Thai SSO Yellow Book

[Max_Headroom]

I'm being told that in order to continue SSO insurance I need a yellow book, pink card directly by the region 3 office BKK. I don't own property nor does my wife. Any idea how I might work around this issue?

[hereforgood]

1 hour ago, Max_Headroom said:

I'm being told that in order to continue SSO insurance I need a yellow book, pink card directly by the region 3 office BKK. I don't own property nor does my wife. Any idea how I might work around this issue?

I was told the same thing by the Sriracha social security office. I then went to the rayong  social security department and they processed me in no more than 15 minutes they took my bank book copy so that they could put my social security deposits I made over the years back into it and they could deduct the $4 32 baht monthly automatically to continue my medical no issues whatsoever. Mind you this was a few years ago your mileage may vary but you may want to give it a try at another office

[william61]

If not owning the house, you can get the yellow book at ampur office using the rental agreement and the house owner blue book & house owner ID card + your passport and valid visa. The pink ID card comes from the same office and is given with / after the yellow book.  (It can be / will be different in different offices)

[Rob Browder]

5 hours ago, Max_Headroom said:

I'm being told that in order to continue SSO insurance I need a yellow book, pink card directly by the region 3 office BKK. I don't own property nor does my wife. Any idea how I might work around this issue?

Your landlord will need to assist you - likely going to the amphur with you to apply.  You may also need additional witnesses.  Possibly a "certified copy" of your passport from your embassy.  Some ask for "long form" birth-certificate copies, etc.  Ask at the amphur what they want, as it varies greatly from one to the next. 

 

The key is getting your Yellow-Book before the time to register with SSO is over - assuming you already ended your employment.  I waited to get my Yellow Book before giving notice at my last job (I had read about this "new requirement" trick here), and the local amphur took 5+ months to allow me to have the Yellow Book - long enough I would have lost the ability to apply for SSO if I had quit first, which is perhaps not a coincidence.

 

If your amphur is corrupt, that's a PLUS, in this situation, as you may be able to "agent" your way into the Yellow Book, vs being "waited out." 

[Max_Headroom]

44 minutes ago, Rob Browder said:

Your landlord will need to assist you - likely going to the amphur with you to apply.  You may also need additional witnesses.  Possibly a "certified copy" of your passport from your embassy.  Some ask for "long form" birth-certificate copies, etc.  Ask at the amphur what they want, as it varies greatly from one to the next. 

 

The key is getting your Yellow-Book before the time to register with SSO is over - assuming you already ended your employment.  I waited to get my Yellow Book before giving notice at my last job (I had read about this "new requirement" trick here), and the local amphur took 5+ months to allow me to have the Yellow Book - long enough I would have lost the ability to apply for SSO if I had quit first, which is perhaps not a coincidence.

 

If your amphur is corrupt, that's a PLUS, in this situation, as you may be able to "agent" your way into the Yellow Book, vs being "waited out." 

Wow. Thanks for the details, complicated.

Edited July 5 by Max_Headroom

[Max_Headroom]

4 hours ago, william61 said:

If not owning the house, you can get the yellow book at ampur office using the rental agreement and the house owner blue book & house owner ID card + your passport and valid visa. The pink ID card comes from the same office and is given with / after the yellow book.  (It can be / will be different in different offices)

 

Incredible. Thanks.

[Max_Headroom]

4 hours ago, hereforgood said:

I was told the same thing by the Sriracha social security office. I then went to the rayong  social security department and they processed me in no more than 15 minutes they took my bank book copy so that they could put my social security deposits I made over the years back into it and they could deduct the $4 32 baht monthly automatically to continue my medical no issues whatsoever. Mind you this was a few years ago your mileage may vary but you may want to give it a try at another office

 

I'm confused. Told all that via phone or email, but when you visited office they just processed you?? Correct? Processed you into insurance OR processed your SS refund AND insurance? I want the insurance. They can keep the seven years 😆

[Max_Headroom]

7 hours ago, hereforgood said:

they could deduct the $4 32 baht monthly automatically to continue my medical no issues whatsoever.

 

Apologies, understood

[Max_Headroom]

3 hours ago, Rob Browder said:

I waited to get my Yellow Book before giving notice at my last job (I had read about this "new requirement" trick here

 

Yeah, my contract changed, I baulked and bailed out. The govt insurance was paid entirely by myself. The private school made the deduction for me as well as paying for private insurance. Kinda stressing this catch-22. I know I'll get money back, but if I don't get the ins I paid in five years unnecessarily

[jcmj]

Any way to get back in the insurance after the 6 months is over?

