Section 39 Non O Marriage Extension - Covid Insurance

[lucky2008]

I'm already covered under section 39 of the Thai SSA. 

Will I be required to obtain Covid insurance when applying for my Non-O visa extension based on marriage? 

[ubonjoe]

No insurance is required to apply for a extension of stay based upon marriage.

Insurance is only required to apply for a OA visa for retirement or the extension of stay of the entry from one.

[bokningar]

32 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

No insurance is required to apply for a extension of stay based upon marriage.

Insurance is only required to apply for a OA visa for retirement or the extension of stay of the entry from one.

Did they ever give some official reason for this rule that only apply to OA visa? This use to be the best visa if you wanted to spend a lot of time in Thailand, But not staying full time. I used it for 6-7 years spent 7-10 moths of the year in Thailand. Since they changed it I’m not spending any time or money in Thailand anymore. But I do miss it. 

[ubonjoe]

6 minutes ago, bokningar said:

Did they ever give some official reason for this rule that only apply to OA visa? This use to be the best visa if you wanted to spend a lot of time in Thailand, But not staying full time. I used it for 6-7 years spent 7-10 moths of the year in Thailand. Since they changed it I’m not spending any time or money in Thailand anymore. But I do miss it. 

When the original order for the insurance came out in 2019 it did not state a reason.

In my opinion they consider those using the OA visa as not staying full time in the country and not having any ties to the country and were more likely to leave the country without paying a hospital bill.

 

If you don't mind putting 800k baht in a Thai bank or can prove 65k baht income you can get a extension of stay based upon retirement without insurance being required.;

[4MyEgo]

17 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

If you don't mind putting 800k baht in a Thai bank or can prove 65k baht income you can get a extension of stay based upon retirement without insurance being required.;

I have to ask, is another requirement that you must be over 50 years of age, just catching up on all of the alternate extensions, as I am on the marriage extension.

[bokningar]

33 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

When the original order for the insurance came out in 2019 it did not state a reason.

In my opinion they consider those using the OA visa as not staying full time in the country and not having any ties to the country and were more likely to leave the country without paying a hospital bill.

 

If you don't mind putting 800k baht in a Thai bank or can prove 65k baht income you can get a extension of stay based upon retirement without insurance being required.;

Thanks for swift replay. Guess that could be it.

But in all fairness, you still must meet the same financial requirements. Just it was not in Thailand. And now when they are raising the amount of money the insurance has to cover quite a bit, it seems like they just are trying to stop people from using OA visa.

[ubonjoe]

28 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

I have to ask, is another requirement that you must be over 50 years of age, just catching up on all of the alternate extensions, as I am on the marriage extension.

You must be 50 or over to apply for a OA visa or a extension of stay based upon retirement at immigration.

[4MyEgo]

1 minute ago, ubonjoe said:

You must be 50 or over to apply for a OA visa or a extension of stay based upon retirement at immigration.

Thx.

 

Is there another retirement extension as well ?

 

or is it just the one and you must be over 50 years of age ?

[ubonjoe]

9 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

Is there another retirement extension as well ?

There is no other extension based upon retirement.

[Peterw42]

1 hour ago, bokningar said:

Did they ever give some official reason for this rule that only apply to OA visa? This use to be the best visa if you wanted to spend a lot of time in Thailand, But not staying full time. I used it for 6-7 years spent 7-10 moths of the year in Thailand. Since they changed it I’m not spending any time or money in Thailand anymore. But I do miss it. 

There is an unofficial reason floating around. Supposedly our Russian friends. Many use an OA visa, and they have no concept of non-state provided healthcare. insurance etc. For them, healthcare is always free resulting in lots of unpaid bills.

 

[bokningar]

14 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

There is an unofficial reason floating around. Supposedly our Russian friends. Many use an OA visa, and they have no concept of non-state provided healthcare. insurance etc. For them, healthcare is always free resulting in lots of unpaid bills.

 

That sounds like a believable theory.

If so, the Russians killed the best visa for Thailand there was.

Pity all has to be effected and not only the Russians if they caused the change.

[dlclark97]

On 10/24/2021 at 2:57 PM, ubonjoe said:

When the original order for the insurance came out in 2019 it did not state a reason.

In my opinion they consider those using the OA visa as not staying full time in the country and not having any ties to the country and were more likely to leave the country without paying a hospital bill.

 

If you don't mind putting 800k baht in a Thai bank or can prove 65k baht income you can get a extension of stay based upon retirement without insurance being required.;

You are always great at providing references.  Do you have a reference saying over 800,000 thb in the bank if extending my stay an O-A  visa is possible without the insurance?  This was definitely not my experience. 

[Gtto]

On 10/24/2021 at 2:57 PM, ubonjoe said:

When the original order for the insurance came out in 2019 it did not state a reason.

In my opinion they consider those using the OA visa as not staying full time in the country and not having any ties to the country and were more likely to leave the country without paying a hospital bill.

 

If you don't mind putting 800k baht in a Thai bank or can prove 65k baht income you can get a extension of stay based upon retirement without insurance being required.;

UJ,

 Can you clarify this? I thought you need both insurance AND 800k in the bank to get a renewal?

[ubonjoe]

5 minutes ago, Gtto said:

Can you clarify this? I thought you need both insurance AND 800k in the bank to get a renewal?

I was writing about a extension of stay for a non-o visa entry not a OA visa.

[wwest5829]

On 10/24/2021 at 4:05 PM, Peterw42 said:

There is an unofficial reason floating around. Supposedly our Russian friends. Many use an OA visa, and they have no concept of non-state provided healthcare. insurance etc. For them, healthcare is always free resulting in lots of unpaid bills.

