Been denied Thai SS after retirement here in Thailand ? Do not give up !

[hereforgood]

This may not be of help to many or maybe to anyone but if it helps even 1 person it was worth it.

 

I went to work in 2006 and did so with a business visa and a WP all above board. Decided in 2013 to retire so I went down to the SS office in Sri Ratcha and applied for my SS refund which amounted to about 40K baht. I also registered for the Medical coverage to continue by Auto billing from my Kbank account. This was done with no issues they were very helpful.

 

I was then offered a job which i could not turn down Started 2014 worked till 2018. Then retired again this time for good. Off I went to the same SS office to do the same as i had when i retired from my first job here in Thailand. They pulled up my records and I was told the rules had changed and  foreigners were no longer given this after retirement. We

 

 went home and contacted the head office in Bangkok to question this so called new rule and they said that it was not the case. They told me to try another office so I traveled up to Rayong SS office and they were super helpful took my Bank book had me sign a paper so they could transfer the SS refund and they could auto bill my 432 baht a month for the on going medical coverage. 

 

So should any others get turned down at one office just try at another one. I went back to the Sri Ratcha office after confirming i was eligible with the Bangkok office and they still insisted I was not. I think they just were not interested in doing the paper work.

[LennyW]

Yes, no issues at the Rayong SS office, my lump sum was processed, and my new SS number issued within 20 minutes, all staff very helpful indeed, a breath of fresh air for a government office!!

[JoseThailand]

It's a great way of having medical insurance when you're retired. Just work in Thailand at least 6 months, and then simply keep your Thai social security. No need to pay crazy amounts for private medical insurance.

[bigt3116]

4 hours ago, JoseThailand said:

It's a great way of having medical insurance when you're retired. Just work in Thailand at least 6 months, and then simply keep your Thai social security. No need to pay crazy amounts for private medical insurance.

 

While it is great, it does not cover everything.

 

[Ralf001]

16 minutes ago, bigt3116 said:

 

While it is great, it does not cover everything.

 

 

I have heard it does not cover everything but I cannot find what is excluded.

Do you have a list/link ?

 

I had surgery in December, Was offered either full cut or key hole.

Key hole was not covered by SS.

Would be good to know what else is not covered.

Edited March 9 by Ralf001

[JoseThailand]

1 hour ago, bigt3116 said:

 

While it is great, it does not cover everything.

 

 

At least it doesn't exclude pre-existing conditions

Edited March 10 by JoseThailand

[hereforgood]

10 hours ago, bigt3116 said:

 

While it is great, it does not cover everything.

 

I'm not sure exactly what it doesn't pay but I do know that in one year they paid 1.5 million for medical surgeries and other issues I had. I was also told via the Bangkok office that if there's a medical procedure that the hospital you're registered at cannot do then you will be referred to a private hospital and Social Security will cover that as well.

[FruitPudding]

10 hours ago, bigt3116 said:

 

While it is great, it does not cover everything.

 

 

What doesn't it cover?

[Ralf001]

6 minutes ago, FruitPudding said:

 

What doesn't it cover?

 

For me it

Did not cover food other than very basic hospital slop.

Did not cover private room cost...but did allocate the public ward cost which was Bt750 per day.

Did not cover Key hole surgery.

[FruitPudding]

1 hour ago, Ralf001 said:

 

For me it

Did not cover food other than very basic hospital slop.

Did not cover private room cost...but did allocate the public ward cost which was Bt750 per day.

 

I mean, this is expected and no different to social security healthcare abroad.

 

Lay in the ward with everyone else and eat hospital food.

 

1 hour ago, Ralf001 said:

Did not cover Key hole surgery.

 

This is disappointing. 

[FruitPudding]

10 hours ago, JoseThailand said:

 

At least it doesn't exclude pre-existing conditions

 

Exactly, and the premium doesn't go up as you age 

[Ben Zioner]

17 hours ago, JoseThailand said:

It's a great way of having medical insurance when you're retired. Just work in Thailand at least 6 months, and then simply keep your Thai social security. No need to pay crazy amounts for private medical insurance.