[scorecard]

50 minutes ago, jcmj said:

Any way to get back in the insurance after the 6 months is over?

 

If you believe you have been given total incorrect / wrong information about continuing your Injury and Sickness benefits (and you have some way to support this case) then there could be a chance. 

 

I got mine continued 14 years after I got the member contributions refunded when I discovered that the staff at SSO Din Daeng had given me totally false information about continuing my Injury and Sickness Self Insurance.

*****************************

A good source of correct information is the SSO 1506 Hotline. You can select Thai or English to continue the call. If there's no English response don't give up, it just means there wasn't an English speaking officer available when you called. Call again later or the next day. Annoying but worth persevering because the English Speaking staff seem to be the SSO lawyers and  you get good clear information. They invite you to call again if needed. I found these guys very helpful.

 

Good luck, keep at it. Since I got my membership reinstated I've attended the hospital* that I nominated several times, (including for dental work). Yes the wait can be longer but that's outweighed by the mostly free / close to free benefits. I'm going next week for an annual health check, no charge.

 

(* I believed that I would have to attend a local government hospital, but when my membership was reinstated the local SSO office (Chiang Mai) gave me a list of hospital to select a hospital. I discovered a private hospital in CM on the list and it has a clinic for SSO members. Doctors are the same as in the main private hospital.)

 

 

[scorecard]

1 hour ago, scorecard said:

 

If you believe you have been given total incorrect / wrong information about continuing your Injury and Sickness benefits (and you have some way to support this case) then there could be a chance. 

 

I got mine continued 14 years after I got the member contributions refunded when I discovered that the staff at SSO Din Daeng had given me totally false information about continuing my Injury and Sickness Self Insurance.

 

*****************************

A good source of correct information is the SSO 1506 Hotline. You can select Thai or English to continue the call. If there's no English response don't give up, it just means there wasn't an English speaking officer available when you called. Call again later or the next day. Annoying but worth persevering because the English speaking staff seem to be the SSO lawyers and you get good clear information. They invite you to call again if needed. I found these guys very helpful.

 

Good luck, keep at it. Since I got my membership reinstated I've attended the hospital* that I nominated several times, (including for very satisfactory dental work). Yes the wait can be longer to see a doctor but in my view that's outweighed by the mostly free / close to free benefits. I'm going next week for an annual health check, no charge.

 

          (* I believed that I would have to attend a local government hospital, but when my membership was reinstated the                   local  SSO office (Chiang Mai) gave me a list of hospital to select a hospital. I discovered a private hospital in CM

         on the list and it has a clinic for SSO members. Doctors are the same as in the main private hospital.)

 

 

 

MORE>>> I agree that some / many Social Security offices / officers have little / zero knowledge of 'factors' outside of the immediate SSO regulations.

 

Example: I told the Chiang Mai SSO that I don't have a yellow Tabien Baan book because I have Thai Permanent Residence (PR)* therefore my name is recorded in the standard dark blue Tabien Baan book.

          (* Commonly called 'Permanent Residence - PR' by all parties including Thai Immigration, But the correct official wording is                   Lifetime Certificate of Residence.

             Not to be confused by the simple letter available from Immigration which covers one purpose - to show your official

             address, needed to get a Thai Drivers License etc., this is also called Certificate of

             Residence but is a totally different matter to actual lifetime PR. Real PR is for lifetime and automatically cancels on the

             death of the foreigner.) 

 

Response from CM SSO Lawyer: 'There is no such thing as PR in Thailand, so what Visa do you have?'

 

My Response:  I don't have a visa. PR is issued for life and never needs renewal or review.

 

Response from CM SSO Lawyer:  'This is not possible, you should take your passport to the local Immigration Office and ask them to tell you what visa you have and get this detail inserted into your passport.' 

 

My response: PR holders carry a separate book (Lifetime Certificate of Residence book). which has full details of holders name etc., but note the Certificate of Residence book does not have an expiry date because PR is issued for lifetime.  

 

Two lawyers from the SSO M office then promptly visited my house in CM and demanded to see my PR (Certificate of Residence) book (they already had a photocopy of every page).