 

All developed countries have a national healthcare program, excepting the USA. So, this reasoning could be applied to all from these assorted countries.

[Alphim]

On 10/24/2021 at 9:57 AM, ubonjoe said:

When the original order for the insurance came out in 2019 it did not state a reason.

In my opinion they consider those using the OA visa as not staying full time in the country and not having any ties to the country and were more likely to leave the country without paying a hospital bill.

 

If you don't mind putting 800k baht in a Thai bank or can prove 65k baht income you can get a extension of stay based upon retirement without insurance being required.;

But do you still need to have Covid 19 insurance?

[ubonjoe]

28 minutes ago, Alphim said:

But do you still need to have Covid 19 insurance?

Only when you enter the country if you don't have a OA visa or a extension of one based upon retirement.

[AlaskaDave]

OMG, I simply cannot believe what I'm reading in this thread so I'm probably reading it wrong. I'm desperate to get back into the Thailand so maybe I'm grabbing at straws.

I'm planning to return to Thailand on Nov 9. I have a visa based on marriage (Non-O), a valid re-entry permit and 400K baht in a Thai bank. Am I reading here that I do not need Covid-specific insurance? Or does my visa not qualify for this special treatment?

Damn these bloody acronyms for Thai visas! Did anybody ever compile a list of codes (O-A, Non-O, etc.) with descriptions alongside?

On the good news side of things, I recently contacted an SHA+ hotel in Chiang Mai (Sleep-Mai) that will put me up for 1500 baht for the overnight wait for a negative Covid test. As I live in Chiang Mai and can get picked up at the airport I asked if that was legal and they assured me that I can drive my own car to the hotel if I chose to do so.

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

[ubonjoe]

11 hours ago, AlaskaDave said:

On the good news side of things, I recently contacted an SHA+ hotel in Chiang Mai (Sleep-Mai) that will put me up for 1500 baht for the overnight wait for a negative Covid test. As I live in Chiang Mai and can get picked up at the airport I asked if that was legal and they assured me that I can drive my own car to the hotel if I chose to do so.

Have you been able to find a international flight flying into Chiang Mai yet. That is required to do the one night quarantine there.

I think the hotel is mixing up local quarantine requirement after flying in on a domestic flight.

[AlaskaDave]

 

Quote

Have you been able to find a international flight flying into Chiang Mai yet. That is required to do the one night quarantine there.

I think the hotel is mixing up local quarantine requirement after flying in on a domestic flight.

Yeah, that's probably what's going on. I'll email them again. In my earlier email I did not specify that I was arriving from the USA.

There are flights available to Chiang Mai on Korean and Japan Air but if there is no facility for quarantine and/or testing as yet, then the airlines are probably assuming things will change shortly.

Let's hope that's the case.

For the first of my questions, I'm assuming the insurance and one-day quarantine are still required for me to  reenter on a marriage visa, valid until Nov 14.

[Sheryl]

13 hours ago, AlaskaDave said:

OMG, I simply cannot believe what I'm reading in this thread so I'm probably reading it wrong. I'm desperate to get back into the Thailand so maybe I'm grabbing at straws.

I'm planning to return to Thailand on Nov 9. I have a visa based on marriage (Non-O), a valid re-entry permit and 400K baht in a Thai bank. Am I reading here that I do not need Covid-specific insurance? Or does my visa not qualify for this special treatment?
 

 

Every foreigner entering Thailand, regardless of visa type, must have insurance that covers COVID.

[Alphim]

21 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

Only when you enter the country if you don't have a OA visa or a extension of one based upon retirement.

Thank you Joe

[JohnJohn]

hi everyone, currently I stay in Italy and  trying to return to Thailand. I am regularly married and in possession of an annual “spouse” extension visa which expires in March 2022 and the “re entry permit”. In addition to documents such as COE, double vaccination etc. a pro Covid insurance is also required by the Embassy. Is it compulsory ? Which should the duration of the same insurance be, considering that I live in Thai? Thanks for any info.

[ubonjoe]

8 hours ago, JohnJohn said:

Which should the duration of the same insurance be, considering that I live in Thai?

The corvid 19 insurance would have to be valid to the day your re-entry permit expires in March of 2022.

[JohnJohn]

7 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

The corvid 19 insurance would have to be valid to the day your re-entry permit expires in March of 2022.

Thanks for reply, but something for me doesn’t appear very clear.

I subscribe the insurance till the end of my permit to stay, If I decide to go abroad once more before my permit to stay expires, I’ll lose the insurance for the time that I stay abroad or not ?

More sample

On departing, I have in mind to go back abroad after one month of stay in Thailand so I make the insurance for this period, as rules say, but during my stay I decide not to go back any more, so will happen to stay in the country with expired insurance.

Any solution for these problems, thanks

[ubonjoe]

23 minutes ago, JohnJohn said:

I subscribe the insurance till the end of my permit to stay, If I decide to go abroad once more before my permit to stay expires, I’ll lose the insurance for the time that I stay abroad or not ?

It could not be used while outside the country. But it could be used to enter the country again.

 

25 minutes ago, JohnJohn said:

On departing, I have in mind to go back abroad after one month of stay in Thailand so I make the insurance for this period, as rules say, but during my stay I decide not to go back any more, so will happen to stay in the country with expired insurance.

Not exactly sure what you mean.

The insurance will valid until the day your current extensions ends. After that you would not need it to meet any requirement regarding insurance. If you wanted covid 19 insurance you could buy it here for less coverage and certainly less cost.