Honestly I couldn't see myself on a two month waiting list, followed by a one day queue to get a single MRI done... 

[FruitPudding]

4 minutes ago, Ben Zioner said:

Honestly I couldn't see myself on a two month waiting list, followed by a one day queue to get a single MRI done... 

 

Well,  some people are not so privileged.

[hereforgood]

18 minutes ago, Ben Zioner said:

Honestly I couldn't see myself on a two month waiting list, followed by a one day queue to get a single MRI done... 

I went in to have my hips xrayed they read the exrays and told me they needed to be replaced I was in pain bad, I had to wait 1 week so not bad at all

[Ralf001]

8 hours ago, Ben Zioner said:

Honestly I couldn't see myself on a two month waiting list, followed by a one day queue to get a single MRI done... 

 

I think that comes down to what hospital you registered at.

Wait time at mine was 1 week in December for Surgery.

 

[john donson]

On 3/9/2024 at 2:15 PM, hereforgood said:

This may not be of help to many or maybe to anyone but if it helps even 1 person it was worth it.

 

I went to work in 2006 and did so with a business visa and a WP all above board. Decided in 2013 to retire so I went down to the SS office in Sri Ratcha and applied for my SS refund which amounted to about 40K baht. I also registered for the Medical coverage to continue by Auto billing from my Kbank account. This was done with no issues they were very helpful.

 

I was then offered a job which i could not turn down Started 2014 worked till 2018. Then retired again this time for good. Off I went to the same SS office to do the same as i had when i retired from my first job here in Thailand. They pulled up my records and I was told the rules had changed and  foreigners were no longer given this after retirement. We

 

 went home and contacted the head office in Bangkok to question this so called new rule and they said that it was not the case. They told me to try another office so I traveled up to Rayong SS office and they were super helpful took my Bank book had me sign a paper so they could transfer the SS refund and they could auto bill my 432 baht a month for the on going medical coverage. 

 

So should any others get turned down at one office just try at another one. I went back to the Sri Ratcha office after confirming i was eligible with the Bangkok office and they still insisted I was not. I think they just were not interested in doing the paper work.

 

lazy thai slobs, had this bull crap in amphur, immigration, land department...

 

good you got what you entitled too

[n00dle]

Interesting. I worked in a Thai company for 12 years ending around 2007 or 2008. 

Would I be eligible for the coverage I wonder?  I have a pesky pre-existing condition that could bite me on the ass.  Where would I ask?

Edited March 11 by n00dle

[kingkenny]

They told me last month you need to be in the Yellow book and have the pink card, this was confirmed by their call centre. This was to continue paying in. I had no issue claiming back what had been paid in.

Edited March 11 by kingkenny

[Sydebolle]

Well, well, another can of worms opened - it seems. I've worked here since 1985 and changed jobs in 2000 with six weeks of vacation in between in Europe. Arrived back (on the same permanent resident permit), got a new work permit and retired finally in 2018 when I turned 60. 
I had not claimed any Social Security Insurance until last year (as in my home country one retires with 65 and not 60) and went to see the office.

Nice and competent officers everywhere but:
- my birth year was noted ten years older, instead of 2501 they had 2491 as my birth year 
- they could trace only membership contributions back to 2000; the entire time frame from 1985 - 2000 was not to be found. As the Thai law stipulates, that employers have to keep their records ten years, I lost 15 out of 33 years of contributions. I, myself, had no paperwork to support my 15 years of contributions and the pay slips from those days were not "proof" enough. 

- my Thai ID number never changed but the SSI assumed, that my absence and change of work permit in 2000 is "to blame" and that the SSI might have parked the old contributions "somewhere". 

- I could have taken it to higher levels but got legal advice to forget about it as it would take years to come and expenses, which might wipe out what I eventually could get refunded. 