 

They explained that they wanted to see the expiry date in the PR book. After reading the small book (not that many pages) many times they shared that they could not find an expiry date. They took photos of every page of my PR book and my passport, then politely departed.  

 

I called the SSO Hotline 1506 number again, in English. The lawyer shared that she was not surprised that the SSO local staff at CM had zero knowledge about PR and about the foreigners name being in the dark blue Tabien Baan (TB) book.

 

She mentioned that she could easily find relevant official documentation re:
- Thai lifetime PR. 

- Copy of the PR book held by each foreigner who holds PR.

- Foreigners with PR, name in dark blue TB book.

 

A few days later she called me and advised she had sent copies of the above documents to the CM SSO manager and the SSO CM lead lawyer.  and she had called them to explain.

 

I did need to show copies of Tabien Baan books going back to about 12 years before I retired and took the SSO member contributions refund (on this point I can't explain the purpose of seeing my name in the the old TB books.)

 

Luckily I had kept copies of every TB book where my name had been recorded (the dark blue TB book).

 

When this was supplied to CM SSO I quickly got a letter (Thai language only) stating that my SSO membership had been reinstated under the voluntary insurance scheme.  Then some quick admin stuff to quickly set up the monthly member contributions payments direct from my K Bank account and to record my name at the local private hospital in their list of local SSO members. 

 

Hope this might help.  Take care.

[Max_Headroom]

3 hours ago, jcmj said:

Any way to get back in the insurance after the 6 months is over?

 

From what I know - no. Anyone else??

[Max_Headroom]

12 minutes ago, scorecard said:

 

MORE>>> I agree that some / many Social Security offices / officers have little / zero knowledge of 'factors' outside of the immediate SSO regulations.

 

Example: I told the Chiang Mai SSO that I don't have a yellow Tabien Baan book because I have Thai Permanent Residence (PR)* therefore my name is recorded in the standard dark blue Tabien Baan book.

          (* Commonly called 'Permanent Residence - PR' by all parties including Thai Immigration, But the correct official wording is                   Lifetime Certificate of Residence.

             Not to be confused by the simple letter available from Immigration which covers one purpose - to show your official

             address, needed to get a Thai Drivers License etc., this is also called Certificate of

             Residence but is a totally different matter to actual lifetime PR. Real PR is for lifetime and automatically cancels on the

             death of the foreigner.) 

 

Response from CM SSO Lawyer: 'There is no such thing as PR in Thailand, so what Visa do you have?'

 

My Response:  I don't have a visa. PR is issued for life and never needs renewal or review.

 

Response from CM SSO Lawyer:  'This is not possible, you should take your passport to the local Immigration Office and ask them to tell you what visa you have and get this detail inserted into your passport.' 

 

My response: PR holders carry a separate book (Lifetime Certificate of Residence book). which has full details of holders name etc., but note the Certificate of Residence book does not have an expiry date because PR is issued for lifetime.  

 

Two lawyers from the SSO M office then promptly visited my house in CM and demanded to see my PR (Certificate of Residence) book (they already had a photocopy of every page).

 

They explained that they wanted to see the expiry date in the PR book. After reading the small book (not that many pages) many times they shared that they could not find an expiry date. They took photos of every page of my PR book and my passport, then politely departed.  

 

I called the SSO Hotline 1506 number again, in English. The lawyer shared that she was not surprised that the SSO local staff at CM had zero knowledge about PR and about the foreigners name being in the dark blue Tabien Baan (TB) book.

 

She mentioned that she could easily find relevant official documentation re:
- Thai lifetime PR. 

- Copy of the PR book held by each foreigner who holds PR.

- Foreigners with PR, name in dark blue TB book.

 

A few days later she called me and advised she had sent copies of the above documents to the CM SSO manager and the SSO CM lead lawyer.  and she had called them to explain.

 

I did need to show copies of Tabien Baan books going back to about 12 years before I retired and took the SSO member contributions refund (on this point I can't explain the purpose of seeing my name in the the old TB books.)

 

Luckily I had kept copies of every TB book where my name had been recorded (the dark blue TB book).

 

When this was supplied to CM SSO I quickly got a letter (Thai language only) stating that my SSO membership had been reinstated under the voluntary insurance scheme.  Then some quick admin stuff to quickly set up the monthly member contributions payments direct from my K Bank account and to record my name at the local private hospital in their list of local SSO members. 

