitate living will.

[Leaver]

On 2/16/2021 at 3:23 PM, Moonlover said:

I think I'd rather rely on my wife's rather sound judgement when it comes to getting things done in this, her own country, rather than your, clearly bigoted viewpoint. But thank you for your 'concern'.

 

What sound judgement would that be?

 

If you are her first farang husband, what experience did she have with immigration prior?  She gives money to them because it's not her money.  Simple.  

 

You call me bigoted, yet you are the one cultivating Thai government authorities through giving corrupt rewards, under the excuse of "Thai culture." 

 

The funny thing is, let's say they change some laws in Bangkok next week, and the law changes causes you an issue, good luck with Mr. Something To Eat, after paying for so long.   

[Dagfinnur Traustason]

Enough money and good contact at immigration. No probs!

[Moonlover]

1 hour ago, Leaver said:

 

What sound judgement would that be?

 

If you are her first farang husband, what experience did she have with immigration prior?  She gives money to them because it's not her money.  Simple.  

 

You call me bigoted, yet you are the one cultivating Thai government authorities through giving corrupt rewards, under the excuse of "Thai culture." 

 

The funny thing is, let's say they change some laws in Bangkok next week, and the law changes causes you an issue, good luck with Mr. Something To Eat, after paying for so long.   

I can understand that in a land where bribery and corruption are never far away, it is easy to become confused between a 'bribe' and a 'tip'.

 

I will not try to insult your intelligence by explaining the difference, beyond commenting that what my wife gives, which is only a small amount, is given afterwards as a tip for services rendered, not as a bribe to get things done. 

 

Whether it will pay a dividend in the future only the future can tell, but I'm not going to get wound up over the cost of a few beers In my opinion, a good relationship with immigration is worth a lot more than that.