Moving To Thailand

[surferphilip]

I will be bringing my farong Mom with me to Thailand this March. She is 90 years old and I am her only capable care giver , She recieves about $1,600 a month from S.S and will live with my Thai wife and myself in eastern Thailand. Because of her age and her steady monthly income, does she qualify for a retirerment visa? and if so is there anything I should know as far as getting one for her is concerned?

[Dancealot]

Has she ever been to Thailand? Taking your old mum to Thailand..

..Why not? --There are a lot of health care issues to be considered before arranging a visa .

It is possible and i am sure you will be answered properply.

[Pormax]

No question as regards age qualification but even with the $1,600 a month pension she falls short of the money requirement for aretirement visa.

She has to be able to show either 800,000B in aThai bank account for 3 months or can be a combination of pension plus money in Thai bank totalling the same amount.

With the pension amount you stated she would need approx a further 225,000B in Thai bank.

She will need a letter confirming her pension amount from the pension provider then a letter from the USA Embassy here in Thailand confirming this letter and her yearly/monthly pension amount.

Hope your Mum enjoys her stay in Thailand.

[jcgodber]

I think you are a very good son taking care of your mother. She will do just fine here. you must of course have a list of all needed medicines she will need and know where to find them. Will she be able to adjust to the weather here? Can she eat the foods available here?

Most important, she will have you for assistance and support. Her S.S. income is sufficient. She will probably need your help in filling out visa form and transportation.

You are a good person to take care of your mother. I think it would be way better for her to be here with you than some dreary old age rest home.

Hmmmm ! as stated above her income will fall short by 16,200 baht or about $500 per month. I am sure someone here on this forum can advise you how you can still make this work.

Edited December 22, 2012 by jcgodber

[Khun Jean]

I would not. In another post you ask for advice for a caretaker, like a nurse, another complication.

I took fulltime care of my grandmother in her last year. She was healthy until 93 and then very sudden it changed.

When she was 90 she was very vital and would travel anywhere. Except to Thailand, she always said 'if i was younger...'.

At an age like that it is really difficult to change everything.

Language, surroundings, friends, family, climate, food etc...

Language, climate and food changes are the ones that you can not prevent. Hot and humid is very hard on an old persons body, even Thais have it difficult at such age.

Food, well... it is not as clean as it should be. Or are you going to clean the vegetables with bottled water and cook the rice with bottled water etc. Hepatitus is everywhere. Did she travel to a tropical country before? How was that and how old was she then?

A bacteria is easily caught and older people are very susceptible for it. Would be a shame that she would die the first week because of diarrhea.

Now of course, your mother can be used to high temperatures and high humidity, i don't know where you come from, in that case think how she is living her live now. Does she spend time with friends or family, is she a member of something, is she really fond of radio, tv, magazines.

Would she be able to talk to anyone or are you the only person who will understand her? In that case her world just shrank to only you. Does not seem a good deal for her. You get to live in Thailand with your girlfriend and live a live and she gets what?

Can she stand an airconditioning and its dry air. Many old people have trouble with that and can get sick easily.

Is it her wish to go to Thailand or is it yours to bring her along?

So many things to think about when you 'unroot' someone at that age.

I would (re)consider all and more before making that decision, including and especially staying in your Mom's country and taking care of her there.

Edited December 22, 2012 by Khun Jean

[NeverSure]

Don't do it. She will have no health care coverage and will not be treated unless paid up front.

My mom was also healthy until age 92 when she fell and broke her back. At that age bones won't heal. In her last 7 months of life, essentially ended by that fall, her health care bills including a nursing home which knew how to care for her were more than US $100,000 thankfully paid by the government. My father will be 96 on the 16th of January, and his bills for the last year including 3 hospital visits and 3 weeks in a nursing home have been about US $50,000, thankfully paid by Medicare Advantage and the VA. He's back home doing OK, but who knows what the end might bring?

Sure, costs are a lot less in LOS, but unless you are loaded, trying to help her could ruin your finances. Her Medicare is no good in LOS.

[Khun Aguero]

How old do you think you need to be for a retirement visa?