 

Hope this might help.  Take care.

 

Thanks for that. What a nightmare. With PR 555. No good deed goes unpunished here in Thailand. I had a very random conversation on the phone which basically ended up - well, go visit the regional office maybe they know more - she gave me the sop.

[Max_Headroom]

2 hours ago, scorecard said:

staff at SSO Din Daeng

 

This was where I went. Overall, not very helpful, but the one woman that directly assisted me was helpful and we called my wife.

 

Basically...get a yellow book and pink card 😀

[Crossy]

I'm going through the same process right now.

 

Visited the local (Pathum Thani) SSO with my "assistant" (she's actually the lady from my former office), SSO staff were most helpful.

 

I already have Yellow Book and Pink ID.

BUT of course, my ID number didn't match my SSO number (which was issued 20 odd years ago).

Staff had discussions and have adjusted the system so my ID number and SSO number are now the same (as they would be for a Thai).

 

I opted for the refund of contributions as staff informed me that if I took the pension, I wouldn't be able to continue the health cover (which is really what I want).

 

Asked if I wanted to pay direct from the bank.

Yes please (handing over my SCB stuff).

Ah, we can't do SCB, do you have BKK Bank.

As it happens, I do, so they took that and processed my refund to it.

 

Then the googly (cricket term for what would be a curve-ball in baseball).

My BKK Bank account was started in 1,000,000 BCE using a long extinct passport.

You need to open a new account using your yellow book and pink ID.

 

This is going to be fun indeed.

At this moment I've not attempted that task!

The BKK Bank website no longer has details of what's required for a foreigner to open an account. Now just "refer to any BKK Bank branch"

 

Wish me luck (I will report).

 

 

[DrJack54]

32 minutes ago, Crossy said:

At this moment I've not attempted that task!

The BKK Bank website no longer has details of what's required for a foreigner to open an account.

Two years back I wanted to open a FD account for extension purposes.

BBL insisted upon certificate of residence. 

I was on extensions from a non O retirement and Kasikorn opened the account on the spot.

You may have better luck since you have yellow book and pink ID. 

 

Re "(cricket term for what would be a curve-ball in baseball)." Love it

Ad banana kick in Oz football. 

[BigStar]

On 7/5/2024 at 9:48 AM, Max_Headroom said:

I'm being told that in order to continue SSO insurance I need a yellow book, pink card

 

In the old days, they gave you a SS ID card w/ number. That changed some years ago. Now the SS number is the pink card number. Hospitals use the card every visit to check you're enrolled, if you're trying to use SS.

 

Somebody posted some time ago that this could be worked around, with some effort, and the office would issue you a number, maybe a SS card as well, I forgot. 

 

But the pink card works beautifully, useful in various other situations, and hospitals like it 'cause it's got your address info etc. in Thai. That's really the way to go.

[scorecard]

2 hours ago, Max_Headroom said:

 

From what I know - no. Anyone else??

Suggest you read my posts immediately above your post.

[scorecard]

51 minutes ago, BigStar said:

 

In the old days, they gave you a SS ID card w/ number. That changed some years ago. Now the SS number is the pink card number. Hospitals use the card every visit to check you're enrolled, if you're trying to use SS.

 

Somebody posted some time ago that this could be worked around, with some effort, and the office would issue you a number, maybe a SS card as well, I forgot. 

 

But the pink card works beautifully, useful in various other situations, and hospitals like it 'cause it's got your address info etc. in Thai. That's really the way to go.

 

Thai banks also have interest in the pink card.

 

Two years back I had some difficulty with K bank because my passport number had expired and I went to the local K bank to update my passport number with my newly received replacement passport. 

 

I gave my K Bank passbook and new passport to the K bank officer.

 

At the same time the K bank supervisor had arrived on the scene and politely asked in English 'Can I help?' She immediately noticed I had a pink ID card and said to the K bank clerk, 'update his K bank database record to show the pink ID card number, not his new passport number'.

 

She explained 'all Thai banks now work to a BOT (Bank of Thailand) instruction to use the pink ID card number because it's for lifetime and can never expire (which does happen with passport numbers). And it will eventually mean foreigners who are in Thailand longer term (including PR holders) will be in all Thai gov't records / databases using one standard number - their pink ID card number.  