Was it the usual "mai pen rai" sloppiness for which Thailand is so well known for, did anyone deviate my earlier contributions, did my contributions end with the temple collection box? We shall never find out but it is obvious, that the SSI has an "accounting" system of its own as my contributions did not disappear into thin (Bangkok) air, I would assume? 

[Flying Saucage]

My problem with the Thai SS is that I work in Thailand as employee for a Thai company, however I could not join the SS anymore, as when I started my job here I was over 60 years old already. Access to the Thai SS was only possible until the 60th birthday, I was told.

 

Is there any chance for me to enter the SS? Worth to ask the Rayong SS office or waste of time?

[hereforgood]

56 minutes ago, Flying Saucage said:

My problem with the Thai SS is that I work in Thailand as employee for a Thai company, however I could not join the SS anymore, as when I started my job here I was over 60 years old already. Access to the Thai SS was only possible until the 60th birthday, I was told.

 

Is there any chance for me to enter the SS? Worth to ask the Rayong SS office or waste of time?

No unfortunately you have to be before your 60th birthday to be put into the system you can still get a work permit after 60 but you no longer are eligible for the social security benefits

[KhaoNiaw]

2 hours ago, Sydebolle said:

- they could trace only membership contributions back to 2000; the entire time frame from 1985 - 2000 was not to be found. As the Thai law stipulates, that employers have to keep their records ten years, I lost 15 out of 33 years of contributions. I, myself, had no paperwork to support my 15 years of contributions and the pay slips from those days were not "proof" enough. 

It didn't come into being until the 1990s with different elements implemented in different years. So you probably didn't lose out on too much. 

[hereforgood]

3 hours ago, kingkenny said:

They told me last month you need to be in the Yellow book and have the pink card, this was confirmed by their call centre. This was to continue paying in. I had no issue claiming back what had been paid in.

Yeah this is what they told me in Sri racha and after a call to Bangkok and a visit to rayong. It was sorted no problem that was the purpose of my posting this to let people know that had been told they can't get it not to give up

[kiwiaussie]

On 3/10/2024 at 5:55 AM, Ralf001 said:

 

I have heard it does not cover everything but I cannot find what is excluded.

Do you have a list/link ?

 

I had surgery in December, Was offered either full cut or key hole.

Key hole was not covered by SS.

Would be good to know what else is not covered.

Here's a good article 

 

https://www.thaicitizenship.com/thai-social-security/

[Ralf001]

1 hour ago, kiwiaussie said:

Here's a good article 

 

https://www.thaicitizenship.com/thai-social-security/

 

Nice one, thanks.

 

I note the 700b per day bed and food.

I was getting a Bt750/day discount on my private room at Phayathai Sriracha.

Room charge included food which I opted out of so received a further Bt800/day discount.

My private insurance cover Bt3000 a day for the room so total cost to me was Bt1350/day.

 

[Sydebolle]

23 hours ago, KhaoNiaw said:

It didn't come into being until the 1990s with different elements implemented in different years. So you probably didn't lose out on too much. 

The SSO got established in September 1990, prior to that we had a private fund set-up by one of those finance companies recommended for protected provident funds, which went belly-up in 1998. The latter was a write-off due to the bureaucratic maze of taking anyone to the cleaners here with the Thai courts. Millions went down the toilet - for good ....... 

The SSO is another governmental monster and impossible to fight with. I lost ten years of contributions due to their inefficiency - to stay polite. Irrespective of amount (and yes, luckily I do not depend on this money) it is still scandalous as, what happened to me is - for sure - happening to others. 

[Sheryl]

On 3/11/2024 at 11:51 AM, n00dle said:

Interesting. I worked in a Thai company for 12 years ending around 2007 or 2008. 

Would I be eligible for the coverage I wonder?  I have a pesky pre-existing condition that could bite me on the ass.  Where would I ask?

You were eligible, past tense.

 

Have to arrange to continue the medical cover within 6 months of stopping employment.