 

 

 

[Yellowtail]

When I retired, the office manager got everything set up. Are you still friendly with your employer? 

[Crossy]

2 hours ago, scorecard said:

 

Thai banks also have interest in the pink card.

 

Two years back I had some difficulty with K bank because my passport number had expired and I went to the local K bank to update my passport number with my newly received replacement passport. 

 

I gave my K Bank passbook and new passport to the K bank officer.

 

At the same time the K bank supervisor had arrived on the scene and politely asked in English 'Can I help?' She immediately noticed I had a pink ID card and said to the K bank clerk, 'update his K bank database record to show the pink ID card number, not his new passport number'.

 

She explained 'all Thai banks now work to a BOT (Bank of Thailand) instruction to use the pink ID card number because it's for lifetime and can never expire (which does happen with passport numbers). And it will eventually mean foreigners who are in Thailand longer term (including PR holders) will be in all Thai gov't records / databases using one standard number - their pink ID card number.  

 

This actually bodes well for my communications with BKK Bank.

 

I'll go on Monday, promise 🙂 

[Yellowtail]

Two of the things I ended up getting to facilitate my Thai SS medical was the pink ID and a bank account using my Thai name on the pink ID, and the pink ID and the primary identification. 

[scorecard]

3 hours ago, Crossy said:

 

This actually bodes well for my communications with BKK Bank.

 

I'll go on Monday, promise 🙂 

 

Please keep in mind the K bank supervisor mentioned it was now BOT policy, all banks must use the number of the personal pink ID card. (Where the card has been issued).

 

But is BBL following this 'dictate'. As we all now banks in Thailand seem to make their own rules.

 

Crossy, hope it works out for you. 

[scorecard]

On 7/5/2024 at 9:48 AM, Max_Headroom said:

I'm being told that in order to continue SSO insurance I need a yellow book, pink card directly by the region 3 office BKK. I don't own property nor does my wife. Any idea how I might work around this issue?

 

Call the SSO hotline 1506. I suggest they will have an answer on this.

 

My pink card was issued at the Chiang Mai muang amphur office when I received my PR book.

 

My name (and new ID number) was entered in the dark blue Tabien Baan book of a Thai friend. I did not live at the address in that TB book.

 

The actual ID number number was issued at the muang Pattaya (city hall) office around 27 years ago when i received approval for PR. 

 

 

Edited July 6 by scorecard

[DrJoy]

7 hours ago, Crossy said:

You need to open a new account using your yellow book and pink ID.

 

Why is that?

[Yellowtail]

8 minutes ago, DrJoy said:

Why is that?

To get the money

[Mutt Daeng]

35 minutes ago, scorecard said:

 

Please keep in mind the K bank supervisor mentioned it was now BOT policy, all banks must use the number of the personal pink ID card. (Where the card has been issued).

 

But is BBL following this 'dictate'. As we all now banks in Thailand seem to make their own rules.

 

Crossy, hope it works out for you. 

This week I was at my local branch of the Krung Thai bank for another important matter and I asked if they could register my pink ID card number rather than my passport as proof of identity, since my ID card has no expiry date, but my passport expires in a couple of years. I was told "can not". I left it at that for now, even though I knew that it is possible, as I had achieved my primary goal of sorting out the other important issue. It's a job for another day.

Edited July 6 by Mutt Daeng

[Yellowtail]

12 minutes ago, Mutt Daeng said:

This week I was at my local branch of the Krung Thai bank for another important matter and I asked if they could register my pink ID card number rather than my passport as proof of identity, since my ID card has no expiry date, but my passport expires in a couple of years. I was told "can not". I left it at that for now, even though I knew that it is possible, as I had achieved my primary goal of sorting out the other important issue. It's a job for another day.

The account has to be in your legal Thai name. 

[scorecard]

7 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

The account has to be in your legal Thai name. 

Not true. My 5 accounts (K Bank) are all in my legal western name, copied from my western passport. These accounts at the suggestion / push of the K Bank supervisor were updated in the customer details database to show my pink ID card number. 

 

Two of the 5 accounts were opened at this K Bank branch.

 

The other 3 K Bank accounts were opened at 3 different locations: CM different branch, Bkk, Pattaya. 

 

As mentioned above all 5 have been updated in the K Bank customer details database to show my pink ID card number. The update of all 5 accounts was done at my local big branch in CM.  

Edited July 6 by scorecard